Jul 312020
 
 July 31, 2020  Posted by at 10:08 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,


Elliot Erwitt California 1955

 

Young Children Carry Much Higher Viral Load Than Other Age Groups (SD)
Tokyo Could Declare Emergency If Situation Worsens (R.)
China Reports 127 New Coronavirus Cases, Highest Since March 5 (R.)
Netherlands Refuses To Mandate Mask Wearing In Public (ZH)
Australia To Make Facebook, Google Pay For News In World First (R.)
The Grifters, Chapter 1 – Kodak (Ben Hunt)
Trader Joe’s Won’t Change Packaging On International Food Brands (JTN)
Michael Flynn Case To Be Reheard By Full US Appeals Court (R.)
Kamala Harris’s Record On Antitrust & White-Collar Crime (TMI)
What Does Susan Rice Bring to a Biden Ticket? (Lee Smith)

 

 

New global daily cases record, and global deaths are creeping up again. As are deaths in the US and many European countries, Hong Kong, China, Japan. This ain’t over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Varon

 

 

A new surprise every day.

Young Children Carry Much Higher Viral Load Than Other Age Groups (SD)

A study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago discovered that children younger than 5 years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have much higher levels of genetic material for the virus in the nose compared to older children and adults. Findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, point to the possibility that the youngest children transmit the virus as much as other age groups. The ability of younger children to spread COVID-19 may have been under-recognized given the rapid and sustained closure of schools and daycare during the pandemic.

“We found that children under 5 with COVID-19 have a higher viral load than older children and adults, which may suggest greater transmission, as we see with respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV,” says lead author Taylor Heald-Sargent, MD, PhD, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Lurie Children’s and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This has important public health implications, especially during discussions on the safety of reopening schools and daycare.”


Dr. Heald-Sargent and colleagues analyzed 145 cases of mild to moderate COVID-19 illness within the first week of symptom onset. They compared the viral load in three age groups — children younger than 5 years, children 5-17 years and adults 18-65 years. “Our study was not designed to prove that younger children spread COVID-19 as much as adults, but it is a possibility,” says Dr. Heald-Sargent. “We need to take that into account in efforts to reduce transmission as we continue to learn more about this virus.”

Read more …

Japan has been doing quite well so far. Opening up may not be a good idea.

Tokyo Could Declare Emergency If Situation Worsens (R.)

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike warned on Friday that the Japanese capital could declare a state of emergency if the coronavirus situation deteriorated further, after new cases jumped by a record single-day high of 463. “If the situation worsens, Tokyo would have to think about issuing its own state of emergency,” Koike said, imploring residents to follow health guidelines to avoid that happening.

Read more …

Xi is nervous.

China Reports 127 New Coronavirus Cases, Highest Since March 5 (R.)

China reported 127 new coronavirus cases on the mainland on July 30, up from 105 the previous day, the country’s health authority said on Friday, the highest daily number since March 5. Of the total, 112 were in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, up from 96 a day earlier. Another 11 were in Liaoning province in the northeast, up from five the previous day. There were four new imported coronavirus cases on July 30, compared to three a day earlier, while the number of new asymptomatic coronavirus carriers stood at 11, down from 21 on the previous day. China has reported a total of 84,292 coronavirus cases by the end of July 30.

Read more …

First, they had no masks or tests, so they told the people these were not needed. Then when all neighbors went in lockdown, they had their “intelligent” lockdown. Now they say no masks, but they will “experiment” with mask requirement in busy places. Confuse people enough and they will turn their backs on you. And all this nonsense about wearing masks outside makes people do worse than turn their backs.

Meanwhile cases there are rising again. So much for the flat curve.

This “mask refusal” was based largely on a report from a Norwegian scientist, who as soon as he saw he was quoted, said: my report says no such thing! But it doesn’t really matter: as soon as masks became a political issue, they were lost.

Something I hadn’t seen before: “Mask-wearing may also prompt people to touch their face more frequently”. Haha, No, masks were supposed to PREVENT people from touching their faces, remember?

Netherlands Refuses To Mandate Mask Wearing In Public (ZH)

American public health experts, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, have struggled over the past couple of months to push a specific narrative on the public: Wearing a mask doesn’t so much protect you from being infected with SARS-CoV-2, but if you are infected, wearing a mask could stop you from passing the virus to someone else. The mainstream media has backed up these assertions with vague references to “science” and “research”, while a coalition of celebrities and progressive activists have tried to tar anybody who doubts this narrative – or, worse, refuses to wear a mask at all times outside their home – as a “denier”. Well, if everybody who is skeptical of the “masks save lives, period” is a “denier”, then how does one explain the Dutch government’s decision to refuse to mandate mask wearing (the only place where masks must be worn in the Netherlands is on public transit).

On Thursday, Reuters reported that the Dutch government had decided the day before that it would not advise the public to wear masks to slow the spread of coronavirus because their effectiveness has not yet been proven. The decision was announced by the Netherlands Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark following a review by the country’s National Institute for Health. Following a resurgence in cases over the past week or so, the Dutch government has decided it will instead seek better adherence to social distancing rules. “Because from a medical perspective there is no proven effectiveness of masks, the Cabinet has decided that there will be no national obligation for wearing non-medical masks” Van Ark said.


[..] The Dutch government insists that it’s strictly following the advice of the experts in the so-called Outbreak Management Team, which doesn’t believe in the general use of masks. Dutch virologist Jaap van Dissel from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said Wednesday that masks can lead to a “false sense of security”. When wearing masks, people might not follow other social distancing rules like keeping their distance which also help prevent spread. Mask-wearing may also prompt people to touch their face more frequently, putting them at risk of accidentally infecting themselves while adjusting their masks.

Read more …

What good is it if they’re the only one?

Australia To Make Facebook, Google Pay For News In World First (R.)

Australia will force U.S. tech giants Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay Australian media outlets for news content in a landmark move to protect independent journalism that will be watched around the world. Australia will become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content provided by media companies under a royalty-style system that will become law this year, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said. “It’s about a fair go for Australian news media businesses. It’s about ensuring that we have increased competition, increased consumer protection, and a sustainable media landscape,” Frydenberg told reporters in Melbourne. “Nothing less than the future of the Australian media landscape is at stake.”


The move comes as the tech giants fend off calls around the world for greater regulation, and a day after Google and Facebook took a battering for alleged abuse of market power from U.S. lawmakers in a congressional hearing. Following an inquiry into the state of the media market and the power of the U.S. platforms, the Australian government late last year told Facebook and Google to negotiate a voluntary deal with media companies to use their content. Those talks went nowhere and Canberra now says if an agreement cannot reached through arbitration within 45 days the Australian Communications and Media Authority would set legally binding terms on behalf of the government. Google said the regulation ignores “billions of clicks” that it sends to Australian news publishers each year.

Read more …

What an insane story this is.

The Grifters, Chapter 1 – Kodak (Ben Hunt)

On Tuesday afternoon, the White House announced that Kodak – a public company with less than $100 million in market cap, basically a pension fund with a famous brand name attached – would receive $765 million in “loans” from the US government to create a “pharmaceutical start-up” that over a period of 8 YEARS will start making pharmaceutical “supplies”. Whatever the hell that means. This $765 million in non-recourse, non-secured loans for pharmaceutical supply production, given to this micro-cap company with zero experience or expertise in pharmaceutical supply production, comes from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a $60 billion piggy bank established by the Trump administration in 2019 to replace the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Yes, “international development” and “overseas investment”. The DFC is an institution that, per its mission statement and Congressional charter via the 2018 Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act, is “focused on promoting inclusive economic growth in the world’s least developed countries.” I mean … I knew things were bad in Rochester, but I didn’t know they were that bad. To dust off an old Epsilon Theory catchphrase: They’re. Not. Even. Pretending. Anymore. Who is “they”? On the corporate-grift side, it’s Kodak Chairman and CEO Jim Continenza, who picked up about 3 million shares and cheap options over the past year. It’s Kodak board member George Karfunkel, of the private equity and banking Zyskind-Karfunkel family, with his 6.4 million shares. It’s Kodak board member Philippe Katz, who owns about 4.3 million shares through at least five shell companies.


Based on yesterday’s closing price of $33.20 for the stock, I figure Jim and George and Philippe have made about $400 million over the past 48 hours. The numbers looked even better when Kodak hit $53 earlier earlier in the day, but easy come, easy go.

Read more …

Goya, Red Bull, Trader Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s Won’t Change Packaging On International Food Brands (JTN)

The popular U.S. grocery chain Trader Joe’s says it won’t retire the packaging name on some of its international products – including one called Trader José’s – amid a petition to change the names because of their “racist” connotation. “A few weeks ago, an online petition was launched calling on us to “remove racist packaging from [our] products,” Trader Joe’s said Friday on its website. “Following were inaccurate reports that the petition prompted us to take action. We want to be clear: we disagree that any of these labels are racist. We do not make decisions based on petitions. “We make decisions based on what customers purchase, as well as the feedback we receive from our customers and Crew Members. If we feel there is a need for change, we do not hesitate to take action.”


Trader Joe had suggested earlier this month that it might change the name on some packaging, but apparently held firm amid the poll and a resurgence of so-called “cancel culture,” in which people and entities are being forced to apologize or amend statements or actions deemed racially or culturally insensitive. The Change.org petition was reportedly started by California high school senior Briones Bedell and as of Thursday had roughly 5,000 signatures. Among the other Trader Joe’s packaging names cited on the petition site are Trader Giotto’s and Trader Ming’s.

Read more …

“Never before has appeals court granted en banc hearing to a judge when neither party wanted it.”

Michael Flynn Case To Be Reheard By Full US Appeals Court (R.)

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday agreed to rehear arguments over whether the judge assigned to the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, must grant a request to dismiss it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it would hold an oral argument in the politically charged criminal case on Aug. 11. In a 2-1 decision on June 24, a three-judge panel of the same court ruled in favor of Flynn and the Trump administration and said U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington had to grant the Justice Department’s motion to clear Flynn. Sullivan asked the full court to reconsider the three-judge panel’s ruling, saying the Justice Department’s dropping of the Flynn case was unprecedented and had to be carefully scrutinized.


Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was one of several former Trump aides charged under former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that detailed Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then switched lawyers to pursue a new scorched-earth tactic that accused the FBI of setting him up, and asked the judge to dismiss the charge. After the Justice Department took the highly unusual step of seeking to abandon the case against Flynn, Sullivan appointed a retired judge to argue against the Justice Department’s request. Sullivan, represented by his own lawyers, has said he cannot serve as a “rubber stamp” and must carefully review the facts before deciding on the request for dismissal. The D.C. Circuit panel disagreed in June, saying Sullivan was intruding on the Justice Department’s authority to decide which cases it pursues.

Read more …

Kamala Harris was about the least popular candidate in the Primaries, and one of the first to drop out. She won’t bring in any votes, she’ll take them away.

Kamala Harris’s Record On Antitrust & White-Collar Crime (TMI)

This week, a House subcommittee held a high-profile hearing interrogating the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google about their growing market power. But as more congressional Democrats scrutinize corporate America’s monopolistic business practices, their party may end up giving the vice-presidential nomination to a lawmaker who previously expressed misgivings about antitrust enforcement when it comes to Silicon Valley. California Sen. Kamala Harris’ meteoric rise from San Francisco District Attorney to Democratic presidential contender occurred in the span of just over a decade and today, insiders believe she tops Joe Biden’s shortlist for VP.

During the 2020 election, Harris’s record on criminal justice proved too steep a hurdle during her party’s presidential primary just a few short months ago. She was dogged by criticism that as California Attorney General, she had been soft on white-collar crime like mortgage fraud while pursuing low-level offenses like truancy with zeal. Questions also arose about her refusal to act on her staff’s memo that identified what it called “widespread misconduct” at a financial firm run by Steve Mnuchin, who donated to her Senate campaign.

[..] HuffPost procured 1,400 pages of emails which revealed how Harris’ relationships with tech giants had been mutually beneficial. For example, she’d participated in a promotional for Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 book about women in power, “Lean In,” which increased her national profile. Sandberg would also become a donor to her 2016 Senate campaign. All told, that year, Harris raked in $214,000 in contributions from the industry. During her 2020 presidential run, Harris was a favorite of big tech, taking large sums from lobbyists for companies like Uber and Facebook. Donors from Apple, Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet were collectively among her top contributors.

Harris’ position on the size of tech giants did not substantially change during the campaign. When she was asked by the New York Times in January 2019 if companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google should be broken up, Harris responded: “I believe that the tech companies have got to be regulated in a way that we can ensure and the American consumer can be certain that their privacy is not being compromised.” Pressed by the interviewer to respond directly about the size of the companies, Harris continued to sidestep. “My first priority is going to be that we ensure that privacy is something that is intact and that consumers have the power to make decisions about what happens with their personal information and that it is not being made for them,” she said.

Read more …

And who likes Susan Rice? Anybody at all?

“Nominating Rice as Biden’s VP would virtually ensure her immunity, protecting her from investigation or prosecution during the campaign. [..] Crucially, it would also cut off the investigation at the rung below her, thereby insulating Obama and Biden.

What Does Susan Rice Bring to a Biden Ticket? (Lee Smith)

But there is another possible explanation that is worth considering, since it’s at least legally true: Putting Susan Rice on the ticket would protect both Biden and Obama (as well as Rice herself) from the ongoing investigation into the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, the discredited FBI probe of Trump’s ties to Russia. As official reports hinting at the role Obama and Biden may have played in targeting Trump officials were declassified in the spring, Attorney General William Barr said in May that neither were in the sights of John Durham, the U.S. attorney in charge of the investigation. “I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr said. “Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others.”

Since Barr’s May statement, it has come to light that Obama and Biden were more directly involved in the targeting of incoming Trump officials than was previously publicly known. In late June, FBI notes of January 2017 Oval Office meetings were declassified, showing that both men were not only keeping close watch on the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, but were advising it. A New York Times article from earlier this week promoting Rice’s audition obscured the evidence declassified in the last several months. It noted that Trump has accused Rice “of having participated in an Obama administration plot against” Flynn, and added that “no such effort has been documented.” Rice herself personally documented a meeting in which she, Obama, and Biden decided Flynn’s fate.

Presumably, Barr does not want America to take a step closer to resembling a third-world regime on his watch. And so, in order to avoid the appearance of a politicized investigation of senior Democrats in retaliation for what was in fact a politicized investigation of a Republican administration, neither Obama nor Biden are being investigated. But that does not mean that they are shielded if someone wants to save themselves by pointing further up the chain of command. And Rice left a paper trail that implicates herself, Obama, and Biden.

Nominating Rice as Biden’s VP would virtually ensure her immunity, protecting her from investigation or prosecution during the campaign. In February, Barr issued a memo stating that no investigation of a presidential or vice presidential candidate can be undertaken without his written approval. Because it is nearly inconceivable that Barr would expose himself to this type of scrutiny or risk compromising the election, Rice would be safe. Crucially, it would also cut off the investigation at the rung below her, thereby insulating Obama and Biden.

Read more …

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle July 31 2020

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
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  • #61666

    Elliot Erwitt California 1955   • Young Children Carry Much Higher Viral Load Than Other Age Groups (SD) • Tokyo Could Declare Emergency If Situa
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle July 31 2020]

    #61667
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Thanks Ilargi, for what you do. Keep on keeping on… 🙂

    Dr. Joseph Varon
    ‘I’m pretty much fighting two wars: a war against COVID and a war against stupidity’

    Covid can be dealt with; stupidity? Never…

    #61668
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    New global daily cases record, and global deaths are creeping up again. As are deaths in the US and many European countries, Hong Kong, China, Japan. This ain’t over.

    That’s what worries me (This ain’t over).
    I know you’re talking CV-19; but I’m taking it a bit further…
    The west (USA #1) is not functioning in rational ways; failing 100% in handling myriad of their problems…
    These people are dangerous; more so when when every response is followed by impotent results…
    I think they are looking for a war; China seems to be front and center with what they’ve done (island building) in their South China Sea.
    The USA would get its ass handed to it if they attack China on its own doorstep.
    What then? Nukes?

    #61669
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Trader Joe’s.

    Holy shit! A voice of reason out of the interverse?
    Damn, if I lived in the U.S., Trader Joes would be my goto place to shop.
    Hip, hip, hoorah! Trader Joe’s rules the interverse…

    #61670
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Elliot Erwitt California 1955

    …of course it is…

    #61671
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Unfortunately now California is hell on earth. Not in the usual, advertised ways, but that US1 they’re sitting on is on the beach, and is nothing but 500 miles of pavement, strip-malls, and fast-food drive thrus. The beach looks good on camera: turn it 180 degrees and it looks like a run-down nail salon with a Dollar General beside. Then add the soundtrack, not the rushing waves of Kerouac’s Big Sur, but endless road noise of the interstate. Then add the smog of those cars hammering up against the high mountains, starting so early in the hot, sunny morning. They take paradise, and make it a horror…

    The Houston doctor seems to be fighting other doctors, and the official national medical directives of Sweden and Netherlands. So sure: we have opinions, that’s how it gets discussed and we develop consensus. But so this doctor means more than other doctors who believe the opposite? Yes. That’s how FB, Twitter, and NY Times do it now: we publish some slice of what WE, non-doctors, believe, and if you believe OTHER doctors and scientists believe, you’re anti-science and are de-platformed, fired, and discredited. On what basis? A doctor says yes, a doctor says no. Which science? Which doctor? The one that wins the POWER, the ELECTION, silly-billy. The one that intentionally kills 30,000 people in NY nursing homes and hides the many working therapies being used worldwide. #Death Cult. #Truth is the only enemy.

    “Young Children Carry Much Higher Viral Load Than Other Age Groups (SD) “

    Speaking of, science just said the opposite yesterday. So which science to believe?

    “China reported 127 new coronavirus cases”

    AYFKM? That’s 0.0000106% Facts. Numbers. Nevermind, it’s like garlic and holy water. P.S. as in these tests, “Corona” is not “Covid”. Bait-and-switch. Again. Hey, where are those 15 days to “flatten the curve”? Because we didn’t have ventilators they are now mad were purchased — on their false science — and never used.

    cases there are rising again”

    Yes, when they test a papaya, motor oil, and a blank, unused test and all come back positive, that can happen. Following people dying on the highway or shot in the head dying of Corona, we now have people, disgusted with the wait and impatient, NOT TAKING THE TEST and leaving, tests coming back positive. On what f’g test? The sample was never opened and never made the lab, what are you talking about? Every. Day. Ten times a day.

    How many of these do we need before we say the data is s—t? Made-up? Wrong? Propagandistic garbage? Never apparently. Tomorrow it’s like CNN and the NY Times, CDC and WHO never lied and are white as driven snow. WMD and ties to Al-queda. RussiaRussiaRussia. Boot on the face, forever. Because we demand it, and hold it on our face ourselves.

    The mainstream media has backed up these assertions with vague references to “science” and “research”

    Yes, because 100 years of research and official CDC policy is that IT DOESN’T WORK (against viruses), and June 6 research by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons proved it yet again with a spot test. But when the Dutch follow the most recent science, they are anti-science, but when they DON’T follow 100 years of Science, they are FOR science. See? In #Oppositeland, maybe, which is where we all live now. The “deniers” are deniers of American Physicians and Surgeons, for God’s sake! Including the Houston guy, which to be generous, he’s probably busy and hasn’t read it yet. All this to fight a disease with a 99.94% survival rate…and that’s WITH using their car-crash-and-gunshot-wound death toll.

    Boring. Believe any known, discredited, transparent liars that ever spoke…but not the physicians’ association. Not June’s research, not the previous 5 research papers. Believe CNN and Buzzfeed, when have they ever lied?

    The Grifters, Chapter 1 – Kodak (Ben Hunt)”

    Rumor has it this is different altogether. Not only is Kodak, a on-the-skids US Chemical company, a good choice to bring, you know, high-quality chemicals and pharmaceuticals back to America which dangerously has none, but something else. The naked silver short is so bad in Comex that every $1 in silver loses $1B to Wall Street. Now that’s pocket change now, especially using YOUR money to bail themselves, but it still matters. And that’s $10B from the recent bottom. BUT – here’s the fun – Kodak, being a film producer from 1960 when the shorts started – is ALSO a major silver short in the “Silver User’s Association”. …Allegedly, but almost certainly. The timing isn’t bad for that causing their bankruptcy. So the nearly $1B is yes, to get some jobs and domestic production, but also to bail out $10/oz rise on their naked silver short. If they didn’t, the upcoming rise to Gawd-’elp-us, maybe $200/oz silver will destroy them. How? Apparently Morgan used 10 years of transparent open market rigging…which is stamped cases under RICO law in DoJ right now…to get a vault of ACTUAL silver to offset their paper shorts inherited from the ’08 murder of Bear Sterns. That is, they may be the only non-naked player on planet earth right now, everyone has to kneel to them, and they are being run by the Government Treasury + DoJ.

    But isn’t this what they wanted the Emergency powers for? To get medicine and jobs domestically that were “Grifted” away to China while Feinstein and Biden took in magic billions coincidentally? Remember who you’re talking about: it’s ALL grift. All the way down. The U.S. wasn’t sold to China by some accident, 30 continuous years of that sucking sound, opposed every day by the working public. Nope. They were paid, and it was grift. But selling it is a good thing, and un-selling it and employing some folks is a BAD thing.

    “investigation that detailed Moscow’s interference”

    Speaking of every word being a lie, did NOT detail, FAILED to detail, ANY Moscow involvement, and in fact had to withdraw their cases. Except against Assange, who can die of a life sentence having never gone to court.

    Did not mean to say Kamala “The Horror, the Horror” Harris was their designated front-runner. If so, they are even further from any sense of reality than I thought, and that’s saying something. But hey, when their express goal is burning black cities, black businesses, and black people, (all shot, burned, and ruined by 70% white liberals) she’s your man.

    Putting Susan Rice on the ticket would protect both Biden and Obama”

    They are not going to get to the top in any time before the election. Only the next rung, if at all, like Comey and Brennan. Still, none of their choices make any other sense. Buttigeig could at least present strongly, and Tulsi likely could have won if given full support. Nope. No womens of colors for us. 99% of BLM money goes to Biden and white pals.

    It takes a lot of years of College to forget what every 10-year-old already knows. IYI, when you finally cave in and start believing the media and experts who have never told the truth in our common lifetimes, quoting them as official, honest sources. So now we are dumber than any 5th grader? Why yes. They provably are.

    #61672
    oxymoron
    Participant

    I just can’t wrap my head around the epsilon theory article and Dr D’s take on it. My mind just can’t account for this shit…..
    It makes me feel like all my composting and clothes mending was the dumbest shit a guy could do. Growing Vegetables! What sort of a moron am I? I could be swimming with sharks but I’m looking at other fishes assholes through muddy water….
    Sorry about the language

    #61673
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    It makes me feel like all my composting and clothes mending was the dumbest shit a guy could do. Growing Vegetables! What sort of a moron am I?

    Why would you react like that?
    To a post by somebody you do not know?
    You let some interverse commenter, call your life and ideals, into question? With the shallowest of facts…?
    You must not think very highly of your actions and dreams………………..

    #61674
    oxymoron
    Participant

    more along the lines of how little effect the actions have in the face of brutal grift.

    #61675
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    more along the lines of how little effect the actions have in the face of brutal grift.

    False comparrative; the question should be: what effect has it had on your life?
    I suspect you haven’t though about that much…
    I also suspect the effect of your efforts go far beyond your narrow perspective…
    Wake up! Reality is calling… 😉

    #61676
    zerosum
    Participant

    Does the hat fit?
    Assertions,
    Unrecognized,
    unappreciated,
    frustrated,
    bully/boss, striving to be a highly paid enabler for the elites

    I prefer to be the grey man.

    #61679
    Bill7
    Participant

    ‘Doctor Simone Gold Fired from Hospital After Attending ‘White Coat Summit’ — Hires Atty Lin Wood’:

    https://hooktube.com/watch?v=tynTVhyGxiI&feature=emb_logo

    Looks like those who rule us do not want simple, low cost solutions for OMG COVID-19 to get any use or attention.

    Odd. 😉

    #61680
    Bill7
    Participant

    By the way- when I used the phrase “those who rule us” I was referring to the Very Large Corporations that
    in fact run our lives, as opposed to the fig-leaf of gub’mint on top that *appears* to give them legitimacy.

    -Bill7

    #61681
    Bill7
    Participant

    ‘One Nation Under House Arrest: How Do COVID-19 Mandates Impact Our Freedoms?’, by John Whitehead:

    https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/one_nation_under_house_arrest_how_do_covid_19_mandates_impact_our_freedoms

    “It’s for your own good, Little Peoples..” [and we-the-Few will decide what that might be].

    “Not with a bang, but with a Whimper.” -TS Eliot

    -Bill7

    #61682
    thomasjkenney
    Participant

    @oxymoron re: seeming futility

    Your actions have local effects, especially if you’re growing food. Sure, you’ll never be able to ‘fix XXXX-ism’ or whatever. Talk to friends, feed them, let them feed you, play a guitar, walk in the woods, teach a skill, learn a skill…these are all revolutionary acts, and all will drain a little more energy from the beast. Act locally, and you are now ‘changing the world’ on a different plane, tilted from the traditional, and able to intersect with other planes.

    #61683
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    Oxymoron I kind of know the feeling – we too scramble along growing fruits (minute quantities in the grand scheme of things). We try very hard to leave the land more diverse and healthier than it was when we got it. Then there’s the guy down the road renting his land to a cash cropper growing acres of corn. Feels like putting a thumb in a dike sometimes. On the other side, I feel really good when I am growing stuff in a gentle way -listening to the birds and the bugs. I do get a sense of eternity doing these things, the grand cycles of life.

    #61684
    Huskynut
    Participant

    @Oxymoron
    I know that feeling too. Psychology studies have demonstrated that depressives are more in tune with reality than happy bunny types. Political reality in particular is insanely depressing.
    I believe that feeling arises from being honest about how little political agency we truly have in the face of the world. And that the counter-narratives that something is coming down the line to save us, be it “awakening consciousness” or Jesus or BLM or the Democrats, are just the psychological defense mechanisms of people who can’t/won’t front to the truth of a society in (likely terminal) decline.

    But.. once you’ve accepted the truth of that, why wouldn’t you do exactly what you are doing – making the most of your small corner of the world?

    Puts me in mind of that Baz Luhrman “Sunscreen Song” track from the 90s:
    “Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
    effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum
    The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
    never crossed your worried mindthe kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday”

    #61685
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Psychology studies have demonstrated that depressives are more in tune with reality than happy bunny types.

    Indeed. Depression has been my life long friend…and served me well.
    Anxiety is a sign post that one has left the present, the here and now…

    #61686
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    So true Huskynut- – I think we all kind of know the gig as it were. Then it can become a question of how you want to live your life. I want to step as lightly as I can on Earth and help its creatures live a good life as much as I can. It fills me with wonder at the beauty and mystery of it all.

    #61705

    Back to the rearview mirror? (April 8, 2020).

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