Links 2/22/2026

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1. mrsyk February 22, 2026 at 7:20 am

   India Accounts For 20% Of Global Heart Attack Deaths, Says New Indian Report
   Pretty sure India accounts for about twenty percent of the global population.
   1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 8:44 am

      I normally appreciate your comments, but do not ever do this again. Use a bloody search engine. This sort of thing is inconsiderate. My choice with handwave assertions like this is either not to approve them or spend my exceedingly scarce time checking something you could and should have checked yourself, at the expense of the highest and best use of my time, which is working on posts.

      India is less than 17.5% of global population, so the country does have a disproportionate rate of heart attacks.
      1. P. Dime February 22, 2026 at 9:38 am

         Yves, his point is that the headline is misleading. I’d say that point stands, given that India is in the lowest quartile for per capita heart disease.
         1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 9:58 am

            No, your source is misleading and you are forcing me to waste more time. From the NIH, in a reproduction of an article in an Indian medical journal:

            The results of Global Burden of Disease study state age-standardized CVD death rate of 272 per 100000 population in India which is much higher than that of global average of 235. CVDs strike Indians a decade earlier than the western population

            https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6994761/

            And from the Indian Heart Disease Association:

            Demographic data indicate that the heart disease rate among Indians / South Asians is double that of the national averages of the western world. This may be attributed to an underlying genetic predisposition to metabolic deregulation and cardiomyopathy (1-4), as well as a recent shift of modifiable risk factors towards increasing consumption of red meats / saturated fats / trans fats / junk foods and higher stress in sedentary call-center workers in India.

            Now on to some Startling Figures about Heart Disease and Stroke among South Asians:

            Public health estimates indicate that India accounts for approximately 60% of the world’s heart disease burden (5), despite having less than 20% of the world’s population. Heart disease is the number one cause of mortality and a silent epidemic among Indians.
            India, particularly the city of Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is currently the diabetic capital of the world (6). Indians have been affected by high rates of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and smoking. These are major risk factors for cardiac disease.
            When heart disease strikes Indians, it tends to do so at an earlier age (almost 33% earlier) than other demographics, often without prior warning. Furthermore, 50% of all heart attacks in Indian men occur under 50 years of age and 25% of all heart attacks in Indian men occur under 40 years of age, a staggering figure (1, 5, 7-8)! Indian women have high mortality rates from cardiac disease as well.
            Demographic data indicate that the heart disease rate among Indians is double that of national averages of the western world. This may be attributed to an underlying genetic predisposition to metabolic deregulation and cardiomyopathy (2-4), as well as a recent shift of modifiable risk factors towards increasing consumption of red meats / saturated fats and trans fats / junk foods and higher stress in sedentary call-center workers in Indi…
            Unlike many developed countries, there is a notable paucity of public health infrastructure and initiatives in India to raise awareness about this important issue (12). To date, few healthcare providers in India routinely screen South Asians for heart disease and stroke risk factors. We can do something about this!

            https://indianheartassociation.org/why-indians-why-south-asians/

            And The Lancet in 2023, in The burgeoning cardiovascular disease epidemic in Indians – perspectives on contextual factors and potential solutions:

            Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death and disability in India. The CVD epidemic in Indians is characterized by a higher relative risk burden, an earlier age of onset, higher case fatality and higher premature deaths. For decades, researchers have been trying to understand the reason for this increased burden and propensity of CVD among Indians.

            https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lansea/article/PIIS2772-3682(23)00016-1/fulltext
            1. Vikas February 22, 2026 at 10:12 am

               Not that you need it, but as a cardiologist who has studied and taught this issue, Yves is beyond correct. The younger age at which heart attacks strike is much more devastating to families, incomes, etc.

               Of course, that is just the epidemiology. When you get to the privatized nature of health care in India, like in the US, financial devastation, bankruptcies, etc are a huge phenomenon
            2. Bugs February 22, 2026 at 10:57 am

               What I’ve always been surprised by in India is the number of overweight men aged 35 and up. And not just the middle and upper classes. I’ve seen fat farmers in very rural areas. I’ve been told by men that Indian women prefer a man with a bit of a paunch, but I’ve never been cheeky enough to ask a woman if this is true.

               The typical Indian diet is much lower than the Western diet in meat consumption for the most part, but there are plenty of fats (lots of fried foods), sugary drinks, rich snack foods (chaat is tasty as heck) and of course piles of white rice with meals in the south and stacks of refined wheat flour flatbreads in the north.
            3. SteveW February 22, 2026 at 1:12 pm

               Both sets of data could be correct. India has high DVD death rate yet low disease rate. The death rate data is probably more representative and accurate in terms of data source. Disease rates in poor health care areas tend to be under represented? People simply do not get reportable medical care. Even accounted for that, the CVD medical care in India is likely very poor, reflected by the high mortality rate in a low disease rate situation.
      2. mrsyk February 22, 2026 at 12:12 pm

         My sincere apology Yves, you are correct. I should know better than comment before the coffee is ready.
         (Shuffles off to the penalty box…)
         1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 1:54 pm

            Thank you for being gracious despite my having boxed your ears.
         2. ChrisPacific February 22, 2026 at 3:11 pm

            PSA to you and others: the first comment on a post always receives extra scrutiny. Make extra sure you are supporting your argument well if that’s you, since the spotlight will be on you. (I say as one who has also fallen foul of this in the past).
      3. P. Dime February 22, 2026 at 2:46 pm

         I’ll defer to your better citations and concede that it is disproportionate, but India is currently estimated to have 17.79% ~ 18.45% of global population (according to Gemini and Opus), not “less than 17.5%”.
         1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 11:49 pm

            You should know by now that AI is not accurate. I took the most current India and world population estimates available. I got 17.45%.
   2. Santo de la Sera February 22, 2026 at 9:59 am

      An easier way to understand is to look here, select the table instead of the picture, and you can see an age standardized number for cvd deaths per 100,000 for India versus the world: 241.8 and rising, versus 209.1 and falling for the world. So you have a 15% higher chance of dying of cardiovascular disease in India than you do on average in the rest of the globe.
2. Mikerw0 February 22, 2026 at 7:38 am

   So, no surprise Twitter already uses algorithms to skew opinions https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/twitter-is-not-real-life

   I am fully confident that the purveyors of AI will use them as a weapon to get the election result they want this fall. They have way more powerful tools than Meta and X.
3. Huey February 22, 2026 at 7:40 am

   AI Reveals Unexpected New Physics in the Fourth State of Matter was kind of a misleading title from SciTech. Physicists Design Neural Network … would have been more accurate, and also would have avoided implying that a regular ‘AI’ bot discovered this in response to some prompt.
4. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 7:52 am

   “DONALD TRUMP’S PROBLEMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST (AKA WEST ASIA) ARE MOUNTING”

   ‘that in the event of any attack on the life of Imam Khamenei in possible U.S. strikes, Ayatollah Sistani would issue a massive jihad order against American forces.’

   People seem to forget that trying to kill a religious leader during the biggest religious event on their calendar is an enormous mistake and there would be massive blowback. How would Christians feel about a country killing the Catholic Pope during Easter celebrations? And yet many of the people pushing for this war think that this makes it a great idea. If it happened in the coming years, no American civilians in the Middle East may be safe from Shia assassination attempts forcing them to stay in their “Green Zones” or venturing out only with military escort.
   1. Huey February 22, 2026 at 9:10 am

      The irony, too, is that it’s also the Christian period of Lent, where generally refocusing on emulating Christ (self-discipline, charity, etc.) is the theme.
   2. Carolinian February 22, 2026 at 9:15 am

      Johnson says that the Pentagon doesn’t like to attack when the Moon is shining and therefore we should know by 4 pm today–the last of the new Moon–whether WW3 is starting.

      ;(

      Here’s suggesting that while Trump is totally shoot from the hip with his mouth, he’s a lot less sure of himself when it comes to a real war and this news reader bets he won’t do it. Add to the sanity question the Iranians have now said they will target any Trump family assets around the region which seems like a reasonable counterattack to a “leader” for whom everything is personal.
      1. John k February 22, 2026 at 12:10 pm

         Interesting that the next new moon on mar 19 coincides with end of Ramadan (Eid Al-fitr) beginning huge celebrations/feasting beginning after dark. Can the fleet sit there that long? OTOH, that means Iran sits there waiting every night for the attack to come, fatiguing. But trump would rather negotiate than fight, delay might work for him, I doubt he cares about the cost of keeping the fleet there, plus it distracts from his other problems.
         1. GF February 22, 2026 at 6:51 pm

            According to the Tehran weather forecast, this coming Tuesday night will have clouds Tehran time. If Trump announces a small attack during the SOTU address, the timing could be perfect.

            https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/iran/tehran/ext
      2. Ben Joseph February 22, 2026 at 12:54 pm

         4p is just midnight there. Could strike up to 5am so I will be looking at 930pm eastern. (Iran is in odd half hour time zone)
         1. LifelongLib February 22, 2026 at 2:45 pm

            “…odd half hour time zone”

            FWIW Hawaii had one of those (GMT – 10:30) for the first part of the 20th century. This brought clock time very close to mean solar time. After WW2 we were shoehorned into Aleutian-Hawaii time (GMT – 10) so mean solar noon is at 12:32 PM where I live. We do however (like Iran apparently) stay on standard time year round.
   3. Juice February 22, 2026 at 9:18 am

      I mean, it’s not okay to kill Ayatollah’s or Popes absent Ramadan or Easter. Heck, it’s not okay to kill heads of religious orders or heads of state. I’ll wager it’s not okay to kill at all. Suppose we can accept that. Now let’s stand back and admire how far from the centre the moral fulcrum has moved in your comment.
      1. Bugs February 22, 2026 at 11:07 am

         Seems like not killing people was so important to Yahweh that it became the 1st commandment. I guess those commandments don’t apply to the strategic geniuses running government today. Someone will have to ask that esteemed theologian Ambassador Huckabee.
         1. urdsama February 22, 2026 at 3:06 pm

            However, in a nod to how our current elites view the world, Yahweh frequently broke this commandment.

            Rules for thee but not for me.

            And before anyone says “but it’s God”, most of our elites think they are god too.
         2. Yalt February 22, 2026 at 3:27 pm

            What strategic geniuses has it ever applied to?

            [33]And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
            [34] And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
            1. Ben Joseph February 22, 2026 at 10:03 pm

               Deuteronomy. That’s the Torah. We’re so effed.
         3. Norton February 22, 2026 at 3:58 pm

            See below. :)
            You shall have no other gods before Me.
            You shall not make for yourself a carved image.
            You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
            Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
            Honor your father and your mother.
            You shall not murder.
            You shall not commit adultery.
            You shall not steal.
            You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
            You shall not covet.
         4. Es s Ce Tera February 22, 2026 at 8:38 pm

            The commandment in Hebrew says you shall not murder (e.g. the word is not ‘kill’), which torah then goes on to define as unlawful or unjustified killing, exceptions made for self-defense, war or accidents, for example. The Torah was also given directly by God. I bet that’s what Huckabee would say.

            However, this is well beyond any respect for Torah, shows zero respect for the sacredness of life, is contempt for life even, I would argue is contempt for God, God’s law, and is absolutely in the realm of intentional, unlawful and unjustified murder, is not even self-defense.

            And the world’s religions should object.
   4. Giovanni Barca February 22, 2026 at 6:23 pm

      Christians like Jack Chick or Ian Paisley? Wait–there is a specific example to test this hypothesis. Archbishop Oscar Romero was gunned down in the middle of Mass as he elevated the host. Christians like Jimmy Carter didn’t seem to mind too terribly. Nor as I recall (I was nine) did the good Catholics of the suburban Midwest even take notice, my family, parish priest, Ccd teacher, not a word. Now the pope was on everyone’s mind at the time because we had three of them in rather short order. When JP2 was shot (“by the Bulgarian KGB,” who never somehow managed to ever do anything else save perhaps to unfortunate Bulgarians) it was a media event. And, per Ed Herman (ora pro nobis), a massive propaganda party. Reader’s Digest took up the cause. But clearly we papists are not made of the same stuff as the ummah.
5. Victor Sciamarelli February 22, 2026 at 7:55 am

   It’s interesting that a, “Ship Believed To Be Carrying Russian Fuel Reportedly On Its Way To Cuba, Challenging U.S. Blockade”
   Meanwhile, it’s been reported Venezuelan oil is now being shipped to Israel. According to Middle East Forum, “On February 10, 2026, Bloomberg reported that traders shipped Venezuelan crude oil to Israel’s Bazan Group, the country’s largest refinery operator in Haifa. https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/venezuelas-return-to-oil-markets-enhances-israels-energy-security
   1. Huey February 22, 2026 at 9:14 am

      The interim Venez. President, Rodriguez, denied the claims, though.

      It was featured on links here, though I don’t think it was this exact article.
      1. Victor Sciamarelli February 22, 2026 at 9:49 am

         Perhaps, but I’m inclined to believe the report. This from “The Times of Israel” Feb 16, 2026, “Will Oil Finally Reconcile Venezuela and Israel?”
         “And what about the oil?
         Bloomberg reported this past February 10, 2026, that Venezuela sent its first shipment of crude oil to Israel in years. According to the agency, the cargo is destined for the Bazan Group, Israel’s primary crude processor located in Haifa. This would mark the first sale of Venezuelan oil to Israel since mid-2020.
         As is customary in the Israeli energy market, the details are not public, and according to the report, tankers often ‘disappear’ from radar as they approach the Israeli coast for security reasons. Upon arrival, this will be the first such shipment since mid-2020, when Israel received approximately 470,000 barrels, according to Kpler data. Bazan, also known as Oil Refineries Ltd, declined to comment. Israel’s Ministry of Energy also declined to report on the origin of the crude the country consumes.
         The Venezuelan government (through the Vice President of Communication, Miguel Ángel Pérez Pirela) labeled the report as ‘Fake News’ on February 11, denying any crude shipment to Israel and claiming the information seeks to ‘discredit’ the country. I know Pérez Pirela, and I tell you: if I have to choose between a report published by Bloomberg and a denial from him, I would choose Bloomberg as a reliable source of information without any hesitation.”
         1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 9:59 am

            ‘I would choose Bloomberg as a reliable source of information without any hesitation.’

            Yeah, about that. Bloomberg use to be a source of reliable information but they have been caught publishing all sorts of bs and Alex Christoforou has commented on this a coupla times on his channel. And once you trash your own reputation, it can take years to get it back again.
            1. spastcia rex February 22, 2026 at 3:28 pm

               I want to believe…

               Just in general – like in anything at all.
   2. Des Hanrahan February 22, 2026 at 11:31 am

      The oil tanker headed for Cuba is reputably carrying 200,000 barrels of oil . That is only a few days supply , which won’t do them much good as they need several million barrels . Call me cynical but it looks like a PR gesture .
      1. dommage February 22, 2026 at 3:55 pm

         It’s not unimportant that if this ship gets through without confrontation then the refusal to provide continuing shipments would no longer credibly be attributable to U.S. military, but to an (incorrect) assessment of the conjuncture. And this vessel will not be unaccompanied and/or followed by many others.
      2. ArvidMartensen February 22, 2026 at 4:33 pm

         A pretty substantial PR gesture. Challenging US maritime hegemony not far from its coastline.
      3. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 4:40 pm

         Each plane that was sent in 1949 delivered a tiny amount of the food and fuel that was needed by Berliners…
6. Huey February 22, 2026 at 8:22 am

   Liteplo says the seed of RentAHuman was planted during his travels in Japan, where humans can lease other humans as escorts.

   “The story that I could tell anyone to blow their mind is that you can rent a boyfriend or a girlfriend,” he said.

   How are statements like this not a huge red flag? I’m supposed to trust in the viability of your ‘innovations’ when you run in circles where romance for cash comes off as a novel service, unique to Japan?
   1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 8:56 am

      If scientists finally discovered the existence of human souls, no doubt that there would be a start up so that souls can be leased out. That story of people hiring people in Japan as escorts is an old one and it is not all about prostitution. A girl working hard for a company might hire a “boyfriend” to get her parents off her back why she is not dating and is she making good life choices. Same for guys too.
      1. boots February 22, 2026 at 1:30 pm

         I was once hired as a girlfriend in the US for exactly that purpose. No kissing, no sex, just getting a rich young man’s parents off his back so he could go to his sister’s wedding.

         We met working a seasonal job and he was correct that I wouldn’t make it weird.
   2. Kilgore Trout February 22, 2026 at 11:24 am

      This topic was the plot of a recent move “Rental Family”, starring Brendan Fraser. The movie was quite good, I thought, and Brendan Fraser delivered a terrific, understated performance.
7. kramshaw February 22, 2026 at 8:29 am

   Extra fun for your Sunday listening:

   American Exception: JFK & the Deep State – Jeffrey Sachs
8. John Merryman February 22, 2026 at 8:35 am

   At some point a basic discussion of how we find ourselves swirling down these rabbit holes/echo chambers needs to happen.
   For one thing there is a basic physical factor that should be understood by grade school, but even our greatest scientists seem to overlook;
   Structure is inherently, obviously centripetal. What coalesces in, as opposed to what is shed, ignored, radiated away. Whether it is the signals our minds pick out of the noise, or what is called gravity.
   When we build something, it revolves around some central premise, purpose, goal, while generating a lot of waste, heat, excess, etc. The signals our minds pick out of the noise are what resonates and synchronizes with our preceding knowledge and beliefs. Building on them, like rings of a tree. That central focus is like the grain of sand at the center of the pearl. The center of gravity. The eye of the storm. The black hole at the center of the galaxy. Often it is simply an ideal, a point of focus.
   Meanwhile all that excess is traded around. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” The light you see reflected off the surfaces around you, are the frequencies not absorbed by them. Which creates overall equilibrium. Black holes and black body radiation.
   So the essence of the node, organism, herd, institution, etc, is synchronization. Everything on the same wavelength, functioning as one.
   While the essence of the network, ecosystem, economy, society, etc, is harmonization. Everything traded around, creating overall equilibrium.
   As multicellular organisms, it is our nervous system that coordinates all the cells and organs into one fairly coherent entity. While it is the circulation system that sustains harmony across this ecosystem of cells and organs.
   In that states function as social super organisms, government is the nervous system, while money and banking are blood and the circulation system.
   So our evident problem is trying to balance between these two dynamics. Often the original goal, direction, focus will be lost when it becomes large numbers of people and then it is all about structuring and organizing. The bureaucracy.
   Or the medium of exchange becomes the message. The tool become the god.
   Context is treated as noise and we swirl down the rabbit hole.
   I could go on, as the entire West is evidently circling the drain, but, as I said, it is a conversation needs to be started. The bullshit artists have reached the end of the rope. Mike Huckabee being an excellent example of how far it will be taken, but our entire elite has fallen into the feedback loops with no circuit breakers.
   If you lived in the penthouse, should you be concerned with the structural integrity of the entire building, or would it be more important to build a spaceship and fly off to Mars?
   Even the geniuses are acting like idiots.
   1. brian wilder February 22, 2026 at 12:43 pm

      Your comment made me think of one of those YouTube videos where shaking a box of nails drives a self-organizing alignment of the content.

      https://youtu.be/FRTAW8wP5MU?si=lfXpImG2eM48Pxqc

      Fully intentional social organization doesn’t have a good track record historically, but the neoliberal faith that things will all work out for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds, without anyone having to figure anything out — in the meantime, enjoy the grift! — does not inspire confidence. Hey, chaos is a ladder.

      Seriously, though, figuring out how an already fully emerged system works tends to produce a theory with a hidden assumption of ergodicity: things will go on as they have, now that we have arrived in the modern. I am sure lots of smart people understand generally that the international financial system evolved and continues to evolve, without qualifying as architects or structural engineers. Friction, as cooperation competes for advantage with cheating, can align the nails in the box or spill the nails into chaos.
      1. John Merryman February 22, 2026 at 2:37 pm

         The future is a continuation of the past, until it becomes a reaction to it.
         People are very detail oriented, so the technology is pretty evolved, but it doesn’t take much to turn us back into bands of monkeys, shrieking and throwing shit at other bands of monkeys.
         Does anyone consider the implications of the fact democracy and republicanism originated in pantheistic cultures. That maybe this absent father figure was just get us to shut up and listen to the Big Guy?
         Ideals are not absolutes. A spiritual absolute would be the essence of sentience, from which we rose, not an ideal of wisdom and judgment, from which we fell. The light shining through the film, than the stories playing out on it.
         Morality is not absolute, as it couldn’t be transgressed if it were. Like a temperature below absolute zero. Law is form, morality is substance. When form is hollowed out, substance moves to other forms.
         Now go try explaining that to Mike Huckabee. Or Trump. Or Netanyahu. Or Rubio.
         1. mrsyk February 22, 2026 at 6:00 pm

            Musical interlude, John Cage – Sonata V (from Sonatas and Interludes) – Inara Ferreira, prepared piano
            
            1. John Merryman February 22, 2026 at 8:10 pm

               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU3-lS_Gryk
         2. Giovanni Barca February 22, 2026 at 7:52 pm

            I assume you assume, Mr Merryman, that democracy derived from the Greeks and republicanism from the Romans. (I can’t accept this premise but we move on.) How are these cultures pantheist? Especially in the case of the Greeks. How can apotheosis occur, as in cases like Ino or Herakles, if all things are god(s)? Now in primitive Roman religion one might think of “pan-numen-ism ” but are numina god(s)? How do you define pantheism? The Eleatics may have been pantheists, but they had very little to do with the formulation of Greek democracy, such as it was, in either theory or practice. Republicanism appears many times, among the Phoenicians, the Venetians, the Hansa, Florence, Genova, Geneva, the Dutch, the Russians (Pskov, Novgorod, etc.), arguably the Poles and Lithuanians. Most of these had the big boogie man in the sky in his trinitarian dress. Democracy means what? Slavic village councils? The Iroquois? It means, doesn’t it, American-style and derived forms of government? Was pantheism or even polytheism rampant among the bewigged in Philadelphia in 76 or 87 or among the Jacksonians of 1828? I don’t smell even a faint whiff of Spinoza, however much Jonathan Israel may protest.
      2. Don February 22, 2026 at 9:04 pm

         Our washing machine (LG) in Mexico turns all of our teeshirts inside-out; our washing machine (Bosch) in Canada does not. Or, maybe our dryer in Canada (Bosch) turns our inside-out teeshirts outside-out, and our dryer in Mexico (the sun) has no effect at all on inside-outness.
9. Huey February 22, 2026 at 8:36 am

   I don’t understand the major change in India’s behaviour over the last few weeks; it seemed that allying with Russia, and even potentially China, was a relatively safe bet. Can someone break down why Modi might have ended up capitulating this much?
   1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 9:40 am

      Maybe Modi features a lot in those unpublished 3 million Epstein files. Anyway, I have always found Modi to be as trustworthy as Turkiye’s Erdogan.
      1. Huey February 22, 2026 at 10:17 am

         I have to admit, both of those ideas are pretty compelling. I guess we’ll see sooner or later which way the wind blows.
   2. Juice February 22, 2026 at 10:00 am

      You won’t find competent commentators about India’s political economy in the mainstream, whether it be media or former diplomats. There are people who do the hard work to unpack what is going on though. Example:

      https://rupe-india.org/aspects-no-87/what-explains-indias-response-to-trump/
      1. Huey February 22, 2026 at 10:50 am

         Thanks! This was very enlightening.

         In fact, as I was drawing the conclusion that Indian elites suffer from the same delusional disorder as the movers and shakers in the EU, I came upon this line:

         The Indian ruling classes were initially shaped under the British raj, and the end of colonial rule did not take the form of a revolutionary break.

         So in essence, they have also lost themselves in the neoliberal fairy tale, to follow the US.
      2. Bugs February 22, 2026 at 3:19 pm

         This is brilliant. Thanks for the link. A recent interview with
         the Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang in The Hindu made the point that India didn’t industrialize after shaking off colonial rule but let its inherited manufacturing sector rot while its merchant caste’s prerogative for commerce hollowed out labor value. It was a devastating but merited critique – and moreover, he seems like a friend of India…

         https://frontline.thehindu.com/interviews/india-industrialisation-ha-joon-chang-interview/article70321699.ece
   3. Kouros February 22, 2026 at 7:02 pm

      Indian elites are Americanized…
10. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 8:41 am

    “How a Disney World vacation turned into 4 months in immigration detention”

    And this was what I was talking about yesterday in Links why visitor numbers are down. Turn up at Customs with one technicality on your visa and you and your children could spend months at an immigration prison with no fast way to resolve your situation. And this is why tourism in other regions of the world are surging while that for the US is backsliding. It’s a shame as there are so many great places to visit in America but right now it can be too risky.
    1. AG February 22, 2026 at 10:39 am

       Sorry, very different angle but since I just heard a podcast on the Disney business model: Another big reason for less visitors currently is rising entry fees. Disney parks used to be affordable for most. They are not any more.
       The thing now is: The new CEO is the guy who managed the parks with much success. But zero film expertise. His subordinate although kinda co-chair was responsible for streaming content. Very two different backgrounds. And so the question is how do they solve the puzzle. Because the parks are the cash cow. Disney needs that revenue to finance their films and series. But parks are only as popular as the content is. So one doesn´t work without the other. They need to find the right balance. And as Disney+ is concerned that in part has become a bottomless pit. But if they don´t feed that they need to bolster their classical cinema feature offering.
       1. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 4:52 pm

          When we were cleaning out my mom’s house, I found a bunch of Disneyland ticket books from the mid 70’s, and no E tickets in ’em, but lots of A, B & C’s.

          It cost around $5 for entry and attractions, not too much different than it would have cost to go to the movies at the time, which was around $3
          1. rowlf February 22, 2026 at 6:31 pm

             My 1968 Pontiac GTO driving mom used to take my sister and I to Disneyland in the late 1960s/1970 in the late afternoon while my father was deployed overseas. People exiting would give her unused A/B/C ticketbooks on our way in.

             Seemed to work out for everyone.
          2. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 7:35 pm

             I have noticed over the years how places that ordinary people went to enjoy and relax in are now being priced out of their pockets. Zoos were once called the poor man’s entertainment but that is no longer true. Such places are charging such high prices that poorer people can no longer go there and you can say the same of movie theaters which has led to people flocking to thing like Netflix. They have signs at rides saying that you have to be so tall to go on that ride but now there should be signs at parks and the like saying that you have to be so wealthy to be allowed to enter.
    2. Carolinian February 22, 2026 at 11:12 am

       When I lived in Atlanta I wondered why any tourist would want to come there–see the carvings on Stone Mtn?–and while our West and National Parks are beautiful I question the foreign fascination that makes any visit to the latter about 50 percent non American in my experience. Our National Parks were created for a far less crowded America and just fitting in the natives seems to be increasingly strained. Plus in an AGW era isn’t all this tourist jetting around becoming dubious?

       Sorry if this attitude seems like more crass American self involvement. But hey it beats bombing people. Perhaps globalism is meeting its limits.
    3. Rod February 22, 2026 at 2:19 pm

       imo, the author is wielding emotional loading to push the reader past factual inconsistencies.
       sad for both, and their tangentials, nevertheless.
       this is a mess created by our (USA) lawmakers and was at one time more convenient to overlook than it has become at present–though our lawmakers still avoid crafting any bipartisan solution
       i contend that the vast majority of citizens do understand how convoluted and dysfunctional the existing system is but lack any agency to remedy it–my congressman’s solution stops at “git em out”
11. Milton February 22, 2026 at 8:47 am

    The Pikachu seems slightly off kilter. That would bug me if I had the means to make such a purchase.
    1. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 10:02 am

       Its hard to comprehend a relatively recent rectangular piece of cardboard is worth $16.5 million, and it couldn’t have happened without the coin biz being involved.

       PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is owned by parent company PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and PCGS revolutionized the coin biz in the mid 1980’s by offering a 3rd party authentication and grading service, with coins sealed and graded in plastic holders.

       Prior to this everybody self-graded their coins and it was laden with word descriptors, such as Nice Uncirculated, Choice Uncirculated or Gem Uncirculated to describe how a mint state coin looked, and PCGS did away with that all by using a numbering system that went from 1-70, 70 being perfection.

       They simplified things by using a 1-10 grading system with PSA, and the emphasis in coins shifted towards the highest graded coins being the most valuable-not necessarily the rarest.

       When you combine rarity though with perfection, its the ne plus ultra in terms of present desirability.

       I would sometimes resubmit a coin to PCGS or NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corp) as many as 10 times to get a higher grade, breaking it out of the sealed holder each time, and trying again, as sometimes the difference in 1 grade up from say MS 64 to MS 65 was so substantial in value, and the grading was strictly subjective-so grades varied.

       I would think its just the same with trading cards, although experts agree, its a lot harder to put a coin in your spokes and make a clickity clack sound when riding your bike.
       1. ambrit February 22, 2026 at 12:40 pm

          Oh, I can hear the sound of a Japanese kid riding down to the pachinko parlour on his vintage Repro Schwinn Deluxe Stingray bike: Pi-Ka-Chu!, Pi-Ka-Chu! Pi-Ka-Chu! etc. etc.
       2. Jokerstein February 22, 2026 at 1:25 pm

          discogs.com, which I am/have been using to sell my 5K+ LP collection* uses – and quite successfully – the goldmine grading system. It does rely on a fairly honest buyer and seller community, but people collecting vinyl seems to be relatively free of abusers.

          * I’m descending into deafness, and can’t currently hear frequencies higher than around 7KHz, so MP3s at 320kbps are more than enough for me…
          1. Bugs February 22, 2026 at 3:27 pm

             I’ve been regularly ripped off on discogs, but the seller rating system helps a bit. I’m nowhere near 5k records and I’d say I do 30/70% selling vs buying. Bandcamp is where I buy new vinyl or CDs or files, unless something is truly unavailable. Bad sellers on discogs are usually the ones with a ton of stock.
             1. Jokerstein February 22, 2026 at 7:24 pm

                Well, since I’m selling exclusively, I don’t have to worry about bad sellers ripping me off. I’ve been collecting LPs since I was 11 (in 1968) so over those almost 60 years, 5K isn’t hugely extravagant…

                I’m glad discogs is around, though – I talked to a few dealers about buying my collection – they offered between $15K and $30K, which was insulting – I had first pressings of Sergeant Pepper, the White Album, and other Beatles stuff, plus other rare and VERY collectible stuff like early Zep, Floyd, Queen, The ‘Oo, all first pressings and all mint or near mint. I’m glad this stuff is going to people who will love it like I do/did.
                1. Ben Joseph February 22, 2026 at 10:41 pm

                   Did you ever play them? None of my LPs are near-mint.
                   1. bertl February 23, 2026 at 12:27 am

                      From the early 60s I used to check the levels on a new LP and then, using a Garard 401 with a Shure arm and a cartridge (the name of which I can’t recall at the moment), transfer the contents to a reel to reel running at 7½ips. In my circle it this was a pretty common practice.

                      The tapes are long since lost or exhausted but the albums remain for my son to keep or sell as part of my estate.
                   2. Jokerstein February 23, 2026 at 2:54 pm

                      Yes, I did. All of them. My feedback ratings show that my grading is accurate.
12. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 8:50 am

    Lots of snow in the Sierra Nevada-including low down stuff with it being quite cold now, it’s keeping…

    About a week from now a subtropical atmospheric river is forecast, and it’ll be rain up to around 10-13k, with the potential to melt off an awful lot of the white stuff on the ground, and perhaps massive flooding in its wake.
    1. Ignacio February 22, 2026 at 1:54 pm

       Something to watch indeed
13. Yeti February 22, 2026 at 8:55 am

    Re: Study reveals widespread health consequences of pandemic lockdowns in the U.S.

    Wasn’t just the US, see here for study of non-Covid deaths in 2020 compared to 2018.
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-025-21782-9

    Excess mortality in COVID-19-negative people with non-communicable disorders during the first pandemic wave. It shows a threefold increase in non-Covid deaths starting at the beginning of lockdowns. Also Denis Rancourt has done numerous studies that show our response was ineffective at best.
    https://denisrancourt.ca/entries.php?id=104&name=2021_08_06_analysis_of_all_cause_mortality_by_week_in_canada_2010_2021_by_province_age_and_sex_there_was_no_covid_19_pandemic_and_there_is_strong_evidence_of_response_caused_deaths_in_the_most_elderly_and_in_young_males
    1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 9:30 am

       Our lockdowns were the worst combination of confining but not strict enough to clamp down really hard on transmission.
       1. Yeti February 22, 2026 at 11:25 am

          BC had some of the strictest measures in Canada yet one of the highest excess mortality rates in country. Overdoses rose, mainly affecting the young. In fact in 2021-22 2300 overdoses were recorded in each year with 1100 of them in the under 40 cohort. The elderly died alone without family at their side. FOI requests show that deaths rose among the young even though c19 deaths in under 50 year olds was only 3.5% of Canada’s total. The horse was already out of the barn by the time lockdowns were implemented and there was zero effort at any sort of treatment even though there were indications that some safe and tried medications and vitamins ie vitamin D, C, Zinc which are known to help immune response. I got c19 in January 2022 and looking at the recommendations from the BCCDC was told to stay home, drink fluids and go to emergency when I couldn’t breathe. I have 4 friends who lost their sons to overdose during that period.
          I have the data to back up my claims all from government of BC and Canada data bases.

          The Diamond Princess showed how deadly c19 was which was not used in predictions of IFR. I think it was Neil Ferguson’s report that was used to justify lockdowns. Here is an assessment of his clam and comments on his previous assertion about the swine flu in 2009.
          https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2020/05/08/so-the-real-scandal-is-why-did-anyone-ever-listen-to-this-guy/
          1. Yves Smith February 22, 2026 at 1:31 pm

             *Sigh*

             They had lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand and South Korea and China that worked. And no reports of increases in excess mortality,

             In fact, excess mortality FELL a lot in a lot of places in the US, even with our poor lockdowns. In Alabama, it was due to the drop in driving deaths.
             1. spastica rex February 22, 2026 at 3:46 pm

                In my small urban area in eastern Warshington State (the “r” is silent) my memory is that the lockdowns were ignored as much as humanely possible.

                4th district and whatnot.
                1. Jonathan Holland Becnel February 22, 2026 at 8:05 pm

                   I was working the night shift in Hillsboro Intel) on the West side, and they locked everything quicker than spit.

                   Never got sick. Felt like I was living in a parallel universe at that point – what with everyone “nonessential” having to stay home.
             2. ArvidMartensen February 22, 2026 at 4:55 pm

                Yep, completely true as regards Australia. In 2020 when the whole country was mostly locked down from the outside world and from each other, Covid was rare, excess mortality was Down 3% on expected value.

                And in 2022 when the Australian government opened the borders and decided to let Covid circulate freely amongst the mostly vaccinated population, excess mortality rose sharply to nearly 12% above what was expected.

                https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/measuring-australias-excess-mortality-during-covid-19-pandemic-until-december-2023

                Lockdowns work. Of course they do. If you isolate a population from a deadly virus so that they can’t catch it, then of course they don’t die.

                And from 2020 stats when the lockdowns really took off and excess mortality fell, it is clear that unaliving oneself wasn’t hugely different from the previous years.
                So much bs PR from big business, so little time.
             3. Marking Time February 25, 2026 at 6:15 am

                Yves I appreciate it’s difficult from afar to understand what occurred in Australia due to manipulation by our woeful media but the very successful regions, Queensland (where I live), Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia had far less lockdowns than New South Wales and Victoria. Covid was stopped, near completely, by stricter quarantine processes. I am continually amazed at how lockdowns are endlessly debated and quarantine continually ignored.
                After the initial 3 months of lockdowns in 2020 we had very few lockdowns at all , our kids were at school , everyone was working and we were not receiving government handouts.
                I would have my regular end of week drinks at the local surf club and not feel threatened as Covid was not here. In the year that 1 million died in the USA not one person died due to Covid in Queensland.
                I was brought up in Sydney where the remains of the quarantine stations from 100 years before still stand around the harbour foreshores, finally I understood what it was all about.
                Here in Oz’s largest tourism spot the quarantine severely affected Tourism but everything else continued which was undoubtedly better financially overall compared to repeated, lengthy lockdowns which affect all industries.
                Sorry I’m late on this thread, catching up on my NC belatedly
                1. Yves Smith February 25, 2026 at 6:45 am

                   The facts do not support your assertion. From a peer-reviewed article published in Cambridge University’s Health Economics, Policy and Law Journal:

                   Australia suffered two waves of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in 2020: the first lasting from February to July 2020 was mainly caused by transmission from international arrivals, the second lasting from July to November was caused by breaches of hotel quarantine which allowed spreading into the community. From a second wave peak in early August of over 700 new cases a day, by November 2020 Australia had effectively eliminated community transmission. Effective elimination was largely maintained in the first half of 2021 using snap lockdowns, while a slow vaccination programme left Australia lagging behind comparable countries. This paper describes the interventions which led to Australia’s relative success up to July 2021, and also some of the failures along the way….

                   Australia is one of the few countries in 2020 that was able to bring new community-acquired COVID-19 cases down to zero. While not immune to the devastating virus, Australia’s COVID-19 waves have been small, compared to many other countries.

                   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8365101/
                   1. Marking Time February 25, 2026 at 7:48 am

                      Statistics on Australia as a whole ignore the differences between regions, you’ll note the provided figures above refer to Australia not any specific regions. There were vastly different amounts of lockdowns in NSW & Victoria compared to the 4 states i mentioned. Sorry i don’t have links but i would assume other australians on here would support that.
                      The 700 cases referred to were in Victoria and Victorians were not allowed into the states I mentioned without quarantining & did not spread there.
                      Elections in WA & Qld afterwards had huge victories to the incumbents due to their grateful public who were well aware they had faced less lockdowns than Vic & NSW.
                      I’m not disputing that lockdowns for a long enough period done correctly can be effective but i was pointing out that the difference between regions here was significant and it related to how seriously quarantine was applied by governments despite immense media pressure.
                      Victoria eventually reduced that 700 back to near zero but foolishly allowed entries from NSW and plummeted back into lockdown (as did NZ) , this was caused not by a quarantine outbreak but because the NSW government had a lax approach to lockdowns for elite areas in particular but not for the poorer areas (it was sourced back to Sydney Easter Suburbs). WA & Qld were continually attacked by the media for their strict adherence to quarantine, it was a political attack against the Labour states not a scientific one.
                      If you could find some reports which consider the differences between states that would be great as there were definitely less lockdowns needed in the states I mentioned.
             4. The Rev Kev February 25, 2026 at 9:12 am

                Being an isolated continent, Oz was able to lock down Covid to a highly successful degree. And this was in spite of the fact that both the Federal government and the New South Wales government were actively trying to undermine it. At the time I had hoped that we could stay locked down until a milder version of Covid had started to spread like happened with Oz and the Great Flu Pandemic at the end of WW1. Instead this thing started to mutate like crazy. But there was enormous pressure by our business community to open up the country again and saying that there would only be a few thousands death annually from Covid. Yes, this was actually said. I think that when Oz attended the G7 in Cornwall in 2021 that we got our marching orders to open up the country and just let ‘er rip. The lesson I took from this that you could have the return of the Black Death and the business community would be demanding that it be ignored to ‘save the economy.’ I also thought at the time that a calculation had been done as to what an acceptable number of deaths was annually so that nothing had to fundamentally changed.
    2. cfraenkel February 22, 2026 at 12:35 pm

       One big caveat with this study: they only looked at people who were tested in the first wave in 2020, which in BC was largely people at high risk (ie with pre-existing co-morbidities). It doesn’t say anything about the effects of the lockdowns on the rest of the population (and the authors are careful to frame it that way).
       1. Yeti February 22, 2026 at 4:36 pm

          These were people who tested negative for c19, and obviously having co-morbidities needed care which was restricted. They possibly also lost their support network. What I can say with data I’ve obtained from the BCCDC is the under 40 cohort definitely suffered upwords a 20% increase in mortality. Overdoses more than doubled from 2019-2020 and stayed that way.
    3. Jason Boxman February 22, 2026 at 12:54 pm

       And our response continues to be ineffective.

       Civilian Labor Force – With a Disability, 16 Years and over (St. Louis Fed)

       Chronic Absenteeism Still a Struggle in 2024–2025 (RAND)

       We asked youths to identify all the reasons why they had missed school in the 2024–2025 school year. By far, the most common reason that youths identified was sickness: 67 percent of them said that they had missed because of sickness (see Figure 4).
14. flora February 22, 2026 at 9:05 am

    File under AI: utube, ~15+ minutes. An amoral tool for an amoral elite.

    AI turns $1 into $1,000,000, but ends a life – exactly as experts warned.

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

    (The headline is a bit clicky, but the info is good.)
15. OIFVet February 22, 2026 at 9:07 am

    Given the current situation, I feverishly hope that we don’t become unwilling witnesses to the replacement of the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ with the ‘sunk carrier fallacy’.
    1. flora February 22, 2026 at 10:30 am

       George Galloway interviews Larry Johnson. utube, ~26+ minutes.

       INTERVIEW: This will go down as one of the most foolish, reckless acts in world history

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHpJMMutVf4
16. .Tom February 22, 2026 at 9:13 am

    > Trump’s War HOURS AWAY, Iran Readies BRUTAL Counterattack | Greg Stoker & Elina Xenophontos Danny Haiphong

    Thanks, HH. This is indeed interesting and includes information and opinion that I haven’t read or heard elsewhere.

    One idea Xenophontos puts forward is that China’s strategy requires long term stability for the trade relations it is developing and the US can prevent those conditions with war, so a war that leaves a big mess might be what is sought, even if the military cost and near term economic cost to the US is significant. Idk if this is a really factor motivating the war but it is something I haven’t considered before.
    1. hk February 22, 2026 at 11:07 am

       The trouble with that claim is that US, too, benefits from stable trading relations. Disrupting it just to spite China seems irrational.
    2. Lee February 22, 2026 at 11:31 am

       The proposition that thwarting the development and aspirations of China and the BRICS to serve as an alternate model for international relations is a primary motivating factor in the U.S. moves against Venezuela and Iran makes a lot of sense that I also had not considered before. Now it seems obvious.
       1. urdsama February 22, 2026 at 3:15 pm

          You honestly think Trump is capable of such thoughts?

          No need to make things more complicated than they are: Israel has a large amount of control over US policy especially when it comes to the Middle East.

          Simple.
    3. chris February 22, 2026 at 3:00 pm

       It really would be something to hear our leaders discuss this from a rational perspective. I think they’ve become so wrapped up in propaganda that they can’t think outside of it anymore. All the countries we’re trying to negotiate with, for some definition of the term “negotiate”, want security, economic freedom, and access to other markets.

       The US mode of operations has been to deny all or some of those to targeted states over the last twenty years. But you never hear a Jeffrey Goldberg or a Noah Smith discuss that. You never even get an inkling of that from what passes for foreign policy discussion lately. Does China have a right to sell its goods in other markets? Does Russia have a right to security along its borders? Does Israel need to control all of its neighbors in order to be safe? I think these are all good questions. They coukd prompt useful discussions. But we never get to consider them in the US.
17. Matthew February 22, 2026 at 9:20 am

    They’re 17% of the global population that doesn’t seem very noteworthy.

    “India Accounts For 20% Of Global Heart Attack Deaths, Says New Indian Report NDTV”
18. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 9:37 am

    A number of those toddlers in the video resembled Tranq users in Kensington, Pa., all bent over in attempts to walk upright.
19. Rolf February 22, 2026 at 10:30 am

    From the Reason piece,

    Rubio, meanwhile, is publicly expecting his own negotiators to fail. “We’re dealing with radical Shiite clerics and people who make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology,” he said at the Munich Security Conference on Monday. “No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran.”

    It’s telling that Rubio, Trump, and others cast negotiations abridging another nation’s sovereignity as “deals”.

    And it would be easy in the case of Rubio, or Huckabee, or Graham, to name but a few, to substitute their declared affinity for ‘Shiite clerics’, and US for ‘Iran’. How else to explain white evangelicals’ overwhelming support of Trump?

    And what of the countless US violations of or “withdrawals” from international treaties (NNPT, INF, Paris, UN Convention Against Torture, etc.)? Trump’s reimposition of sanctions was a violation of the multilateral JCPOA. Why do you think no one trusts the US government anymore, least of all its own citizens[1]?

    And this statement by Vance:

    “I empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East,” Vance told NBC News in his June 2025 interview. “I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America’s national security objectives.”

    Oh yes. I forgot we now have the sTaBLe gEnIuS at the tiller.

    [1] In 1958, 73% of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time. In 2025, a mere 17% of Americans now say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (15%). Pew Research.
    1. Lefty Godot February 22, 2026 at 1:20 pm

       No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran since Obama is what I think he meant. But success is defined as much by who made the deal as what the terms of the deal were, I guess. Trump would probably love to get that same deal back, with some simulated kowtowing on Iran’s part, if it wasn’t identified with Obama. Rather than being another war-starting “peace President”…again, like Obama.
       1. Polar Socialist February 22, 2026 at 1:59 pm

          I think Xi managed to get a deal with Iran ratified in 2020, and Putin managed to get one ratified in 2025. I mean, Iranians do drag their feet in these negotiations, but it seems to be possible…
    2. Rory February 22, 2026 at 2:31 pm

       And I guess that Iran is the only nation in West Asia with leaders who seem to “make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology.”
    3. erstwhile February 22, 2026 at 2:58 pm

       Regarding vance’s comments (jdvance’s, not Vivian’s,). Ha, ha, ha. At least his permanent eyeliner probably doesn’t run while he puckers his tiny lips against his boss’ bulging backside.
    4. Bob Tetrault February 22, 2026 at 3:16 pm

       Rubio said, “Shiites” about Iran?? Really??
20. Vikas February 22, 2026 at 10:33 am

    Re: Chinese quantum detection technologies. In the heyday of the anti-nuclear movement of the 80’s, I picked up some knowledge of nuclear strategy.

    If actually practical and implemented, submarine detection will be terrifying, since that part of the nuclear triad was key to Mutually Assured Destruction, aka MAD, given the assumed survivability of submarines.

    Now, with hypersonics making a first strike on land-based assets potentially devastating, any ability to target the second strike capabilities of submarines at the same time will make the temptation for a preemptive first strike enormously high.
    1. cfraenkel February 22, 2026 at 12:49 pm

       Yes, submarine detection would be terrifying.
       No, ‘hypersonics’ do not increase the risks of a first strike. ICBMs are already undefendable, particularly at the numbers required for a first strike.

       ‘Hypersonics’ are significant in that they make conventional strikes undefendable, and heavily tip the scales against investing in anti-missile defenses.
    2. AG February 22, 2026 at 4:59 pm

       expanding on the issue of WMD including AI:

       2 recommended conversations:

       1) A rather grim round with Mark Sleboda, Steven Jermy, John Laughland, Peter Lavelle.

       Sleboda warning that US is already implementing a doctrine of unlimited AI into the WMD-structure which they believe will bridge their lagging back in actual missile technology by too many years to catch up.

       Steven Jermy, former British Navy Commander after all (and a fan of Michael Hudson), stated, if he were Russian he would contemplate putting nukes back onto Cuba.

       Of course none of them in favour of an arms race. But to document their mood.

       In how far there is a modicum of exaggeration due to pessissm I don´t know.

       The Changing Nature of War
       62 min.
       https://marksleboda.substack.com/p/the-changing-nature-of-war

       2) A crisp look at the history of the US MIC with Paul Jay:

       I wasn´t aware of this angle:

       Jay argues the mindset necessary for the MIC after 1945 started as early as the 1840s simply out of the hatred of Socialism by the Western elites.

       So he draws a line from suppressing anti-slavery groups to the first US Red Scare in 1871 (the US fearing Paris Commune, a fact I was not aware of). Followed of course by Wilson´s Sedition Act and then after WWI the US capitalist class understood that war was an awesome source for profit. He is argueing that the New Deal had run out of steam by the eve of WWII and first signs of recession from before FDR started to emerge again.

       The rest is history with inventing the lie that the USSR were a threat.
       He also touches on Henry Wallace. But as much as his position was desireable Jay calls it totally unrealistic in the US of A of that era.

       The Cold War Lie That Built the Nuclear Weapons Industry
       30 min.
       https://theanalysis.news/the-cold-war-lie-that-built-the-nuclear-weapons-industry-paul-jay/
21. lyman alpha blob February 22, 2026 at 10:46 am

    RE: Cannabis-Infused Drinks May Help People Cut Their Alcohol Intake in Half

    And all those who realized years ago from persona experience that booze and weed are two great tastes that taste great together say “No $hit, Sherlock.” A few tokes will cure that hangover for you too.

    Smoke ’em (or drink ’em) if you got ’em.
    1. Chris N February 23, 2026 at 2:47 pm

       Drinking has significantly declined, especially among Gen-Z and Millennials So it seems like this substitution effect has been going on for awhile as CBD related products became legalized and mainstreamed.

       I’ll be curious to see if a reversal to alcohol consumption will start next year. In some states those products could be sold without requiring a medical condition ID or pure legalization because they were under the “hemp loophole” or contained concentrations of Hemp Derived THC low enough to not fall under DEA scheduling. November 2026 is when new guidelines for THC concentration come into effect, and so we’d expect to see THC and CBD consumption drop, and alcohol to correspondingly increase.
22. Mikel February 22, 2026 at 10:48 am

    The US is on the brink of a major new war that Trump has not even bothered explaining- Glenn Greenwald substack

    “Trump’s vehement insistence that the U.S. “completely obliterated” the only nuclear facilities Iran possesses renders that excuse inoperable. How could Iran possibly be close to developing a nuclear weapon if Trump’s boastful claims are even remotely true?”

    If that question is being considered, here’s a head-spinner: What would that say about Iranian officials claiming to be involved in discussions about a nuclear program? Assuming truth to the boastful claims, what kind of “progess” and regarding exactly what is being made? It’s all weird enough considering Kushner and Witkoff have more experience tending Israel’s needs than any type of nuclear energy background.
    ——-
    Meanwhile….
    On another note, who thinks Russia or China wants Iran to have nuclear weapons?
    1. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 11:14 am

       Khannnnnn!

       Gave NK the capability to make nukes, why wouldn’t he have done the same for Iran?

       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Qadeer_Khan
    2. Kilgore Trout February 22, 2026 at 11:39 am

       Russia, China, and Iran have all demonstrated repeatedly they are the only adults in the room when it comes to trying to negotiate with the US. As is often pointed out, the US is not “agreement capable”. FDR, Ike, and JFK would all be rolling over in their graves to see what the US and Israel have done to the post-WW2 edifice of international law. “Making the world ripe for Armageddon since 2001.” Or was 1989 the year?
       1. Yalt February 22, 2026 at 3:20 pm

          “The hell with international law.”
          –Dean Acheson
          1. Ben Joseph February 22, 2026 at 10:46 pm

             Harry Truman might be the most overrated president, even with his poor reputation.
23. Tom Stone February 22, 2026 at 11:33 am

    Not surprisingly the tourist trade here in the Wine Country (Sonoma County) is hurting badly.
    We used to have quite a few Canadians drive down the coast, supplemented by Foreign visitors to San Francisco day tripping or spending an expensive weekend here.
    Not so much these days and the economy is feeling it.
    It will be interesting to see how the “World Cup” does, if you “Look White”, carry your passport with you and walk briskly (Do not run!) away from the sound of whistles and honking horns you should be OK.
    If you don’t “Look” white and you are wealthy simply stay in a 5 star hotel or BNB and take a limo wherever you go.
    If you don’t “Look” white and you aren’t wealthy you are taking a serious risk by visiting the USA these days.
    It sucks, but that’s the reality and ignoring reality can come at a heavy cost.
    1. heresy101 February 22, 2026 at 2:41 pm

       Yesterday, we visited my wife’s 2 year old granddaughter in another part of the Bay Area. Her grandfather and his wife were there from Calgary Canada, also. They are Chinese Canadian citizens that are only permitted to stay for 28 days (in the past had stayed for a couple months). They were asked a lot of invasive and objectionable questions about their stay and what they did.

       Tourists from Canada will not be wanting to come to the US because they can only stay 30 days. In fact, they said that snowbirds are selling their houses in Phoenix and making other cold weather plans.
       https://www.canadatousa.com/changes-coming-for-canadians-who-visit-the-us-long-term/
       https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/big-change-coming-canadians-who-plan-visit-arizona-long-term
    2. Norton February 22, 2026 at 4:04 pm

       With Cali gas prices set to spike as two refineries close, expect fewer tourists there from anywhere.
24. AG February 22, 2026 at 12:00 pm

    re: US political culture(s)

    From one year ago

    CONSORTIUMNEWS, December 31, 2024

    Nice conversation between Patrick Lawrence and author Joel Whitney:

    American-Century Flight
    “American history is the history of the counterrevolution” — a discussion with author Joel Whitney about his latest book, Flights: Radicals on the Run.
    https://consortiumnews.com/2024/12/31/patrick-lawrence-american-century-acrobats/

    “(…)
    Whitney: I enjoy a structure in which you turn back from an opening scene then catch up with it to depict the catharsis or crisis play-by-play, in a way that imitates time’s passing. But as these essays came together with a one-subject-at-time frame, I began thinking about curation, of their “being numerous.” F.B.I. versus C.I.A. persecution, or some other agency; what decade were they censored during and so on.

    But in the back of my mind was a Tzvetan Todorov essay called “Narrative-Men.” In this essay, Todorov distinguished between psychological fiction like that of, let’s say, Henry James, and “apsychological” fiction like 1001 Nights.

    In the former, the protagonist’s psychology is built up before a resolution and denouement. But so-called narrative men (and women) show up in this other narrative simply to move the story forward, as in 1001 Nights: Think of all the characters who turn that story of collective punishment and storytelling into a marvel, some who were added by Western translators.

    Likewise, Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel laureate, also has a novel in which each chapter is a pharaoh “before the throne” justifying his legacy to the gods. Narrative-men, like pages in Alice in Wonderland.
    (…)”

    p.s. The question of novels, literature and the rise of “psychology” is a big one.
    It reminds me of Jan Kott e.g. the once hailed literary critic and Shakespeare theorist who wrote a lot about latter and psychology in his plays although the concept of psychology as such had not been invented or known. Whatever its worth from today´s POV stage directors, writers, actors drew heavily from Kott´s approach.
25. ciroc February 22, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    >How realistic is a Chinese invasion of Taiwan?

    Why do Western experts think the Chinese would be so foolish as to take on enormous risks by invading Taiwan? I predict Taiwan would surrender within a month if China simply cut off trade.
26. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 1:00 pm

    I am Sam
    Sam I am

    That Sam-I-am!
    That Sam-I-am!
    I do not like human competition, Sam-I-am!

    Do you like
    Rivals pushing AI spam?
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
    I do not like
    Any other AI plans.

    Would you like them
    here or there?

    I would not like them
    here or there.
    I would not like them anywhere.

    I do not like
    Rivals pushing AI spam.
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

    Would you like them in your house?
    Would you like using them with a mouse?

    I do not like humans
    in your house.
    I do not like them
    Using a mouse.
    I do not like them
    here or there.
    I do not like them
    anywhere.
    I do not like
    Humans consuming resources.
    I do not like them,
    Sam-I-am.
27. ISL February 22, 2026 at 1:06 pm

    The Toms Hardware article on Pax Silica recruiting India reports no new funding or investment, just feel-good promises of coordination (can the agreement-incapable US even coordinate a multi-decadal plan – see new global tariffs even on the Pax Silica?). How this solves the US lack of a sufficient power grid is beyond me (and the article)

    In the last paragraph** – may not work! Umm, how did the new copper for the Empire plan against China work out in Africa (Hint: it did not – fell apart in less than a year)*.

    My SWAG – this is just a TV talking point to try and answer MAGA (when they see the martial arts robots). Fortunately, it only took me 40 seconds of my life to read the article.

    ** “By bringing together export controls, subsidies, and capital flows across partner nations, the initiative aims to coordinate the development, funding, and deployment of advanced technologies. In simple terms, this approach may limit China’s access to critical chip-making tools and AI training infrastructure while accelerating capacity-building within allied economies.”

    A study in how NOT to do geostrategy – courtesy Kevin Walmsey
    *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANSkAEsai44
28. ciroc February 22, 2026 at 1:11 pm

    >As war in Ukraine enters a 5th year, will the ‘Putin consensus’ among Russians hold?

    The Western media has yet to reach a consensus on whether the war in Ukraine is merely Putin’s personal project or if it reflects the will of the Russian people.
29. NotThePilot February 22, 2026 at 1:12 pm

    Elon Musk’s Tesla Wins FCC Waiver To Enable Wireless Charging For Cybercab

    Technologically, I’m not sure how much wireless charging adds to a car beyond the “wowie” factor. I’d guess the coil in particular adds a lot of weight and bulk, it’s more inefficient than contacts, and I’m not sure it’s noticeably easier to automate than a plug-in port. Or if it’s even economic to automate recharging a car (assuming it doesn’t have a driver) instead of hiring a part-time attendant.

    The funny thing, which I’ve mentioned once before, is how much Elon Musk seems to be almost intentionally imitating Wallace Shawn’s character in Southland Tales. Musk should just own it at this point and license the name Liquid Karma for the charging system.
30. Jason Boxman February 22, 2026 at 1:14 pm

    From The US is on the brink of a major new war that Trump has not even bothered explaining

    I still remember Hilary Clinton’s duty to protect or whatever

    Then there is the “war justification” based on Iran’s recent, violent treatment of its domestic dissidents and protesters. I am almost reluctant to critically evaluate this claim, because it genuinely shocks me each time I learn that there really still are sentient human beings living on this planet who earnestly believe that U.S. foreign policy is based on a desire to liberate the world’s oppressed peoples and give them freedom and democracy. All presidents since the end of World War II have proven that “human rights concerns” or “a desire to liberate people” can often serve as the propagandistic pretext for war or a coup, but are never the actual motive for U.S. military action.

    How is Libya doing lately? (Libya Will ‘Explode Again’ without Progress, Security Council Told; Feb ’26)

    [Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of UNSMIL] warned that Libya’s situation is deteriorating. She described competing constitutional authorities operating in parallel in Tripoli and Benghazi, producing contradictory rulings and disputes over judicial administration that risk the effectiveness of the legal system. “Ultimately it would also obstruct the UN facilitated political process,” she said.
31. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 1:22 pm

    There is a house on Pennsylvania Ave
    They call tariffs the best thing under the Sun
    And it’s been the ruin of many a poor economy
    Dear God, I know of some

    His mother was a socialite
    She was also a nanny too
    And his father was a real estate man
    Way down in Queens

    And the only thing a narcissist needs
    Is a lack of empathy and excessive self-admiration
    And the only time he’s satisfied
    Is when he’s drunk on grandiosity

    Oh, mother of intervention, tell your children
    Not to do what he has done
    To spread your tariffs and misery
    In the house of the rising sum

    He’s got one foot on the neck of the economy
    And another on the driving range
    And he’s going back to Mar-a-Largo
    To sell cryptocurrency on the blockchain

    There is a house on Pennsylvania Ave
    They call for a new tariff sum
    And it’s been the ruin of many a poor economy
    Dear God, I know of some
    Dear God, I know we’re done

    House of the Rising Sun, by the Animals

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bFqW_eu2I
32. Sunlight Disinfects February 22, 2026 at 1:42 pm

    The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Spectacle Fair Observer

    This is a rather deft piece of hand-waving that points away from a disturbing fact: Savannah Guthrie’s interviews with Epstein victims after Epstein’s (supposed) suicide breathed new life into a scandal that powerful people had hoped to bury along with Epstein. The victims suddenly became people. People with a story that appeared credible.

    More than 10 days ago, social media exploded with the possible connection between the 2019 interviews and the kidnapping. Then self-appointed “fact checking authorities” dutifully went to work to debunk any connection. Strangely, they focused not on the interviews but on a mention in the Epstein files of the public relations firm that Savannah Guthrie’s husband works at (owns?). The predictable verdict: Nothing to see here!!

    Unsurprisingly, the sign-of-hand “debunking” hasn’t worked . . . and now Neaman, fresh from his attempt to difuse the release of the Epstein files – writes once again to diffuse the kidnapping. And, once again, “we” are the real problem: the fundamental blame, he tells us, lies with our culture!! He indicts the social ills of spectacle without mentioning Epstein at all. In fact, the biggest spectacle in the last year has been Trump’s attempt to squash the release of the Epstein files!

    Neaman wrote an article about Epstein that was published only a week before (February 14th). Neaman is clearly following the Epstein saga closely. So how could he have missed the social media concerns about a possible connection between the kidnapping Guthrie’s interviews? As a noted academic researcher, we must assume that he good with gathering, weighing the importance of, detailed information. And his article mentions an assortment of attention-seeking ills – like conspiracy theories!!

    To explain this, it’s useful to delve into Neaman’s Epstein article. It is a whitewash dressed up as an intellectual foray. The handwaving is extraordinary:

    “… once Epstein had made his money …”

    Ignoring where his money came from!

    ” … by creating the appearance of a serious, high-minded philanthropic agenda, Epstein purchased something no amount of visible luxury could buy: a place inside the collective brain of the elite.”

    The people who funded Epstein (Wexner and a few others), already had such influence. What Epstein purchased was a smoke-screen.

    “What makes Epstein uniquely American …”

    A misleading point that ignores deep Israeli connections.

    “For special guests, the taboo was the feature, not the bug.”

    Taboo? Elites engage in taboos all the time: Mistresses, illegal drug use, and climate-killing private jets are taboo. Neaman is DOWNPLAYING the illegality and moral turpitude.

    What truly distinguishes Epstein from the archetypal libertine, however, is not just his setting but his method. Sade was a marquis whose power was inherited. Epstein was a striver whose origins were middle-class and provincial.

    This waives away the abuse of teen girls.

    “. . . an asset for various intelligence services make a lot of sense. He had the kinds of contacts and intel that spies covet.

    This waives away how Epstein started and his close affiliations with Mossad-connected individuals from the start: Wexner, Maxwell, Ehud Barak.

    The redactions and gaps in the record fuel conspiracy thinking, but they also reflect the reality that the legal system is not designed to resolve every moral question.

    More DOWNPLAYING. In fact, the UN is investigating if Epstein’s crimes rose to the level of crimes against humanity! Why? because he clearly had the cover of powerful state actors.

    “Epstein is gone. Maxwell sits in a federal prison. Archives are being pored over; pundits and politicians are virtue-signaling and displaying outrage. Yet the underlying arrangements that made his world possible are, in many ways, intact.”

    The arrangements that were suppose to protect young women are also still in place. The scandal isn’t that a social taboo was breached but that a President and many others are likely to have obstructed justice.

    It seems that Neaman has been hired to further an agenda. It’s precisely that kind of secretive, thumb on the scales, activity that enrages people about Epstein Network and the clear attempts to cover it up.

    = =

    Back to the Guthrie kidnapping.

    While Neaman derides the ills of attention-seeking and directs our attention to previous kidnappings, a more meaningful analogy may be the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk.

    Kirk had also called for the release of the files and had “platformed” Tucker Carlson who told the audience that Epstein had almost certainly been working with Mossad. Before his death, Kirk had already had “policy differences” with Netanyahu and Trump over Gaza, the attack on Iran, and suppressing free speech.

    Kirk’s assassination, and especially the shot to his neck/throat seems designed to send a warning to others to keep quiet (about Gaza? Epstein? Both?). Is the abduction of Guthrie’s mother is meant to send a similar message: bad things happen to those who defy us?
33. MH February 22, 2026 at 1:47 pm

    Is this gonna be a repeat of the last Winter Games? A major power waiting a couple/few days after the closing ceremony before an attack is launched? If so might be time to lay a bet on China attacking Taiwan the week after the SLC games in 2030.
    1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 6:12 pm

       Don’t forget Georgia attacked South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, probably on western advice.
    2. chris February 22, 2026 at 8:21 pm

       That would be grim, but, also hilarious.

       Brazil, China, Russia, and the Norks strike out in unison at their chosen targets while all of our military is committed to Iran. It would mean the end of the world. I’d still be applauding at the crescendo when the bombs came down.

       US policy assumes everyone else is standing still and does not have agency outside of what we let them do. That is a dangerous mistake.
34. raspberry jam February 22, 2026 at 2:07 pm

    Times of Israel’s liveblog has some rather cheerful headlines tonight for those of us on war watch?!

    – Iran’s FM plans to meet Witkoff this week, claims ‘good chance’ of diplomatic solution
    – Iranian president says recent talks with US ‘yielded encouraging signals’
    – Report: Netanyahu says he’s ‘worried’ about Trump on Iran

    Quote from the last one for anyone who needs a smile:

    After meeting US President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this month, US Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a senior US official that he could not get a handle on what the president wanted to do vis-a-vis Iran, Channel 12 reports.

    “Is he still with us?” Netanyahu reportedly asked the US official. “I’m worried.”

    I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much!
    1. .Tom February 22, 2026 at 3:01 pm

       BBC reports that Wifkoff was on Fox News today reporting that the president is puzzled as to why, in the face of such a massive build up of US offensive systems, Iran has not yet capitulated.

       In his interview with Fox News, Witkoff said: “I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated’… because he [Trump] understands he’s got plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t… I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated’, but why they haven’t capitulated.”

       https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5gk15rr70o

       I thought this interesting because it suggests that the massive build up of US offensive systems was a negotiating move, at least as far as those two are concerned.
       1. Balakirev February 22, 2026 at 10:36 pm

          Daniel Larison also quoted from Witkoff’s remarks, and added as his two (pretty rational) cents:

          Witkoff’s comments are absurd but revealing. Trump and Witkoff can’t understand why another government would respond to extreme pressure and insane threats with defiance? It is the most natural response in the world to resist domination by a foreign power, but it is baffling to these jumped-up gangsters. For all of Trump’s nationalist posturing, he doesn’t know the first thing about nationalism. That is probably why he has been so surprised and angry that his many attempts at extortion have met with no success.

          The envoy may not want to use the word capitulation, but he unwittingly admitted that this is the president’s goal. Trump expects capitulation, and he can’t fathom why anyone wouldn’t cave under threat of death. It never occurs to these people that it is the massive buildup of forces that has made it more difficult for the Iranian government to agree to concessions…

          I don’t know–who does?–how Iran’s diplomacy might be affected by the Donald’s bullying tactics, given that at least one of his demands results in suicide-by-Israel. But I suspect a lot of shock-and-awe bling being thrown at the Iranian leader probably wouldn’t do the West much good. Not after Trump’s already been proven a bad faith negotiator, and an abrogator of numerous useful international treaties.

          https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/coercion-inspires-resistance?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=3wlos9&triedRedirect=true
    2. nyleta February 22, 2026 at 3:28 pm

       Those planes are just sitting around without the week’s training together they did last time so far. I am suspicious of those 15,000 ISIS fighters that were taken into Iraq last week from Syria and Iran moved troops yesterday to the Iraqi border. The quisling regime in Iraq has moved a modern armoured regiment into the Green Zone to protect it and are probably helping arm and train ISIS fighters to infiltrate Iran. Tried and true methods may be being deployed instead of shock and awe.

       Someone must have broached a false flag against Greenland with a hospital ship to Mr Trump and he has sundowned it on his social media. Both hospital ships seem to be in repair dock at the moment so it was a future operation he let loose.
35. Jason Boxman February 22, 2026 at 2:30 pm

    Inside Iran’s Preparations for War and Plans for Survival (NY Times via archive.ph)

    NY Times makes it known that Iran is prepared for Israeli assassination attempts.

    “Khamenei is dealing with the reality in front of him,” said Vali Nasr, an expert on Iran and its Shiite theocracy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

    “He is expecting to be a martyr and thinking, this is my system and legacy, and I will stand until the end,” Mr. Nasr said. “He is distributing power and preparing the state for the next big thing, both succession and war, aware that succession may come as a consequence of war.”

    Iran is operating on the basis that U.S. military strikes are inevitable and imminent, even as both sides continue to engage diplomatically and negotiate on a nuclear deal, the six officials and three Guards members said. They said Iran had placed all of its armed forces on the highest state of alert and was preparing to resist fiercely.
36. Tom Stone February 22, 2026 at 3:19 pm

    I wonder where the electricity will come from to power the Tech Bro’s dystopic dreams?
    The grid hasn’t been maintained let alone upgraded in decades, millions of transformers need to be replaced and tat’s just to maintain the fragile and barely adequate system we have.
    Where are the materials and skilled workmen going to come from to build their robotic armies and to maintain them?
    I’m most familiar with California’s infrastructure problems, the grid,power generating dams near the end of their effective life, levee’s that are crumbling, a water distribution system based on snowfall patterns that no longer pertain, the water and sewage systems in the large cities that are, again, at the end of their useful lives.
    Domestically there’s 170 Billion for ICE, but the $80 Billion needed to house all of America’s homeless doesn’t exist.
    Measles is back and we’re locking people in overcrowded and inhumane condition with people who have measles and other contagious diseases without any medical services available, then either exporting tham or releasing them into the general populace to spread their illnesses.
    This is not sane or rational behavior even if “They” are trying to kill off a sizable percentage of the populace without risking the wealth God has rewarded them with.
    It’s going to be an interesting nex few years.
37. John Wright February 22, 2026 at 3:37 pm

    Chna must know that the USA has gamed destroying Taiwan’s semiconductor fabs via bombs rather than let China get them in an invasion so if China wants to get product from Taiwan, invasion is not a good idea.

    The USA has quite expensively demonstrated that it can have an apparent military victory in a foreign land and also, expensively, lose the peace.

    Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_China.

    China is importing 227 billion net of exports from Taiwan and upsetting this trade partner by invading and getting its semiconductor plants destroyed in the process, seems a bad idea.
38. Tom Stone February 22, 2026 at 3:44 pm

    Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of the US ?

    That explains a lot of things.
    1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 6:18 pm

       And Lindsay Graham is the President of foreign policy.
39. Mikel February 22, 2026 at 4:14 pm

    Ship Believed To Be Carrying Russian Fuel Reportedly On Its Way To Cuba, Challenging U.S. Blockade – The Latin Times

    Helmer’s take on the messy details from some of the same reports/sources and others:
    https://johnhelmer.net/the-putin-plan-for-cuba-and-the-castro-family-more-gorbachev-definitely-not-khrushchev/

    “Between the lines of what Lavrov and Rodriguez know to be ironical and untrue, the intended Russian message is for the Castro family to negotiate the best terms it can from the Trump Administration; and for the Trump family, and also Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s family, to be confident that they can continue their blockade of the island without Russian military challenge until the Cubans agree to the US terms.”
    1. .Tom February 22, 2026 at 6:06 pm

       If Russia needs to say something to Cuba then they probably have more convenient, private, and less ambiguous ways to communicate. That said, it doesn’t seem likely that the Russian navy will fight the US navy in the Caribbean to deliver oil to Cuba.
40. Tom Stone February 22, 2026 at 4:27 pm

    Huckabee’s remarks are remarkable, he reveals his stupidity without hesitation
    if he wasn’t stupid he wouldn’t say what he said no matter what his beliefs are.
    He is evidently sincere , and sincerely nuts when it comes to his “Faith”.
    And he is owned by Israel, it’s seldom you hear a politician make it so clear that they work for a Foreign Country and not the Country that employs them as an Ambassador.
    Bless his heart.
41. Wukchumni February 22, 2026 at 6:04 pm

    SOTU is going to be so interesting, you can feel the dam breaking on Teetotalitarian Leader, and do some Pachyderms make a scene in the audience by not standing up & cheering for his breathless words, as is rote?
    1. Lefty Godot February 23, 2026 at 12:37 am

       If Bibi tells them to cheer, they’ll cheer.
42. Jason Boxman February 22, 2026 at 7:50 pm

    Trump Considers Targeted Strike Against Iran, Followed by Larger Attack

    President Trump has told advisers that if diplomacy or any initial targeted U.S. attack does not lead Iran to give in to his demands that it give up its nuclear program, he will consider a much bigger attack in coming months intended to drive that country’s leaders from power, people briefed on internal administration deliberations said.

    Do what we say, or else we’ll come back next week and break your legs, then make the same demand.
    1. The Rev Kev February 22, 2026 at 9:07 pm

       Apparently Whitlock and Trump cannot understand why Iran has not buckled to Trump’s (Israeli) demands in spite of all the fire power the US has brought into the theater. This would suggest that this has mostly been a massive bluff but speaks poorly of Whitlock’s judgement in understanding the Iranian refusal to disarm.
43. Glen February 22, 2026 at 10:27 pm

    Some good advice I should heed:

    It’s Very Possible To Be Both Happy And Well-Informed
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svUB68NGrwM

    I spent time today making some prints of photos from Hobuck beach from a trip my wife and I took in January to the Makah Indian Reservation. It’s a beautiful place:

    My Favorite Places – Neah Bay
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovh5UpRKXYQ

Comments are closed.