New Zealand almost triples the tax on international tourists Aljazeera
#Covid 19
Current Covid levels: pic.twitter.com/8jYtjUyTAJ
— Pat Just Pat 🍉 (@PatTheSocialist) September 2, 2024
Beyond Paxlovid: The Urgent Need for Better Medicines Jessica Wildfire (fk)
If you find challenges with wearing a mask, this provides another answer to “It’s an asshole detector”:
You can always start covering your face again, especially on planes, trains and in classrooms. Back to school is a great time! pic.twitter.com/wUgEDYikat
— 🍉 Dr. Thrasher still cares about Covid and Gaza🔻 (@thrasherxy) September 2, 2024
Climate/Environment
Carbon projects are the death projects of World Rainforest Management (Micael T)
Test facility demonstrates feasibility of iron-based hydrogen storage TechXplore (Chuck lL)
China?
Taiwan to buy more than 1,000 more Stinger missiles amid increased China threat The Economic Times
China’s stock piles show deepening economic woes Mining News
Record Rain Damages Crops in China, Harassing Its Leaders New York Times
China Vanke Co. is facing growing concerns about its ability to repay debt after posting its first loss in two decades at Bloomberg.
in Myanmar
China Faces Strong Online Backlash in Myanmar After Threats Against Nationalist Army Irriwaddy
South of the Border
Massive power outage hits Venezuela; Maduro’s government accused of ‘destroying’ the Associated Press
Exclusive: US seizes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane in Dominican Republic CNN
Africa
Africa’s eternal war: how Sudan descended into hell – again The Times
Floods in Nigeria kill hundreds and inundate farms, as millions face starvation South China Morning Post
The breakup of Europe
Battered and unpopular, Germany’s coalition is likely to hold on after losing the region to right-wing Reuters
The provincial elections in Thüringen and Saxony brought another humiliating defeat for the neglected and incompetent German political movement Eugyppius. Micael T: “Symbolic shame yes, but will this be heard at the kitchen table? See France and the UK for examples of how real power ensures that nothing gets better. “
Nothing new in East Nachdenkseiten with machine translation (Micael T)
Volkswagen warns of plant closures in Germany, citing ‘extremely tense’ situation CNBC (Kevin W)
The German problem? It’s an analogue world in a digital world Guardian (Kevin W)
Macron is sweating under growing pressure to appoint a prime minister Politico
Poland’s request for reparations: The ongoing debate with Germany Poland Daily 24
Gaza
Striking unions join the protests as thousands take to the streets to get a hostage deal The Times of Israel. But: “…the court rules the strike is political and must end at 2:30 pm”
Israel’s Bloody Cabinet Won’t Stop Unless Violent Sunday Protests Continue Haaretz
Israeli Air Force Chief: Without US Help, We Couldn’t Fight Gaza After A Few Months Haaretz (Robin K)
UK suspends 30 arms shipments to Israel over Gaza war crimes Middle East Eye. Figurative but better than nothing
Houthi drones, missiles hit 2 ships in Red Sea, maritime organizations report Arab News
Look at how Israeli settlers are sending their children to take over the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, the same mosque that deranged settler Baruch Goldstein entered twenty years ago and opened fire on worshipers as they prayed morning prayers.
They really send their kids… pic.twitter.com/siiZqZIAT3
— Mariam Barghouti مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) September 2, 2024
The New Cold War
Beluga whale suspected of being a Russian ‘spy’ found dead in Norway Guardian
The Armed Forces of Ukraine began to retreat from the Nevelsky cauldron! Marat Khairullin
Ukraine – US ‘Experts’ Throw in the Towel Month of Alabama
Ukrainians Flee – Russia Storms Pokrovsk Daniel Davis, YouTube. A nice wrap around the battlefield with a lot of attention to strategic implications.
WHY FAILURE TO TRAIN IS UKRAINE’S ACHILLES HEEL Larry Johnson
Russia will revise the nuclear doctrine amid the actions of the West in the Ukraine conflict Turkey Today
Footage Shows Russian Army Captures Leopard 2A6 and M1A1 Abrams Tanks Near Avdiivka Military Watch
No one arrested for Putin as he arrives in Mongolia Euronews (Kevin W)
Russia says relations with the US are always low RT
Syracistan
Malnutrition Crisis in Pakistan: Costs GDP and Health Impact Amid Economic Crisis NewsX
The new allegations against MbS are not disputed by west The Cradle
Turkish
Turkey Asks To Join BRICS In Pushing To Build Agreements Beyond The West Bloomberg
But: Political Development: Middle East, Russia Mark Wauck. Micael T: “It is a little easier for Turkey to act when Russia proposes to appoint new members. Another Erdogan-stunt to push the F-35s out of the US?”
Turkish workers are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis WION
Big Brother Watching Watching
Dutch prime minister bans wireless devices from meetings to fend off spying Intelews
Imperial Collapse Watch
Ancient disease from 3,800 BC returns to children – causes crippling pain and causes their teeth to fall out Daily Mail
Trickle Down BRICS Rachel Donald (Micael T). *Wow*. BRICS leaders continue to show misunderstanding. The use of the blockchain system is a gimmick. This program is a bilateral trade, all these countries can and are now involved in it. The problem is that the result will almost never end up being a balanced trade. A country running a trade surplus raises the money of the deficit country, which ends up being a victim of the economy if the surplus does not get it or does not want to hold much of the investment in the deficit country. Would you like to grab a big stash or Turkiye lira or Bangladesh taka? That’s why Michael Hudson keeps insisting that it is important that these countries need a way to deal with trade and financial imbalances, and advocate for a Keynes banking system.
Moreover, discussions like these greatly overestimate the importance of trade in the US reserve currency situation. The overwhelming majority of foreign exchange activity, more than 95%, is investment, not related to trade. Of course, avoiding dollar transactions in trade is essential to escaping the punitive US regime. But that’s not the same as tearing down the dollar.
The head of the EU Commission promises to speed up the EU’s enlargement of the Anadolu Agency
Trump
RFK Jr.’s name in the vote poses a danger to Trump in key states The Hill
Kamala
Harris doesn’t get a rally, but widens the gap with women: POLL ABC
Kamala Harris loves Savannah, but can she win the Georgia rally News with Harris: Personal career, thoughts and motivation and Slide Show: Harris at Savannah’s Enmarket Arena The Current. KLG:
The cities of Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Athens, and Augusta will vote for Harris-Walz. Also Brunswick, on the coast, and Albany in rural southwest Georgia. Yard signs appear. Biden-Harris would not have received this level of visible enthusiasm. I had previously seen one Biden-Harris sign in my neighborhood of a blue island surrounded by a red sea. There are now a dozen Harris signs in the area. The question is whether this will be enough to withstand the votes from north of Greater Atlanta, most of the areas south of Atlanta, all of North Georgia, and most of South Georgia where the majority are black/African American and a close majority. The regions are small in population but large in land area.
Kamala Harris called out for tricky tactic to avoid answering questions as she boarded plane Daily Mail (Li)
Kamala Stumbles Again After Humiliating Misstep at Rally Devory Darkins, YouTube. Biden looks like he got a new Botox or filler…..
Biden
Hunter Biden’s addiction to return to the spotlight in the second crime case The Hill
Ours is No Longer Free
American universities spent the summer devising strategies to crack down on student activists. Here is their plan. Mondoweiss (Guurst). Important.
Why Musk’s Claim Contradicts Media News . . . Story of Jonathan Turley
This is the shocking story from journalist Sarah Wilkinson about her recent violent arrest by 16 counter-terrorism officers, many of whom were masked, at 7.30am.
They smashed, or stole, many of his belongings; he poured the urine of his mother’s remains on the ground; deny him…
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) September 2, 2024
The AI
AI lending could make financial deals even more unfair to women—here’s how to avoid it TechXplore
California lawmakers approve bill to ban deepfakes, protect workers and regulate AI Associated Press
Bezzle
Governments often struggle with new IT projects Iowa Capital Dispatch (Robin K). Private companies too. A rule of thumb I heard from two of Wall Street’s top CIOs back in the day was 80% of large IT projects fail. But they are killed before they fail officially and therefore are generally not registered outside the technical community.
Class War
Concerns about housing costs reach record highs across rich countries The Financial Times
Meat and Poultry Are More Expensive Now – and It May Be Due to a Price Fix Angry Bear
Dollar General warns poor US consumers are running out of money Financial Times. As of the weekend, still germane
How a leading chain of psychiatric hospitals treats patients The New York Times (Dr. Kevin). Paul R flagged:
Acadia Healthcare caught people unwilling to raise insurance premiums, a Times investigation found…. Acadia lured patients into its facilities and held them against their will, even when incarceration was not medically necessary.
The Economist recently published a well-researched article on car congestion, and it’s pretty bad:
“For every 1% of lives lost in SUVs and trucks, there are more than ten lives lost in other vehicles.”
We are worth your time: pic.twitter.com/1RBfAooX6V
— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) September 1, 2024
Antidote du jour (Ann M). That goose is natural. He knows how to stand in a hot spot.
And a bonus:
Such a beautiful smile!pic.twitter.com/ai0Z1kuMzL
– aww (@omgaww) September 2, 2024
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.
