A new pest threatens Italy’s risotto dish: the flamingo The Independent
Eight healthy babies born after IVF using DNA from three people The Guardian
To Raise Children, We Must First Raise Parents Sapiens
Climate/Environment
The summer of flash flooding continues Balanced Weather
There have been varying meteorological forces behind recent extreme rainfall events, but they are all connected by very unusual amounts of moisture pulsing above the United States.
Precipitable water, a measure of the total amount of water in the atmosphere, has been above the… pic.twitter.com/ezPGILjEhG
— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) July 16, 2025
Monday night’s one hour rainfall in NYC ranked 2nd…Only behind Ida. That this happened without a tropical system is significant and shows our new reality. The top 3 wettest one hour rainfalls for NYC in the past 156 years have all happened in the past four years. pic.twitter.com/6MKxJaNHeX
— John Davitt (@johndavittontv) July 15, 2025
Floods and cause-specific mortality in the United States applying a triply robust approach Nature
Water
What water can teach us about resistance and survival The Breach
China?
Trump Softens Tone on China to Secure Xi Summit and a Trade Deal Bloomberg
US approved Nvidia H20 sales to China because Huawei already makes equivalent chips: US treasury secretary Global Times
US set to ban Chinese technology in submarine cables FT
U.S. to Construct Philippine Fast Boat Base Near South China Sea Flashpoints US Naval Institute News
Syraqistan
U.S. calls on Israel to investigate killing of Palestinian-American young man by Israeli settlers Mondoweiss
Debt ridden Eilat Port to close Sunday Globes
Twelve nations commit to ‘unprecedented measures’ holding Israel accountable for genocide The Cradle
***
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal AP
U.S./Iran talks on ice Diplomatic, by Laura Rozen
Why the U.S. Only Wants Hezbollah’s Precision Weapons, Not Its Full Disarmament Elijah J. Magnier
Clashes in Iraqi Kurdistan show power of tribes acting outside state control Amwaj
Concern grows in Iran as Azerbaijan hosts Syria’s new leaders Amwaj
***
Israeli army prepares ‘prolonged operation’ in Syria following massive attack on Damascus The Cradle
Syria says pulling troops from Druze heartland after US request Channel News Asia
Here we go. Syrian regime jihadists attacked a Shia town in Homs and indiscriminately shot at civilians. At least 3 killed so far. Either Joulani lost control over these savages or he’s deliberately working on destabilizing Syria. They can’t fight Israel so they kill minorities
— Hadi (@HadiNasrallah) July 17, 2025
It’s not like the analysts have not predicted that Syria’s governance will be fragmented and it will be a failed state based on US strategy in the region
Here’s an Iranian analyst a while back: pic.twitter.com/57BwU5Whob
— Soureh 🇮🇷🇵🇸 (@Soureh_design2) July 16, 2025
Israel’s Bombing Of Damascus Is Aimed At Turkey Moon of Alabama
Jailed İstanbul mayor convicted over remarks criticizing controversial prosecutor Turkish Minute
Old Blighty
UK GOVERNMENT SECRETLY PAID FOREIGN YOUTUBE STARS FOR ‘PROPAGANDA’ Declassified UK
Britain’s secretive fund for spies comes out of the shadows Politico
There’s lots of numbers that detail the shocking state of the UK but this one – that in England in 2011 seventeen (17) people waited over 12 hours in A&E before being admitted and now it’s >140,000 people every 3 months – really is astounding and shameful pic.twitter.com/4qXSwqtTkd
— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) July 16, 2025
European Disunion
Cohesion crunch: Europe’s regions brace for loss of catch-up funds Euractiv
Commission’s budget proposal delivers blow to climate and nature EU Business
Hungarian farmers dump manure at EU headquarters in protest at planned cuts in CAP funds Intellinews
EU eyes defense spending boost in trillion-dollar budget UPI
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine war briefing: Weapons will be Europe’s support to Ukraine – not Trump’s, Kallas suggests The Guardian
France, Italy reportedly opt out of US-NATO arms deal for Ukraine Kyiv Independent
Can the U.S. Arm Itself and Ukraine? Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Neocon outfit says “absolutely!”
Trump’s ultimatum isn’t an ultimatum – and Moscow knows it RT
Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv The Guardian
Moldova: pro-EU government turns increasingly authoritarian Gert-Ewen Ungar
L’affaire Epstein
Trump calls Epstein controversy a “Hoax” and “bulls***,” denouncing “weaklings” in GOP CBS News
Unlike Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump Commits Political Suicide Larry Johnson
Maurene Comey, daughter of ex-FBI Director James, fired from top US Attorney’s Office job after working Diddy, Epstein cases New York Post
Trump 2.0
Trump says he’s ‘highly unlikely’ to fire Fed’s Powell after floating that idea in private AP
Well would you look at that.
2 *perfectly* timed trades shorting the Dollar and then longing the Dollar *right before* Trump leaked that he was firing Powell, and then TACO’d 30 minutes later.
10:54 AM (first red circle), heavy shorting pressure on the USD/EUR begins out of… pic.twitter.com/KVls3lHUpm
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) July 16, 2025
Trump Expands Lavish Tax Dodge for Silicon Valley VCs and Private Equity Lee Fang
MAHA
NIH official fired amid probe of contract used to potentially hire spouse, officials say WaPo
2028
Scoop: RFK Jr.’s PAC stirs, fueling speculation on a 2028 campaign Axios
Democrats en déshabillé
Turning Trump-hate into gold Unherd
Antitrust
Union Pacific has hired bankers for a possible railroad bid Semafor
AI
We’re Starting to Sound Like ChatGPT — And We Don’t Even Realize It ZME Science
How the brain turns our intended words into the sounds of speech EurekAlert!
Police State Watch
ICE LAWYERS ARE HIDING THEIR NAMES IN IMMIGRATION COURT The Intercept
US deports immigrants to African country of Eswatini amid rights concerns Al Jazeera
Trump Admin’s Focus on Child Labor After California Raids Is a Bait and Switch Truthout
Trump’s Concentration Camps Are Not New to the U.S. Black Agenda Report
Two Days Talking to People Looking for Jobs at ICE n+1. The money quote: “What he was really interested in, he said, was parlaying his wages as a deportation officer into buying Airbnbs.”
When Do You Need to Quit Your Job? Hamilton Nolan
Imperial Collapse Watch
Hegseth’s New Dress Code of Honor Ken Klippenstein
The State Department Between Rubio’s Cuts and Structural Limitations Sawahil
Trump’s Shipbuilding Push Falters as NSC Maritime Office Gutted Reuters
The enshittification of American hegemony Programmable Mutter
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Lavrov’s Tianjin Post-SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Presser Karl Sanchez. “On the SCO’s terrorism and international crime fighting aspect, I await a statement aimed at the West’s direct and deep involvement —IMO, it’s imperative that CIA, MI6, and other “agencies” be publicly called out for the crimes they commit and foment.”
Iran Proposes Formation of Shanghai Regional Security Assembly Tasnim
Pashinyan shared details on why Armenia decided to join SCO News.am
Gunz
‘Amazon of guns’ backed by Donald Trump Jr sinks on stock market debut FT
Our Famously Free Press
Burying Genocide – The BBC, Gaza And The Role Of The UK Media Lens
Supply Chain
Lightning declines over shipping lanes following regulation of fuel sulfur emissions Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Screening Room
Why Modern Movies Have Become Awash in Increasingly Desaturated Colors Laughing Squid
The Bezzle
Is your future pension safe? System Change
Class Warfare
Hard Truths About the US Labor Movement: An Interview with Chris Townsend MR Online
United Farm Workers Not Backing Wildcat Strikes – SEIU Calls August 12th Strike – LA Bus Drivers Won’t Cooperate With ICE Payday Report
Higher Ground Working Class Storytelling
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
139 comments
Comments are closed.
Fast boat base in Philippines, we have seen this movie before https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Were_Expendable
Caffeine is a daily requirement of course…must consume several cups but my very initial thought in my child like mind…is the headline from the Babylon Bee ? Alas this article today is a real thing.
Sorry to say so, but images of that magical “unicorn” solution from just last year were envisioned. The floating pier to facilitate humanitarian aid and supplies into Gaza. The pier was a sorry solution, was the expected and indeed the end result. Yeah, America. \sarc
Good thing they rely on fossil fuels!
Thoughts and Prayers when those pesky outboard motors fail to start and run. (Never happens!!)
Don’t we have bigger fish to fry around the world? Like people, potable water, secure food-stuffs, warming, non-human species preservation?
“Is your future pension safe?”
And by coincidence I was reading today that-
‘The Trump administration is finalizing an executive order that would clear the way for 401(k) retirement savings plans to invest in private equity, according to a report.’
https://nypost.com/2025/07/16/business/trump-to-allow-401ks-to-invest-in-private-equity-report/
So I suppose that a private equity firm could then use people’s 401k to invest in things like stablecoins and AI startups. Safe as houses. /sarc
Indeed, and I gather that’s what all the hoopla over getting crypto ETFs approved was about, to clear the way for grabbing some of grandpa’s 401k and using it to buy Bitcoin. “Bang! Pow! To Da Moon!”
I think it was Jamie Zawinski who called bitcoins “Dunning-Krugerrands”. This seems like more of the same.
Private equity invests in companies. You are thinking of hedgies.
If private equity invests in companies, then what is to stop them setting up dummy corporations to be used as the vehicles for their investments? On paper they may not appear linked but in reality they would be as good as laced together.
There are several public companies that, while they have a marginal legitimate business function, are principally holders of large amounts of bitcoin – MicroStrategy Inc (now Strategy Inc), run by Michael Saylor was the first and best known of these, Upexi is another, and Cantor Fitzgerald is putting together a similar investment vehicle. Strategy’s trading price is over 2x the value of actual bitcoin it holds – you can do your own math as to whether you think that’s a wise investment for bitcoin exposure.
To the extent that people have self-directed 401ks (i.e., you can choose the investments), they can generally prevent being exposed to bitcoin. The thing to watch out for, and lobby your company’s 401k manager about, is having a limited choice of investment funds to choose from, all of which have bitcoin exposure – but even this will become diffitult if you’re invested in broad based index funds. I’m more worried about pension funds loading up on funds and specific companies with bitcoin exposure, as many pension funds already operate at the edge of viability.
Thanks for that explanation. Like yourself, I too can see pension funds being used to invest in scams like bitcoin with the active encouragement of the present US government. And would those pensioners even know what their money s being invested in much less have a chance to say no.
Let’s do a thought experiment. A giant EMP attack or maybe a Carrington Event wipes out every hard drive on the planet.
What’s that Bitcoin ETF in Grandma’s pension fund worth?
Probably the same as it is now if we are going to be honest. Grandma had better stock up on cat food if there are Bitcoins in her pension fund.
If all the planet’s hard drives are fried, how many bags of flour will your yellowed statements showing your GM / MSFT / AMZN holdings buy you?
Good point, but think of the benefits. Greasy, fraudulent AI is dead. People have to think again. MSFT and AMZN shares are probably worthless, as they bet billions on AI and are now bankrupt.
Just be thankful nobody has come up with Housecoin yet.
It’s the bets of both worlds!
Rumor has it that Sam Bankman-Fried is working on a variant, BigHousecoin.
Who knows how much Bitcoin was involved in FTX, but lookie here. Sam’s in the all bar motel and Bitcoin is at an all time high!
Sam should lobby for a pardon. In the grand scheme of things, FTX was a crooked lemonade stand compared to the crime of lacing every target date fund and ETF with derivatives of Bitcoin … unless it’s a in a digital wallet under your dominion and control. you don’t own that!
Always good I think to have a plan, any retirement plan is better than not or just hoping those social security payments aren’t rubber checks by say, I dunno 2045 (?). I kid of course. \sarc
Was having this discussion yesterday on plans and moving retirement assets / transferring out from a prior employer…It seems unlikely that magical crypto finds it’s way directly into pension funds or retirement plans post haste. I have family members in the wealth planning industry, they are not permitted to solicit clients or offer / suggest any manner of Bitcoin, Shitecoin or cryptocurrency. This is an important barrier to be mindful of. That could always change but certain large financial firms would face a risk at being sued or in arbitration…
If someone takes their retirement funds and places ~ 99% into a Blackrock managed ETF, that just seems unwise to be reckless and undiversified… Fortune favors the bold but stupid gets burned.
Blackrock managed ETF … I can just imagine the prospectus:
“Fund core investments: Ukrainian Lithium mines in the possession of Russian forces … Shitecoin ETF’s based on third derivatives of re-hypothecated assets … oceanfront property in Arizona … bags of flaming doo-doo”
Past performance not indicative of future gains …
Oceanfront property in Florida too!
RE: “It seems unlikely that magical crypto finds it’s way directly into pension funds or retirement plans post haste.”
Unfortunately, it’s actually very likely and already happening. And this one one of the better more conservative companies – https://www.fidelity.com/crypto/overview
Good point. However are unwilling participants being shoved into their suggested offerings, or is that site instead a means to supply newer market participants with avenues to invest in this newer era of digital assets and cryptocurrency? I’ll suggest it merits a much deeper dive.
Several disclaimers are basically screaming out ” you might win or you might lose it all….”. The bottom half of that page probably provided by legal counsel. It also makes some notations about cryptocurrency not being eligible for SIPC protections. So it goes, I’ll suggest…lead, follow or get out of the way.
Added thought. I want to take care in what I try to add to these conversations on investments, retirement and the like. Some of this is going to be writing in pencil as opposed to writing it down in ink for permanence…
Unfortunately I missed out on Ray McGovern´s visit to Berlin together with Elizabeth Murray.
He has linked some of the events here:
Elizabeth Murray & I in Berlin today till Jul 12 when we speak at Schiller Institute Conference. https://schillerinstitute.com/man-is-not-a-wolf-to-man/ . My panel at 4 am ET; EM’s at 8:30. Hans-Christof von Sponeck & Russia’s Prof. Dmitri Trenin are on my panel. Streaming in English at https://youtube.com/@SchillerInstitute
https://raymcgovern.com/2025/07/09/live-panel-on-july-12/
JFK Jr running in 2028 will have as much possibility of success as Sanders running that year. They could join forces as the 2024 Dream Ticket. AOC will have slightly better chances
I’ll take Sanders over JFK Jr in 2028.
As somebody else once pointed out, you may have both AOC and Sanders stand as Presidential candidates for 2028 and doing a lot of campaigning to drag in undecided voters but then both will simultaneously withdraw their candidacies to endorse the Democrat Presidential Candidate for 2028 – Liz Cheney.
That needed a coffee warning. Now I need a different shirt!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Dick Cheney democrats.
Everybody needs a hunting pal…
Oh… for Barack to go hunting with Dick Cheney…
Trump calls Epstein controversy a “Hoax” and “bulls***,” denouncing “weaklings” in GOP CBS News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dribs & drabs of a diatribe, lest divulged.
You can almost hear a faint Nixonian voice tickling away in his larynx…
‘I’m not a crook!’
Popcorn is a must at this juncture and I prefer to cook it in a large pot over an open flame and olive oil is my go to lubricant, and then expect inflationary pressures to build. Salt to taste.
What’s really weird is where over this whole thing, he is talking about his ‘PAST supporters’ and said that if they do not believe his pronouncements, then he doesn’t ‘want their support anymore.’ As I said elsewhere, Trump has decided that Epstein is the hill that he is determined to die on. He may not care about his supporters as this is his final term but I bet all those GOP Senators and Reps have different thoughts on the matter.
In the meantime, I see your ‘I’m not a crook!’ and raise you with ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman.’
@kev – his unconscious calculation must have been. “Most of them will automatically support me and they will bully/other the rest into line.” Fatal miscalculation. He’s the figurehead not the movement, and is about to find out what that means.
We don’t have elites, we have insiders. We don’t have leaders, we have figureheads.
And they rely on be useful to dark money, except when, as in the cases of Musk and Theil, they step out from behind the curtain.
Or, MoSsad has determined Epstein is the hill Trump will (literally) die on if he divulges anything more about him.
I give this reasonable odds. A deal you can’t refuse.
Oh there will be lots of salt!
Couldn’t happen to a nicer narcissistic sex criminal.
A narcissistic sex criminal? Is that Trump you are talking about or old Joe Biden? It could go either way.
We’re 3 outta 5 over the past 33 years – Clinton, Biden, and Trump are all sexual predators.
We’re giving ancient Rome a run for its money. Caligula and Nero ain’t got nothin’ on us.
Well Trump hasn’t made a horse a Senator yet. But if he did, it would feel at home with all the horse’s a**** there. :)
The privilege of making horses senators belongs to the American people. And they don’t dissapoint, i.e. Lindsay Graham as prima facie evidence of that.
We just don’t know who’s horse Lindsay is…
Well, we still don’t know why No Drama Obama was at Diddy’s Freak Offs, so I’d say we still could end up with the four horsemen.
Retirement Obama is a connoisseur of the good life.
Chef wanted. Discreet. Must be able to swim.
Heh heh heh.
Since “…it could go either way…” I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the District of Columbia can be America’s first “Swing State.”
Denizens of Humordor can rent from the greatest little oarhouse on the Potomac and go canoodling?
New Hedges with more on Epstein. The Trump child molesting described in his previous piece was from an affidavit that was withdrawn and denied by the accuser meaning
a) she made it up or
b) she was paid or threatened to deny
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-and
Still there are alleged to be compromising pictures of Trump but nobody is coming forward with them. Surely in the speculation realm it’s Trump’s own current behavior that is most making him look guilty.
I watched Chris Hedges’ interview with Nick Bryant (posted as a comment at the tail end of yesterday’s links), and Bryant claimed that other girls stated that they saw Trump allegedly with topless underage girls on his lap, and that he complained about their lack of skill at oral sex.
Also interesting was the revelation (not new) that Ehud Barak was allegedly a co-conspirator.
‘Daddyophile’
I’ve mentioned the droll Matthew Broderick comedy The Freshman where rich people get together to eat endangered species. Real world: one of Trump’s sons was criticized for going on a hunting trip to shoot protected species.
The droit du seigneur is surely a big part of power’s allure and in my own South it isn’t a stretch to suggest that sexual power over their female slaves kept the planters devoted to slavery as much as the economic aspect. More recently the “me too” movement turned over the rock of powerful men using their position to commit sexual license against female underlings.
All of which is to say the accusations are at least plausible and Trump’s behavior is making them more so.
He said that she said that she saw? Oh my, what we’ve fallen to.
Yesterday I watched the CH NB piece in full. Bryant rambles so, I could not feel my feet on solid ground to run with it.
At least Tricky Dick spoke coherently, unlike The Donald:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M
Standards have fallen over the last 50 years.
“I prefer to cook it in a large pot over an open flame and olive oil is my go to lubricant”
Philistine … Olive oil is low temp cooking oil, high heat requires vegetable oil, and the best popcorn is done with high heat. So, you preheat your pot to just under high heat, add vegetable oil, and when it just starts to go aromatic pour in popcorn so it covers the bottom, and a bit, put lid on. The popcorn will almost start popping instantly, should only take a moment for it all to pop – huge full fluffy popcorn.
After emptying popcorn into bowl rinse off bottom of pot to cool it a bit. Lower heat down to medium. Now the butter should be salted block, add your amount to the pot, see how its melting, put pot back on burner, and wait till butter has lots of little bubbles without browning it. Additionally its best to add the salt to the butter rather than right onto the popcorn. You introduce it to the butter in the pot and add just a bit more than you think you need. Pour half the butter on popcorn in bowl, give it a few flips to mix and add the rest.
Eldest son worked for 2 yrs in a cinema and showed me the errors of my ways around 10 yrs ago … glad he did. Enjoy.
Bah humbug on cooking temps of various oils being the driver, olive oil leaves the best lingering aftertaste, take it from the kernel.
“Ukraine war briefing: Weapons will be Europe’s support to Ukraine – not Trump’s, Kallas suggests”
‘If you promise to give the weapons, but say somebody else is going to pay, it’s not really given by you.’
Well this is a first. Kaja Kallas actually said something that I can respect and approve of. Bonus points because she insulted Trump in doing so.
re: RU nuclear doctrin part 2
fwiw the rest of the study, again in German but quickly translateable
part 2
Moscow’s master plan: How the Kremlin wants to keep NATO in check
July 17, 2025 Dmitry Trenin, Sergei Avakyants, Sergei Karaganov
https://www.telepolis.de/features/Moskaus-Masterplan-Wie-der-Kreml-die-Nato-in-Schach-halten-will-10490506.html
US deports immigrants to African country of Eswatini amid rights concerns Al Jazeera
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve never heard of Eswatini which appears to be named after a cocktail or a tribal dance, one or the other.
I’d imagine they were useful coalition of the willing partners at some juncture.
Eswatini is just the new name for Swaziland and is not a rich country. They changed the name not long ago I remember but I thought the old name better.
Flamingos stealing your risotto.
Conor Gallagher, I think that you are getting a tad sensational today. The flamingos are causing some trouble in Emilia-Romagna. The flamingo population has been going up, and the local farmers are having some dilemmas and some troubles controlling them. There are now 40,000 visiting flamingos with big appetites in the Delta of the Po.
I will note that much of the Undisclosed Region is planted with rice — in fact, Italy is the main rice-producing country of Europe and the regions of Lombardy and Undisclosed are the main centers of cultivation. It is why there are so many mosquitoes in the Chocolate City.
Some clarity about the extent of the problem:
https://www.rinnovabili.it/clima-e-ambiente/biodiversita/fenicotteri-risaie-delta-del-po/
https://sigmaearth.com/it/flamingos-threaten-risotto-rice-crops-in-northeastern-italy/
I will await till the invading flamingos reach the provinces of Vercelli and Novara:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riso_(alimento)#Italia_2
Meanwhile, the Guardian is the Guardian is the Guardian. I do note that there have been some sightings of wild boars in the Chocolate City of late, a continuing and more urgent problem, and wild boars being wild boars, we just may have to eat them.
Oops. The Independent is the Independent is the Independent.
I will now head out for a walk and a caffè shakerato so as to determine if some large pink Mothra is flying this way to eat up the cricri harvest.
Thank you, DJG.
I love cinghiale.
Two villages down the west coast of Mauritius, an Italian restaurateur and his Mauritian (Creole) wife get the meat from the local sugar estates and sell as salami, sausages or serve.
Two villages down in Buckinghamshire, a butcher has arrived from Italy and sourcing from aristo estates further afield.
re: Germany vs. RU / press conference
Again an example from a German government press conference as admirably covered by reporter Florian Warweg.
The entire piece in Engl.
Bundeswehr general wants to attack Russian “command facilities” – and the historic ignorance of the German government
https://archive.is/LZAXp
“(…)
Excerpt from the minutes of the government press conference of 16 July 2025
Question Warweg
The head of the Planning and Command Staff of the Federal Minister of Defense, Major General Christian Freuding, told ZDF on July 11 from Kyiv: We need weapons systems that reach far – even deep into Russian territory – that can attack depots, command facilities, airfields. – The federal government has repeatedly emphasized that Germany is not yet a party to this war. But if that is the case, to whom was the statement by one of the highest-ranking German military officials referring, in the first person plural, that we need weapons systems to be able to attack Russian command facilities? If in doubt, the question goes to the BMVg and, if possible, also to the BPA.
Müller (BMVg)
I’ll gladly take that on. – You know that Ukraine is being attacked every day by Russia with missile systems and bombs. Civilian infrastructure is being hit, rockets are falling on kindergartens and playgrounds. We are working closely with Ukraine to equip it with the capabilities it needs to repel these horrific attacks. This means we are meeting Ukraine’s needs. By “we,” we mean meeting Ukraine’s needs, providing the urgently needed supplies for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian armed forces are responsible for the deployment of these weapons systems – as we have stated several times. They are accountable for the deployment, and we firmly believe that these weapons systems will be used in accordance with international law.
Warweg’s Addition:
I’m still waiting for the BPA. I mentioned that, too.
Deputy Government Spokesperson Meyer:
I have nothing to add to that in terms of content. I believe you just said that the Federal Government claims not to be a party to the war. I can say it again very clearly: The Federal Government is not a party to the war, but rather supports Ukraine against the ongoing attacks from Russia.
Supplementary question Warweg
I did not say “claimed”, I spoke quite objectively of “emphasized”, but whatever.
In this context, I have another question about the German government’s sense of historical responsibility. Germany killed more than 14 million civilians in a campaign against the Soviet Union that was very explicitly planned as a war of annihilation, including the older brother of the current Russian president during the starvation blockade of Leningrad. One million Russian civilians died in this war alone. Given this, I would be genuinely interested to know why, given this horrendous number of Russian civilians killed, this hasn’t led to similar verbal restraint and a similar reason-of-state approach, as we can observe, for example, in the case of Israel.
Wagner (AA)
Mr. Warweg, the German government stands by the crimes committed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and we are very aware of this responsibility. It is quite unspeakable that you are placing this in the context of current crises and conflicts. In the Ukraine context, and I refer to your previous question, it is very clear who is the aggressor and who is the defender. Russia attacks Ukraine every day in violation of international law, and Ukraine is defending itself against this attack in accordance with international law, and we support that.
(…)”
Federal Reserve and chair Powell, under enemy fire from dear leader and actually a handful of others this morning as well. A future or even likely candidate, Kevin Warsh is on all cylinders in a CNBC interview this morning. I’ll have to wait for this session to wrap, maybe a transcript gets posted a long with the video clip. For econ or policy wonks, well for me this dude seems very sharp.
A sidebar I heard this morning, is that a portion of these renovation cost overruns that occurred at the Federal Reserve building were related to finding unwanted materials at the very lowest levels of that building foundation. I am a bit undecided on the merit of these expenses, which I suppose are likely overdue; but if I correctly understand these higher expenses are not funded by taxpayers.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/building-project-faqs.htm
I caught part of that. What struck me is how despicable the CNBC clowns were in not defending Powell.
Jerome Powell has done nothing wrong, and he’s being falsely accused by Trump and Bill Pulte, who as the CEO of Pulte Homes and the head of FHFA is a walking conflict of interest. He stands to enrich himself and his family from lower rates that could blow another housing bubble.
There ought to be Congressional hearings to look into this, with Pulte the target. If I were Powell I’d sue both Trump and Pulte for defamation and go after CNBC just for good measure.
From your post to god’s ears.
Not too sure on the CNBC angle, those anchors just let him go awhile. Believe me if someone like Sorkin ( no it’s not Aaron ) doesn’t chime in with objections that is unusual. Steve Leisman as the senior economic reporter has often been critical this year on the tariffs and generally when disputing some of the most wild claims by Trump administration officials, generally those not named Scott Bessent.
Kevin Warsh seems to be in full on auditioning for the position. I would politely disagree on the Federal Reserve, however, during 2021 they were behind on inflationary pressures building as the US gradually emerged from the pandemic era into recovery. That said it’s a difficult place to be for the Fed and Powell now; after all they indeed had eased on two occasions in late 2024 and long term UST yields just have not cooperated since….
I will caveat the above by saying that Trump’s griping, insults and complaints are just one of many attributes that have kept him mostly front and center since his escalator arrival during his initial run at the Presidency.
Apropos: How the brain turns thought into language (op cit)
Sigh. I just yesterday sent this link to my daughter to dissuade her from pursuing a graduate degree in neuroimaging.
Re: When Do You Need to Quit Your Job?
An engaging read and I was nodding with Nolan until: “The New York Times is a high quality news organization” and can be reformed from within, while “Fox News, by contrast, is a propaganda organization”.
Oh really?
It seems Nolan’s main concern is to determine whether or not an organization can be reformed or is just “irredeemably bad”, in which case the employees should quit.
However, there is one other possible option that Nolan doesn’t explore: don’t quit, stick around, collect a paycheque, and quietly sabotage the organization so that it fails to deliver and loses its clients.
There’s a surprising amount of literature about “employee sabotage” and how HR Depts can attempt to deal with it. ;)
thanks…
Indeed this is maybe the biggest of all dangers to true understanding.
In fact, this is why the left has failed in such a shocking way:
His ultimate paragraph reveals all the naivité and deep-rooted ideology and crypto-magalomania which, well, makes me desperate as I am surrounded by it. And all fine well-meaning people, sigh:
“Even by this conservative standard, we can comfortably say that a lot of employees at a lot of places should quit, right now. Palantir? Yes. Blood is on your hands. ICE? Leave now. The FBI? You work for a monster. Get out. Fox News? Goodbye. Anti-union law firms? No reason to be there. Gambling apps? Payday loan companies? Predatory private equity firms? Corporate lobbyists who exacerbate the ongoing crisis of economic inequality? Quit your job. Quit your motherfucking job!
You may believe that you are a good person. But sometimes it doesn’t matter. If you work for the goon squad then you are, by definition, a goon. “
btw just for starters: he doesn’t even mention C.I.A. once. What kind of kindergarten is this…
I found it kind of refreshing to hear someone just bring up the subject, even if it is unrealistic. We all decry how awful society has become, yet we keep lining up to work for these monster companies grinding us under their wheels. What if the worst of them suddenly couldn’t hire a soul and couldn’t carry on their work? A ‘general strike’ targeted at the worst of the worst.
I am a bit gloomy lately…
“Quit your job.”
They’ll replace you by tomorrow and you won’t be able to pay your mortgage not to mention losing your health insurance. Not realistic for most, not usful as a protest.
Most importantly it allows the quitter to live a happy and coherent life. It’s called Right Livelihood.
It’s also tremendously useful as protest, not so much for its economic impact on the employer, but for the effect on and example to one’s colleagues and friends. It’s like Tolstoy’s metaphor of the flock of birds sitting on a tree branch and then all of them suddenly moving together to a different branch based on the example of just one or two birds.
The connections between you and your friends, colleagues, and family are far more powerful than you think.
I hear couch surfing really isn’t fun after a while.
Yes, crippling the CIA would be a twofer. You’d limit Palantir and Anduril too!
Yeah it’s chasing rainbows and unicorns, and go catch some sunshine or the occasional butterfly. Life in corporate America is just not for everyone, and on the occasion when an economic crisis begets real hardships, the reality of your service is no longer required hits quite hard.
I have opined on this topic or adjacently in the past, so here it goes. I do not request or ask for tiny violins to accompany what I write next. Between 2009 to 2012 I was downsized and out of work twice, at two separate places of employment. It is easily acknowledged the financial industry and the investment industry was undergoing a sh** ton of unsettling and shaking the foundation of modern US finance to it’s very core. Ho hum, yes as I like to point it is a Recession when it’s someone else getting displaced or fired. Spending time to deal with the grief and accepting the harsh changes in my personal and professional life…most unpleasant to experience it first hand.
So to summarize, people attend college to further their educational pursuits, to possibly network and meet friends and establish relationships that can sustain for 30 or more years. What does America begin to resemble if there is no longer the interest to strive, to ambitiously pursue personal and professional goals and long held pursuits. We’re going to find out soon enough is my fear. American students aren’t exactly learning the three R’s that many of us grew up learning. That’s anecdotal from a few teaching professionals, based on what they have experienced in recent years.
Added thought. Fox news may well indeed have a propaganda angle and I would not exactly disagree but feel welcome to insert in it’s place say, MSNBC, CNN, or ABC. But are we really to believe now that the NY Times is the leading arbiter for truth and justice, for right and for wrong? Sweet fancy Moses. An organization such as Palantir likely should not exist but Peter Thiel exploited IRS rules to build his fortune and very likely, will never have to own up to those decisions. Some men are just evil, nature of this world.
“Two days talking to people looking for jobs at ICE”
I know, i know, humani nihil alienum . I try to keep it in mind, and avoid the kind of despair and disgust the author describes. But one thing I’ve found, wandering around the social landscape of young working class people in a post-industrial city, is a general, casual, and unapologetic amorality. Many Americans, it seems, have not been taught to feel shame, except perhaps for unemployment or other ‘personal’ failings. By the time some do, sometimes the result of personal calamity, reconnect with our shared humanity, they might be homeless.
I suspect that it’s not so much the absence of shame — there’s plenty of shame around being thought unattractive or out of step — as it is decades of inculcation of a single commandment: Thou shalt place Money above all else. Correlation: Money is the measure of all things.
So the lack of money is shameful, and any means of acquiring it is automatically classified as good.
Who would be doing the shaming? Is there any evidence in our celebrity culture of a value besides success, even when accompanied by notoriety?
They (ICE goons) are a step up on the ethical ladder compared to those US mercenaries providing food aid tp Palestinians in Gaza and preparing the firing line for the Israelis, if not executing that themselves…
Self-centredness and lack of empathy can cement it’s place in someone’s life if they had a harsh upbringing. Harsh upbringings are more common in families that undergo some sort of trauma – homelessness, food deprivation, single parent working 3 jobs and never home so kids bring themselves up.
Back in the day there was probably more community from church going and small town every knows everybody, so maybe more help for people.
As the US sinks into terminal decline, where close friendships are rare, church going is rare, poverty is growing and homelessness is on the rise, I think we should expect that people will just be more self-centred overall. And desperate not to join the homeless.
They will take any job they can get if it pays some bills, especially if they have families.
Ethics are a luxury for the young and for the rich. Both are in decline.
Ethics are a luxury for the young and for the rich.
Yea, right. All those rich on the Epstein’s list are brimfull of ethics.
I would echo these sentiments….broadly speaking I would alter the last bit of phrasing to read as virtue signaling instead of ethics. Bills aren’t paid with hopes, dreams or rainbows…
Not just a recent development either, necessarily! “Ethics” or even say a concept such as morals have been up for grabs. To paraphrase the science officer from the Alien movie, Ash, “I admire it’s purity, it’s a perfect organism. No conscience or even delusions of morality..”
New MAGA
Trump: Make Aged-pedophiles Great Again!
“We’re Starting to Sound Like ChatGPT — And We Don’t Even Realize It”
Yeah, nah! This is just a media beat up story for clicks & likes. Sort of like with the Gen Z stare-
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/07/16/gen-z-stare-is-going-viral-on-tiktok-what-is-it/85242062007/
Or 30 year old men wanting to live in their mom’s basement ordering food from Door Dash-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M51v1dmhp1k (29:24 mins) – ShoeOnHead
Just not buyin’ it.
My first thought was it’s probably written by a LLM. My next one was, “we“? Speak for yourself, Zoe Gordon!
But really, the most distinct characteristic of conversations with chat bots is their extreme sycophancy. Compare that with discourse on Reddit and Discord.
Hegseth’s New Dress Code of Honor Ken Klippenstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m all for good grooming, and nothing like a Snowcat to make uniform corduroy out of a slope, or as we call the finished product: ‘the groomers’.
‘Laser treatment’ is pretty common among men taking a walk on the wild side, I thought Pete was stridently against anything trans?
With his New Dress Code of Honor, I thought that Hegseth would have a lot to say about tattoos but here there was nothing but radio silence. Can’t work out why.
In my time, the first thing a new CNO or MCPON did was fiddle with uniform and grooming standards. If I was Hegseth first thing I would do is order Navy back to khaki for chiefs and officers and dungarees for other enlisted. (And I guess the A-V-8-Rs have their own opinion about “aviation greens”)
My wife who also was career navy liked her distinctive uniforms and didn’t feel the need to look like a man to be valued. Though she did complain about the cost of the “bucket hat” compared to the men.
re: sex life vs. social media
WIRED interview
A topic rather unusual for my posts.
It might fit better intthe comments section to this NC item:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/06/reverse-lysistrata-more-on-men-cooling-on-dating-sex-and-the-role-of-societal-denigration.html
But let me put it here since it´s new:
How Social Media Is Fueling Gen Z’s Sex Recession
For her new book, journalist Carter Sherman interviewed over 100 young people about why they’re not having sex. She says they’re “very horny” but also more isolated, self-conscious, and fearful.
https://archive.is/wyUhj
p.s. It is no accident that as a high schooler in the US the first word I was “taught” was “horny”. All the while half a dozen girls in our class, underaged naturally, were pregnant. And needless to add, church was big. This was decades ago. And this inconsequential behaviour and double standard by an entire society puzzled me already then. It appears that despite the fact that decades have passed since this hasn’t really changed in the US of A. Or has it?
Take a look at the video I linked to by ShoeOnHead earlier-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M51v1dmhp1k (29:24 mins)
She mentions a lot of the social changes that have taken place over recent years.
thanks!
“80% of Single Women Are No Longer Interested in Dating: They Are Not Even Trying: 50 Women Get Real Honest Why They Don’t Want To Date Men”
https://www.boredpanda.com/single-women-no-longer-interested-dating/
Bored Panda gets some of its posts from Reddit, but I don’t think this one comes from there.
Very interesting answers. One woman said, “We have raised our standards.”
If I were answering this question I would say “We just don’t want to be raped anymore.” Any women here on NC want to answer, “Have you been raped?”
*Ann slowly raises her hand.*
Nature will sort all that out in just a couple of generations.
re: Craig Murray on protesters vs. Leonardo weapons factory in Edinburgh
nice title…
The Big Chill
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2025/07/the-big-chill/
“Why the U.S. Only Wants Hezbollah’s Precision Weapons, Not Its Full Disarmament”
Simple. Because the moment that Hezbollah cannot cause pain in Israel like Iran did, then Israel would feel free to invade that country and maybe partition it with Al Qeda Syria. And at that point they and the Jihadists wold eliminate Hezbollah entirely. I am not so convinced. When the Jihadists took Syria, they only had a very tiny force to do so whereas the Syrian army was huge in comparison but was bribed to stand down. That is why Jolani is demanding that Lebanon free some 2,000 Jihadists from their prisons. He needs more ground troops but now Israel has turned against him. Scott Ritter was saying that when Israel bombed Damascus, Jolani bolted for Idlib for his own personal safety. Regardless, until those long range weapons go, the Israelis are in strategic check.
Whistling past the Dem graveyard, Fifth Amendment edition. Or, as observant people say, only a matter of time before senility will out.
Thanks, Joe
Rep Comer: “I believe the American people are concerned. They’re concerned that there were people making decisions in the White House that were not only unelected but no one to this day knows who they were.”
So business as usual?
Are we experiencing the descent into the maelstrom? Or maybe, “Turning turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer/Things fall apart; the center cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world … It certainly feels that way. Simply scroll through the offerings in Links.
Modern movies article linked above…make everything pale again? Maybe I totally miss the point being presented but I’m turning into older man territory ( early to mid 50s, when retirement dreams are still out in the future but that’s nearer now than my high school days… ). I recently watched the newest installment of the Jurrasic World / Jurassic Park film franchise. I don’t have high praise but it did exceed the low low bar set by the preceding movie ..
Mindless dreck though it may be, well it was mostly entertaining but the plots* on these get more wild but have to consistently veer back to the original park / original sin of the InGen scientists and engineering of dino DNA….Back to mindless dreck, does the Fantastic Four, one example of many it seems, have a failure to launch with movie goers ? I’ve lost track and have not seen a minute that mattered from any of those.
Jurassic World screenwriter for a 2029 film…raptors unleashed in the NYC subway system! Ha ha.
We blew through it and as far as I could tell, no mention was made in the media of the 80th anniversary of the nuclear age dawning in New Mexico yesterday.
Perhaps that is no longer acceptable.
See: “Uncle Sam wants you to rat on national parks that reflect true history”. Opinion article by John Lawrence. He states:
“Few initiatives of the Trump administration more seriously undermine our understanding of the nation’s past than Executive Order 14253 from March 27, which promises “to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments.”
“The order directs the Interior secretary to cleanse all National Park Service sites of any signage that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” and instead “emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.” The Park Service staff was also instructed to purge gift shops of books that could be construed as critical of any American. In a similar vein, the Smithsonian Institution was ordered to remove “improper ideology” from its properties to assure they reflected “American greatness.”
Both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps will be celebrating their 250th anniversary this year.
It will be instructive to see whether there will be celebratory parades attended by President bonespurs and I expect many service members will be paying attention.
Since few members of the PMC are familiar with the vast gulf between the enlisted and officer class I thought I would share my maternal grandmother’s explanation.
She was both the head nurse at the San Joaquin County VA hospital for decades and West Coast Commander of the “American Legion” during the 1950’s, so her explanation carries weight.
“Officers acquire nonspecific urethritis while enlisted Men catch the clap”.
Enjoy the show.
Fleet Week in NYC was last May. Fleet Week in San Fran sked for Oct.
Don’t know about the “vast gulf between the enlisted and officer class” these days. But then we have had for well over 100 years that peculiar breed known as the “chief”. And one thing a JO quickly learns, you don’t eff with your chief.
US Navy was disbanded in 1785. The present US Navy was founded in 1794. The oldest seagoing service in the US is the US Coast Guard nee Revenue Cutter Service, established in 1790.
You never give me your money
You only give me your funny crypto coins
And in the middle of Epstein negotiations
You break down
I never give you much consideration
I only wonder about the situation
And in the middle of investigation
Things break down
Out of college, loans spent
See no future, pay high rent
All the money’s gone, nowhere to go
Any Federal employee got the sack
Monday morning quarterback
Job market slow, nowhere to go
But oh, that tragic feeling, nowhere to go
Oh, that tragic feeling
Nowhere to go
Our sweet DOGE dream
Pick up the bags and get in the limousine
Soon we’ll be away from here
Step on the gas and wipe that tear away
One sweet dream came true today
Came true today
Came true today (yes it did)
One two three four five six seven eight
Nine ten twelve thirteen fourteen eleven
All good Elon children go to Heaven
Ahhhh
Here comes the Sum King
Here comes the Sum King
Everybody’s laughing
Everybody’s happy
Here come the Sum King
Quando para mucho moolah mi amore de felice corazon
Mundo paparazzi mi amore chica ferdi parasol
Questo obrigado tanta mucho que can eat it carousel
Mean Mister Musk works in the dark
Shaves jobs in the National Parks trying to save paper
Sleeps in a Cybertruck off the road
Saving up to have some more kids
Keeps the economy on the skids
Such a mean old man
Such a mean old man
Attorney General Pam works in the Trump shop
She never stops, she’s a go-getter
Takes him out to look at the Qatari plane op
Only gift horse in the mouth that has ever been
Always shouts out something obscene
Such a dirty old man
Dirty old man
Well, you should see AG Pam
She’s so good-looking but she looks like a bottle blonde hag
Well, you should see her in a fake tan, that’s her bag
Yes, you should see AG Pam
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Get a dose of her in crucifix and silk
She’s killer-diller when she took plastic surgery to the hilt
She’s the kind of a girl that makes a mockery of the law
Yes, you could say she was artificially built
Yeah, yeah, yeah
She came in through the administration window
Protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wonders
By the banks of her own lagoon
Didn’t anybody tell her?
Didn’t anybody see?
Rubio’s on the road to ruin
Floridians on the make to me
She said she’d always been an attorney
She worked on his first impeachment trial back in the day
And though she thought she knew the answer
Well, I knew what she could not say
And so after Gaetz quit the politics department
And got himself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help him
He could steal kisses, but he could not rob
Didn’t anybody tell her?
Didn’t anybody see?
Donald’s on the phone to Stephen Miller
Kristi is on the phone too you see, oh yeah
Once, there was a way
To get back homeward
Once, there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Golden bumblers fill your eyes
Smiles lie to you, to get a rise
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Once, there was a way
To get back homeward
Once, there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight,
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
I never give you much consideration
I only send you my lyrical vocation
And in the middle of mock celebration
I break down
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Oh yeah, all right
Are you going to be in my nightmares
Tonight?
And in the end
The power you take
Is equal to the loss
You make
ICE Barbie is a pretty nice girl
But she doesn’t have a lot to say
ICE Barbie is a pretty nice girl
But she changes wardrobes throughout the day
I wanna tell her that I loathe her a lot
But I gotta get a belly full of whine
ICE Barbie is a pretty nice girl
Someday she’s gonna make it as a mime, oh yeah
Someday she’s gonna make it as a mime
Medley from Abbey Road, by the Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CVsBOjeDzk
Magisterial. AG Pam, for the win.
Update on my temporary housemate, the US/Ukrainian dual national that recently retired from fighting in Ukraine.
The most surprising thing that he has told me is what he regards as the true motivation for the war, apparently as believed by at least some UAF soldiers. While he agrees that Russia is fighting for it’s very existence, but emphasizes that the threat comes from men dressing as women and entering children’s bathrooms. (!!) He says that the Ukrainian government and oligarchs are willing to be corrupted by money to not protect against this woke assault on family values and this is why Russia invaded. He does acknowledge the importance of NATO advancing and putting missiles on Russia’s border, but he says this civilizational threat is what truly motivated Russia’s invasion. So, that illuminates a certain level of brainwashing/ handwaving.
He repeats the 5000/ week figure for dead due to war, both sides. He also says that the Ukrainians are hard-headed and Zelensky is evil. He admires Putin.
Any mention of Israel is met with the argument for the legitimate need to protect themselves in a dangerous neighborhood. To be expected I suppose.
He does not believe that there are banderites or Nazis in UAF, says that that is Russian propaganda. But he has admitted to a “bad element”.
As to his survival strategies here in Bogota, He told me his secret for being safe with the local violent element, which he estimates to number 15%, is to meet the families and specifically the mother. I guess it is a form of mutually assured destruction.
As to be expected, the guy is heavily propagandized and has a difficulty with other viewpoints. Yesterday I explained to him the theory that the people of the US will become the new Palestinians. That the means of persecution and surveillance developed in Israel will be turned on the US population when they protest their lack of food, housing, medical care, etc etc. His eyes opened wide and he was silent for a minute. Then he asked, what do we care? We don’t live there anymore. And besides, it’s appropriate that the people with most money do what they will and that the weak suffer as they must, though not in those exact words. Still, I think I shook him a little bit, although his brain is so addled that I don’t know if it’ll stick at all. At least I didn’t get the standard response about Israel’s protection from bad neighbors.
I also theorized that Trump is making a big mistake by not making bigger moves in Africa. That significant parts of the future control of the world revolve around access to the resources of Africa and that the Chinese and the Russians are quickly establishing dominance there. As well as the Turks and the Iranians, perhaps also the UAE. Anyway he didn’t have a quick reply for that and I think it turned a few wheels in his mostly calcified brain. But he did not react over-defensively to these suggestions, so maybe he is softening up for a bit to a more critical thinking approach to his established worldview.
Next I want to suggest to him that Israel is being used by the globalists to create chaos in the strategically important area of the Middle East so as to co-opt and manage the push for the expansion of greater Israel. Then the globalists will come with all of their wealth and corruption to build the new center of hegemonic power that will replace the used-up and discarded United States. This is the theory that I’ve heard recently from John Maersheimer and I’d like to see his reaction to it.
Here is another comment I made today regarding my temporary Russian housemate if people missed it: https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/07/why-is-the-media-normalizing-nuclear-war-and-its-effects-on-us-populations.html#comment-4245990
saludos
Remarkable from your side.
I have even folded when planning to confront my long-time friends (although it might be easier to confront complete strangers than folks one depends on professionally).
Don´t know if you´d agree with that phenomenon in general – confiding in complete strangers rather than regular acquaintances.
These reports are incredible — thank you !
I like how all reports about R of Moldova do not provide any background on the territory and population.
Like Russians reporting on R of Moldova, treating it as something of a fixture of their past, Europeans treat it is something particular.
Does Mr. Fazi know that about 1/3 of Romania is recognized as Moldova as well and that there are 2x more “Moldovans” in Romania than in R of Moldova. Or that half of R of Moldova citizens are also Romanian citizens. Or that Ilan Sor has been condemned in absetia for defrauding about 1 billion USD from Moldovan banks?
Does EU recognizes all these things? Russians still don’t want to admit that their invented Moldovan Language is in fact Romanian Language. There is never talk of re-unification of Moldova with Romania, which would be the natural solution for Moldovan integration in EU. Why then the approach taken by EU? Because they don’t like the nationalist idea one iota, they want to dismantle nationalism as a force, as a concept. Good luck with that.
Thank you for all the insights you provide into the history of the United Principalities. I always learn something from your input.
An interesting post from Emmanuel Todd on European Russophobia:
https://substack.com/inbox/post/168540312
Very good, thanks. He’s got a mean wit, Mr. Todd.
yep, thanks
COVID is that you?
Billy Jones, Impresario of New York’s Indie Music Scene, Dies at 45 (NY Times via archive.ph)
I wonder when and if he got vaxxed.
Also……..
Super Bowl champion Bryan Braman dies at age of 38 after cancer diagnosis
“he was diagnosed with cancer in February.” That’s as aggressive as an NFL linebacker.
Tis a mystery.
https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodbath_&_Beyond_Gun_Shop
Sorry, not impressed.
While I can see the “Amazon of guns” might have some impact on dealer markups, since you are going to have to go through a local FFL anyway I don’t see that much advantage, as most manufacturers already provide something like factory order. For stuff not subject to FFL it might be a bigger deal.
The used market has some fragmentation that could perhaps use an FB marketplace, though the gun show still reigns as it facilitates in-state transfers (where state law allows).
or maybe, “PEW, what’s that smell?”
America is going great
Judge Scraps Rule Eliminating Medical Debt on Credit Reports
It’s funny how they always find just the right judge to rat-f&%! the maximum number of people.
Chartbook 396 Strangelove in the Middle East – or how the markets learned to stop worrying and love Israel’s rampage – Adam Tooze
Not only that market, so many global stock market indexes have had only minor bumps along the road to highs…as long as the world is on fire.
regarding Israeli army prepares ‘prolonged operation’ in Syria following massive attack on Damascus
This will start by Monday. Several Israeli colleagues’ flights from TLV that day were cancelled in the past 48 hours. If it goes for ~10 days or so without another party resigning from Netanyahu’s government, the Knesset will go on 3 month recess without the government collapsing. I don’t know what impact the recess will have on Netanyahu’s trial.
So, Al-Julani gets the same fate as the Iranian nuclear scientists. Whacked for the good of the Israeli settler colony.
Odds: 1:3
And we all need to update our maps of the ME, again.
Odds: 1:1
My thoughts on this aren’t yet fully formed but I feel there are multiple vectors converging here:
– Gaza cannot remain in the current indefinite but fully mobilized war situation for much longer without bringing down Netanyahu’s government;
– Netanyahu’s government is mostly being propped up by Ben Gvir and Smotrich’s faction, who need a ‘Greater Israel’ to maintain their base, the nationalist settlers;
– Israeli defense industry requires long term proving grounds to maintain viability for international markets;
– US war planners are fine with Turkiye stepping up where Israel failed if it means momentum against Iran can be maintained and Turkiye has a land border with Iran;
– Israeli power brokers outside of the military are in a heightened ‘gambling’ like state and have already doubled and tripled down so much they can’t back out now given the perceived success they’ve seen so far (see the Adam Tooze chart book post today);
I don’t know if I buy the Israel vs Turkiye hypothesis though. I do agree they are regional rivals but I think there may be some aspect of quid pro quo for the benefit of each country’s hyper nationalist faction. And the US is happy to encourage this if it means their end goals are met.
Alex Christorofou seems to think it is deception. Al-Julani started to look a bit too chummy with Netanyahu, so Erdogan worked a deal with Nutty to do some theatrical airstrikes and make it look like Al-Julani has not “evolved” too much into a rainbow-flag-waving fan of Israel.
Your post suggests Alex is wrong and Israel is about to chimp out on Julani. I tend to think that is the more likely scenario, because as you point out Ben-Gvir is driving this and he is one bloodthirsty dude. Plus, this is probably the chance of a lifetime for Netanyahu to re-do the maps.
These LARP-ers from HTS are the weakest group out there – they cannot even control their borders. Now Netanyahu has declared everything south of Damascus a no-go zone:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-vows-no-syrian-forces-south-of-damascus-as-bedouins-druze-fight-despite-truce/
Why not go for Damascus? A quick decapitation strike might do the trick. It would be a nice addition to Israel.
I forgot to add, one more factor:
I suspect Netanyahu would love to whack Al-Julani to show Trump and Erdogan who the real boss playa is. Like a Don showing the rivals who runs the show.
Ad one more factor: geography
Via DDGeopolitics TG channel:
🏳️🇸🇾🇸🇾 And so the “David Corridor” is being implemented.
In the grand scheme of things, the Hijra has no other options than to continue working in the interests of Israel.
First of all, it will be necessary to make efforts to create an Israeli buffer zone in southern Syria. This is a question of the survival of As-Suwayda, which will be blockaded, and its residents will become clearly unwelcome guests in other Syrian provinces. Traders from Daraa have already banned any transactions with people from As-Suwayda, and other provinces will follow their example.
Therefore, the Hijra needs to create a corridor with Israel, which As-Suwayda itself does not border. This can be done precisely by creating a buffer zone in southern Syria in Daraa and Quneitra in the interests of Israel under the pretext of unblocking Daraa. Naturally, the main role here should be played by Israeli troops, and only then will the Druze play the role of a conditional buffer.
The SDF’s intervention in the conflict in As-Suwayda was effectively prevented by Turkey, which in the current circumstances strengthened its positions in Syria, becoming the only force capable of holding the SDF and the Druze back from coordinated actions.
Overall, the situation in As-Suwayda is most likely just a stage and another step towards a new confrontation.
It would be right for Al-Sharaa to draw certain conclusions and open the supply channel to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it tried to block in the interests of Israel. However, as we see, Tel Aviv didn’t appreciate this.
The Israelis I discuss current events with are all very clear that Trump, not Netanyahu (or anyone else in Israel) is the supreme commander here and that Israel has limited options to resist what the US wants done. Netanyahu is driven primarily by staying out of jail and has made a devil’s bargain with Ben Gvir and Smotrich (and to a lesser degree, Katz) to keep his government coalition intact.
This latter group are militaristic right-wing and Jewish supremacist, Ben Gvir especially is directly responsible for inflaming tensions over Jerusalem and inflaming the settlers there. (Last week a colleague sent me a picture of a flag hanging in old Jerusalem that looked like the Israel flag and said “Make Gaza Jewish Again” to give you an idea of their passions.) But Trump has been making noises for months now about winding Gaza down and now the US evangelical running dogs like Huckabee are howling over IDF Gaza strikes on Christian churches. This makes me think that there is an ongoing struggle by Netanyahu to rein in his forces (especially those sympathetic to the Ben Gvir faction) in Gaza despite the orders from above. And currently Ben Gvir is still pushing to ‘eradicate Hamas’ – he knows he has leverage to keep going.
So Netanyahu has to find a way to divert Ben Gvir’s – and by extension, the settler and military factions sympathetic to the Jewish supremacist “Greater Israel” aims – away from Gaza and elsewhere. He can’t just unilaterally order a ceasefire in Gaza or his government falls and he goes to jail. HTS and al-Julani are, as you say, the weakest link in the area. Netanyahu needs a military intervention of some kind that doesn’t involve the occupation forces but is ‘big enough’ to require moving military from Gaza (so the military campaign can begin being wound down in some fashion). I assure you nobody in power in the Israeli government gives a shit about the Syrian (or Israeli) Druze but if you look at a map, the area south of Damascus is next to the Golan Heights. It’s not a densely populated urban settlement requiring massive amounts of conscripted military to clear block by block, it can be handled by air forces and whatever drone systems Rafael/Elbit/etc want to field test with.
Right now it isn’t clear to me yet that there is currently anyone with enough power in Israel to win elections and form a government if Netanyahu finally falls. I suspect Ben Gvir is trying to get that math in place now with his actions. I don’t know if there is a more secular or at least less bloodthirsty legacy option – the regular appearance of Ehud Barak and his comments about ending the war (1, 2, 3) make me wonder if he’s trying to play the ‘elder voice of reason statesman’ role in a potential post Netanyahu/Ben Gvir government. But I don’t know what the path to that point looks like.
re: film / Lucrecia Martel
Since Expat2uruguay is in Bogota, I post this here, not in the AI post:
A quick summary of a “masterclass” given by Lucrecia Martel just now at the Bogotá Audiovisual Market.
‘Zama’s’ Lucrecia Martel on Netflix, AI and the Collapse of Planet Earth
https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/lucrecia-martel-masterclass-bam-on-netflix-ai-1236461902/#recipient_hashed=34940d4880dff6342e63faa6226a6a6f7747ed25898fff3991b9605ee1edec6c&recipient_salt=0c5363909e1632c9b2ca0e49da3c7b255e88ed4de0fd2acde97096f3f8b07443&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=VYDaily_bogota&utm_content=621382&utm_term=1635955?utm_medium=&utm_source=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_id=
I assume she would add more controversial thoughts in private.
She very briefly touches on what I found important, culture as an expression of hegemony and on AI, but only a couple of sentences.
Following is a complete Spanish masterclass she gave in 2023:
Lucrecia Martel en FADU (Charla completa)
65 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzSFX9KrC9c
re: EU as a new war machine
GERMAN-FOREIGN-POLICY-BLOG
The budget for the era of new conflicts
The EU Commission’s new budget proposal will enable it to intervene quickly and effectively in future crises and conflicts and to discipline member states more strongly than before. Observers warn of a possible erosion of democracy.
https://archive.is/KmjAP
Pete Hegseth just revolutionized drone warfare. Not even George Lucas could see this coming.
https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1945940066469331379
🇺🇸 The U.S. presented their new “Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS)” drone.
[images]
Trump announces that Iran stole the blueprints for the Shahed drone from the US when Obama was President. Iran sues for copyright infringement.
I don’t know …. feral evang sorts of many colours vs intelligentsia … with elites funding both … heck of a world …
#China
Just found this (X.com) featuring Family Blog Friend Yanis Varoufakis.
Why Is China A Threat?