Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with the ambassador from the People’s Republic of China, Xie Feng, in advance of her trip to Beijing and Shanghai next week. China’s economy has been slowing down alarmingly recently, with falling consumer prices, a deteriorating real estate sector and market, high youth unemployment, and slumping exports, and international leaders are concerned that China’s economic troubles could spread.
Dark Brandon advertising on Fox during the debate while Trump hides behind exiled Tucker Carlson is a scene from super hero comic books. Bring it, Joe!
The MAGA are in fact here. They've been here for a long, long time, known as the KKK. Timothy Egan's brilliant book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the Midwest during the 1920's. I challenge you to find a difference between the 1920's KKK and the 2020's MAGA. White Protestant supremacy now, white Protestant supremacy forever.
Yes I am reading that book right now and it is fascinating and as I read it it makes me wonder about current KKK people --are there many still hidden here? This is certainly not history taught in our schools.
Richard In the 1920s hooded Klansmen marched proudly in Washington. Now Trump’s hoods are scrambling for cover as they are being RICOed. Still, I sense that many of Trump’s Strumpets would embrace the 1920s KKK.
I recall that Hugh Black, once a KKK member, was on the Supreme Court. Some Stench Court members would add KKK membership to their Federalist Society credentials.
Keith, you are right on several counts. As to the present-day MAGA being KKK, they're exactly the same as in the 1920's, but now a few Catholics have joined in, Ron DeSantis for one. DeSantis is definitely Fascist, but so were Musolini and Hitler, who were also Catholics. So, no surprise there.
We're in dangerous territory with the Supreme Court being comprised as it is with six questionable justices.
Hugo Black did join the Klan briefly when he was young because he was told it was a social organization that he would need contacts in for his law practice and dealing with juries. But he never believed in what the Klan stood for. As a both a local official and a U.S. senator, Black supported the New Deal and worked against racism in his native Alabama. Appointed by FDR, he was a reliable liberal member of the Warren Court excepting Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the right to privacy, which Clarence Thomas wants to "revisit". Black was an originalist and was in the minority in Griswold because the word "privacy" was not in the Constitution.
Excellent strategy! I haven’t seen any , am excited to...
These Letters give such organized explanation of our current events which I can not keep any track of. Dangled prepositions , 🥹 !
It’s harvest season , another batch of spaghetti cooking down. The last calf of the season came , huge heifer.., the new woodshed is half filled , this sampled life style may seem unusual , but better still is the appreciation and giving thanks 🤝 to so many, doing so much.
Giving thanks for you and this Substack family of fabulous diversity. I feel some definite light at this tunneled end , relief, yet concentrated looking ahead ,what needs attention and some great ideas taking shape.
You get credit for not saying where it's at! That drives me nuts. I was thinking last night about the diversity of our Substack contributors. Fabulous, indeed!
HCR continues in her useful role as a mouthpiece for the Biden administration. However, this carries the risk of bias and lies by omission, and today's letter from HCR includes an example of each.
HCR absurdly states that Ukraine's offensive against Russia is "slowly but surely" advancing. Here HCR delusively contradicts the rest of the world, including western mainstream news media.
HCR, by reciting delusive propaganda, does a disservice to her readers.
HCR perpetuates a lie by omission when she presents the Biden administration's make-believe goal to "reshape and scale up the World Bank to reduce global poverty and promote inclusive economic growth...Biden nominated Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American business executive, to be the president of the World Bank, Sullivan said, “precisely to make this vision a reality,” and has asked Congress to beef up funding for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, proposals that Sullivan said “will generate nearly $50 billion in lending for middle-income and poor countries from the United States alone."
More lending from the very institutions that have shackled the Third World in endless debt slavery, and there is the lie by omission. The Biden administration, like the preceding Republican and Democratic administrations, continues to impose a regime of neo-imperialist colonialist exploitation on the world's darker-skinned countries, while lying to the American people about it.
I have included a set of links to articles documenting this here:
Why do you think Putin did it? Prigozhin was a contender to succeed Putin as President, so a rival contender could have rubbed him out.
And regarding Putin and Trump, I remember when Putin publicly invited Obama to collaborate on building a transportation corridor from Russia to the USA, featuring a bridge or tunnel across the Bering Strait. Obama never answered, but Trump would have been inclined to return the call.
Of course, the Russiagate scandal put the kibosh on that, so the world lost the opportunity to say, "Trump and Putin: Two great autocrats who work great together."
John, why do I think that Putin did it? Why do I think that the sun rises in the east?
Trump and Putin? Putin has been blackmailing Trump from the get-go, probably with photos of Trump in Moscow hotel rooms with attractive young Russian ladies. There may be more, but to rest my case, go back to the two-hour Helsinki meeting between Putin and Trump, with just the two of them and the interpreters present. After the meeting, Trump took the American interpreters notes and told her to say nothing about what transpired. Biden winning the election in 2020 probably saved democracy here and around the world, but the fight isn't over yet. We still have to contend with the KKK/MAGA element here in the U.S.
Trolling trolling trolling, keep those posts a trolling……
Everyone forget this clown. All he/ it does is criticize Heather ad naseum with no factual basis for any of his/ its off the wall conspiracy theories. Eg: One of he/ its off the wall conspiracies is that Heather is a propagandist for Biden and the Biden Administration.
Bottom line don’t waste your time or effort making replies as this clown is only looking for attention re: reactions to his/ its comments. As long as we continue to reply him/ it will continue to make posts. Ignore and and this thing will eventually go away.
You know, George, if you're going to include an earworm in your posts, those of us who read them would appreciate advance warning. (But I really love this one, and haven't seen it used before! Well done, although I'm going to be hearing that all day now. Thanks a pile, as my dear departed dad would say.)
And with this troll, I just keep reminding people his screeds can be reported and then ignored, or just ignored. Maybe someday he or it (is this a bot? I suspect Russian influence, if not actual pay) will get tired of being ignored and go pester someone else.
why do you bother to read her? HCR is stating the obvious - trickle down economics does not work, the CONServatives have lead this democratic republic toward fascism. You seem to be very limited in your historical knowledge.
Rickey, this troll has been around for a while, bad-mouthing HCR and everyone who challenges any of his screeds. Seriously, report and ignore, or just ignore, and move on.
I have presented the Establishment, which (imperfectly) dominates business and political activity as well as the mainstream news media.
I now introduce the concept of taboo subjects, which are not allowed serious discussion in the mainstream news media. One such taboo subject is the possibility of computerized vote fraud. Another taboo subject is the exact means by which our votes are counted. As Uncle Joe Stalin famously said (loosely translated), "It's not who votes that counts; it's who counts the votes."
Quoting from the introduction to "Votescam: The Stealing of America" (originally 1992)
"By means of an unofficial private corporation named News Election Service (NES), the Establishment press has actual physical control of the voting and counting and dissemination of the vote, and it refuses to let the public know how it is done."
Quoting from the footnote to the above quote in the 2015 edition:
"In 1964 it was born National Election Services (NES), a consortium of ABC, CBS, NBC, AP and UPI. In 1994 NES merged with Voter Research and Survey (VRS) to become Voter News Service (VNS), which included CNN and Fox News. In 2002 it morphed again to become News Election Pool (NEP)."
The third and fourth sources listed in Part 2 deal with aspects of the Establishment's foreign policy that transcend partisan differences between Democrats and Republicans.
Context for the presentation in Chapter 1 of the third source can be found in Chapter 7 of William Engdahl's "A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order." You may want to scan the book's complete table of contents here:
The first source discusses the beginning of U.S. government efforts at global population control in the mid-1960s.
The second source discusses George H.W. Bush's entry into Congress in 1966, where he quickly became a fervent exponent of population control.
Population control was, of course, the goal of the old Nazi-loving Eugenics movement.
George Bush got into Congress thanks to a newly-created, tailor-made congressional district in the Houston suburbs. How does something like that happen? Who has that kind of power?
Once in Congress, Bush was put on the powerful Ways and Means Committee after the Chairman of the committee got a call from Bush's father, the recently retired Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut.
Prescott Bush had worked as a lieutenant of Averell Harriman, the "King of Wall Street" (and Chairman of the Democratic Party), whose family was among the principal funders of the Nazi-loving Eugenics movement.
Prescott Bush was tbe manager of Harriman's Union Banking Corporation, which got seized by the federal government under the "Trading with the Enemy Act" during World War II.
The inference here, and a point emphasized throughout the Unauthorized Biography, is that George Bush's career was repeatedly promoted and supported by what is commonly called "the Establishment."
See Carroll Quigley's "The Anglo-American Establishment" for a scholar's employment of the word "Establishment." See also Ferdinand Lundberg's "America's 60 Families" for a presentation of the core of the Establishment in the 1930s:
"Lundberg asserts that a small group of 60 interlinked American families control the mainstream media, the United States economy, and have unchecked influence over American political institutions."
I will be pleased to answer your questions, step by step.
I recognize that you are predisposed to both find points of disagreement and to get overbearing.
I also recognize that others (including Substack) are observing my interactions and discussions around here.
There are four interrelated sources that underlie my reasoning and conclusions about Biden and neo-fascism. If you are predisposed to dismiss them without open-minded consideration, then you could go into your disagreeable, overbearing mode. I will take that risk, because those who quietly observe will benefit from what I share, especially if I remain civil.
Perhaps you didn't understand my reference. Which is fine. There are many Doctor Who fans in the world; I am not surprised that you are not one of them.
Thanks for another point of view. I always thought both sides sort of fudged their numbers. I hope this is true, but I just read a story that Russian tanks and some heavy artillery drove down the center of the capital just as Russia had planned-almost. These tanks etc were damaged ones which the Ukrainians had captured.
I don't think that Russia planned to take Kyiv. Both sides knew that Russia didn't have enough infantry for that. Urban warfare is always a hideous meatgrinder for the attacker, unless you do it slow-motion demolition-style with artillery (as in Grozny and Mariupol).
Russia feinted toward Kyiv, forcing Ukraine to tie up soldiers for its defense and enabling Russia's big land grab in the south.
So do I, but a whole generation has already been slaughtered. Ukraine has been enslaved by the International Monetary Fund, where the NATO countries have voting domination.
Back in 2014, when Ukraine accepted a loan from the IMF, one of the conditions was that Ukraine re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics. And later, President Zelensky publicly pledged to keep all of Ukraine's promises to the IMF. So Ukraine is obligated to keep fighting, and NATO (because of their promise to support Ukraine as long as it takes) is obligated to keep supplying weapons.
Ukraine has been transformed into a zombie soldier, paying pounds and pounds of bloody flesh to service that IMF loan.
My problem is that I see this as the same circumstances which surrounding WWII. Hitler kept taking and taking, etc. I suspect a lot of Americans didn't know that he had submarines on our coastline near the end of the war. Putin knows no boundary.
All aid shackles. And if the West does not do something via the world back, others will. So what is a realistic alternative. And lets get serious too. Despite the failures of aid of all sorts, some changes have occurred over the past 60 years - whether in South America or Asia. Less so Africa and the middle east. The notion of neocolonialism reminds me of pro Soviet propaganda spread by stooges in the late 50s. I was in college in the late 60s and met a number of red diaper babies. They spouted a lot of nonsens.
Sorry but you must be young and perhaps don't assume others have a different perspective. In 1973, I spent a few weeks in a hostel in London see many no white students and heard all about the evils of colonialism. I get it. And yes decades ago, i was familiar (working in finances) that big banks made money off the back of debt to the third world. Citibank was a player.
But... yes the powerful always take advantage. But my point was not about how great the IMF might be, but rather that whether the Russian, Chinese or IMF the lenders will have the power.
And if you understand anything about how complex the system is that allows goods to be traded and paid for... well you will accept that all involved feel ill used at times.
If you imagine a world where advantages are not taken or where US agribusiness can sell grain to a foreign nation and not get paid in dollars, then you are a fantasist.
By the way, the habit of including a host of links is typical of a true believer. I am not one. It is really silly to think headlines and links are compelling. as if, even after I have read all of them, I would see the light.
President Joe “diplomacy“ Biden. Doing his job and doing it well with the vice president following his lead. Creating balance in world for all...with respect. Doing it with grace, while the other guy would have no clue how to sit down and negotiate for both sides to come to terms and we’re happy to work together for all the negative reporting add mindless stories. Joe has done the best he can, and he cares about the country, he tries and I appreciate that from him. Thank you Professor once again, showing that the world can work together with the right people understanding each other and excepting each other for the common good of all going forward... thank you....peace and love and fair dealings with each other. But i really believe that all parties are beginning to put down there still construed barriers and are beginning to trust each other for the common good of the planet!!!!!!! we all live on this big blue marble let’s keep it blue.
I watched a bit of the "debate" which claimed that trump was making the US a leader. He was being an isolationist. America first, but that is not the world works any more. We saw how Biden united NATO after trump ito destroy it. If trump had his way, there would be little or no help for Ukraine now. We are working with China and the South Pacific.
At first I was wondering what I watching. A couple Biden clips? some scruffy looking guy playing the guitar? oh, it was a republican debate. Are visuals like that used in debates? Classroom presentations, maybe, but not debates. Maybe these guys need picture books to read and not regular grown up novels.
Great point Karen,I don’t buy into their claims, sometimes I get a great laugh out of it though! I see a dying Party , ‘ Hoax’ by Smarmy , ‘woke’ by Dizzy D , the spewings of drowning rhetoric dibble . It’s quire sad , I scroll over it , don’t watch, and certainly don’t anger... it’s not a valid emotional response ... it’s like the ‘ kids’ the Gen Z’s , the Millennials..that majority have long passed the enough! and they’re votes , passion, energy, and enthusiam is commendable I remember just the similarities back in late ‘60., awesomeness.
What I cannot fathom is how they can be running against the guy they claim is doing all this awesome stuff. It defies logic. (I couldn't bring myself to watch the "debate," personally.)
And then there are ongoing inferences that Biden's foreign policy has been influenced by sleazy deals:
"Bank records obtained by congressional investigators show more than $20 million in foreign payments to Hunter Biden, other relatives of President Biden, and their associates. Whistleblowers from the IRS and FBI have testified about what they uncovered during investigations and obstruction by top government officials. And Devon Archer, a former associate of Mr. Biden, has told members about President Biden, while vice president, meeting with Mr. Biden’s business partners.
"An FBI document also outlined claims that the Bidens were bribed by a Ukrainian businessman who owned Burisma, the same energy company that employed Mr. Biden."
"McCarthy Gives Update on Possible Biden Impeachment Inquiry"
HCR continues in her useful role as a mouthpiece for the Biden administration. However, this carries the risk of bias and lies by omission, and today's letter from HCR includes an example of each.
HCR absurdly states that Ukraine's offensive against Russia is "slowly but surely" advancing. Here HCR delusively contradicts the rest of the world, including western mainstream news media.
HCR, by reciting delusive propaganda, does a disservice to her readers.
HCR perpetuates a lie by omission when she presents the Biden administration's make-believe goal to "reshape and scale up the World Bank to reduce global poverty and promote inclusive economic growth...Biden nominated Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American business executive, to be the president of the World Bank, Sullivan said, “precisely to make this vision a reality,” and has asked Congress to beef up funding for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, proposals that Sullivan said “will generate nearly $50 billion in lending for middle-income and poor countries from the United States alone."
More lending from the very institutions that have shackled the Third World in endless debt slavery, and there is the lie by omission. The Biden administration, like the preceding Republican and Democratic administrations, continues to impose a regime of neo-imperialist colonialist exploitation on the world's darker-skinned countries, while lying to the American people about it.
I have included a set of links to articles documenting this here:
Just block him and ignore him, or just ignore him, and move on. Perhaps after being blocked and ignored enough times he (or it, could be a bot) will go away and pester someone else.
I don't know about Substack generally, but keep reporting this jamoke. Use the three dots next to the "reply" link and report him; that individual comment will be removed from your thread. Perhaps someone else can answer the question about blocking on Substack. He's so annoying.
To all of you who commented on John’s post: dialogue implies two or more people talking. To ignore or cancel the other side of the conversation ends it. And to ridicule, demean, and/or name-call is immature and disrespectful (which makes you indistinguishable from MAGAs). If you disagree with John’s points, counter with better information or reveal the flaws in his analysis and sources.
“her trip is an encapsulation of the approach that the Biden administration is taking, where we are engaged in an intense competition with the PRC, but intense competition requires intense diplomacy to manage that competition so that it doesn't tip over into conflict and also so that we create every opportunity to work together with the PRC on issues that are in our mutual interest.”
Seems like a core formula for sucessfully managing democracy.
Will be interesting to see if China’s economic decline (and hopefully not implosion) causes them to be more cautious and back off Taiwan… or to be more bellicose as a way to distract and redirect economic frustrations and unrest at home.
PS - Any seniors in the house? I stayed up late like HCR two nights in a row to produce this deep dive (no paywall) on whether or not to get an RSV shot this fall if interested:
Or even pressured to pay it back. I know the goal of the program was to make payroll, but it seems as though most of the money - hundreds of millions of tax money - was funnelled to pre-existing debt, personal or business, or for new acquisitions, personal or business. "'Jobs and businesses are two separate things'” said David Autor, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who led a 10-member team that studied the program. 'We tried to figure out, "'Where did the money go?’" — and it turns out it didn’t primarily go to workers who would have lost jobs. It went to business owners and their shareholders and their creditors.'” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/business/paycheck-protection-program-costs.html.
There was enough documentation required for the PPP loans that I have to believe that some fault should be assessed to the lenders. Instead of just banks and credit unions, there were many third-party lenders who must have come out of the woodwork to get in on the bonanza. The lenders did receive a commission of sorts for processing the loans.
Thank you Rickey. I didn’t forget!! That man (Mnuchin) is nails on a chalkboard for me. What a creepy bugger!!
Hello Karma!! I remember asking (actually shouting at the tv) where is the oversight when Trump and his band of thieves announced this program while releasing the inspector general. I’m glad they are being held accountable.
My sister knows someone who’s husband started two businesses during the pandemic. He never hired any employees or did any actual business, but managed to get two PPP loans. I hope he gets caught!
I am self-employed with no employee other than myself self. I did not take a PPP loan. At least twice a week, I get a probably pre-recorded VM saying I am eligible for payment for my employees as part of blah, blah, blah...I never listen long enough to know what is being offer. Though there is no proof, in light of these recent charges, I wonder if this outfit is running a scam. If they researched my business at all, they’d know I am a sole practitioner.
Am I naive in supposing that most medical interventions, drugs, vaccines, surgery etc. carry an element of risk, often even death in certain constellations of circumstances, but in general the risk to benefit ratio when properly prescribed is overwhelmingly favorable? I know some surgeries are pretty high risk; my wife had one, but the alternative was scarier. It seems to me that a vaccine rather is like soldiers practicing combat before meeting live fire from an enemy, and a kind of cheat sheet for the immune system. Why would you not? COVID, etc., can kill.
So well stated, and your are absolutely correct. We think in risks, benefits, and alternatives… and the better communicator/doctors should counsel us about all 3!
Absolutely. Doctors are teachers (etymologically what the word means) and counselors as well as skilled technicians. I so appreciate doctors who "counsel us on all three" inducing the basis and degree of confidence in a diagnosis. Empowerment is part of the helpful outcome.
JL, exactly so! Most all of medicine, which is to say vaccines, active treatments, nutrition or taking supplements, even masking or seeing your doctor, is an exercise in comparing relative risks of one course of action like taking the vaccine or medication vs. the risks of NOT taking the vaccine or medication.
NO course of action (or inaction) is, or can be, risk-free.
"NO course of action (or inaction) is, or can be, risk-free."
One of the great truths of life, no? The same could be said of voting. We can only control so much of our circumstances, but we can aim to be wise, just, and resilient.
The RSV shot is not available for me through Kaiser Permanente in Georgia. It would cost $325 at Walgreens. I’ll stick with being a mostly Covid hermit and wearing my KN 95 mask for the rare times I go out among people in a store.
“ Under the Inflation Reduction Act, patients with Medicare Part D will pay no out-of-pocket expenses. As part of the Affordable Care Act, AREXVY may be covered for commercially insured patients at no cost when administered in-network. Patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist if AREXVY is covered.”
Thanks, Mary. But when I called Walgreens and gave them the information from my Kaiser card, they checked and said that though the Covid vaccines have been available at no cost to Kaiser members (because it's paid for by the government), the RSV vaccination is not. I've been in touch with my PCP, my ID doc and my pulmonologist, who all simply confirm it's not available at Kaiser. They apparently have no voice in requesting that it become available. I just filed a complaint with the KP customer service department, who sent it to the complaint resolution department, which will take up to 30 days to respond.
So, do you have regular Medicare part D with Kaiser as your Medicare part D provider? I have a friend with Medicare Advantage with Cigna and the RSV vaccine in not available “in network”.
And when my sister chose it for 2 years and then looked at switching back to original Medicare with Medigap to cover the 20%, the price for the same Medigap insurance had jumped from $140/month to over $600/month because of preexisting conditions (when you first become eligible for Medigap insurance, the insurance companies cannot penalize you for preexisting conditions or refuse to cover some types of care).
Mim, as RSV is an ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommended vaccine, it should be available at no cost to you from your provider (there will be a $20 - $40 vaccine administration fee). Pharmacies do not fall under this agreement, so Walgreens can charge you $325 if they want. Kaiser may not have the RSV vaccine yet, roll-out for such things is never as even as we'd like. Check with them later. You can also go to a public health clinic in your area and receive the vaccine.
I have a Kaiser Senior Advantage Plan. This is the first time since I've been with Kaiser (since 1997 or so, before I turned 65) that any recommended vaccine is not available. I've been in touch with my PCP, my ID and my pulmonologist, and they all say it's not available. I hope they mean "yet." (I've never been charged a vaccine administration fee.) I just filed a complaint with member services.
Can’t blame you! I was surprised by how low all the absolute numbers were among the 56 millions seniors in our country… kind of deflated the enthusiasm generated by the 90+% relative risk reductions. High risk elderly? Different story.
Definitely not my area of expertise, but this link seems reassuring about vaccination and CMT in general… not enough data this year to know if the GBS signal is real or not. Would talk with your doc about age and underlying conditions, and whether RSV exposure is likely based on your lifestyle and choices. Good luck!
GBS ? Should seniors get the vaccine ? I'm at high risk... *edit > And I had covid twice last year. I thought I was a goner for sure. Still suffer long covid - exhausting, actually and literally.
Hard to "like" this, D4N. I've got a dear friend, double dip Covid, long Covid from the start. She had one infection pre vaccine, the second post vaccine. I know how much it has impacted her.
To Mary Hardt: "Same Mary. In fact, it's twice in near 7 years I've been told the same thing: "We can only treat the symptoms that present; It's a thing, but we (medical science) don't know enough about it." .... Nearly 7 years ago I survived an antibiotic resistant staph infection that wasn't discovered till I had a seizure from being in septic shock in a dr's office. It should've killed me, but has left me unable to work from disabilities as a result. Happened at work - employer says it's my problem, prove it."
Dan, sorry to hear about your long Covid. Friend went to primary doctor with long Covid and was basically told “we don’t know what part of your body is causing the fatigue or how it’s causing it, so we don’t know how to treat it “.
Same Mary. In fact, it's twice in near 7 years I've been told the same thing: "We can only treat the symptoms that present; It's a thing, but we (medical science) don't know enough about it." .... Nearly 7 years ago I survived an antibiotic resistant staph infection that wasn't discovered till I had a seizure from being in septic shock in a dr's office. It should've killed me, but has left me unable to work from disabilities as a result. Happened at work - employer says it's my problem, prove it.
Dan,so sorry that this happened to you. We know way too little about the immune system. Interestingly, it seems that the majority of research is being done by cancer researchers trying to get bodies to recognize cancer cells as invaders; then the immune disease researchers look at the opposite—how to get bodies to recognize that the regular cells are not invaders. Can’t happen too soon.
Thank-you Ryan for your excellent piece on RSV vaccination for adults. As a public health nurse specializing in vaccinations, I can attest to the accuracy of the information you provided.
As for China's economy: let's hope they are able to weather the problems they are having, because they definitely fall into the "too big to fail" category. As for MAGAs trying to undermine Biden's economic policies: doing so means they want the US to fail, which means they want the world to fail. Some of them at least, are aware that these would be the consequences for their unchecked actions.
Thank you for that validation, and for the crucial and under appreciated work you do! I agree with your thoughts here, too. I heard a few soundbytes from the Republican debate late night, and the one that haunts me is ramaswamy “climate change is a hoax.” Obviously, it’s not, I don’t believe that he thinks it is, but he is so cynical and sheltered and rich that he doesn’t care what happens to the rest of the world’s population that can’t afford a self-sustaining off the grid mansion on an island somewhere north of the equator, right?
Thanks for that information as I have been pondering about when to get the vaccine. I am in my early 70’s so i do not want take the RSV, flu, and new Covid vaccines all at one time. Each one should be spaced a few weeks apart, right?
official word from CDC is that it’s ok to get the RSV shot with other vaccines… but flu + rsv produced less antibodies, and flu + covid caused more side effects 10% of the time… so I tend to space them out by a couple weeks. But here’s the party line from cdc:
Last fall I got the 4th Covid booster, the flu shot, and the 1st Shingles shot simultaneously. I suffered no problems beyond a sore-to-the-touch deltoid. I am in my late 50s and have not ever had a strong reaction to any of the Covid (Moderna) shots. I also have never had Covid.
Really responsible and comprehensive discussion of the new vaccines. Thank you for taking the time to do two late night "deep dives" and hope to subscribe soon to your "Examined."
That’s what I’m hoping, and US support for Ukraine has been a major deterrent. Had we not done that (Trump/most Republicans) I think China would already be there, don’t you?
The many positive foreign policy achievements from the Biden administration is just part of the reason we have to reelect Biden. As the global realities have shown America can not survive as isolationist nor should we try. We are part of a world that is interdependent on each other. What is good for the world is good for America and vice versa. This crawl in a bunker and pretend the rest of the world doesn't matter... as the republicans have promoted, is not sustainable nor is it what America is all about. America being a world partner is good for us and for the rest of the world.
Why, one would almost think foreign policy is too complicated to be left up to hustlers, empty suits, and demented children who read at fourth grade level and throw food at the wall.
tfg foreign policy is "me first" not America first or even democracy first. 2 billion payoff to Jared. Unknown amounts from China and Russia. He ran his businesses from the White House and avoided paying taxes. 🤡Boohoo. Why is everybody picking on me. 🤡
Effective foreign relations with China from Biden while the GQP candidates are repeating talking points about how tough they would be on China highlights how inadequate their understanding of foreign affairs is, or, at least, how ineffective their posturing would be. What a contrast!
In an irony of all ironies, I wrote this in about 2020, "On July 28, 2017, just over three years ago, he [Trump] appeared before law enforcement personnel and said, “Like when you guys put somebody in the car your protecting their head [gesturing with his hand to cover his head]…I said please don’t be too nice. “I said you can take the hand away, O.K.?” Most of those officers present laughed or applauded."
At the time I thought it an outrage and bizarre coming from any person in authority, never mind from the then President of the United States. I wonder if Sheriff Patrick Labat of Fulton County George got the former President's message?
I love the closing - the "Dark Brandon" ads airing during the "debate" (I use quotes since it's unlikely to resemble anything like a debate, but rather a bloviating cesspool of lies and gloom & doom (the GQP continues to spew lies about how horrible the country is doing).
Overall, these scumwads should be seen as the anti-patriotic losers they are, since they continually talk down about the country. Their "policies" (if they can be called that) are mostly made up of attempts to prevent democracy (voter suppression), and a litany of mean-spirited, homophobic, misogynous, and just plain evil proposals and laws targeting anyone they consider "other". . .
Sad.
Thank you for continuing to highlight the powerful work the administration is doing around the world to strengthen (and repair) relations. Important stories that are getting very little coverage.
I chose not to watch the debate as I knew it would be a slugfest. I did watch Rachel and the gang on MSNBC pull several vignettes of what was said and who said what. Boring and seemed like a yawn fest to me. There was not one person on that stage who has the national and international experience that Joe Biden has. Not a one. Today gave us a failed “debate” but also the death of a Russian mercenary. It’s Putin’s way to eliminate those who embarrass him or get in his way. Prigozhin was not to be admired as he and his henchmen caused heinous crimes against humanity. It will be interesting to see how Russians react to Putin now.
Tomorrow is another special day. We will witness Donald Jessica (per Randy Rainbow) Trump be arrested, fingerprinted, mug shot taken, and booked into a smelly, bug infested jail. Can’t wait!!
Did you watch Randy Rainbow's Don't Arraign on My Parade? He's so clever and I really need the laughs. And he tells more facts than all the "debaters" /republican'ts do.
Randy should receive a special award at the Democratic convention. He got me through the Pandemic and now this crazy, terrifying time. Laughter really is the best medicine! Oh, to be that clever.
Here’s a couple of others that are hilarious. I posted this on another Substack a few days back:
These two short (60 seconds) videos will make you laugh. My wife and I couldn’t stop cracking up after seeing them.
Note: Just in case it’s of concern to anyone both videos are on tictoc. Quite honestly I’ve never seen anything on tictoc until my wife showed me the first video a couple of days ago.
ps: you’ll have to click the speaker/ volume icon on the bottom of the video player to hear the sound. It’s just like the one you’ll find on YouTube videos. For some reason the volume is off by default.
Thanks. That link works. It's good and they/he has others too.. Justice matters!! Glenn Kirschner's so right. The parody of the debate is especially good-all those fools won't ever stop kissing his big fat @$$.
I wouldn't watch that crap show Fascist debate if someone had paid me too. I get sick enough just reading about the useless, sorry excuses for human beings. From what i read on another comment site earlier, all those cretins did was discuss how bad Biden was doing and bashing him for doing good things for America.. If i had watched it, i would have just gotten more disgusted and angry than i already am about the Fascist Rethuglicans. I hope they find a good place under the jail for TUMP. That is where that SOB belongs.
I watched most of the GOP’s so-called debate. With the exception of Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, the debate was a clown show. And neither Hutchinson nor Christie was exceptional, they just appeared more serious than the others and both said they would not support Trump if convicted. That’s not good enough of course: Trump should never be supported for any office whatsoever. Ramaswamy was the worst clown of all: among other stupid things, he declared climate change a hoax and said that he would end aid to Ukraine. The man is a rich, smarmy guy, the type one turns his back on the moment he starts preening. Tim Scott had nothing to say except that “we cannot let states like California permit abortion.” I am a Californian, California has enshrined the right to abortion in the State Constitution: Scott would be laughed off if he said that here. Scott is the epitome of an empty suit. Burgum … enough said. Haley a total lightweight who would support Trump no matter what. What a sorry bunch and what a disaster is the GOP.
Lol I walked inside off the porch to get wine and husband was watching. I arrived just in time to hear DeStupid brag about firing two Soros funded prosecutors. That was enough. Right back outside.
Heather's interesting (not new, that) piece tonight stuck out to me in one, perhaps far from the spotlight manner---
VP Harris is traveling to Indonesia on Labor Day. Indonesia is a critically important Nation in many ways. It is one of the largest Indo-Pacific Nations in the World and in fact, unless my math if off, it is the largest Indo-Pacific Nation population wise other than India. It is the larges Moslem Nation in the world.
Let me repeat that----Not Saudi Arabia, not Iran, nor Iraq, not Algeria, not Turkey etc., INDONESIA, a Nation that most Americans have virtually no knowledge of, is the LARGEST MOSLEM NATION IN THE WORLD. It is also, the largest island nation in the world, bar none. It is comprised of approximately 300 million souls.
For FAR TOO LONG, we have simply ignored Indonesia's importance.
Even its nomenclature for our Western ears, an admixture of Indo-Pacific and Micronesia, sums up its compound nature. It is composed of massive island land masses of incredible beauty, deep and ancient culture and vast resources, not the least being nickel, the base of electronic communications and electric based energy portending the future. Its people constitute an eclectic, longstanding and often combative mix of Malay, Chinese, Pacific Islander and a minority of mostly Dutch European peoples, roughly tied together across thousands of miles of island archipelagos.
It was the site of one of the greatest political massacres in history, and one of the least covered in the US, the mid '70s massacre of the outer island peoples, particularly those in East Timor and the political socialist and liberal activists by President Sukarno, one of the string of red-four-cornered-hatted military dictators supported financially and militarily by US, especially by the infamous Secretary of State and unindicted war criminal Henry Kissinger.
Estimates of the death toll by state violence are still debated, but upwards of half a million is undoubtedly accurate.
SO, perhaps it is long past time for us to embrace the needs and aspirations of the Indonesian people, and let's hope that Vice President Harris, both backed by her position and her symbolic importance, can lay claim to a small piece of the future
Dark Brandon advertising on Fox during the debate while Trump hides behind exiled Tucker Carlson is a scene from super hero comic books. Bring it, Joe!
Michael—you’re right—it’s advertising genius!
Thanks, Michael! You got me thinking of "Dark Brandon" riding swiftly into the debates on horseback, like Paul Revere, to shout a warning and save us.
The MAGA are coming! The MAGA are coming!
The MAGA are in fact here. They've been here for a long, long time, known as the KKK. Timothy Egan's brilliant book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the Midwest during the 1920's. I challenge you to find a difference between the 1920's KKK and the 2020's MAGA. White Protestant supremacy now, white Protestant supremacy forever.
You won't find any difference at all.
Yes I am reading that book right now and it is fascinating and as I read it it makes me wonder about current KKK people --are there many still hidden here? This is certainly not history taught in our schools.
Hidden, Connie? The KKK is now the MAGA. I think that when you have finished the book, you'll agree.
Richard In the 1920s hooded Klansmen marched proudly in Washington. Now Trump’s hoods are scrambling for cover as they are being RICOed. Still, I sense that many of Trump’s Strumpets would embrace the 1920s KKK.
I recall that Hugh Black, once a KKK member, was on the Supreme Court. Some Stench Court members would add KKK membership to their Federalist Society credentials.
Keith, you are right on several counts. As to the present-day MAGA being KKK, they're exactly the same as in the 1920's, but now a few Catholics have joined in, Ron DeSantis for one. DeSantis is definitely Fascist, but so were Musolini and Hitler, who were also Catholics. So, no surprise there.
We're in dangerous territory with the Supreme Court being comprised as it is with six questionable justices.
Hugo Black did join the Klan briefly when he was young because he was told it was a social organization that he would need contacts in for his law practice and dealing with juries. But he never believed in what the Klan stood for. As a both a local official and a U.S. senator, Black supported the New Deal and worked against racism in his native Alabama. Appointed by FDR, he was a reliable liberal member of the Warren Court excepting Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the right to privacy, which Clarence Thomas wants to "revisit". Black was an originalist and was in the minority in Griswold because the word "privacy" was not in the Constitution.
Elizabeth Thanks for the clarification on Hugh Black. I knew this, but was a bit sloppy in my KKK commmentaary.
That totally shocked me when I was reading the book and made me sick!
Yes, very shocking, and I don't know about the Other Guy.
Ha ha ha, you cracked me up, K Paschal!
Kp Call an exterminator for the MAGATS. I would call the antidote the Constitution.
Yes! Thanks so much for the laugh!! Needed that.
Horeseback? Nope, Joe will drive up in his convertible, complete with aviator shades!
Hey Susan from OC, what do you think would be playing on the radio? Maybe "Devil went down to Georgia"? Maybe "Georgia on my mind"?
So many great songs, so little time! https://hellomusictheory.com/learn/songs-about-georgia/
Maybe the theme from "Gone With the Wind", because we wish he would just GO AWAY!
Susan from O.C., that will work! Thanks for the link. It will come in handy.
Ha ha ha Susan!
But, jezus, WITH HIS SHIRT ON! please. We don't need anything that looks like that awful photo of Putin (ew!).
Ya Lynn. No worries "Dark Brandon" is dignified and strong because he doesn't have an ego the size of Russia to feed!
Excellent strategy! I haven’t seen any , am excited to...
These Letters give such organized explanation of our current events which I can not keep any track of. Dangled prepositions , 🥹 !
It’s harvest season , another batch of spaghetti cooking down. The last calf of the season came , huge heifer.., the new woodshed is half filled , this sampled life style may seem unusual , but better still is the appreciation and giving thanks 🤝 to so many, doing so much.
Giving thanks for you and this Substack family of fabulous diversity. I feel some definite light at this tunneled end , relief, yet concentrated looking ahead ,what needs attention and some great ideas taking shape.
Congratulations . 🫵
Stay the course.🫶
💙💙VOTE💙💙
You get credit for not saying where it's at! That drives me nuts. I was thinking last night about the diversity of our Substack contributors. Fabulous, indeed!
Brilliant!
HCR continues in her useful role as a mouthpiece for the Biden administration. However, this carries the risk of bias and lies by omission, and today's letter from HCR includes an example of each.
HCR absurdly states that Ukraine's offensive against Russia is "slowly but surely" advancing. Here HCR delusively contradicts the rest of the world, including western mainstream news media.
For example:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html
-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/17/ukraine-counteroffensive-melitopol/
-
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/08/22/why_is_ukraines_counteroffensive_destined_to_fail_974465.html
HCR, by reciting delusive propaganda, does a disservice to her readers.
HCR perpetuates a lie by omission when she presents the Biden administration's make-believe goal to "reshape and scale up the World Bank to reduce global poverty and promote inclusive economic growth...Biden nominated Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American business executive, to be the president of the World Bank, Sullivan said, “precisely to make this vision a reality,” and has asked Congress to beef up funding for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, proposals that Sullivan said “will generate nearly $50 billion in lending for middle-income and poor countries from the United States alone."
More lending from the very institutions that have shackled the Third World in endless debt slavery, and there is the lie by omission. The Biden administration, like the preceding Republican and Democratic administrations, continues to impose a regime of neo-imperialist colonialist exploitation on the world's darker-skinned countries, while lying to the American people about it.
I have included a set of links to articles documenting this here:
https://substack.com/profile/85178460-john-schmeeckle/note/c-21924924
John, on another topic, what did you think about Putin taking out Prigozhin, killing others in the process? Isn't Putin Trump's handler?
Why do you think Putin did it? Prigozhin was a contender to succeed Putin as President, so a rival contender could have rubbed him out.
And regarding Putin and Trump, I remember when Putin publicly invited Obama to collaborate on building a transportation corridor from Russia to the USA, featuring a bridge or tunnel across the Bering Strait. Obama never answered, but Trump would have been inclined to return the call.
Of course, the Russiagate scandal put the kibosh on that, so the world lost the opportunity to say, "Trump and Putin: Two great autocrats who work great together."
John, why do I think that Putin did it? Why do I think that the sun rises in the east?
Trump and Putin? Putin has been blackmailing Trump from the get-go, probably with photos of Trump in Moscow hotel rooms with attractive young Russian ladies. There may be more, but to rest my case, go back to the two-hour Helsinki meeting between Putin and Trump, with just the two of them and the interpreters present. After the meeting, Trump took the American interpreters notes and told her to say nothing about what transpired. Biden winning the election in 2020 probably saved democracy here and around the world, but the fight isn't over yet. We still have to contend with the KKK/MAGA element here in the U.S.
Or photos and evidence of dumpty with young girls. Evidence of being a rapist and involved in human trafficking.
The similarities are amazing, aren't they?
Trolling trolling trolling, keep those posts a trolling……
Everyone forget this clown. All he/ it does is criticize Heather ad naseum with no factual basis for any of his/ its off the wall conspiracy theories. Eg: One of he/ its off the wall conspiracies is that Heather is a propagandist for Biden and the Biden Administration.
Bottom line don’t waste your time or effort making replies as this clown is only looking for attention re: reactions to his/ its comments. As long as we continue to reply him/ it will continue to make posts. Ignore and and this thing will eventually go away.
You know, George, if you're going to include an earworm in your posts, those of us who read them would appreciate advance warning. (But I really love this one, and haven't seen it used before! Well done, although I'm going to be hearing that all day now. Thanks a pile, as my dear departed dad would say.)
And with this troll, I just keep reminding people his screeds can be reported and then ignored, or just ignored. Maybe someday he or it (is this a bot? I suspect Russian influence, if not actual pay) will get tired of being ignored and go pester someone else.
Trollin, trollin . . . dammit!
🤣🤣🤣 His sources are hysterical!
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-23-2023/comment/38987761
"Methinks he doth protest too much..."
why do you bother to read her? HCR is stating the obvious - trickle down economics does not work, the CONServatives have lead this democratic republic toward fascism. You seem to be very limited in your historical knowledge.
Rickey, this troll has been around for a while, bad-mouthing HCR and everyone who challenges any of his screeds. Seriously, report and ignore, or just ignore, and move on.
Got that right Lynn "seriously report," yes, not '"I disagree". Defamation against Community members risks legal liability.
He’s a Russian troll.
Too much attention to this guy, please don’t respond to his posts.
thanks for the heads up. I do showing someone's ignorance to them.
You simultaneously ask me a personal question and emit a put-down. That's not a good way to initiate an exchange of views.
I agree that trickle-down economics does not work. In my view, the "assimilated" neo-fascist Biden is worse than Trump.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QA0Qd5Ojr20&si=uz19R_YFyYqqch1g
John, you write: the "assimilated" neo-fascist Biden is worse than Trump.
Can you please be explicit in what you rely on to make this claim?
What do you mean "neo-fascist?"
In what ways is Biden "worse" than Trump? Specific examples?
Don't respond to schmeeckle....waste of time.
(Part 5)
I have presented the Establishment, which (imperfectly) dominates business and political activity as well as the mainstream news media.
I now introduce the concept of taboo subjects, which are not allowed serious discussion in the mainstream news media. One such taboo subject is the possibility of computerized vote fraud. Another taboo subject is the exact means by which our votes are counted. As Uncle Joe Stalin famously said (loosely translated), "It's not who votes that counts; it's who counts the votes."
Quoting from the introduction to "Votescam: The Stealing of America" (originally 1992)
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false
"By means of an unofficial private corporation named News Election Service (NES), the Establishment press has actual physical control of the voting and counting and dissemination of the vote, and it refuses to let the public know how it is done."
Quoting from the footnote to the above quote in the 2015 edition:
"In 1964 it was born National Election Services (NES), a consortium of ABC, CBS, NBC, AP and UPI. In 1994 NES merged with Voter Research and Survey (VRS) to become Voter News Service (VNS), which included CNN and Fox News. In 2002 it morphed again to become News Election Pool (NEP)."
(Part 4)
The third and fourth sources listed in Part 2 deal with aspects of the Establishment's foreign policy that transcend partisan differences between Democrats and Republicans.
Context for the presentation in Chapter 1 of the third source can be found in Chapter 7 of William Engdahl's "A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order." You may want to scan the book's complete table of contents here:
https://archive.org/stream/WilliamEngdahlACenturyOfWar/William%20Engdahl%20-%20A%20Century%20of%20War_djvu.txt
I will continue my discussion of relevant points in these sources later.
(part 3)
The first source discusses the beginning of U.S. government efforts at global population control in the mid-1960s.
The second source discusses George H.W. Bush's entry into Congress in 1966, where he quickly became a fervent exponent of population control.
Population control was, of course, the goal of the old Nazi-loving Eugenics movement.
George Bush got into Congress thanks to a newly-created, tailor-made congressional district in the Houston suburbs. How does something like that happen? Who has that kind of power?
Once in Congress, Bush was put on the powerful Ways and Means Committee after the Chairman of the committee got a call from Bush's father, the recently retired Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut.
Prescott Bush had worked as a lieutenant of Averell Harriman, the "King of Wall Street" (and Chairman of the Democratic Party), whose family was among the principal funders of the Nazi-loving Eugenics movement.
Prescott Bush was tbe manager of Harriman's Union Banking Corporation, which got seized by the federal government under the "Trading with the Enemy Act" during World War II.
The inference here, and a point emphasized throughout the Unauthorized Biography, is that George Bush's career was repeatedly promoted and supported by what is commonly called "the Establishment."
See Carroll Quigley's "The Anglo-American Establishment" for a scholar's employment of the word "Establishment." See also Ferdinand Lundberg's "America's 60 Families" for a presentation of the core of the Establishment in the 1930s:
"Lundberg asserts that a small group of 60 interlinked American families control the mainstream media, the United States economy, and have unchecked influence over American political institutions."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_60_Families
(Part 2)
My four sources are
"The Population Control Holocaust"
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-population-control-holocaust
"George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography"
http://tarpley.net/online-books/george-bush-the-unauthorized-biography/
"The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf"
https://archive.org/details/firethistimeuswa00clar/mode/1up
"Enough is Enough" (resignation letter of senior IMF official Davison Budhoo)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oJzvpfFzIKu76oE1CkzZlarRiVpYIggFMFzSt6OgHx0/mobilebasic
In my next post, I will share what I make of these sources, as a preparation for discussing your questions.
(Part 1)
I will be pleased to answer your questions, step by step.
I recognize that you are predisposed to both find points of disagreement and to get overbearing.
I also recognize that others (including Substack) are observing my interactions and discussions around here.
There are four interrelated sources that underlie my reasoning and conclusions about Biden and neo-fascism. If you are predisposed to dismiss them without open-minded consideration, then you could go into your disagreeable, overbearing mode. I will take that risk, because those who quietly observe will benefit from what I share, especially if I remain civil.
False Equivalency Doctrine.
Might do a lot more studying of fascism .
Yes, you might.
So Biden is a Cyberman now? Fascinating!
Perhaps you understand the concept of metaphor: Biden's personal will became subsumed into a collective as part of his personal advancement.
Perhaps you didn't understand my reference. Which is fine. There are many Doctor Who fans in the world; I am not surprised that you are not one of them.
Thanks for another point of view. I always thought both sides sort of fudged their numbers. I hope this is true, but I just read a story that Russian tanks and some heavy artillery drove down the center of the capital just as Russia had planned-almost. These tanks etc were damaged ones which the Ukrainians had captured.
I don't think that Russia planned to take Kyiv. Both sides knew that Russia didn't have enough infantry for that. Urban warfare is always a hideous meatgrinder for the attacker, unless you do it slow-motion demolition-style with artillery (as in Grozny and Mariupol).
Russia feinted toward Kyiv, forcing Ukraine to tie up soldiers for its defense and enabling Russia's big land grab in the south.
I wish this would all end positively for the Ukrainians
So do I, but a whole generation has already been slaughtered. Ukraine has been enslaved by the International Monetary Fund, where the NATO countries have voting domination.
Back in 2014, when Ukraine accepted a loan from the IMF, one of the conditions was that Ukraine re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics. And later, President Zelensky publicly pledged to keep all of Ukraine's promises to the IMF. So Ukraine is obligated to keep fighting, and NATO (because of their promise to support Ukraine as long as it takes) is obligated to keep supplying weapons.
Ukraine has been transformed into a zombie soldier, paying pounds and pounds of bloody flesh to service that IMF loan.
My problem is that I see this as the same circumstances which surrounding WWII. Hitler kept taking and taking, etc. I suspect a lot of Americans didn't know that he had submarines on our coastline near the end of the war. Putin knows no boundary.
All aid shackles. And if the West does not do something via the world back, others will. So what is a realistic alternative. And lets get serious too. Despite the failures of aid of all sorts, some changes have occurred over the past 60 years - whether in South America or Asia. Less so Africa and the middle east. The notion of neocolonialism reminds me of pro Soviet propaganda spread by stooges in the late 50s. I was in college in the late 60s and met a number of red diaper babies. They spouted a lot of nonsens.
Terry Mc Kenna, you are inclined to dismiss "the notion of neocolonialism." Here is a list of sources for you to consider:
"Africans Rise Up Against IMF-Imposed Neocolonial Debt"
https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/africa-archives/africans-rise-up-against-imf-imposed-neocolonial-debt/
"Fight Slavery Now: World Bank and the IMF"
https://fightslaverynow.org/why-fight-there-are-27-million-reasons/economics-and-human-trafficking/world-bank-and-the-imf/
"Time to End Debt Slavery"
https://www.cepr.net/time-to-end-debt-slavery/
"Escaping Debt Slavery: Ethiopia, Africa and the IMF"
https://www.blackagendareport.com/escaping-debt-slavery-ethiopia-africa-and-imf
"The IMF’s Bottomless Bottom-Line Cruelty"
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/02/the-imfs-bottomless-bottom-line-cruelty
Sorry but you must be young and perhaps don't assume others have a different perspective. In 1973, I spent a few weeks in a hostel in London see many no white students and heard all about the evils of colonialism. I get it. And yes decades ago, i was familiar (working in finances) that big banks made money off the back of debt to the third world. Citibank was a player.
But... yes the powerful always take advantage. But my point was not about how great the IMF might be, but rather that whether the Russian, Chinese or IMF the lenders will have the power.
And if you understand anything about how complex the system is that allows goods to be traded and paid for... well you will accept that all involved feel ill used at times.
If you imagine a world where advantages are not taken or where US agribusiness can sell grain to a foreign nation and not get paid in dollars, then you are a fantasist.
By the way, the habit of including a host of links is typical of a true believer. I am not one. It is really silly to think headlines and links are compelling. as if, even after I have read all of them, I would see the light.
You write that "the habit of including a host of links is typical of a true believer."
I will counter that the habit of citing sources is typical of a scholar.
Where you get it, then?
President Joe “diplomacy“ Biden. Doing his job and doing it well with the vice president following his lead. Creating balance in world for all...with respect. Doing it with grace, while the other guy would have no clue how to sit down and negotiate for both sides to come to terms and we’re happy to work together for all the negative reporting add mindless stories. Joe has done the best he can, and he cares about the country, he tries and I appreciate that from him. Thank you Professor once again, showing that the world can work together with the right people understanding each other and excepting each other for the common good of all going forward... thank you....peace and love and fair dealings with each other. But i really believe that all parties are beginning to put down there still construed barriers and are beginning to trust each other for the common good of the planet!!!!!!! we all live on this big blue marble let’s keep it blue.
"Joe 'Diplomacy' Biden" - I like it! Thanks, Michael!
Me too Lynell👏
I watched a bit of the "debate" which claimed that trump was making the US a leader. He was being an isolationist. America first, but that is not the world works any more. We saw how Biden united NATO after trump ito destroy it. If trump had his way, there would be little or no help for Ukraine now. We are working with China and the South Pacific.
I had to walk away from their antics. I got tired of their screaming! They were like children screaming at each other.
At first I was wondering what I watching. A couple Biden clips? some scruffy looking guy playing the guitar? oh, it was a republican debate. Are visuals like that used in debates? Classroom presentations, maybe, but not debates. Maybe these guys need picture books to read and not regular grown up novels.
Yes. [Did you mean " after trump tried to destroy it"?]
If we had pulled out of NATO, it well might have destroyed it—it definitely would have weakened it.
Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/politics/nato-president-trump.html
Bolton says Trump might have pulled the U.S. out of NATO if he had been reelected
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/04/bolton-says-trump-might-have-pulled-us-out-nato-if-he-had-been-reelected/
trump tried to destroy it. I am much more literate than my typing shows.
Great point Karen,I don’t buy into their claims, sometimes I get a great laugh out of it though! I see a dying Party , ‘ Hoax’ by Smarmy , ‘woke’ by Dizzy D , the spewings of drowning rhetoric dibble . It’s quire sad , I scroll over it , don’t watch, and certainly don’t anger... it’s not a valid emotional response ... it’s like the ‘ kids’ the Gen Z’s , the Millennials..that majority have long passed the enough! and they’re votes , passion, energy, and enthusiam is commendable I remember just the similarities back in late ‘60., awesomeness.
Love it, Karen🫶
What I cannot fathom is how they can be running against the guy they claim is doing all this awesome stuff. It defies logic. (I couldn't bring myself to watch the "debate," personally.)
And then there are ongoing inferences that Biden's foreign policy has been influenced by sleazy deals:
"Bank records obtained by congressional investigators show more than $20 million in foreign payments to Hunter Biden, other relatives of President Biden, and their associates. Whistleblowers from the IRS and FBI have testified about what they uncovered during investigations and obstruction by top government officials. And Devon Archer, a former associate of Mr. Biden, has told members about President Biden, while vice president, meeting with Mr. Biden’s business partners.
"An FBI document also outlined claims that the Bidens were bribed by a Ukrainian businessman who owned Burisma, the same energy company that employed Mr. Biden."
"McCarthy Gives Update on Possible Biden Impeachment Inquiry"
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/mccarthy-gives-update-on-possible-biden-impeachment-inquiry-5479162
THIS is governing... not a clown show!
HCR continues in her useful role as a mouthpiece for the Biden administration. However, this carries the risk of bias and lies by omission, and today's letter from HCR includes an example of each.
HCR absurdly states that Ukraine's offensive against Russia is "slowly but surely" advancing. Here HCR delusively contradicts the rest of the world, including western mainstream news media.
For example:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html
-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/17/ukraine-counteroffensive-melitopol/
-
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/08/22/why_is_ukraines_counteroffensive_destined_to_fail_974465.html
HCR, by reciting delusive propaganda, does a disservice to her readers.
HCR perpetuates a lie by omission when she presents the Biden administration's make-believe goal to "reshape and scale up the World Bank to reduce global poverty and promote inclusive economic growth...Biden nominated Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American business executive, to be the president of the World Bank, Sullivan said, “precisely to make this vision a reality,” and has asked Congress to beef up funding for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, proposals that Sullivan said “will generate nearly $50 billion in lending for middle-income and poor countries from the United States alone."
More lending from the very institutions that have shackled the Third World in endless debt slavery, and there is the lie by omission. The Biden administration, like the preceding Republican and Democratic administrations, continues to impose a regime of neo-imperialist colonialist exploitation on the world's darker-skinned countries, while lying to the American people about it.
I have included a set of links to articles documenting this here:
https://substack.com/profile/85178460-john-schmeeckle/note/c-21924924
Do you realize you are repeating yourself, word for silly word? Or is it intentional?
The Russian bot is out of the bag. HCR readers know where this prop is coming from. No "likes".
Jon, Janet,
He/ it is a troll. And/ or as Sander puts it, a “Russian bot”
Don’t get sucked in, don’t waste your time reading or replying.
Just block him and ignore him, or just ignore him, and move on. Perhaps after being blocked and ignored enough times he (or it, could be a bot) will go away and pester someone else.
How do you block on Substack?
I don't know about Substack generally, but keep reporting this jamoke. Use the three dots next to the "reply" link and report him; that individual comment will be removed from your thread. Perhaps someone else can answer the question about blocking on Substack. He's so annoying.
I just reported him. Thanks for telling me how.
I report him almost daily. I know others do also. Why he remains is beyond me.
God forbid you should actually engage with the content of what I wrote.
I consulted. It is forbidden.
To all of you who commented on John’s post: dialogue implies two or more people talking. To ignore or cancel the other side of the conversation ends it. And to ridicule, demean, and/or name-call is immature and disrespectful (which makes you indistinguishable from MAGAs). If you disagree with John’s points, counter with better information or reveal the flaws in his analysis and sources.
“her trip is an encapsulation of the approach that the Biden administration is taking, where we are engaged in an intense competition with the PRC, but intense competition requires intense diplomacy to manage that competition so that it doesn't tip over into conflict and also so that we create every opportunity to work together with the PRC on issues that are in our mutual interest.”
Seems like a core formula for sucessfully managing democracy.
Will be interesting to see if China’s economic decline (and hopefully not implosion) causes them to be more cautious and back off Taiwan… or to be more bellicose as a way to distract and redirect economic frustrations and unrest at home.
PS - Any seniors in the house? I stayed up late like HCR two nights in a row to produce this deep dive (no paywall) on whether or not to get an RSV shot this fall if interested:
https://mccormickmd.substack.com/p/should-i-get-the-rsv-vaccine
And down with the fraudsters taking pandemic relief money, unreal.
So have to wonder if any of the “freedom caucus” Congress critters that got relief money will be charged with corruption.
I imagine you already know the answer to that.
That was my first thought.
Or even pressured to pay it back. I know the goal of the program was to make payroll, but it seems as though most of the money - hundreds of millions of tax money - was funnelled to pre-existing debt, personal or business, or for new acquisitions, personal or business. "'Jobs and businesses are two separate things'” said David Autor, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who led a 10-member team that studied the program. 'We tried to figure out, "'Where did the money go?’" — and it turns out it didn’t primarily go to workers who would have lost jobs. It went to business owners and their shareholders and their creditors.'” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/business/paycheck-protection-program-costs.html.
There was enough documentation required for the PPP loans that I have to believe that some fault should be assessed to the lenders. Instead of just banks and credit unions, there were many third-party lenders who must have come out of the woodwork to get in on the bonanza. The lenders did receive a commission of sorts for processing the loans.
seem we forget that Mnuchin handed out 500,000,000 with no oversight and refused to document.
Thank you Rickey. I didn’t forget!! That man (Mnuchin) is nails on a chalkboard for me. What a creepy bugger!!
Hello Karma!! I remember asking (actually shouting at the tv) where is the oversight when Trump and his band of thieves announced this program while releasing the inspector general. I’m glad they are being held accountable.
Go team Joe!
My sister knows someone who’s husband started two businesses during the pandemic. He never hired any employees or did any actual business, but managed to get two PPP loans. I hope he gets caught!
I am self-employed with no employee other than myself self. I did not take a PPP loan. At least twice a week, I get a probably pre-recorded VM saying I am eligible for payment for my employees as part of blah, blah, blah...I never listen long enough to know what is being offer. Though there is no proof, in light of these recent charges, I wonder if this outfit is running a scam. If they researched my business at all, they’d know I am a sole practitioner.
Am I naive in supposing that most medical interventions, drugs, vaccines, surgery etc. carry an element of risk, often even death in certain constellations of circumstances, but in general the risk to benefit ratio when properly prescribed is overwhelmingly favorable? I know some surgeries are pretty high risk; my wife had one, but the alternative was scarier. It seems to me that a vaccine rather is like soldiers practicing combat before meeting live fire from an enemy, and a kind of cheat sheet for the immune system. Why would you not? COVID, etc., can kill.
So well stated, and your are absolutely correct. We think in risks, benefits, and alternatives… and the better communicator/doctors should counsel us about all 3!
Absolutely. Doctors are teachers (etymologically what the word means) and counselors as well as skilled technicians. I so appreciate doctors who "counsel us on all three" inducing the basis and degree of confidence in a diagnosis. Empowerment is part of the helpful outcome.
JL, exactly so! Most all of medicine, which is to say vaccines, active treatments, nutrition or taking supplements, even masking or seeing your doctor, is an exercise in comparing relative risks of one course of action like taking the vaccine or medication vs. the risks of NOT taking the vaccine or medication.
NO course of action (or inaction) is, or can be, risk-free.
"NO course of action (or inaction) is, or can be, risk-free."
One of the great truths of life, no? The same could be said of voting. We can only control so much of our circumstances, but we can aim to be wise, just, and resilient.
The RSV shot is not available for me through Kaiser Permanente in Georgia. It would cost $325 at Walgreens. I’ll stick with being a mostly Covid hermit and wearing my KN 95 mask for the rare times I go out among people in a store.
“ Under the Inflation Reduction Act, patients with Medicare Part D will pay no out-of-pocket expenses. As part of the Affordable Care Act, AREXVY may be covered for commercially insured patients at no cost when administered in-network. Patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist if AREXVY is covered.”
https://us.gsk.com/en-us/media/press-releases/gsk-announces-arexvy-its-respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-vaccine-is-now-available-at-all-major-us-retail-pharmacies/
Thanks, Mary. But when I called Walgreens and gave them the information from my Kaiser card, they checked and said that though the Covid vaccines have been available at no cost to Kaiser members (because it's paid for by the government), the RSV vaccination is not. I've been in touch with my PCP, my ID doc and my pulmonologist, who all simply confirm it's not available at Kaiser. They apparently have no voice in requesting that it become available. I just filed a complaint with the KP customer service department, who sent it to the complaint resolution department, which will take up to 30 days to respond.
So, do you have regular Medicare part D with Kaiser as your Medicare part D provider? I have a friend with Medicare Advantage with Cigna and the RSV vaccine in not available “in network”.
Medicare "Disadvantage" is what that really is, according to a number of my patients who signed up for that, to their great regret.
And when my sister chose it for 2 years and then looked at switching back to original Medicare with Medigap to cover the 20%, the price for the same Medigap insurance had jumped from $140/month to over $600/month because of preexisting conditions (when you first become eligible for Medigap insurance, the insurance companies cannot penalize you for preexisting conditions or refuse to cover some types of care).
Mim, as RSV is an ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommended vaccine, it should be available at no cost to you from your provider (there will be a $20 - $40 vaccine administration fee). Pharmacies do not fall under this agreement, so Walgreens can charge you $325 if they want. Kaiser may not have the RSV vaccine yet, roll-out for such things is never as even as we'd like. Check with them later. You can also go to a public health clinic in your area and receive the vaccine.
I have a Kaiser Senior Advantage Plan. This is the first time since I've been with Kaiser (since 1997 or so, before I turned 65) that any recommended vaccine is not available. I've been in touch with my PCP, my ID and my pulmonologist, and they all say it's not available. I hope they mean "yet." (I've never been charged a vaccine administration fee.) I just filed a complaint with member services.
Steve, thanks for the information!
Good Grief! That is a ridiculous price!
Can’t blame you! I was surprised by how low all the absolute numbers were among the 56 millions seniors in our country… kind of deflated the enthusiasm generated by the 90+% relative risk reductions. High risk elderly? Different story.
And GBS is not good…
Any thoughts about elderly with CMT? (Charcot Marie Tooth neuromuscular disease.
Definitely not my area of expertise, but this link seems reassuring about vaccination and CMT in general… not enough data this year to know if the GBS signal is real or not. Would talk with your doc about age and underlying conditions, and whether RSV exposure is likely based on your lifestyle and choices. Good luck!
https://charcot-marie-toothnews.com/charcot-marie-tooth-and-vaccination/
Thank you. What a compassionate doc you are!
You often post well informed and articulate comments. Thank you for using your time for the benefit for readers here on the forum.
Thank you! I’m trying to find more time to read everyone’s comments here, as the HCR post is like the entree, followed by excellent next courses!
GBS ? Should seniors get the vaccine ? I'm at high risk... *edit > And I had covid twice last year. I thought I was a goner for sure. Still suffer long covid - exhausting, actually and literally.
Hard to "like" this, D4N. I've got a dear friend, double dip Covid, long Covid from the start. She had one infection pre vaccine, the second post vaccine. I know how much it has impacted her.
Ally, hugs to your friend.
Thank you.
To Mary Hardt: "Same Mary. In fact, it's twice in near 7 years I've been told the same thing: "We can only treat the symptoms that present; It's a thing, but we (medical science) don't know enough about it." .... Nearly 7 years ago I survived an antibiotic resistant staph infection that wasn't discovered till I had a seizure from being in septic shock in a dr's office. It should've killed me, but has left me unable to work from disabilities as a result. Happened at work - employer says it's my problem, prove it."
*Ally: See my response to Mary Hardt.*
Dan, sorry to hear about your long Covid. Friend went to primary doctor with long Covid and was basically told “we don’t know what part of your body is causing the fatigue or how it’s causing it, so we don’t know how to treat it “.
Same Mary. In fact, it's twice in near 7 years I've been told the same thing: "We can only treat the symptoms that present; It's a thing, but we (medical science) don't know enough about it." .... Nearly 7 years ago I survived an antibiotic resistant staph infection that wasn't discovered till I had a seizure from being in septic shock in a dr's office. It should've killed me, but has left me unable to work from disabilities as a result. Happened at work - employer says it's my problem, prove it.
Dan,so sorry that this happened to you. We know way too little about the immune system. Interestingly, it seems that the majority of research is being done by cancer researchers trying to get bodies to recognize cancer cells as invaders; then the immune disease researchers look at the opposite—how to get bodies to recognize that the regular cells are not invaders. Can’t happen too soon.
What is GBS! I keep thinking George Bernard Shaw.
Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon but severe complication of receiving a vaccine (a vaccine is one possible cause.)
Excellent and very helpful. Thanks from someone at higher risk.
Thanks Dr. McCormick.
Thank-you Ryan for your excellent piece on RSV vaccination for adults. As a public health nurse specializing in vaccinations, I can attest to the accuracy of the information you provided.
As for China's economy: let's hope they are able to weather the problems they are having, because they definitely fall into the "too big to fail" category. As for MAGAs trying to undermine Biden's economic policies: doing so means they want the US to fail, which means they want the world to fail. Some of them at least, are aware that these would be the consequences for their unchecked actions.
Thank you for that validation, and for the crucial and under appreciated work you do! I agree with your thoughts here, too. I heard a few soundbytes from the Republican debate late night, and the one that haunts me is ramaswamy “climate change is a hoax.” Obviously, it’s not, I don’t believe that he thinks it is, but he is so cynical and sheltered and rich that he doesn’t care what happens to the rest of the world’s population that can’t afford a self-sustaining off the grid mansion on an island somewhere north of the equator, right?
You might want to watch this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4LbTgO_5fc
Thanks for that information as I have been pondering about when to get the vaccine. I am in my early 70’s so i do not want take the RSV, flu, and new Covid vaccines all at one time. Each one should be spaced a few weeks apart, right?
Glad it was kind of helpful 😊
official word from CDC is that it’s ok to get the RSV shot with other vaccines… but flu + rsv produced less antibodies, and flu + covid caused more side effects 10% of the time… so I tend to space them out by a couple weeks. But here’s the party line from cdc:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/rsv.html#:~:text=CDC%20recommends%20adults%2060%20years,same%20time%20as%20other%20vaccines.
I like to take any meds/jabs apart JIC I do have a reaction and will know what caused it. 71.5 myself.
Last fall I got the 4th Covid booster, the flu shot, and the 1st Shingles shot simultaneously. I suffered no problems beyond a sore-to-the-touch deltoid. I am in my late 50s and have not ever had a strong reaction to any of the Covid (Moderna) shots. I also have never had Covid.
Really responsible and comprehensive discussion of the new vaccines. Thank you for taking the time to do two late night "deep dives" and hope to subscribe soon to your "Examined."
Thank you for this information!
thanks Doc. You bet there are "seniors in the house" - lots of us.
Next year is Year of the Dragon, and they are VERY superstitious. Something special is expected.
Not a good year for Taiwan I fear.
I don't think China has the stomach for Taiwan after what happened to Russia...
That’s what I’m hoping, and US support for Ukraine has been a major deterrent. Had we not done that (Trump/most Republicans) I think China would already be there, don’t you?
especially the money used to hire a hit man.
Is anyone following the BRICS summit, or are we all just waiting for the ugly orange stain to show up at the jail?
China is always a concern, but I don't think Xi is as insane as Putin.
Let’s see, COViD, Flu, Shingles, and RSV..oh my . Haven’t read your article noted ...will.
Thank You! Excellent! Will share.
RN, MSN, Community Health Nursing.
The many positive foreign policy achievements from the Biden administration is just part of the reason we have to reelect Biden. As the global realities have shown America can not survive as isolationist nor should we try. We are part of a world that is interdependent on each other. What is good for the world is good for America and vice versa. This crawl in a bunker and pretend the rest of the world doesn't matter... as the republicans have promoted, is not sustainable nor is it what America is all about. America being a world partner is good for us and for the rest of the world.
Why, one would almost think foreign policy is too complicated to be left up to hustlers, empty suits, and demented children who read at fourth grade level and throw food at the wall.
tfg foreign policy is "me first" not America first or even democracy first. 2 billion payoff to Jared. Unknown amounts from China and Russia. He ran his businesses from the White House and avoided paying taxes. 🤡Boohoo. Why is everybody picking on me. 🤡
Sure makes for lots of wondering and questioning from those of us in the cheap seats.
Lol !
Yes, to put it mildly...
RIGHT ON !! , ... Stephen !
Effective foreign relations with China from Biden while the GQP candidates are repeating talking points about how tough they would be on China highlights how inadequate their understanding of foreign affairs is, or, at least, how ineffective their posturing would be. What a contrast!
Inadequate and ineffective is the least of the harm they are capable of.
JL, that's only 13 words that say much. I would call that perhaps, understatement of the year JL. lol
Great newsletter on foreign policy.
Biden continues to an outstanding job in governing.
In an irony of all ironies, I wrote this in about 2020, "On July 28, 2017, just over three years ago, he [Trump] appeared before law enforcement personnel and said, “Like when you guys put somebody in the car your protecting their head [gesturing with his hand to cover his head]…I said please don’t be too nice. “I said you can take the hand away, O.K.?” Most of those officers present laughed or applauded."
At the time I thought it an outrage and bizarre coming from any person in authority, never mind from the then President of the United States. I wonder if Sheriff Patrick Labat of Fulton County George got the former President's message?
I hope so. My other hope is he shows up behind the 9 people still in front of him and he has to wait for 12 or 14 hours...
And while waiting the Sheriff could give TFG a tour of the jail. If for no other reason to get help to clean up it.
And perhaps to show him their proposed Presidential suite should he have to stay. Just to reinforce the terms of his bail.
Heck yeah!
Ah.. He didn't want a tour. Mr. P01135809 just popped in for some fingerprints and a picture.
I love the closing - the "Dark Brandon" ads airing during the "debate" (I use quotes since it's unlikely to resemble anything like a debate, but rather a bloviating cesspool of lies and gloom & doom (the GQP continues to spew lies about how horrible the country is doing).
Overall, these scumwads should be seen as the anti-patriotic losers they are, since they continually talk down about the country. Their "policies" (if they can be called that) are mostly made up of attempts to prevent democracy (voter suppression), and a litany of mean-spirited, homophobic, misogynous, and just plain evil proposals and laws targeting anyone they consider "other". . .
Sad.
Thank you for continuing to highlight the powerful work the administration is doing around the world to strengthen (and repair) relations. Important stories that are getting very little coverage.
Rec’d for “scumwads”!!!!!!
Barb ! , My Thought, Goes back to a term I heard, in a Western Movie,,,,,, ( it IS, a little Foul, ,,,, BUT !, FITTING ! ,,,,,,, DICKWEEDS !!
Trundling down the slippery slope of vulgarity, I'd always heard (and used, TBH) "Dickwads".
I use plain old dickhead myself.
I chose not to watch the debate as I knew it would be a slugfest. I did watch Rachel and the gang on MSNBC pull several vignettes of what was said and who said what. Boring and seemed like a yawn fest to me. There was not one person on that stage who has the national and international experience that Joe Biden has. Not a one. Today gave us a failed “debate” but also the death of a Russian mercenary. It’s Putin’s way to eliminate those who embarrass him or get in his way. Prigozhin was not to be admired as he and his henchmen caused heinous crimes against humanity. It will be interesting to see how Russians react to Putin now.
Tomorrow is another special day. We will witness Donald Jessica (per Randy Rainbow) Trump be arrested, fingerprinted, mug shot taken, and booked into a smelly, bug infested jail. Can’t wait!!
Did you watch Randy Rainbow's Don't Arraign on My Parade? He's so clever and I really need the laughs. And he tells more facts than all the "debaters" /republican'ts do.
Morning, Gigi! Here's the link to Randy's "Arraign" video. It truly is a masterpiece! https://twitter.com/7Veritas4/status/1694013665735807292?s=20
Then here's a "Donny Went Down to Georgia" video that's pretty good, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfEKmiVyk1w
Thanks, Lynell! Check out on youtube Lincoln Project's parody of the debate. It will have you rolling on the floor laughing.
Thanks, M Tree; I'll see if I can find it!
https://youtu.be/XJBjqxdutYg
😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
Thanks, Kathy! What a hoot!
Randy should receive a special award at the Democratic convention. He got me through the Pandemic and now this crazy, terrifying time. Laughter really is the best medicine! Oh, to be that clever.
Thanks Lynell. I needed a little Randy Rainbow this morning after that shit show last night.
I know what you mean, Jeanne!
OMG LYNELL!!
That Donny went Down to Georgia is HILARIOUS!!!!!
Agree, Miselle!
Here’s a couple of others that are hilarious. I posted this on another Substack a few days back:
These two short (60 seconds) videos will make you laugh. My wife and I couldn’t stop cracking up after seeing them.
Note: Just in case it’s of concern to anyone both videos are on tictoc. Quite honestly I’ve never seen anything on tictoc until my wife showed me the first video a couple of days ago.
https://www.tiktok.com/@sickofthebs50/video/7267379911600475438
https://www.tiktok.com/@sickofthebs50/video/7267008196479569198
ps: you’ll have to click the speaker/ volume icon on the bottom of the video player to hear the sound. It’s just like the one you’ll find on YouTube videos. For some reason the volume is off by default.
Thanks, George...keep 'em coming!
Morning, Lynell! Those are gems, thanks for the links!
Morning, Ally!
Excellent — thanks for the links! Sooooo on-point.
😂🤣😂
Do now went down to Georgia: Why can't I copy and paste this ?
Try it this way, Susan:
https://stupidamerika.com/
Thanks. That link works. It's good and they/he has others too.. Justice matters!! Glenn Kirschner's so right. The parody of the debate is especially good-all those fools won't ever stop kissing his big fat @$$.
Seems like my email is really slow, so I just saw your comment. So glad the link worked for you!
🤣😂🤣
? Not familiar Gigi. Tell me more please.
Have you not seen any of Randy Rainbow's musical parodies? He is a freaking riot.
Thanks Gigi! I will.
And don't forget today saw Rudy Giuliani booked. What a strange confluence of unsavory characters!
Rudy looked like Noseferatu in his booking photo. Not his best shot, I must say.
Yep yep yep!
I wouldn't watch that crap show Fascist debate if someone had paid me too. I get sick enough just reading about the useless, sorry excuses for human beings. From what i read on another comment site earlier, all those cretins did was discuss how bad Biden was doing and bashing him for doing good things for America.. If i had watched it, i would have just gotten more disgusted and angry than i already am about the Fascist Rethuglicans. I hope they find a good place under the jail for TUMP. That is where that SOB belongs.
Gurl!
"Dictatorships are stable until they are not, hard but brittle like glass.”
Hmmm...
There are quite a large number of historical examples out there going back many thousands of years.
" a HOUSE ! , DIVIDED ,,,,,,, Will NOT ! , ,,,,,STAND !! " ( Thanks ! , JL. ! )
Not without a foundation of ultimate solidarity; E Pluibus Unum.
Weird. Clicked once, printed twice. .
But only on my screen apparently.
I liked that comment, as well.
I see a profound truth in it, both for hope and a warning. "Conservative" (big "C") thinking could bring down our species with it.
Humble thanks again, Professor HCR for your clear, comprehensive and well-informed reporting. 😀
I watched most of the GOP’s so-called debate. With the exception of Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, the debate was a clown show. And neither Hutchinson nor Christie was exceptional, they just appeared more serious than the others and both said they would not support Trump if convicted. That’s not good enough of course: Trump should never be supported for any office whatsoever. Ramaswamy was the worst clown of all: among other stupid things, he declared climate change a hoax and said that he would end aid to Ukraine. The man is a rich, smarmy guy, the type one turns his back on the moment he starts preening. Tim Scott had nothing to say except that “we cannot let states like California permit abortion.” I am a Californian, California has enshrined the right to abortion in the State Constitution: Scott would be laughed off if he said that here. Scott is the epitome of an empty suit. Burgum … enough said. Haley a total lightweight who would support Trump no matter what. What a sorry bunch and what a disaster is the GOP.
Glad you watched, I could not stomach it.
Lol I walked inside off the porch to get wine and husband was watching. I arrived just in time to hear DeStupid brag about firing two Soros funded prosecutors. That was enough. Right back outside.
As a history buff, I forced myself to watch it, but I agree with you: it was hard to stomach.
Evening to All!
Heather's interesting (not new, that) piece tonight stuck out to me in one, perhaps far from the spotlight manner---
VP Harris is traveling to Indonesia on Labor Day. Indonesia is a critically important Nation in many ways. It is one of the largest Indo-Pacific Nations in the World and in fact, unless my math if off, it is the largest Indo-Pacific Nation population wise other than India. It is the larges Moslem Nation in the world.
Let me repeat that----Not Saudi Arabia, not Iran, nor Iraq, not Algeria, not Turkey etc., INDONESIA, a Nation that most Americans have virtually no knowledge of, is the LARGEST MOSLEM NATION IN THE WORLD. It is also, the largest island nation in the world, bar none. It is comprised of approximately 300 million souls.
For FAR TOO LONG, we have simply ignored Indonesia's importance.
Even its nomenclature for our Western ears, an admixture of Indo-Pacific and Micronesia, sums up its compound nature. It is composed of massive island land masses of incredible beauty, deep and ancient culture and vast resources, not the least being nickel, the base of electronic communications and electric based energy portending the future. Its people constitute an eclectic, longstanding and often combative mix of Malay, Chinese, Pacific Islander and a minority of mostly Dutch European peoples, roughly tied together across thousands of miles of island archipelagos.
It was the site of one of the greatest political massacres in history, and one of the least covered in the US, the mid '70s massacre of the outer island peoples, particularly those in East Timor and the political socialist and liberal activists by President Sukarno, one of the string of red-four-cornered-hatted military dictators supported financially and militarily by US, especially by the infamous Secretary of State and unindicted war criminal Henry Kissinger.
Estimates of the death toll by state violence are still debated, but upwards of half a million is undoubtedly accurate.
SO, perhaps it is long past time for us to embrace the needs and aspirations of the Indonesian people, and let's hope that Vice President Harris, both backed by her position and her symbolic importance, can lay claim to a small piece of the future
Thank you Dr Richardson!