Ideological bias in the production of research findings Science
Climate/Environment
Hidden climate costs: Rising heat is draining U.S. incomes Earth.com
The Western United States just had its warmest December in recorded history, and likely the warmest in many thousands of years. pic.twitter.com/QrY4KKLsJ7
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) January 6, 2026
Palisades fire report was sent to mayor’s office for ‘refinements,’ Fire Commission president says Los Angeles Times
Blame and Claim The Baffler
Japan
Japan’s nuclear watchdog halts plant’s reactor safety screening over falsified data AP
China?
China buys more US soybeans, total purchases near 10 million tons The Standard
Nvidia requires full upfront payment for H200 chips in China: sources Business Times
China’s economy is heading for a rough 2026 ThinkChina
How Chinese Scholars See the U.S. Lawfare Against Venezuela Inside China
Syraqistan
Next stop: Yemen or Iran? GeoPolitiQ
Iran Signals Readiness for Preemptive Strikes Against Emerging Threats Resistance News Unfiltered. Major shift.
Terrorists of the Jaysh al-Adl assassinated an Iranian military Captain Mahmoud Haqiqat in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
The US has designated Jaysh al-Adl a terrorist organisation, but they together with Israel support them, as they did ISIS and al-Qaeda. pic.twitter.com/GfU2qH4l7z
— Sentletse 🇿🇦🇷🇺🇵🇸🇱🇧 (@Sentletse) January 7, 2026
‘Israel’ discussing military base, security ties with Somaliland Al Mayadeen
For the past 3 months, I’ve been living in Hargeisa, Somaliland.
I’ve been warned by locals that writing this could put me at risk of arrest, but I feel compelled to tell the truth.
Here’s what the media is hiding about the so-called “Israeli recognition” of Somaliland…🧵 pic.twitter.com/ENfammSawO
— Jody McIntyre (@jodymcintyre_) January 3, 2026
Yemen’s STC raises alarm as delegation ‘disappears’ in Riyadh New Arab
Africa
US Launches Airstrike in Somalia During Helicopter Raid Against al-Shabaab Antiwar
Old Blighty
AI companies are using Brexit ‘freeports’ to leech UK water supplies The Canary
European Disunion
Brussels plans special rule book for corporates outside national law FT. Paywalled but here’s a preview.
EU countries gear up to let US tap their citizens’ biometrics Euractiv
Rubio says he plans to meet Danish officials next week to talk about US interest in Greenland Euronews
New Not-So-Cold War
Escalation-Mad Trump’s Coast Guard Seizes “Russian” Ship 5,500 km From US Coasts Simplicius
U.S. Forces Seize Fleeing Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker In North Atlantic The War Zone
Reflagged by Russia, spied on by UK, seized by US: why so much interest in a rusty tanker in the Atlantic? The Guardian
Cold War 2.0 or World War Three: What’s the Difference? Karl Sanchez
Mafia Increases Activities Moon of Alabama. And More Ideas On How To Counter The Mafia’s Increasing Activities Moon of Alabama
South of the Border
US Says It Will Control Venezuela Oil Exports Indefinitely Bloomberg
‘US will take all the oil stuck in Venezuela and sell it in market, at market rates’: Marco Rubio WION
UPDATE:
A helpful Republican Senator tells me the idea here is that the US is showing it does not own the proceeds from the oil it is seizing, but still wants to control it. So not going straight to US government (treasury), but to banks (a bank?) to hold at US direction.…
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) January 7, 2026
Did Venezuela VP Hand Over Maduro in Deal With the US? Consortium News
The U.S. bets on her, but can Venezuela’s new boss deliver? Her life might depend on it Miami Herald
In post-Maduro Venezuela, US eyes security chief as potential target, sources say Reuters. Gangsters.
The Narco-Trafficking Elite Set to Run Venezuela (w/ Maureen Tkacik) The Chris Hedges Report
Was There Another Incentive to Kidnap Maduro? Larry Johnson
La Guaira: The U.S. bombed a medical supplies distribution center during its terror attack on Venezuela, destroying a warehouse which stored supplies for a nephrology program for patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, affecting at least 9,000 kidney patients. pic.twitter.com/37D08zQeJN
— Camila (@camilapress) January 7, 2026
***
A lot of people seem unaware of the achievements of the socialists in Venezuela 🇻🇪 before US sanctions wrecked the economy. Here’s a rundown by the numbers (taken from the United Nations and quoted in my book, “Bad News From Venezuela, 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting”):…
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) January 7, 2026
🚨 NEW | Keir Starmer is less popular in Britain than Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
🇻🇪 Maduro -31
🇺🇸 Trump -56
🔴 Starmer -56
🟩 Hamas -58Net favourability ratings via @YouGov, 4-5 Jan pic.twitter.com/2lrnA00mEl
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 5, 2026
Trump 2.0
‘I’m Just Talking About Globally’: Forget Greenland, Says Rubio, US Reserves Right for Military Invasion Anywhere It Wants Common Dreams
The Plot to Steal the World: Crypto-Fascists and Trump’s World War Crime Spree Dougald Lamont
How Trump 2024 Neo-Coned America First. The Dissident
Israel expanded propaganda contract with Trump’s former campaign manager All-Source Intelligence
Blackstone stock sinks after Trump plans steps to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes yahoo! Finance
Police State Watch
ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis Minnesota Reformer
Here’s the best angle of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Absolutely unnecessary. The victim is reported to be a legal observer and U.S. citizen. pic.twitter.com/mbq1bYwW9U
— Houtan Yaghmai, Esq. (@houtan_esq) January 7, 2026
Live updates: Minneapolis Public Schools cancels classes for the rest of the week The Hill
Walz orders MN National Guard to prepare for possible deployment following ICE killing Minnesota Reformer
Deadly Minneapolis Encounter Is the 9th ICE Shooting Since September New York Times
Accelerationists
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale publicly endorsed a post calling for the extermination of “commies,” responding “Exactly” and asking, “What did you think founding Palantir was supposed to be about?” on X.
The comment was posted in response to a tweet that stated leftists… https://t.co/77PGF4swkH pic.twitter.com/upqoMcOu3J
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) January 6, 2026
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Great Unraveling Has Begun New York Times. Grim numbers: “…from 1989 to 2014, battle-related deaths from cross-border conflicts averaged less than 15,000 a year. Beginning in 2014, the average has risen to over 100,000 a year.”
Tooze’s Imperialist-Cosplay VS. Stupid Imperialism Un-Diplomatic
Trump withdraws US from 66 international organizations and treaties USA Today
Mamdani
It’s Dangerous to Overestimate the Left’s Strength Labor Politics. Is this a joke?
Mamdani Kisses the National Security Ring Ken Klippenstein
Spook Country
BlackNest: Inside Canary Mission’s Secret Web of Unlisted Sites Drop Site
From an article on the intelligence purpose of prediction markets written by two military intelligence officers. Prediction markets are basically a system of paying HUMINT assets, anonymously but in the open, using money provided by casual gamblers and speculators. https://t.co/S5AW6Jsk6m pic.twitter.com/GuwGSh1Nxc
— Palantir Neurodivergent Fellow 👊🔻🇵🇸 (@postcyborg) January 6, 2026
Why Polymarket Is Not Paying Bets On The U.S. Invading Venezuela Forbes
After Venezuela, traders start betting on Trump’s next target: Panama, Greenland, even Iran Money Control
“MAHA”
U.S. Unveils New Dietary Guidelines MedPage Today
US builds case to retain measles elimination status as infections mount Reuters
HHS freezes $10B in funding for 5 states — 3 federal updates Becker’s Hospital Rebiew
Sweeping cuts are being made to the US childhood vaccine schedule Sheena Cruickshank
If a kid gets meningococcemia because they didn’t get the meningitis vaccine and then loses their limbs due to overwhelming sepsis where should they wear their wearable? https://t.co/8hcblq8PxU
— Dr. Annie Andrews (@AnnieAndrewsMD) January 6, 2026
The golden age of vaccine development Works in Progress
Healthcare?
The Other Health Care Cliff Americans Are About to Fall Off HEALTH CARE un-covered
AI
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health, Wants Access to Your Medical Records Gizmodo
Mem-ageddon: AI chip frenzy to wallop DRAM prices with 70% hike The Register
Our Famously Free Press
The New York Times Publishes Pro-War Propaganda About Venezuela, Funded By The U.S., Chevron and ExxonMobil. The Dissident
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Owners Couldn’t Bust the Union, so They Shut Down the Paper Communication Workers of America
Economy
America is Losing Blue Collar Jobs Apricitas Economics
Here’s the key data: Hiring
Hiring was anemic in November.
The 3.2% hiring rate was one of the worst since the Great Recession era.The United States is in a hiring recession. Virtually no jobs added since April outside of healthcare.
Both blue-collar and white-collar… pic.twitter.com/HYDbYWMxqq
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) January 7, 2026
Class Warfare
While living in his car, LBCC student launches campus club to support his homeless classmates Long Beach Post
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus:
A full year passed with no answers. Our cat vanished, and with every week that went by, hope grew quieter. We searched, put up signs, and held on as long as we could—until accepting the possibility that he might never come home.
Then today happened.
My wife and I were out on a… pic.twitter.com/WL0I8hvlqC
— Mr PitBull (@MrPitbull07) January 7, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
‘Camila
@camilapress
La Guaira: The U.S. bombed a medical supplies distribution center during its terror attack on Venezuela, destroying a warehouse which stored supplies for a nephrology program for patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, affecting at least 9,000 kidney patients’
Funny thing that. Trump announced that his scheme was to take Venezuela’s oil and then have them buy only American made stuff from the profits and they specifically mentioned medical supplies. That’s one way of creating a demand. The Israelis have taught them well.
You beat me to it. Scrolled down here to say: “The US is taking a page out of the IDF playbook?”
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/04/07/multimedia/7vid-trump-netanyahu-pkg-zfqm/7vid-trump-netanyahu-pkg-zfqm-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg
US President shaking hands with T. / ;)
HA!!!! In close Proxyimity…
Hard to tell who started the practice first, the IDF or Bill Clinton – https://jacobin.com/2016/10/bill-clinton-al-shifa-sudan-bombing-khartoum
Sorry, again, you have the precedents reversed. It is the United States which set an example for Israel. The US bombed a medical facility in Sudan in 1998, destroying the only source for half the medial supplies in the region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shifa_pharmaceutical_factory
Much further back, the United States indiscriminately bombed food stores, Hospitals etc. in South Vietnam. See page 369 https://files01.core.ac.uk/download/pdf/151600349.pdf
Israel only imitates its master.
Oh come on, they’re pretty clever themselves: it’s a hellthy competition.
The Lewinsky Sortie.
Widely believed to be a diversion from the humidor.
Colonel Mustard with a ‘candlestick’ in the humidor?
During the Korean War, US tried to infect N. Korea and China with all kinds of plagues, including plague. One wonders why Israel has not taken this path in Gaza…
Because they live right next to the Palestinians.
During the 1980s, Israeli bioweapons research projects investigated targeting the Palestinian population genetically. The Israelis gave it up after finding it wasn’t possible with the Palestinians because they were essentially the same population genetically (though that sort of targeting is actually possible in some cases, whatever you may hear people claim).
Another red pill overdose.
Tkacik’s American Prospect article on which this interview is based was posted here the other day. No one commented on it, but I’d like to recommend it here:
https://prospect.org/2025/12/23/narco-terrorist-elite-rubio-south-america-iran-contra/
None of this is new to those of us who have been reading the likes of Alfred McCoy, Peter Dale Scott, Douglas Valentine, and others for many years. But it is a positive that younger journalists like Tkacik, or Seth Harp, seem to have stumbled on this history are beginning to crack the more “respectable” alt-media and (in Harp’s case) even get a little mainstream exposure. Perhaps the fact that this fascist underworld, which never disappeared, has now reemerged so blatantly will lead to a little more truth telling by some of our court historians instead of the usual fairy tales.
Thank you!
VZ, per capita, had one of the top 5 national GNPs in the 1950s, crushing East Asia, the predeccesor to the EEC and the UK.
VZ has been an elite klepotcracy for decades—typical Latin America but turned to 11.
what the US did/has done was wrong, but VZ was not some socialist or social democrat paradise either
I’m not so sure. Back in the ’50s what was VZ’s literacy rate? How many people lived in poverty? What’s your proof that Chavez and Maduro were running a klepotcracy?
The Maduro government has given much support to agricultural communes and there have been several media reports over the last few weeks that VZ is now producing more than 90 per cent of the food it consumers.
One reason Trump is waging war against VZ is to eliminate a good example that other countries might be tempted to follow.
Even after (brutal) sanctions, those in the bottom tier of the income distribution are still better off than when Chavez took power.
All of that GDP went to a small elite.
And that is why to this day Chavez/Maduro’s political party (PV ¿EP) is still popular among the working classes
And some may still remember the Caracazo.
https://x.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/2008717437487784127
from Alan MacLeod:
A lot of people seem unaware of the achievements of the socialists in Venezuela 🇻🇪 before US sanctions wrecked the economy. Here’s a rundown by the numbers (taken from the United Nations and quoted in my book, “Bad News From Venezuela, 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting”):
GDP per capita: 1999: $5150; 2012: $6434
Poverty: 1999: 49.4%; 2012: 25.4%
Extreme Poverty: 1999: 17.9%; 2012: 7.1%
Unemployment: 1999: 15.0%; 2012: 8.1%
School Enrollment: 1999: under 50%; 2012: Almost 75%
Undernourished population: 2000-2002: 3.8 million; 2010-2012: “Not statistically significant number” [i.e.: close to zero]
Doctors per 10,000 inhabitants: 1998: 18; 2012: 58
Number of free health clinics built, 1999-2012: 7,000
Number of people receiving old age pensions: 1999: 0.39 million; 2012: 2.1 million
During the years of Hugo Chavez (1999-2012/2013), the government built a nationalized healthcare and education system from scratch. In 2005, UNESCO declared Venezuela free of illiteracy.
That is a huge non-sequitur. VZ in the 1900’s was about as far away from socialist or social demoracy as you can get. There’s a reason they called it a revolution.
Walz and Minnesota National Guard–
Here’s a new Polymarket bet:
Will the USA experience civil war or nuclear war first?
FanDuel seems to imply that it will be the former-based on the name alone, but why not go with a parlay of civil war first, followed by nuclear armageddon, for maximum payout?
First time bettors that wager $5, get $200 more worth of action!
There has never been a better time to be to far far away from one of our Big Smokes where the action is gonna go down~
Do any states allow open carry nuclear arms?
Not sure, but a number of second amendment enthusiasts have traveled to Hindu Arms Factories to get what is being called ‘Shiva Surgery’, with not a little bit of controversy as some men are opting for ‘Durga Defense’ on account of the Goddess in question, in needing a full compliment of 10 appendages for which to wield their personal arsenals.
Not sure, but Iranian ICBMs are surprisingly affordable. A launcher and missile costs about the same as a top of the line F-150.
Lot of car dealers could become ICBM warlords if they so chose.
The fat lady is only in rehearsal but pressure is building:
The problem is that dealerships lack real market competition in the US, so they’re in a position to rent-seek.
https://www.independent.org/article/2024/08/06/car-dealership-competition/
As best as I can tell from Polymarket site, as yet there’s no betting on whether the 2026 elections will be suspended. Would that be an unpatriotic wager?
I think this is unlikely, simply because ‘democracy’ is so foundational to US mythology/nationalism.
Also the military hate Trump.
I agree it’s unlikely. What is imo quite likely is miscounting of the ballots.
Not sure how anyone can have any confidence in the integrity of anything done in or by the usa these days. Btw I live in the usa.
Oh sure. The US is a managed democracy and has been for quite a while. Stealing an election, so long as it wasn’t too overt, is fine.
Indeed.
Was the 1960 Presidential Election Stolen? The Case of Illinois
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550168
Was Nixon Robbed?
The legend of the stolen 1960 presidential election.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/10/was-nixon-robbed.html
I’ll take option 3:
American Revolution 2
Sleepwalking into war. The two links to Moon of Alabama and Mafia and More Ideas are okay as a test of the attention span of a comments section and its keyboard tacticians. They are not okay as policy prescriptions. The U S of A and much of the rest of the world are sleepwalking into war.
Setting aside all of the psychodiagnostics about Trump (given that I don’t care about his lovely authoritarian upper-middle-class personality, of which I have seen plenty of others), Trump manages by chaos. Many of us have worked in companies where some or most upper managers managed by chaos. Joe Lonsdale and Alex Karp — more managers by chaos. Managers by chaos in fact don’t build anything — all of their protestations notwithstanding.
What is to be done with Trump as manager by chaos? The fact that the U S of A is incapable of invading Venezuela — Rubio has no choice here given the bloated military, the wasted defense budget, the quality of recruits (sorry), and the fact that USanians like U.S. bullies who don’t draw blood.
We see this in Gaza, where Israel, the US of A, and England are leading a genocide of people who are trapped. The bravery! It astounds me.
Greenland. A population of 57,000, now getting advice from Björk. Watch all of the feints.
What is to be done? As I have mentioned, the U.S. populace has to take control of its own destiny. Italy isn’t going to invade and teach you how to make pizza properly and restore the rule of law.
And expecting the Russians or the Chinese to bomb the U S of A to make the government sensible (all that advice at Moon of Alabama to Putin to take the gloves off) is not an option.
The USA offering to purchase Greenland taken on it’s own, isn’t the craziest idea (see Seward’s Folly*). It’s just that in the context of all the other crazy s**t going on (Gaza, Venezuela, Iran, Epstein Files….) it’s
sensory overload. Where do you start? Sending my Democratic representatives a sternly worded email doesn’t seem to be all that effective.
*Nobody did ask the indigenous folks what they wanted.
Epstein ?
What is that?
HaHa Eye Roll to hell and back
The sale of Alaska to the US was Russia’s idea, recognizing they were overstretched and not capable of defending it adequately. They had good relations with the US and were concerned about increased British activity in the north Pacific. Britain had Canada, and they did NOT want to share a border with Britain or lose Alaska to Britain. So they made a pragmatic strategic choice.
It other words, it was not a hostile takeover, quite the opposite of US acquisition of Greenland, by any means.
It is looking like it would be an offer they can’t refuse! Nice little country you got there… shame if something were to happen to it….
Absolutely love this comment! The bit about Italy not going to invade us gave me an honest to God belly laugh. Thank you!
The idea that China or Russia would attempt regime change in the US is indeed absurd; as a DC resident I would greatly prefer that the federal government not be bombed by a foreign power.
“The U.S. populace” clearly lacks political agency. Any number of studies demonstrate that national politics and policy have been completely captured by our oligarchy. We groundlings can only hope that the oligarchs concentrate their efforts fighting among themselves. At the moment the tech lords seem to be as united as they need to be in imposing AI-assisted surveillance and control. I am losing hope that the clear economic failure of AI will weaken them; it is more likely they will be bailed out at the cost of the rest of the economy.
I support our Free DC movement here, which focuses on organizing for nonviolent resistance, mutual aid, and building local economic capacity. It is the only way forward for us but it is not enough. Other cities are organizing similarly and that also is not enough to meaningfully impact the course of the country. The only action that the U.S. populace could take that would have an impact, IMHO, would be a sustained general strike. I place the likelihood of that happening somewhere around that of being rescued by benevolent aliens.
I doubt a civil war is in the offing due to the lack of organization among the opposition and the ongoing role of surveillance in preventing organization. I can only see a continuation of economic decline coupled with growing state violence of the sort we saw in Minneapolis. There may be pockets of relative safety and sanity made possible by combinations of heroic local efforts and much good luck. No doubt the rest of the world will continue to organize itself to resist the external violence of a dying empire.
I can’t imagine the U.S. existing in its current form in 100 years, but when the dissolution will come is impossible to predict. It will most likely be later than we expect.
A bit lacking in self-sacrifice for the benefit of humanity, IMHO.
> Many of us have worked in companies where some or most upper managers managed by chaos.
True, but it’s almost always a sign of upper managers who don’t understand the company, or what the workers do. And it tends to end badly.
I think something that gets missed in all this is that Trump is seriously out of his depth. None of Trump’s ideas for Venezuela could work, and whatever remains of the business elite, probably know this. Venezuelan oil needs massive investment, and to justify that investment you’d need to see significantly higher oil prices. Meanwhile Trump thinks that he can use Venezuela to lower oil prices (and I guess destroy the US shale industry?). We’re living through the early stages of idiocracy.
Early?
You ain’t seen nothing yet. The depths this country will plumb…
Go away, I’m batin’!
As Adam Smith observed, “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.”
In the business world the problem faced by the managers of chaos is artifacts create their own gravity, leave evidentiary/reality trails, and everyone else colludes and joins forces against them.
I think the same will be the end result here.
Trump certainly manages by chaos. I was watching an old Seinfeld clip when I realized that “Seinfeld” ‘s George Steinbrenner is a perfect example of Trump. All bluster, no attention span, and influenced by the last person.
https://tvquot.es/seinfeld/mr-steinbrenner/
“Mr. Steinbrenner: Good, Merry Christmas, George. And bring me back some of those cigars in the cedar boxes, you know the ones with the fancy rings? I love those fancy rings. They kind of distract you while you’re smoking. The red and yellow are nice. It looks good against the brown of the cigar. The Maduro… I like the Maduro wrapper. The darker the better, that’s what I say. Of course, the Claro’s good too. That’s more of a pale brown. Almost like a milky coffee. [George exits] I find the ring size very confusing. They have it in centimetres which I don’t really understand that well…”
Yes, DJG, “Trump manages by chaos.”
I have worked in companies (and universities) where we sat around half the day, talking about ‘guess what that bastard did this morning!’ Not very productive.
I’m starting to see T as the US’s Yeltsin.
Judge Nap and Col. Larry Wilkerson episode, the first 8-10 minutes of the episode highlights some things that remind me of T’s similarity to Yeltsin.
utube, ~24+ minutes.
COL. Lawrence Wilkerson: Regime Change Is How Empires Die
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIey0DjPLRI
The Western United States just had its warmest December in recorded history, and likely the warmest in many thousands of years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That long white cloud in the Central Valley on the map that extends from Bakersfield to Redding was such an interesting deal in that we were trapped under Tule fog for much of December and not all that warm, an odd anomaly in what might be the turning point for the Colorado River water crisis, in that the entire tributary system for the watercourse got essentially nothing in snow on account of record high temps~
“US Says It Will Control Venezuela Oil Exports Indefinitely”
It seems that they are making it up as they go along regarding Venezuela’s oil. Trump told the new Venezuelan President that he wanted all that oil turned over for free instead of buying it. Then came the idea that the money of any oil sales would be deposited in the US with the US demanding that the money be allowed to buy only American goods. Now there is this idea that the money would be deposited into major US banks so that they can skim off money for fees and the like while Congress is kept blind over what is happening. But as an article in Links today pointed out, once in banks there is nothing stopping vulture corporations going to court and demanding that those profits be turned over to them to pay off old Venezuelan loans. As I said, they are making it up as they go along and never thought about what a post-Maduro Venezuela would look like. No surprise. Little thought was given as to what a post Iraq invasion would look like either.
I assume they’ve been paying Akin Gump and others for advice on this, but aren’t listening and assume they can do whatever and then the next team of Akin Gump lawyers, accountants, and etc can come up with yet another strategy.
Venezuelan oil needs tens, or hundreds, of billions of investment in order to increase their production.
Instead they’re proposing to take all the money. How do they think Venezuela is going to produce oil for free? How do you replace equipment, pay people. This is the plan of a child. Even Venezuela went along with it, it wouldn’t work for very long.
Re how Trump neo-coned America First
This may be too simplistic since the notion that Trump personally even has a plan is a stretch. A more likely explanation is that power corrupts and having used MAGA to acquire it Trump is following the pattern of Obama and all those others who have betrayed their supporters once in office. I would even quarrel with the notion that MAGA were fooled since their goal was to get rid of the previous horrible administration.
But there’s no doubt that Trump is taking betrayal to a whole new level and his approval ratings show it. Can he really defy “consent of the governed” for three more years? That seems unlikely.
I think Trump’s brain has started to go, and he’s doing what feels good. I seriously doubt there’s much of a plan here. This is pure ID.
Trump was always a neo-con why people continue to say otherwise is the weird part.
Also MAGA was no more anti-war than they were for free speech.
So no CON required.
The working class base is anti-war. It’s mostly working class kids who join the military for a way to get skills training they hope will transfer to civilian jobs once their enlistment ends. For many of them the military is seen as their best option for a better future. These are not the kids who can afford to go to college. After ridiculous multiple deployments to Afgha and Iraq the working class is sick of war, sick of watching their loved ones come home maimed for life or dead for no good US national security reasons.
T may have been a neocon from the beginning. The MAGA base never was or is.
See Judge Nap and Glenn Diesen, utube, ~27+ minutes.
Is the Western Alliance Breaking? Prof. Glenn Diesen Explains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtdgMvdynRY
Pay attention to minutes 5 through 7.
I’ll try it and maybe the one’s directly involved.
But the online propaganda apparatus is working overtime to change it.
With the scope the flex-net has achieved in the corruption constellation behind the Administration, systemic pressures are so broad and uniform it appears “conspiratorial” in its effectiveness.
Like the journalistic bias Chomsky and Herman described in Manufacturing Consent, none of these people could be where they are had they not proven systematically susceptible to the mal-incentives in their path to power.
The more power such people get, the more it drives them to specific abuses and the more apparent coordination, however unorganized it may be, there is between those so incentivized.
A comment on ‘Palantir & Commies’
Alex Karp received his doctorate from Karola Brede, a German social scientist who is one of the students of Alfred Lorenzer, to whom the early Habermas refers to.
https://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/5389
(In his dissertation, Karp also analyzes the infamous speech given in 1998 by the German writer Martin Walser, who transformed himself from a member of the DKP (German Communist Party) to a speaker at the CSU (Christian Social Union), and which is published in English as ‘The Burden of the Past’.
Walser’s speech was interpreted by critics as a call to the reunified Germany – and Walser had been demanding reunification since the early 1980s – to draw a line under the Nazi past).
Lorenzer’s theory was an attempt to combine Marx and Freud, and Brede followed him in this.
Karp was a staff member at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt am Main, whose first director was Alexander Mitscherlich, who, together with his wife Margarete, wrote the famous book ‘The Inability to Mourn’ (Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern), and to whose 80th birthday Karp was invited.
Mitscherlich, Critical Theory and Lorenzer were among those German intellectuals who addressed the extermination of European Jews in post-war Germany, and this probably aroused Karp’s interest, in addition to his interest in ‘Marxist theories of alienated labor’ (according to Thiel), which plays a major role in Brede’s work.
It is no coincidence that a text by Karp, which he published together with Brede, deals with the topic of ‘eliminatory anti-Semitism’ in Goldhagen’s book about the willing Germans:
https://psychosozial-verlag.de/programm/1000/51504-detail
(PSYCHE is the classic German periodical for psychoanalysis, co-founded by A. Mitscherlich in 1947; K. Brede was a co-editor for a time).
It seems that Karp, the son of a Jew and a Black woman, concluded from his study of social psychology (and especially the concept of aggression) and anti-Semitism that replacing human labor with AI and completely monitoring a population pacified by bread and circuses is the best way to constitute a new society.
And in the process by destroying every movement or entity that he sees as a danger to Judaism, which he now includes the left.
Of course throughout history smart thoughts and people have been misused, misquoted and misrepresented by later generations.
It´s not the Mitscherlichs´ fault if someone turns their work into nonsense due to “Halbwissen” (As in Adorno´s notion that there is nothing more dangerous than understanding something only halfway through “half knowledge”.)
Walser: If this is the same speech which he held on the occasion of the “Friedenspreis des dt. Buchhandels” / “Award for Peace by Germany´s book publishers” in 1998 – than that was directed against the instrumentalization of the Holocaust.
I personally have bigger issues with Walser´s conduct towards women and his own work which eventually turned into old mens´ fantasies and decay of their libido. Work of limited literary quality. An extremly self-centered man btw. But that would be true for most of his generation. (He was always pissed that he did not get the Nobel but Grass dit.)
As Freud is concerned: Here too all kinds of odd figures have invoked his work and research.
Thanks for the Karp link.
But confirming Goldhagen´s BS is indeed scholarly bankruptcy.
asking for a friend: would uber-Zionist Karp, whose mother is not a Jew (which is matrilineal), have
equal rights in apartheid Israel, where even Mizrahi Jews are second class citizens?
No.
Wealth would override his Mizrahi-ness.
So yes.
It’s not clear what sort of intellectual lineage you’re trying to construct here, but Lorenzer’s work primarily used psychoanalysis to understand social-psychological processes that undermined people’s ability to give adequate representation to their wishes and grievances. You could see him as sharing some of Bourdieu’s interests in symbolic violence, but from a psychoanalytic standpoint. Sprachzerstorung und Rekonstruktion (Language destruction and Reconstruction) was his main work, and it has nothing to do with what appears to be your concern.
The Congress has the power to shut down this Greenland acquisition nonsense. Any annexation would likely need to be legitimized via a treaty with Denmark. Schumer could simply say that the Dems will not support this and the two-thirds majority for treaty approval will not happen. End of controversy.
This happened before. President Grant negotiated a treaty with the president of Santo Domingo of the now Dominican Republic for the U.S. to acquire it as an organized territory with a view to eventual statehood. The proposal won a Dominican referendum by 99% but failed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 28 to 28.
Funny thing I saw on the TV news tonight. There appears to be a new narrative being spread that the US wanting Greenland is not new and talking about events from the 1860s to WW2. Are US and UK viewers seeing the same? I wonder what would happen if Denmark said that they will sell Greenland to Trump – but demand $1 trillion because of all the mineral reserves, rare earths and the possible offshore oil deposits. US debt is already at about $38 trillion so what is another trillion or so, especially when Trump wants $1.5 trillion for the military.
“I wonder what would happen if Denmark said that they will sell Greenland to Trump – but demand $1 trillion because of all the mineral reserves, rare earths and the possible offshore oil deposits.”
The counter-move is obvious: since Denmark obviously did not develop all those resources, all the potential costs required to start the exploitation of those potential resources must be deducted — and given the difficulty to work in the harsh Greenlandish environment, who can determine whether the USA are coming with overinflated estimates? (The Russians can, but since they are the enemy, they will not be brought in as advisors).
On the other hand, both Congress and President Cleveland refused to approve the annexation of Hawaii in 1893, but without any clear path to undoing the Bayonet Constitution Hawaii remained governed by the US for Cleveland’s entire term, until a new Congress and President McKinley went ahead and completed the official annexation.
No, Hawaii was not “governed by the US”. The Republic was proclaimed on 4 July 1894 after a convention drafted a constitution which was subsequently enacted by the legislature, but of course without the assent of the Queen. Sanford Dole was elected President. (A cousin, James Dole, would come to Hawaii after annexation and eventually began pineapple production in central Oahu).
House J. Res 259 aka “Newlands Resolution” enacted in 1898 provided for the annexation of the Republic (following precedent of Texas Republic) in return for ceding title to all Government and Crown lands to the US. (Much of that land would be returned to the new State of Hawaii in the Admissions Act of 1959 as a trust for five stated purposes.) The existing government remained in place until the enactment of the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 which created the Territory of Hawaii and the Territorial government.
“US builds case to retain measles elimination status as infections mount”
If you stop noting and recording most cases of measles, then did they ever happen? Won’t look good if internationally the US loses it status of having eliminated measles. But if in the next three years measles becomes rampant, will Trump throw RJK Jr under the bus or protect him as he was chosen by Trump for his post.
Gotta get down to it, ICE agents are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
Where can they run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Noem’s coming
We’re finally on our own
She killed her own dog. Expect no mercy.
Shih Tzu happens
Noh your enemy.
“Quick Draw Kristi”
Saw her on the TV wearing her 10 Gallon hat this morning trying to spin the ICE shooting.
Saw the same clip and it looked like an oversize 10 gallon hat for a two pint head.
Big hat, no cattle.
During my 32 years as a state-level prosecutor I was involved in the investigation of several officer-involved shootings, including into “fleeing” automobiles.
There is nothing remotely justifiable about this Minneapolis shooting. Three head-shots after the vehicle had passed any pedestrian violates all standards expected of police officers for the utilization of force, which ICE officers quite evidently do not follow. What I see in that video rises to the level of murder in my eyes, based on decades of exercising professional judgment. To me, the only question is whether the shooter acted after premeditation and deliberation.
Of course there should be a thorough investigation, but unless something wildly different than is shown in that video arises, charges should be filed — with the understanding that the state will be forced to prosecute in a federal court.
The FBI is blocking Minnesota authorities from all involvement in the investigation: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/bca-fbi-taking-full-control-of-investigation-into-fatal-ice-shooting-in-minneapolis/
I call baloney. Pursuant to the Tenth Amendment the federal government may not constitutionally preempt a state investigation of a crime.
The BCA has the ability to interview all witnesses and if any federal witness refuses to cooperate they are neither obligated to under the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination nor are their statements necessary for the filing of charges. Such cases are filed every day.
Forensic evidence gathered and processed by the feds is subject to subpoena or search warrant and is not barred by any privilege. The most compelling evidence is the video footage that’s all over the internet.
If Governor Tim Walz has a shred of integrity he must order the BCA to proceed with an investigation instead of hiding under their desks. I wasn’t aware that there’s a summary federal death penalty for blocking a street. I’m sick and tired of “Impunity for Me but not for Thee.”
Bro what do you think ICE is? It’s the fucking pretorian guard that answers only to Emperor Trump.
They are “extrajudicial” and answer to no state.
Posse Comitatus, eat your heart out 🤮
Nearly twenty years ago, in the parking lot of a all-night diner in the DC area, an off-duty cop doing security in the parking lot fired at a vehicle with five young people in it, killing one of them, the couple’s only son. He was a friend of my then-girlfriend. After she told me about this I found a report online that detailed why the AG’s office was not going to press charges against the officer. He claimed the vehicle was speeding at him, and he had to fire for that reason. The report included the coroner’s findings – that the bullet that killed Aaron Brown, passenger, entered from his side and slightly to the rear and punctured his heart.
So just like this ICE agent, the bullet that killed this young man was fired after the officer was out of harm’s way.
This isn’t new.
I don’t think “cops firing at drivers whom are claimed to be attempting to use vehicle as deadly weapon” is that rare and it seems like courts generally allow it as a valid defense.
With all due respect, you are assuming facts not in evidence, as the trade states. I’ve shot guns my whole life and watched both videos at least five times and at several speeds, including 1/3 speed. The ICE Cop’s first shot is fired as the car is driving forward in to ICE cop and hits him, knocking him out of the way. This appears evident from the bullet hole in the window, which appears to have struck almost straight on, perhaps 10% off from straight on at best (hard to see without a close up). The second and third shots are shot in to the window as the car drives past the ICE cop, but I expect the autopsy will determine which shot(s) were lethal. Furthermore, the vehicle’s wheels were facing forward as the ICE cop fired (not rotated to the right, I expect the wheel was turning to drive around adjacent car and I am not sure whether the driver was even aware the ICE cop was directly in front of her when she drove. I’d love to see a camera angle that showed what she was looking at…
As I am sure you are aware, the standard will be whether it is reasonable for the state’s agent to pull his gun and shoot when a vehicle is driving toward them in an aggressive manner (of course, it will be a jury determined fact if the vehicle was stopped or in which direction it was moving when the ICE cop shot, amongst many others). How the ICE cop’s alleged experience being run over six months ago by a fleeing suspect in another case will play in is unknown.
That said, this whole situation occurred in a matter of seconds, if not 2-3 seconds (between the second order to exit the vehicle and the ultimate evade attempt and shooting), by a woman who may have received multiple commands ordering different actions (stop vs. move it off the road), was most likely stressed and panicked. Add in an ICE cop who has probably had too LITTLE training, is maybe jumpy on the trigger, and also stressed out, and the whole matter is a recipe for a bad outcome.
This whole matter is a tragedy. A young mother’s life is gone, a sister, a partner, a child, now all with a hole in their heart that will not easily be filled. A young man’s life is altered incredibly, and possibly with a serious set of jail time (though I expect 47 to have the DOJ review it and push for no prosecution, if not an outright “pardon”, thereby making it impossible for MN to prosecute). I really wish people would take a step or two back and take a DEEEEP breath as this whole issue could get incredibly ugly, incredibly quickly. What happens when a state governor orders their national guard to take action that the US military is ordered to counter? That same scenario has been war-gamed out for decades by the US military and its advisors, and it generally ends in with the nation torn apart by a guerrilla war. If you have ever seen the 3% patches on para-military types, it isn’t for a dead race car driver, it alludes to the fact that only 3% of Colonial men actively fought during the American revolution. It would only take a few nut jobs to get these things popping and I, for one, don’t intend to live through my very own border war a la Ang Lee’s incomparable epic on the Civil War, “Ride With the Devil.”
The clip I saw showed that ICE cop was clear of that car and was actually leaning in for the shot. His feet were clear of the tires at all points so was never in danger. Shoot first, ask questions later. What made the whole thing worse was those ICE cops prevented a doctor from helping that young woman as if they did not want to survive so that she could testify. It was murder most foul.
Here’s a legal term: res ipsa loquitor. The video speaks for itself.
The video linked above clearly shows that the ICE agent (who is not a “young man” BTW, and who has a history of being fearless around fleeing automobiles) is not hit and is nowhere close to being hit by Renée Good’s Honda Pilot. He draws his weapon before she attempted to drive and has both feet planted firmly on terra firma as he fires. He never takes any evasive action whatsoever.
The first shot is fired after the hood and front wheels have passed him at an acute angle from beside the vehicle through the extreme lower left windshield aimed at the driver. Shots two and three are fired at an oblique angle through the open driver’s window from directly beside the vehicle. We don’t know how many shots struck Ms. Good, or how, but at least one found its target. Hardly the marksmanship of someone just struck by an automobile.
It’s all well and good to spout platitudes but charges must be filed before a jury determines a fact. Firing a gun doesn’t make someone an expert in ballistics, no more than being in the military makes someone an expert in police procedures. Let the shooter take the stand and explain himself, subject to confrontation and cross examination as provided by the Sixth Amendment.
The President can not grant a pardon that would bar prosecution under state law. That pesky Tenth Amendment says otherwise. Things have already gotten incredibly ugly, and quickly, and it is the Confederacy of Dunces running the current administration who set this in motion.
The second angle video, taken from a potato (likely a ring camera or security camera, clearly shows the ICE cop is hit either simultaneously with his first shot or a split second afterwards. Take a look at the video, it’s all over Twitter and other sites. I disagree whole heartedly with the contention the first shot was fired while the ICE cop was aside the vehicle – the sound of the gunshot is clearly heard in slowed down video (1/3 speed) while the ICE cop is in front of the vehicle.
As for charges being filed, sure, but if I have to put my lawyer hat on, there is a concept called “dual sovereignty” that allows state and Federal officials to file charges for the same set of facts/claims, but Federal immunity will come in to play and that is outside of my wheelhouse. What I do know is that the Supreme Court ruled that Federal Government retains primacy over immigration enforcement (Scott v. Arizona 2012), and how they may be used with the 10th Amendment (rights not enumerated to the Feds are reserved to the states) and the Supremacy Clause in light of a Federal officer enforcing Federal law a state can’t enforce is a question for the real legal scholars.
At the end of the day, this is another tragic waypoint on our long, slow march back to 1700 (hat tip John Michael Greer).
‘shows the ICE cop is hit either simultaneously with his first shot or a split second afterwards.’
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence so a link to this video would be appreciated which you did not supply but only stated it was all over Twitter and other sites. It does not match up with the slowed down video I saw where he was always clear of the car and his feet were firmly planted on the ground as he took up his firing stance. And I wonder about the mental state of that ICE cop as it was only in June of last year that he was dragged by a car when he reached into a car to make an arrest after breaking the window leading him to have several injuries-
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-09/minneapolis-shooting-fbi-bca-blocked/106212576
I hate to tell you this but internationally American cops are reckoned to be trigger-happy and this killing is an example of it.
“Federal immunity” is a figment of JD Vance’s imagination. There is no such thing.
The Supremacy Clause of Article VI does not immunize criminal acts by federal officials. I helped my colleague prepare briefing and argument at the US Supreme Court on just this issue and sat in the front row of the gallery during his oral argument (we won 9-0).
– ‘Was There Another Incentive to Kidnap Maduro?’ – Larry Johnson
This Paul Singer angle is interesting. It has been raised by a number of commenters. Anya Parampil has been discussing it in interviews:
https://x.com/anyaparampil/status/2008559360721461263
Singer used to be considered the Democrat (or at least “never Trump”) Zionist billionaire, sort of a mirror to Adelson influence on the “other” side. But like other Zionist billionaires and tech-lords, he clearly realized that “money talks” is Trump’s only political principle. I’m sure he perceived Trump 2.0 as a sound investment.
He is now 81. Imagine what the world would be like if Singer and the tech bros actually achieved their desired immortality. Nature’s evolutionary plan for the opposite makes a lot of sense in this case.
However here’s hoping Dick Van Dyke makes it from 100 to 110.
” Rubio says he plans to meet Danish officials next week to talk about US interest in Greenland”
I’m thinking that there should be a new word to describe how Trump is running the country and trying to run the world like Biden claimed he did. How about ‘Thugocracy’. No doubt that Rubio will demand that Denmark hand over Greenland for free while the Danes will explain that it is not going to happen. This is the world that we live in right now.
Given Trump’s trademark move of using diplomacy as a ruse to lure opposing parties into complacency while simultaneously launching regime change attacks, Margarethe II’s abdication last year suddenly makes a lot of sense. She is one smart cookie.
(Only meant half in jest)
So who is Polymarket saying Trump wants to take out or abduct in Denmark?
The fix is in there as well, the Danes are buying a lot of US weapons already and won’t be able to do anything to stop the Yanks. Greenland is a poisoned chalice anyway, look at what happened when they tried Operation Iceworm.
It will remain like UK a platform for air fields and cruise type missiles. Basing a lot of ships there would be nothing except a net loss for the Empire which has trouble feilding existing shipping. Those coast guard ships weren’t built for policing the sea lanes of the world and will need constant care.
If the intention is using minerals after the warming has proceeded far enough I don’t think it it going to go smoothly. An already overextended Empire taking on more liability.
Mike Benz on the US action against Venezuela. utube, 2 hrs.
Venezuela: A Hard-Nosed Realist Analysis Of What Really Went Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NmtpBcH5A
Just ran across this:
Mapped: America’s healthiest, least healthy states
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/08/state-health-rankings-2026-healthiest-places-to-live
NH is the most healthy; LA is the least. So all your state has to do to qualify for healthiest status is: dump most of its population, starting with 99 percent of those who are black or brown; exclude everyone who does not achieve at least the NH median household income of $96,800 in 2023 dollars; eliminate taxes on income, sales, capital gains, and inheritances and count on local property taxes to fund education, because with a total state population of under 1.5 million, you really won’t need much in the way of local or state government; and finally, be sure to live free or die, because wealthy people always live free, and die much later in life than other folks.
OK, but when you read the report appendix/measures table you see it’s biased towards those things the author thinks are important to “health” which is defined as “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
In some societies, it’s quite possible to achieve physical, mental and social well-being without being wealthy. Not here in these United States. Used to be, maybe, but not now.
Take that booty
Sung to the tune of, “Shake your Booty” by KC and the Sunshine Band
Melody
Everybody get on the floor
Let’s dance
Don’t fight the feeling
Give this war a chance
Take, take, take!
Take, take, take!
Take that booty, just like “Lootie”!
Ow! take, take, take
Take, take, take
Crude oil booty
It’s our duty!
Oh, you can
You can do it very well
You’re the best in the world
I can tell
Aw, in our lake
We’ll partake
Call us “Lootie”
It’s a thing of beauty
Ow! take, take, take
Take, take, take
Crude oil booty
It’s our duty!
Yeah
Take, take, take, take, take, take
Take, take, take, take, take, take
The rules we break
Are your mistake
Take, take, take,
Take, take, take
Crude oil booty
It’s our duty
Take, take, take, take,
Take that booty! (aw do your duty)
Take, take, take, take
Take that booty (brothers & sisters)
[Repeat and fade out]
re: petition Jacques Baud
I didn´t see it in links even though Yves already signed it
https://free-baud.org/
This far and no further!
We protest against the unlawful sanctions against Colonel Jacques Baud and the EU’s war policy!
With its latest sanctions package, the EU has sanctioned military historian and former colonel in the Swiss Army and the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service, as well as a member of the Swiss General Staff, Jacques Baud. Baud is a Swiss citizen and lives in Brussels. He is no longer allowed to leave Belgium, his assets have been seized, his accounts are frozen, and his books may no longer be sold.
Jacques Baud has worked for NATO and the United Nations, among others. He is an impeccable scholar and a man of honor. His books meet the highest standards of scholarly historical analysis. He works with strict neutrality, adhering to the principle that both sides must be heard.
It is not a crime to name the true reasons for the war in Ukraine. It is not a crime to draw readers’ attention to falsehoods and the EU’s and NATO’s own propaganda. It is not a crime to point out the West’s thoughtless cooperation with Ukrainian forces that exhibit dangerous proximity to fascists.
The EU Council of Ministers is destroying the foundations of freedom of expression with arbitrary punitive measures against Jacques Baud and a total of 59 journalists and scientists.
These sanctions are illegal and violate international law because they were not imposed by the UN Security Council. The expert opinion by former European Court of Justice judge Professor Dr. Ninon Colneric and legal scholar Professor Dr. Alina Miron of the University of Angers shows that the underlying legal acts also violate EU law. The EU is using the sanctions list as a tool to silence critics and is maneuvering itself ever deeper into an abyss of lawlessness.
We call upon the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the German Bundestag, the German state and local parliaments, the entire German people and the people in all countries of the European Union to now confront the destroyers of democracy and the warmongers with all their might.
The preamble to the Basic Law obligates Germany to serve peace. Article 5 of the Basic Law stipulates: “There shall be no censorship.” The actions of the EU Commission and the EU Council contradict our Basic Law. We call upon the Federal Government, in accordance with its oath of office, to draw attention to this unlawful process.
We demand the immediate lifting of the illegal sanctions against Jacques Baud, as well as against all journalists, scientists and EU citizens.
We call on the German government and the EU to contribute constructively to peace in Ukraine and to cease all unconstitutional attempts to prolong the war.
Thanks for the free-baud link. I knew a campaign existed but had not found it. I was delighted to see Coleen Rowley’s signature there.
Caracas, Nuuk nook, ooh, I wanna take ya
British Columbia, Gaspé, come on, go ahead and make my day
Havana, Cienfuegos, baby, why don’t we go back to my place
America
Off the Florida Keys
There’s a place called Cuba
That’s where you wanna go
To take it away from them all
Lines in the sand
Socialism melting in your hand
We’ll be falling in love
To the rhythm of Uncle Don’s band
Down in Havana land
Caracas, Nuuk nook, ooh, I wanna take ya
British Columbia, Gaspé, come on, go ahead and make my day
Havana, Cienfuegos, baby, why don’t we go back to my place
Ooh, I wanna take over up in Sisimiut
We’ll get there fast, and then we’ll take over the snow
That’s where we wanna go
Way up in Qaqortoq, Yo!
Forget about Martinique, and that Macron mystique
We’ll put out to sea
And we’ll perfect our high tech weaponry
By and by, we’ll defy
A little bit of law ambiguity
Afternoon delight
Conquest on most every night
That dictator like look in your eye
Give me a topical contact high
Way down in the fracas in Caracas
Caracas, Nuuk nook, ooh, I wanna take ya
British Columbia, Gaspé, come on, go ahead and make my day
Havana, Cienfuegos, baby, why don’t we go back to my place
Ooh, I wanna take over up in Sisimiut
We’ll get there fast, and then we’ll take over the snow
That’s where we wanna go
Way up in Qaqortoq, Yo!
Kokomo, by the Beach Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmr8bEuyQjA&list=RDxmr8bEuyQjA
Re: Blackstone stock sinks after Trump plans steps to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes
This is standard Trump, raising an issue as a means to get companies to open their coffers and find ways to increase the largess of their bribes to him. Not just a Trump technique, of course, it has a long bipartisan tradition, but Trump has moved it into performance art.
If such a ban actually happens, will it also include the Israeli firm Elco/Electra Real Estate/American Landmark? The firm is a major buyer of homes across the country and a filer of eviction notices in some locales at nine times the national average. Elco is closely tied to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
A related article in The Nation is at https://www.thenation.com/article/society/american-landmark-evictions-israel-electra/
According to an AI oracle, in 2022 alone, Israeli institutions acquired 89 properties worth nearly $1.5 billion, ranking them among the top 10 foreign capital sources in the U.S.
So perhaps Trump is simply widening their pathway by running interference against US corporate competition.
Regarding the ICE Murder in Minnesota, wonder if any locals made copies of their doorbellcam footage and put in in a safe place.
That wasn’t an ICE Murder, that was one of the guardians of our freedoms neutralizing a suspected terrorist sympathizer.
She was drinking a DECAF Latte, could their any clearer proof of her evil intent?
Leavitt to Believer
In this week’s episode, Karoline gets excited in regards to able body seamen on the seized Russian flagged tanker until it became obvious the ejaculate spewing from her mouth would lead nowhere, another thoughtless reasoning abortion.
re: Seymour Hersh
Netflix now has the documentary on him, COVER UP.
I assume it´s worth the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover-Up_(2025_film)
“From an article on the intelligence purpose of prediction markets written by two military intelligence officers.”
Did anyone reviewing that paper, never mind the authors, stop to think it goes both ways?
If you allow anonymous and open participation in prediction markets as a means of getting insider information for national security threats, then there are three issues that are going to come up:
1) The actors you are trying to monitor have a vector to feed you misinformation or artificially boost their own deception efforts through participating. By creating fake signals/movement through other intelligence vectors, and then corroborating it by faking an insider whale creating a counter signal in the prediction market, adversaries could influence their enemy’s behavior. See Operation Mincemeat for an example.
2) That even if actors aren’t trying to use the market as misdirection, they can still gain access and see the same effect/information that the intelligence agency is seeing. If an adversary plans an invasion for the first week of February, and then sees on the prediction market that there’s a suddenly a high chance of it happening even though they haven’t deployed anything that would reveal it through other channels, they now know there’s a leaker. An adversary can use this information to change or mitigate their original plan.
3) That as other participants realize that they’re playing a fool’s game if insiders can ultimately shape the market and eat their lunch, they will be less likely to participate. Most people participating in Polymarket are carrying losses. If insiders are finding ways around the TOS to benefit, that number is going to increase. Less participation means any noise from betting that could mask issues 1 and 2 is reduced, amplifying those problems.
When I chance upon righty radio stations or TV, inevitably the hard sell commercials for precious metals hit hard, and I get it, evangs in particular are me so horny for anything mentioned in the good book, and that 4 letter word that almost sounds like a deity is mentioned 418 times, yikes.
Everything Trump has done in almost a year in office has benefited them considerably, with argent provocateurs up over 150%.
Every iCloud has a silver lining?
Precious metals are pitched to the idea that the Fed is Devil from Jekyll Island and FRNs are really worthless and therefore the sky is falling, I just can’t tell you when. I don’t think your “evangs” are that big a factor.
Everybody should read the Maureen Tkacik / Chris Hedges discussion of the post WW2 nexus between rightwing LatAm revolutionaries and specifically Bay of Pigs veterans, the CIA, drug-trafficking and US foreign policy adventuring, including Afghanistan. Marco Rubio is the fruit of a poison tree.
However, the brilliant Ms Takacik has missed closing the loop, between the Karzai’s and Delta Force and LatAm shenanigans.
She refers to a 2013 drug shipment from Caracas to Paris and implies it may have been to frame Maduro. She then mentions a British gangster on the Costas, Robert Dawes, who took the fall and dismissed him as dim. I was intrigued – we love our Sexy Beast villains – but it only took one Google search to turn up claims that the guy was linked to the Karzai’s in Afghanistan and therefore the Delta Force / Fort Bragg cartel she was outlining earlier.
https://blog.carlfellstrom.com/the-afghan-links-to-a-very-british-organised-crime-group/
The link is to a guy who publishes journalism on UK drug crime, specifically Nottingham (“Shottingham”).
re: CIA drug trafficking
Judge Nap and an Arizona Sheriff David Hathaway. utube, ~23+ minutes.
Sheriff David Hathaway : The Real Latin American Drug Runners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq8WH3et0GM
>The U.S. bets on her, but can Venezuela’s new boss deliver? Her life might depend on it
Both Maduro and Cabello had the opportunity to become Chávez’s successor. How would Venezuela be different today if a skilled guerrilla fighter had become president instead of a mediocre bus driver?
The problem is, nation-state and peaceful development with a working administration is not really compatible with life as an insurget.
The Dougald Lamont article wanders into some interesting territory coincidentally also traversed in this Alex Kramer interview on Dialogue Works.
One potentially useful thing that I’m hoping that comes out of the unfortunate shooting in MN is that it will help disabuse people of the notion that there is such a thing called “white privilege” before the state.
I’ve long been of the view that, first, “white privilege” is not only mostly a myth, but a dangerous and misleading idea that subverts attempts at curbing excesses of the state. The arms of the state are, at their core, IMHO, fundamentally not racist, in the sense that they are happy to crush anyone underfoot regardless of what race they belong to. The only exception to that are those who are sufficiently “respectable” that crushing them would cause more trouble than they are worth–and whites are disproportionately represented among the “respectable” people. Rather than think that their being “respectable” is what shields them state abuses, the respectable white people think that it’s their race, somehow, so they think “white privilege” exists–i.e. I think it’s the privilege, not the “white.”
The pernicious consequence of this is that, first, it divides the people who might conceivably unite against state abuses: everyone who lack the privilege, regardless of the race–I’ve had enough interactions with less than “respectable” whites to know that they don’t have much if any by means of privilege when dealing with the state. Second, I think it is fundamentally smug in addition to racist–the “respectable” people that they are “naturally” shielded from state abuses that they treat whatever opposition they have to state abuses as an act of charity towards the “wrong kinds” of people. Besides being terribly offensive, it makes their supposed opposition to state abuses tepid and unreliable–they are happy to trade it away in return for some other symbolic concession from the state. Third, most importantly, it creates jsutification for increase in state abuses: if the state absues white people like it does the “wrong kind” of people, it’s fine, no?
In fact, I’m tempted to suggesat that we should discard “racism” from our thoughts completely: if we mistreat some people, for whatever reason, the problem is that we mistreat those people, not that we mistreat them because of their race; if the state engages in abuse of power over some people, the state shouldn’t be abusing power anyways, regardless of whom they are directed. By attributing “racism” as the rationale for such abuses (even if it is true), we are implicitly excusing abuses as long as it’s not “racist.” If law enforcement abuses people, murders citizens callously regardless of race, they should be resisted with everything, because abuse of state power is wrong, not because the power is being abused for racist reasons….
I can’t address everything I have issue with in this comment, but note an example of white privilege is that I have never been stopped by the police while driving because of the color of my white skin. And those in charge don’t officially mandate harassing/assaulting/murdering black drivers, it’s just that they don’t care and therefore allow it to happen.
ICE murder. NYT video compilation and analysis: https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html
My quick google search didn’t find the study I was looking for that looked at shooting a vehicle or driver in self defense. Conclusion was it almost never makes sense. The variables of range, momentum, stopping power don’t line up. Plus the risk of a wounded or dead person’s foot on the accelerator is very real. Clown was on a power trip and not appropriately trained. Specifics of intention and positioning might be important to a jury but that was categorically not a responsible use of a firearm. I am alarmed by the number of people who seem to give some sort of mystical power to the ‘good guy with a gun’ instead of viewing them as tools that need to be handled with appropriate care and respect.
12th night of protests in Iran backed by and for Reza Pahlavi and internet shit down. Trump talking about striking Iran hard if protesters are killed (what a gentleman), also some sources claiming US is removing embassy members from Israel and Lebanon (https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/01/08/breaking-us-withdraws-embassy-staff-from-israel-and-lebanon/).
Not looking good
Due Dissidence on the Minneapolis ICE killing. I start the video at the beginning of the segment. Segment ends when Keaton pauses for a musical interlude about an hour in. Lots of so-mo breakdowns of the event. Local resident interviews. Ridiculous T admin excuses. Kristi Noem is really out to lunch.
ICE SHOOTING in MN
https://youtu.be/8XQxjBNjcHg?t=698
Heh.
This just in the FT —
UK to exclude financial services from push for closer EU alignment
City of London firms have been lobbying against a return to Brussels rules
https://www.ft.com/content/8d9aca04-5675-4d38-bf22-1fcb2f1a862b
https://archive.ph/5vezy
‘Sir Keir Starmer will exclude the City of London from his push for “closer alignment” with the EU, following lobbying by financial services firms against any return to Brussels rules. British government officials told the FT that while ministers wanted “closer co-operation” with the EU on financial services, the prime minister had no intention of trying to reintegrate the sector with the Brussels rule book.
‘Some ministers including David Lammy, deputy prime minister, have talked up the benefits of a new customs union with the EU. “It’s the last thing we want to be talking about,” said one City lobbyist, arguing that British financial services had moved on from the fraught debate about single market access in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit vote….
‘One government official said the City’s concerns were “valid”, and ministers were “not looking at alignment” of rules affecting financial services. “This is one area where we have diverged a lot from the EU since Brexit.”
Another official said: “It doesn’t really make sense to follow EU rules, the UK is the bigger market.”…’
And so on.
NYT just dropped (for me) Fed based shootings of people in Portland, OR, no link needed.
Everyday a headline of hair furor’s inherent confusions.
Chaos
inherent confusions might be said: internalized mystifications
Alexander Mercouris of the Duran, utube, ~1hr. 30+ minutes.
Moscow Strikes US Assets In Ukraine; Warns Will Protect Its Ships; Calls Starmer Macron Axis Of War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH6Llc4xGBk
The Rise of the Self-Serve Blood Test (NY Times via archive.ph)
Why not? Even given my family history, my GP said he didn’t think I needed a blood test last time I did a physical a couple of years ago. That’s kind of insane to me.