News & views (not related the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) …
Back to Main
May 1, 2024
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2024-124
Comments
Doing wonderful job. Pretty sure you will feel better soon 💪🏻💪🏻.
Posted by: Ath | May 1 2024 8:08 utc | 1
Glad you’re back, b. Thanks for sharing all the gory details. Get well soon!
Posted by: Mr P | May 1 2024 8:11 utc | 2
Gute Besserung, b
Egyptians are fed up with softpower manipulation tactics
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/522876/Egypt/Politics-/Bloomberg-corrects-inaccurate-social-media-posts-a.aspx
Posted by: Minaa | May 1 2024 8:13 utc | 4
Get well, b! We’ll hold the fort while you’re away! 🙂
OK, got that everybody? Nobody click on thirsty chick links, it just encourages them. 😉
Posted by: titmouse | May 1 2024 8:23 utc | 5
great to see you back, Bernhard.
I/we were getting worried by your long absence
Rest up & get well.
Posted by: michaelj72 | May 1 2024 8:26 utc | 6
Glad you’re back, b. Take your time to recover. Funny how some here were already digging your grave. To the point of publishing your personal address. Though they did it out of panic, concern and affection for you, it shows how much they too should take some time off MoA to cure their addiction and realise you have a life beside this blog.
Posted by: xiao pignouf | May 1 2024 8:35 utc | 7
So very, very glad you are sort of back. We were all genuinely worried.
Posted by: watcher | May 1 2024 8:44 utc | 8
I’m sure most barflies will remember the Czech Republic expelling 18 Russian diplomats in 2021 over the 2014 arms warehouse explosions in Vrbetice that the Czech authorities said were the results of Russian military intelligence sabotage.
You would imagine the evidence would be conclusive to cause such a diplomatic spat, yet the Czech police announced earlier this week that the case has been closed with zero criminal charges filed.
Predictably there’s no mea culpa, just more weasel words from the head of the NCOZ, the Czech national police service, Jiri Mazanek, who tells us Sherlock Holmes style that:
“Russian military intelligence had the means to cause explosions” and “one can only assume what tasks” they carried out.
Case closed!
What’s interesting is the curious resonance this has with the recent arson & espionage charges leveled at 5 defendents here in the UK, two of whom are being charged under the brand new ‘National Security Act’ (used for the first time in a legal case) for burning down a Ukrainian owned parcel delivery warehouse, which somehow benefited the Russian state!
None of the case makes any real sense & I imagine it will eventually emerge that these patsies were set up by British intelligence to scare the natives and allow Foreign Office diplomats to tell us the UK is “deeply concerned by allegations of Russian-orchestrated malign activity on UK soil” and the drearily predictable:
“We will continue to work with our allies to deter and defend against the full spectrum of threats that emanate from Russia”
Sources:
https://www.rt.com/news/596808-czech-police-russian-intel-explosions
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68899130
Posted by: FakeBelieve | May 1 2024 8:54 utc | 9
I am so relieved you are back! we are all addicted to you, b, you know….how does it feel to have such a fan base?
I was beside myself with worry, as it seems many others were.
For the future, please appoint a trusted second-in-command for emergencies. One never knows when and how these happen….after all, according to silly van Leyden and Stoltenberg-the-fool, Russia is already making its way to Germany, skipping Poland….and the Liliputian baltics…
Posted by: Merlin2 | May 1 2024 9:08 utc | 10
I forgot to add: Happy May Day/International Workers Day to all the barflies & of course to B. to whom I wish blessings and a speedy recovery.
Posted by: FakeBelieve | May 1 2024 9:15 utc | 11
As this blog is neither about me nor about general medical issues I do ask all of you to refrain from publicly commenting those.
Too much to ask in a bar full of people that question everything!
Mate, you just revealed that you are a relative young person if this is your first experience with a numb forearm/shoulder pain combined with abscess in upper part of the leg.
Get a Schrebergarten and start gardening at least twice a week. Don’t forget to drink 2+ liter of pure water while sitting behind the screen.
Posted by: Framarz | May 1 2024 9:42 utc | 12
Hello b, Thank you for describing the reason for the absence. Unnecessary but appreciated. Heal well!
b… Please note that one of the commenters shockingly and foolishly wrote your physical address in a comment. This is something that should never ever be revealed in a public forum. Please find and delete it. Perhaps the person who wrote it could identify which post and approximately where it can be found.
Posted by: petra | May 1 2024 10:06 utc | 13
Happy international workers day to all, particularly B, among the very best worker in our beloved field.
Posted by: Garrett Wyse | May 1 2024 10:08 utc | 14
Dear b,
So sorry to hear about your health incident and so happy to hear that you are recovering. My father, back when he practiced medicine in a hospital, had a couple of scrapes with nasty bugs and I’ve had a couple myself along the way. Thank goodness for modern medicine. My thoughts are with you.
Posted by: Clever Dog | May 1 2024 10:21 utc | 15
It looks as if B’s request to us barflies not to discuss his recent medical issues (and locking the comments thread attached to his post) was made in vain. Any comments that would have appeared there are appearing here instead!
Glad to see B is recovering from his recent medical indignity.
Posted by: Refinnejenna | May 1 2024 10:22 utc | 16
b, you have been through an ordeal and now you must rest.Thoughts are with you and gratitude for your recovery.
Thank goodness you are back and will be fine.
Take care and don’t scare us again like that.
Posted by: JB | May 1 2024 11:05 utc | 18
b. please do not feel obliged to tell us anything about your private business. AFAIC, I had little doubt that you had your business and were eminently capable of minding your life as you see fit. I’m disappointed at the way some posters over reacted as they did, however the way you read that is also your business. Whilst you could look on the bright side of this and see it as evidence of others’ concern; it is also your business just as if you see the reaction from those eager to thrust your life into their hang ups and desire to believe the world isn’t anything but conspiracies centering around them and their actions. If you decide as I did the way they believe they are justified to shout another bloke’s business across the ‘net as a regrettable & intrusive fact, that is also a thoroughly justifiable position. I wouldn’t be surprised if you oscillated between the two.
I won’t finish this with some cliche about “that being the price of celebrity/popularity” because really, it isn’t.
Reading and/or contributing to this site gives no-one but you the right to comment on your life.
Posted by: Debsisdead | May 1 2024 11:05 utc | 19
Yay, B! Good to have you back. Everyone missed you.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | May 1 2024 11:19 utc | 20
B. It would certainly be in order to post your “poor poet” request for funds on the front page now.
There must be many people,like me, who have realised how much they would miss this blog if it disappeared for good.
Posted by: Another Thing | May 1 2024 11:30 utc | 21
Just to follow up to my posts @418 & 419 in the last Open (not Ukraine or Palestine) thread. Musings on Shake Shack’s expansion into Canada and whether those links I mentioned are intelligence leaks (not ClA), telling us it’s a front for narcotics trafficking. Somehow. Or something.
b, so glad you are back. Sorry to hear about your recent health challenge, very glad to hear you received proper care. This is not about you though – so. Back to Shake Shack. A classic American success story, started as a hot dog stand in NYC. Except it’s not outta NYC no more, it’s a West Coast property, owned by Los Angeles-based, Leonard Green & Partners.
A quick Google search revealed no links between L. Green and Ukraine. I thought about Mexico (Daily Mail wedding menu story, narcotics). They also own Velvet Taco. Which is a fast food chain which offers a Velvet Room through its app (Am I in the 70’s?? Did I just time warp?) It’s a loyalty program.
“You must be a member of The Velvet Room loyalty program to unlock the “Secret” Backdoor Menu. When you first join The Velvet Room, you will start as a member of the Kick Ass loyalty tier. You will need to level up and reach the Bad Ass or Hard Ass loyalty tiers to unlock the “Secret” Backdoor Menu. You can earn points to level up by ordering qualifying food and beverages at participating Velvet Taco locations. All Velvet Room members who have reached the Bad Ass and Hard Ass loyalty tiers will automatically unlock access to our “Secret” Backdoor Menu online and via the Velvet Taco app.”
https://www.velvettaco.com/velvet-room-faqs/
Or something. Hell-A.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | May 1 2024 11:32 utc | 22
Просто собственное наблюдение, связанное со здоровьем. Может и не по теме. Мучился долгое время, пока после поездки в Индию 15 лет назад не стал пользоваться местным методом вместо туалетной бумаги…
Posted by: Shshakyam | May 1 2024 12:02 utc | 23
Heal up B!! An interesting story that I’m sure you never want to live through again.
I’m curious what IV bug juice they had you on, I used to be a hospital pharm tech long ago. I made or unfroze lots and lots of that stuff…
Posted by: DakotaRog | May 1 2024 12:07 utc | 24
I am happy to be proved wrong and b was not whisked off to some deep German Dungeon. It unfortunately shows just how much I trust Governments (Not at all).
Best wishes b.
🇨🇳 China’s spy chief Chen Yixin vowed to launch a “powerful offensive” to combat espionage – Bloomberg
The country must “continue to conduct counterintelligence operations and improve the mechanism for coordinating counterintelligence work.” China must “resolutely root out the ‘nails’ and eliminate the traitors.” (c) Chen Yixin
🇿🇦 South Africa does not recognize the sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia, bypassing the UN, the South African Presidency says
According to media reports, South Africa last week chartered a Russian Il-76 aircraft to deliver military cargo to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The plane belongs to Aviacon Zitotrans, which is under US and UK sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
The South African contingent is deployed in the eastern DRC as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping force to improve the situation in the region, which has been destabilized by rebels, mainly those of the March 23 Movement (M23).
Posted by: anon2020 | May 1 2024 12:12 utc | 26
Welcome back b! You had us all worried. There was some speculation that you were posting as SexyKitty21, but I never believed it. 😂. Mend well and quickly.
Posted by: KMRIA | May 1 2024 12:30 utc | 27
Great news, welcome back.
Priority after heavy antibiotics is to restore healthy gut Flora. Genuine, naturally fermented sauerkraut; strictly avoid processed foods and sweets which grow harmful populations. Takes time, but a critical issue for long-term health.
Thank you so much for your blog. I very much miss your articles which have been reading for over a decade. They are of the best available in the world these days. Be well.
Phew! Glad you’re enjoying rest and respite. More than 72 hours absence worries anyone!
I look in on elderly neighbour if haven’t seen or heard from him for that long. Not that you are either.
So I’ll shelve the increasing probability of your demise by Mossad and Gestapo agents!
For now. 😈
Well there’s a bit to catch up:-
little Britains hypersonics being newest chuckle brothers slapstick.
Joining the F35’s daily debacle of non -operational standards.
The parade of natzo trophies in Moscow this week.
The unusual back to the future student uprisings of the hippy era which didn’t stop the South East Asian adventure , but just seemed to provide some counterpoint to its intensification.
Of course the ever more demented Stoltenberg with his puppeteers pulling his arm and hand strings in inhuman motions!
And did they , didn’t they? Your analysis on Escobars ‘scoop’..
Let’s not forget – XI IN EUROPE- especially Serbia on the 25th anniversary of the Chinese embassy bombing, there’s some natzo payback involved I’m sure. Seeing he is just a hop and skip from Moscow – I’m sure a quick tour of the Fearsum Natzo Wuderwaffen could be added to his itinerary – imagine the visuals of that on the unipolar muppets – they’ll likely test some strings!
The world is moving faster – towards the inevitable Culmination and I’m glad you’re back in the pilots seat to guide us through it.
Posted by: DunGroanin | May 1 2024 12:44 utc | 29
Priority after heavy antibiotics is to restore healthy gut Flora. Genuine, naturally fermented sauerkraut; strictly avoid processed foods and sweets which grow harmful populations. Takes time, but a critical issue for long-term health.
Posted by: Scorpion | May 1 2024 12:42 utc | 27
______
Yogurt too — the real stuff, not the sugary fruit-flavored candy of course, which is inimical to recovery.
Posted by: malenkov | May 1 2024 13:01 utc | 30
Great stuff Bernhard … perseverance and thumbing for a full recovery.
As I understand, after a tune-up the motor runs smoother and wishing you a long life. Fortunately no tentacles of the Beast got to you.
Imagine Peace ☮️
Georgia seems to be heading for a failed color coup…
Guess nato will have to make do with Armenia…
Posted by: Newbie | May 1 2024 13:06 utc | 33
I had the exact same thing on my back about 6 years ago. My wife had insisted on trying to ‘pop a pimple’ which was too far under the skin to actually be a pimple. About a year later I was in the hospital having it removed after it grew to the size of an extremely painful golf ball within a day. Medical care in Germany is supposed to be among the best in the world so we trust you are well!!!
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 1 2024 13:07 utc | 34
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2611-3.html
This is the RAND report and it’s a long boring, dumb read. Why? Unlike other commentary on RAND (such as bring Russia to its knees), it seems vague and unproscriptive to me. Like some History Ph.D’s needed a job and this was it. It barely mentions military overextension and offers windy examples of nations that later came back after national decay. If this is the best the US has to offer, they’re doomed.
Posted by: Eighthman | May 1 2024 13:09 utc | 35
Perianal abcesses are nothing to disregard! I hope they checked for nerve impingement in the cervical spine concerning your left arm sensation; hardly uncommon for anyone who spends lots of time on a computer,
Posted by: nardami | May 1 2024 13:12 utc | 36
Police brutality
https://twitter.com/i/status/1785469886539465156
People protesting arrests of protesters
https://twitter.com/i/status/1785489234117202204
zionist students attacking protesters with fireworks into crowd
https://twitter.com/i/status/1785551273930133918
https://twitter.com/i/status/1785652093765722303
Posted by: ld | May 1 2024 13:16 utc | 38
… If this is the best the US has to offer, they’re doomed.
Posted by: Eighthman | May 1 2024 13:09 utc | 34
It would be natural to shut down previously informative sources given increasingly high stakes of the conflict. Doesn’t mean the strategising isn’t taking place, far from it, just that it’s not being given away for free in public reports anymore.
Posted by: anon2020 | May 1 2024 13:21 utc | 39
I’m very pleased to hear that you’re recovering well b. Best wishes for your recovery.
It almost makes you have sympathy for Lloyd Austin.
Happy International Workers Day to all.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | May 1 2024 13:31 utc | 40
b, good to hear you are on the mend, not quite the Clancyesque ending some were suggesting…..get lots of rest….the bar was a little rowdy, the flies were a little testy, some likely tipsy…..wading through the Spanglish lessons though, was a pain in the ass, pun intended.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 1 2024 13:37 utc | 41
Thanks for the health update. We’ll all be here when you feel better.
Posted by: jo6pac | May 1 2024 13:38 utc | 42
“IOW, we’re about to watch a replay of 2020 when the demonstrations started ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PEACEFULLY (emphasis due to some regulars here routine mocking the media’s “mostly peaceful” statements) and devolved into police state violence, vigilantism, businesses burned, people shot in the streets, etc.”
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 1 2024 4:43 utc | 149
That is complete bullshit, Tom; the Antifa demonstrations were financed and organized by George Soros and they were violent. They burned buildings and looted businesses.
And when the violent perpetrators were put in jail, Soros DA’s had them out within hours to cause more havoc.
Your post basically supports Soros and the WEF-don’t be a gullible Fool these forces are on the other side!!
Posted by: canuck | May 1 2024 9:53 utc | 150
You’re not being remotely coherent. Whether anything was funded by anyone else or not, the timeline is excessively clear, mountain man. No violence happened until cops cracked down. You weren’t even paying attention until they did either, so you might at least pour some gravy on that boot you’re licking ya piece of shit liar.”
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 1 2024 13:14 utc | 151
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 1 2024 13:14 utc | 151
Once more Tom, just like your humorous malarkey that the Aztecs didn’t sacrifice thousands of Indigenous peoples pre Columbian history you allow your fervent emotional ideology to distort proven historical reality.
And, if that’s not enough you profanely malign anyone who takes the other side of the argument-“‘pour some gravy on that boot you’re licking ya piece of liar shit”
I won’t use profanity or bad manners to counter your rather pathetic, juvenile attack; I believe most posters will decide that, indeed, you are the mendacious one, not myself.
Posted by: canuck | May 1 2024 13:36 utc | 152
the german medical system appears to have its shit together.. kudos on that…
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 13:56 utc | 44
This is all seeming more and more like 1968 to me.
Biden is LBJ; will he resign in favor of some more presentable party hack? Bernie would be perfect as Humphrey, sure to lose to Trump.
Trump is Nixon, the right wing savior who will go down in a paranoid fugue/CIA managed scandal.
And the deep state, still the deep state, incompetent root and branch, and yet firmly in control of the sinking ship.
The young, unhappy with the future their elders have selected for them, starting to get worked up, with police violence the answer to their complaints.
And still six months to go until the election.
History does not repeat, but it rhymes from time to time.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2024 14:17 utc | 48
There have been comments in recent posts from friends here on the prophetic nature of Dostoievski’s The Devils[Western title “The Possessed”. In light of current history,and it being now midweek Orthodox Holy Week,. perhaps it is time to discuss that novel in detail. (All who don’t wish to, feel free to ignore me; I will not mind a bit.)
First, with those above contrasting titles in mind, I will give the author’s preliminary epigraphs in two separate segments, though they appear on a single page in my Andrew R. McAndrew translation, Signet Classic paperback, copyright 1962 (priced 4.50):
Can’t be helped, the track is covered.
Hopeless! We have lost our way.
Demons must have taken over,
Whirling, twisting us astray.
………………………………….
Look at them! They’re everywhere!
Hear the mournful tune they make!
What, a witch’s wedding fare?
Or a goblin’s gloomy wake?
(from “The Demons,”
by Alexander Pushkin)
This is the first part of the full epigraph, and is printed as I have given it, in italics.
Posted by: juliania | May 1 2024 14:20 utc | 49
This is the first part of the full epigraph, and is printed as I have given it, in italics.
Posted by: juliania | May 1 2024 14:20 utc | 49
Do continue, I will look forward to it. As I just posted there, it seems very apropos for the times.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2024 14:30 utc | 50
Glad you are recovering b! I was worried, like many at the bar
Posted by: Thirsty | May 1 2024 14:30 utc | 51
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2611-3.html
This is the RAND report and it’s a long boring, dumb read. Why? Unlike other commentary on RAND (such as bring Russia to its knees), it seems vague and unproscriptive to me. Like some History Ph.D’s needed a job and this was it. It barely mentions military overextension and offers windy examples of nations that later came back after national decay. If this is the best the US has to offer, they’re doomed.
Posted by: Eighthman | May 1 2024 13:09 utc | 35
Hegemons don’t regenerate, but they can co opt a rising power. (that’s how some last more than a century and some decades)
Posted by: Newbie | May 1 2024 14:30 utc | 52
Wow. So glad that abscess was caught in time. The Whisky Bar was so down and out and crazed by the thought of losing b, our guide, our lamp, our brilliant host who provides us an oasis of sanity amidst the turmoil of a new world order aborning.
And now JOY. B is back.
Heal thyself well.
Posted by: suzan | May 1 2024 14:38 utc | 53
Regarding we barflies’ psychological attachment to to b; abscess makes the heart grow fonder.
Posted by: Andrew Celestina | May 1 2024 14:39 utc | 54
Posted by: canuck | May 1 2024 13:44 utc | 43
LOL I have literally zero idea what is happening with your bizarre, incoherent posts at the moment. All sorts of strange numbers and timestamps with no ties to reality. Kind of like yourself, I guess!
You started of by calling me “full of shit”, ya moron. So you opened up with the name calling and cursing and all of it, ya dopey old man.
That said, 2 things:
1) The only thing I’ve ever challenged and completely shut your arse down on re: Aztecs and human sacrifice is the count. You prefer to believe a fairy tale science fiction version in which the Aztecs were capable of slicing the abdomen of 40 people open every 30 seconds for a span of 50 years straight. LOL. I prefer to stay in reality.
2) I challenge your old ass to actually put together a timeline of the 2020 George Floyd/BLM protests. Document the first instances of violence, but more importantly the first storefronts burned and the first looting. Let me know how many weeks (or months!) after the main protesting started those other things began to happen. Also, in each case show me when the police in that particular city cracked down compared to when subsequent violence started. You can even use your (bullshit) example of pallets of bricks – which I believe were right here in Texas.
Get to work, old man.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 1 2024 14:39 utc | 55
Yes, do please get cracking to restore your gut flora as soon as the antibiotics start. Most of you is, or rather are, the bacteria for whom you are just another German transit system. Someone (whose name I’ll never reference) mentioned sauerkraut — just one of the totally excellent cultured products I’ve savored lately. (I was just on a ten-day regimen of knock-out antibiotics after a dog bite.)
El Cerrito Natural Grocery (just across the street from me, here in Richmond Annex) has a shelf full of exotic sauerkraut ideas I’d never imagined. I’m sampling ’em one by one. Then there’s the Korean kimchi — the Universal Emperor of cultured foods. OMG, check out the kimchi if you can find any. The straight stuff is too strong, so I cut it with olives and grated cabbage, carrots, bok choy for a palette-waking side dish.
Not to mention cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir… Shake hands with all the bacteria on your grocery shelf. Those bugs are your best friends.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 1 2024 14:40 utc | 56
Too painterly by half, there. I meant to say that kimchi is palate-waking. Like nothing else.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 1 2024 14:44 utc | 57
Iran supplied attack drone uses optical target lock during final approach.
https://t.me/UAVDEV/6390
Ansar Allah publishes footage of the Samad-3 kamikaze drone attack on the CYCLADES container ship in the Red Sea.
Notably, the drone has a target lock, like a lancet. It’s done in OpenCV and it’s crooked, it loses its purpose in the end, but the fact itself is impressive.
Let me remind you that the Ukrainian superpower still does not have auto-capture (except for one strange video, more like a montage).
Posted by: anon2020 | May 1 2024 14:51 utc | 59
Welcome back B! I just wanted to add my own well wishes. I am sure you have seen how much people care about you. Take whatever time you need to rest up, the rest of us can just chill.
It warmed my heart to see how loyal the community is and how much they cherish Moon of Alabama, and you sir.
It is my understanding that, post antibiotics, what nourishes gut flora and fauna is roughage. It’s what they eat. But I would definitely add yogurt to that menu. 😁
Posted by: David G Horsman | May 1 2024 14:56 utc | 60
There are many memorable scenes in The Possessed (perhaps best to call the novel by that nane so as not to confuse it with Ken Russell’s film). My favourite is near the end, when the murdering ‘socialist’ provocateur has to leave town in a hurry, and gets an upgrade to the first class coach.
Posted by: Alex Cox | May 1 2024 14:57 utc | 61
Here is the second part of the epigraph to the novel “The Demons”, which title McAndrew (or his editor) has changed to “The Possessed”:
And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.
Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked.
When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.
Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
…………………………..(Luke 8:32-37)
Posted by: juliania | May 1 2024 15:01 utc | 62
b, I’d like to add my voice to all the well wishers.
Sounds like you had quite a trauma.
Get well soon. This place is not the same without you.
As they say: life’s a bitch, then you live.
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 1 2024 15:14 utc | 63
“As this blog is neither about me nor about general medical issues I do ask all of you to refrain from publicly commenting those.
Thank you for your patience.”
Posted by b at 7:52 UTC | Comments (0)
Lol. You are very humble b. And your request flies in the face of human nature. It might save you more trouble in the end to open up the comments on that thread so people can wish you well.
Posted by: David G Horsman | May 1 2024 15:16 utc | 64
At times, an abscess in that area links directly to the gut an so, hard to heal if ever. Hopefully that is not the case. I was in hospital one time and a young bloke in the same ward had one in the same place that had come down from the gut. Talk about getting a new a hole….
I guess b wont be sitting in front of a laptop for a bit.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 1 2024 15:19 utc | 65
@ juliania | May 1 2024 15:01 utc | 62
Maybe because I was put together wrong on the humanoid assembly line, that’s one of the Jesus stories which never made any sense to me. I always felt sorry for the pigs, who didn’t do anything to deserve such an awful fate. Next thing, our hungry miracle-worker scourges a fig tree, seemingly out of spite, as it’s not the season for figs. Poor confused soul, seems to have a savior/martyr complex or somthing.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 1 2024 15:20 utc | 66
22 minute interview with alex krainer.. i think this guy is very good at articulating much of the problem here…
Russia and the West Finally Decoded
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 15:42 utc | 68
Welcome back, B. I’ve had septicemia, going septic, & am alive today only due to action of a very, very good dentist. Be assured you missed a miserable experience with lifelong consequences.
Yoghurt, organic & plain with no sweeteners, will give you good replacement gut flora.
Posted by: Mary | May 1 2024 15:49 utc | 69
I too celebrate b’s triumph over what began as something simple, which ought to serve as a lesson to all barflies regardless of age or perceptions of their health.
Pepe Escobar has finished his trip to Brazil and is headed back to Eurasia. He has filed a report that was published by SCF, “BRIC-o-rama: on the road in Brazil, with an eye on Russia-China”. Pepe’s delightful recap of his trip contains some very serious business as revealed wihin this one segment:
And then, as I was on the road between Rio and Minas Gerais, the BRICS 10 Ministers of Economy and heads of Central Banks met in Sao Paulo: and all of them hailed the drive towards “independent” payment settlement mechanisms. Russia is the 2024 president of this crucial group.
Russian Vice-Minister of Finance, Ivan Chebeskov, went straight to the point: “Most countries agree that payment in national currencies is what the BRICS need.” The Russian Ministry of Finance privileges the creation of a common digital platform congregating the BRICS Central Banks’ digital currencies and their national systems of transmitting financial messages.
Crucially, at this BRICS 10 meeting, most members stressed they are in favor of totally bypassing the U.S. dollar for trading.
Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov was even bolder: he said that Russia is proposing to BRICS the creation of an independent and “de-politicized” global system of payments.
Siluanov hinted that the system may be based on blockchain – considering its low cost and minimal control exercised by the Hegemon.
That whole process is proceeding as anticipated with the basis being built on the new digital central bank currencies being created by all nations large and small.
As for the future of Brazil and all Latin America, the main battle has yet to be fought. Trump gave part of it away when he proposed sanctioning all nations refusing to use the dollar in trade. What will likely happen is a mafia-like edict: If you want access to the US market, then you must use the dollar in all your international commerce transactions; otherwise, no access. The other major battle will be over energy with a new attempt to take over Venezuela or at least its Orinoco province where the hydrocarbons are concentrated.
which ought to serve as a lesson to all barflies regardless of age or perceptions of their health
Exactly ! And which can be summed up into this simple recommandation : do not sit too long in front of your computer, move, drink, walk, go out. And fuck (or wank) if you still can.
Posted by: xiao pignouf | May 1 2024 17:41 utc | 71
For those who think the seizing of Russian assets is unprecedented, consider this LA Times newspaper page from a few months before Pearl Harbor (mentioned by Gerald Celente in a recent interview):
https://www.newspapers.com/image/380779834/
US, Britain Freeze Japanese Assets (“in retaliation…”). “Action may cut off Oil… ”
They also froze China’s assets, allegedly at the request of the military government of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek,
presumably so the Japanese controlled regions would be denied.
They would love to have an excuse to do that to China. Meanwhile they were feeding weapons to those fighting Japan,
sending “volunteers” and pre-positioning aircraft and materiel for the upcoming war.
Posted by: Billb | May 1 2024 18:17 utc | 72
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 15:42 utc | 68
Fantastic link to Alex Krainor interview. Wish all the Putinphobes could see this.
Relieved to hear you are still here B!!
Posted by: UmpireofLies | May 1 2024 18:32 utc | 73
Good to have you back b. We need a May 1 sitrep. All best to the workers of the world.
Posted by: Patroklos | May 1 2024 19:29 utc | 74
Brief primer on political/economic history of the last century in Argentina …
…. a sad story. [30 mins]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt1ftNPbX0w
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 1 2024 19:33 utc | 75
Lieber ein Abszess am After als ein –
A) deutscher Burschenschaftler
B) links-gruen-schwarz-gelber Wissenschaftler
C) schlafender Kraftwagenfahrer
D) …
E) …
Suggestions welcome!
Gute Besserung!
Posted by: El.Lissitzky | May 1 2024 20:34 utc | 77
They would love to have an excuse to do that to China. Meanwhile they were feeding weapons to those fighting Japan,
sending “volunteers” and pre-positioning aircraft and materiel for the upcoming war.
Posted by: Billb | May 1 2024 18:17 utc | 72
What is this ‘opportunity’ nonsense? They do what they think they can get away with, then make up a story about it. They can’t get away with seizing Chinese assets: A) Western fixed assets in China are worth far more that Chinese fixed assets in the west. B) It would mean an immediate cessation of trade. The US is in no way prepared for this. It would break the power base. China, on the other hand, no longer needs western trade. It is not a profit-driven economy, and its partnership with Russia make the two together the nearest thing to an autarky ever seen in the modern world. The west needs Chinese manufactures far more than the Chinese need western fiat currency, or anything they can buy from the west.
All talk about asset seizures, trade wars or military actions vs China are pure propaganda. There is no scenario in which the US can prevail.
Posted by: Honzo | May 1 2024 20:38 utc | 78
Maybe because I was put together wrong on the humanoid assembly line, that’s one of the Jesus stories which never made any sense to me. I always felt sorry for the pigs, who didn’t do anything to deserve such an awful fate. Next thing, our hungry miracle-worker scourges a fig tree, seemingly out of spite, as it’s not the season for figs. Poor confused soul, seems to have a savior/martyr complex or somthing.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 1 2024 15:20 utc | 66
Thanks, Aleph! i think it is fine that you didn’t like either of these results — first, it wasn’t Jesus who caused the pigs to panic – it was their being unable to ‘host’ the demons. Which says a lot for pig character, as does your sympathy for them. So, both you and the pigs are reacting humanely. Just as the man who has been their previous host, in his manic behavior, is demonstrating his own affinity with the pigs. All creation, having been created good, cannot bear evil cohabiting with it.
As to the fig tree also, you display appropriate sympathy for a vegetative soul; I don’t think there’s anyone who could not be sympathetic to the tree, (which then suffers an even harsher condemnation, not because it is hosting a demon but simply because it hasn’t been tended properly.) I don’t remember that Dostoievski uses the latter as an example anywhere, but the story of the pigs does finally feature in “The Possessed”, with Stepan having the same reaction you have — sympathy for the pigs (one of whom is his only son.)
My children also when little, on seeing the icon of Saint George slaying the dragon, always had great sympathy for the dragon. Plus, you can see that the horse would also rather be anywhere else but there. At least, that is how I paint the scene.
I haven’t painted the fig tree subject yet, but now maybe I will. It does remind me of God asking Jonah: ‘Do you have sympathy for the plant? Then how much more ought you sympathize with Nineveh as I have done!’ (Something on that order – I didn’t look up the actual quote as it comes at the end of the Book of Job.) An icon subject would be to have both scenes represented, though the difficulty would be the representation of God — ah, it could be done symbolically with a hand reaching down from the corner of the scene. Thank you again, Aleph! I will do it!
Christ is behaving very humanly there, very like Jonah, isn’t he? Or very like the Russian type of saintly fool, shocking us into having objections to their behavior, and so having to think seriously about our own lukewarm attitudes.
Posted by: juliania | May 1 2024 20:39 utc | 79
Die besten Wünsche für eine schnelle Heilung auch von mir! Ein Glück, dass das deutsche Gesundheitswesen einigermassen funktioniert. Und bei dieser Gelegenheit vielen Dank für die vielen Infos, auf die ich und viele Andere keinen Zugriff hätten. Dennoch, jetzt bloss nichts überstürzen, vielleicht wär mal eine nicht von der Gesundheit diktierte Pause angesagt…
Posted by: Zack15 | May 1 2024 20:52 utc | 81
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 15:42 utc | 68
I found that video hard to follow. Maybe there was one short key sentence in there I missed. I downloaded his book The Grand Deception : the appendix at the end reports how Jacob Rothschild took over Yukoil in 2003 after another oligarch was kicked out. What is Krainer’s thrust, do you know? I didn’t get it. Unless it is that the West and Russia should be friends.
Meanwhile, I recommend checking out some videos by the Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov. There are several longer ones on Youtube, this is a short one explaining the 4 stages involved in subverting a polity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9CJmvBXNTc&pp=ygUNeXVyaSBiZXptZW5vdg%3D%3D
1. Demoralization (accomplished in the US over 30 years ago)
2. Destabilization (happening now)
3. Crisis – a short, climactic event
4. Normalization (‘new normal’)
The remedy is to restore traditional values with a sense of patriotism.
Now: maybe this guy is a bad actor; and/or maybe his information, though accurate then, is out of date now. But very interesting if you never heard him before.
Aleph_Null | May 1 2024 15:20 utc | 66
*** I always felt sorry for the pigs, who didn’t do anything to deserve such an awful fate. ***
And if the herders owned the pigs, presumably that was them made destitute.
Therefore one life salvaged, at the cost of several innocent others…..
Similarly, a problem with the lost sheep story — while the shepherds went off to look for the lost one, did the rest of the (now abandoned) flock get eaten by wolves or whatever?
Posted by: Cynic | May 1 2024 22:44 utc | 84
Two efforts today get me back up-to-date reporting events. “Putin at the Meeting of the Council of Legislators,” https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-at-the-meeting-of-the-council and “Opening Remarks on Economic Issues, https://karlof1.substack.com/p/opening-remarks-on-economic-issues Provided the opportunity for some extended commentary on those topics.
Buried within “Plenary session of the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs” is an interesting suggestion as to how Russia in its overseas trade can avoid the further targeted illegal sanctions being issued by the Outlaw US Empire. Of course, many other points were made as that’s what the assembly was all about, https://karlof1.substack.com/p/plenary-session-of-the-congress-of
@ scorpion | May 1 2024 22:10 utc | 83
it is not a long video – 22 minutes.. his ”thrust” is that russia and the usa were once friends and shared in a similiar vision of freedom from imperialism – british… now however the usa and uk do everything together.. so much for independence from the country they were trying to get away from… that is in answer to you and yes, they could be friends but some appear to not want that to happen.. in fact there is a concerted effort to not let that happen… as for the other question on yukos and etc – that is not directly addressed… krainer wrote the book sometime around 2014, but it was revised later and of course much of his commentary on bill browder is very relevant to this demonizing russia with 30 odd countries adopting the magnitsky act in some way shape or form, in spite of this act being based on clear lies that have been fully refuted..
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 22:52 utc | 86
@ Cynic | May 1 2024 22:44 utc | 85
Actually the very notion of Christ as “Good Shepherd” is cringeworthy. After all, it’s the shepherd’s job to care for the sheep…until they’re delivered to slaughter.
Posted by: malenkov | May 1 2024 23:04 utc | 87
Just wanted to drop in and say get well soon, b. Glad to hear you are OK. Please rest up and take care of yourself. We all shall patiently await your return.
Posted by: Arkady Bogdanov | May 1 2024 23:15 utc | 88
FYI Barflies:
The Future of Capitalism: Neo-Feudalism?
May 2, 2024
Location: University of Chicago, Classics Building, Room 110
Website: https://neofeudalismconference.wordpress.com/
Contact: futureofcapitalism.neofeudalism@gmail.com
Registration (virtual/Zoom possible): https://forms.gle/DGoMKANd2uYqD4ct8
Conference Schedule:
Welcome and Coffee (8:30-9:00 AM)
Introduction (9:00-9:20 AM)
1. Environment, Governance, Temporality (9:20-10:50 AM)
Ashima Mittal (UC): “Atmospheric Imperialism and the Reification of Nature”
Paul Forrester (Yale): “ESG and Asset Manager Capitalism”
Hannah Gadbois (UIC): “Going Nowhere at Top Speed: Feudal and Capitalist Temporalities”
2. Land, Rent, Financialization (11:00-12:30 PM)
Jack Votava (Northwestern), “In Praise of Debt? Expectational Power and the Causes of Financial Crisis in Argentina”
James Tierney (Kent): “Financialized Farmland”
Adrián de León Arias (Guadalajara): “Tracking some Features of Neo-feudalism in Thorstein Veblen’s Analytical Contributions”
12:30-1:30PM: Lunch break
3. Humanities Panel (1:30-3:20 PM)
Adam Rensch (BGSU): “Monopoly University: On the Present and Future of Higher Education”
Filippo Petricca (Indiana): “The Old Story of Neo-Feudalism: A Perspective from Literary Studies”
Catherine Liu (UCI): “Diversity and Decadence in the Court of Finance Capital”
4. Political Economy Panel (3:30-4:50 PM)
Radhika Desai (Manitoba): “What’s in a Name? The Misuses of ‘Feudalism’ and ‘Capitalism’”
Michael Hudson (UMKC): “Is the West Regressing into Neofeudalism?”
5. Keynote (5:00-7:00 PM)
Brett Christophers (Uppsala): “Rentier Capitalism and Neoliberalism in the Age of Climate Change”
Posted by: Patroklos | May 1 2024 23:28 utc | 89
#2 – The country’s not only gone full fascist so have the corporations, employees at Boeing must work and live in terror.
Whistleblower Josh Dean of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems has died
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 1 2024 23:28 utc | 90
Phew.
For you b, re your (don’t mention the abscess absence)
And for us @ your whiskey bar
Posted by: Melaleuca | May 1 2024 23:59 utc | 92
Alexander II, the Tear Liberator, helped to assure Union victory in the American Civil War by sending two fleets to San Francisco and New York and moving his army west to the Polish border (where they were needed anyway to put down a Polish revolt. The result was that France and Britain were dissuaded from entering the American war on the Confederate side, as they had been threatening to do.
Shortly after the Union won the war, Russia sold Alaska to the US, to prevent Britain from taking Alaska over.
At that time, relations between the US and Russia were excellent.
Posted by: Lysias | May 2 2024 0:39 utc | 93
As someone who has had several operations, I would concentrate on getting your strength back. It often takes longer than you would expect to get back to full fitness. Eat well, sleep well and when you feel able to, get a little exercise. Then start to change your diet.
Posted by: c_heale | May 2 2024 2:02 utc | 95
Glad you’re back, b. Thanks for sharing all the gory details. Get well soon!
Posted by: Mr P | May 1 2024 8:11 utc | 2
Yeah, man. That sounds terrible, but I’m sure you’ll come back even stronger. Hang in there, old boy.
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 2 2024 2:10 utc | 96
Well, that didn’t take long. Let Red Terror 2.0 soon begin (or its 21st century equivalent). But these are the same sorts of laws that were passed in Russia after their revolution freeing the working man from the oppression of the hateful aristocrats.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/house-gop-passes-controversial-bill-labeling-certain-christian/
House GOP Passes Controversial Bill Labeling Certain Christian Scriptures as ‘Antisemitic,’ Sparking Fears of Criminalizing Religious Beliefs
The House of Representatives passed the “Antisemitism Awareness Act” (H.R. 6090) on Wednesday, which has sparked significant debate over the interpretation of religious texts and the definition of hate speech.
The bill, aimed at curbing hate speech amid heightened tensions on college campuses concerning Israel, has seen a significant majority of Republicans in support, while a coalition of Democrats and Republicans opposed it, citing free speech concerns.
It passed with a vote of 320-91, seeing opposition from 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans. The bill was introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and supported by 15 Democratic co-sponsors.
“I’m proud that my bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, just passed the House of Representatives 320 to 91. This bill has broad, bipartisan support and will begin the process of cracking down on the antisemitism we’ve seen run rampant on college campuses across America,” Rep. Lawler wrote. …..
Definition and examples adopted by the bill:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
1. Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
2. Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective – such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
3. Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
4. Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
5. Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
6. Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
7. Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
8. Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
9. Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
10. Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
11. Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
Rep. Matt Gaetz also criticized the bill, stating that it disregards the Constitution and the common understanding of words.
“This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the “Antisemitism Awareness Act.” Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words,” Gaetz wrote.
They have finally got criticism of Zionism to equal antisemitism and made any expression of that illegal. (Just as I predicted might be the goal of instigating the protests a few days ago.)
And so it begins.
Posted by: james | May 1 2024 22:52 utc | 87
@ scorpion | May 1 2024 22:10 utc | 83
it is not a long video – 22 minutes.. his ”thrust” is that russia and the usa were once friends and shared in a similiar vision of freedom from imperialism – british… now however the usa and uk do everything together.. so much for independence from the country they were trying to get away from…
I see. I guess was looking for an explanation behind the split but never found it. Played it twice. I find his speaking style hard to follow though not his articles. The book they were discussing rebuts another man’s book which know nothing about so that didn’t help either.
Clearly there have been (and always are) bad actors in the mix. Probably every population has 10% superior/admirable people, 10% psychopaths and criminals, and 80% kinda-sorta-okay. Good polities encourage the best to be most productive which benefits all whereas bad polities allow the worst 10% to rise whilst marginalizing the best.
Good leaders have to work with both good and bad members of society which is why they are rarely saints. If a leader – like Putin – takes over a polity where most of the ruling class are bad people, well he has no choice but to work with them for quite a while until he can gradually raise up more good people whilst gradually phasing the psychopaths out. No easy answers.
In any case, the West has had corrupt leadership class for a few centuries now. Hardly surprising, then, that their policies are so consistently toxic. Demonizing Russia being one of them.
With respect to james’ post on 68, I was remembering a lot of discussion back in the day – I thought here but the search only gives the following on the Magnitsky Act and Bill Browder. Possibly there were links at nakedcapitalism.com or the Saker site — I know somewhere it was discussed at length.
Here is one post for “Magnitsky”:
@ 63 paul damascene… no better example is with bill browder… the whole magnitsky act fostered on us canucks and the usa and everywhere else, is a direct result of what you speak of… the kleptomaniacs resented being challenged! they found another way to penalize russia… one would be hard pressed to make this shit up in real life, but they do!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnitsky_Act
Posted by: james | Nov 5 2019 17:06 utc | 65
There are also a few comments on “Browder” that are from 2017.
Posted by: juliania | May 2 2024 2:43 utc | 99
Sorry, my post above at 100 was in reference to James’s at Posted by: james | May 1 2024 22:52 utc | 87
Posted by: juliania | May 2 2024 2:46 utc | 100