russian folk song that is apparently popular in russia…
this is a beautiful melody – sad, but beautiful.. i have listened to the song 7 or 8 times in a row since last night..
dark is the night

Posted by: james | Jan 4 2023 17:28 utc | 304

On the important subject of the covid virus, (for some of us who are not specialists in the field,) I found it interesting that nakedcapitalism.com has recently returned to a similar focus on vaccine mandates. Here is a comment which, carefully worded goes where we need to go, to the ‘vaccines’ in particular:

“… the myocarditis issue is what I am focused on like a laser.
I have become concerned with the two I have already had in my practice. Both young men. Both very athletic. Both onsets very timed to the vaccine administration – not COVID. And although they are improved, they are not in any way back to baseline. I have no known patients with myocardial damage from a COVID infection.
As I have stated many times before, I fear that this right now is only being seen in a more athletic cohort. It makes me very concerned that the Nintendo crowd may have some issues and just do not know it yet because they are not pressing their hearts.
There is a precedent out there called rheumatic heart disease. It too infiltrated so many in the pre-antibiotic era and they only really started having issues when they became much older – in time for me to care for them as a young doctor. They are largely all gone now. Rheumatic heart disease is not the same as COVID, don’t get me wrong – it is just there is an absolute precendent for this kind of thing in the past. And the symptoms in many do not show up for a long time. As I stated – I am focused on the vaccine. That I think is causing problems for certain. COVID may very well be doing it as well. COVID infection is a much LOWER dose of spike antigen than a vaccine causes. It may cause its damage, therefore, in a much more insidious manner. WE JUST DO NOT KNOW.
COVID may very well be causing some/many of these clotting and vascular issues we are having – I am convinced because of the timing I am seeing with patients in my own world that the vaccines are as well.
Again, real studies need to be done. These are pressing issues – and the fact that this work is not being done is a real “sign” as you say. I would also consider it incompetence at best, a crime at worst.
[my bolds]

I haven’t completed reading the article these comments by IM Doc are attached to, and there’s a great deal of caution in the opening paragraphs, as well as in some of the comments. IM DOC has further things to say, and he,as a doctor, I would say is very cautious in his remarks. But I find the fact that he is zeroing in on the vaccine a positive one, in light of so much noted obfuscation in some of the reports we try to understand pro and contra.
(Thanks to james above at 303 for the lovely song.)

Posted by: juliania | Jan 4 2023 18:41 utc | 306

@b NemesisCalling 98

Posted by: Hermit | Jan 4 2023 22:29 utc | 308

Going unnoticed by those at the bar is the political conflict in the Outlaw US Empire’s Congress over the election of the Speaker of the House. I highly suggest reading this Global Times editorial about it. Excerpts:
“Amid rising political animosity, 90 percent of Americans expect 2023 to be a year of political conflict in the US, according to the latest Gallup poll. More than 70 percent of Americans disapprove of the performance of Congress, according to a previous Gallup poll. This reflects a general disappointment in the US society with its domestic politics, and also shows that the “anti-democracy” in the US has developed to an advanced stage, and has caused it to be trapped in the cocoon of “veto politics,” losing the momentum of innovation, and will become more radical in the future. Such a US is dangerous to the world.
“Faced with the political chaos in the US, Canada’s Globe and Mail raised a sharp question: whether the political class of the country is able to govern, and whether the internal conflicts and contradictions of one of the major political parties contaminate the entire system.”
And yes, there are some historical parallels, such as the great dysfunction during the 1850s.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 4 2023 22:54 utc | 310

oldhippie wrote: “Covid is a respiratory disease, not a blood disease.”
Both you and the CDC agree on that.
Some researchers have come to a different conclusion. Even in milder cases of covid not requiring hospitalization, blood samples show markers of vascular disease. But of course you can always ignore facts that you don’t like.

Posted by: jinn | Jan 4 2023 23:49 utc | 312

The middle east remains in our thoughts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOQwz8HIy30
This is an excellent peek at the various states within the middle east and their geopolitical machinations within the USA matrix of subjugation.
From Syriana Analysis: “Saudi journalist Tariq Al-Homayed claimed in the semi-official Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that Bashar al-Assad is only a ‘figurative’ President and the real ruler of Syria is Iran. ”

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 0:35 utc | 314

Outraged @313–
I’m sure I suggested this work to you before, The Disruption Of American Democracy by Roy Nichols, which chronicles the demise of that Era’s D-Party allowing for Lincoln’s R-Party’s win in 1860. Polk’s aggressive war and theft of half of Mexico’s lands caused a great upheaval as the War was clearly waged to expand the Slavocracy. Discussion of those times and how they relate to ours would be great over several pints and a tray of tasty tidbits. The product of previous political dysfunctions were new political alignments, and this nation is overripe for such an event to occur.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 5 2023 0:47 utc | 316

karlof1 #310
Thank you for that link to the Global Times editorial.
This related link takes a deep look at the xenophobic hate being nurtured in the US Congress.

This time round, it shows that US politics is still mired in a fierce struggle of “madness against madness.” The drama that has been repeated and intensified in recent years in US politics is that the more intense the battle between the two parties, or among groups within a party, the more the “China threat” will become a topic of discussion, and the more anti-China proposals will be made. Some lawmakers will even use “China” to bargain under the table in order to secure the support of their opponents.
The reasoning is simple, because only through the topic of containing China is it possible for both parties to form a united front. This is not because China has really become the enemy that will destroy the US tomorrow morning, but because they can’t reach a consensus on many US domestic problems, they can only use China to shift the subject. Therefore, the US Congress has become a highly rehearsed and staged “anti-China drama” theater.
An important factor affecting McCarthy’s vote is that the Trump complex is still deeply influencing US politics. It was during Trump’s administration that China-US relations turned from a slow climb to a sharp downward spiral. His policy toward China shows a strong and characteristic smell of “madness.” Some people in the Republican Party do not support McCarthy, thinking that McCarthy is not supportive enough of Trump, and is too soft on the Biden administration. They also accused the Biden administration of not having a strong enough policy to target China.
McCarthy said in July that he would lead a delegation to Taiwan after his election as Speaker of the House. He and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Iowa), chairman of the newly formed Select Committee on China, co-authored an article on the Fox News Website in December with the headline, “We’re in a Cold War with China. Here’s How We Win It.” But that’s not strong enough.
Five Republican lawmakers have formed a small group to oppose McCarthy’s election, including Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who calls himself a “libertarian populist,” but observers have often described his views as far-right. 
Gaetz tweeted that he cannot trust President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s strategy toward China, accusing them of being too soft on China and that the US must have a national strategy to punish China.

Surely they have lost their minds.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 1:17 utc | 318

uncle tungsten @318–
Thanks for providing that excerpt. Yes, they’re mad but they’re mad because they’re cowards afraid to stand up to the donors that have their hands up their asses. The same goes for the Ds. And the donors are the same for both sides. Like the punks they are, they’re peeved because they don’t get to do what they want, and so they’re deranged over China. Very similar dysfunction from the latter 1850s when the derangement was aimed at the abolitionists and infighting over the spoils from the war that stole half of Mexico, where the transcontinental railroad would go and other corruption opportunities. The book I suggested to Outraged is very important regarding US History. And with all the chatter about Civil War II, it shows the sort of dysfunction that leads to that type of event. Currently, however, the war would be between Congress, the Executive and their donors against The People, for that’s the actual balance of forces based on public sentiments.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 5 2023 2:19 utc | 320

My go-to source of poll data on the president, the Congress and the direction of country is Real Clear Politics here.
The best source for explaining why the government promotes war all the time is War is the Health of the State by Randolph Bourne here. It starts as. . .

War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate co-operation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense. . . .

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 5 2023 3:31 utc | 322

bevin @321–
Russia’s Rape during the 1990s is the third great demographic catastrophe suffered by Russians during the 20th Century, which is why Russia has only half the Outlaw US Empire’s population and Russia’s current demographics is one of Putin’s major considerations. Give Russia three generations worth of peaceful development along its current lines and its demographic issues ought to disappear. And a similar dynamic exists for the rest of central and northern Eurasia. Peace and an assertive program of People Centered Development aimed at the betterment of all–basically the Chinese model–can turn Central Asia and Mongolia into gems. Just need to get the Outlaw US Empire out of everyone’s way.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 5 2023 3:41 utc | 324

Posted by: Grieved | Jan 4 2023 3:37 utc | 274
“It’s a very strange world we have come to live in suddenly, in the last three years. Thank goodness we can talk about it. And I note that we CAN talk about it. And I offer gratitude for that also, to the perhaps hard-pressed tavern-keeper.”
The degree of obstruction of free speech has never been so extreme in my experience yet because so many people are immersed in fictional constructed realities it is as though it isn’t happening. Very strange until it blows.
Thanks to you Grieved, the bar keep indeed, and all barflies.

Posted by: suzan | Jan 5 2023 4:22 utc | 326

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 4 2023 13:43 utc | 294
“Why choose the spike? …Mike Yeadon…states that no vaccine developer would choose the spike. All would choose the nuclear [nucleocapsid] protein. The reasoning would have nothing to do with the LNP delivery vehicle.”
If a nobody like me can think that through then the censorship surround is a necessity to maintain the false reality. It cannot hold.
I only mentioned the LNP delivery package because, it is my understanding, it has been patented and accepted as safe by the WHO, the payloads being grandfathered in with minimal testing, thus the 8 mice testing for the bivalent jabs, which have been shown to be worse than useless and we still don’t know about safety. The size alone of the LNPs can trigger immune response, inflammation, in some people if I understand correctly.

Posted by: suzan | Jan 5 2023 4:27 utc | 328

The Philipines/China state visit was friendly:

Xi said that China and the Philippines are both developing countries in Asia, and the development of the two countries is rooted in a regional environment of good neighborly and friendly relations, and rooted in a big Asian family of win-win cooperation. “The Chinese side is willing to focus on cooperation and development with the Philippines and other ASEAN members, and safeguard the centrality of ASEAN in the regional cooperation.” It will make the region get rid of the shadow of the Cold War, and free from bloc-to-bloc confrontation, and remain to be a high ground for development and prosperity, Xi noted. 
Marcos said it gives him a great pleasure to pay the long-awaited visit to China and that this is his first state visit to a non-ASEAN country. Marcos said he hopes to prove to the world through this visit that Philippines-China relations are in good shape and important, and both sides are committed to upgrading the ties.
The Philippine president said during the meeting that the Philippines is willing to keep appropriately handling the maritime issues via friendly coordination with China, and will restart consultation with China on exploration and mining of oil and gas.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 5:27 utc | 330

Through the eyes of Ania –
No politics just superb but brief peek at the Faberge.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 5:44 utc | 332

@ Posted by: Chris Cosmo | Jan 5 2023 3:26 utc | 161(other thread)
Congratulations you have discovered “Black Padding Funding” This style budget has been around since the “Manhattan Project”!
Like every government department in the USSA. Each and every named department sets down an annual operational department budget. The only difference is the CIA also operates a hidden-from-public-view corporation. The income comes from legal(gun running) and illegal means(see Air America). These monetary profits are funneled into overseas special operations under-the-table CASH IN HAND BRIBES. Unlike the more open direct Foggy Bottom over-the-table. Such as funding all selected opposition parties to destabilize foreign governments selected for USSA direct home rule. Such as Venezuela from the day when Hugo Chavez assumed full control.
If truth be told the Pentagon really does have strict internal auditing. Also congressional spending limits on military property maintenance. This has been highlighted in a very long list of assorted media reports, since VJ day.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jan 5 2023 7:45 utc | 334

OOOOPs this is what I intended:
Bad Deal Motors On #333

“If truth be told the Pentagon really does have strict internal auditing. Also congressional spending limits on military property maintenance. This has been highlighted in a very long list of assorted media reports, since VJ day.”

Wow I am so reassured that all those unaccounted trillions were nothing more than MSM red baiting headlines.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 7:55 utc | 336

US puppet president Juan Guaido is done, toasted, dumped.

“U.S. puppet and fake Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó is out, victim of a vote by his fellow opposition party representatives to remove him from (non) power and dissolve the shadow government that sought to challenge legitimate President Nicolas Maduro’s administration.
Guest host Aaron Maté speaks with journalist Anya Parampil, author of the forthcoming book Corporate Coup, about Guaidó’s pretend reign and US efforts to prop him up, all while waging economic warfare against the Venezuelan state.”

I trust this is more that USA arse kissing Maduro for a barrel of oil.
Will the dirty stinking thieving Bank of England return the stolen billions of Venezuelen gold?
I wont hold my breath for that.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 5 2023 9:01 utc | 338

russian folk song… dark is the night
Posted by: james | Jan 4 2023 17:28 utc | 304
Ahem…
It is NOT folk. It is iconic, yes, but never was it folk.
It is actually a case of good state propaganda, when a state films a good pro-war movie, which includes hiring talented poets and musicians to make music scores.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Is_the_Night_(Soviet_song)

Posted by: Arioch | Jan 5 2023 9:52 utc | 340

I hafta admit I get kinda tired of some of the tosh that is posted here. Still I try not to get angry about it, ‘cos it isn’t the fault of englanders, euros or amerikans that their societies have been subjected to intensive lies aka propaganda, since forever.
The only reason my perception could be somewhat less distorted is because down here in the south most of the problems amerika, england & western europe have seemed to be remote from us mob.
Yeah not everyone in this part of the world sees that, however in the 70 odds years I’ve been paying attention, the vast majority of things that the north mob have gotten all stressed about barely raised most citizens down south here to concern, let alone set ’em worryin’.
That gave many of us the space to be a little more objective about the world and to check out what others thought free of nagging and whining from the elitist types who always reckon their indoctrination out weighs the facts.
The end of the conflict with Japan is a classic example, in that whilst many are happy to acknowledge that using nuclear devices on Japan was likely an act of racism in that if japs had been whitefellas more people would have objected to, this cruel & inhuman treatment of civilians, letting off that terrible destruction was necessary – else why did ‘the japs’ surrender?
This National Interest article provides a more believable motive for Japanese elites (most of whom thus far had been unaffected by the nuclear slaughter) to have agreed to a surrender:

“While recognizing that Moscow had no resources to spare as long as its troops were tied down in Europe, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt nonetheless sought to enlist Soviet assistance in the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated. Soviet leader Josef Stalin agreed, aiming to expand Soviet borders in Asia. Stalin began building up Soviet forces in the Far East once the tide of the war in Europe had turned following the Battle of Stalingrad.
At the February 1945 Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan three months after Germany’s surrender. The Yalta declaration gave Moscow back southern Sakhalin, which Japan had seized during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05, as well as the Kurile Island chain to which Russia had renounced its claim in 1875. Mongolia was also to be recognized as an independent state (it was already a Soviet client), and Soviet interests in the naval base at the Chinese port of Port Arthur (Dalian) and the Manchurian railway that it had controlled before 1905 were to be respected.
Moscow subsequently declared war on Tokyo on August 8, 1945, two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and one day before the second bomb fell on Nagasaki (though Western historiography has long emphasized the role of the nuclear attacks in compelling Japan’s surrender, newly available Japanese documents emphasize the importance of the Soviet declaration of war in forcing Tokyo’s hand).
A massive invasion of Manchuria began the day after the Soviet declaration of war. Soviet forces also conducted amphibious landings along Japan’s colonial periphery: Japan’s Northern Territories, on Sakhalin Island, and in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria created a haven for Chinese communist forces, who had been fighting both the Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists, aiding the communists’ eventual triumph in 1948.”

Now knowing what we now know about amerika determination to control Asia Pacific – invasion of Korea, Vietnam war – endless coups in Thailand, the Indonesian takeover which reulted in 1 million deaths from USuk trained hit squads. it cannot be a shock that many objective students believe that the real reason for nuking innocent Japanese civilians was to make sure that all the work which began when amerika put Japan under a naval blockade in the hope of preventing Japan from subjecting any of asia to imperialism that amerika had planned did not get lost because Japan, far more scared of the USSR than USA, didn’t cede ant geography to the USSR, whilst at the same time sending amerikan allies, the USSR, the message that if they didn’t watch out any attempt at the socialisation of any part of Asia could be very lethal indeed.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 5 2023 11:48 utc | 342

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 5 2023 12:30 utc | 342
Yeah, yawn & hohum.
It’s been 26 years since Gar Alperovitz effectively put all the arguments to rest with his
The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. At least it made the subject moot for me.
I can’t in sincerity recommend reading it, only because it’s 800+ pages.
But it’s all there in (excrutiating) detail. And sadly lost in the long criminality of the US, as well.
Available at the Internet Archive now too.
A bomb

Posted by: waynorinorway | Jan 5 2023 13:24 utc | 344

The link to the Juan Guaido ouster posted by uncle tungsten does not work, so a new link:
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/04/us-stops-recognizing-juan-guaido-venezuela
Guaido today, Z tomorrow.

Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Jan 5 2023 13:57 utc | 346

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jan 5 2023 13:34 utc | 344
Kraken is a joke. The real think is coming.
It’s called the Godzilla variant. Getting ready to hear as it rears its ugly head to empty all streets on the Globe.
https://media.tenor.com/dpmTZYU_3xYAAAAC/run-godzilla.gif

Posted by: Tom_12 | Jan 5 2023 14:07 utc | 348

@ Ursula Zandt | Jan 5 2023 13:57 utc | 346
Will this not affect running court cases where the Administration, State, has claimed Guido was the true legitimate officially recognized El Presidente’ of Venezuela ?

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 5 2023 15:42 utc | 350

suzan @ 328
mRNA delivered via LNP has been around for decades now. It is veterinary. Used for feedlot operations, feedlot diseases. No one would even contemplate using it on breeding stock. Only for animals going to slaughterhouse in a matter of weeks.
The WHO sees us as fit for slaughter.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 5 2023 16:07 utc | 352

uncle tungsten @ 317
That doctor is discussing hospitalized patients who are severely and extremely il. Yes, at that point the virus gets into blood. 99% of those infected see nothing like that. By the time ground glass lungs show on x-ray that patient has an excellent chance of death. Yes, viremia occurs as death nears.
What is being shown in that video is what happens when doctors refuse to treat early, fill the population with fear, etc, etc. What is being shown is socially determined as much as medically determined.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 5 2023 16:18 utc | 354

@ john | Jan 5 2023 16:10 utc | 353
Not long ago Hermit used the same argument I used over two years ago — that he was a VDM and had not published for decades.
I wrote then that I too had tried that argument years ago and it doesn’t work here, noting that I had been reminded (by MarkU) that what matters is not the formal qualifications of a speaker but what is said and does it fit reality. OTOH I recall your approach to me was to become my personal troll which apparently you still relish.
At that time I objected to the conflation of “never vaccinate in a pandemic” by most alt narrative folk with not providing elders and people with health issues a treatment, the vax, which actually did then prevent a lot of severe illness and death in such people — before Omicron.
We discussed how the EUA of the vaccines depended legally on, required, that there be no known preventives or treatment alternatives available before it could be authorized and discussed the fraud perpetrated.
I was on record citing a study which is now unavailable to me which described five mechanisms through which ivermectin reduced viral reproduction and inflammation. As my personal troll you made fun of me for citing this.
You want me to eat crow? a life-long vegetarian, it will have to be vegetarian crow. Velbekommen

Posted by: suzan | Jan 5 2023 17:42 utc | 356

oldhippie | Jan 5 2023 18:19 utc | 357
FLCCC has been linked here hundreds of times
And so?

Posted by: john | Jan 5 2023 18:41 utc | 358

Oldhippie: ” By the time ground glass lungs show on x-ray that patient has an excellent chance of death.”
Even asymptomatic covid individuals have ground-glass opacities that show up on CT scans.
For instance, most of the people cruise ship “Diamond Princess” that tested positive for covid were asymptomatic, but more than half of those who were asymptomatic had ground-glass opacities. Here is the CT image of one of them:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-73-year-old-asymptomatic-woman-a-On-axial-CT-images-focal-peripheral-ground-glass_fig3_340358063
Ground-glass opacities is an indication of micro clots which means vascular involvement. Chinese studies from Jan. 2020 showed that GGO appear very early in the disease and even in mild covid GGO shows up on CT images in the first couple of days after first symptoms like coughing and fever appear. There is nothing deadly about ground-glass opacities. Studies report in most people they usually start to disappear around day 9 after first symptoms and most are gone after 3 weeks.

Posted by: jinn | Jan 5 2023 22:35 utc | 360

Reference: The 2023 vote for House Speaker.
Support for those who wish to change the corrupt processes of the House. Change from within.
quote :
January 4, 2023
Washington, DC
Conservative organizations and the millions of grassroots conservatives we represent are united in our support of the 20 courageous members of Congress seeking to change the status quo in Washington.
Over the past decade, the House has grown increasingly autocratic. Rank and file members are routinely denied a chance to participate in the legislative process, committees are ignored, deals and loopholes for interests abound, and there is virtually no amendment process for any bills, large or small. The outcome reflects the process: bills that cater to a handful of members in leadership and K street lobbyists, but ignore the priorities of the voters.
Months ago, these members made clear that this established way of doing things was no longer acceptable. They made public a series of proposed reforms designed to democratize the House – to engage the broader membership in legislating, and bring accountability back to the People’s House.
Rather than engage them in a good faith negotiation, Rep. Kevin McCarthy has instead maligned both the requests and the messengers. He has publicly and through proxies leveled attacks against members of his own party, including threatening to deny committee assignments for those who continue to oppose him. Moreover, he has failed to answer for, or commit to halting, his coordinated efforts in the 2022 elections to promote moderate Republican candidates over conservatives.
Because of this, he has thus far failed to garner the 218 votes necessary to lead the House GOP conference in three separate rounds of voting. The job of the Speaker is to garner consensus among disparate factions of the party, and unite them.
These members represent the millions of voters across the country who are disgusted with the business-as-usual, self-interested governance in Washington. We stand behind them and beside them in their courageous efforts to find a Speaker of the House who will represent the interests of conservatives. We encourage more conservative members to join their ranks.
/ end quote.
Letter quoted from website and full list of those distinguished persons signed up to above letter at website
https://conservativeactionproject.com/conservatives-call-for-new-house-leadership/

Posted by: Fíréan | Jan 6 2023 3:27 utc | 362

Speaking of the archives(and Geert Vanden Bossche)…
This is a pretty good comment thread from March of 2021 with many present today participating. 245 comments. Read them. Kinda prophetic!

Posted by: john | Jan 6 2023 14:21 utc | 364

Grieved | Jan 7 2023 1:44 utc | 366
Thank you, Grieved. Very kind of you.

Posted by: john | Jan 7 2023 10:52 utc | 366