https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1858155557326045263
Accountability for disastrous Afghan withdrawal?

Posted by: Mary | Nov 17 2024 14:48 utc | 3

Re the Tesla link, the report says “The study was conducted on model year 2018–2022 vehicles, and focused on crashes between 2017 and 2022 that resulted in occupant fatalities.” Given the rate of improvement, this report is moot.
IIRC Elon’s been promising FSD every year since 2016. That’s a bad record. But, eventually they’ll succeed. This year, me thinks.
…
@ john brewster
Sorry for missing some nuance in one of your posts a few days ago and thanks for clarifying.

Posted by: I forgot | Nov 17 2024 14:54 utc | 5

The right have completely ran out of ideas and the only way the right think they can grow an economy is by piling private sector debt on the backs of the public.
Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | Nov 17 2024 14:48 utc | 4
—
Rentier Capitalism is the only trick people born into wealth know. Now the RoW is slipping their shackles and presents competition to old money.
What a time to be alive!

Posted by: too scents | Nov 17 2024 15:03 utc | 7

It’s probably true what I heard from German auto makers – they thought they are decades ahead of everyone, engineering-wise. That would be engine, chassis, drivetrain mostly, but also passenger safety. When word came up on US brands with new fuel technology (Apple car etc.) I thought that was heading for a straightforward joint venture with the German firms, but it came otherwise. I think it’s there where the novel American products got their comparatively lower design quality somehow, concerning basic vehicle outlay especially of the chassis and cell.
At the same time, the German companies were asleep at the wheel, if you allow me to use the turn of phrase here. I have no real idea what happened, but something clearly went wrong along the way. It’s not that German automotive industries are completely at a loss; away from consumer market vehicles, there are niches where the latest developments are nothing short of marvellous: for instance, mobile cranes, which tend to be quite fancy high tech gear – some of them even sport friggin’ eddy brakes (pioneered in the ICE2/3 train) – while all of the major makers are in Germany. Another type is overland coaches, such as the Neoplan double deckers in service with FlixBus all across Europe – I’ve travelled with them a lot as of late, and hands down they are more comfortable than even ICE trains, especially when cruising on the Autobahn. Both are marvels of automotive engineering, probably outdoing easily what goes into this or that consumer vehicle.
So, what happened? Anyone knows?

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 17 2024 15:12 utc | 9

Posted by: too scents | Nov 17 2024 15:03 utc | 7
Definitely too scents. Bang on The money. What a time to be alive indeed.
I remember very clearly when The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the UK household savings ratio sank to its lowest level since records began in 1963 in the final quarter of 2016.
Here:
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-household-savings-rate-hits-record-low-as-costs-rise-10818988
It was when George Osborne the Tory ( banks party ) chancellor was destroying the budget deficit and trying to run a budget surplus. Taxing more out of the economy than he was putting in via spending.
Which was suicide when you run a trade deficit. He destroyed everybody’s savings on aggregate. It was so bad that those who used pay day lenders just to survive, couldn’t pay the debt back at very high interest over 100% in some cases.Quick quid, pounds in your pockets , and other pay day lenders went bankrupt.
They never learn from their mistakes. Because it is all based on ideological drivel. The insane belief of equilibrium and trickle down, laffer curve economics.
Of course George Osborne was forced to do a 180 or he would have destroyed the economy. Allow the private sector to meet their savings desires again.
Michael Hudson explains it in detail
Here:
https://michael-hudson.com/2017/03/why-deficits-hurt-banking-profits/

Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | Nov 17 2024 15:23 utc | 11

“Steven Bannon is also obsessed with America’s budget deficit and national debt.He’s coming after everybody’s $ savings ( the deficit and debt). He wants to destroy them and then once you haven’t got any left, you will then have to get loans at a bank.”
Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | Nov 17 2024 14:48 utc | 4
You are quite uninformed on Steven Bannon.
Steve Bannon came into politics because of his father, Marty Bannon, a working man, was destroyed by the 2008 crisis as his stocks cratered.
And why did the 2008 occur?
Too much debt-both private and Sovereign.
Marty is 95 and still kicking.
You have no idea about economics, debt or politics.

Posted by: canuck | Nov 17 2024 15:35 utc | 13

@Sun Of Alabama #2
The problem I have with nonsense like you spout, is that China IS a threat to the US.
I don’t mean that the PLA landing ships are about to hit the beaches of San Francisco and LA, or that Chinese bombers are going to start flinging hypersonic missiles at New York City and DC, or that Chinese hackers are going to take the grid down, the water supply down etc etc.
China, as the largest industrial power in the world coupled with a population of 1.4 billion people, now is a real military threat to every nation on earth.
This is because China has the largest economy in purchasing power terms – or more specifically, in atoms (ships, guns, planes, machines) as opposed to digital 1s and 0s (money, social media, “tech”). Ukraine has demonstrated the difference between digital primacy vs. actual atom bashing primacy.
So is the obsession with China as a threat, wrong in a directional or factual sense?
The answer is no.
The real question is: what will the US do to address this threat?
The neocon fuckheads method is to try and militarily undermine China by trying to get China to “do a Vietnam” via Taiwan.
Is this the Trump policy?
Well, it wasn’t in his first term.
Why do we think it will be his policy in his 2nd term?
What Trump tried to do in his first term was to prune back the economic inequality between Chinese production and US production. This inequality has many facets including:
1) massive Chinese national and provincial government subsidies and incentives to manufacturers. Yes, the US does the same but the scale is quite different due to the absolute scale differences as well as the more focused nature of China’s efforts plus China’s very different regulatory environment.
For example: China’s national debt today is roughly 69 times the Chinese GDP in 1984. Think about that for a second. China has printed at least 69 times its entire 1984 GDP – certainly much more – in its rise from a very 3rd rate economy into the largest manufacturer on earth. The actual amount of printing is probably more on the order of 150 times China’s 1984 GDP.
To put this in perspective: US national debt rose from $51 billion to $260 billion during World War 2. The US GDP in 1940 was $101 billion. So the US printed roughly 3x to 4x its GDP during World War 2 – admittedly only 5 years vs. China’s 40 year span.
But this means that China has printed money faster than the US during World War 2 – only they have been doing it for 40 years instead of 5.
2) costs – labor is one, but regulatory is also a factor as noted above.
3) national industrial planning.
China has it. The US does not.
4) control over the yuan exchange rate with the US dollar.
Trump focused primarily on 4) and tried to move towards something in the area of 1). But what is really needed is 3).
Nothing can be done about 2) but Germany, pre-NordStream “mystery blasts” had no problem competing with exports with China in many areas.
So what exactly are Trump 47’s plans for China? Is he really going to continue the neocon Taiwan “Vietnamization/Ukrainianization” strategy?
I think not. What he has said is tariffs. I have yet to see anything resembling a national plan, but Trump has said he will continue to support Biden bullshit related to 1) like the CHIPS act.
I say bullshit because the CHIPS act is betting on the wrong horses and will furthermore not actually provide much of anything in either jobs or self sufficiency. There are areas in the semiconductor economy where the US can absolutely make a lasting impact but it isn’t going to be by subsidizing Intel or nVidia.
Whatever Trump does – time will tell but hyperventilating over Hegseth this or Rubio that or whatever is just plain dumb. These guys don’t set policy – their job is to implement Trump’s policy.
Let’s see what that is before complaining.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 17 2024 15:39 utc | 15

Roger Boyd @ 1
Yes to Tesla drivers as the new BMW drivers.
Even worse are the electric “bicycles”. They are motorcycles. I use a pedal bicycle as primary transport. Hit once by a Tesla, threatened regularly. Lost track of how many electric bikes clip me as they go by. It is vehicular assault, a class 1 felony and they believe they are so buried in virtue they are beyond reproach. Like Tesla drivers.

Posted by: oldhippie | Nov 17 2024 15:57 utc | 17

This is an excellent overview on the 2024 election. Not perfect – there is insufficient granularity on education except in 1 graph, but all of his conclusions therein are correct (IMO obviously):
A Graveyard Of Bad Election Narratives
Some highlights – but the piece is well worth reading in full:

Racism?
…
the GOP has been doing worse with white voters for every single cycle that Trump has been on the ballot, from 2016 through 2024. [this is the post graduate/credentialed/PMC/rich elites which are heavily white]
…
Harris did quite well with whites in this cycle. She outperformed Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden with white voters. The only Democrat who put up comparable numbers with whites over the last couple decades was, incidentally, another black person: Barack Obama in 2008.
…
Democrats have been bleeding non-white voters in every midterm and general election since 2010. Democrats’ gains in 2018? Driven by whites, despite weak showing from minorities. The “red wave” that never materialized in 2022? Thank the whites — minority shifts helped the GOP take the House.
…
Democrats had their lowest performance with black voters in roughly a half-century. [because records only go back to 1972]
…
It’s been more than 50 years since Democrats performed as poorly with Hispanics as they did in 2024. There has been a lot of focus on Hispanic men in driving this outcome, but the trend was very strong among Hispanic women as well. Latinas shifted 17 percentage points towards the GOP this cycle relative to 2020. As compared to 2016, Democrats’ margin with Hispanic women has been halved over the last two elections.
…
Non-whites across gender lines were cooler on Harris than virtually any other Democratic candidate in modern political history.
…
Sexism?
…
until somewhat recently, the voting patterns of men and women were not that different. Whoever got the lion’s share of the male vote tended to win the female vote too. This changed after 1996. And it didn’t change because men suddenly grew more Republican (they didn’t). It changed because women shifted aggressively towards the Democratic Party in the mid-90s, and consistently gave Democrats around 54 percent of their vote for every cycle since, irrespective of who was at the top of the ticket or what the pressing issues of the day were.
…
There has been no presidential election of the past 30 years where a Republican got a plurality, let alone a majority, of the female vote. Put another way, women are more staunchly Democratic than men are staunchly Republican. Put still another way: men are more likely to be swing voters than women.
…
Between 2016 and 2024, men shifted 2 percentage points towards the GOP. Women shifted 5 percentage points away from the Democratic Party over that same period – more than twice as much!
…
Democrats lost in 2024 because Harris performed extremely poorly with women. Going all the way back to 1996 (when the partisan gender divide kicked into high gear), there has been only one Democrat who performed worse with women than Kamala did: John Kerry in 2004.
…
Revolt of the Elites?
…
According to Forbes, more than 50 other billionaires also threw their weight behind Trump. So far so good for the preferred narrative. But here’s the twist: even more billionaires — 83 to be precise — supported the Democratic nominee. Kamala had 60 percent more billionaire backers than Donald Trump did.
…
In terms of disclosed donations, Axios reports that significantly more billionaire money went to Trump than Harris.
…
Democrats more than twice as much “dark money” as Trump in 2020.
…
Overall, this cycle, Democrats raised roughly twice as much money as their opponents. In the months after Joe Biden dropped out, Democrats raised more than $1 billion – more than three times as much as Republicans brought in over the same period – largely thanks to enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris within Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Big Law.
…
With respect to advertising, for instance, Democrats outspent Republicans in nearly every swing state (excepting Ohio, Florida and Texas) – often by huge margins — and they still lost every single one of these contests. [none of the 3 states named are remotely swing states]
…
Harris was the clear choice for voters with six-figure salaries or higher, while Trump won with people earning less than $50,00 per year. In fact, Democrats performed better with affluent Americans than with any other income bloc.
amazing graph of Republican vs. Democrat shift in education/income demographics
…
Trump was most heavily supported by folks tied to shipping and logistics companies (including airlines), retail stores, and defense contractors. That is, people oriented towards providing physical goods and services. Harris was supported primarily by the symbolic professions: big tech, media and entertainment companies, pharmaceutical brands, and finance.
Here again, among companies with the highest employee donations and PAC support, the overall contributions were much higher for Democrats than Republicans. Even for businesses that ended up on both candidates’ lists (typically those tied to banking and finance), the wealth was not spread even close to evenly. Instead, donations to Democrats tended to be multiple times higher than contributions to Republicans.
…
Spoiler Alert>
[3rd party candidates did not affect this election at all]
…
Turnout Troubles?
…
while overall turnout was down slightly from 2020 this cycle, this was not the case in the states that decided the election. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan all had record voter turnout. They had more folks cast ballots in 2024 than last round. And Harris lost all of these swing states nonetheless. [this is for jinn]
…
The decreases in turnout were largely concentrated in “safe” states for one party or another – among folks who (correctly) perceived that their vote wouldn’t change the outcome of the race, and who were apparently not passionate enough about their preferred candidate to cast a vote for purely expressive purposes.
…
In recent years, low propensity (less urban, less educated, less affluent, less old, less white, less female) voters have increasingly drifted towards the Republican Party, while high-propensity voters shifted the other way. Hence, Democrats have been increasingly overperforming (relative to polls) in races where turnout is low, such as midterms and special elections — while high-turnout races have often seen Republicans do better than polling predicted. [This is Trump’s superpower: getting people to vote]

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 17 2024 16:03 utc | 19

Tesla is dead meat in Sweden! https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/setback-for-tesla-–-supreme-court-of-sweden-wont-take-up-the-appeal-haha.5771393/

Posted by: ThirdWorldDude | Nov 17 2024 16:12 utc | 21

@petergrfstrm #20
The threat is obvious: if China decided to go on an expansionist military rampage, they absolutely do pose an existential threat to any and every nation on earth.
Note the IF. Threats are not defined by intentions, they are possibilities. A threat is different than a danger: threats are possibilities, dangers are probabilities.
A Pitt Bull in your face is a threat; it is only a danger if this dog is aggressive and wants to attack you. Maybe the Pitt Bull is really just very friendly and affectionate, but the threat exists regardless.
Your Israeli settler example is a terrible one – because the Israeli settler is already aggressive in having stolen someone else’s land. And the Israeli settlers also do get attacked by Palestinians/Hezbollah etc. So there absolutely is a threat from Palestinians/Hezbollah which translates into actual danger because the attacks are real.
Yet even in this case – proportionality applies. Does October 7 justify genocide? I do not believe that, and the vast majority of non-Zionist types also do not believe that.
The job of a military is to think of and protect against threats, much as a security guard is there to protect against threats.
If there are actual dangers – that’s where police and armed response comes into play.
Neocon / Project for New American Century dumbfucks equate threats with dangers and act accordingly.
China is a military threat.
China is an economic danger.
Both do merit planning and in the latter case, a response even if the response is more inwardly focused than outwardly aggressive.
Note tariffs are an inward response: while they do hurt foreign exporters, their classic economic purpose is primarily to help domestic manufacturing and reduce dependence on said foreign exporters.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 17 2024 16:19 utc | 23

thanks for the week b… i have been enjoying the comment sections too… where is juliania??
@ debs… what is going on in new zealand?? anything interesting??
any updates on germany and the coalition break up? or on the nature of the phone call with putin and scholz?

Posted by: james | Nov 17 2024 16:27 utc | 25

c1ue @19
58% of college enrollments are women
– From Postsecondary enrollment trends
Meanwhile, the vast majority of students in engineering, mathematics, and “hard” sciences (STEM, excluding medical and “soft” sciences like sociology and psychology) are male (as much as 80%).
Just something to keep in mind when we are talking about contemporary college degree holders, and men/women voting differences.

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 17 2024 16:32 utc | 27

Apparently there was a tense showdown in SCS 2016
2 US carrier battle groups faced down practically the entire PLAN.
If TSHTF
‘The PLAN was DETermined to sent the two CBG to the sea bottom even if their own fleet was decimated in the exchange.
The Chinese meant biz .
Admiral Harry Harris , a jap half breed, blinked.
WW3 is avoided

Posted by: denk | Nov 17 2024 16:41 utc | 29

Speaking of “red line/blue line” bullshit: Harris “outperformed”…..Nothing. She had 13M fewer votes than Biden. I’m guessing a few M (/sarc) of them were “white.”

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 17 2024 16:52 utc | 31

@Tom_Q_Collins #30
I wish I could say the same about you – but you are not even at the level of garbage LLM AI.
At least the garbage LLM AI would read what is posted – not even what I wrote. And would consider the objective factual data, even should you disagree with the conclusions.
But nope – it is clear that you are nothing but a partisan hack. Literally none of your last 10 posts have any data in it, just name calling.
Doesn’t bother me a bit. Your sad attempts at rancor are not even entertaining, much less insulting.
In the good old days of BBS’s, now there were some really fine insult jockeys.
But clearly you lack the talent for that, too.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 17 2024 16:52 utc | 33

@ mk | Nov 17 2024 16:52 utc | 32
i just read a wee bit on this phone call from rt news.. i think the viewpoint scholz did this for the upcoming election is very likely.. he wants to appear as someone who is willing to talk and consider an alternative viewpoint..he is trying to save his political ass essentially.. friedrich merz sounds like a real loon, but that is all i get as an outsider trying to understand german politics.. as it presently stands i suppose germany isn’t warlike enough for whoever is pushing this on the german people.. what a mess germany is in from all the accounts i read.. thanks for your feedback here..

Posted by: james | Nov 17 2024 17:00 utc | 35

@c1ue | Sun, 17 Nov 2024 16:52:00 GMT | 33

[at TQC] In the good old days of BBS’s, now there were some really fine insult jockeys. But clearly you lack the talent for that, too.

Guys, please. It’s only mildly entertaining to the bar. Please exercise your shared hobby (no further comment on that from me) outside, where we’re not being forced to collectively bear witness. If you start fighting here in earnest I shall put the Benny Hill Theme on the juke box for you funny lads. Have I been understood?!?
Trying to be clear for once, lol.

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 17 2024 17:18 utc | 37

any updates on germany and the coalition break up? or on the nature of the phone call with putin and scholz?
Posted by: james | Nov 17 2024 16:27 utc | 25
—
This video entertains the idea that Scholz has flipped to anti-war in order to secure AfD and BSW support in the confidence vote. It is interesting speculation with some background support.
The video was processed by YouTube for automatic captioning. Press “c” for captions.
https://youtu.be/qdfFV-jmTDA

Posted by: too scents | Nov 17 2024 17:39 utc | 39

while overall turnout was down slightly from 2020 this cycle, this was not the case in the states that decided the election. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan all had record voter turnout. They had more folks cast ballots in 2024 than last round. And Harris lost all of these swing states nonetheless. [this is for jinn]
Posted by: c1ue | Nov 17 2024 16:03 utc | 19
Thank you for confirming my analysis is correct and yours was wrong.
I guess you have now abandoned your claim that the higher votes in 2020 compared to 2024 is evidence of a stolen election in 2020.

Posted by: jinn | Nov 17 2024 18:00 utc | 41

Barflies outside my fair state might not have heard what we’re hearing on California versus Trump (the once and future war). Here’s typical LATimes copy, the statewide panic attack:

Launching his first salvo less than 36 hours after former President Trump was again elected to the White House, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday convened a special session of the Legislature, seeking to increase legal funding to protect California policies — on civil rights, climate change, abortion access and disaster funding — from an anticipated conservative federal agenda.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-11-07/newsom-calls-special-session-california-laws-funding-lawsuits-trump
A couple of keywords in there: “disaster funding” pertains to threats to withhold things like help from FEMA (fwiw) unless California dedicates a higher percentage of dwindling water resources to valley fascists, whose right to grow rice has been impinged by shortages. The rest is more of the same federal arm-twisting expected across the board. (For my part, I’m not clear on what California needs from the United States in the first place.)
There’s plenty of cognitive dysfunction to go around, in both entities. But the dissonance and denial is most spectacularly pronounced on the subject of immigration. Seemingly nobody wants to admit that undocumented workers are the backbone of California’s economy, because we like slave labor around here. I don’t know, it’s probably like this in Texas, too: vast swathes of California workers, in too many categories to count, are undocumented.
Trump says he’ll put ’em all on planes or in camps. Looks like it could happen. If it does, we’ll have hardly anyone to fix all the roofs after the next wind onslaught. Not to mention picking your fruit and changing your bedpan. I recently had Luis and Augusto (Luis spoke some English) over to re-pipe my shower: gorgeous welded copper looking like jewelry, lovingly installed by dangerous aliens…
Does anyone get a sense of the problem here? I think it has to do with a faulty adjustment of individual consciousness to inexorable reality, multiplied out to societal proportions. I think of it as thinking too fast for the tolerance of the cerebral mechanism. This is why I’m particularly impressed with slow thinkers like Michael Dummett and Gottlob Frege.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Nov 17 2024 18:29 utc | 43

There is only one thing a politician is good for in the west and that is measured by how big of a pack of retard followers he has and to what degree do they unconditionally do what he tells them to do.
Any rational, self respecting citizen in the west would never in the slightest express any satisfaction with their elected representative and only feign disappointment that they have not done enough.

Posted by: ryanggg | Nov 17 2024 18:33 utc | 45

Other than that, have a pleasant Sunday everyone.

Posted by: I forgot | Nov 17 2024 18:39 utc | 47

“stolen election”
I wish people would stop debating the 2020 election.
Our elections are stolen before they’re held. Regime media shapes people’s perceptions (fake poll results, false smears, etc all to say “*your* candidate is not electable”) until people accept one of two regime preferences, all while steering clear of policy discussion so that people stay dumb.
Want to change this? Start canvassing neighbors to ask for someone they personally know and respect who opposes the regime’s horrible policies and who’s relatively insulated from economic blackmail (better a retiree than a corporate serf, for instance). Ask these neighbors to vote for that person as an independent candidate in the next HoR election. Zero money donations. Zero air time. Homemade stickers and signs. A few speeches.
Repeat in all districts.
It’s worth a shot, because nothing else has worked.

Posted by: I forgot | Nov 17 2024 18:56 utc | 49

persiflo | Nov 17 2024 15:12 utc | 9
Yes, quite strange that those supersmart Toyota and Honda engineers couldn’t figure out how to build cheaper and better EV’s or autonomous technology. The Prius made a splash in 2004. But TM didn’t capitalize on it.
In the future Museum of Ancient Japanese Tech Threats, maybe the Prius will appear in an exhibit next to the Japanese TRON operating system?

Posted by: I forgot | Nov 17 2024 19:32 utc | 51

Steve Bannon’s buddy and financier.
Another ‘dissident’ who ran away from ‘CPC persecution’
https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/the-case-of-guo-wengui-how-anti-china-fake-news-thrives-in-the-west/
Thats all folks

Posted by: denk | Nov 17 2024 20:08 utc | 53

@I forgot, #46, #49:
Both posts well said!
Have a nice Sunday.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Nov 17 2024 20:37 utc | 55

@ too scents | Nov 17 2024 17:39 utc | 39
thanks too scents.. that is a very good and quick summation of the upcoming situation in germany at present.. i agree with the first 2 comments in response as well – ‘i would be in favour of it just to stop merz’ and merz can’t become chancellor.’
i had to use the translate feature, but it worked well.. also you were correct – both leaders spoke in their own language and were aided by interpreters..

Posted by: james | Nov 17 2024 21:23 utc | 57

William Hartung:
https://tomdispatch.com/seeds-of-resistance

Posted by: WMG | Nov 18 2024 0:24 utc | 59

Where can I find a good summary of the political situation in Germany?

Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 18 2024 1:36 utc | 61

@ Patroklos | Nov 18 2024 1:36 utc | 61
i would like a wider answer to this as well.. i have been getting tidbits from various posters like earlier today with too scents video shared @ 39 and mk @ 32

Posted by: james | Nov 18 2024 3:02 utc | 63

Actually, the USA is rather more of a threat to China than vice versa. The US invades another country (Vietnam, Iraq) every year or two. China, with millennia of history,almost never invades anyone. The pattern is that Chinese people manufacture things (silk, porcelain, tea, computer chips) and foreigners come buy them. Every so often warlike foreigners (Huns, Mongols, British, Japanese) invade to steal,but they always lose and go home, poorer. Visit Mongolia some time. Trying to rule the world hasn’t paid off lately.

Posted by: lester | Nov 18 2024 3:43 utc | 65

@ : karlof1 | Nov 18 2024 3:50 utc | 66
Navy’s got a few problems — here are some random headlines
Why the U.S. Military Has to Hitch a Ride on Commercial Ships. . .Pentagon’s limited capacity to support a potential China conflict forces planners to tap private cargo companies
USS Boxer makes U-turn for repairs on long-delayed, short …Apr 15, 2024 · Maintenance problems forced an amphibious assault ship to return to California last week, just days into its first deployment in five years.
India will be serving as a future maintenance hub for U.S. Navy assets in the Indo-Pacific,
The Navy’s maintenance troubles are getting worse –
Feb 5, 2023 · The biggest problems have been increased maintenance delays, coupled with a rise of parts shortages, forcing crews to cannibalize parts for repairs.
Amphib Boxer soon to be sidelined again for 18 months of …May 30, 2024 · WASHINGTON — Although the Navy says it will be able to fix the amphibious assault ship Boxer’s (LHD-4) rudder issues pierside, the service is now planning for the problem-
Crew Shortages, Bad Mattresses Causing Navy Surface Sailors …Oct 30, 2023 · Among the top reasons sailors are getting an average 5.25 hours of sleep a day instead of the desired 7.5 hours, according to the GAO, are crew shortages and uncomfortable mattresses.
significant projected delays in deliveries of several types of Navy ships; industrial base capacity constraints for building Navy ships; inflation in Navy shipbuilding costs;
Fewer than 2 Dozen Shipyard Workers Involved in Suspect Welds, Delay in 17-Sub Contract Creates ‘Unpredictability’
Military Sealift Command has drafted a plan to remove the crews from 17 Navy support ships due to a lack of qualified mariners to operate the vessels across the Navy
Overhaul Delays for USS George Washington, USS John C. Stennis Partially Due to Unknown Steam Turbine Damage
The Navy projects that 10 new ships will be delivered to the fleet in FY2025. — China has 230 times the shipbuilding capacity of the United States. – About 70 percent of Chinese warships were launched after 2010, while only about 25 percent of the U.S. Navy’s were.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that it intends to send specialized forces, training teams, and other capacity-building assets to help Indo-Pacific allies. The United States aims to enhance the capacity of regional coast guards to support them in countering ‘malign influence’ [i.e. China] in the region.
there is a lack of new, younger skilled workers . . . Today, we are short nearly 140,000 workers to support the building of submarines alone.
Navy extends service life of a fourth San Diego warship as vessel shortage worsens

Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 18 2024 4:11 utc | 67

Posted by: james | Nov 17 2024 16:27 utc | 25
I am here, james. Have a great library book to recommend. It’s “Killing Mister Watson” by Peter Matthiessen, an oldie but a goodie. Fascinating historical novel about the Everglades and folk inhabiting there, some sad ecological destruction caused by them and just good writing that I am enjoying. It’s part of a trilogy and I have the third part but so far not the middle one as library didn’t seem to have it. I’ll see if it can come from another library but for now will have to leap over it.
Oh, and I now know what Saint Paul says to Netanyahu about his wrong interpretation of the promise to Abraham, if he’s interested. It’s in his letter to the Galatians, who apparently have been behaving badly in his absence. (There seem to have been Zionists back in the day as well.) Oh plus I dug up my sun chokes and replanted the little ones this afternoon. Story of my day, plus seeing a phone video of my youngest grandchild on a bike careening downhill in a park – he’s five.
Happy Sunday.
Also, Alex of the Duran has turned up in Budapest,so maybe b can initiate a Hungary subject category, or at least Europe.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 18 2024 4:53 utc | 69

Kit Klarenburg has been a busy bloke this past week as along with putting together the Grayzone article, he spent the week at public hearings for what he describes as the public portion of a show trial aka ‘The Official Inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess’ as alluded to by John Helmer in his article which Refinnejenna posted a link to in Refinnejenna | Nov 18 2024 6:10 utc | 70 .
Here is what Kit Klarenburg learned about the contortions the englander secret state went through to try and persuade any remaining naifs of the secret state that white is in fact black.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Nov 18 2024 6:41 utc | 71

Where can I find a good summary of the political situation in Germany?
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 18 2024 1:36 utc | 61
—
I regularly scan the two Berlin web-newsites.
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/
https://www.morgenpost.de/

Posted by: too scents | Nov 18 2024 8:32 utc | 73

For anyone following the collapse of the auto industry in Europe, Stellantis Group and all its brands are bankrupt, Volkswagen is broke, many reasons being tossed about, half assed and poor sighted investments in EVs, bad products and poor pricing and placement in the market, particularly in the hyper competitive Chinese market, China sanctions reprisals, etc etc, but no one in the west looks at the 800lb gorilla in the room, or is allowed to look, wonder why?
SHOCKS GERMANY! Russian Drivers Opt for Chinese Trucks Over German Ones – Affordable and Durable

As of July 1, 2024, Chinese automotive brands have rapidly transformed Russia’s vehicle landscape, showcasing remarkable growth and capturing nearly 50% of the market share. With 1.86 million registered light vehicles, more than half under three years old.

Add to that Chinese trucks supposedly reached 500,000 sales in Russia since 2021. All those lost sales came from Mercedes, Mann, Scania, Iveco etc. Wonder how much close to 2 million sales has played into to the collapse of the EU commanding heights auto industry? Plus all the lost parts, service, and contracts. In ClownWorld it’s discussed but it’s as if Russia sanctions blowback has nothing to do with it.
Remember you don’t have to lose all your sales to go bankrupt, just your profit. However the war ends, the Russian vehicle market is never coming back to Europe. Eurolandia really is a suicide pact.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 18 2024 10:43 utc | 75

@ LightYearsFromHome | Nov 18 2024 10:43 utc | 75
I would buy a Chinese van tomorrow except the motor vehicle cartel controls roadworthiness regulations making the import difficult if not impossible.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Factory-supply-High-quality-Chinese-3_1601042397488.html
After Ukraine has lost perhaps the import will be easier?

Posted by: too scents | Nov 18 2024 11:13 utc | 77

Europe’s petrochemical suicide continues apace

European plastics makers shut plants as production declines sharply
Industry is latest manufacturing sector on the continent to shrink despite global growth
European plastics manufacturers are closing plants amid a deep decline in production as EU companies struggle to compete with a global glut of cheap material.
Plastic production in Europe declined 8.3 per cent in 2023, according to figures published by Plastics Europe, the industry body, on Monday. Mechanical plastics recycling — the most common form of plastic recycling in Europe — has also declined for the first time since 2018 because of a drop in demand, Plastics Europe said.
The drop was deeper than expected, said Virginia Janssens, managing director of Plastics Europe, adding to concerns among energy-intensive industries about “deindustrialisation in Europe” leading to a heavier reliance on “less sustainable imports”. Germany is the continent’s largest plastics producer.
The fall in Europe contrasts with a 3.4 per cent increase globally as countries including China and the US scale up plastics production. China was responsible for 60 per cent of petrochemical capacity increases in 2023, according to data provider S&P Global.
The European plastic industry’s share of the global market has declined from 28 per cent in 2006 to 12 per cent last year, the data showed.
continues ==> https://www.ft.com/content/5d5a4641-f066-4b4a-a596-00f5ff9f0e2d

Posted by: too scents | Nov 18 2024 12:24 utc | 79

too scents @ 80
There will be no investment in R&D and new plants, no new engineers and researchers hired, university depts. shrunk or closed. In a decade most of the knowhow will be lost and Germany’s plastic industry just a memory like America’s. Remember the film the Graduate? “One word: Plastics”.
In 30ys German Steve Bannon and Trump charlatans will show up peddling reshoring, bringing the jobs and factories back to Germany – MGGA! Maybe in German it’s a pronounceable acronym.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 18 2024 13:01 utc | 81

Covid-19 was and is a NATO operation, says Dutch Health Minister:
Dutch Health Minister Defends Government’s Covid Measures: “We Were Bound by NATO Obligations”

Dutch Health Minister Agema: I did explain that to you as an answer to your previous question and quite a few times in recent weeks people said that I had a change in opinion in all those moments, and in those moments that wasn’t the case. But it’s true that this assignment that I received upon taking office, isn’t one that’s in line with what I’ve always said from that side and that’s painful, but I still have to carry out the assignments that I received upon taking office. Nevertheless, and I just told you that as well, that shortly after assuming the position, I was informed about resilience and the broader context in which we find ourselves and the overlap that gives with these posts on pandemic readiness. And I’d have to deal with that and find a solution for it, because we’re bound by NATO obligations. So at this moment, an inventory is being taken under the leadership of the NCTV on what needs to happen. There’s some basic stuff that we actively saw during the corona crisis and then there’s this extra investment where there’s a large overlap, if not a full overlap. And then there are other issues that we’re identifying, such as: What if the situation escalates and what if we need to meet our NATO obligations and what if it escalates further, I’m mapping all of this out. And under the leadership of the NCTV, in the spring – and this is for the next budget – we’ll be coming with coverages and solutions.

Comment: Finally, after almost 5 years, someone in public office appears to have let the cat out of the bag: defending her role in passing Covid laws and rules, the Dutch health minister tipped her hat to NATO and a ‘deep state’ counter-terrorism outfit that was first set up in the Netherlands ‘to defeat Islamist terrorism’.
Given that NATO is a supranational organization, this would strongly suggest that ALL NATO member-states ‘ran Covid’ in more or less the same way, and would go a long way towards explaining why Western governments all seemed to operate ‘in lockstep’ throughout the pandemic: they were working to a centrally-controlled military beat, and one which apparently operated under the auspices of NATO, via military-intelligence ‘counter-terrorism units’ established after 9/11…

Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 18 2024 14:26 utc | 83

@61 Patroklos – german situation
This is one of the bigger alternative media platforms, ideologically close to Sahra Wagenknecht:
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/
Jens Berger writes really well, others also good.
I have posted as #84 a few minutes ago and then whoosh, it was gone and numbers were down to #78. What happened?

Posted by: Hamburger | Nov 18 2024 15:00 utc | 85

news
The ongoing onslaught of Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea led to soaring ocean freight rates throughout much of 2024 as ocean carriers rerouted ships around southern Africa. But the added costs and delays stemming from the crisis are now prodding more European shippers to turn to rail as an alternative to secure product from one of their top trading partners.
Over the first six months of this year, China-to-Europe rail freight volumes have jumped 11 percent year over year to 1.23 million 20-foot equivalents (TEUs) moved, according to data from China State Railway Group. In the first half, 11,403 trains were dispatched, up 12 percent from the prior-year period.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 18 2024 15:04 utc | 87

@Hamburger | Nov 18 2024 15:02 utc | 86
Not your browser problem, I saw the same thing. I assume some server side issue.
Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 18 2024 15:06 utc | 88
Happened to the first 5 posts of the previous ukraine thread and then came back.
Some minor problems occurring

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 18 2024 15:09 utc | 89

Potential false flag if you ask me

Finnish media reports that the underwater internet cable between Finland and Germany has been damaged.
A fault has been detected in the C-Lion1 cable running from Santahamina, Finland to Rostock, Germany. The fault is causing communication interruptions
The C-Lion1 cable was laid across the Baltic Sea in 2016 by Finnish state-owned company Cinia. The company said the cause of the cable rupture was still unknown and that an investigation into the incident was underway.

https://t.me/ZandVchannel/134376

Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 18 2024 15:20 utc | 91

Plastics production cuts will go up the supply chain to the machine tool industry.
Posted by: too scents | Nov 18 2024 12:29 utc | 80
Likely same thing has happened to iron and aluminum foundries, cars are down a third, a lot o plastics still in europe were for cars.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 18 2024 15:38 utc | 93

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 18 2024 14:22 utc | 82
———————-
Hmmm, they cant afford health care and infra maintenance but CIA/Pentagon do have money to burn !
My tinfoil hat is on !
Andre Vltchek

The West Perfecting Its Techniques To Hurt China

Color rev, terrorism, social destabilisation, HAARP, bio warfare and a smear campaign that never stop.
Its no secret, lucrative offer for Chinese speaking spies splash across CIA website.
Beijing had a counter plan…144 hours visa free visits.
Let the mushrooms come and experience China in person, let them find out first hand what kind of BS they’ve been fed from birth
It seems to work.
China witness a marked increase in tourists, their consensus…

WTF !
we’ve been conned by our own govn and media for all these years, China isnt like the totalitarian hellhole they keep drumming into our heads 24×7 !
This must be one of the safest nation on earth, even my teen daughter can roam free at night without me worrying !

They cant’ve that, can they !
Almost on cue..
Outta blue.
A group of yank teachers and a jap kid were attacked , the kid died.
[violence against tourists were hitherto almost unheard of]
Then a ‘deranged loner’ barged into a school and attacked kids randomly.
Now, two mass killings within a week during the Zuhai Air Show.
Ian Fleming’s law of probability…
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence…
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-west-perfecting-its-techniques-to-hurt-china-by-andre-vltchek/

Posted by: denk | Nov 18 2024 16:49 utc | 95

Posted by: james | Nov 18 2024 16:14 utc | 94
Thanks, james. That’s what I call what used to be called ‘jerusalem artichokes’ back in the day, not sure what they are called now. They are a kind of sunflower that has edible tubers and do well in plenty of sun and poor soil. Mine don’t usually flower before cold weather takes them out, and I suppose they do taste a bit like artichokes when cooked. I have them against neighbor’s high back wall that cuts off eastern morning sun until closer to winter solstice, at which point I get to see the sunrise!
I’ve been catching up all morning here, so I appreciate your comments that reference others. Huge amounts of news happenings, and thanks to b for a full roster here.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 18 2024 17:04 utc | 97

The suburb when I grew up in it was the last portion of central auckland which still showed Auckland had once been a rainforest sandwiched between huge bodies of water, the Tasman Sea on one side where there was nothing for 1,339.90 miles or 2,156.36 kilometers until one reached Australia and even less on the other side unless one transversed the Pacific until Chile some 5,980.97 miles 9,625.44 km!
Further in case of this suburb which sits away from either coast in the extremely narrow 9.5 miles or about 15 km Auckland isthmus at the turn of the 1800’s into 1900’s the suburb was made into large land divisions which left the native bush untouched, so when I grew up even though most streets had been subject to some sort of what they call ‘infill housing’ there were still many places both publicly & privately owned where there were large chunks of decent native bush. It was a great area for kids in those days we had uncountable adventures acting out various expeditions & being kids of that time & place.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Nov 18 2024 10:26 utc | 74
Me too, Debs! We left before tv came, for the US, but those reserves were still there times I took my kids back, even though modernity was on its way. I chose our last trip back to venture south, all the way to the Otago Peninsula – family thought I was batty but it was heaven — with southerlies, so I only could take it for 7 months. Those Scottish immigrants are a hardy bunch.
Your description here is accurate. Thanks for the video link, even though it wouldn’t open for me. I will try it again at the source.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 18 2024 17:20 utc | 99