Open (Not Ukraine) Thread 2023-179
News & views (not related to the war in Ukraine) ...
Posted by b on July 27, 2023 at 13:14 UTC | Permalink
next page »Does anyone suspect, or have any evidence to suggest, that the cargo ship on fire near the Netherlands was hit by a missile or something? Maybe for transporting cargo to Ukraine?
La Presse says an electric car could have started the fire.
https://www.lapresse.ca/international/europe/2023-07-26/cargo-en-feu-au-large-des-pays-bas/une-voiture-electrique-pourrait-etre-a-l-origine-de-l-incendie.php
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jul 27 2023 13:36 utc | 2
Human smuggling, Canada to US
“U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested more than 4,900 people from 68 countries crossing through the Swanton Sector over the last 10 months, according to data posted this month on social media by Robert Garcia, the sector's chief patrol agent. His post said the tally for that 10-month period was more than all arrests over the previous "eight years combined."”
From the article, “A mysterious cell phone, cryptic instructions and an interrupted smuggling run of 14 Indian nationals”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/indian-nationals-smuggling-1.6919289
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jul 27 2023 13:49 utc | 3
La Presse says an electric car could have started the fire.
https://www.lapresse.ca/international/europe/2023-07-26/cargo-en-feu-au-large-des-pays-bas/une-voiture-electrique-pourrait-etre-a-l-origine-de-l-incendie.php
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jul 27 2023 13:36 utc | 2
I figured it was a battery fire or an "unfortunate insurance loss", or both. I think electric cars are not moving like they want them to.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 13:52 utc | 4
When I was seven years old, I was once reprimanded by my mother for an act of collective brutality in which I had been involved at school. A group of seven-year-olds had been teasing and tormenting a six-year-old. "It is always so," my mother said. "You do things together which not one of you would think of doing alone." ... Wherever one looks in the world of human organization, collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards. The military establishment is an extreme case, an organization which seems to have been expressly designed to make it possible for people to do things together which nobody in his right mind would do alone.
-- Freeman Dyson, "Weapons and Hope"
Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 13:59 utc | 5
Elon, the King of Mars turning himself into the superhuman X Man, the once and future King etc etc.
A dumb X ! By the way , how is claiming a letter of an alphabet allowed as a trademark or copyright?
He still hasn’t raised the blinds of the twatter window to let us poor beggars watch though the glass - insisting that everyone must sign up! We must become his slaves, bank off with him, be owned and nurtured by Him alone … and his mum.
As I posted earlier Africa is what it’s about and Elon too claims to be from there.
If he was half way genuine he’d be in St Petersburg hanging out with the emerging Multipolarists instead of grandstanding.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jul 27 2023 14:34 utc | 6
@ Bruised Northerner | Jul 27 2023 13:36 utc | 2
battery fire... these have happened a few times too... i can't remember the time before..
@ Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 13:59 utc | 5
relevant quote.. thanks bemildred... here is 7:49 minutes of doctor strangelove..
Dr. Strangelove - Capitalists' Summit Part 1
Posted by: james | Jul 27 2023 14:34 utc | 7
This is the second EV fire on a car hauling ship bound from Europe to the USA in the last year. I wonder when someone will have the bright idea of
charging them when they arrive. I'll bet they don't ship gas powered cars with a full tank.
Posted by: qparker | Jul 27 2023 14:55 utc | 8
The money quote in Patrick Lawrence's scintillating piece on the Biden crime family today comes from New York Post columnist Miranda Devine:
"The story of the Biden family’s corrupt influence-peddling scheme, which netted tens of millions of dollars from Ukraine, China, Russia and beyond, is scandal enough,” Devine writes. “But the coverup—from Big Tech’s censorship of the Post’s reporting from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, and CIA lies that it was Russian disinformation, to the burying of this FD–1023—is bigger than Watergate."
https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/27/patrick-lawrence-no-the-truth-about-biden-is-not-democratic/
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 14:56 utc | 9
There is a proposal that a substack be started to act as a storehouse for all the biolab docs and evidence PeterAu collated last year.
He has it on his VK, but it would be prescient of @bar to have the material readily accessible and retrievable… anticipating the Memory Hole devouring most of it.
Karl suggested I assist him with the task.
I can…sort of. I’m not a tech guy, and pretty slow and clunky when dealing with something like setting up a substack.
So the invitation is extended to @bar (and lurkers) to collaborate on having Peter’s material backed up on substack, and then using that substack as a repository as more similar evidence is revealed.
Thoughts? Constructive Comments ?
Volunteers?
Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 27 2023 14:59 utc | 10
#6
Elon, Mr X, is our super hero who will now defend our planet from UFOs after the Pentagon's recent bombshell announcement!
Is it just me or is the US descending into some LSD induced psychosis? UFOs, AI, paedophilia, crack pipe dispensing machines.....
No wonder every country that can is shutting their doors to this crazed nation.
Posted by: Eoin Clancy | Jul 27 2023 15:08 utc | 11
A Bulgarian Journalist collected all Biolab documents from State Depart. Etc. (Before the docs were deep sixed) She has them saved on her website.plus a number of articles
https://dilyana.bg/category/special-report/
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:08 utc | 12
Re: Climate Change
Those of you who believe Climate Change is man made and a global catastrophe requiring immediate action…..
1) Stop Driving
2) No A/C
Otherwise please STFU
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
Sorry to go all Overton window here but part of me finds it astounding that the recent UFO revelations are not fleshed out in the common mind. We see whistleblowers emerge - who aren't "disappeared" and still healthy. The Deep State must have decided to allow this to happen.
I would have thought they would wait until they had evidence of microbial life on Mars first but events are becoming more chaotic. I think it is no coincidence that this is happening just as US hegemony is ending. Disclosure can come from Russia or China or whoever. It will affect everything at least indirectly - politics, the economy and religion. It will greatly favor China's rise because they are mostly atheist and don't greatly care. India will be OK with it too, just tack onto the Hindu pantheon.
Lenin said there are weeks in which entire decades happen and that certainly will apply here.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 15:18 utc | 14
Aliens ...
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 15:18 utc | 14
Trot out some actual aliens and then we will talk. So far all I see is a handy distraction from Biden's Bad News.
With both sides facing legal process, this election is looking like a real doozy.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 15:22 utc | 15
Biden DoJ vs. Biden crackhead
The phony court case between Biden Sr. – represented by his Department of Justice – and Biden Jr. was supposed to end yesterday in a sweetheart plea deal. Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika was however able to sabotage the scam deal by asking the right question. The Biden DoJ had been too cleaver for their own good.
In making the plea deal the DoJ had told Hunter Biden that the deal would free him of all charges. Later, they told the House Committee On Oversight and Accountability investigating the Biden crime family, that they cannot release requested information because of an "ongoing investigation" into Hunter Biden.
Here are some sources and links I have collected during the past week:
- Biden investigation: Grassley releases FBI document accusing Joe and Hunter Biden of bribery scheme - Washington Examiner, July 20, 2023 ( FBI CHS Reporting Document 2020)
- MASSIVE FBI CORRUPTION REVEALED IN THE HUNTER BIDEN SCANDAL - Garland Nixon, July 20, 2023 (video)
- McCarthy: Biden Investigation 'Rising to Level' of Impeachment Inquiry - Sputnik, July 26, 2023
- Hunter Biden set to plead guilty to tax charges — as lawyer tries to pull dirty trick ahead of court appearance - NY Post, July 25, 2023
- Special Report with Bret Baier 7/26/23 - Fox News, July 26, 2023 (video)
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jul 27 2023 15:23 utc | 16
@Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
The eminent scientist that must not be doubted António Guterres: "The era of global warming has ended, the era of global boiling has arrived."
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/74850
So please stop any talk of global warming :-)
Posted by: Norwegian | Jul 27 2023 15:27 utc | 17
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 15:18 utc | 14
Caitlin Johnstone has a good potential explanation re UFO stories coming out now:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/funny-how-the-ufo-narrative-coincides
Posted by: Zet | Jul 27 2023 15:28 utc | 18
No A/C
@ Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
No air conditioning would frequently be deadly for residents of Phoenix this month, where they look set to at least double the previous record of 18 straight days with highs of 110°F "or better," as they say. It doesn't get below 90°F at night, either. One night bottomed out at 97°F, this month.
It doesn't much matter what you attribute this sort of thing to, ordinary folks are aware the weird weather is quickly getting much worse. This is what exponential growth looks like. We're all witness to non-linear explosion of consequences, in this El Niño year of ratcheting to hotter climate baselines, in 2023.
Do-gooder pieces which say bad stuff can only be stopped "if we immediately stop carbon emissions" are full of crap. This exponential phase of continuing chaos signals that our climate catastrophe cannot possibly be stopped at this point. There's way too much heat in the North Atlantic, from decades of global energy imbalance. Believe it or don't. Who cares?
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 15:29 utc | 19
reply to 15
It might be for the best that you and others assert such a thing, as the effects of disclosure will be radical, once it happens fully. As for Biden, that requires no special distractions since no one seems to care about it, not even most Republicans. I can only guess that they want to time it correctly that Biden is forced to resign AFTER he gets nominated - for maximum damage. After that, Kamala Vacuous takes the reins.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 15:31 utc | 20
It might be for the best that you and others assert such a thing, as the effects of disclosure will be radical, once it happens fully. As for Biden, that requires no special distractions since no one seems to care about it, not even most Republicans. I can only guess that they want to time it correctly that Biden is forced to resign AFTER he gets nominated - for maximum damage. After that, Kamala Vacuous takes the reins.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 15:31 utc | 20
They are all busy grubbing for money. You have a point, it is hard to tell what the death star is going to consume this time.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 15:39 utc | 21
Anti-black-hole device
@Melaleuca | Jul 27 2023 14:59 utc | 10There is a proposal that a substack be started to act as a storehouse for all the biolab docs and evidence PeterAu collated last year.
He has it on his VK, but it would be prescient of @bar to have the material readily accessible and retrievable… anticipating the Memory Hole devouring most of it.
Karl suggested I assist him with the task.Thoughts? Constructive Comments ?
Volunteers?
We set up an anti-memory-hole archive 10 years ago. It is called A Closer Look on Syria (ACLOS), but now covers all major geopolitical topics. The site is free for anyone to open an account and edit, but very few people have joined over the years. It uses the same software, and looks like an older version of Wikipedia, but we are diametrically opposed on what we consider to be "reliable sources".
There are news feeds on Ukraine and Syria, that we try to keep up to date. The best way to get accustomed is to surf around random article and categories.
May I suggest you register and start collecting the material on ACLOS.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jul 27 2023 15:41 utc | 22
This is the second EV fire on a car hauling ship bound from Europe to the USA in the last year. I wonder when someone will have the bright idea of charging them when they arrive. I'll bet they don't ship gas powered cars with a full tank.Posted by: qparker | Jul 27 2023 14:55 utc | 8
The electrolyte in the battery is itself flammable, regardless of whether or not the battery is charged. Lithium-ion batteries are always present a safety hazard, which is why they are restricted for air travel.
Posted by: Intelligent Dasein | Jul 27 2023 15:44 utc | 23
No A/C ? Phoenix ? climate change ?
In other words, climate change isn’t man made and isn’t a serious concern. Thank you.
BTW - your argument regarding Phoenix implies that humans did live in the Phoenix area until A/C became widespread say circa 1965-1970. LOL
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:49 utc | 24
@ Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
Wouldn’t it be more logical to demand that proponents of climate science suicide themselves? They would consume even less energy that way, and remove an annoyance besides.
It would also result in lower fossil fuel prices, to the benefit of A/C-using climate change deniers in places like Phoenix, as well as those who participate in the great American pastime of coal rolling.
Posted by: malenkov | Jul 27 2023 15:52 utc | 26
talk of global warming :-)
@ Norwegian | Jul 27 2023 15:27 utc | 17
Your quote from the fascist fraud Guterres reminds me of a rhetorical bone I have to pick with many if not most "climate journalists" at this point. The term "global warming" has decades of scientific discussion behind it, but now we're in an age of continually amplifying rhetoric for effect (as if all our listeners are idiot children), so it's often or usually called "global heating" instead, at this point.
When I catch myself condescending to readers like that, I find it deeply embarrassing. I recently read a good old book called How to Think Straight -- The technique of applying LOGIC instead of EMOTION (1947) in which Robert Thouless argues that it's better to address people as if they are fellow adults. (Though I'm so often disappointed!)
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 15:54 utc | 27
reply to 18
I get what she's saying but both things may be true: aliens are real and they are using them for more warmongering. The truly tragic aspect of this is that, if true, it shows what evil psychopaths they are. They would risk a total nihilistic melt down of Western society by disclosure merely to create more warmongering. I can't say that's unbelieveable looking at the Ukraine situation, unfortunately.
OTOH, consider that this topic might be the hidden cause behind much of the craziness in pushing towards pushing towards WW3 and national bankruptcies. I have even wondered if aliens are influencing events on earth in a "humanistic" way. End US hegemony, demilitarize the West and put China is charge of things. I can't claim to understand alien intelligences but my guess would be that China would be a far better interface with the cosmos than the US. Proof ? All this Space Force lunacy !
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 27 2023 16:02 utc | 28
Wouldn’t it be more logical to demand that proponents of climate science suicide themselves? They would consume even less energy that way, and remove an annoyance besides.
Posted by: malenkov | Jul 27 2023 15:52 utc | 26
That would be a great start. It seems right now they're more than willing to suicide everyone else for their own sociopathic beliefs, but at the same time don't feel that they should be inconvenienced in any way.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 16:23 utc | 29
@ malenkov | Jul 27 2023 15:52 utc | 26
Great suggestion, makes sense. Al Gore first please. They like depopulation and humans are a pest on their planet N; they already don't want kids. The Japanese fighter pilots did it, and many others too, for the greater good. Could improve the human gene pool. LOL.
Posted by: Antonym | Jul 27 2023 16:29 utc | 30
Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 27 2023 13:59 utc | 5
Mommy: People form corporations and dissolve corporations all the time.
Sugarpuff: But, Mommy, why do people incorporate?
Mommy: To accomplish a task that any one of them cannot do alone.
Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 27 2023 16:33 utc | 31
Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
"Those of you who believe Climate Change is man made and a global catastrophe requiring immediate action….. 1) Stop Driving 2) No A/C Otherwise please STFU"
Many people have trouble thinking logically - the reality status of the climate catastrophe is not influenced by a person's behaviour. Only its future development, and even that to a negligible extent. A massive reduction in economic activities - let's take arms production as an example - would have an influence, but even this can only mitigate the catastrophe somewhat, not stop it, because in the meantime the only indirectly anthropogenic share in the increase of climate-relevant gases in the atmosphere is clearly increasing, for example the thawing of permafrost soils.
Posted by: Pnyx | Jul 27 2023 16:48 utc | 32
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 16:23 utc | 29
how about proponents of gravity? should they throw themselves from bridges? one isn't a proponent of gravity of climate change, it is a physical process that goes on whatever one thinks about it, and al gore and greta thunberg aren't climate scientists.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 16:57 utc | 33
Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 27 2023 16:33 utc | 31
mommy should stop feeding sugarpuff bullshit like that. people can join together and accomplish things in a variety of way. corporations provide limited liabilty for the owners, very convenient for giants like Exxon or Pfizer.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 16:59 utc | 34
not sure what air conditioning in Phoenix has to do with anything, but the people bringing it don't know either.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 17:00 utc | 35
@Cindy Martin | Jul 27 2023 13:25 utc | 1
I agree, I believe in Dysons case it was simply underestimation. Had he gone beyond that, he knew physics too well to fail. He could have convinced himself qualitatively.
A scientist of Dyson's high standing would have found out if he had just given it proper thought using the relevant physics even if climate scientists mostly approach it in a different manner.
There is one paper from 2017 where one scientist, Hermann Harde, put the formulas together, that Dyson would have been familiar with.
"Radiation Transfer Calculations and Assessment of Global Warming by CO 2"
But I dont know if this basic physics approach was available and cited at the time when Dysons formed his opinions.
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 27 2023 17:01 utc | 36
Many people have trouble thinking logically - the reality status of the climate catastrophe is not influenced by a person's behaviour.
Posted by: Pnyx | Jul 27 2023 16:48 utc | 32
—————-
In other words, you‘ll keep driving and using A/C
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 17:01 utc | 37
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 17:01 utc | 37
whether they do or not, it has nothing to do with the subject which you want to avoid. whether you use an elevator or climb the stairs, gravity still exists.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 17:05 utc | 38
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 16:23 utc | 29
how about proponents of gravity? should they throw themselves from bridges? one isn't a proponent of gravity of climate change, it is a physical process that goes on whatever one thinks about it, and al gore and greta thunberg aren't climate scientists.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 16:57 utc | 33
Only one minor issue with your silly comparison. Gravity is real, catastrophic climate change is not. Gravitational effects can be easily demonstrated, "climate change" effects only exist in model predictions.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 17:19 utc | 39
This site is excellent for nuanced and non-emulsified-brain takes on Ukraine and other geopolitical situations, but what's up with like half of the people around here turning into Adolf Hitler if he just saw Water World for the first time whenever climate change is brought up?
No, we aren't all going to cook to death in fifty years. But also no, we can't keep doing mass animal husbandry the way we've been doing it for the last few decades. Sorry about your burgers.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 27 2023 17:21 utc | 40
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 16:23 utc | 29
how about proponents of gravity? should they throw themselves from bridges? one isn't a proponent of gravity of climate change, it is a physical process that goes on whatever one thinks about it, and al gore and greta thunberg aren't climate scientists.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 16:57 utc | 33
I agree with your assessment of Al Gore and Greta. But maybe one should then ask why Al Gore had such a global influence on catastrophic climate belief with his book and promotional tours, and why was Greta so popular and even invited to the climate conferences?
Hint: it has nothing to do with science and everything to do with ideology and politics.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 17:30 utc | 41
[email protected] yer frickin hands off my meat! It's only mass because it's subsidized in order to compete with international trade and to fill the pockets of Corporate whores. Remove the regulations and subsidies, it'd be everyone for themselves, and the chaff would fall to the wayside.
A few corporate whores may even take up base jumping without a chute.
Cheers M
Ask a tax payer who pays for every thing in the end......The End.
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jul 27 2023 17:34 utc | 42
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/decoupling-washingtons-plan-to-kneecap-chinas-economy/
Decent article on geopolitical aspirations of neocons/Empire.
No, we aren't all going to cook to death in fifty years. But also no, we can't keep doing mass animal husbandry the way we've been doing it for the last few decades. Sorry about your burgers.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 27 2023 17:21 utc | 40
.........................
'the way we have been doing it' is key. There are ways which enrich the soil and surrounding microclimate and ways which deplete both. The debate about global (yikes--- call the experts --- quick!) climate change serves as a distracting excuse for not paying attention to local, immediate level details and best practices. Basically the issue contributes to the dispiriting, relentless dumbing down of the West.
Melaleuca | Jul 27 2023 14:59 utc | 10--
The main issue is the need for someone to initiate the substack account, which requires a valid email address from which the basic name of the page is called. Mine is called karlof1"s substack because karlof1 is the root of my email addy. Once established, Peter's VK index and other relevant biowarfare materials can easily be moved by anyone able to access Peter's VK page. There's no fee to open a substack, although its aim is to help publish newsletters to send to subscribers some of whom might pay for the subscription, which is how substack earns money.
The main goal is to facilitate greater access to the materials Peter has amassed. I should note that RT Documentaries has a new documentary out on the subject, "Biological Warfare Department: The Alarming Truth About Pentagon's Secret Worldwide Biolab Network."
Posted by: Scorpion | Jul 27 2023 17:43 utc | 43
I agree 100% that the "global" aspect of climate change is largely concocted (or at least being used in this manner) to coerce developing nations and the worldwide proletariat into another and deeper form of exploitation and resource extraction.
My beef lies with those who, with us pretending for the moment that everything climate scientists say is true, immediately pivot to naked self-absorption and sole concern with their own (likely extremely morbidly obese) private dimensions. Even if we were to realistically assign the fault of our bad agricultural practices at a local level/to the correct parties, people are still going to have to give things up and/or change the way they've lived their lives. It's called the universal brotherhood of humanity. The world isn't about "take take take" until you expire.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 27 2023 17:55 utc | 46
If I wanted to get rid of Trump and stop him from running all I would do is Charge Biden and Trump with the same offence. I could very easily do that using the documents found on both of their properties.
Job done.
Doesn't really matter anyway because Trump isn't the saviour he says he is. America is fooked either way.
No amount of Trumps, trickle down, laffer curve economics, will save it. Already been tried and was a complete failure. Art Laffer is a hero of his even gave him a medal last time he was President. Tells you everything you need to know. Trussenomics lol.
The very last thing America needs right now is Hayak, Mises and Friedman. The 3 muskateers that caused all of this mess and division. It's all been down hill since Friedman's fire side chats and can be traced back to the Cambridge controversies.
The Cambridge Controversy – a fundamental refutation of orthodox economic theory – Part 1
https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=47332
The Cambridge Controversy – a fundamental refutation of orthodox economic theory – Part 2
https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=47348
What really fascinates me about that whole historical period are the voters. The human behaviour that voted and continually vote for those fire side chats but never take any responsibility for their actions. Or even reflect on the decisions they made.
It's as if the problems caused by Hayak, Mises and Friedman. Is always somebody else's fault. This human behaviour now even blame Marxists and communists who have never even held any power in America. The human behaviour blames the destruction of manufacturing in everybody else apart from the culprits.
The Cognitive dissonance is quite fascinating. They were even warned a million times during the whole Cambridge Controversy what was going to happen next.
Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 27 2023 18:03 utc | 47
Pnyx | Jul 27 2023 16:48 utc | 32--
IMO, we're seeing psychohistory in action and Russia for one is acting upon it as Putin recently commented on the issue in relation to Russia's Arctic development plans and goals:
"At the same time, large problems that, of course, require our special attention. For example, the deterioration of communal infrastructure and housing even in large cities of the Arctic reaches 70 percent, and in small remote villages and the so-called ZATO, closed administrative territories, this problem is even more acute."
This is the combined need to upgrade communal infrastructure to modern standards which is often made necessary by the undermining of the permafrost on which it's constructed. Russia's pouring many trillions of rubles into its Arctic regions and knows very well the changes occurring there.
Only 2 places money comes from the unelected banks or elected technocratic governments.
If you vote consistently for the one party nation state that gives the power to the unelected banks to allocate the skills and real resources of your nation. Rather than elected government for the people by the people.
What on earth did you think was going to happen ? What, that some free market tooth fairy was going to save you ?
It's true, voters get the government's they deserve.
Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 27 2023 18:21 utc | 49
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Armistice signing that ended the combat in Korea. Global Times has two notable articles on the subject, an editorial "If the US fails to learn lessons from Korean War, it will continue to suffer", which isn't the first time China's spoken in this manner on this topic and is even more stringent in its rhetoric. The second item is a news report expanding somewhat on the editorial while also documenting the goings-on in the DPRK, "China, N.Korea, Russia commemorate 70th anniversary of Korean War armistice". The tone of the editorial is that of the Older brother speaking to a rash youngster:
It appears that the US has not seriously reflected on the lessons learned here, but instead seems to be repeating the mistakes made back then. As a result, at the juncture of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, it is of significant practical importance and utmost urgency to review the lessons brought about by that war.The Korean War is one of the most profound regional conflicts following World War II, and it is regarded as the "biggest defeat in the history of the US Army." However, ironically, this "biggest defeat" that was called a "nightmare" has become a "forgotten war" within the US, deliberately overlooked by Washington. This negligence and forgetfulness may leave the American people without the consciousness of drawing lessons from the past when facing new crises, making them susceptible to repeating past mistakes. Yet, what is even more serious, worse, and dangerous is that some American political elites have drawn completely wrong lessons from the Korean War, using them to misguide the US' foreign policy today, leading the country to proactively incite and provoke crises, and even wars.
On July 26, the US magazine Foreign Affairs published an article written by Mike Gallagher, Chairman of the "House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party," titled "Why America Forgets - and China Remembers - the Korean War." This Washington politician, known for his consistently anti-China stance, summarized three "lessons" that the Korean War taught the US.
The first lesson is that "Washington must not neglect deterrence and readiness," and should always be prepared to fight and enhance military capabilities. He directly mentioned that "the US has failed to make sufficient military investments" in Taiwan. The second lesson is that "politics and combat are deeply intertwined." The third lesson is that "once fighting has broken out, excessive self-restraint can invite further aggression."
These three "lessons" are all targeted at China, specifically referring to the Taiwan question. His arrogance and madness are comparable to that of Douglas MacArthur. We can see that when most Americans lack knowledge and discernment about the Korean War 70 years ago and today's Taiwan question, they can easily be led astray by a few loud and radical voices, resulting in a "herd effect" in American diplomacy. As the US is a superpower, the mistakes it makes often result in strong spillover effects that not only harm itself but also burden the region and even the entire world.
In fact, the US can and should learn valuable lessons from the Korean War. The first is to respect the legitimate security concerns of regional major powers; the second is to restrain the impulse and ambition to interfere in the affairs of other countries. Lastly, the US should never underestimate China's determination and ability to defend its homeland. Disregarding these three lessons happens to be the prominent characteristics of current American hegemonism. The Korean War inflicted a painful price on the US, but if the US fails to learn from it, it will make even greater mistakes in the future.
The news report follows a similar style:
Chinese experts said China, Russia and North Korea are all facing pressure and threats from the US-led military alliance in the Korean Peninsula, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, and this kind of situation is similar to the world in the 1950s, and by jointly commemorating the armistice anniversary, the three countries are sending a strong signal that the US should learn from its lesson in the peninsula and avoid repeating mistakes that will eventually bring tragedy to the world and cause great damage to US national strength....The armistice has been commemorated by China and is known as the Victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), with major state media including the Xinhua News Agency and the People's Liberation Army Daily publishing commentaries and China Central Television broadcasting a special TV program to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory and vowing to inherit the great spirit that the Chinese people and military displayed during the war, as China faces new challenges from hegemonic acts in the new era....
The US, which invaded North Korea in 1950 and suffered a huge failure after a series of battles with the CPV some 70 years ago, is now increasing its provocative and dangerous military activities in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan Straits, and its act of pushing NATO eastern expansion has ruined the security structure in Europe and caused the terrible ongoing Ukraine crisis, so Chinese analysts urged the US to learn from the serious lessons of history and stop their wrongdoings to avoid the potential danger of new conflicts....
Wang Junsheng, a research fellow of East Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said the US and its allies accused China and Russia of "forming an alliance to confront the US, Japan and South Korea, but this is a typical act of a thief crying out 'stop thief!' It was the US pushing the formation of a US-Japan-South Korea military alliance that has created bloc confrontation in the region."
Historical distortions contributing to the mislearning of the past combined with great arrogance are deeply embedded within the Outlaw US Empire.
"Historical distortions contributing to the mislearning of the past combined with great arrogance are deeply embedded within the Outlaw US Empire."
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 27 2023 18:36 utc | 49
:)
100% and the UK is no different and the economic foundation stones are all based on myths. That serve the upper class.
Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 27 2023 18:54 utc | 51
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13:
Agree with you! But in addition to hypocritical attitude on personal levels, audiences in the west are profoundly guilty of geopolitical hypocrisy. Here is a link to a Global Times article about the extent of the Canadian wildfires this year:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1295142.shtml
Canada did nothing to even try to contain these fires, as Japan is cheerfully prepared to release radioactive wastewater into the Pacific. The whole effing West just STFU!!! This is how it is today.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 27 2023 19:04 utc | 52
Climate Change
If 1/3 of US households considered climate change to be serious and stopped driving and eliminated their A/C use…..US co2 emissions would drop by roughly 15%.
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 19:24 utc | 53
The electrolyte in the battery is itself flammable, regardless of whether or not the battery is charged. Lithium-ion batteries are always present a safety hazard, which is why they are restricted for air travel.
Posted by: Intelligent Dasein | Jul 27 2023 15:44 utc | 23
True, but misses the point. The electrolytes in current use are hydrocarbons with various salts dissolved I them.. they are flammable but require external oxygen to burn.
The famous unextinguishable fires happen when lithium is stripping oxygen from the cathode to burn. Thus the oxidizer is already present and it can burn underwater etc.. This can happen with all oxide type cathodes (Cobalt oxide, nmc, MnO etc.) under certain conditions. LiFePO4 cathodes and some others do not have this problem.
The reason they are banned on planes is somehat nonsensical.. most phones and e.g. laptops have the dangerous kind of li battery, whereas most power tool batteries (LiFePO4) are perfectly safe to the extent that you can fire a nail through them and all is good. There are youtube videos of exactly that. I guess in theory you could carry on a large power bank, pierce it, and then voila, but almost everyone on the plane these days has the dangerous kind..
Posted by: dask | Jul 27 2023 19:29 utc | 54
Well, this is rich. The official BRICS bank wont start new project in Russia because
" it operates in line with restrictions imposed in financial and capital markets, its head said on Wednesday. "
Posted by: Shocked | Jul 27 2023 19:43 utc | 55
Posted by: Exile | Jul 27 2023 19:24 utc | 52
The problem has never been households. It's always been corpos and the enormous disgusting bloat that is the military.
But they will continue shoveling "individual responsibility" down our throats until this fact is accepted by the people. True individual responsibility from a consumer perspective would only occur on a localized/circumstantial basis, and I remain unconvinced that it could not be entirely negated if the proper causes were thoroughly dismantled.
In other words, there's a way you won't have to go without A/C and four daily cheesesteaks--if you're willing to pop the balloon of corporate greed.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 27 2023 20:07 utc | 56
When confronted by a convinced climate alarmist, the best response is not to box them in their nose, but to ask them where in their locality have they actually witnessed the destructive force of our climate crisis.
The usual answer will be that you don't have to walk around your locality to see the damage, you can simply look online and see all the floods and the fires throughout the world.
Even the fact that there is no physical proof before their very eyes that there is no climate crisis makes no difference to the climate alarmist. Yet, when pushed on how bad our rivers and lakes are polluted, a fact that is obvious to all of us, the climate alarmist brushes water pollution aside as not as serious as climate change.
There is no convincing the vast majority of people that the climate crisis is a hoax to cover up rampant destruction of our water supply and the upcoming energy slavery which awaits us.
Posted by: Eoin Clancy | Jul 27 2023 20:10 utc | 57
We see manifestations of a hard-wired allergy to physical science, in this bar as in the world. From an adult perspective, it's impossible to assess how deeply runs this vein of hysterical irrationality: Are there other scientific domains, such as biology, in which it's so popular to disclaim basic knowledge? Is every last scrap of the entire body of earth-science data, from paleoclimatic to the satellite record, under a cloud because we suspect malicious deception on the part of virtually everyone pretending to do science? What about meteorology, do dedicated fools even believe in high and low atmospheric pressure?
Who knows? You can't generalize about science denial. They get along fine with each other, no matter how violently their preposterous counter-theories clash. They carry water for the fossil fuel companies -- essentially a tribute paid to corporate fascism. Regardless, so long as you chip in a little more confusion, you're earning your fascist stripes, as you so desperately plead for people to think about something else. Do you think your sophomoric nonsense is effective?
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 20:34 utc | 58
where in their locality have they actually witnessed the destructive force of our climate crisis
@ Eoin Clancy | Jul 27 2023 20:10 utc | 56
My brother's home was lost (along with everyone else's) in Berry Creek, CA, two years after the megafire which took a whole town called Paradise. It's to the point where knowing or being related to someone who's been burned out is not uncommon, here in California.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 20:39 utc | 59
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2023/07/26/americas-deteriorating-economic-performance/
An interesting article by PCR who critiques some of Hudson's left-wing predilections. They have worked together sometimes and know (and like) each other well, but do not always see eye to eye.
His first point is a good one no matter what one thinks of his views viz Hudson, who is (rightly) well respected here (though perhaps too uncritically). If the bifurcation continues and the BRICS bloc effect new currency and transaction universe, this will cripple US Dollar hegemony and thus its unipolar imperatives (pun intended). This is a good thing.
He then takes issue with Hudson about various supply side and taxation theories in so doing pointing out, as I did a couple of days ago in another thread, that old notions of the working classes still held by many grounded in traditional left wing parlance no longer fit. For example, a true left winger in that tradition would be on the side of the Deplorables, no question about it. And yet hardly any of them are, more out of allegiance to rhetoric than reality.
Short article, well worth a read if you are a Hudson fan.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 20:34 utc | 57
Are there other scientific domains, such as biology, in which it's so popular to disclaim basic knowledge? Is every last scrap of the entire body of earth-science data, from paleoclimatic to the satellite record, under a cloud because we suspect malicious deception on the part of virtually everyone pretending to do science? What about meteorology, do dedicated fools even believe in high and low atmospheric pressure?
I don't know why it's so hard to accept for some folks that two things can be simultaneously true: 1) the climate of the earth is changing negatively, and 2) this fact is being heightened and exploited by nefarious agents who want to deepen the level of oppression served upon the lowest in global society. Hopefully someone can explain it to me because I don't know how you get 97% of the world's scientists to perpetrate a hoax in open coordination with one another. Actually, don't bother -- just head out into the woods and dedicate your life to searching for cryptids because they had about the same possibility of being real.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 27 2023 21:10 utc | 61
corporations provide limited liabilty for the owners, very convenient for giants like Exxon or Pfizer.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 16:59 utc | 34
You're stuck on the tax status one might assign to incorporation, specifically joint-stock forms of corporate governance, and an exclusive purpose for incorporation. So it's difficult for you to recognize that people incorporate a "body," an association, a company, a place of worship, a club, a "movement," a crowd, a "mob", a "gang", a union, an army. Hang a sign around your neck&mdadhBOUNDED RATIONALITY.
Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 27 2023 21:14 utc | 62
@Bruised Northerner | Jul 27 2023 13:36 utc | 2
Does it have to be a missile? This is not the first time that a cargo ship transporting electric cars has gone on fire.
Posted by: cirsium | Jul 27 2023 21:22 utc | 63
Who knows? You can't generalize about science denial. They get along fine with each other, no matter how violently their preposterous counter-theories clash. They carry water for the fossil fuel companies -- essentially a tribute paid to corporate fascism. Regardless, so long as you chip in a little more confusion, you're earning your fascist stripes, as you so desperately plead for people to think about something else. Do you think your sophomoric nonsense is effective?
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 20:34 utc | 57
“It’s Easier to Fool People Than It Is to Convince Them That They Have Been Fooled.” – Mark Twain
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 21:30 utc | 64
Those of you who believe Climate Change is man made and a global catastrophe requiring immediate action…..1) Stop Driving
2) No A/COtherwise please STFU
@ Exile | Jul 27 2023 15:11 utc | 13
Do-gooder pieces which say bad stuff can only be stopped "if we immediately stop carbon emissions" are full of crap. [...] Believe it or don't. Who cares?Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 15:29 utc | 19
Hmm. But if you claim that there is a climate emergency, but have not changed how you act in the world accordingly, why should people believe you? No matter how right you are,it's not an effective strategy.
Posted by: shoemaker | Jul 27 2023 21:56 utc | 65
@40 warxism War and all its inherent cost should be above animal husbandry. Orders of magnitude imo. No real discussion about global warming/heating can actually occur if war isnt included as top driver. As discussions on climate rarely include the topic. Its mostly divisive bs. And yea animal husbandry as practised isnt...I agree.
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Jul 27 2023 22:12 utc | 66
but have not changed how you act in the world accordingly
@ shoemaker | Jul 27 2023 21:56 utc | 64
For one thing, nowhere have I implied that people like me should do nothing, just because the situation is hopeless. It's a complicated question to confront: How to wage a losing battle? Life (on Earth) is a struggle. Probably a hopeless struggle. This year each one of us confronts the rattlesnake Entropy, rearing up to bite civilization in the ass.
Why should anyone believe me? Some folks might take an interest in physical science from time to time. There are all kinds of interesting things to learn from several scientific domains. (I have a fervent amateur interest in mathematics, myself.) Additionally, planet Earth keeps making such fools of the denialists. Every damned week.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 22:14 utc | 67
Further interesting and welcome outcomes are emerging from Iran's becoming a full SCO member combined with the China brokered reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the relations between Pakistan and Iran. "From rivals to partners: Pakistan and Iran's diplomatic turnaround" describes much of those events. Over the years, many agreements were made between the two but the previous geopolitical conditions prevented them from being finalized. That is no longer the case, and the positive development of the two is showing synergy. I've only provided a rough sketch. This is just one example of many promising a greater acceleration of Multipolar development as we move into the decade's second half.
there is currently a threat of world war. how have you changed in your personal life to deal with that? is the threat still real?
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 22:28 utc | 69
For one thing, nowhere have I implied that people like me should do nothing, just because the situation is hopeless. It's a complicated question to confront: How to wage a losing battle? Life (on Earth) is a struggle. Probably a hopeless struggle. This year each one of us confronts the rattlesnake Entropy, rearing up to bite civilization in the ass.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 22:14 utc | 66
If this is truly how you feel then I would respectfully suggest that you have much more immediate problems to worry about than climate change.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 22:28 utc | 70
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 21:30 utc | 63
yeah you've been fooled.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 22:29 utc | 71
yeah you've been fooled.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 22:29 utc | 70
Oooh, brilliant, witty retort, pretzelogicattack. Almost Churchillian.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 22:33 utc | 72
The Russia-Africa Summit was filled with many events that generated numerous readouts. I captured the major ones, translated them and published them, "Russia-Africa Summit or Biden Corruption Revelations: The former's far more enlightening."
Upthread a Reuters lie is reproduced about the BRICS Bank. Bank President Dilma Rousseff was part of the Plenary Session Panel and gave a very good description of the Banks goals and operations. At my linked transcript, her talk is about 80% down the page. Here's an excerpt:
The NDB aims to accumulate resources to support logistics and infrastructure projects in different countries, to promote the development of energy and social infrastructure between them: schools, universities, medical institutions – as well as digital infrastructure. We know that the fourth revolution ‒ technological and industrial-will require changes from emerging economies: they must participate in a new form, in a new way of production. Therefore, we do not agree to be just a platform for consuming the products of large high-tech companies.We pay great attention to developing the infrastructure of developing countries and participating in the economies of developing countries. For us, for the New Development Bank, this is one of the main tasks. We share the idea that our work should be aimed at the sustainable development and prosperity of our peoples, eliminating the threat of poverty and hunger. We must move away from the problems of hunger in our countries....
It is important to note here that the NBR does not depend on external factors when making and granting its loans. We know that developing countries are dependent on other factors and have suffered for decades. We want to expand the impact that the New BRICS Development Bank has on countries. We want to expand our activities and strengthen the bank as a platform on which countries of the global south can develop. In this respect, developing countries on all continents, especially in Africa, Latin America and Asia, are our strategic partners. We are now expanding the number of our shareholders and partnerships, but we are also expanding the importance of our projects that we finance. We want to strengthen our influence in the regions.
It must be recalled that Reuters is owned by Anti-Human Neoliberal Parasites and promotes their interests.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 22:33 utc | 71
the truth got to you didn't it? doesn't have to be brilliant either. just true. like human caused climate change.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 22:40 utc | 74
the truth got to you didn't it? doesn't have to be brilliant either. just true. like human caused climate change.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 22:40 utc | 73
Keep telling yourself that. I'm sure you're very comfortable in your own little close-minded bubble.
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 22:49 utc | 75
The climate change case against 'science-deniers' would be better made if there weren't regular stories like this one coming out all the time.
You might be right about science but as long as there is so much junk and false science in the mix and not clearly distinguished, it's just more turtles all the way down. And we all know what happened to Yurtle, now, don't we?
The hysteria was started when climate sensationalist media outlets in Germany and elsewhere, like the Relotius Spiegel, uncritically cited a sloppily and manipulatively formulated July 13 report from the European Space Agency (ESA), that first referred to “air” temperature:Temperatures are sizzling across Europe this week amid an intense and prolonged period of heat. And it’s only just begun. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave with air temperatures expected to climb to 48°C on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe....
The animation below uses data from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission’s radiometer instrument and shows the land surface temperature across Italy between 9 and 10 July. As the image clearly shows, in some cities the surface of the land exceeded 45°C, including Rome, Naples, Taranto and Foggia. Along the east slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, many temperatures were recorded as over 50°C.”
The article explains why this is one of the most outrageous lies of a whole endless series of outrageous lies. There are so many of them that it is impossible for a reasonable person to be able to determine what are accurate and reasonable studies and what are not.
The scientific method is not impervious to corruption. This has to be admitted.
Furthermore, it is not up to studying something as vast with so many known and unknown variables. The best it can offer is educated guesses so it's hardly surprising that there are disagreements.
And the 97% consensus story is pure bunkum. Anyone who hasn't figured that out hasn't studied enough to have anywhere near and informed opinion - if such a thing is even possible about this complex issue which, again, is too amorphous for the scientific method to examine thoroughly.
PS My son arrived in Mallorca yesterday. 28C. Perfect weather. The hysterical forecasts he had read and wisely ignored were totally wrong. The tourist boards of Mallorca, Sardinia and Sicily should sue those agencies and publications out of business! (But, like Trump, they only do defense, never offense.)
Blinken has been in New Zealand along with the Australian Prime Minister to advocate for New Zealand's joining the AUKUS alliance.
(There is an accessible video on the subject at the following link, containing interesting observations about the use of sports venues to conduct foreign policy talks, at least from a small country perspective.)
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/global-insight-stakes-high-if-nz-joins-aukus-pact
Posted by: juliania | Jul 27 2023 22:57 utc | 78
@ Oriental Voice | Jul 27 2023 19:04 utc | 51
canada has tried to prevent and stop the fires... your characterization is wrong here.. cheers..
Posted by: james | Jul 27 2023 23:04 utc | 79
Posted by: Phil R | Jul 27 2023 22:49 utc | 74
im not "telling myself that". every major science organization on the planet, including China and Russia, is telling me that. the fossil fuel companies tell me that in their public announcements, even as they continue to fund dirtbags like Watts. the scientists that work for the fossil fuel companies tell me that. conservatives, prior to the fossil fuel propaganda campaign, people like Maggie Thatcher, told me that.
you got fooled, and as you pointed out, it is far easier to fool somebody than it is to convince them they have been fooled.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 23:07 utc | 80
it's pleasant in my home. it's still hot outside. global warming. the globe. it's hotter overall.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 23:11 utc | 81
yeah among climatologists and in related fields it's probably higher than 97% now. fossil fuel companies agree even as they continue to lie about what they are doing to prevent it. which includes funding deniers to, as in the case of the tobacco industry, pretend it isn't true. the tobacco industry used to both dress up actors in white coats and stethoscopes or bribe actual doctors to tout cigarettes and how safe they were.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 27 2023 23:16 utc | 82
Posted by: james | Jul 27 2023 23:04 utc | 78
Not necessarily Albertan here... The Albertan government gutted the forestry "firefighting" section. Plain and simple, those fires in the spring had ideal conditions and with the lack of resources they got caught with their pants down.. So what did they do..they hired a "consultant" firm from Australia to "manage" how the fires would be fought.
Also Smith also hired outside help to investigate the cause of the fires. (No trust in the RCMP) up to 171 fires caused by arson.
Where I live, we had the number 1 firefighting training facility in Alberta. No training going on for awhile.
Posted by: heavymetal101 | Jul 27 2023 23:48 utc | 83
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 27 2023 22:37
“It must be recalled that Reuters is owned by Anti-Human Neoliberal Parasites and promotes their interests.”
God they really all are a slimy bunch aren’t they?
Thanks for the link and your great work. Don’t say it enough.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jul 27 2023 23:50 utc | 84
Exile @ 13
Just sold the car. Not driving enough to make any sense to keep paying all the many costs. No A/C. Old construction and know how to use it. If there were still living shade trees it would be even better, the trees are all dying. Which is more a case of pollution, not climate change.
So do I get to talk?
Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 27 2023 23:59 utc | 85
In Nigeria, protestors are encircling the presidential palace and want to oust the pro-French president. They are waving Russian flags.
https://twitter.com/Angelo4justice3/status/1684640640804515840
Posted by: unimperator | Jul 28 2023 0:07 utc | 86
Exile @ 52:
"If 1/3 of US households considered climate change to be serious and stopped driving and eliminated their A/C use...US co2 emissions would drop by roughly 15%."
It would not be easy for a third of US households give up driving if most cities and towns have been planned in such a way that public transport options are impossible or discouraged, and people living in those places need to use private cars to travel several times a day to work, take children to school and pick them up, or buy essential items like food, drink and clothes.
Some parts of the US that have long been settled may now be experiencing temperatures at a level where air conditioning may be necessary, if the lives of vulnerable people like the elderly are now at risk. And vulnerable people may not be able to move away from places where they have lived for decades, so they may need air conditioning where they live.
Incidentally the largest contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions by sector is manufacturing where emissions are produced as by-products of the manufacturing process. A drop of 15% in CO2 emissions in the US, as a result of households voluntarily reducing their use of fossil fuels, might not make much difference, especially if other economic sectors maintain their current use of fossil fuels or even increase their use (because the price might fall slightly in some parts of the country as a result of households giving up their use).
If governments considered climate change to be serious enough, they'd be looking at ways to bring public transport options back to urban settlements and make changing over from private travel to public travel easier and more cost effective, and do it in a way free of obligation or ideology.
Posted by: Refinnejenna | Jul 28 2023 0:09 utc | 87
My 84
And in further response to the one who wants us all to STFU, no, I don't think global boiling requires taking any immediate action. Too late for it to make any difference. All suggested acton is kinda ludicrous. Induced global dimming might do something, highly likely to cause endless other cascading problems. Only the sledgehammer approaches will do anything now and we don't understand how the system works well enough to attempt any of those.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 28 2023 0:13 utc | 88
To: Aleph_Null | Jul 27 2023 15:29 utc | 19 and perhaps non-usanians
From wikipedia (I know, I know!) - it's a matter of geography -
... Climate
Phoenix has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh),[15][16] typical of the Sonoran Desert, and is the largest city in America in this climatic zone.[109]
Phoenix has long, extremely hot summers and short, mild winters.
The city is within one of the world's sunniest regions, with its sunshine duration comparable to the Sahara region.
With 3,872 hours of bright sunshine annually, Phoenix receives the most sunshine of any major city on Earth.[110]
Average high temperatures in summer are the hottest of any major city in the United States.[111]
On average, there are 111 days annually with a high of at least 100 °F (38 °C), including most days from the end of May through late September. Highs top 110 °F (43 °C) an average of 21 days during the year.[112]
On June 26, 1990, the temperature reached an all-time recorded high of 122 °F (50 °C)....
Posted by: VítorS | Jul 28 2023 0:45 utc | 89
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Jul 27 2023 22:12 utc | 65
Of course. As long as militaries the size of the US, Russia, China, etc. continue to operate, changing course on animal husbandry or "unclean energy" or whatever else is a complete waste of time. Which naturally is why many people view any form of action on climate change as completely hopeless, and I do not readily disagree with them in theory.
As a famous political philosopher once put it, the correct process of understanding and approaching the world goes as follows: "reality --> theory --> practice." In turn, the people who reject societal change to stymie climate disaster on the basis of practicality I can understand. It's those who outright discard the possibility of anthropogenic climate change on the theoretical basis of a "hoax" or "WEF/Davos fraud" I cannot. They didn't invent the fucking thing whole cloth; they are using it as a cudgel to push us toward neo-feudalism.
The ideologists of capital can assimilate and weaponize anything. Doesn't mean they falsely commissioned it into existence. As another user said prior, the scientific method is not infallible. It is routinely maladapted in service of political objectives. But I find it far more implausible to believe that the whole thing is completely bunk--perhaps our understanding of it is flawed, but I cannot imagine it's something fabricated to any major degree.
Posted by: warxism | Jul 28 2023 0:56 utc | 90
EV's maybe coming to US in high volume soon from China.
Buyer beware!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6dwGFv5HI
(I do not vouch for this video. Viewers can determine for themselves. But some of the cars-on-fire pictures (as their batteries spontaneously combust) are pretty dramatic! And the Chinese lady doing the home video voice-overs is corny-cute!)
Hard to tell if the main voice is AI or a human. I think it's AI. But that's where we are all headed...
So do I get to talk?
Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 27 2023 23:59 utc | 84
———————
Finally - thank you Old Hippie.
Posted by: Exile | Jul 28 2023 1:15 utc | 92
Re: it’s impossible to live in the US without a Car
Wrong - 40% of all trips in the US are 3 miles or less.
Posted by: Exile | Jul 28 2023 1:17 utc | 93
Evidently, my last post didn't pass muster. Wouldn't want to jog the ptb now would we?
Posted by: Immaculate deception | Jul 28 2023 1:35 utc | 94
I don't know what else I can say. I said a year ago that Russia must have the Black Sea. Which will include Transnistria at some point. Go back and read my earlier posts. For those who doubt me. Peace, and love to b for all he's done over the years.
Posted by: Immaculate deception | Jul 28 2023 1:41 utc | 95
Read this blog -- Real Climate -- if you want to get a sense of the depth of the evidence for Climate Change.
https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2023/07/back-to-basics/
I would love nothing more for it to be a hoax but it isn't. Reality sucks.
Nothing you do as an individual is going to make a bit of difference unless you are speaking terms with Xi Jinping.
In all likelihood, we are in for a painful collapse. We probably have about ten years and a billion dead before we see a serious response. Then we find out if it is too late...
Posted by: je | Jul 28 2023 2:25 utc | 96
I think human activity (namely pollution from unsound/inefficient manufacturing and extraction practices, along with near constant warfare {those aren't "green" tanks and jets}) has at least some impact on climate conditions. I do think the dynamics of both the planet itself and the sun have a greater, more immediate impact. The sun is in the midst of a period of heightened activity (sunspots, CMEs, magnetic storms, etc.) that is not expected to peak until sometime in 2025. Also, lots of volcanic activity recently. Not much to do about all of that; what would be of greatest benefit would be to mellow out on reckless extraction, and over production of exorbitantly priced crap. A halt to all mechanized warfare might be of some practical benefit, too.
@oldhippie; I'm with you. I haven't owned a car in over 20 years; bicycle and what passes for mass transit here in the imperial homeland. These days, my average commute is a couple miles, which is easily accomplished on the fixed gear; at one point I was doing Long Beach to LA 3 times a week which was thrilling, to say the least.
Thanks for keeping the bar open to all comers, b.
Posted by: robjira | Jul 28 2023 2:28 utc | 97
Personally, I think that the Earth is warming, largely because that's where it is now in the millennia-long cycle of climate fluctuation that the ice records suggest.
I observe that human-caused pollution and devastation of the natural world is the greatest "problem" on the planet to be dealt with. We can still all live here and not live in such a way, so destructive of natural habitat.
Natural habitat is what helps protect us from the climate changes as they occur. Our task is to enhance that natural habitat, not strip it bare, which leaves us more unsupported. And we can do this.
~~
Looking for one single cause of "climate change" in the thought that eliminating this one cause would solve the issue is simplistic: the situation is far more complex than this.
I think we may live in a time of warming. And perhaps also in a time of cooling. We live in a time of greater extremes between both ends, perhaps.
The ultimate point is to regard all this as training.
And much of the hardship is that we're not prepared for it. As with any training. We learn from the soreness after each obstacle.
~~
Of all the things we might be able to change, perhaps the global temperature is the most remote and the least likely. But I do think that if we could deal with the natural world in a more respectful manner, we might somehow find ourselves in more temperate climes.
I think that we have to save all that can be saved, and re-plant what can be grown, and adapt, and survive, as best we can, along with all the wildlife and the plant life.
The world is changing. Our imperative is not to try to stop the change (since we are not even agreed as to its nature) but to adapt to the changing conditions and strive to produce the good, manifest on our planet home.
~~
Talking to a friend in Florida today, she said her heart breaks to learn that the local reefs are dying, bleached by their heatwave this summer. And yet also, marine biologists in recent years have been taking parts of the reef, to grow onshore, to re-plant back in the ocean.
This is the best of humanity. It still exists.
And no, it won't be the same as the original inheritance. But everything is changing, and so everything will change - even what survives and reproduces will change.
~~
Everything will change, except the spirit of goodness, which always lives on.
We will do better to stop arguing over the why and the who of the cause, and to focus on the how of the response.
Plant a trillion trees. Re-plant the reefs. Save all that can be saved. Develop the strength to live in the new conditions. Adapt - develop the strength.
This, I think, is actually the story of life. And we are in it. And we can choose our part to play.
~~
Two cents.
Posted by: Grieved | Jul 28 2023 2:56 utc | 98
This is a forward by Eric Draitser of Counterpunch for an article by Boris Kagarlitsky, who was recently arrested in Russia for his criticism of the of the war on his blog. He has been released but he does face charges (?)..I do not know enough about Kagarlitsky to make a judgement about his legal situation, but I can say for a fact that if Eric Draitser is supporting him that I am leery of him, and his views, already. Eric is one of those "lefties" at Counterpunch who turned into a neo-liberal and now supports Biden's proxy war against Russia.
In his introduction to Boris Kagarlitsky article that you can read at today's Counterpunch, he says this: "I am fortunate enough to call Boris a comrade and have welcomed him to Counterpunch Radio several times, including last September when he and I discussed the motivations behind Putin’s criminal war, the role of NATO, Russian imperialism... "Boris’s detention is also a reminder of the cancerous politics of the utterly discredited and morally bankrupt sections of the Left that have downplayed Russian crimes, tacitly or overtly justified Russian aggression under the false banner of “anti-imperialism,” and otherwise provided left-wing cover for this war of imperial revanchism."
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/07/27/idiots-no-longer-useful/
I think that Eric should look at Joe Bidens overt aggression against people like Julian Assange and concern himself issues like the US/NATO international imperial revanchism in Vietnam, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean Basin, which Eric seems to have no problem with. So, fuck you, Eric.
---------------------------------------------------
Renowned author, sociologist, and dissident Boris Kagarlitsky has been arrested on trumped-up political charges. Whether he’s facing indictments for “promoting extremism” or “discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” or “terrorism” or “treason” is a distinction without a difference in contemporary Russia, where political show trials have become the norm for those who choose the speak the truth about Russia’s criminal war in Ukraine and its degenerate ruling class of oligarchs and Kremlin apparatchiks.
As of this writing, Kagarlitsky has been sent to pre-trial detention in the remote republic of Komi, an isolated territory just west of the Ural Mountains, where he awaits a kangaroo court “trial” set for September 24, 2023. It is no coincidence that he has been sent to this isolated region where even his legal representatives have difficulty reaching him, rather than being held in Moscow or St. Petersburg, where he might have access to a network of supporters, friends, journalists and fellow activists.
Boris Kagarlitsky has for decades been a powerful voice for socialism and Marxism in Russia and around the world. His arrest and detention only further illustrate the power of his incisive analysis and steadfast determination to resist the increasingly authoritarian and fascist nature of Putin’s Russia. While this isn’t his first arrest – he faced charges several years ago as a candidate for Moscow city government office – this latest repression is concerning as the Russian state has imposed increasingly draconian charges and sentences for even minor antiwar activities.
CounterPunch has been publishing Kagarlitsky’s writing for years. I am fortunate enough to call Boris a comrade and have welcomed him to CounterPunch Radio several times, including last September when he and I discussed the motivations behind Putin’s criminal war, the role of NATO, Russian imperialism, and much more. Boris’s detention is also a reminder of
the cancerous politics of the utterly discredited and morally bankrupt sections of the Left that have downplayed Russian crimes, tacitly or overtly justified Russian aggression under the false banner of “anti-imperialism,” and otherwise provided left-wing cover for this war of imperial revanchism.
CounterPunch is proud to stand with Boris Kagarlitsky and to oppose this political persecution at the hands of Putin’s regime. We demand his immediate release and stand in solidarity with all his colleagues at Rabkor, throughout Russia, and worldwide.
Eric Draitser
July 26, 2023
Posted by: Ed | Jul 28 2023 3:09 utc | 99
Posted by: Ed | Jul 28 2023 3:09 utc | 98
I apologize, I loaded this comment on the wrong site by mistake. I re-loaded it on the "Ukraine only" site, please ignore it.
Thank You,
Ed
Posted by: Ed | Jul 28 2023 3:31 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 27 2023 12:44 utc | 280 (from last UKR thread)
I knew Freeman Dyson, and we had many discussions, about CO2 and other topics.
The idea that he was guilty of "group think" is just absurd.
Posted by: Cindy Martin | Jul 27 2023 13:25 utc | 1