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May 24, 2020
The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-41

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

> In Brazil, 15 percent of deaths have been people under 50 — a rate more than 10 times greater than in Italy or Spain. In Mexico, the trend is even more stark: Nearly one-fourth of the dead have been between 25 and 49. In India, officials reported this month that nearly half of the dead were younger than 60. In Rio de Janeiro state, more than two-thirds of hospitalizations are for people younger than 49.
…
“It all points to social economic status and poverty,” Gray Molina said. <

> Let's see what the Washington-backed Hong Kong democracy really looks like. The man beaten in the video is a lawyer named Chan Tze-chin. He was attacked by the rioters because he did not support them on the street today. Hong Kong must rebuild the rule of law. < (video)

> The Hong Kong rioters vandalised a shop and steal a tee shirt from inside at causeway bay today < (video)

> Absolutely sickening. The West's beloved "freedom fighters" in Hong Kong stalk, surround and beat a defenceless young woman. While the West denounces China's new national security law, they are silent on the countless acts of such brutal violence. < (video)

Other issues:

Iraq:

Venezuela:

Electoral College:

Must read:

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on May 24, 2020 at 13:59 UTC | Permalink
Comments

It is an indication of the institutional dementia in Washington that while these Treaty breaking moves are generally intended for domestic consumption- their demagogic appeal to the lowest common denominator- the reality is that it doesn’t matter what the public think.
It is as if the people running the plutocracy, while listening exclusively to oligarchs, insist on maintaining the illusion that they are following the will of the people.
The obvious explanation for which is that their role-the real role of the political caste in the US- is to present themselves to the oligarchs as representatives of the people while convincing the people that they are uniquely placed to negotiate with the elite which owns everything and has all the power: a collective tyranny, too remote for mere mortals to approach.

Posted by: bevin | May 24 2020 15:03 utc | 1

Popular Republic of China: the Marxist State:
Xi stresses analyzing China’s economy from comprehensive, dialectical, long-term perspective
And people here in the West insist in calling Marxism an ideology and Marx a crazy utopian ideologue… honestly, that make me laugh.
2,000 years from now, everybody will study Marx as we now study the Greek and Chinese philosophers, as he’s one of humanity’s greats. Nobody will remember the “greats” of our time, Keynes, Friedman, Adam Smith etc. etc. And you know why I know that? Because, nowadays, nobody knows who Ferguson, David Ricardo, Jean-Baptist Say, Rodbertus, whatever Austrian School guy’s name, Jevons, etc. etc. are.
That is, unless you’re a historian studying the epoch – then you’ll have the unpleasant task to know them.
–//–
Looks like the HK liberal protesters lost support from their masters:
Hong Kong national security law will help business environment rather than harm it, finance chief Paul Chan says
So, those protesters are fighting for capitalism against the socialism represented by the government of the Mainland. That makes them ideologically liberal. On the other side, they are doing so despite the class interests of their own local capitalists. Therefore, they are fighting for the long-term survival of capitalism against socialism but also against its own bourgeoisie’s shortsightedness.
This makes the HK protests a political movement that is conservative in essence (i.e. to preserve capitalism against socialism) but radical in form (uses the methodology of communist revolutions). I’ve seen that before…
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first officially fascist movement of 21st Century Far-east Asia.
–//–
Western elite view of China’s governance wrong
Francis Fukuyama attacks again. This the the answer.

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 15:08 utc | 2

Let’s hope it means that they consider their father’s blood remained to be paid by the real culprits.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/middleeast/khashoggi-children-pardon-saudi-intl/index.html

Posted by: Mina | May 24 2020 15:10 utc | 3

Forgot to put this:
Pompeo Warns US May Stop Sharing Intelligence With Australia Over Victoria Inking Deal With China’s BRI
The battle for Australia’s soul has begun.

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 15:24 utc | 4

Atlanta Fed: US real GDP Q2 2020 may reach -41.9%
Car rental Hertz files for bankruptcy; US largest shopping mall defaults

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 15:58 utc | 5

B, I’ve been meaning to thank you for recommending “The Story of Yanxi Palace” last year. Watching it helped me endure a painful illness. So — thank you! My thank-you gift, from one cigarette smoker to another, is “The Healing Power of Proper Breathing.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-healing-power-of-proper-breathing-11590098696
The article is free; just click on the paywall notice to read it. It’s the author’s adaptation from his upcoming book. In the article he presents stunning information about the wages of chronic improper breathing, which include weak bones and a host of mental and physical illnesses.
And he explains how to breathe the correct way, which includes breathing through the nose. That’s bad news for smokers and people who talk a lot, if they inhale through their mouth. He also mentions that human lungs have gotten smaller. This raises the interesting question of whether the human race has literally chattered itself into smaller lungs :-))
All the best,
Pundita

Posted by: Pundita | May 24 2020 16:09 utc | 6

@vk
“2,000 years from now, everybody will study Marx as we now study the Greek and Chinese philosophers, as he’s one of humanity’s greats.”
Hmm where have we heard that before 😉

Posted by: ptb | May 24 2020 16:27 utc | 7

“It all points to social economic status and poverty,” Gray Molina said.
This is probably true. It was one argument against shutting down economies so drastically. This is less of a problem in the wealthier countries for the moment, but in a second or third wave, you will probably see more deaths among the below 60s due to increasing poverty caused by poorly managed lockdowns this time around.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | May 24 2020 16:29 utc | 8

thanks b for this forum and the community and all everyone’s insights.. @6 pundita.. i am going to look at that thanks…
that quote of gray molina is going to stir up a lot of hostility from some of the covid aficionado crowd.. thanks for that…
@ jackrabbit… may as well put my post to you here… regarding the iranian tankers to venezuala… we have a thread for this here..
thanks for your additional comments and thoughts… this is just a general comment.. it seems the usa works hard to imply some legal superiority in a number of instances, but so much of it is coming out of washington which neo cons seem to think is the center of the world… the example of putting up a leader – guaido – and funnelling money that belongs to venezuala to him – well you know how an ordinary person would view this if you gave the money you owed to someone else…. like i say, the usa is one bullshit country and the fact canada signs onto this bullshit doesn’t go un noticed by me either… but to my point… i think they call this new reality of the neo cons – lawfare…. we make the laws and this is the new reality…. we are a rule based law abiding country…. the bullshit is laid on very thick..
i think the jig has been up for guaido for a while now… the guy is a complete laughing stock, stooge for the empire and most people see this…

Posted by: james | May 24 2020 16:38 utc | 9

@ 6 pundita… the link to wsj – TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE
SIGN IN… more bullshit…

Posted by: james | May 24 2020 16:40 utc | 10

@ Posted by: ptb | May 24 2020 16:27 utc | 7
Oh, I see.
2,400 years from now, then.

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 17:00 utc | 11

Open Skies. Trump leaves room for negotiations. (Mandatory re. rules signed onto.) Imho the Trump Admin wants to re-negotiate conditions. (Trump vid link 1.) There is a 6-month period open before ratification.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-administration-pulling-out-open-skies-surveillance-treaty-over-russia-n1212141
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/21/trump-admin-to-withdraw-from-open-skies-treaty/
========================
Same posturing to the base applies to ‘withdrawing funding’ from WHO.
Trump cut some funding to the UN budget, as the US does periodically, it is always ‘in arrears,’ nothing new. The rest is ‘under review for now’ …
The contribs. to WHO can be seen here (from WHO), the Programme Funding (i.e. actions against malaria, aids, tuberculosis, on the ground, etc.) Only a part, of course, reportedly about 80%. (Plus, see bubble diagram at site.)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/who-funds-world-health-organization-un-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-trump/
USA is the biggest ‘voluntary’ donor, can reduce at any time. 2nd, the *Gates Foundation*, 3rd, the UK, 4th, Germany, and 5th, GAVI, the vaccine alliance.
https://www.gavi.org
So, the WHO is not a wasteful creepy socialistic enterprise that is hampering US hegemony or screwing over the Anglo world by actioning Trump hatred, right? 🙂
Imho the WHO has been co-opted by oligarchic interests melding State and Corps, by the richest / those most poised to profit from disease and ‘cures’ or other moves as reactions to epidemics or other health scares. The MSM plays out the perception of the WHO as an oppo between China and ‘others.’ (China controls Tedros, etc.) Margaret Chan was a very powerful director of the WHO. Fierce and Feared.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Chan
Still today, WHO blocks Taiwan from participating, though it has a long time observer status (details skipped.) There is really no justification for that.
So what is the detail about Open Skies?

Posted by: Noirette | May 24 2020 17:06 utc | 12

@4 vk
You are so dramatic.
Aussies love the U.S. with the exception of its academia and intelligentsia, similarily with those same-minded in the U.S.
Given a choice, TPTB in Australia will side with the U.S. every time.
With apologies to Peter AU, as I know he does not represent this view. But he is in the minority, there.
Keep in mind that I am not condoning any kind of trans-Pacific blockade of China. I would rather Aussies look for the best deal for their people, period.
Chances are a neutral line btw the U.S. and China would be better.
But ask this same question to the Melians who were destroyed because of their desire to remain neutral during the Peloponnesian War.
No. You know the answer and there will be no “Rumble Down Unda'”

Posted by: Nemesiscalling | May 24 2020 17:33 utc | 13

james | May24 16:38 @ 9
And I’ll repost my reply here too.
james | May24 16:31 @ 134
At some point a country loses credibility with bluster after bluster.
<> <> <> <> <>
Everyone was expressing outrage that USA might stop the Iranian tankers on the high seas. I realized that was not the likely means of stopping the tankers. Much more likely that it occurs in Venezuelan waters with Guido’s approval.
If USA fears the Iranian response in Middle East, then they would also fear the possibility that this missile tech could be transferred to Venezuela. Making a stopping of the tanker(s) even more likely.
There’s 4 more tankers coming. Maybe they will stop of these?
It could be that this is an indication that the Empire’s focus is on bringing down China now as Chinese economic power underpins all resistance to the Empire.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 24 2020 17:34 utc | 14

After the OPCW scandal over Douma, I cannot imagine any UN organization being trusted again, certainly not the head administrators who all seem to have been positioned by the Western oligarchy.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | May 24 2020 17:34 utc | 15

James — I considered the article so important that I took the precaution of copying the entire WSJ article and posting it to my blog. So here’s the article:
https://pundita.blogspot.com/2020/05/stunning-revelations-about-breathing.html
Also, for Bernhard and everyone else, I made a mistake — serves me right for being sarcastic — it’s the human mouth that’s gotten smaller, not the lungs.

Posted by: Pundita | May 24 2020 17:54 utc | 16

Wait, wait, what? If the tankers reach shore, does that mean that Iran shit on the Monroe doctrine? RIP another doctrine.

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 24 2020 18:16 utc | 17

Thanks b, lots of reading of interest – not to leave out those viral miscounts which just happen to happen on two entirely separate sides of The Big Pond. What? It gives a new meaning to the statement ‘The emperor has no clothes.’
The article from Rob Urie at counterpunch has the US divided into three separate but vastly unequal classes in proving that Russiagate still matters. And here’s a lovely observation:

Not considered by the Russiagate acolytes is that those telling lies weren’t lying to the marginally literate ‘fascists’ who should in elite theory have been the easiest to fool. Those people don’t spend their days reading the New York Times and listening to NPR. They were lying to the educated elite. And lest this elite imagine that it was in on the lies— they quite conspicuously believed every word of them.

Thanks also for the Escobar article. It’s the paucity of education possessed by the US ‘elite’ all over again. The PMC’s, Rob Urie calls them – I couldn’t see in his article what that denotes so to remember the initials I mentally designated them ‘the Poms’. I know that’s a slur term for British folk – not sure what that stands for though either, so no disrespect intended. Pompous? Pompeo? – he’s in there somewhere.
Happy last of the Orthodox Easter Sundays, everyone. It’s the Sunday of the Blind Man, whose parents when questioned as to the restoration of his sight, being afraid to answer, said “Ask him; he’s of age!” So they did.
And they got three judges for Craig Murray, so he could point out more poverty of education that side of The Pond.
Such readings today!

Posted by: juliania | May 24 2020 18:19 utc | 18

Counterpunch article by Rob Urie was magnificent.

Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | May 24 2020 18:33 utc | 19

Posted by: Noirette | May 24 2020 17:06 utc | 12
“Still today, WHO blocks Taiwan from participating, though it has a long time observer status (details skipped.) There is really no justification for that.”
It was the DPP that decided to drop the 1992 Consensus and in the process lost it’s observer status, but you already knew that.

Posted by: One Too Many | May 24 2020 18:40 utc | 20

minimal info on our food supply, farmers and how we will all be impacted. My sense is that farmers are very worried but maintaining a fairy-tale like hope that their political leaders (Trump, McConnell… most farmers are Republicans) will support them with socialist policies— it’s ok if their people do it. Dems have nothing special for them. Farmers are addicted to Monsanto, can’t get out, most are deep in debt.
My prediction: could be bad around November harvest time if China continues backing off pork and grain purchases. Farmers supposedly planted more corn and beans than ever. Who will buy them?
Here are a couple of links:
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/as-coronavirus-drives-down-commodity-prices-farm-groups-ask-for-aid
https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2020/03/crop-insurance-decisions-for-2020.html
explains a bit about “crop insurance”, basically, 60% is paid by you and me, taxpayers. A friend of mine (republican) lost all of his crop last year from floods but said they “came out fine”! because of crop insurance.

Posted by: migueljose | May 24 2020 19:15 utc | 21

Ian56 @Ian56789
https://twitter.com/Ian56789/status/1264564412943392768
The Zuckerberg – Bill Gates Master Plan
Zuckerberg: So, what’s the plan?
Gates: Simple. You delete posts and I’ll delete the people.

Posted by: Mao | May 24 2020 19:16 utc | 22

There’s a really hard push from the think-tankers and media allies to depict Hong Kong as suddenly a situation akin to the Alamo / a line in the sand/ last chance for democracy etc etc.
The Guardian opined, without irony –
“What is now at stake is bigger than the future of Hong Kong, as important as that is. Other nations should ask themselves whether they want China to believe that it can trample on its pledges and renege on international treaties with impunity.”
how outrageous – reneging on international treaties. that would never happen in the rules-based international order. Thanks Guardian editorial writers for setting the bar, for drawing that line in the sand. To the barricades!

Posted by: jayc | May 24 2020 19:18 utc | 23

b, thanks for the vids in HK. It’s sickening repeats violences, keep harping freedom, democracy! How many MoA remember Nov 2013 beginning protests in Maidan, Kiev and ended regime changes Ukraine. Victoria Nuland admitted USA invested 5billions in regime changed. In HK Julie Eadeh bio (Warning CIA WEBSITE Julie Eadeh a trained subversion expert)
https://archive.ph/sK6Dx#selection-1769.0-1781.235
Lysol Trump, Repub. and Dem. will never give up till a full-blown revolution in China. Again divided up China and repeating another century of humiliation and suffering. Foreign occupations’ China (Portuguese, Spain, Russia, Japan, British, Germany, French, US and more..) Brutal civil war between Chiang Kai-shek and Máo Zédong.
Dad fought with Chiang Kai-shek, took the family out early leaving grandma behind. He made a final dashed back before grandma passed away and escaped just before WW2. Repeat – Mom cried when she not permitted sending dried foods to her only surviving brother. Millions died and suffered….. Looking back my views have changed, dad too will agree with me…. Why Chinese continue fighting each while foreigners benefits. Have we forgotten the past? Do you really believe in democracy, freedom and universal suffrage? Believe it or not commie lifted 800millions out of extreme poverty. Compare India 1.3billions still living with – bullock and donkey carts. China has more bullet trains combine than all nations combines. I can’t make it up?
Watch BBC videos, still bashing China. BTW – minorities’ cliff dwellers, choices remain or moved to free housing, jobs etc…
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=China%27s+uphill+struggle+fighting+extreme+poverty+-+BBC+News.mp4
Live: Families from the SW China “cliff village” move into new homes “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlidfYy74iE

Posted by: JC | May 24 2020 19:32 utc | 24

#24 JC
It’s almost hilarious that the BBC has to go to the remotest of the remotest areas to use un-suspecting people to give a local voice to their propaganda and condescending racism. It’s the same with the German public broadcasters, I’m often ashamed how they package and spin their propaganda in ‘reportages’ and ‘documentaries’.
A little OT, but isn’t it also funny how Chinese state-funded media on yt are cataloged as ‘CGTN is funded in whole or in part by the Chinese government’ and British state-funded media is cataloged as ‘BBC is a British public broadcast service’. DOH.

Posted by: namulith | May 24 2020 20:00 utc | 25

Bluster fatigue is the new normal
And empire does have enough money to hound every shipment of oil from Iran to Venezuela
When countries stop buying US Treasuries the game will change…..until then, not so much.

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 24 2020 20:01 utc | 26

Posted by: namulith | May 24 2020 20:00 utc | 25
Thanks for your comments. Note: videos BBC corespondent John Sudworth said to “Edi Labli” the Gov said it wants to wiped out poverty in the next 3-yrs in China, do you think it’s possible? “Edi Labli” shaking his head and said in putonghua “No, not possible…”
Really not possible? It’s almost there just a few more millions…. Covid-19 strike..
One of the two little girls look very much like my youngest when she is 1-1/2 yr old. Looking ahead that girl will have better life than her counterparts in Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Iraq and more….innocent but cruel life ahead.. Lysol Trump must destroy Xi Jinping regardless or the little girls will has better live…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEwIHNNJZvo

Posted by: JC | May 24 2020 20:36 utc | 27

Nobody else, except Iran and her imperialism resisting allies have this big of ball to piss on the entire, 200 year old Monroe doctrine , Bravo Iran. Trump, SOS PompeGoeh (literary “shit pimp” in Persian), and Elliot Failures can go and F*+ themselves. Today Iran is the world’s leader on anti imperialism, anti-exceptionalism in the world, she, Iran has become the world leader of upholding International laws and norms.

Posted by: kooshy | May 24 2020 20:45 utc | 28

It took the Global Times to bring my attention to the fact the NY Times published on the front page of its Sunday edition the names and occupations of 1,000 of the 100,000 victims of Trumps Treasonous Do Nothing COVID-19 Policy. China’s Foreign Minister Yang Yi held a lengthy presser providing detailed answers to many differing questions. The topic of “Wolf Diplomacy” is in the news today and was asked about by CNN:
“Cable News Network: We’ve seen an increasingly heated ‘war of words’ between China and the US. Is ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy the new norm of China’s diplomacy?
Wang Yi: I respect your right to ask the question, but I’m afraid you’re not framing the question in the right way. One has to have a sense of right and wrong. Without it, a person cannot be trusted, and a country cannot hold its own in the family of nations.
“There may be all kinds of interpretations and commentary about Chinese diplomacy. As China’s Foreign Minister, let me state for the record that China always follows an independent foreign policy of peace. No matter how the international situation may change, we will always stand for peace, development and mutually beneficial cooperation, stay committed to upholding world peace and promoting common development, and seek friendship and cooperation with all countries. We see it as our mission to make new and greater contributions to humanity.
“China’s foreign policy tradition is rooted in its 5,000-year civilization. Since ancient times, China has been widely recognized as a nation of moderation. We Chinese value peace, harmony, sincerity and integrity. We never pick a fight or bully others, but we have principles and guts. We will push back against any deliberate insult to resolutely defend our national honor and dignity. And we will refute all groundless slander with facts to resolutely uphold fairness, justice and human conscience.
“The future of China’s diplomacy is premised on our commitment to working with all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Since we live in the same global village, countries should get along peacefully and treat each other as equals. Decisions on global affairs should be made through consultation, not because one or two countries say so. That’s why China advocates for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations. This position is fully aligned with the direction of human progress and the shared aspiration of most countries. No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony. We will always stand with the common interests of all countries. And we will always stand on the right side of history. Those who go out of their way to label China as a hegemon are precisely the ones who refuse to let go of their hegemonic status.
“The world is undergoing changes of a kind unseen in a century and full of instability and turbulence. Confronted by a growing set of global challenges, we hope all countries will realize that humanity is a community with a shared future. We must render each other more support and cooperation, and there should be less finger-pointing and confrontation. We call on all nations to come together and build a better world for all.” [My Emphasis]
Do take the time to read the full Q&A. The Chinese know well they are being watched and listened to by almost every nation, and IMO have much greater credibility with those nations than the Outlaw US Empire.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2020 20:52 utc | 29

FBI Document Reveals That Without Direct Israeli ‘Intervention’ Trump Would Have Lost 2016 Election
https://christiansfortruth.com/fbi-document-reveals-that-without-direct-israeli-intervention-trump-would-not-have-won-2016-election/

Posted by: Mao | May 24 2020 20:56 utc | 30

@ Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 15:24 utc | 4
& Posted by: Nemesiscalling | May 24 2020 17:33 utc | 13
An ambassador has watered down Pompeo’s threat.
Which to me reads like the US is aware that is a danger in pushing too hard for obedience. The propaganda against the ‘oriental menace’ has been pretty relentless going on a hundred years but don’t underestimate the anti-American sentiment…

Posted by: Mia | May 24 2020 21:05 utc | 31

Nobody else, except Iran and her imperialism resisting allies have this big of balls to piss on the entire, 200 year old Monroe doctrine , Bravo Iran. Trump, SOS PompeGoeh (literary “shit pimp” in Persian), and Elliot Failures can go and F*+ themselves.
The reason US, and her egomaniac president, Trump did not dare to pirate and confiscate Iranian merchant ships on high international seas, was due to the sure consequences that would be played in the Iranian controlled Persian Gulf waters. Trump, pentagon and CIA for sure knew in case of a wrongdoing by US, Iranians will confiscate and hold a US ship, or a US bond ship or even a US military vessel like they did with UK last summer.
In that case it would be hard for Trump and all his cronies to justify going to war with Iran during a pandemic with 100K dead, when US herself was first to illegally confiscate a merchant ship on international waters.

Posted by: kooshy | May 24 2020 21:37 utc | 32

“It all points to social economic status and poverty,” Gray Molina said. No doubt his source was blind Freddie.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 24 2020 21:42 utc | 33

SOS PompeGoeh (literary “shit pimp” in Persian). I think you mean “shit pump” Kooshy. No?

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 24 2020 21:44 utc | 34

@ 14 jackrabbit… lets see what happens… seems like the wheels are falling off the exceptional empire to me.. i could be wrong…
@ 16 pundita… thanks so much! i will read it as i am curious.. my big mouth is too busy talking to breathe properly, unless i walk alone!

Posted by: james | May 24 2020 21:48 utc | 35

thanks pundita… that is an excellent article… i reminds me of the need to get into a fully regular practice routine of something i know how to do – tai chi… i practice, but i am inconsistant… i have been saying this to myself for a while now, but invariably i am not a part of a club in the small town i live in and need to do it on my own on a regular basis.. it is great for slowing down and focusing on one’s breathing.. i recommend it if you are looking for a great exercise to do this…

Posted by: james | May 24 2020 21:57 utc | 36

So men in black (triad?)beat lawyer and girl. The ones besting girl handled gently by police. The lawyer dressed like no lawyer I have seen in HK even on holiday
I’d take with grain of salt.
In populations with a younger population, I’d expect the death percentage of covid victims to be higher. The number of most importance is excess deaths since we cant really trust the tests (false positives and negatives) and diagnosis since this has become politicized with technocrats pushing numbers higher to achieve their control agenda.

Posted by: Kay Fabe | May 24 2020 22:11 utc | 37

@ vk 4: while your general commentary is almost always invariably right, you are wrong about Australia as @13 Nemesiscalling rightly points out. As an Australian I can say without equivocation 95+% of Australians would not even see this as a choice. What holds for the USA (as disclosed by my fellow Aussie John Pilger’s in his The Coming War on China) holds 100 times more strongly in Australia. We are a settler oligarchy built on a brutal mixture of racism and exploitation. We see China as a nation of savage others to be feared (the Yellow Peril) and excluded, or at best manipulated and exploited. That we take their money in exchange for coal, iron ore or education services, changes none of that. The mistrust and atavistic fear of the Chinese in Australia runs far deeper than even the default racism directed toward other migrants (Vietnamese, Arabs, Mediterranean Europeans). Our social, political and cultural destiny has been permanently fixed to the US on two levels: first, our common language and descent (British colonies with a dominant Anglo-Celtic population, which still monopolizes political power in Australia); second, when we realized the British writ no longer extended to the Asia-Pacific in 1942 and turned to the USA. These two pillars have been intertwined since and ever more strongly. There will never be a battle for Australia’s soul between China and the US even were we to follow the latter down a perilous road to war. To understand Australia is to understand the terror of a European colony that still feels adrift among savages and clings to the apron-strings of the maternal corpse of Western imperialism. Australians have no vision for their future other than to perch as rent-seekers and resource extractors on the eastern edge of their continent and give the UK (at first) and then the USA carte blanche to do as they please so long as they defend ‘Western civilization’. There really is no national plan mapped out across decades in to the future, just a fearful grasping that looks no further than the next easy buck. I can say this as a sad Australian who always imagined something more, something expansive. It is depressing, but true and only a catastrophe (like a civil war) could shift it.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 24 2020 22:48 utc | 38

Posted by: Mia | May 24 2020 21:05 utc | 31
Anti-American sentiment in Australia is expressed by inner-city educated elites, academics and the Australian left (i.e. not the ALP, but who? You need a goddam microscope to find it in political life). I’d say no more than about 1-2% of the population at most. In that bubble we attempt critique, but winning over a larger percentage to that view? Forget it.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 24 2020 22:55 utc | 39

This makes the HK protests a political movement that is conservative in essence (i.e. to preserve capitalism against socialism) but radical in form (uses the methodology of communist revolutions). I’ve seen that before…

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 15:08 utc | 2
They DO NOT use methodology of communist revolutions, but of brown shirt fascists, and you know it very well.
The communist do not go over there breaking windows and stealing luxury ítems for which they have no use, this has only been seen in HK and Barcelona by the same kind of racist scum who happen to support each other. Nor the communist use to beat peaceful civilians to death who happen to pass by in a mob, communist only use violence in self-defense
I was finding you a very strange “marxist”, but still had not caught you totally in renounce, since I do not read all you stuff, impossible as you seem to pass here the whole day/week/month, but you unveiled yourself completely in your plea to US exceptionalism in the past thread, offering us an ode to US military might, especially at US Navy level nobody except you believes in.
I was going to comment yesterday that there was no possibility that a real marxist, accustomed to use rational thinking and faithful to the discipline of dialectic materialism could incurr in such a delusional propaganda on the “Empire”´s might, but, then I felt it was not worth, since others debunked your points.
You are probably a US Navy operative expert on Marxism to impersonate one and infiltrate online leftist groups to then slide your propaganda once you have made yourself a regular. I always found you way too theoric to be a real average person commenting in a blog. Made no sense
For all to know,there is an all out campaign coming from the US in the net for impersonating antifascists by fascist trolls, to misrepresent violent protests against European governments. The aim could well be to overthrow some of these European governments by a fascist coup, as it seems is being prepared in the US by the “Q” entity.
These are the ways of the fascists of always, and “vk” knows it:
https://twitter.com/MonederoJC/status/1264141199658692611
https://twitter.com/MonederoJC/status/1264258245755129856
https://twitter.com/MonederoJC/status/1264158122123370503

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 24 2020 23:11 utc | 40

Pundita @ 6, 16, James @ 9:
One reason the human mouth has become smaller over the several hundred thousands of years of human evolution is that we have become more reliant on cooked food which is softer and easier to chew than raw food. Plus we don’t use our mouths and in particular our teeth as much for other uses, such as chewing on various materials and softening them with saliva so they are easier to use to make things (chewing on certain animal skins or sinews for example, to prepare them as material or thread for sewing, or on plant stems or bits of bark to prep them binding and holding tools) that generations of Stone Age people needed for hunting, food gathering or amusing themselves. Over time our cheek and jaw muscles have become less developed and smaller, and the jaws and (to some extent) the teeth have adapted as well. (I say to some extent because many of us get wisdom teeth which get impacted in jaws too small to accommodate them so they need to be removed physically.)
Also a sedentary way of life with not enough movement during the day, especially during childhood and adolescence, along with poor sitting and standing postures can encourage shallow breathing instead of breathing with the whole body.

Posted by: Jen | May 24 2020 23:13 utc | 41

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 24 2020 21:44 utc | 34
Yes sorry didn’t see the typo, Pompeo = Pompegoeh = meaning Shit Pump which is very becoming, since he only can pump shit from his both ends.

Posted by: kooshy | May 24 2020 23:19 utc | 42

Stanford Nobel laureate says lockdown caused more deaths? What gives?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/23/lockdown-saved-no-lives-may-have-cost-nobel-prize-winner-believes/

Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | May 24 2020 23:21 utc | 43

Posted by: kooshy | May 24 2020 23:19 utc | 42
Good to see you up and about Kooshyar.
I hear “shit pump” talks quite a bit with Sir Keir (“tip of penis”).

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 24 2020 23:28 utc | 44

@ Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 24 2020 23:11 utc | 40
Fascism was born in the aftermath of the October Revolution (1917). It inspired a communist revolution in Italy. However, there was a problem: contrary to its Russian counterpart, the Italian peasant class didn’t wholly supported the communists. This gave time for the Italian elite, in an act of desperation, to “lend” control of the nation to Mussolini, a general who, alongside old elements of the Italian Late Feudalism (the Catholic Church, plus some late 19th Century reactionary intellectuals), created the fascist movement – a movement custom-made to neutralize communism “in the streets”, that is, as a mass movement.
So, yes, fascism was created in reaction to the rise of communism – and the way it (successfully) did that was by mirroring some of its techniques.
Steve Bannon – modern fascism’s most important intellectual still alive – has publicly said he read Lenin and was “inspired” by his idea of the “end of the State”. Of course, his interpretation of the communist dissolution of the State is a bastardized, aesthetic version of the real deal, but that’s what fascists were made for in the first place: they are the guys the capitalists send to the proverbial front lines when the system itself is at peril in order to “get their hands dirty” and take the whole blame in the aftermath. That’s essentially the whole story of Hitler’s Germany: it lost the war, but destroyed enough of the USSR so that the liberals in the West could ultimately destroy it in a cold war.

Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 23:38 utc | 45

And the government botching of this crisis continues…
‘How Could the CDC Make That Mistake?’
The government’s disease-fighting agency is conflating viral and antibody tests, compromising a few crucial metrics that governors depend on to reopen their economies. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and other states are doing the same.
https://tinyurl.com/y92ea59f
And overseas as well…
‘Politicised nature’ of lockdown debate delays Imperial report
https://tinyurl.com/y7csboom
And of course, the effect of that…
Nearly half of US states haven’t contained their coronavirus outbreaks, a new study finds
https://tinyurl.com/yc72pd8t
And no, Sweden is not doing better…
Just 7.3% of Stockholm had Covid-19 antibodies by end of April, study shows
Official findings add to concerns about Sweden’s laissez-faire strategy towards the pandemic
https://tinyurl.com/yahnmb3a
Finally, a large scale study on HCQ – 86,000 patients, with 15,000 receiving HCQ…
Trump drug hydroxychloroquine raises death risk in Covid patients, study says
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52779309
The color of coronavirus:
COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity in the U.S.
https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race
Blacks are *twice* as likely to get it as whites and Latinos. American Indians are *five times* more likely to get it. They conclude the best indicator is poverty.
From The Lancet, a study of New York patients…
Epidemiology, clinical course, and outcomes of critically ill adults with COVID-19 in New York City: a prospective cohort study
https://tinyurl.com/yblmszsx
tl;dr

Between March 2 and April 1, 2020, 1150 adults were admitted to both hospitals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, of which 257 (22%) were critically ill. The median age of patients was 62 years (IQR 51–72), 171 (67%) were men. 212 (82%) patients had at least one chronic illness, the most common of which were hypertension (162 [63%]) and diabetes (92 [36%]). 119 (46%) patients had obesity. As of April 28, 2020, 101 (39%) patients had died and 94 (37%) remained hospitalised. 203 (79%) patients received invasive mechanical ventilation for a median of 18 days (IQR 9–28), 170 (66%) of 257 patients received vasopressors and 79 (31%) received renal replacement therapy. The median time to in-hospital deterioration was 3 days (IQR 1–6). In the multivariable Cox model, older age (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1·31 [1·09–1·57] per 10-year increase), chronic cardiac disease (aHR 1·76 [1·08–2·86]), chronic pulmonary disease (aHR 2·94 [1·48–5·84]), higher concentrations of interleukin-6 (aHR 1·11 [95%CI 1·02–1·20] per decile increase), and higher concentrations of D-dimer (aHR 1·10 [1·01–1·19] per decile increase) were independently associated with in-hospital mortality.

Note: 36% had diabetes; 46% were fat. Like I’ve said before, “diabetes” is a code word for “fat.” And how many people in the US are fat and thus at risk? “According to CDC, the disease of obesity affects about 78 million Americans 1 and the ASMBS estimates about 24 million have severe or morbid obesity.”
So much for “let’s just isolate the elderly”…so we can attend our baseball games this summer and stuff ourselves with crap food…

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 24 2020 23:54 utc | 46

VK @ 4:
NemesisCalling @ 13 and Patroklos @ 38 are right. There is no battle between the US and China for Australia’s soul because (a) Australia being a settler colony as Patroklos so eloquently described, there’s not much soul in the first place to battle for, (b) we hitched our little red wagon to the US ages ago culturally as well as politically and financially, and (c) our leaders come from a narrow layer of society in which to get ahead, the right connections are needed (through going to the right schools and the right universities, joining the appropriate student organisations, charities or NGOs as the case may be, and then joining the right political parties), and conforming to the party culture and ways of thinking which at the same time kill individual initiative and creative thought and behaviour.
Even someone like Peter Garrett, who was once seen by a generation of Australians born in the 1960s and 1970s as a rebel because he sang for Midnight Oil (famous Australian hard rock band) and used to campaign on anti-nuclear power and environmental issues, ended up caving in to the demands of the mainstream political party he joined in the early 2000s and ditched whatever principles he might have once held (or what Australians thought he once held). At least the odious Bono, for all his posturing and hypocrisy, never contemplated standing for election in Ireland or for the European Parliament representing Ireland.
The fact that some corporate Australian types like mining magnate Andrew Forrest and some politicians (like the former politician Sam Dastyari) might want to follow a more conciliatory path in dealing with China is not an indication of an upcoming cultural conflict between the US and China over Australia. These individuals are thinking more of their own self-interest and what Australia might get out of a better economic relationship with China in the short term. But this is still part of an attitude in which Australia exists mainly if not solely as a giant goose laying golden eggs and those eggs to be used to crack and squeeze out as many omelettes as possible. Exploitation is still the name of the game.
That Michaelus Pompeous Crassus sees fit to pontificate to Canberra, and Canberra expected to crack down on Daniel Andrews for daring to think of Victoria’s short-term interests (when he should be kissing US arse along with the other State Premiers), may be another thing entirely: the US is flailing around as it descends past the S-bend into the sewers of history and part of its instability and uncertainty is to keep whacking its Five-Eyes slave-state lackeys.

Posted by: Jen | May 24 2020 23:55 utc | 47

Correction… “86,000 patients” s/b “96,000 patients”.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 24 2020 23:56 utc | 48

Patroklos #38 & 39
Thank you for those wise words. Sad but true. Poor fella my country.
Regardless of all that the land is beautiful and always raises the spirit.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2020 0:00 utc | 49

And there’s this “good news”…if you’re young…
The Coronavirus Vaccine May Not Work on the Elderly
For those over 65, the pandemic is unlikely to end when the first vaccines arrive
https://tinyurl.com/yco8gtlz
Brazil’s Covid-19 Crisis Shows What Will Happen if the U.S. Relaxes All Social Distancing Standards
President Jair Bolsonaro is exasperating the Trump playbook
https://tinyurl.com/y8rmnth2

The US reaction to Brazil, like everything else, has been slow. Not only aren’t we helping them, we’re putting ourselves in danger — we haven’t halted air travel from Brazil, who has greater Covid-19 spread than China did when we did ban travel from China

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 25 2020 0:02 utc | 50

And, yes, Americans are stupid and fearful, as I’ve been saying…
Ecstatic and Terrified, Americans Are Rushing Out of Their Homes
A vast national experiment begins in the face of the pandemic
https://tinyurl.com/ycmzc2q4

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 25 2020 0:07 utc | 51

@Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 23:38 utc | 45
I see you continue your reactionary campaign to slander the communist by equating them with fascist, precisely Bannon´s school, to which you highly likely belong to…or are you Bannon himself…Was he not a Navy veteran?
The fascist way to neutralize communist IS NOT, nor has been, by mirroring communist movements, but by spreading terror, killing and commiting any kind of savagery against communist so as to get them scared or erased from the face of Earth, as happened in Germany in the 30s, in Kiev Maidan and Odessa House of Unions in 2014.
If fascist would in any way mirror the communist in their behavior we would have known of Azov Battalion members burnt alive out or inside buildings, of Nazi Banderist deputies of the Rada covered in paint and then introduced in trash bins,or we would have known of hundreds of civilian homes marauded and destroyed by shelling, woman raped and children maimed in Kiev or Lvov.

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 0:10 utc | 52

Jen #47

That Michaelus Pompeous Crassus sees fit to pontificate to Canberra, and Canberra expected to crack down on Daniel Andrews for daring to think of Victoria’s short-term interests (when he should be kissing US arse along with the other State Premiers), may be another thing entirely: the US is flailing around as it descends past the S-bend into the sewers of history and part of its instability and uncertainty is to keep whacking its Five-Eyes slave-state lackeys.

Thank and MIGHTY WELL SAID. I had this heretical thought that the NT government should join OBOR and offer the Darwin port for its point of entry to Oz. But then I woke up 🙂
I guess that US military base nearby will find something to trigger a colour revolution some day soon.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2020 0:15 utc | 53

@Posted by: vk | May 24 2020 23:38 utc | 45
Calling Bannon, “modern fascism’s most important intellectual still alive” points at you clearly being a follower or Bannon himself….

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 0:15 utc | 54

Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | May 24 2020 18:33 utc | 19

> Counterpunch article by Rob Urie was magnificent.

The most interesting in this article is the concept of “managerial class liberals” (PMC — probably the abbreviation for “professional and management class” ) as the core of Clinton wing of the Dems. So a large part of the upper 20% of neoliberal society are the avid supporters of the neoliberalism and this [retty numerious strata of society guarantees its longevity and survival after shocks. As they viewed Trump as a direct threat to their own wellbeing they also were the most avid Russiagaters. See, for example views of neoliberal academic strata at
https://angrybearblog.com/2020/05/obamagate.html#comments
Here are some relevant quotes from the Rob Urie article (the main weakness is that he does not use the term neoliberalism, which make all the article very fuzzy):

…The faction that believed the [Russiagate] charges, managerial class liberals (PMC), still substantially believes them despite none of the evidence put forward to support them holding up under examination.
This seeming role reversal of managerial class liberals being whipped into a nationalistic fervor…
…or structural reasons including three-plus decades of planned deindustrialization, the systematic weakening of labor’s power and the social safety net, and the partitioning of the economy into financialized and not financialized sectors, the bailouts of Wall Street produced different outcomes by class, with the PMC seeing its fortunes quickly restored while the working class was left to languish.
Prior to this — in the early 1990s, the New Democrats had made a strategic decision to tie their lot to the ‘new economy’ of Wall Street. Recruiting suburban Republicans into the Democratic Party was old news by Bill Clinton’s second term. The PMC was made the ideological core of the Party. This helps explain the substantial overlap between the ‘liberal hawks’ who would some years later support George W. Bush’s war against Iraq and the Russiagate truthers …
…it was the urban and suburban PMC that gets its news from the establishment press — the New York Times, Washington Post and NPR, that believed and supported the story.

Posted by: likbez | May 25 2020 0:36 utc | 55

vk #4

Pompeo Warns US May Stop Sharing Intelligence With Australia Over Victoria Inking Deal With China’s BRI
The battle for Australia’s soul has begun.

Lets reverse that point, shall we.
There is a US spy base in Australia at a place called Pine Gap. Without it being operational the USA would lose its 3 dimensional vision across the planet.
This Bannon/Trump bluster is weak as p!ss as ‘sharing intelligence’ is the cornerstone of the five eyes perversion that gives the USA some superiority in intelligence matters. So if sharing intelligence were withdrawn by the USA with Australia it would have meaningless consequences.
On the other hand if Australia ceased its intelligence sharing and shut down all the data traffic out of Australia – the USA would go ballistic. Not that the Oz government would ever do such a thing being a craven water carrier for the new world order etc…
Pompeo is blathering bullsh!t and he knows it and we all know it.
Odd that you would reiterate his brainless threat vk.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2020 0:44 utc | 56

@29,
thanks for sharing. no public figure in the US would dare talk like this. is it “true”? of course not, but at least the Chinese et al tell inspiring lies rather than degrading ones. Warmongering shit bags endlessly flatulent about their moral superiority while threatening to nuke nations on the other side of the globe daily. The poor, disabled, elderly, minorities, etc., do not exist in the discourse of any public figures of the US, the biggest shithole country imaginable. the greatness of the US consists of how gullible its hyper-exploited populace has been to a long series of Donald Trumps who use the resources of the land and people for competitive violence against other nations.
the world heaves a collective hallelujah that this bullshit is about to end. US-inspired fascism around the world is hopefully the last gasp of the dying bitch capitalism. let’s make it so.

Posted by: jason | May 25 2020 0:53 utc | 57

I’m pausing before reading but just to first thank karlof1 for providing me with my evening’s reading. I am going now to the foreign minister of China’s press conference, which opens up that country’s political heart much as the early similar questions and answers from Russia have done. We are blessed to have these two great nations in the world community at this critical time.
Thank you, karlof1!

Posted by: juliania | May 25 2020 1:34 utc | 58

Sorry, that was karlof1 @29.

Posted by: juliania | May 25 2020 1:36 utc | 59

James @ 36 – LOL
James @ 37 – I tried Tai Chi maybe 40 years ago and didn’t like it. But I am willing to try it again. Thanks for the reminder. Yet the technique for breathing properly that Nestor describes is so simple, even people who hate exercising can do it. It’s just a matter of remembering to do it until it becomes habitual, which is where something like a regular program of Tai Chi could help. And practicing in a group could help — maybe you could start a morning Tai Chi session in a park, the way the Chinese do.
Jen @ 41 – Everything you observed about the human mouth is very interesting and makes sense. And yes, the sedentary lifestyle has not been kind to our lungs.

Posted by: Pundita | May 25 2020 2:06 utc | 60

Name and shame covid +ve test citizens in Chicago. Names and addresses handed to police.
Would you trust a covid test from that nice doctor over there?
Jimmy Dore gives the plot away here

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2020 2:59 utc | 61

Pundita
That link on your blog to Rebuilding Syria –
Very nice, heart warming.
Thanks.
Why do people continue to use twitter?

Posted by: jared | May 25 2020 3:43 utc | 62

Amusing heading of a “commentary” in NYT today:
CHARLES M. BLOW
Biden Can Beat Trump … if He Doesn’t Blow It
—————–
From the little I have read on Biden’s activity nowadays, there are negatives and positives. He stays at home and posts videos — rather sensible. In the videos, the sounds of geese are very audible — that is rather negative. But, on a positive side, hardly anyone watched them. Typically, “generic Democratic candidate” gets higher poll number than a “generic Republican candidate”, but once we ask about concrete people, the results can be quite different. Thus Biden plays his strongest card: being indistinguishable from “generic Democratic candidate”. Most of the public can faintly recollect his name and not much more, and with luck, it will stay that way.
But really: should Charles M. Blow comment about blowing?

Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 25 2020 4:30 utc | 63

There is some controversy about “Australian soul”, and I am lazy to name names.
In many ways, Australia is very similar to America. Suburbs, traditional racism of Anglo-Saxon variety, strong sense of Anglo-Saxon solidarity etc. But there are some differences.
One difference is that on health care, Australians are raving communists. At least according to American nomenclature.
Second difference is that military spending are roughly 50% of American level as GDP %, military export is very small, MIC does not have deep domestic base.
The finally, 32% of their exports goes to China, 5% to USA. In an economy as small as Australian, loosing 32% of exports automatically causes a depression. Australian corporation have strong interest in avoiding any economic war with China, especially that this export consists of commodities that can be purchased in many places, like coal from South Africa. Australians will not join a commercial war on China, for commercial reasons — the soul may be “almost American”, but the body is tied to Chinese market.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 25 2020 5:02 utc | 64

The situation in India is growing weirder by the day. The country which at the best of times is a functioning anarchy, has been thrown into disarray by unpredictable lockdown now nearing 60 days. It will no doubt reach no 1 position in kovid19 infections before it settles.
It is pointless to try to understand what is happening in India as even Indians cannot predict the outcome of lockdown experiment.

Posted by: Rao | May 25 2020 5:33 utc | 65

Good reminder above from Pundita@16 and others about the need for healthful breathing, something usually omitted by the system’s propaganda.
We see the book touted in the WSJ, I guess as a harmless distraction (they know more people will buy such a book than read it, and more will read it than really enact whatever changes they need).
Still, it’s ironic this book release comes at the same time the government and media are embarked upon a propaganda terror campaign which, among its many other evils, is hostile toward all human connection with the outdoors, most of all the Earth’s air.
Thus in this case the propaganda has been largely monolithic:
1. Stay indoors. Don’t breathe the air.
2. If you must venture into the hostile outdoors*, wear a mask**. Especially now that the air is the cleanest it’s been our whole lives, do all you can to avoid breathing it.
“Covid-19 has forced modern medicine to broaden its outlook and look for new solutions, even in the wisdom of the past.”
Indeed, it’s clear where the establishment’s propaganda has found wisdom.
Regardless of what the medical hacks really believe about the Coronavirus (they believe only in power and corporate profit, nothing else, and this dictates what they “believe” about any epidemic), their propaganda message is clear, and all too many of the masses have conformed.
It’s clear that, while if asked they may still consciously respond that they know the bug is caused by a germ, deep down they’ve regressed to medieval miasma theory. They believe the air itself is poisonous, just as they believe actual human beings are physically poisonous. The terminally psychologically ill respond in this vehement way to purification, such as the air recently has undergone.
Under these circumstances, actually to encourage people to breathe the right way would be a revolutionary act, if one was sincere and willing to follow the logic inherent in the concept, which most of all requires clean air and the will and lifestyle to breathe it.
*Man vs. Nature again; lockdown theology is among other things the latest retread of age-old Dominion theology, especially in the technocratic delusion that this bug can be contained short of whatever herd-immune stability nature is going to attain. The only thing the lockdowns ever have accomplished is to delay the inevitable and in the end will be proven to have made it far, far worse than the natural result would have been, since as always governments are adding many severe artificial evils.
So there’s the basic religious war underlying the intensifying struggle of humanity vs. totalitarianism: Those who subscribe to Dominion theology in any form, de jure religious or de facto secular scientism/technocracy, vs. the rising movement to return home to the Earth, including to more human ways of living. Of course, with the system’s goal of permanently instilling a superstitious fear of the very proximity of flesh-and-blood human beings, the system hopes to eradicate all human feeling once and for all and truly attain its desired mass of atomized automata.
The only real mystery remaining is why the vast majority so clearly wanted to heed the top-down propaganda call so ardently, and have been so exultant in their own mass self-imprisonment, self-dehumanization, and their own economic liquidation. They certainly didn’t do it because they normally “trust the media”, “trust the government”. No, they chose to be so idiotically trusting in this case because they wanted to believe this was the most infinitely lethal Mother of All Coronaviruses. They already were a pressure-cooker ready to blow. The only question is why.
**Although the party line prescription and alleged rationale for mask-wearing keeps changing every day (maskism has zero to do with science, everything to do with irrational panic at best, and most of all top-down totalitarian control-seeking), the basic constant has been to foster the default of maximal mask-wearing. The ultimate goal is a mask clamped on a human face forever.

Posted by: Russ | May 25 2020 5:44 utc | 66

b posted the links to two videos in which the mob in Hong Kong beat up two people. One of them is referred to as “absolutely sickening” but so is the other. The lawyer who got beaten up in it lost a lot of blood because his carotid artery was injured. It has been reported that his family wishes to remain in low profile for fear of being doxed, which is standard treatment dished out by the mob. What is more sickening is that whenever the mob’s violence is caught on camera, their standard response is to blame the victim, mock them and smear the police by claiming without proof that the people who committed the violence were police officers. It is not an exaggeration to call members of the mob subhuman monsters.

Posted by: TN | May 25 2020 6:00 utc | 67

“Chinese surveyors and mountaineers arrived at the advance camp at Mount Qomolangma at an altitude of 7,028 meters on Sunday, and are expected to reach the summit on May 27, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.”
Should make it this time delayed three times due to bad weather… I’ll post here after they reaches the top Mount Qomolangma
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202005/25/WS5ecb3ceaa310a8b241158321.html

Posted by: JC | May 25 2020 6:19 utc | 68

Found last YouTube Vlog: Marching to Mt. Qomolangma camp at 7,028 meters May 21 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVXnT3kOUxQ

Posted by: JC | May 25 2020 6:33 utc | 69

Posted by: bevin | May 24 2020 15:03 utc | 1
A particularly fine piece of wordsmithing.
Brief and straight to the point.
10/10.
Timely too.
The last line of Xymphora’s May 24 post…
Living in the Empire isn’t quite as bad as being a victim of the Empire, but it’s getting close.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 25 2020 6:55 utc | 70

russ, brilliant.thx for putting that in words.

Posted by: Mina | May 25 2020 7:52 utc | 71

psychohistorian #26

When countries stop buying US Treasuries the game will change…..until then, not so much.

Thank you and I agree but what compels them to buy US Treasuries? threat and bluster or their own debt servitude to the USA through its predator banks?
At this juncture in global turning points do they have a practical alternative?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2020 8:17 utc | 72

@ jen #47
Didn’t know you were a fellow bogan! Maaaaaate.
Thanks for the plug and you are right on the money too. Nailed Peter Garrett: imagine writing Power and the Passion or US Forces and then so abjectly selling out. He must have gagged on that Kool-Aid.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 25 2020 9:01 utc | 73

In reply to a number of commentators opinions on Australia and the Australian world outlook. I am an Australian living in New Zealand. Lucky me.
I remember the largest gathering of people EVER in Sydney, more people ever than the Olympic Games could gather in one place, these masses of angry demonstrators were protesting against the bogus proposed war against, Israels enemy, IRAQ. Sydney people are not inclined to demonstrate, unlike Melbourne people.
Some comments hit the spot regarding Australian attitudes, others generalise too much. No government of New Zealand would be game to break the long standing ban of visits by US nuclear armed or powered US navy ships.
NZ refused to participate in the illegal invasion of Iraq.
However most thinking Australian and NZ people easily discern the difference between US, Zionist inspired, government policy and the real American people. For example, anecdotally, an American friend recently told me : “I have lived here for 17 years, I have heard, “everything between ‘ I love America’ and ‘I hate America.'” Yesterday I heard something different: ” I feel sorry for America.” My friend was really saddened by this comment, because it is a true reflection of the dismal state the US has fallen into.
My friend is a US army vet who visit the US regularly. He prefers to live in NZ, so do I.
Pompeo has misunderstood the Australian mind set. If his histrionics continue the Australian people would gladly abolish US access to the ‘joint bases’ at Pine Gap and North West Cape.

Posted by: Paul Unger | May 25 2020 9:11 utc | 74

As in the outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic several far-right “initiatives” have been started in Europe with the aim of provoking chaos and disrupt the return to normality so as to take advantage of the accute economic crisis already stablished to try to overthrow elected governments ( which point all the way at not so published expected profit from the pandemic ), a must read by Andrew Korybko on Hybrid Wars:
“Hybrid Wars, an indirect method of dealing with regime change operations”, by Andrew Horybko
Eventhough they try to disguise themselves as defenders of human rights, antifascists, and marxists, their call signs, gestures, symbols and colors betray them all the way…This is the second assault by Bannon in the EU:

FREUDIAN LAPSUS: Poster in a call in Germany against quarantine with a typeface that only the extreme right now uses: “We are not rightists or leftists, we are in favor of fundamental rights”

https://twitter.com/Amor_y_Rabia/status/1264588887592185856
Here attention to the t-shirts colors, uniformation of the dudes, how they square off militarily, and where they go to chant their chants….It is obvious what they were doing during the pandemic, producing brown t-shirts and propaganda videos instead of masks…it is obvious they have not been in lockdown..or that all this was produced beforehand knowing what would be the outcome of the pandemic….
This was posted at Daniel Estulin Twitter account where he was questioned, as “doctor in conceptual intelligence” and privileged oracle who is selling webinars at $25 to tell you what is really happening and what is to be expected and how you can save yourself, what he knew about this…well, he made the fool of himself evading the question….
https://twitter.com/EkkiNafn/status/1264735816166838272

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 10:27 utc | 75

In the analysis of cui bono from the “pandemic”, another development which went hid by the health public crisis and following lockdown, reactivation of ISIS and jihadi terrorism recruitment operation:

ANALYSIS | Jihadist terrorism was activated during the pandemic, although far from the gaze of the West: more operations in Iraq, Syria and Africa, and the recruitment of young people hooked on the internet in the confinement #coronavirus
https://twitter.com/EFEnoticias/status/1263042611360813056
One would correct far from the gaze of the Western people and some governments, but not from NATO´s main powers´gaze….

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 11:25 utc | 76

“The Healing Power of Proper Breathing.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-healing-power-of-proper-breathing-11590098696
And he explains how to breathe the correct way, which includes breathing through the nose.
Posted by: Pundita | May 24 2020 16:09 utc | 6
Firstly I couldn’t access the article, but someone saved it on archive.is here:
http://archive.is/NVWOo
The article is extremely limited, but as far as it goes it is correct: short breathing is extremely bad for the health, makes us uncomfortable, irritable, stressed, illogical, dulls our thoughts and so many other handicaps. Deep long breathing (actually doesn’t really matter if it is fast or slow, the importance is that it is deep, using the full capacity of the lungs) has all the benefits of exactly the opposite of short breathing – far better health, we feel better, more relaxed, more concentrated, our minds are more powerful, more logical, more energetic, we have more positive thougts, more helpful thoughts, more comfortable thougts, and so many other benefits.
Short breathing is unnatural. 2000 years ago deep breathing would be the norm, short breathing would be exceptional. Today in this world far divorced from nature the unhealthy short breath has become the norm instead of the exception, making us irritable, stressed, uncomfortable and unhealthy, and clouding our vision.
Actually 5 seconds per breath is still a pretty short breath; 20 seconds per in-breath and 20 seconds per out-breath gives much better results if you develop it.
I can recommend a far far far better source here, a book by the distinguished Thai monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Mindfulness with breathing, Unveiling the secrets of life: a manual for serious beginners
It can also be ordered from Wisdom Publications.
Understanding the breathing is the greatest secret of life.

Posted by: BM | May 25 2020 11:26 utc | 77

Well, what is to be surprised?, that they know all about our social networks and worries of the population, even with our own willing help, so as to develop offensives against our elected governments, if we have the enemy inside already…all the more taking into account the position of the Commander in Chief…One wonders why they do not fight the fake news spreaded by Vox. We must recall that the formation Vox who is organizing illegal demonstrations against Spanish government is funded by current and “former” members of the Trump administration through their dark canals like Mujahedin e Khalk….
The Autonomous University of Madrid joins forces with the US Marines to combat hoaxes over the covid-19

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 11:40 utc | 78

On a very different move:

Pedro Baños Bajo
@geostrategist
“The head of the German privacy prohibits the use of WhatsApp to federal officials and institutions”

https://twitter.com/geoestratego/status/1262443522524921856

Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 11:46 utc | 79

Where will the next war occur? Who will fight in it? Why will it occur? How will it be fought? This brief summarizes a series of reports that sought to answer these questions—looking out from now until 2030. The reports took the approach of examining these questions through the lenses of several trends—geopolitical, economic, environmental, legal, informational, and military—that will shape the contours of conflict.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10073.html

Posted by: Mao | May 25 2020 11:57 utc | 80

https://halfreeman.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/four-years-back-in-russia/
Between Two Worlds
American in Small Town Russia
Luga: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luga,_Leningrad_Oblast
IMAGES: https://yandex.com/images/search?from=tabbar&text=Luga%2C%20Leningrad%
20Oblast
FOUR YEARS BACK IN RUSSIA
Excerpts…
Our arrival here went pretty smooth. I read my early blog on our arrival the other day and remembered how shocked I was at the nice roads and homes we saw on the way from the airport to Luga….
‘Russian Hoax’ has been exposed…. but still, the Russia narrative continues. The U.S. media do not retract stories about Russia that are later found to be inaccurate. The Russian Embassy pointed out recently that the NY Times won three Pulitzer prizes for reports on Russian meddling and trolling that later proved to be wrong. There was never a retraction.
https://www.rt.com/usa/487842-new-york-times-russia-pulitzer/
American media can accuse Russia of anything from election collusion to cheating on COVID-19 figures. They don’t need evidence to charge Russians with anything. And they know they won’t be held accountable when it turns out the info is not factual !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I admit all this Russia hoax has impacted me. There are so many misrepresentations in the American news of life here and what Russia is like. I still see these articles and interviews by those who know nothing about life here. Oksana and I have lost a few of our American friends (“acquaintances” might be a better word). The suggestion that in some ways life is better in
Russia offends some Americans. Politics becomes more important than friendships.
It is not just the misrepresentations of life in Russia. I have gotten to meet ex-pats or folks who have spent a lot of time in other countries.
I’ve learned the American government has lied about those countries as well.
They share the same sense of frustration that we feel here. Right now, China is a possibility for taking from Russia the top-spot in the list of countries America hates. Someone asked me what I thought of how China handled the COVID crisis. I have no idea.
I don’t know anyone in China. I read things in the American press that paints them as deceptive, but these are the same !!!! media sources that I am absolutely sure lied about Russia.
I did hear one Russian medical person who went there to study the situation in China when it first broke.
He said the portrayal in the Western press was completely wrong.
After what I’ve seen here, I don’t doubt it.

Posted by: Ashino | May 25 2020 13:59 utc | 81

China’s Foreign Minister Yang Yi held a lengthy presser providing detailed answers to many differing questions.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2020 20:52 utc | 29
Many thanks for posting that link, Karl! You are an important resource with everything you post on MoA.
COVID-19 and the upcoming US presidential election are straining China-US relations. How concerned are you that China’s relations with the United States could further deteriorate?
Wang Yi: The US has become the worst affected country; with every day that passes, many innocent lives are taken by the virus.
Isn’t it wonderful the way he turned the question upside down with his humble and human approach? And it is not “put on” either, that is his real character, as one can see consistently over time.

Posted by: BM | May 25 2020 14:30 utc | 82

Thanks for your input, Paul Unger @ 74. My family back there where you are sound very relieved, though still cautious, to be out from under the virus, though weather being what it is, no saying if or when further cases might arise. My sister, who is not a news junkie, observed that the difference between there and here in the US could have been just a week, given how rapidly it spread. New Zealand was quite vulnerable given the emphasis on tourism as a major industry and folk coming in by sea and air in much greater numbers than when I was growing up.
I’ve visited in Brisbane way, way back in the day. Lovely place, very laid back it was. It cured me of the Legionnaire’s disease/flu I picked up on the P&O Line Canberra – they were so proud of their state of the art airconditioning you couldn’t turn it off in the cabin – three weeks of that and I was one sick puppy till I got into that tropical air — heaven! Very fond memories, kangaroos, koalas and beaches… I have a cousin in Perth, sounds like a lovely place too.
What will it take to return us to peaceful times? A bit more virus maybe, though I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. We are not yet learning our lesson here it seems.

Posted by: juliania | May 25 2020 14:53 utc | 83

@ Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 25 2020 0:10 utc | 52
Maybe I’ve expressed myself badly (English is not my native language).
I’m not stating that fascists are reverse-Uno communists. What I mean is fascists are the communist counterpart at the bourgeois mass movement front. They neutralize communism in a flank bourgeois traditional liberalism can’t, because of the very nature of class exploitation. That’s why fascism is irrational: that’s the only way to fight reason.
When universal suffrage was being forced into Western Europe, national elites begun to panic because common sense stated communism would naturally win those elections. After all, workers always vote according to their interests, isn’t it? The same logic was shared by the social-democrats, specially the German social-democrats, who were the first social-democrat party to be legal, still at the height of the Bismarck era (Bismarck himself would be ultimately defeated by those social-democrats some decades later).
Mussolini then realized something very simple: the human being is not inherently rational. Reason is something that does not occur naturally to human beings, but is rather something human beings must learn. Therefore, communism could be defeated in elections and in the streets if the massification of reason was contained in due time. Hence the crude, irrational violence of fascism. And it worked: the communists were defeated by violence in Italy, and Hitler would do the same in the 1932-3 elections (who was leading the persecution of communists at the time? Future second-in-command Hermann Göring).
If I could sum up fascism and all its different variants in one word, it would be this: irrationality. Fascism must resort to irrational arguments and narratives in order to manipulate the masses and gain monopoly of violence and, once its hegemony is secure, resort to art and aesthetics to keep the consensus, in the sense that political domination must be presented to the public as a form of art, and not as a field of class struggle. This can be clearly illustrated by the Nazi chain of command: Hitler (political leader, mastermind), Göring (violence, armed forces), Goebbels (propaganda) and… Albert Speer, the ideal Nazi (architect cum military).

Posted by: vk | May 25 2020 15:19 utc | 84

Mao @80
Absolutely astonishing how much of that RAND Corp paper is pure projection. “The spread of lawfare.”? Americans think they can pull that garbage with Lula and Morales and nobody else will get the idea of using lawfare against the empire? “Increasing power of false accusations.”? As in MH-17? Syrian chemical weapons? Iraqi WMDs? Novichoking Skripals? So far nobody has used lies like those against America, but the empire is right to be worried about karmic payback and these same attacks being used against them.
Overusing these kinds of weapons weakens them for the aggressor (America) and increases the probability of their use in retaliation.

Posted by: William Gruff | May 25 2020 15:37 utc | 85

Another element for the “byzantine era” of the American Empire: its territorial fracturing:
Dawn of Asian century puts pressure on Europe to choose sides, says diplomat
The diplomat in question is Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign affairs chief.
This raises a relevant problem for the Americans, that is, the obvious fact that Europe still dreams of an imperialist comeback. They still believe they can initiate a new cycle of capitalist accumulation, somewhere, somehow.
If we presuppose the EU is basically Germany, then my guess would be that this “somewhere” is Russia.
This enhances even more Russia’s importance for the immediate future. It will be the scale-tilter in this future geopolitical game.
However, it seems that, albeit European confidence is high, they still don’t know how it would be born. The only argument they are being able to use is the simple fact that they were able to dominate the world before (four times: Rome, Spain-Portugal, Low Countries-UK, UK alone), so there’s no reason not to think they could do it again (an idealist conception of the world, but an ideology either way).
In The Guardian, there’s a columnist called Martin Kettle. This guy is curious, because, apparently, he only has one job in the newspaper: to periodically publish a pro-European Empire opinion piece. Every column is basically the same: we must fuse the EU with the Commonwealth (UK, Canada, Australia and India) to form a new “alliance” – mainly against China, but, probably, also against Russia, and to tame the USA. He doesn’t know how to do it, but he states they should do it. The problem with his “doctrine” is that the German bourgeoisie probably envisions an European Empire with the absorption of Russia (Russia as Europe’s Brazil: food, oil and gas exporter, manufacturing goods importer), while Kettle’s British eyes aim for an equal partner to the USA and sworn Russian enemy. Plus that Brexit thing, which made the UK more akin to the 51st State of the USA than a separate empire centered on the Commonwealth.

Posted by: vk | May 25 2020 15:43 utc | 86

Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2020 20:52 utc | 29
Thank you for the link to the Chinese Foreign Ministers press conference.
Well worth reading.
Nearly two hours, some comparison to the those from other countries.

Posted by: OhOh | May 25 2020 15:57 utc | 87

Lufthansa, with a heavy heart, “agrees” with a EUR 9 billion bailout by the German State:
Germany’s struggling carrier Lufthansa agrees to $10 billion state rescue package
This is the deal:

the government will take a 20 percent stake in Lufthansa, as well as a convertible bond worth five percent plus one share. That would allow Berlin to claim a blocking minority shareholding to protect the airline against a takeover.

I’ve seen this movie before. When was it? Let me recompile my memories…
Oh, of course: Merkel is pulling a Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher, after the 1980-2 double dip recession, nationalized a bunch of strategic industries (Rolls Royce being the most famous of them) who were heading for bankruptcy. She bought the companies with taxpayer money. When the crisis was over (i.e. when the companies begun to profit again), she privatized them. Socialization of losses, privatization of profits.
And those were just the companies that were crucial to the UK’s national security. The ones she could, she happily allowed the Americans to buy. As a result, the UK saw one of the fastest de-industrialization processes of the First World during a peaceful time. I don’t think Merkel will go that far, as the Germans have a completely different geopolitical strategy. But, if the capitalist crisis extends beyond 2022, the rules of the game may change, and Europe may give up its imperialist project.

Posted by: vk | May 25 2020 15:58 utc | 88

Battle for Australia’s soul continues as China responds to Pompeo’s blackmail:
BRI deal prompts Washington to threaten loyal ally

Posted by: vk | May 25 2020 16:01 utc | 89

@ 41 jen… thanks! interesting…
@ 60 pundita… thanks… i can practice it on my own and it is fun to do.. i just have to get into a commitment to do it…
@ 66 russ… thanks.. i like so much of what you say, but then towards the end you get into the same stuff that we gone over here before.. “The only real mystery remaining is why the vast majority so clearly wanted to heed the top-down propaganda call so ardently, and have been so exultant in their own mass self-imprisonment, self-dehumanization, and their own economic liquidation.” obviously you are a good writer and a clear thinker, but refuse to accept that no one knew just how this would unfold, or that it is being processed very differently depending on what country one lives in.. i didn’t and still don’t think of the health authorities where i live here in BC, canada as giving top-down propaganda.. i think they were trying to get out in front of a concern that they weren’t able to know how it was going to pan out… as it stands different countries of the world have had various degrees of success, or failure in dealing with covid 19 and it isn’t over yet either.. i don’t think of it as propaganda so much as uncertainty over the best way to move forward.. therefore i still do see it in the negative way that you characterize it… thanks for your comments..
@ 77 BM.. thanks for the additional comments on this topic of breathing…
@ 66 russ… thanks.. i like so much of what you say, but then towards the end you get into the The only real mystery remaining is why the vast majority so clearly wanted to heed the top-down propaganda call so ardently, and have been so exultant in their own mass self-imprisonment, self-dehumanization, and their own economic liquidation.

Posted by: james | May 25 2020 16:09 utc | 90

i still do – meant don’t… i really would benefit using the preview button..

Posted by: james | May 25 2020 16:11 utc | 91

Thank you Russ @66. I always appreciate your comments.
I’m going to repost something I wrote this morning about how one can be a skeptic but not be an asshole about it:
Did you know it is possible to be skeptical about the pandemic but not be an asshole about it?
I’ll use myself as an example.
I wear a mask when I’m in commercial spaces, even when it’s not required. I understand and respect how irrationally fearful people are, and I also understand how the mask has been turned into a politically divisive symbol of freedom vs. tyranny. I’m not going to waste energy on opposing mask-wearing when the real threat is a mandatory vaccine program cooked up by sociopaths and administered by the military.
I don’t bring my little germ-sponges–aka, children–into stores with me when I’m shopping. My oldest, half-jokingly, said he wants to go into Target for his birthday as his birthday gift. Not to buy anything, just to be in a store.
I’m not rushing into bars and restaurants and cram-packed swimming pools in the Ozarks now that things are reopening. I stay at home, play with Legos, and drink box wine like a good adult male with kids and no social life.
Since there is a reopening going on, and a subsequent media effort to highlight the most obnoxious visual examples of violating our NEW NORMAL social distancing requirements, let me offer a personal example of what reopening looks like for me.
Yesterday I hosted a social gathering. My friend came over with his two girls, and another friend came over with his partner. The kids played and laughed over a fart gun. We ate hotdogs and had a fire. It was great.
We talked about the risk of our gathering in our backyard to eat hotdogs and to let the kids play. I think we understand the risk as best we can, considering how dubious much of the information has been, and how flawed the models were.
Should I be ashamed of this gathering? Am I being an asshole by hanging out with a few friends who have social lives that are about as exciting as mine?
I’m sure some will think yes, yes I am being an asshole. And that’s fine. But until the freedom to hang out with other people is completely removed, I’m going to take the risk of doing what social herd animals need to do in order to maintain my mental health.

Posted by: lizard | May 25 2020 16:35 utc | 92

The situation in India is growing weirder by the day. The country which at the best of times is a functioning anarchy, has been thrown into disarray by unpredictable lockdown now nearing 60 days. It will no doubt reach no 1 position in kovid19 infections before it settles.
It is pointless to try to understand what is happening in India as even Indians cannot predict the outcome of lockdown experiment.
Posted by: Rao | May 25 2020 5:33 utc | 65
A weird aspect of it is that COVID-19 is not particularly severe in tropical countries. But tuberculosis kills about 400,000 thousands Indians each year, and according to the reports I read, the reaction of the government is far from energetic. But with COVID-19, the government resorted to hugely expensive all-out that so far, seems futile, new cases still increase “geometrically”, fatality rate better than in Brazil but worse than in Pakistan and Bangladesh. But it is hard to imagine the progress of the epidemic in the subcontinent that could come close in the number of deaths to tuberculosis, a disease with known vaccines and medications.
In general, Modi and his government have a tendency toward policies that are grandiose and disregard impact on the lower classes, and make up for it with “Hindu solidarity” xenophobia. I did not watch political developments there too much in recent years, but the elimination of larger denomination notes hit daily laborers very deeply, but these are the people who would not vote for Modi anyway.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 25 2020 17:10 utc | 93

Short breathing is unnatural. 2000 years ago deep breathing would be the norm, short breathing would be exceptional. [details can be found in] a book by the distinguished Thai monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Mindfulness with breathing, Unveiling the secrets of life: a manual for serious beginners
It can also be ordered from Wisdom Publications.
Understanding the breathing is the greatest secret of life.
Posted by: BM | May 25 2020 11:26 utc | 77
I may have an obtuse Western mind, but how “natural” can be also “the greatest secret”? We have no idea how Europeans and West Asians were breathing in older times because they were not inclined to discuss it in their writings. If I want to breath deeply, I can bike uphill, that does the trick. Over here, they call it “cardio-vascular exercise”, but you can ignore that nomenclature and exercise for fun.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 25 2020 17:23 utc | 94

@91 lizard
I love it, man. Your post/writing/poems.
But don’t you think you are being a wee bit devil-may-care with your hotdoggin’? Lol.
…
Russ is also a fantastic writer but whereas his post above and his prior during the pandemic have focused on the brutality of the lockdown, I’m afraid he has missed the boat on its net-positive effects, although he has rightly noted that being a bachelor during this time is a far different experience than a family man (the same goes for apartment dwellers vs. homeowners):
– As the breadwinner, I have never been home as much as I have with the fam. I’m exploring fatherhood, long hair and a patchy and itchy beard, and enjoying myself more than anyone should during the lockdown.
– I have seen more use at public parks, tennis courts, dog walking, family-outing than ever before. They say that street foot-traffic is down but I beg to differ. Perhaps consumerism and strip-mall venturing is way down, but f*** that vacuous endeavor I say anyhow.
– People are cooking again. Fast food has more or less been relegated to treat-status where it rightfully belongs
– More time at home allows the family to see the benefits of parenting at home and how NOT to rely on public school raising your child in absentia. Our public school system desperately needs a wake-up call. It needs to end the trend of politically-charged mission-statements and remove itself back to second-fiddle status when it comes to raising our children.
– The fact that this being a great social experiment has been lost on those decrying the lockdown. We are still unpacking the effects of it, but I will repeat that the gov’t has essentially blown its wad for all to see. Future generations will be able to judge this event more accurately, but there are those now who are more politically active than they have ever been and so will be more fully enraged during the NEXT encroachment on our liberties. And do you think that the gov’t will be able to repeat this lockdown in the near future with the same acquiescence from the people? I think not. Indeed, a powder keg has been borne out of this and it is propelling us out of our collective consumer-driven apathy. And the fact that those decrying this event have failed to understand how disrupting the course of this spirit-trough we have all been dwelling in the past decades could actually be a boon for consciousness, I’m afraid says more about them and their need of the status-quo than anything else. FFS, how long do you think the gov’t can enforce such a policy? How long before it goes to far and creates a reaction that reinvigorates the sleeping masses? My argument is that it is getting closer every day and that their goal during this event will backfire spectacularly on them in the near future.
– As the lockdown peters out, and liberty to frequent parks, forests, and the right to disperse camp is restored, one wonders what the point of barring us from such activities for just under three months was for other than piss people off? These activities would never stand a snowballs chance to be removed permanently, so one can only wonder why? All it did was further cast a spotlight on their idiocy and further reinforces my point above that, in effect, they blew their wad.
– Small businesses have suffered. Money is printing so fast to go out of style in the near future. Oh well, if your margins were that thin so as not to weather a couple months hiatus/sabbatical, where the gov’t has been alleviating the burden of such a time, then you should probably rethink your business venture and decide whether it is 1) needful, 2)worthwhile, 3)non-superfluous. We need to eliminate the novel enterprises of a late-capitalist society where hard work is shunned and luxury is all. Toughening up and becoming lean-and-mean is not necessarily a bad idea, especially when it comes to the powder-puff society that we find ourselves in.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | May 25 2020 17:35 utc | 95

Something’s happening at the NY Times. As I pointed out in my 29 above about the front page noting the names and occupations of 1,000 of the 100,000 that have needlessly died due to Trump’s Treasonous Do Nothing COVID-19 Policy, today RT reports about a Memorial Day op/ed that disses the Military: “Why Does the U.S. Military Celebrate White Supremacy?” That made the Pentagon’s Spin Master angry, puff out his chest to fume and moan. There’s not much to the RT report, but I can’t recall any similar display done before by the NY Times. IMO, something’s happened within the Top Office and it seems to be aimed at Trump. Of course, I’d never have known about any such happening if it hadn’t been for the reporting by RT & Global Times.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 25 2020 18:08 utc | 96

Millions of Europeans could not endure a two-month income shock without generous, targeted, government policies
That’s why Europe is also seeing the stupidity that is happening in the USA: the problem is with capitalism, not with culture.

Posted by: vk | May 25 2020 18:12 utc | 97

Paul Street on Sanders latest antics. Behavior reveals beliefs and position of moral compass as I’ve explained previously:
“Bernie Sanders’ delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention (which may be virtual thanks to Covid-19) have been warned. They must refrain from making any disparaging or even mildly critical comments about Biden on social media –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They must not speak to the media without permission. They are not to write books, academic studies, and/or articles or create videos or other recordings about the presidential campaign without official authorization.
“Publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Biden is strictly prohibited. Failure to abide by these rules could cause Sanders’ convention delegates to be stripped of their delegate status and thus of their right to vote on the Democratic Party’s nominees and platform. So much for freedom of speech, enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution!”
Sorry Circe! For all your loyalty and enthusiasm, it appears you and millions more were again stabbed in the back:
“Who has set these repressive rules for Sanders delegates? At first blush, the obvious guess would be the DNC, the central party committee that has long opposed progressive tendencies.
“That reasonable guess would be wrong. The commands have come from the Sanders ‘campaign’ itself. It is Bernie himself, not his erstwhile enemies on the DNC, who is telling progressive convention delegates to muzzle their anger at the corporate candidate.”
A Really Big Bummer!

Posted by: karlof1 | May 25 2020 18:20 utc | 98

Here’s something worth watching to: a bit more than an hour-long conversation Michael Hudson had a week ago “with James Ostaszewski and Alexander Reed Kelly, members of the Debt & Finance Working Group of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Topics included governments, debt and my history with democratic socialists.
“NYC-DSA is working with New York State legislators to enable the creation of public banks throughout New York State and supports the goal of debt cancellation.”
Those who follow Hudson will have heard much of what he says before, but there are new bits, such as the Ds being to the Right of Trump and insight into the theatre surrounding the first bailout bill.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 25 2020 18:46 utc | 99

The one thing which is missing from Russ’ description of the masks’ consequences is that masks are very effective in preventing people to talk. In a crowded city like New York or Paris, it does -alas- make sense, so that less droplets will end up floating and sticking everywhere they can especially in-doors. I am lucky to live in a not too-densely populated city where I see less than 1% wearing masks, and almost 0% of the supermarkets’ employees, although they can reasonably be considered as more exposed because of interaction. But even without masks, people make semi-circles to avoid passing too close to each others in parks etc, and some give you a bad look if they see you talking with a friend when you pass them on.

Posted by: Mina | May 25 2020 18:54 utc | 100

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