[Some private issues are currently impeding my time for this site. Please bear with me.]
– It was long obvious that the U.S. was moving further to the right, but I still did not expect this. A rather main stream outlet, Politico, is arguing for the reintroduction of slavery (though they name it differently). Neither the economic logic nor the numbers hold up. But we should not let that, or any ethics, get in the way of a high dose of neoliberal extremism:
Under this new system, all citizens would have the right to sponsor a migrant for economic purposes.
…
Mary goes online—to a new kind of international gig economy website, a Fiverr for immigrants—and applies to sponsor a migrant. She enters information about what she needs: someone with rudimentary English skills, no criminal record and an affection for animals. She offers a room in her basement, meals and $5 an hour. (Sponsors under this program would be exempt from paying minimum wage.)
…
According to our calculations, a typical family of four could boost its income by $10,000 to 20,000 by hosting migrants. The reason is that migrants to the United States usually increase their wages many times, allowing them to pay as much as $6,000 to hosts for sponsorships (and our average family could sponsor up to four visas, one for each member).
– Netanyahoo may finally get indicted for taking bribes. The man has of course no shame. He will not step down but become more extreme:
Netanyahu’s supporters won’t turn on him, and his party colleagues won’t find the courage to demand his resignation. He’ll be able to continue portraying himself as the heroic victim of a sinister conspiracy. His aiders and abettors in Likud will continue to spin wild tales of coup d’états and putsches. His base will grow even angrier at the alleged plot hatched by the media, the left and the police – George Soros is waiting in the wings, of course – which will spur Likud politicians to go even harsher and more delusional.
– The Taliban are sending peace feelers and offer negotiations with the U.S. government. Interesting, but they will be ignored.
– Peter Lee, aka @chinahand, gives a good lecture on the history of Korea’s testy relations with the U.S.-Japanese alliance – At the Olympics, South Korea Says “Enough” to a Century of Japanese and U.S. Betrayal
– Lots of outlets claim that dozens if not hundreds Russian contractors died in the recent U.S. attack in east Syria. I stand by my take on the issue. There was some kind of local deal made to hand over an oil field in which the Russian contractor Wagner was involved. The U.S. blew up the deal, literally, when it was about to happen. It wants to keep the issue under its sole control. Few, if any, Russians were hurt.