Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth Wired
Social media users in the Central Valley are freaking out about unusual fog, and what might be in it LA Times
How Our Brain Drains Its Waste Products Ground Truths
Climate/Environment
HOTTEST CHRISTMAS ON RECORD is expected for tens of millions of people across the United States!
High temps will be as high as 75-77 in Illinois, 67-69 in South Dakota, 80+ in parts of Texas. pic.twitter.com/1geNj0Cteg
— Max Velocity (@MaxVelocityWX) December 20, 2025
A small state with a big climate plan Moving Day
They said they wanted to help farmers. They really wanted to hurt environmentalists. Seeking Rents
AI chatbots share climate disinformation and recommend climate denialists to susceptible personas Global Witness
Water
Commentary: Pakistan-Afghanistan border clash could turn into a wider water crisis Channel News Asia
Japan
Japan Votes to Restart Its Largest Nuclear Power Plant OilPrice
China?
US-China recoupling in an age of decoupling High Capacity
Jiang Xueqin: Chain Reaction Toward World War III Has Begun Glenn Diesen
George Yeo on superpower ‘headaches’ and why the US dollar could crack South China Morning Post
China’s Official Media Rebukes Han-Centric Historical Narratives Sinical China
Wang Ou: Migrant workers, after the honeymoon The East Is Read
The Lucky Country
AUSTRALIA TRIALS ISRAELI WEAPON SYSTEM ‘BATTLE TESTED’ IN GAZA Declassified Australia
Syraqistan
“After the first 70,669 deaths, there is no other.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
West Bank: Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian schoolboy in Jenin at point-blank range New Arab
Israel’s security cabinet approves 19 new West Bank settlements New Arab
Israel to disengage from US military aid and collaborate with STC in Yemen? GeoPolitiQ
Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes NBC News
U.S. Blockades Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela. Iran Deserves the Same Treatment Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Dave Chappelle: “The fear I have that I need you to protect me from is co-option. What if they make me say the things they want me to say? So just in case we need a code. If I say it you know they got me, and don’t listen to nothing I say after. The code is: I stand with Israel.” pic.twitter.com/Hh4EhieL9z
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) December 20, 2025
Old Blighty
Two Palestine Action hunger strikers in UK prisons admitted to hospital Al Jazeera
‘Hit Squad’: The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry Coverup Kit Klarenberg
European Disunion
Role reversal: how foot-dragging France blindsided newly assertive Berlin FT
It was blindingly obvious that Europe wasn’t going to agree to the reparations loan Ian Proud
Germany After “Pax Americana”: From Green Transition to Military Keynesianism Umit Akcay
Macron says France to build new aircraft carrier Anadolu Agency
The Brief – Banned in Brussels: How Euractiv landed on the Commission’s enemies list Euractiv
New Not-So-Cold War
No breakthrough after Ukraine talks in Miami Politico
EU loan to Ukraine pushing bloc ‘into war’ with Russia – Orban RT
Europe risks a self-fulfilling prophecy over the threat from Russia FT
Why the Brussels money-grab will fail Unherd
Macron’s Gambit Accepted The Sense of an Ending
***
Russia’s lieutenant general killed in Moscow car bomb Intellinews
Sweden Boards Sanctioned Russian Cargo Ship Reuters
***
Putin’s Presser: asabiyyah Julian MacFarlane
Diplomacy, corruption, politics Events in Ukraine
They’ve run out of talking points, must be going terribly bad for Ukraine…
Can’t tell if they actually believe this or it’s just propaganda for the gullible. pic.twitter.com/9wvFQOYZz0
— Spetsnaℤ 007 🇷🇺 (@Alex_Oloyede2) December 21, 2025
Africa
The IMF has told Botswana that if it buys its own diamond mines and thus gains control over its own resource production, it will stop funding Botswana. For the IMF to maintain a relationship with Botswana, the country must keep its resources in the hands of white people.
Here,… https://t.co/biBXLEvrJW
— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) December 18, 2025
South of the Border
As PDVSA Hits Oil Production Target, US Seizes 2nd Venezuelan Tanker Orinoco Tribune
This act of piracy also opens a new front. The tanker is said to be owned by a Chinese trading company. And PDVSA’s recent policy has been to get paid upfront, so this would mean a Chinese firm w/ a ~$100 million hole in its pocket. Will Beijing take action beyond statements? pic.twitter.com/9COpvtcIXR
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) December 21, 2025
US Pursuing Third Oil Tanker Near Venezuela, Officials Say Reuters
USAF F-35As Have Arrived In The Caribbean The War Zone
Will Venezuela Defeat US in World War III? Kevin Barrett
L’affaire Epstein
Justice Department restores Trump photo to public database of Epstein files Reuters
Chomsky taught a generation to dismiss ruling class coordination as “conspiracy theory” while dining with the man who coordinated blackmail operations for that same ruling class pic.twitter.com/ltJqQwHGRQ
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) December 21, 2025
Sexual Blackmail Makes the World Go ‘Round Helen of desTroy
Capitalism Did Not Float In on the Market: Chibber, Jacobin, and the Political Function of Western Marxism Weaponized Information
Trump 2.0
Long lines at the food pantry: Inflation tests Trump’s base in Michigan Reuters
Acting CISA director failed a polygraph. Career staff are now under investigation. Politico. Bread lines and lie detector tests. A lot of commentators want to compare to USSR, but at least they had healthcare…
GOP Funhouse
ACA Premiums Explode as GOP Obstruction Pushes Millions Toward Health Care Ruin Egberto Off The Record
Accelerationists
POST-NEOLIBERALISM IS THE NEW CENTRISM Quinn Slobodian, LPE Project
Democrats en déshabillé
Gov. Walz calls $9 billion fraud estimate in Minnesota-run Medicaid services ‘sensationalized’ Minnesota Reformer
The Uniparty
1 in 10 voters want a bigger military budget, 8 in 10 senators voted for one Stephen Semler
Immigration
The real purpose of ICE raids. Borderland Talk with Jenn Budd
Police State Watch
ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters From Private Prison Company GEO Group The Intercept
Groves of Academe
Radical Finance for America’s Schools w/ David I. Backer MR Online
AI
Could the US win the AI race, but lose the war for economic preeminence? The Antimonopolist
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
There’s so much stolen data in the world, South Korea will require face scans to buy a SIM The Register
Our Famously Free Press
The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis Roosevelt Institute
Here’s the deleted trailer for the now-“delayed” segment. It’s almost impressive how much damage Bari Weiss has done to CBS News in such a short period of time.
Someone quickly schedule a prime-time Town Hall with Alan Dershowitz to rectify the harm:pic.twitter.com/382gRG5Lgp https://t.co/3gHRKNES2y
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 21, 2025
MAGA media mess deepens at Turning Point convention Axios
StopAntisemitism Takes Credit for Getting Hundreds Fired. A Music Teacher Is Suing. The Intercept
If You’re Not Free To Oppose A Genocide, Your Society Is Not Free Caitlin Johnstone
The Friendly Skies
The SpaceX Explosion That Put Flights in Danger WSJ
‘He Was Poisoned.’ Toxic Fumes on Planes Blamed for Deaths of Pilots and Crew WSJ
Influence of seating position and ventilation on aerosol dispersion in a passenger aircraft Springer Nature
Airbus to migrate critical apps to a sovereign Euro cloud The Register
The Bezzle
Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams Mission Local
Casino Nation
Life in the Fast Lane With Robinhood Markets Racket News
Antitrust
Monopoly Round-Up: Corporate Lawyers and Fat Envelope America BIG by Matt Stoller
Class Warfare
The New Nobility and Neo-Colonial Exploitation of the Home Citizenry Charles Hugh Smith
Walking in the Dark Enlightened Omnivore
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes”
With Trump bogged down in the Ukraine with no way that he can come out a winner here and in a stand-off with Maduro in Venezuela who is not stepping down, along comes Netanyahu with a solution – war with Iran. The American public, especially the MAGA voters along with the America Firsters will love that because that is why they voted Trump in for. Of course the US will have to do the heavy lifting and be putting their troops at hazard of being killed but Bibi is willing to take that risk.
The attention to Venzuela also has a connection with the Israel/Iran situation.
The big Z project has not stopped being a priority.
Of course. Although it’s also related to Russia and Hezbollah… Practically anything that smells of resistance. However, I wonder what the limits of this media/propaganda wrapping are and its apparent degree of coordination in reality.
I MUST comment on the photo of the cat in the XMAS tree. From all appearances this is a Turkish Van cat, a very rare cat in the United States. I would be curious is the person that submitted this picture is aware of wether this cat is a Van cat. Mine was indeed a character and since the van loves high places and is very mischievous this would indeed be a place where one would go.
Is it Smokey Van Kat, or a breed from the vicinity of Van lake?
Whatever breed of cat it is, it still wants to kill that Christmas tree like all true cats are prone to do.
Kill???!!!???
Cats are toddlers with claws that can climb. Any Christmas tree deaths are unintentional.
Best…H
I’m sure that you mean that any Christmas tree deaths will be just “collateral damage.” :)
i woke up at 3:30 am on my belly with my right leg(with the artificial hip) hanging weirdly off the bed…because the catpile had somehow shifted during the night and effectively, if partially, kicked me out of my own bed(dog helped, based on the arrangement of animals).
hips been frelled all day.
accidental, of course.
they appear to accept me as part of the tribe(bumped foreheads numerous times, to mark me)
is there a male analog for “crazy cat lady”?
“is there a male analog for “crazy cat lady”?”
P-whipped?
It looks like Simon’s cat. / ;) utube, ~2+ minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2h3_aH3vo
Continuing this cat themed thread, here’s this from Julian Macfarlane
https://open.substack.com/pub/julianmacfarlane/p/what-makes-you-human?r=blt6&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Once had a Turkish Van and yes, he was the only one of the dozen or so cats that owned us over the years who climbed to the top of our Christmas tree. They also love water. He never objected to a bath, played in his water dish with his paws, and loved loved loved it whenever we put an ice cube in it for him to bat around!
Fun story. My little Emmylou always drank with her right paw. She had a tin water bowl and you would hear ting ting ting as she was dipping her paw in the water, then she would drink from it.
Thats a fun one, too. I can hear it…
We had one cat we rescued as a kitten that I’m convinced had to be a rare XXY or XXYY chromosome cat. Male in the right places, but tri-color (supposedly only females can have three colors – need the female chromosome for that.) He adopted two other kittens we got later in his life and treated them like a mother would. Also the smartest cat I’ve ever known. And sweetest personality, We miss them all, but maybe him the most.
We’ve got one old girl left, the most beautiful tortoiseshell I’ve ever seen, with one hind leg expressing tabby stripes! After her, we are considering going into adopting seniors who would otherwise be euthanized but still have a few good years left to live. I understand that the convention is that any cat over 12 is first in line for such at many shelters.
Nice. We do rescue dogs nowadays since my daughter is allergic to cats (our fault for not introducing her young enough, new parents take note, also take them to a farm if you can.)
This little white part Shiz-tzu we have now was scared of me for 5 years. What finally tipped him over was July 4th fireworks while my wife was out of town. He doesn’t shed and we joke about what he would like after 2 years in the wild.
‘COMBATE |🇵🇷
@upholdreality
Chomsky taught a generation to dismiss ruling class coordination as “conspiracy theory” while dining with the man who coordinated blackmail operations for that same ruling class’
I still want to know if that was the Lolita Express jet that he was on and if so, where was it headed. Meanwhile…
‘Max Blumenthal
@MaxBlumenthal
At approximately the same time Noam Chomsky was wagging his finger at the Palestinian-led BDS movement, he was meeting privately with Ehud Barak, among the worst war criminals in Israeli history.
The meetings were brokered by Jeffrey Epstein.’
https://xcancel.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1652751621200199680#m
I don’t care how much good work Chomsky has done earlier in his career, the present Noam Chomsky acts like a psyop.
Indeed. I’ve been over him since he turned to “vote Blue no matter who” but his appearance in the Epstein files, and his testy refusals to explain anything, make me question his entire career.
I think your ‘guilt by association’ tactic is way off the mark.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution for which he served one year in prison. Epstein donated millions to universities for which he had access to a number of professors. For example, a grant from Epstein established the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. Chomsky met Epstein in 2015.
According to the Harvard Crimson, “Like all of those in Cambridge who met and knew him, we knew that he had been convicted and served his time, which means that he re-enters society under prevailing norms — which, it is true, are rejected by the far right in the US and sometimes by unscrupulous employers,” Chomsky wrote. “I’ve had no pause about close friends who spent many years in prison, and were released. That’s quite normal in free societies.”
Moreover, Chomsky wrote, “I’ve often attended meetings and had close interactions with colleagues and friends on Harvard and MIT campuses, often in labs and other facilities built with donations from some of the worst criminals of the modern world.”
Asked if he regretted his association with Epstein, Chomsky wrote, “I’ve met [all] sorts of people, including major war criminals. I don’t regret having met any of them.”
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/5/3/epstein-nowak-chomsky-meeting-2015/#:~:text=Financier%20and%20sex%20trafficker%20Jeffrey,Wall%20Street%20Journal%20reported%20Sunday.
Chomsky’s comments about Epstein having “served his time” are pretty funny given the “time” Epstein served. Pretending not to know about his reputation, or that he is taking a principled lefty stance based on one’s capacity for rehabilitation, are pretty funny too. And the emails and pics of the two do not suggest the types of interactions with “major war criminals” that Chomsky wants us to visualize here. This was a self-serving and dishonest rationalization in my view. Here is another take, which suggests that Chomsky has done this before:
https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/noam-chomsky-is-a-scumbag
Some of us who consider ourselves on the left have been critical of Chomsky for a while now, so we do not have the same protective reaction to excuse him here as others have. Regarding guilt by association, I do agree that we should not condemn individuals just because they interacted with Epstein and that this is indeed often a smear tactic. But in this case I can’t muster much energy for a defense.
I find Chomsky’s characterization of Epstein’s conviction and time served as all fair and good to be hugely self-serving and quite despicable. I have lost all respect for the man.
I disagree.
1) If Max Blumenthal speaks of psyops maybe this Chomsky story is part of the actual psyops where Blumenthal should look closely and connect potential dots further.
To push the „gory“ child prostitution part of Epstein´s world so much into focus now to me looks like the lesser evil for the „Israel lobby“.
When it´s too late to stop fallout you try direct the outcome by damage containment.
And you direct attention to certain individuals and away from structural questions on genocide, geopolitics and military and financial support.
To now attack Chomsky, one of the best and most critical scholars on Israeli crimes for decades, deligitimizing him by way of alluding to child prositution has something obvious, frankly.
It reminds me of the antisemitism tropes used against Corbyn and Sanders.
But what´s worse than that? Right, child abuse. And for once everyone believes anything without asking the tough question for evidence. (I am saying this with the danger that we might never get the bulletproof evidence.)
Puritanic US especially falls victim to this kind of moralistic headlines.
In response to Blumenthal´s Tweet Craig Murray, thankfully:
„Max I am a fan of yours, but I think you are wrong to target Chomsky. You don’t become a great intellectual without meeting and discussing with people with a very broad range of opinions.“
2) What is so awful about Chomsky´s quotes?
It is indeed the feature of a free society that convicts after serving their time are treated or should be treated like everyone else.
We agree that the Ukraine War for instance and the greater “game” at play has to be handled in an adult way and we therefore expect diplomats and all kinds of public personae in the West to talk to their Russian adversaries in a normal manner, even though they claim them to be war criminals (I am not going into the fraudulent concept of war criminals but from the official POV of the West they are.)
To now demand Chomsky should have rejected any encounter with war criminals by default is about the opposite to this mature standard. His treatment of this problem is congruent with his approach in general:
Just like when he was defending the right of e.g. Holocaust deniars to publish their books time and again.
Also Chomsky did try to participate in some negotiations regarding the Palestine case (and others like Kurds, and various South American actors.)
Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi, Tariq Ali, Eqbal Ahmad, and even Norman Finkelstein tried to achieve some good by engaging with one or some parties involved over the decades. All of them in different forms and on different levels.
But I believe all of them saw it as an obligation to try to do something beyond writing books, teaching students and giving speeches. Did they engage with people who committed crimes? Probably. Do you walk a thin line when committing to this kind of thing? Certainly. Especiallywhen you encounter Israeli criminals.
However: The Crimson also points out:
“(…)The Journal could not verify whether all scheduled meetings actually occurred.(…)”
Or as the complete quote of the WSJ goes:
„(…)The documents don’t reveal the purpose of most of the meetings. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t verify whether every scheduled meeting took place.(…)“
So, what do we actually know about those meetings 100%?
No details in particular.
I suggest to read the originals WSJ:
Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman’s Top Lawyer
Schedules and emails detail meetings in the years after he was a convicted sex offender; visitors cite his wealth and connections
By Khadeeja Safdar and David Benoit
April 30, 2023
https://archive.is/5yvwl
3) The Crimson quotes the WSJ only on people involved with Harvard. The original piece however goes much beyond that. In a much larger theatre of context a „Chomsky“ looks less „special“.
(Later CIA) William Burns met Epstein. The president of Bard College did. Former Obama counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. And several more. They reacted in different ways. (Bard College president was the only person to call Epstein arrogant and ended the contact soon but not due to prostitution.)
Also:
While all kinds of VIPs distanced themselves from Epstein publicly only after his first conviction became publicly known Chomsky did not choose that opportunistic way. And stood by his judgement.
WSJ again:
„Despite the negative press, Epstein’s days were filled from morning to night with meetings with prominent people, the documents show. There were dinners at New York restaurants, meetings at luxury hotels and gatherings in the offices of prominent law firms. Many appointments were held at Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.“
4) Regardless of the special outrage over prostitution involving minors – the felons in question still have to bet treated like human beings.
Besides: I am not a doctor, but how does the sexual aspect of this work?
Do you as an idividual really choose to become inclined to children? Or is it a predisposition to an extent? Or some other oddity early in life? I assume this is not a simple medical subject.
Lets assume one has a carnal passion for children. What are you gonna do?
How do you solve the problem?
Maybe someone who really knows these complex subject matters could comment.
The question of how to treat these aspects is tangent to a very different realm than all the other speculations and proven crimes of Epstein as a (potential) Mossad/CIA asset.
I wish we would not forget to distinguish every aspect of this case.
4) Also I have a serious problem with the Crimson putting Dershowitz and Chomsky by association into the same category. Chomsky never did ad hominems, he never tried to destroy other peoples´ lives and careers, and he never lied to make an argument (potentially destroying other people.) So both live in completely separate moral universes.
p.s Serious question: How much did the Crimson write about the genocide and about Claudine Gay proving incapable of defending the Palestine solidarity in the hearings. And how much did the Crimson dedicate exclusively to the child abuse part of Epstein while skipping all the Israel lobby stuff???
Hitchcock applied a story trick when laying false tracks as diversion in his movies and named it „red herring“…
I think the “settler colonialism” trope with regard to Israel is a historical fallacy aimed at minimizing the Jewish state’s specific crimes against humanity by wrongly lumping them in with European imperialism.
My non-controversial view: Chomsky is first, last, foremost, and always a Jew. His criticism of Israel is best understood in this context. He gives the appearance of opposition while actually shaping and blunting actual opposition through misdirection.
Chomsky’s criticisms of Israel and of other Jews tend to fall into one of three categories: (1) a disagreement over what is good for Jews, (2) a disagreement over the best way of going about getting what is good for Jews, and/or (3) a variant of the ancient tactic of dividing your own group to ensure survival (and eventually supremacy) by having your people in all camps [Genesis 32:7]
In short, his supposed leftism is tactical, not fundamental. He’s operated as a leftwing gatekeeper for decades, and a lot of earnest progressives are going to have a hard time coming to terms with this. Young rightwingers have mostly come to the view that conservatism was a control mechanism. Is it too much to suggest that post-68 American leftism is the other side of that coin?
My own break came when I learned of Chomsky’s vile attempts to minimize the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, and his stubborn resistance to ever admit he was wrong. In time, I concluded he was simply lying and possibly a sociopath.
Sam Husseini puts his relationship with Epstein viz-a-viz Isarel as follows.
“Many of Chomsky’s “surprising” positions surely delighted Epstein:
His “lesser evil” voting stance keeps the genocidal duopoly in power in perpetuity
His anti-BDS stance undermined a key tool for activists and citizens to hold Israel accountable
His two-state stance undermined achieving a one state solution with equal rights for all
His stance on Syria helped undermine the Syrian government, a goal of US and Israeli planners out to attack the axis of resistance.”
Chomsky is not on our side and I don’t think he ever has been — but he’s made a career out of pretending he was.
I do not mean to undercut your criticism of Chomsky, who fully deserves it.
However, I do have a quibble. US crimes against Native Americans were systematic and awful. If you have ever seen a reservation, they are typically in terrible wastelands and were arguably intended to kill them slowly or at least severely minimize the potential for population growth. IMHO the reason Americans did not take action that rose to the level of genocide is that we had plenty of places to ethnically cleanse them too and did. Not to defend Israel, but they did first try to get backing to expel the Palestinians into the Sinai peninsula.
Genocide is more work. Would the early Americans have gone there were there not an easier solution?
Another example are the Nazis. The Final Solution was fully put in motion only after the initial attack on USSR failed and dumping untermenschen behind Urals was off the table.
I find the criticism incorrect.
1) Israel
Settler colonialism in Palestine/later Israel was not automatically extermination.
So while “European colonialism” equals the killing (direct and indirect) of millions of people over centuries, you can´t suggest Israeli settlers did the same thing continuously since 1947/48.
If we wish to distinguish e.g. Soviet crimes from Nazi crimes – (a difference which Russia-haters love to blur) – we need to distinguish in other examples for huge crimes too. Also how those crimes develope, which means in Israel´s case that they have reached an all-time since Oct. 2022. Which shouldn´t mitigate what happened before. After all the same intrinsic logic to those crimes was always in place.
Keeping people in a concentration camp or “open air prison” is something different than exterminating them. (I would like to remind of my quibbles with “fascism” today now used by virtually everyone and comparing with Nazi Germany. There too we must not blur subjects, facts, arguments.)
Chomsky´s position on one/two-state solution evolved. He was in favour of one-state solution for most of his life like several other scholars too. One-state solution was state-of-art so to speak. This fell apart after OSLO. And one of the goals of Oslo was this very result.
Btw Unlike almost 90% of “doves” and serious critics Chomsky relentlessly criticized OSLO from the beginning .
I was surprised to hear Khalidi in one recent Hedges conversation speak much more favourably of OSLO than Chomsky did in the 90s. I suggest to read “WORLD ORDERS OLD AND NEW” by Chomsky, the revised version of 1994 or 1996 (don´t remember the exact year.) It has updated chapters on that subject. In this context he for instance exposed Benny Morris´s double standard and covert racism 30+ years before Finkelstein mocked Morris again this time re: genocide.
Unlike most critics Chomsky suggested that Israel´s policies towards the occupied territories were worse than the Batustans´ sit. in SA. Because as he said there the government actually provided some services and mainly wanted to keep Blacks out.
Israel was way more aggressive towards Arabs and tried to starve them or at least keep them down/drive them out, went in and killed them from time to time (“mowing the lawn”) and so on. Nothing on that level in SA. So Israeli Apartheid was worse.
I since haven´t heard many, except maybe Pappé, Tarik Amar or ELECTRONIC INTIFADA who would point out this difference between SA Apartheid and Israel Apartheid.
On the other hand Chomsky argued that Arabs who were also Israeli citizens were better off than Blacks in SA or Arabs in the occupied territories. (But I assume he would correct his point with the radicalisation of Israeli laws in 2018 e.g. So again, thing are no static as are not the analysis and the verdict.)
He also repeated incessently that Israel was the worst war criminal in the history of the UN/ICJ.
Frankly I don´t know what else you could expect him to do or say.
You have to keep in mind that he first and foremost tries to see everyone as a human being who deserves at least to be listened to and who deserves an argument or a fair trial. Whether it´s war criminals or his grand-daughter who wanted explanation why he would prohibit her from crossing the red light when she was little.
Finkelstein would agree to all of these points.
I do know that Finkelstein has a huge question mark over Chomsky after the Epstein thing now.
But that doesn´t change the past and what Chomsky did. And we have no eventually evidence as such so I still regard Chomsky as innocent unless speaking to others is a crime. But I went over this already.
Chomsky was attacked immensly over his criticism of Israel. I think this is not present in today´s collective consciousness any more. There were huge fights in such places as the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS or English outlets.
He usually very extensively answered questions in public discussions and explained why we need a one-state-solution (btw. Craig Mokhiber in essence says the same thing).
Only later he would concede that it´s dead and due to sheer force of Israel and the US it made no sense to pursue a “dream”. After all what you need is also pursue goals that are realistic.
On this he admitted it would make no sense to promise Palestinians they would return to their homes of 1947 because that would never happen. That doesn´t mean you forget the genesis of that problem and do not communicate it and teach it. (Khalidi shared this view.)
Unfortunately due to his stroke we do not know how he would see the current situation since Oct. 2022.
But it is no coincidence that Norman Finkelstein of all people – someone radical and astute who let his own academic career get destryoed by more powerful and influential forces because he was not willing to compromise on moral and scholarly issues – and who is no Frehsman himself, regarded Chomsky as a moral compass for most of his own life.
In how far this changed in recent weeks, again I cannot judge. But we are talking about a scholar´s life (Chomsky that is) covering much of the past 70 years and more in terms of his research and work on historic subjects.
Chomsky is and always was a scientist in the first place and trying to navigate the non-scientific world of political discourse sticking to those scientific principles. Which also means he respects all people as equal and thus their views or at least their right to voice their views.
Sorry for typos like “October 2022” instead of 2023.
2) Khmer Rouge 1/2
The Khmer Rouge case I haven´t studied close enough to give a comparable judgement.
I do know this was a lot about exposing US complicity in the genocide in East Timor and (my speculation now) the disguised racism re: Khmer Rouge as Asians being particularly brutal.
As far as I do remember the Chomsky/Herman position was to not deny crimes but to put them into adequate context of scale in the „genocide“ discussion in general and to East Timor in particular (which happened around the same time and was totally ignored by the US and Western media.)
In who said what, when and how I am very cautious as the record goes in secondary sources. And I lack the time to read what was actually said and written in the primary sources.
A case that would correspond with the level of controversy of Khmer Rouge might have been Srebrenica based on the analysis of the forensic evidence by Edward Herman (and some other people like Diana Johnstone).
“Holodomor” discussion is another example although here the record seems to be pretty straight forward contradicting any genocide argument. Mike Davis, another potential hero of anti-colonialist discourse, argued that Holodomor was real comparing it with India under British rule.
Davis in my view seriously failed here.
I am aware that the movie about Chomsky is not what you would consider as proof. But since it´s on YT from 1992 (I haven´t seen it s since to be honest. But I think it´s still okay in its outline of the broader lines of disputes in which Chomsky was part of until then.)
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media | Documentary
167 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQXsPU25B60
p.s. There was a another film about Chomsky and his work much later which I haven´t seen.
p.p.s. Edward Herman was core to Chomsky´s positions in many of these conflicts and subjects. Although not equally exposed to the public they worked very closely and Herman´s death was a major blow to Chomsky´s urge in understanding and scrutinizing some of these issues.
Besides Chomsky never stopped to try to “learn”. He was very thankful to his cooperations with David Graebner (another ally who again died too early) or Vijay Prashad.
2) Khmer Rouge 2/2
Two passages from Chomsky´s extensive archive:
chomsky.info/
Noam Chomsky Maintains the Rage
Phnom Penh Post
by Stuart Alan Becker
October 5, 2010,
https://chomsky.info/noam-chomsky-maintains-the-rage/
Q&A with Noam Chomsky
How is it that people got the idea you were soft on Khmer Rouge atrocities as a result of your 1988 book with Edward S Herman, Manufacturing Consent?
In our 1988 book, Herman and I reviewed the way the horrors in Cambodia had been treated through three distinct phases: the US war before the Khmer Rouge takeover in April 1975; the Khmer Rouge period; the period after Vietnam invaded and drove out the Khmer Rouge and the US and Britain turned at once to direct military and diplomatic support for the Khmer Rouge (“Democratic Kampuchea”). By the time we wrote, it was known that the pre-1975 US war was horrendous, but it is only in the past few years that more extensive documents have been released.
We now know that the most brutal phase began in 1970, when Henry Kissinger transmitted President Nixon’s orders for “massive bombing of Cambodia, anything that flies on anything that moves” (Kissinger’s words, to General Haig). It is hard to find a declaration with such clear genocidal intent in the archival record of any state. And the orders were carried out. Bombing of rural Cambodia was at the level of total Allied bombing in the Pacific theatre during World War II.
The Khmer Rouge, as we now know, expanded to about 200,000, largely recruited by the bombing.
During the first and third period there was quite a lot that Americans – more generally Westerners – could do. During the second period no one even had a suggestion as to what to do. The coverage is exactly the opposite of what elementary moral considerations would dictate. During the first period, there was some protest, but coverage was slight and it was quickly forgotten. The new revelations have been almost entirely suppressed. During the third period, coverage again was very slight and the history has also been almost entirely forgotten.
Our accurate review of these facts did lead to considerable outrage, and massive lies, such as what you mention. That was even more true of our 1979 two-volume study, Political Economy of Human Rights, which provides extensive documentation to show that this pattern was (and is) quite generally, extending all over the world. Most of the study concerned US crimes, so it was therefore unreviewed and unread, confirming our thesis.
One chapter was about Cambodia. In it, we harshly condemned Pol Pot’s crimes, and also revealed extraordinary fabrication and deceit. We wrote that the crimes were horrible enough, but commentators ought to keep to the truth, and to the most reliable sources, like State Department intelligence, by all accounts the most knowledgeable source at the time – and also largely suppressed, apart from our review, because it did not conform to the image that was manufactured. That image was important.
It was exploited quite explicitly to whitewash past US crimes in Indochina, and to lay the groundwork for new and quite awful crimes in Central America, justified on grounds that the US had to stop the “Pol Pot left”, We compared Cambodia to East Timor, accurately: two huge atrocities in the same time period and same area of the world, differing in one crucial respect: in East Timor the US and its allies had primary responsibility for the atrocities, and could have easily brought them to an end; in Cambodia they could do little or nothing – as noted, there was scarcely even a suggestion – and the enemy’s atrocities could be and were exploited to justify our own.
We showed that in both cases there was massive deceit in the US and the West, but in opposite directions: In the case of East Timor, where the crimes could have easily been terminated, they were suppressed or denied; in the case of Cambodia, where nothing could be done, the fabrication and lies would, literally, have impressed Stalin.
What we wrote about East Timor was entirely ignored (except in Australia), along with the rest of what we wrote about US crimes and how they were covered up.
What we wrote about Cambodia, in contrast, elicited huge outrage and a new flood of lies, as we discussed in our 1988 book. And it continues. In general, it is extremely important to suppress our own crimes and to defend the right to lie at will about the crimes of enemies. Those are major tasks of the educated classes, as we documented at length, in these books and elsewhere.
It is a rare study that does not contain errors, but our chapter on Cambodia seems to be an exception. Despite massive effort, no one has found even a misplaced comma, let alone any substantive error. We would be more than happy to concede and correct any error, but despite Herculean efforts, none have been found. Please don’t take my word for it, of course. Check and see for yourself.
When you look at the genocide under the Khmer Rouge that occurred in Cambodia, do you put the blame on the American bombing of Cambodia for creating the conditions that brought Pol Pot to power, or is it more complex than that?
Two leading Cambodia scholars, Owen Taylor and Ben Kiernan, point out that when the intense US bombing of rural Cambodia began, the Khmer Rouge were a small group of perhaps 10,000. Within a few years, the KR had grown to a huge army of some 200,000, deeply embittered and seeking revenge. Their recruitment propaganda successfully highlighted the US bombing. Pentagon records reveal that the tonnage of bombs released on rural Cambodia was about the same as total US bombing in the Pacific during World War II, and of course far more intense. But that was surely not the only factor.
In your reading of history, why do leaders of states go so terribly wrong as to slaughter anyone who had ever been to school or who wore glasses? Can you imagine the intellectual or emotional basis for how perpetrators of mass killings are able to blithely live with themselves as instruments of mass killing?
It’s a good question. We can also ask similar questions about our own society, which we should be able to understand better. Just keep to Cambodia. The intense bombing began under President Nixon’s orders, which Kissinger loyally transmitted to the US military with these words: “Massive bombing campaign in Cambodia. Anything that flies on anything that moves.” That’s the kind of call for genocide that one rarely finds in the archival record of any state. The statement was published in The New York Times, and there was no reaction among its mostly liberal intellectual readers, few of whom even remember it.
Should the perpetrators of genocide in Cambodia be tried and executed or imprisoned? Why?
I am opposed to the death penalty, but I think they should receive fair trials and imprisonment. No one asks that question about Nixon and Kissinger, or about the rich and powerful generally.
Interview by JACOBIN, 2015
https://chomsky.info/20151123-2/
“(…)
Do you oppose military intervention under any circumstances during dire humanitarian disasters? What are the conditions that would make it acceptable from your point of view?
Pure pacifists would always oppose military intervention. I am not one, but I think that like any resort to violence, it carries a heavy burden of proof. It’s impossible to give a general answer as to when it is justified, apart from some useless formulas.
It is not easy to find genuine cases where intervention has been justified. I’ve reviewed the historical and scholarly record. It’s very thin. Two possible examples stand out in the post–World War II period: the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, terminating Khmer Rouge crimes as they were peaking; and the Indian invasion of Pakistan that ended the hideous atrocities in the former East Pakistan.
These two cases do not enter the standard canon, however, because of the fallacy of “wrong agency” and because they were both bitterly opposed by Washington, which reacted in quite ugly ways.
(…)”
> “Chomsky’s criticisms of Israel and of other Jews tend to fall into one of three categories: (1) a disagreement over what is good for Jews, (2) a disagreement over the best way of going about getting what is good for Jews, and/or (3) a variant of the ancient tactic of dividing your own group to ensure survival (and eventually supremacy) by having your people in all camps [Genesis 32:7]”
I see no evidence for this in Chomsky´s work at all. He engaged with minorities/suppressed groups all over the globe. To picture him as some covert pro-Jewish cheerleader abusing the left ticket makes no sense, sorry
>”In short, his supposed leftism is tactical, not fundamental. He’s operated as a leftwing gatekeeper for decades, and a lot of earnest progressives are going to have a hard time coming to terms with this. Young rightwingers have mostly come to the view that conservatism was a control mechanism. Is it too much to suggest that post-68 American leftism is the other side of that coin?”
You can make that argument but there is no evidence for it either.
p.s. I do not comment on Syria since I lack the info on that especially with the Chomsky aspect. When Syria happened I was occupied with other things and I am still trying to catch up.
On criticism of BDS:
As a reminder BDS was not seen the same way since day #1.
It has evolved, changed. So have views on it.
Chomsky e.g. opposed BDS not in the essence. He assumed it would hurt relations to people inside Israel critical of Israeli crimes and hurt the cause. This was a question of tactics. Not of moral grounds.
Norman Finkelstein was opposed to BDS too:
Is it right to boycott Israel? Ilan Pappé vs Norman Finkelstein
A prominent professor and author, both famous critics of Israel, go head to head on this question of strategy.
1 October 2014
https://newint.org/argument/2014/10/01/argument-israel-boycott-rights
ELECTRONIC INTIFADA with a certain degree of skepticism towards Finkelstein:
Finkelstein renews attack on BDS “cult,” calls Palestinians who pursue their rights “criminal”
by Ali Abunimah
4 June 2012
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/finkelstein-renews-attack-bds-cult-calls-palestinians-who-pursue-their-rights
The interview with Finkelstein on DEMOCRACY NOW Electronic Intifada is referring to:
Norman Finkelstein: Waning Jewish American Support for Israel Boosts Chances for Middle East Peace
June 04, 2012
length 12 min.
https://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/4/norman_finkelstein_waning_jewish_american_support
Transformational
grammarglamour.Tale of linguist swayed by celebrity?
to me this all still looks like a psyops with Chomsky in crosshairs now
BDS was criticized by many who were extremely critical of Israel like a Norman Finkelstein.
Also the argument was trying to build bridges into a society where many back then were opposed to Israeli war crimes.
The fact that Chomsky was trying to not be doctrinal and follow evidence only (not totally unlike Taibbi in a certain narrower sense) needs to matter.
I do not like this lawnmower principle applying superficial appearances to complex issues at all.
More on Chomsky’s “libertarian” beliefs-
https://xcancel.com/SenseReceptor/status/2002911634373931184#m
And remember how he told American voters to vote Joe Biden to save the environment? I do.
1) I remember. He gave interviews in Germany too. There he compared Trump´s environmental policy with Hitler. Why? Because Chomsky from the scientific POV argued that a destructive environmental policy of that kind would eventually cause millions of deaths.
The current attempts to make the climate a plaintiff in environment cases comes from that line of thinking.
Did I understand Chomsky? Yes. Was it a good idea to compare Trump with Hitler? No.
Especially not in today´s media environment. But he tried to make a scientific not a political argument there as odd as that may have seemed to many.
2) In any of these questions of tactics he usually suggested and still does (since he is alive!) that one needs to inquire and try first. Until you don´t try you do not know for sure.
So from his POV Biden was better than Trump in 2020. On labour, on environment, on social rights. Based also on his assessment of the GOP´s traditions and destructive legacy.
He would think that unlike in the GOP at least DNC had a few good people who could achieve something here something there. Though he had no illusions over this.
But his first goal is to give people hope. To offer a perspective. Because giving up hope would mean the empire has already won.
3) Did Chomsky buy into Russiagate? Never.
So that was not the reason either to be against Trump.
Was he aware of the details of 14 CIA bases in Ukraine, of MI6 and EU at large trying to push to WWIII in Febr. 2022?
None of this was known to him and it was not known to me either. And it was not known to almost anyone I knew who would somehow read Chomsky.
What he did say early 2022 was that until the US would not engage diplomatically with Russia and until Russia then would reject or accept a deal no one in the West could tell what the Russians really would do. You cannot predict the future and the other side unless you engage with them.
It has to be said that from my current level of knowledge he was insufficiently informed in some of these areas. But this had various reasons, like age, like change of media landscape, like limited informational horizon.
What scholar in the US with that range of topics was really Ukraine War savvy in 2022?
In one of his last public conversations with Daniel Ellsberg, Ellsberg really articulated that the Russians were bombing Zaporizhzhia NPP. And I guess Chomsky too believed it because Ellsberg did.
Nobody is infallible .
Rashid Khalidi for instance believes in the genocide against Uyghurs by China and he also believes that fascism is on the rise in Austria.
How many Leftists who today are against the Democratic Party as much as against GOP supported Biden in 2020?
How old are those today? Chomsky had to rely on his circle (being 91 at the 2020 election). Their insight was limited in some areas I think.
However I am still quoting some of Chomsky´s early citations on the Ukraine War because they offer valuable detail evidence.
4) Is it wrong that minorities in the US have more rights than in the 1950s? That women have totally different legal status than they had until the 1970s? That mainstream has adopted the secret knowledge about fossile fuel pollution that was only arcane oil multi expertise? That the CIA was exposed? And so on. All these achievements did not just happen over night.
People had to fight for them. Many died for them.
These successes should not be played off against the betrayal of labour. Which Chomsky has always warned of. In fact he has a lot of historic insight into the history of labour and its significance and its demise.
It´s the demanding role of the scholar working also as an activist. The two almost totally exclude each other by definition.
“US Pursuing Third Oil Tanker Near Venezuela, Officials Say”
When I read this news earlier today, for some reason a tune played in my mind-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iDgMuLFyHQ&list=RD8iDgMuLFyHQ&start_radio=1 (1:33 mins)
Dave Chappelle is post-modernism’s greatest philosopher, whether or not one agrees with him on every statement—-Bernard Henri Levy and his intelligentsia friends can go *@(*@!&)!#.
Garrison Keillor’s classic takedown of the fraud and warmonger Bernard Henri-Lévy never gets old :
https://archive.ph/2022.09.22-185227/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/books/review/on-the-road-avec-m-levy.html
“AUSTRALIA TRIALS ISRAELI WEAPON SYSTEM ‘BATTLE TESTED’ IN GAZA”
Not surprised at all. I think that most countries are still trading with Israel, particularly for weaponry and surveillance technology. Business is business, even with a country in the middle of a genocide. If it was the early 1940s, we would have been trading with the Nazis as well.
Of course unreported about those SMASH 3000 gun sights is that when the first batch arrived for testing here in Oz, they had to be totally re-calibrated as initially they refused to target soldiers and were instead wanting to target women and children.
“We,” as in the West, were trading with the Third Reich during WW-2.
See the Standard Oil of California oil drums found at the U-boat base in Germany at the end of the War, or the sordid tale of IBM, through their subsidiary company automating the Reich’s Ministry of Racial Purity files.
There will always be people who value money and power over everything else. One of any rational societies functions is the neutralization of such people and their schemes. See the Confraternity of Saint Luigi and its good works in the adjustment of the social balance in the healthcare delivery system of America.
What sems to be unsaid here is that these “systems” will be deployed against the citizens of the State itself. The tool does not care, being an inanimate object; such an idea is absurd. A tool is used. What is important is who uses said tool, and their agenda.
The basic version of the idea is that the bullet does not “care” who it kills.
Stay safe. Stay vigilant. Keep your integrity.
Good that the battle tested is in quotes, because they are “battling” mostly with civilians or at best with few guys with kalashikovs. But I guess the weapons business in the west is scam from A to Z anyway, so who cares if the damn thing works against Russians or Chinese.
Thank you, Conor, for such an interesting and thought-provoking group of articles today.
Seconded here.
Yo.
Glad to hear you found them stimulating, and thanks for reading!
So stimulating that they completely derailed my morning intentions.
Thanks! (I think.)
Yes, It’s always hard to start Monday and make it productive…
On ‘He was poisoned.’ Toxic fumes on planes blamed for deaths of pilots and crew
Because reporters fly, there’s understandable interest in this, and of course airlines are using the big tobacco defense of, well, we don’t yet know enough
but it’s amusing that repeat exposure to a level 3 biohazard is not producing this kind of reporting; no one cares.
What a stupid timeline.
Greenland…
So is it now all but official that NATO is dead? Trump just appointed a special envoy to Greenland!
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-announces-louisiana-governor-greenland-special-envoy-2025-12-22/
This is all but a direct violation of Article 1 in my view or at least the beginning of a direct violation.
Also, see this article from the Guardian.
What strikes me as almost comical here is the repetition of these norms as if they’re some kind of magic. “You cannot annex other countries.” Oh really? We, in the sainted rules based world order cannot just occupy and annex other countries to abscond with their material wealth? There is a long line of allegedly sovereign states in Asia and Africa who might like to have a word if that’s true.
But really, what’s incredible here is Sorkin-esque obsession with words as a way to mask capability. Greenland has almost no people. Denmark does not have any substantial military capability. Even in our neoliberally hollowed out state, the US can annex Greenland without too much trouble. There is no one else who would be interested in protecting Greenland who could also stand against the US if our military was directed to do that. About the only thing Germany, France, or the UK could do is threaten to stop buying our stuff. But since they rely on the US to buy their stuff, they probably won’t.
It’s almost too perfect. When China and Russia spank us over Venezuela we pivot to Greenland to save face. In the mad way that Trump views the world, this makes total sense. He’s just shifting his attention to a different real estate opportunity. Assuming President Trump finishes his term and is replaced by a Democrat in the White House, if we have annexed Greenland by then, I can imagine how the discussions and commissions to evaluate the process to sever the recent integration according to an equitable and appropriate manner just never quite amount to anything. Continuing this thought, the next US president would really like to give it back, honest, but now that we use Greenland as a prison colony for undesirables who work in the mines, we just can’t. I can imagine that we will see sending undesirables to work in the mines polls at +35 in all the target Democrat demographics…
As with Ukraine and so much else, reality gets to have the last word. We have logistical and supply limits in Ukraine. We face a large army that can easily get much bigger. We face an organized force that is well armed. We face a nation that has manufacturing superiority. We also have to deal with a corrupt patsy that wastes all our money without dying in sufficient numbers. But none of those problems apply to Greenland. You’d think that Russia might step in to help maintain order and protect themselves against further encroachment on their territory but I think in this case they will be only too happy to see US and NATO interests battle each other so that they can’t keep supporting random actions in places like Georgia or Ukraine.
America has had a large presence in Greenland since WW2. One could realistically argue that America has pretty much run Greenland since WW2. Why bother annexing Greenland and pissing off the Danes if you can do everything you just named by doing a deal (treaty) with them?
Pituffik Space Base https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituffik_Space_Base
You’re suggesting that there are capable diplomats in the Trump II administration and an executive interested in achieving their goals in a quiet, less direct way which can’t be bragged about? I hope that’s true. But I think we have the last year worth of evidence that it is not.
When I read “Louisiana governor envoy to…” I automatically thought of the late lamented Edwin Edwards, Governor, Businessman, Confidence Man, all around paragon of all that is wonderous and unique in American politics. He would have been perfect for the task. Team Trump could still deploy a Hologram Edwin Edwards. AI to the rescue! I could see “Fast Eddie” touting investments on Neo-Acadia as the former Greenland will be known soon. The name Greenland itself smacks of a land promoters sleazy advertising campaign. Greenland for a big island full of rocks and ice? Neo-Arcadia sounds the tocsin of green and verdant acres just waiting for exploitation, by the “right people” of course. The same basic deception is involved in both.
I am seriously now waiting for Vance to try and invoke the Constitution’s Article 25.
Stay safe.
Can’t decide whether my all time favorite campaign slogan, unofficial though they were, was “Vote for the Lizard, not for the Wizard” or “Vote for the Crook, It’s Important,” both spawned by grass roots efforts to prevent David Duke from beating Edwards in the ’91 campaign for La. Governor.
Aaron Bastani of Novara Media meets with Norman Finkelstein:
Well, of course there are so many suffering Palestinians still huddled in the rubble. Still being slaughtered and starved.
The Helen desTroy article is one of the finest on l’Affaire Epstein I have read so far. Kudos to her. May it be widely read and shared!
Seconded
thirded.
due to how my day went, it took me all day to finish it and be totally disgusted.
Matt Taibi has been teasing a future article on the referenced topic and seems to imply that it will debunk all of the tinfoil hat conspiracy theories and assure us there is nothing to see here. Just move along, folks
Perhaps like the recent NYT article on Epstein’s finances that likewise derided conspiracy theories, but noted that Epstein received a “sweetheart” plea deal. Apparently the DOJ gives every fifth sex offender a sweetheart deal and Epstein was the lucky recipient.
I hope she has a security detail.
presumably, the Olympian Pantheon…
If they are not available, I’d settle for the Rhinegold Battalion. It should be more than capable of fending off Kampfgruppe Kallas, or anything else the Gnomes from Zurich could conjure up.
The chorus from the Devo song keeps popping into my head today; “Are we not men? We are Davos! Are we not men? D, A, V, O, S.”
Unfortunately, the Rheingold Division has already fallen for the Führer at Stalingrad.
I am reminded by the article of Swiss psychiatrist Alice Miller’s contention that child abuse is built into the world views of both Judaism and Christianity as evidenced by Isaac’s willingness to sacrifice his son as a loyalty test demanded by God, and that this same God, or a new improved model depending on whom you ask, being willing to sacrifice his son Jesus.
Good Stoller today on antitrust policy and the “fat envelope.” And as we now know the Trumpies are all about the envelopes.
But he points out that “Obama antitrust chief turned Amazon lawyer Renata Hesse” may have a paw in the current situation as well.
Some say (i.e. lawyers) that the law is all about justice and others that it is all about advocacy–sometimes justice. That latter group may be swelling.
Sanctioned by EU. Abandoned by Switzerland | Nathalie Yamb
Neutrality Studies
Caught in Europe’s anti Russia list
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXq89FryYzo
I’m not sure which category this belongs in, but my sympathies are with Santa: Mall Santa replaced for slapping hand of boy who tugged beard.
As a bearded man, I can predict that my reaction wouldn’t be to slap his hand.
Social media users in the Central Valley are freaking out about unusual fog, and what might be in it LA Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not so much freaking out about the unusual fog in Godzone, its the hound of the Baskervilles that got hit by a vehicle in almost no visibility, driving around the moor.
Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes – NBC News
I don’t think Lebanon will be excluded from the conversation.
The plot thickens:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/business/larry-ellison-paramount-warner-brothers-bid.html/
“Paramount said on Monday that Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount’s chief executive, David Ellison, is personally guaranteeing the roughly $40.4 billion in equity that the company is offering as part of its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The announcement of Mr. Ellison’s personal guarantee is meant to address concerns that the Warner Bros. Discovery’s board had expressed about Paramount’s original offer…
Paramount said on Monday that the deal would now include a personal guarantee from Mr. Ellison, putting one of the richest men in the world on the hook if the deal fell apart. He is expected to get financial contributions from other partners for the deal, including roughly $24 billion from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds as well as debt financing from a group of banks…”
Meanwhile CBS already censoring Sixty Minutes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/business/60-minutes-trump-bari-weiss.html
Another example of moving fast and breaking things
Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape. (NY Times)
Not a surprise, as Uber’s business model relies on an over supply of drivers, and burning through contractors by paying them below their operating costs in a vicious race to the bottom. So they’re gonna need to have a very deep and broad pool of potential contractors, ripe for exploitation.
For reals
Rape on order.
After someone dies, the administrative hellscape that ensues is difficult to imagine. At least North Carolina has a spousal privilege exclusion/exception, so some property can relatively easy pass on, but it is capped at $60k. It’s still like the state holds hostage your family’s own stuff if you didn’t title things correctly, or plan for the future. And we have some opportunity and capacity to do this as adepts at neoliberalism’s tax on your time, as Lambert would call it. I miss Lambert and Watercooler, too.
And to access accounts, you need someone’s email and their 2FA device, generally the cell phone. So I’m seeing someone’s last moments, days, and weeks. That’s also reflected in credit card statements, leading up to the event. But bills have to be paid, taxes have to be filed, and there’s a small service business to consider, which means wrapping up the books for the year. I haven’t used QuickBooks in 10 or 15 years. Rediscovering this, it is clear that Intuit is run and managed by truly evil people, that vast scale of their exploitation of small and medium business owners in sight to behold.
What was once a straight purchase of QuickBooks, as software you own, was up to $850 for the annual license, plus whatever additional fees for payroll tables. For a single user.
In 2025, there are so many online accounts to pay for services, I need to devise a way to “hand off” all this to my mother, and one of us is gonna need to reset the accounts somehow, to use her name and login information instead. This is like seriously some 15 or 20 different logins and passwords. This is simply mind bending.
I don’t even know. Calling in the death to the life insurance company is an experience, or canceling the Medicare supplement. I see that they credited the charge back to the account. How nice. The Medicare Part D apparently cancels on its own.
I can’t call in for the survivorship claim on Social Security, and with Trump wrecking Social Security, is it even possible? We discussed that some, before all this happened, back in March or April. I guess life becomes divided into before & after periods.
And we’re lucky. I have the time and ability to play this neoliberal, regulatory and legal game. And some paid time off. And the stakes are just not being worse off. There’s no prize at the end. Dead is still dead.
I guess the poors are really completely screwed. But if you have no estate, I guess you can escape your credit card debts.
This country is seriously trash.
I’d recently met a fierce anti-capitalist that ultimately quit and fled to an island somewhere in southeast Asia, from the COVID community. She lives in mostly poverty, but quit the system. Seems appealing.
Yeah, COVID is still a thing, and contributed to my father’s death. I knew this would be the outcome in 2020.
Stay safe out there.
So sorry for your loss, Jason Boxman.
Hang in there. I have also been clearing up a small estate, barely big enough to be worth doing, but legally required. In the end, I will have spent way more time than the pittance coming to me in the final settlement. “There’s no prize at the end.”
Long-Haul Trucking Was a Refuge for Sikh Immigrants. Until Now. (NY Times via archive.ph)
Leaves out that owner-operators are so squeezed in trucking, and that’s why he is living in a 5 bedroom.
With the NY Times, it is a story of oppression by the racist Trump administration, and ignores the story of class struggle, as you’d expect.
Wowzers
offered without (additional) comment
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Announces Plans for New ‘Trump Class’ Battleships (NY Times)
I’ve thought they got Chappelle when he did the the Saudi comedy Festival …
About “China’s Official Media Rebukes Han-Centric Historical Narratives” Sinical China
Even during the Qing dynasty, the Han Chinese went back and forth between seeing the Qing as foreign invaders to be expelled (during the Taiping Civil War of the 1850s-1860s) but as defenders of China against European colonizers during the Boxer Rebellion.
The Qing did lead China down into the Century of Humiliation, but before that they led China in a century of conquest. The western (drier and far-less populated) half of what is now the People’s Republic of China was conquered by the Qing in the late 1600s and 1700s. Yes, some of that land had been been under Chinese rule during the Tang Dynasty but that was nearly a millennium earlier. Westerners need to understand the Century of Humiliation, but it would help a lot if Chinese also noticed the century of conquest. (Part of why the century of humiliation occurred was that leaders in Beijing ignored clear warning signs on the coast of growing European and Japanese strength and engaged in the century of inland conquests instead.)