Feb 132020
 
 February 13, 2020  Posted by at 12:28 pm Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


DPC Wanted: 500 men to eat frankfurters (click to see sign), Bowery, Rockaway, NY 1905

 

Hubei’s Coronavirus Cases Rise 10-Fold After Change In Diagnostic Criteria (SCMP)
COVID-19 Coronavirus Cases (Worldometer)
Beijing Battles ‘Crisis Of Chernobyl Proportions’ In Virus Outbreak (SCMP)
Roger Stone Sentencing Drama Roils Capitol Hill (Pol.)
Yiannopoulos to Gift Royalties From Roger Stone Book to His Defense Fund (GP)
Devin Nunes: Examples Of ‘What Mueller Team Was Really Doing’ Coming Soon (WE)
Boeing’s Got Bigger Problems Than The 737 MAX (CNN)
Corbyn Praises Assange And Calls For Extradition To US To Be Halted (Ind.)
Scientists Discover Holy Grail Which Could Lead To Universal Vaccine
Barclays CEO Probed Over Epstein Ties (R.)
Scottish Independence Is Within Sight (Craig Murray)

 

 

Already covered the virus files earlier today in China Cedes Virus Control. First two pieces below are a reminder of what happened, and what it means: Hubei’s health commission changed the diagnostic criteria used to confirm cases. The result looks something like this for Hubei:

 

 

Which leads to this global picture. Hubei apparently is the only province to date that has implemented the diagnostic changes.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hubei’s new confirmed cases pegged at 14,840, nearly 10 times more than the previous day, while deaths more than doubled to 242.”

Note: that may look like a mortality rate of 20%, but that is far too high. Then again, 2% max doesn’t look tenable anymore either. More on that below.

Hubei’s Coronavirus Cases Rise 10-Fold After Change In Diagnostic Criteria (SCMP)

Health authorities in China’s Hubei province – the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic – reported on Thursday 14,840 new confirmed cases, almost 10 times the number reported a day earlier, and new deaths attributable to the contagion rose to 242, more than double on the day. This brings the totals announced by the province’s health commission to 48,206 and 1,310, respectively, as of Wednesday. Officials in Hubei had reported 94 fatalities and 1,638 newly confirmed cases a day earlier. Hubei’s health commission said in its daily statement that it had changed the diagnostic criteria used to confirm cases, effective Thursday, meaning that doctors have broader discretion to determine which patients are infected.

“From today on, we will include the number of clinically diagnosed cases into the number of confirmed cases so that patients could receive timely treatment,” the health authority said. Previously, patients could only be diagnosed by test kits, which has seen a shortage of supply across the country. Tong Zhaohui, an expert in the central guidance group and vice-president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said the move was in line with the National Health Commission’s latest diagnostic guidelines to include clinical diagnosis, using CT scans and other tests. “When doctors diagnose pneumonia, they can only get the etiology of the disease 20 to 30 per cent of the time. We have to rely on clinical diagnosis 70 to 80 per cent of the time. Increasing the diagnosis of clinical cases will help us make an additional judgment on the disease,” he told state broadcaster CCTV in an exclusive interview.

[..] Some 13,436 of the new cases announced on Thursday were confirmed in Hubei’s capital of Wuhan …

Read more …

The mortality rate looks bad.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Cases (Worldometer)

There are currently 60,373 confirmed cases and 1,369 deaths from the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak as of February 13, 2020, 05:20 GMT. The condition of patients, according to the World Health Organization (Feb. 7 press conference) and based on 17,000 cases in China, are: • 82% mild •15% severe •3% critical


“Total Cases” = total cumulative count (60,373). This figure therefore includes deaths and recovered/discharged patients (cases with an outcome). By removing these from the “total cases” figure, we get “currently infected cases” (cases still awaiting for an outcome). The charts include provisional data and values for Feb. 12 that are the result, for the most part, of a change in diagnosis classification, for which an additional 13,332 cases and 107 deaths were counted on Feb. 12..

Read more …

Paints Xi under much more pressure than acknowledged.

Beijing Battles ‘Crisis Of Chernobyl Proportions’ In Virus Outbreak (SCMP)

This winter, [Hubei] was the starting point for an outbreak of a new coronavirus – which causes the disease now officially known as Covid-19 – that has rapidly spread across the country and beyond, claiming the lives of more than 1,300 people and infecting over 59,000 so far. The crisis has been referred to as “China’s Chernobyl” – the 1986 nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union that was worsened by an opaque system and incompetent crisis management – and is the worst the ruling Communist Party has seen since 1989. It is certainly the worst under strongman leader President Xi Jinping. “This is clearly a crisis of enormous proportions,” said Dali Yang, a political scientist with the University of Chicago.

“Failure … will be blamed on the system and especially on Xi, who’s staked out his personal leadership role.” Yang said although the Chinese government’s propaganda machine was trying to spin the outbreak into a show of the country’s strength, it would not convince everyone. “It will be a crisis of Chernobyl proportions, especially because we will have to contend with the virus for years to come,” Yang said. “Those who have sustained losses, in particular, will be asking questions, as has happened before in the aftermath of a crisis.” Zhao Suisheng, a political scientist at the University of Denver, said there was much less diversity of domestic public opinion about the causes of this crisis than for the trade war or the Hong Kong protests.

“Many Chinese sympathised with the government on the trade war, but the mainstream public opinion now is almost one-sided against the government,” said Zhao, who has written several books on Beijing’s control of information and public opinion. “This is something I haven’t seen since 1989.” Zhao said the virus outbreak could see the party, and especially the Xi government, having to answer some tough questions. “China’s political system under Xi – with its high concentration of power, its opaqueness, the overemphasis on ideology and Leninist discipline – has almost fully removed society’s capacity to handle such crisis,” he said.

Read more …

I guess many people won’t agree, but I still think lying about things that don’t exist should not result in a 9-year sentence. I’m with the right on this one.

Roger Stone Sentencing Drama Roils Capitol Hill (Pol.)

And you thought the drama would end with impeachment. Yesterday, Justice Department officials stepped in and asked for a more lenient sentence for Roger Stone after the government initially recommended that he spend 7 to 9 years in prison for impeding congressional and FBI investigations into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The DOJ’s intervention prompted a fierce backlash, with all four federal prosecutors withdrawing from the case in what appears to be an extraordinary protest.

The backstory: The DOJ’s decision to overrule the stiff sentencing recommendation came after Trump repeatedly railed on the prosecutors for urging such a lengthy prison sentence for Stone. “I thought the recommendation was ridiculous. I thought the whole prosecution was ridiculous,” Trump told reporters. “I thought it was an insult to our country and it shouldn’t happen.” The president last night also lobbed attacks at Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case and will ultimately sentence Stone; retweeted a post calling for pardons for Stone and Michael Flynn; and thanked Attorney General William Barr for taking charge.

The reaction from Dems: Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of “political interference,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for the Inspector General to open an investigation into the DOJ’s actions. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, meanwhile, vowed to “get to the bottom” of the matter. And House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff called it a “blatant abuse of power.” But here’s the reality: Democrats know there is little, if anything, they can do to counter an emboldened, post-impeachment Trump.

Read more …

Cassandra Fairbanks. Stone lost everything including his house because he is useful bait in the anti-Trump and especially anti-Assange narratives.

Yiannopoulos to Gift Royalties From Roger Stone Book to His Defense Fund (GP)

New York Times-bestselling author Milo Yiannopoulos has penned a new book about Roger Stone’s trial and will be donating royalties to the Roger Stone Defense Fund. The book, The Trial of Roger Stone, went up for pre-order on Wednesday and will be released on March 1. “In this moving, eyewitness account of Roger Stone’s trial and his decades-long career of political chicanery, author and Stone intimate Milo Yiannopoulos introduces America to the man behind the myth—and explains how the biggest stitch-up in modern judicial history unfolded. He offers a plea to President Trump to step in and do the right thing, and he explains how we can prevent such grotesque injustices from happening ever again,” a press release for the book explains.

Stone, a brilliant and notorious political consultant, was charged with seven felony counts relating to obstructing the ridiculous Russian interference investigation. He is a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump and many believe that his relationship with him is why he was targeted by the Department of Justice with such obscenely overblown charges. “The Mueller Report was a catastrophe for the malevolent forces desperate to impeach President Donald Trump. It failed to prove any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Since then, many of the President’s former advisors and associates have been subjected to vindictive, political prosecutions for a variety of trivial, unrelated offenses. Roger Stone is one of them,” Yiannopoulos said in a statement provided to the Gateway Pundit.

The 67-year-old nonviolent first offender was found guilty on all seven charges in November and is due to be sentenced this month. On February 10, prosecutors requested seven to nine years in prison, but the following day Justice Department officials stepped in and asked for a more lenient sentence. All four federal prosecutors have now withdrawn from the case and President Trump has not ruled out a pardon. According to the Roger Stone Defense Fund website, his legal defense was projected to cost as much as $3 million. President Trump has been outspoken with his contempt for how the case was handled, calling it “unfair” and a “miscarriage of justice.”

Read more …

About time this is no longer just talk.

Devin Nunes: Examples Of ‘What Mueller Team Was Really Doing’ Coming Soon (WE)

Rep. Devin Nunes predicted more fallout from then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. After the Justice Department recommended a steep prison sentence for Trump confidant Roger Stone, which was walked back on Tuesday, the California Republican said that “this is not going to be the only example” of questionable behavior during the federal inquiry he called an “obstruction of justice trap.” “There’s more to come on this,” the House Intelligence Committee ranking member told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, before noting that all four prosecutors in the Stone case, including three who were on Mueller’s team, quit after the Justice Department rebuked their recommendation of up to nine years in prison for the longtime GOP operative. A more lenient three to four years in prison was suggested in the latest court filing.

“We think there’s other examples of things that they did during the Mueller investigation that I think you and your listeners and the American people will be very interested to learn in the coming weeks as we start to unpeel the onion of what the Mueller team was really doing,” he added. Nunes did not share any specifics, but the origins of the Russia investigation are being reviewed by Attorney General William Barr’s hand-picked prosecutor from Connecticut, John Durham. The case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn recently took a wild turn, with the former White House national security adviser seeking to withdraw his guilty plea on a charge of lying to the FBI and the Justice Department changing its position on a recommended sentence.

Stone was found guilty in November on five separate counts of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russian election interference, in addition to one count that he “corruptly influenced, obstructed, and impeded” the congressional investigation and another that he attempted to “corruptly persuade” radio show host Randy Credico’s congressional testimony. The two-week jury trial centered on Stone’s false claims of being in communication with WikiLeaks and on his actions taken during the 2016 election and beyond. The 67-year-old was never accused by prosecutors of criminally conspiring with Russia or any other foreign actors.

[..] Nunes claimed Stone should never have been investigated in the first place by what he described as “dirty cops.” “So, what the hell did they do for two years?” the congressman said. “They set up an obstruction of justice trap, and they went after a whole bunch of people that now got sentenced. Some already served their time, and I think all of this has to come into question now,” he added.

Read more …

They don’t sell any planes. Zero last month, vs 45 (at over $100 million each) in Jan 2019.

Boeing’s Got Bigger Problems Than The 737 MAX (CNN)

Fixing the 737 Max and getting it back in the air is crucial for Boeing. But it’s not the only major challenge facing the embattled aircraft maker. Boeing also needs to focus on its next generation of passenger planes.vThe aircraft maker has made its focus clear as it works on getting the 737 Max approved to fly again, which is expected to happen by the middle of this year. The plane has been grounded since March, following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. The nearly year-long crisis has put orders and deliveries of many of the company’s jets on hold. Tuesday, Boeing reported that it didn’t receive any new orders for commercial jets in January, compared to 45 orders a year ago. And it only delivered 13 commercial planes in the month, down from 46 a year earlier.

The 737 Max crisis has stymied Boeing’s growth. But Boeing (BA) faces a longer-term threat that is even more important to overcome: Boeing is falling behind rival Airbus and needs to build the next generation of planes to remain competitive in the future.vThe 777X widebody plane has already been developed and is going through its first round of test flights. But its official debut has been pushed back because of problems with its engine from GE. At the time of the Max crisis, Boeing was planning on delivering the 777X at some point this year. But in October, it pushed back the first delivery date to early 2021.vBoeing has 309 orders of the 777X that are now being delayed.

[..] Boeing will have to turn attention once again to the part of the market now served by the 737 Max. That’s because the need to come up with an replacement for the 737 is on the horizon. It’s tough to tell how soon it will need a 737 replacement. Experts say Boeing might not start taking orders for a 737 Max successor for another 10 years. But the need to come up with a successor could be sooner than that. If the fixes for the 737 Max aren’t enough to make passengers comfortable with flying Boeing’s best-selling jet, Boeing could have to act sooner. Boeing executives and many airlines say they believe passengers will be willing to fly the Max once it is cleared to fly again. But nobody knows for sure.

Read more …

Now that he’s become obscure again he speaks out. Hmmm.

Corbyn Praises Assange And Calls For Extradition To US To Be Halted (Ind.)

Jeremy Corbyn has called for the extradition of Julian Assange to the US to be halted, praising the Wikileaks founder for exposing US “war crimes”. Boris Johnson refused to comment on the case, which will begin this month – but surprised the Commons by agreeing the extradition treaty between the two countries is “unbalanced”. The Labour leader’s call came as he also demanded to know whether Anne Sacoolas, who drove the car that killed teenager Harry Dunn, is being “shielded” because she was a CIA spy. On Mr Assange, who faces up to 175 years in a US jail if convicted, Mr Corbyn backed MPs on the Council of Europe who have warned the extradition “sets a dangerous precedent for journalists”.


The one-sided arrangements would be “laid bare” when the courts decide whether he should be sent to the US on “charges of espionage for exposure of war crimes, the murder of civilians and large-scale corruption”, he said. “Will the prime minister agree with the parliamentary report that’s going to the Council of Europe that this extradition should be opposed and the rights of journalists and whistleblowers upheld for the good of all of us,” Mr Corbyn demanded. In response, the prime minister said: “I’m not going to mention any individual cases but it’s obvious that the rights of journalists and whistleblowers should be upheld and this government will continue to do that.”

Read more …

One of these stories a day should keep the doctor away.

Scientists Discover Holy Grail Which Could Lead To Universal Vaccine

Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US have uncovered the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of most viruses which plague mankind, and could soon develop a universal vaccine. Vaccine research, development and testing takes a long time, as the ongoing coronavirus outbreak has shown, but that is because researchers devote their time, attention and resources to targeting specific viruses one-by-one. But now scientists at MGH have located what may prove to be a game-changing breakthrough for humanity which could strengthen our bodies and make them impervious to most viruses. “The goal is to understand how our immune system works in order to create treatments that work against a range of viruses, not just vaccines against a particular one,” said Kate Jeffrey, head of the study, in a hospital press release.


The so-called ‘Achilles heel’ (or vulnerable point) of most viruses is actually just a simple protein named AGO4, which has been shown to have unique antiviral effects in mammalian cells. When studying mice, researchers found that only cells deficient in AGO4 were hypersensitive to infections like the influenza virus. So once they can figure out how to reinforce our bodies’ natural defences with AGO4, viruses will no longer stand a chance of infecting us, theoretically at least. “The next step is to determine how wide the spectrum of action of this protein is for any type of virus,” says Jeffrey. “And then we need to figure out how to increase the activity of AGO4 to enhance protection against viral infections.”

Read more …

Known him since 2000, got dozens of wealthy clients through him, visited his island, visited him in prison where he was for prostution/paedophilia. But never one glimpse, your honor!

Barclays CEO Probed Over Epstein Ties (R.)

Britain’s financial regulators are probing historical links between Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley and the U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, the bank said on Thursday. Barclays said its board had looked into media reports on Staley’s relationship with Epstein, and probed Staley’s characterization of it. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority are investigating. The bank said its board believes Staley has been sufficiently transparent about his ties to Epstein, whom Staley said he had not seen since taking over as Barclays CEO in 2015. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Staley said he regretted his relationship with Epstein, which began in 2000 while he was employed by JPMorgan and “tapered off significantly” after he left the Wall Street lender.


The relationship ended in late 2015, Staley said. “I thought I knew him well, and I didn’t. I’m sure with hindsight of what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. The New York Times last year said that Epstein had referred “dozens” of wealthy clients to Staley when the CEO ran JPMorgan’s private banking business. It also reported that Staley visited Epstein in prison when he was serving a sentence between 2008-09 for soliciting prostitution. Staley also went to Epstein’s private island in 2015, Bloomberg reported. Barclays has previously said that Staley never engaged or paid fees to Epstein to advise him or provide professional services.

Read more …

Boris’ honeymoon weeks are over.

Scottish Independence Is Within Sight (Craig Murray)

There will never again be a route to Scottish independence deemed legal by Westminster. The 2014 referendum will never be repeated. The U.K. will never willingly give up a third of its land, most of its fisheries, most of its mineral resources, its most marketable beef, soft fruit and whisky, most of its renewable energy potential, a vital part of its military including its primary nuclear base, its best universities in a number of key fields including life sciences, its ready pool of intellectual and professional talent. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is for once honest when he says keeping the Union together is his top priority. It is the top priority of the entire British Establishment.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron only agreed to the 2014 referendum because he thought the result would humiliate and kill off Scottish nationalism. Support for independence was at 28 percent in the polls at the time he agreed. Westminster had the most enormous and horrible shock when support for independence grew to 45 percent during the campaign as many people for the first time in their lives heard the real arguments. The Whitehall panic of the last week of the 2014 referendum campaign is not something the British Establishment ever intend to repeat.

There is a charmingly naive argument put forward by some that, if support for independence can be grown to 60 percent in the opinion polls, Johnson and Westminster will have to “grant” a referendum. This is the opposite of the truth. If support for Independence is at 60 percent, the very last thing that the Tories will do is agree a referendum they will lose. Their resistance will be massively hardened. Remember, the Tories could have zero Tory MPs in Scotland and still have a majority of 73 in Westminster. There is no political damage for Johnson in unpopularity in Scotland. In England, his anti-Scots stance is very popular with a core support base of knuckle-dragging, ill-educated racists.

[..] If you believe in Scottish independence, you believe that the Scottish nation are a “people” within the meaning of the UN Charter, and thus have an inalienable right of self-determination. That means that Westminster has no right, by legislation or by any other means, to prevent the Scottish people from exercising their self-determination. I am sorry, but this is the fact: If you believe Scotland should only move to independence in a Westminster-approved process, you do not really believe in Scottish Independence at all.

Read more …

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle February 13 2020

Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
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  • #53893

    DPC Wanted: 500 men to eat frankfurters (click to see sign), Bowery, Rockaway, NY 1905   • Hubei’s Coronavirus Cases Rise 10-Fold After Change In
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle February 13 2020]

    #53898
    zerosum
    Participant

    I’m lost!
    I only can take a guess or speculate that is based on rumors and hope.
    USA never gives jobs to incompetent politically appointed children of the elites
    Solution … Build wall …. Go/stay home behind wall
    Those that don’t die from the new virus will not die from the old regular virus.
    The new virus is saving 10 of thousands of people from dying from the old virus
    —-
    Canada Ben there don dat
    Once the third largest aircraft maker, Canada’s Bombardier on Thursday announced the sale of its A220 stake to Airbus and the Quebec government, effectively exiting commercial aviation after a failed expansion.
    —–
    trampoline
    USA stock market ….

    #53899
    Dave Note
    Participant

    An interesting side note on the coronavirus was how it is spreading through the Chinese military ranks, especially the submarine corp, perfect close quarters, think cruise ship without luxuries.

    US Military Initiates “Global Campaign Plan For Pandemic”
    https://www.zerohedge.com/health/us-military-initiates-global-campaign-plan-pandemic

    I have have seen very few articles on how the coronavirus could effect military readiness.

    Sick soldiers, sailors and pilots. They move around a lot in close quarters. Seems an ideal setting to catch and spread this thing.

    Ah, the Military, ain’t they grand.

    Sudden Militarization Of Wuhan’s P4 Lab Raises New Questions About The Origin Of The Deadly Covid-19 Virus

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/sudden-militarization-wuhans-p4-lab-raises-new-questions-about-origin-deadly-covid-19

    I’m leaning towards carelessness and sloppiness, not diabolical subterfuge, on the part of the Chinese in the accidental release of Covid-19 from the Wuhan P4 Lab.

    Just look at how the Chinese are handling the situation, the Keystone Cops would have done a better job.

    #53901
    zerosum
    Participant

    What … China steal1ing our methods
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/

    But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.

    The operation, known first by the code name “Thesaurus” and later “Rubicon,” ranks among the most audacious in CIA history.
    “It was the intelligence coup of the century,” the CIA report concludes. “Foreign governments were paying good money to the U.S. and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries.”

    #53902
    Dave Note
    Participant

    This article explores the idea that simply keeping unspeakably dangerous and deadly pathogens is not a smart move if you can’t contain them. Having them even to study seems more and more like a self fulfilling prophecy of doom. Nobody is perfect, and handling these pathogens, well, you need to be perfect.

    How Deadly Pathogens have Escaped the Lab — Over and Over Again

    Research into dangerous viruses and bacteria is important, but for the deadliest pathogens, it’s not clear the benefits are worth the risks.

    https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/3/20/18260669/deadly-pathogens-escape-lab-smallpox-bird-flu

    #53903
    John Day
    Participant

    Go Cecelia Payne! Go Hydrogen!
    Amigos, good work keeping up. It’s hard to break news to all-y’all (collective plural form of “y’all”)
    http://www.johndayblog.com/2020/02/losing-battle-last-night-china.html

    ​This is very important basic science research. Wuhan coronavirus binds to ACE-2 receptors, deep in the lungs. Everybody has them. Some people have more.
    It has been speculated that older men and Asians have more.
    Well, yes, if older Asian men smoke more tobacco. BINGO!​
    In this study, we investigated the disparities related to race, age, gender and smoking status in ACE2 gene expression and found significantly higher ACE2 gene expression in lung tissue of smokers compared to that of non-smokers. This may explain the reason why more males (56% of 425 cases) were found in a recent epidemiology report of 2019-nCov early transmission by China CDC11. We didn’t observe significant disparities in ACE2 gene expression between racial groups (Asian vs Caucasian), age groups (>60 vs <60) or gender groups (male vs female).
    file:///C:/Users/John.MEADOWS/Downloads/preprints202002.0051.v1%20(1).pdf

    ​Elijah Magnier has Syrian-war update:
    ​ It is a new strategic turn in the Syrian war that Maarrat al-Nu’man, Khan Touman, Saraqeb, Tel el-Eiss, Rashedeen 4&5 are now liberated. It is an indication that Turkey will find it hard to protect its jihadists in the long run. The stability of Syria requires the liberation of its entire territory. Syrian stability is in the interest of Russia and its national security objectives. Russia walked into the Levant to stop the war. Its credibility is on the line. It has a large naval base offering unique access to the Mediterranean. It is also in the interests of Russia to eliminate al-Qaeda and all groups adhering to their takfiri ideology, notwithstanding their different priorities and names. The Uzbeks and Uighur jihadists in the Levant have no place to go and are expected to fight to the last man.
    Turkey is showing its teeth to Russia by refusing to recognize Russian sovereignty of Crimea and offering 33$ billion to Ukraine in arms. Turkey is aiming for a more effective and recognized role in Libya where the central government is officially requesting Ankara’s support. However, the situation in Syria is different. Turkey knows its presence in Syria cannot last for long, and that the liberation of Idlib, even if it is not on the agenda today, will happen soon. It is only a question of time.
    https://ahtribu

    #53907
    WES
    Participant

    John Day:. Your speculation a few weeks ago on how the covid-19 virus escaped into Wuhan market via lab assistants selling lab bats is still the best story I have read!

    Yes poor Cecelia Payne not getting mention ranks up there with Keynes not getting credit for negotiating the conditions at the end of WW1 that created WW2.

    It might take a few more years but eventually Syria will regain control of it’s borders. They simply have to make staying in Syria increasingly more expensive for their unwanted guests!

    #53908
    WES
    Participant

    Since China is doing nothing to contain the covid-19 virus, it is now up to the rest of the world to try and contain it.

    Example:. Spain’s world mobility conference in Barcelona was recently cancelled because people noticed that thousands of Chinese were expected to attend.

    One by one, companies cancelled their attendance! No doubt this was triggered by the companies’ own employees not wanting to catch the virus!

    Basically if where ever you want to go is going to have any Chinese there, then you don’t want to go there!

    #53909
    WES
    Participant

    Now that Brexit has come and gone, I see that nothing has changed!

    The sun wasn’t shinning before Brexit and still isn’t shinning!

    Good old sunny England!

    Once in 1983 when I was slaving away in a Siberian coal mine, I got 10 days parole, so I choose to escape to sunny England! Incredibly I encountered no rain! After returning to Siberia, an expat asked about my trip. I told him no rain, mostly sunny! He exclaimed to me! “You are lying! There is no way in hell you were in England!

    #53910
    zerosum
    Participant

    “It’s one of the possibilities.”

    Death from Old flue replaced by death from New flue.

    #53911
    WES
    Participant

    When it comes to Boeing, moving their headquarters to Chicago, sealed their fate.

    This move indicated that the accountants had successfully sieged control of Boeing away from the engineers who had built Boeing into a successful aircraft maker.

    No engineer would have agreed to shifting the 737 Max’s center of gravity forward the way an accountant would! Engineers would have insisted upon a new wing design with longer landing gears!

    Notice Boeing after a year, is still trying to fix this by fixing software! By now engineers would have designed, tested, and built new wings!

    Sometimes stupid can’t be fixed!

    #53912
    VietnamVet
    Participant

    WaPo; “NASA finds ‘fundamental’ software problems in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft”.

    NASA/Boeing found a second software bug after launch and its failure to get to the correct orbit. They had to update the spacecraft to get it back to earth. More problems were found later. NASA admits to inadequate oversight.

    This isn’t a bug. It is deregulation. Also, China is the sole source of most of America’s generic pharmaceuticals. The “just in time supply chain” is a means for the wealthy to get a bigger cut of the economic system. At the core of the problem is the Meritocracy’s accommodation to elite corruption to get their own cut of the pie. The Wuhan coronavirus pandemic shows how fragile the system really is. If the President and Congress don’t get off their asses, there will be no ventilators, intensive care beds or protective gear to treat the millions of old farts that will die at their hands. Too bad we will be too sick and frail to take on the Establishment one last time.

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