The text below about recent and coming events is opinion only, and some might see it as extreme or outrageous. Proceed at your own risk.
The coup d’etat on January 6th and danger of further violence in the next ten days is seen primarily as a battle of democracy versus fascism, and to a lesser extent secularism versus theocracy. But there is a third threat, and I think it’s the biggest factor in not just who is organizing the descent into dictatorship, but who is supporting it.
You may have heard of recently elected Lauren Opal Boebert: a COVID clown and QAnon freak who opposed mail voting and carries a gun around DC.
During the terrorist seige on the capitol building, she was actively tweeting out Nancy Pelosi’s location. When security was trying to evacuate Pelosi to a safe location.
There are multiple tweets.
The Speaker has been removed from the chambers.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 6, 2021
Daily Kos has a lot more on this.
Forget profanities, I’m tempted to say something about her that other FtB members wouldn’t tolerate.
More from Daily Kos:
FBI warns of ‘huge uprising’ planned by Trump supporters
Multiple reports have FBI documents warning of far-right violence in the coming days. An internal FBI bulletin obtained by ABC News says every state capitol in addition to the U.S. Capitol could be targeted between now and Inauguration Day. State, local, and federal courthouses and buildings are also under threat.
“The FBI received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington, DC on 16 January,” according to the bulletin. “They have warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment, a huge uprising will occur.”
I’ve seen multiple places claiming that the next attack won’t be solely in DC – it will be a “50 state strategy” aimed at every state’s capital.
A Black Police Officer saved America on Wednesday. Say His Name.
Trump’s Pentagon officials look increasingly complicit in a deadly serious coup attempt
BREAKING: New York State Bar Association moves to remove Rudy Giuliani’s membership
Parler is being downloaded – This is huge!
This one is beyond my skill level. Marcus Ranum would be better qualified to talk about the details. Short version: the clowns running parler were so inept they made it easy to create admin passwords without legitimate access. The entirety of parler’s data has been downloaded – names, emails, phone numbers, the lot. The question is, who has it?
Corporate America is moving fast to isolate, defund insurrectionist Republicans
If there’s going to be anything that turns the Republican Party away from Donald Trump and forces it to abandon its effort to reignite a civil war, it’s the growing abandonment of their big donors. In all sectors—health care, financial services, hospitality, retail—major corporations are cutting off the Republicans they previously supported, specifically the 147 House and Senate Republicans who voted to overturn the presidential election.
Facebook, Google, BlackRock, Marriott, and Dow were among the largest and first companies to announce they were either suspending donations to those lawmakers for this cycle, or cutting them off completely. Marriott, the largest hotel chain in the world, said it was suspending donations to the 147 because of “the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election.” The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association—knowing what the current Democratic Congress might very well have in store for them—is also going to end contributions “to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.” That includes, by the way, House Republican leadership Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise.
Just like pornhub a month ago, the republiclowns are only paying attention now that they’re being cut off from money. “Corporate america” is speaking, and they said no more. They should have known what the last four years were leading to, but at least they’re speaking up. And unlike politicians jumping ship, corporations benefit from fascist regimes, so to do this speaks volumes.
Well, this is a turn up for the books. The day after Argentina changed its laws on abortion, Mexico’s president weighed in on the abortion debate with an intelligent response.
Women should decide whether to legalize abortion, Mexican president says
Mexico’s president said on Thursday that women should decide whether the country should legalize abortion, but he declined to take a position on the issue, which is still opposed by many Mexicans.
One day after the Argentine Senate voted to make abortion legal, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was asked during a news conference whether he thought his country should follow suit.
[. . .]
“It’s a decision for women,” Lopez Obrador said, adding that mechanisms existed to organize referendums. “It’s just that matters of this nature should not be decided from above.”
Maybe the dominos start to topple across Latin America, and women finally get what we’ve been demanding all this time: bodily autonomy.
As for Lopez Obrador, you can be certain that the cardinals and bishops will be calling for his excommunication.
If they’re not too busy dealing with all the pedopriests who raped children for decades. Stained glass houses, and all that.
As the title says, here are a few memes I’ve harvested over recent weeks.
There are four full galleries over on my facebook page, linked to below the fold.
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The Damage Report released a video earlier today called “Dr. Fauci Calls Out Blood On Trump’s Hands”. There were two segments worth noting, emphases mine:
Francesca Fiorentini @ 2:23 –
It makes me think about holocaust deniers and if in real time which we know actually happened. That there were a lot of people denying death camps, that there were a lot of people denying, you know, that anyone was being killed in them? Like, that’s the level we’re at right now.
And it should not be lost on anyone that the majority of people who are affected are Black and Brown americans. I think that the statistics between whether a Black american or a white american is more likely to die of COVID is like, you know, 6:1 or something. I mean, it’s incredible, it is absolutely impacting minority communities and if it was not, if it were mostly white people dying, once again, imagine the outrage. But because the republican party sees these groups as expendable, these groups as people who can be run roughshod over, whose votes that they can take for granted and can suppress, it’s on brand. That’s where we are.
Look, we are going to go into a future where if and when the virus stops, and there are 400,000 or 500,000, there might be half a million deaths. The republican party and a lot of nutjobs will straight up deny that they ever died. “Oh, where are there graves? Where did they go? I haven’t heard of a pandemic.” Dude, you’ve got a vaccine, right now. So the amount of blood on these people’s hands, like, where’s our Nuremberg trials? Straight up.
She’s right. The republiclowns have been denying the existence of COVID-19 all year, knowing it was disproportionally killing non-white people (and even higher rates in US prisons which are predominantly Black and Brown thanks to a racist “legal system”. We already know Eric Trump wanted COVID-19 to run rampant in California and New York state. These are the same scum who said “crisis actors” after school shootings. They’re absolutely capable of denying that half or more of the COVID-19 deaths will be Black people or People of Colour. They’ll deny these people ever existed, turn them into “non-persons” and call all their government records “fake” (taxes, SSN, driver’s licenses, etc.).
John Iadarola @ 4:42 –
I don’t want to be cynical, we have to engage, we have to push. But when you have a party that can, on the one hand, make Benghazi the biggest story on the right, for – let’s see, how many years? – well, it’s up to this week. So yeah, still the biggest story, those four deaths, the biggest story ever. A third of a million dying isn’t a story. It’s ‘fake news’. In fact they care more now about fictional dead voters than actual people dying. That’s trouble for a democracy.
He missed the chance to quote Joseph Stalin twice. The first is usually paraphrased as “It’s who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes.”
“I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this—who will count the votes, and how.” – Boris Bazhanov The Memoirs of Stalin’s Former Secretary, 1923
And the second paraphrased as “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic.”
‘If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics’ in Washington Post 20 January 1947
But does it really matter?
This is an actual link to a Parler account, with a screenshot below in case the account is deleted. (I added the URL overtop of the image.)
Proud Boys USA · @ProudBoysUSA
3 days ago ·
Impressions
15344
Extremely embarrassing to spend months mocking antifa and licking cop boot, only to go out there and get absolutely rinsed by cops who were barely even trying. Weak stuff. Those teenage commies managed to take on and beat whole armies of cops(and proud boys) and they’re all skinny wimp soyboy betas, but we got scrubbed like it was nothing. And all for the sake of some rich orange pedophile who doesn’t give a shit about any of us? Sad.
Post Comments 97
Post Echoes 18
Post Upvotes 83
I genuinely hope this is real, one of them realizing how spineless and soft they are compared to Black Lives Matter and others. And they are, having run away after a can of single pepper spray.
If those clowns have any ideas about trying again during the inauguration, they can forget it. DC’s mayor plans to have the city ready in two weeks’ time – armed cops and national guard at the ready.
DC Mayor: City will be on public emergency status until day after Inauguration
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has issued a public emergency order that will last until January 21 at 3 p.m.
That’s the day after President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to be sworn into office.
Today, First Amendment protests turned violent,” the order reads. “Many persons came to the District armed and for the purpose of engaging in violence and destruction and have engaged in violence and destruction. They have fired chemical irritants, bricks, bottles, and guns. They have breached the security of the Capitol and their destructive and riotous behavior has the potential to spread beyond the Capitol. Their motivation is ongoing. Today, they sought to disrupt the Congressional proceedings relating to the acceptance of electoral college votes. President Trump continues to fan rage and violence by contending that the Presidential election was invalid. Persons are dissatisfied with judicial rulings and the findings of State Boards of Elections, and some persons can be expected to continue their violent protests through the inauguration.
You can read the full order HERE. Basically, it gives city officials the power to “implement such measures as may be necessary or appropriate to protect persons and property in the District of Columbia from the conditions caused by this public emergency,” including issuing a curfew, reducing or altering the hours of businesses and request assistance from the federal government.
Bowser did institute a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for Wednesday into Thursday, after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building.
Addendum:
Others have beaten me to it, reporting verification of how the white supremacist’s house and pentagon intentionaly detoothed and disarmed the DC cops and security. Business Insider has more on that, seen below.
Although the terrorists have talked about going back a second time with guns in hand, that’s not likely to happen or work. Surprise attacks only work once. But I would suggest turning DC and Maryland into “no fly” zones, and Harris not attend the inauguration. Have her sworn in at a remote location, just in case. Tell everyone she caught COVID-19.
The Pentagon placed major restrictions on the DC National Guard leading up to Wednesday’s insurrection, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Officials curtailed the ability of DC guardsmen to deploy troops, receive ammo and riot gear, engage with protesters, share equipment with local police, and use surveillance without explicit approval from President Trump’s acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, according to The Post.
Guardsmen didn’t arrive to support US Capitol Police — who were ill-prepared and quickly overrun — until more than two hours after its chief called for them, according to the Post.
The muted approach was said to be intended to avoid backlash that followed an aggressive response to Black Lives Matter protests over the summer, but the response has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers, activists, and even some law-enforcement experts for being insufficient.
So fascistbook (not a typo), twitter, instagram and others have banned Cheetolini. Colour me unimpressed.
Tiger Woods was outed as philanderer in 2009, and Donald Sterling was outed as a racist scumbag in 2014. Do you remember what happened immediately after? Within 48 hours, ALL the corporate media had in depth stories on BOTH of them. Not just their most recent action (at that time), but their ENTIRE history of deplorable acts. How did the coprorate sports media obtain and publish that much information so fast?
Because they already had it. They already knew what sort of scum they were. And they kept their mouths shut to protect their careers.
If they published when it wasn’t public, the golf and basketball “media” lapdogs would have been locked out of golf clubs and NBA arenas. Their careers as “journalists” would have been over. They would have been considered “snitches” and suffered the same career exile as Lisa Olsen after she reported being sexual harassed while covering the New England Patriots. She had to move to Australia for eight years to cover sports before she could return home. Those in the NFL (the players who sexually harassed her like Zeke Mowatt, team owner Victor Kiam who insulted her) suffered minimal consequences, fines and nothing more.
Access and furthering their careers was more important to “sports journalists” than telling the truth. The golf and NBA writers chose quid pro quo over intergrity, covering up crimes so they could keep their jobs, thus becoming participants in said crimes. But when Woods and Sterling were outed, the “journalists” were able to publish without fear of consequence – and without fear of anyone asking what I’m asking: Why didn’t they report this when they knew about it? (*)
It’s the same now with social media and corporate media. They toadied up to halls of power until it was “safe” to back away (read: run from what they were embracing).
Zuckerberg’s fascistbook and Jack Dorsey’s twitter didn’t ban Cheetolini because they wanted continued access to power. They and other corporate elite (Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, google’s owners, etc.) don’t care one whit if the US becomes a fascist state, just as long as they are part of the power structure and can keep their wealth. They believe in money and hate democracy the same way Exxon and United Fruit have done, or others happily employed slave labour because it’s cheap and profitable, like Pepsico, Apple, Nike, and many other multinational corporations.
The corporate media – Fox Nuisance, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc. – are just as culpable. Today, they’re all calling for Cheetolini’s removal. Big deal. Where were the calls to remove him in May when 10,000 dead became 100,000 dead in a month? There was nothing, the only reporting from then until November: “he’s going his own way”. He should have been removed after he said “I don’t take any responsibility”, not waiting until now with over 400,000 dead. (I’m including those undercounted and falsely attributed to other causes of death.)
And I’m not just talking networks, I’m talking individuals. Even the so-called “progressives” like Maddow, Hayes, Cuomo and others were too cowardly to call for the 25th amendment and his removal in May when it was clear Cheetolini wasn’t up to the task of dealing with COVID-19. They were too worried about “sounding extreme”. Extreme times call for extreme measures, not pussyfooting or beating around the bush.
You expect politicians to be two-faced and to run in whatever direction keeps them in power and away from responsibility, like McConnell and others suddenly backing away after the attempted coup (and running towards it had it succeeded). But don’t let the social and corporate media off the hook, they’re just as culpable, just as much participants with their silence.
(*) Another thought on the NBA media and Donald Sterling in 2014:
After Sterling was outed, what did the media do? They interviewed NBA players. You may ask, “What’s wrong with that?”
It’s wrong because by asking, the media were blaming the Black players and Black americans for being offended, for “ruining Sterling’s career”. They didn’t care what Black players had to say, they were asking to distract from the fact that the media and team owners knew exactly what sort of human garbage Sterling is.
They didn’t want anyone asking questions in their own direction. So they asked the players instead.
I don’t want to hear about a uniform that died.
Saying that does NOT infer I’m cheering the death of one cops or nor wanted to see more. I’m saying the focus should be on the failures of those who knew about and failed to prevent stopped the insurrection, who refused to use force against white people. Stop with the uniform worship and hold the cops and military accountable.
They WERE prepaped, contrary to what they say. They were prepared to let it happen.
Never tolerate any claims of “nobody saw” this coming. If the cops and government security didn’t have intelligence (*), they’re incompetent and should all be fired. Who is so inattentive and inept not to expect a repeat of the terrorist attacks in Michigan last May? (* Yes, we know they’re not intelligent. I mean the informational sense.)
Multiple videos show cops intentionally opening doors, removing gates and letting the mob in. When they did this, they became willing participants of the insurrection.
Confirmed that some police were involved in the Capitol attack yesterday #CapitolRiots pic.twitter.com/XawgoRK8T8
— Steven Bumbera (@bumbera_steven) January 7, 2021
Firing the top cops isn’t enough. The entire system is rotten to its core. Removing one figurehead won’t change the attitudes of thousands of racist and fascist cops. They know they can commit hate crimes and violent crimes individually without consequences. Pretending an “order from the top” makes a difference is naïve.
Maryland rep Steny Hoyer called the Maryland governor Larry Hogan, asking that he send help. Hogan refused, saying he “needed authorization from the white house” to send the national guard. In saying that, he’s pretending that Cheetolini wasn’t the source of the insurrection. The pentagon said “it wasn’t necessary”, as if everything were under control.
Who at the pentagon gave the order to “stand back and stand by” while terrorists overran the building? It’s a good thing the terrorists were spineless and put off by a little pepper spray. If they had the courage, character and conviction of Black Lives Matter protesters who faced much worse, the US would be fascist dictatorship by now.
Pentagon, D.C. officials point fingers at each other over Capitol riot response
City officials here said it was the Pentagon that planned to keep the presence of National Guard troops at Wednesday’s pro-Trump rally small, unarmed and distant from the Capitol. But Pentagon officials said they were merely responding to the city’s wishes to “keep things de-escalated.”
A timeline released by the Pentagon late Friday says Capitol Police twice declined help from the Defense Department in the days prior to Jan. 6. But it also shows that when the city officials and the Capitol Police requested additional National Guard troops after rioters breached the Capitol, it took four hours for those troops to arrive.
On September 11, 2001, New York’s air traffic controllers ignored “protocol” about how to handle unresponsive planes. They did not wait for “approval” like Hogan or the pentagon did. Instead of calling the FAA or using “official channels”, they called the military directly and started landing planes without waiting for an order. It turned out that military aircraft never intercepted any hijacked planes, and there may not have been any other planes in danger, but imagine if there were. Waiting another hour for an order could have resulted in more hijackings, more crashes, more deaths.
There are times when you have to disobey orders, ignore rules, do your job, and not worry about potential consequences to yourself or your career, as the air traffic controllers in New York did. Maryland’s governor and the US military abjectly failed in all those respects this week. This is something they should lose their careers over.
Miscellaneous thoughts on this week that don’t merit a full post unto themselves:
It was fifty years ago that the US’s national guard fired weapons without provocation or orders and murdered four Kent State students without ever facing consequences. My gut tells me that the only cops who will face consequences for this week’s events are the ones who shot and killed four insurrectionists. The cops who let them in will likely be promoted and protected.
It was interesting to hear rightwing mouthpiece Joe Scarborough flipping his lid in describing events. I only watch news items on youtube so I don’t know if his profanity filled tirade (jump ahead to 1:15) actually went live on NBC. But it was amusing to watch, especially since he has been an enabler of these events and racist cops for years. Where was his anger then?
Ashley Babbitt was as unhinged as a kicked in capitol building door. Her car video wasn’t so much a “rant” as it was speaking in tongues.
Watching her was like watching videos of the 9/11 hijackers shown after their suicide attacks.
The stupidity of the rioters was astounding. Not wearing masks and exposing their faces is one thing. But saying their names to the media? Posting their actions on their own social media accounts? Wearing name tags and other identifying items and clothes? It is not “doxxing” if the public say, “Hey, I know that clown! Call the FBI!” That’s being as responsible as David Kaczynski turning in his brother for being the Unabomber.
The clowns actually believed they could get away with it and not face consequences. Didn’t they learn anything from tiki torch fascists who lost their jobs and were arrested?
More below the fold.
Five years ago, in January 2016, a cold wave hit Asia, covering many countries including Taiwan. Taipei’s lattitude is 25°N, and Key West Florida is 24.5°N. Temperatures were as low as 3°C with snow outside the usual areas (above 2000m).
East Asia cold snap ‘kills 85 in Taiwan’
A cold snap sweeping across East Asia has killed at least 85 people in Taiwan and stranded 60,000 tourists in South Korea.
Taiwanese media reported deaths from hypothermia and cardiac disease following a sudden drop in temperature over the weekend.
Meanwhile heavy snow forced the closure of the airport on the Korean holiday island of Jeju, cancelling flights.
The cold spell has also hit Hong Kong, southern China and Japan.
Unfortunately, a new and harsher cold wave was predicted for this week, with temperatures as low as 0°C in some places. This is not normal weather for a subtropical climate.
Apparent temperature in New Taipei to dip to zero tonight
The apparent temperature could drop to 0 degrees Celsius in New Taipei City tonight (Jan. 7) and -1 in Hsinchu on Friday (Jan. 8) with the arrival of a cold wave.
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said that as a cold wave plunges south into Taiwan today, northern parts of the country will begin to cool down in the morning, and other areas will become colder in the afternoon. The temperatures are anticipated to be coldest on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 8-9), with lows in central Taiwan and all areas north ranging from 6 to 8 degrees and between 10 and 12 degrees in the rest of the country.
The CWB predicts that the apparent temperature in New Taipei City’s Shimen District will plunge to 0 degrees tonight, while the apparent temperature in Hsinchu County’s Xinfeng Township could plummet to -1 degrees on Friday. Temperatures could be even colder in open coastal areas or plains near mountainous areas.
For waiguoren like myself used to -10°C to -40°C winters, this is no big deal. But to the Taiwanese who have never lived anywhere else, it’s a disaster. Homes here aren’t insulated, they’re built to survive earthquakes and typhoons.
Eighteen people have died since Wednesday, and the Central Weather Bureau predicts the cold wave could last through Saturday, maybe Sunday, so there could be many more. Just like 2016, most of those hurt or killed by the cold were elderly or poor.
18 people die overnight in Taiwan amid cold wave
Eighteen people died suddenly across Taiwan in 17 hours between late Thursday and early Friday amid a cold wave that has sent temperatures plunging below 10 degrees Celsius, according to local authorities.
In the capital Taipei, seven people were rushed to hospital emergency rooms between 7 p.m. Thursday and noon Friday. None of them showed vital signs upon arrival, and five of them eventually died, the city authorities said.
All seven, who average 80 years of age, fell down at their homes, but city officials said further investigation will be needed to see if their falls and eventual deaths were triggered by the cold wave.
[. . .]
With the cold wave forecast to last into Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said it has issued a cold advisory for all of Taiwan’s 22 cities and counties.
Strangely, the number who died thus far is exactly the number killed by COVID-19, the flu, and dengue fever combined. But I doubt that’s a comfort to their families.
This is Japanese, not Mandarin, but I understand the sentiment. I hate removing my quilt in the morning:
打首獄門同好会 (Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai) – I don’ t wanna get out of futon
Did Tedros expect any different? He turned the WHO into Beijing’s mouthpiece for economic reasons. And now for political reasons, Beijing is preventing the WHO from speaking.
No surprises there.
Covid: WHO team investigating virus origins denied entry to China
A World Health Organization (WHO) team due to investigate the origins of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan has been denied entry to China.
Two members were already en route, with the WHO saying the problem was a lack of visa clearances.
However, China has challenged this, saying details of the visit, including dates, were still being arranged.
The long-awaited probe was agreed upon by Beijing after many months of negotiations with the WHO.
[. . .]
The WHO has been working to send a 10-person team of international experts to China for months with the aim of probing the animal origin of the pandemic and exactly how the virus first crossed over to humans.
Last month it was announced that the investigation would begin in January 2021.
The two members of the international team that had already departed for China had set off early on Tuesday, said the WHO. According to Reuters news agency, WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan said one had turned back and one was in a third country.
North Korea again:
Kim Jong-un says North Korea’s economic plan failed
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has admitted his five-year economic plan for the isolated country failed to meet its targets in “almost every sector”.
He was speaking at the opening of a rare congress of his ruling Workers’ Party – only the eighth in its history.
North Korea closed its borders last January to prevent the spread of Covid-19, despite claiming to have no cases of the virus.
That has left it cut off from its neighbour and ally, China.
Trade between the two has plummeted by about 80%. Typhoons and floods have devastated homes and crops in North Korea, which remains under strict international sanctions, including over its nuclear programme.
It is not unusual for Mr Kim to admit mistakes – in fact, it is quickly becoming one of his trademarks, the BBC’s Laura Bicker in Seoul reports.
They had an “economic plan”? That’s a shocking development. I thought the only plan was to hold onto the reigns of power as long as possible, until the country collapsed from mass starvation.
What Is the Truth About COVID-19 in North Korea?
North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, continues to insist that it has successfully grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, with no coronavirus cases confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic.
[. . .]
The North has claimed that a world-class public health system is one of the reasons that it avoided any cases. However, there are no significant developed medical facilities outside of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Those who are not living in Pyongyang might be suffering invisibly, without their government’s support amid the pandemic.
[. . .]
Pyongyang’s quick decision to shut the border with China may have prevented a full-fledged COVID-19 disaster, but it has come at a steep cost. South Korean news outlets reported last year that trade between North Korea and China fell 76 percent year-on-year. The biggest drop came in October, when trade was down 99.4 percent compared to the previous year. The information was shared by lawmakers who sit on the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee.
I’ve seen reports that NK is so paranoid about COVID-19 they won’t unload rice from ships and trains, leaving people to starve.
And “world class public health”? A triage station under a tent in a war zone likely has better medical care than North Korea.
Elsewhere in Asia….
Thailand and Mongolia have fought the good fight against COVID-19, but the walls may have been breached. The numbers bring to mind images of the “World War Z” movie, the dead coming over the walls in Israel. Since December 19, Thailand’s number of active cases increased nineteenfold (230 to 4500), though whether they will have a mass increase in deaths remains to be seen. The government attributes the increase to migrant workers (domestic, not foreign workers).
Mongolia’s run of success was ruined by one selfish idiot: a single truck driver who drove back and forth to Russia violated quarantine, causing a mass spread. A lockdown brought it back under control, but mass gatherings are banned and children stopped going to school. Their first of two deaths came on December 29, and active cases went up ten times between early November and mid-December (less than 50 to over 500). Mongolia’s medical system is that of a developing country and wouldn’t withstand a mass public spread.
On the plus side, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam seem to have it under control. Philippines has greatly reduced their numbers, critical in an island nation of 100 million. Singapore could claim to have it beaten, three deaths since August and only one day with over 100 new cases since then. Considering how bad things were in the summer, it’s an amazing achievement.
Bhutan saw a massive december spike in cases, though they have no deaths. Malaysia and Nepal have been escalating since October, threatening to get out of control. Indonesia has been constantly on the increase since this began, with no peak in cases or deaths. It has the potential to go exponential.
Not in Asia:
Wednesday was the first time since April that the UK had over 1,000 deaths.
And I was infuriated to hear two of my friends in the UK, a married couple, have tested positive. They don’t know who or how they caught it, since they don’t go out much nor take visitors, not even family.
She just gave birth three weeks ago. Their daughter is healthy and so are they, but who knows what can happen.
As you might have heard, China has already rolled out its own vaccine, with questonable results – and I don’t just mean the vaccine (read below). One might even say their vaccine is ineffective at best, dangerous at worst. Tao Lina (陶黎納) a vaccine expert in China, has risked his own safety by publicly questioning the vaccine’s efficacy and safety:
China’s Sinopharm vaccine ‘most unsafe in world’ with 73 side effects
A Chinese vaccine expert is referring to the vaunted Sinopharm vaccine as the “most unsafe vaccine in the world,” after it was found to produce 73 side effects.
On Dec. 30 of last year, BBIBP-CorV, an inactivated vaccine produced by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm), was officially approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration for general use in the communist country. This was the first Wuhan coronavirus vaccine approved by the Chinese government, and the state-run firm claimed that it has an efficacy rate of 79.34 percent based on late-stage trials.
However, Shanghai-based vaccine expert, Tao Lina (陶黎納), recently uploaded a digital version of the vaccine’s instruction manual onto his Weibo page, reported Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper. He stated that after he read the manual, “I took in a long cold breath, and counted the conditions listed in the ‘adverse reactions’ column.” He found that there were 73 local/systemic adverse reactions associated with the vaccine.
[. . .]
He stated that other doctors jokingly described the manual as “one long disclaimer.” However, he alleged that as long as the side effects are listed in the manual, recipients are not entitled to compensation if they occur.
The PRC government is “advising” the elderly not to get the Sinovac vaccine. Is this an admission that it is dangerous for some people, or a sign that they consider younger people in the workforce the priority, and the elderly are expendable?
More below the fold.
Over the past year, many have accused the republiclowns of pandering to the white trash racist fanboys of the confereacy. Lloyd Green of the Guardian went one further, saying that Cheetolini, Cruz, De Santis and all the others ARE the confederacy. It’s a hard argument to refute.
Trump’s Republicans have dumped Lincoln – they’re the Confederacy now
On Wednesday, the Republicans’ transition to the party of the Confederacy will be complete. A day after Georgia’s runoff elections, at least a dozen lawmakers in the Senate and more than half of the party’s House membership will seek to overturn the results of the 2020 election and disenfranchise the majority of US voters. A coup attempt in all but name, this is how democracy dies.
Sadly, a statement issued on Saturday by seven sitting senators and four senators-elect dispelled any doubts about the nexus between the end of the US civil war, more than 150 years ago, and Donald Trump’s desperate attempt to cling to power. Predictably, America’s racial divide again stands front and center.
[…]
On Sunday, as the new Congress was being sworn in, a recording emerged of Trump unsuccessfully browbeating Georgia’s secretary of state into finding “11,780 votes, which is one more than we have”. From the sound of things, Trump’s fear of prosecutors and creditors, waiting for him to leave the White House, takes precedence over electoral integrity.
Back in May, after Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, predicted 240,000 deaths from Covid, and as armed protests to public health measures grew, an administration insider conveyed that Trump’s America was becoming a “bit” like the “late” Weimar Republic. Eight months later, the death toll is past 350,000 and climbing unabated.
Come nightfall on 6 January, the party of Abraham Lincoln will be no more. Instead, the specters of Jim Crow and autocracy will flicker. Messrs Trump, Cruz and Hawley can take a collective bow.
Green’s talk about the Weimar Republic is à propos. Replace the actors involved (US for Weimar Germany, China’s creditors for the US’s creditors, the new confederacy for the national socialist party), and it still fits. The only difference is, rigging the election didn’t work. But Biden still has to deal with hyperinflation.
Printing money and giving it away (the $2000 cheques) for a prolonged period could have that effect. Taxing the rich to fund the government may be the only way to prevent it. And the democrats won’t have the spine to do it, even if they get both Georgia senate seats (Harris is the tiebreaker) and control all three houses. Even if it’s the only way to prevent the economic collapse of the country.
History.com: Weimar Republic
Updated: May 13, 2020; Original: Dec 4, 2017
Much of the Weimar Republic’s recovery was due to a steady flow of American dollars into its economy. But unbeknownst to Germany, America had positioned itself for an economic disaster of its own as it struggled with increased unemployment, low wages, declining stock values and massive, unliquidated bank loans.
On October 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed, sending America into a devastating economic meltdown and ushering in the Great Depression.
The stock market crash had a global ripple effect. It was especially devastating for the newly recovered Weimar Republic. As the flow of American money dried up, Germany could no longer meet their financial responsibilities. Businesses failed, unemployment plummeted again, and Germany faced another devastating economic crisis.
Another Guardian item from August accurately predicted the current situation, the attempts to deny the will of the voters in 1876.
A disputed election, a constitutional crisis, polarisation … welcome to 1876
The campaign of 1876 ended with the electoral college in the balance as three states were disputed. Out of deadlock, eventually, came a political deal, giving the Republican Rutherford Hayes the presidency at the expense of Samuel Tilden, who like Gore, and indeed Hillary Clinton in 2016, won the popular vote.
Tilden’s compensation was that his party, the Democrats, were allowed to put an end to Reconstruction, the process by which the victors in the civil war abolished slavery and sought to ensure the rights of black Americans, via the 13th, 14th and 15th constitutional amendments.
The awful result was Jim Crow, the system of white supremacy and segregation which lasted well into the 20th century and whose legacy remains crushingly strong in a country now gripped by protests against police brutality and for systemic reform.
Eric Foner, now retired from Columbia University, is America’s pre-eminent historian of the civil war, slavery and Reconstruction, a prize-winner many times over. He told the Guardian the US of 2020 is not prepared for what may be around the corner.
“In 1877 there were three states, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, where two different sets of returns were sent up, one by the Democrats, one by the Republicans, each claiming to have carried the state.
“There was no established mechanism and in fact, in the end, we went around the constitution, or beyond the constitution, or ignored the constitution. It was settled by an extralegal body called the Electoral Commission, which was established by Congress to decide who won.”
It reminds me of the Max Headroom episode, “Grossberg’s Return”, where Network 23’s presidential candidate Simon Peller says of the tele-election, “My rival and I negotiated the election results weeks ago.”
Gerry Marsden has died (September 24, 1942 to January 3, 2021). He was the singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers who had many hits in the 1960s as part of the “British invasion” (see the comments). They didn’t “ride the Beatles’ coattails”, the two bands came side by side out of Liverpool. The Pacemakers had six top ten hits, including three #1s.
“How Do You Do What You Do To Me?” was their first single, and a #1 hit.
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” (a Rodgers and Hammerstein song) was released in 1963, and Liverpool football fans adopted it as their anthem, even moreso after the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989. Other clubs around the world have adopted it, and others have used it in solidarity elsewhere.
“Ferry Cross The Mersey” was a huge hit in 1964, about the Mersey River and the Merseyside area. I’ve never been there, but my “parents” were both Scouses, so I grew up hearing about it.
“Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” was another hit, a memorable song about loss and optimism.
From The Guardian’s obituary:
Gerry Marsden, frontman of Gerry and the Pacemakers, dies aged 78
Gerry Marsden, the lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, known for hits including You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey, has died at 78 after a short illness.
He shot to fame in the 1960s as the leader of the Merseybeat band at a time when Liverpool was the centre of the musical universe.
Marsden’s family said in a statement on Sunday: “Gerry died earlier today after a short illness in no way connected with Covid-19. His wife, daughters and grandchildren are devastated.”
He went into hospital on Boxing Day after tests showed he had a serious blood infection that had travelled to his heart. His daughter Yvette Marbeck told the PA news agency: “My sister Vicky and myself have always been very, very proud of Dad … He was our hero, wonderful.”
She added: “It was a very short illness and too quick to comprehend really. And his heart has taken some battering over the years. He had a triple bypass, an aortic valve replacement and ironically he also had a pacemaker.
[…]
The Pacemakers topped the British charts in 1963 with their first three singles, How Do You Do It?, I Like It and You’ll Never Walk Alone, a Rodgers and Hammerstein composition from the musical Carousel. The song became the anthem of Liverpool FC, sung from the Kop at every game. The club tweeted: “It is with such great sadness that we hear of Gerry Marsden’s passing. Gerry’s words will live on forever with us. You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
Paul McCartney is among many who offered condolences:
My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile. – Paul
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) January 3, 2021
By happenstance, it was ten years ago today, January 4, 2011, that Scottish singer Gerry Rafferty died (born April 16, 1947). “Baker Street” was his biggest hit, and the album “City To City” (youtube playlist) sold five million copies. It’s complete album of ten good songs, listenable beginning to end.
Rafferty was also with Stealers Wheel, co-writing “Stuck In The Middle With You” and other hits. Younger people know the song from the movie “Reservoir Dogs”, but I grew up with it on the radio.
The Atlantic: ‘Baker Street’: The Mystery of Rock’s Greatest Sax Riff
Aaaaaand one more so I don’t have to write another music post about a missed birthday:
David Gates turned 80 last month (December 11, 1940). He was one of the soft rock kings of the early 1970s, with the group Bread and as a solo artist. His hits include “If”, “Goodbye Girl”, “Guitar Man”, “Everything I Own” and many others.
“Bread’s Greatest Hits” (youtube link)
“Goodbye Girl” (solo)
The Cato Institute (CI) is an alleged “libertarian think tank” where there’s not much thinking aside from helping the rich get richer, and is more about aryans than liberty. It was founded by Charles Koch and other human filth in 1974 to justify extreme rightwing ideology. It is affiliated with the extreme rightwing Fraser Institute in Canada which has a similar racist-and-rich outlook.
The CI has released its “freedumb” index for 2020 (PDF), ranking countries around the world. The listings shows where its priorities lie: “Where can the richest people get richer with the least difficulty and most protection for themselves?” Individual freedom, democracy and human rights are clearly not their priority.
The #1 spot is held by New Zealand. You might mistakenly think, “Well, it is a democracy and..” but you’d be mistaken if you thought that was their priority. For years, NZ has become the go-to destination for the wealthy hoping to escape international disaster, with expensive underground bunkers built for the disgustingly rich. There are no exact numbers of how many bunkers exist, but US company Rising S claims to have built ten at a cost upwards of US$3 million each. “If it’s good for the rich, it must be a free country!”
How New Zealand became an apocalypse escape destination for Americans
In Queenstown — a picturesque ski spot that often attracts comparisons to Aspen, Colorado — rumors about foreigners investing in apocalypse-proof bunkers have been swirling for years.
They’re referenced by local real estate agents: One recent listing advertised a house as a “billionaire bunker” for someone on a budget, for example.
[. . .]
For years, Queenstown has been an attractive destination for elite foreigners who may have reason to seek out a metaphorical bunker, safe from major political turmoil thousands of miles away. Notable US-based homebuyers include Silicon Valley billionaire and political firebrand Peter Thiel and disgraced former NBC News anchor Matt Lauer.
Now that the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc worldwide, Queenstown is once again sparking interest as the perfect place to escape catastrophe — with or without a secret bunker.
Third on the list is Hong Kong, where “personal freedom” is 8.53, the lowest of any country in the top 25, and “economic freedom” is 8.94, the highest in the world. Clearly the stock markets functioning and international trade going through is what the CI calls “freedumb”, but human rights are not. Or maybe the CI considers 2019 “ancient history” (re: the human rights abuses, kidnapping of Hong Kong citizens by China for sham trials, and HK cops raping and sexually assaulting women without consequences, etc.).
Interestingly, amongst the top 100 countries, the US had the biggest drop in 2020 according to the CI’s criteria, down nine places. Was their “report” a commentary on Cheetolini losing the election?