Mar 212021
 
 March 21, 2021  Posted by at 9:16 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) German artist, philosopher, composer, mystic Cosmic Tree

 

Europe’s Covid-19 Setbacks Risk Another Summer Travel Washout (R.)
Massive Anti-Lockdown Protests Rage Worldwide (ZH)
How Chicago Avoided A Second Wave Of Spanish Flu (Orla Hegarty)
Printing Money in Times of Corona (AC)
FBI Investigating If Cuomo, Aides Lied To DOJ About Nursing Deaths (SAC)
UK Prepares Antitrust Probe Into Facebook (ZH)
Liberals Blame Rightwing ‘Misinformation’ For Our Problems. Get Real (Frank)
How The Censors Won (Michael Tracey)
Federal Judge Alleges Democrats Control Almost All Major News Outlets (ZH)
NYT Used ‘Deceptive Disinformation’ To Smear Project Veritas – Judge (RT)
The IRS Is Letting Rich People Fleece Everyone Else (DP)
Russia Set For Showdown With International Law Over Yukos & Navalny (RT)

 

 

 

 

Germany Deaths
https://twitter.com/i/status/1373207960420253697

 

 

UK has already said: forget about summer travel abroad.

Europe’s Covid-19 Setbacks Risk Another Summer Travel Washout (R.)

Europe’s airlines and travel sector are bracing for a second lost summer, with rebound hopes increasingly challenged by a hobbled Covid-19 vaccine rollout, resurgent infections and new lockdowns. Airline and travel stocks fell on Friday after Paris and much of northern France shut down for a month, days after Italy introduced stiff business and movement curbs for most of the country including Rome and Milan. The setbacks hit recovery prospects for the crucial peak season, whose profits typically tide airlines through winter, when most carriers lose money even in good times. “If there’s no confidence there, demand just doesn’t come back,” said Dublin-based Alton Aviation consultant Leah Ryan, who expects the bad news on vaccines and lockdowns to hurt already weak bookings.

The summer outlook also has been dented by rising infections in Greece and elsewhere, and a suspension of AstraZeneca’s vaccine by a number of European countries over health fears. Several countries announced resumption of use of the AstraZeneca shot this week after the European Medicines Agency said the benefits clearly outweigh its risks. Airlines that have already racked up billions in debt face further strain that some may not survive without fresh funds. British Airways owner IAG raised 1.2 billion euros ($1.43 billion) in a bond issue on Thursday, saying the cushion would protect it from a drawn-out slump. A patchy stop-start summer may pose fewer difficulties for low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air, which can redeploy planes quickly between routes.

But Ryanair’s home market expects to keep strict travel curbs in place at least throughout June, Irish health official Ronan Glynn said on Thursday, citing the “deteriorating situation internationally” and emerging more contagious virus variants. Ryanair shares traded 4.2% lower on Friday, with IAG down 4% and easyJet and Wizz both down 3.5%. Rebound hopes had driven travel stocks higher over the past month, led by IAG’s 25% gain. While ultra-low cost carriers can take the pain of another summer washout, analysts say, rivals such as easyJet and Virgin Atlantic could face renewed balance-sheet pressures. Air France-KLM is also seeking to raise capital and reduce debt from last year’s 10.4 billion-euro bailout. The Franco-Dutch airline group aims to fly more than 50% of pre-crisis capacity this year, compared with 40%-50% for Lufthansa – targets that could still prove ambitious.

Read more …

Much of this stuff is brutal. Police state material.

Massive Anti-Lockdown Protests Rage Worldwide (ZH)

Thousands, and possibly tens-of-thousands of protesters across Europe marched on Saturday against continued government lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions based on questionable science – which have resulted in mass unemployment, destroyed small businesses, stoked widespread depression and mental illness, and cost taxpayers trillions to keep the whole ship from sinking. Protesters in London, Germany, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Vienna and elsewhere came out for the Worldwide Rally for Freedom. In central London, thousands of anti-lockdown activists were seen walking through Hyde Park, chanting “stand up, take our freedom back!”


In Germany, police used pepper spray on protesters in the city of Kassel, where 15,000 – 20,000 demonstrators showed up, according to the Daily Mail. Some 1,800 officers were placed on standby in Berlin. “Several thousand people gathered at the main protest site on a square in Kessel’s city centre, packed closely together without wearing face masks, an AFP reporter saw. Scuffles erupted when a group of demonstrators tried to break through a police cordon to join up with other protesters, resulting in shoving and prompting officers to use pepper spray.” -Daily Mail.

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Fascinating. Orla Hegarty in Ireland focuses on cleaning the air inside buildings to prevent transmission. Chicago, after a massive campaign, in 1918 re-opened in 6 weeks, no vaccine. Lots of pics from that time here.

Where is the focus on clean air these days?

How Chicago Avoided A Second Wave Of Spanish Flu (Orla Hegarty)

[Thread] Chicago didn’t have a second wave of Spanish Flu.. so what did they do, & how did the city re-open when there was no vaccine? #Ventilation #COVID19 1/ ..here are the public health measures that Chicago took on the autumn of 1918 ‘open window ventilation in all school rooms.. pupils warmly dressed.. daily check on pupils & absentees in schools.. use of masks.. landlords required to heat homes.. ’ 2/ documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri… ..’isolation & quarantine.. home nursing provided (see my thread on home nursing).. churches required to improve ventilation.. 150 city health officers on full time service’ 3/ ..’closure of dance halls, theatres, restaurants in order to keep schools open .. ventilation of public transport.. public health doctors & nurses’ 4/

& then by late October/early November (just 6 weeks into the outbreak) theatres were allowed to reopen, social functions & public meetings resumed 5/ So what was happening to make this re-opening possible? The Chicago Bureau of Sanitation (1911-18 report) 6/ ..who understood airborne disease & spread in buildings ‘the most important factor in prevention is the air that we breath’ ‘buildings merit earnest study & attention in a program of real & effective work in preventing the spread of disease’ 7/ they had boots on the ground, ‘one man for every 100,000 of population’ & a regime of regulating, inspecting, investigating & enforcing ventilation standards in buildings for public health 8/ ..they had very detailed ventilation standards & buildings were inspected.. including measuring air temperature, humidity, velocity, dust particles &.. CO2 (carbon dioxide) monitoring was used to catch inadequate ventilation 9/

& Chicago had a head start on other cities, having been the first to regulate in 1911, & then having targeted improvements every year in picture-houses, street-cars, restaurants, garages etc .. then in September 1918 the Spanish Flu epidemic arrived /10 Chicago had 1,700 street-cars, so ventilation on public transport received a lot of attention.. there were concerns about the cost of improving poor ventilation /11 but The Chicago Bureau of Sanitation prevailed.. 12/ so the Spanish Flu epidemic in Chicago pandemic was fought on the ground with building inspectors.. who measured, targeted & eliminated actual public health risks in actual buildings ‘while the work involved was enormous, the results obtained outweighed the difficulties’ /13

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“Just as there are epidemiological factors to consider in this crisis, there are also economic, social, cultural, political and other health factors at play.”

Printing Money in Times of Corona (AC)

The coronavirus has dominated all of our lives in recent months. Radical paths were taken by politicians in the form of lockdowns to contain the pandemic. But we should recognize that even if the coronavirus is a (major) challenge for us, we always have to keep a holistic view of world events. Just as there are epidemiological factors to consider in this crisis, there are also economic, social, cultural, political and other health factors at play. It is precisely these other factors that are so often forgotten in the panicky reporting, in the constant, manic tracking of the current infection numbers, that we want to take a look at in our series “The Costs of Coronavirus Lockdowns” in the coming weeks.

Monetary policy is the second primary tool, alongside fiscal policy, used by governments to influence economic activity. When a crisis hits, an economy is stimulated either by the state budget – which arises from the taxpayers – or silently through monetary expansion. By either lowering interest rates, issuing government-backed securities, or even purchasing corporate bonds the central banks increase the money supply in the economy. Ever since the beginning of the crisis, the U.S. Federal Reserve has done all of the above. One of the most popular measures of the money supply used by economists is M1. It consists of the most highly liquid assets. In other words, the most easily exchangeable assets are used as payment for goods and services.

As Trading Economics data shows, the Fed has created 39% of all the “dollars” in the economy in 2020. To put it on its head, in 2020 the Fed has created more money than in almost a hundred years of its existence. Monetary policy effectiveness has its boundaries. As good as it might seem at first glance, creating money “out of thin air” doesn’t bring prosperity. It is true, inflation still hasn’t start banging on our doors. But looking no further than the asset prices, we can see that the low inflation rate is masked by the asset price inflation. Even with the sharp drop of the GDP and an unemployment rate that stands more than double the rate before the crisis started, the S&P 500 is more than 10% higher than on the day the pandemic rolled around. This also shows who profits from the economic response to the COVID-19 crisis: those with assets, i.e. those already wealthy anyway.

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We know they did. His aid literally said so.

FBI Investigating If Cuomo, Aides Lied To DOJ About Nursing Deaths (SAC)

The FBI is investigating whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his aides gave false numbers to the DOJ on nursing home deaths in New York state. Lawyers for the aides have been contacted by the FBI and his office has been subpoenaed, as first reported in the New York Times. According to the Times, interviews with aides have included questions on the reporting of COVID deaths in the state. The FBI traveled to some aides’ homes and interviewed others over the phone. A lawyer for Cuomo’s office said the original numbers submitted to the FBI months ago are factual.


“The submission in response to D.O.J.’s August request was truthful and accurate and any suggestion otherwise is demonstrably false,” lawyer Elkan Abramowitz said. The news comes as Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan, told the New Yorker former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is no longer her “hero” because of her reaction to the Cuomo accusations. “These stories are difficult to read,” the former secretary of state said in a March 1 statement, “and the allegations brought forth raise serious questions that the women who have come forward and all New Yorkers deserve answers to.”

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Lots of lawsuits, but…

UK Prepares Antitrust Probe Into Facebook (ZH)

Earlier this week, Rep. Ken Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said during an antitrust hearing that “Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon have reached monopoly status, and their behavior won’t change until Congress acts, the enforcement agencies do their job, and the courts move quickly to rein in their predatory conduct.” On Friday, sources told FT that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is preparing an antitrust investigation into Facebook within the coming months, which is the latest crackdown on Silicon Valley’s big tech dominance. Similar probes were launched into Apple and Google earlier this year. Sources said CMA “would take a sweeping look at the way Facebook allegedly uses customer data to squash rivals in social media and online advertising.”

CMA’s potential investigation into Facebook comes as the government agency recently announced inquiries into Apple’s App Store fees and Google’s privacy settings. CMA expects to follow European Union’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s investigation into Facebook, launched in December. She told lawmakers in Brussels how big tech is increasingly facing more stringent scrutiny around the world. “It’s a sign that the debate on tech dominance has been shifting over the last couple of years,” Vestager said of the US antitrust move. A person close to the CMA said the focus of the upcoming investigation would be on the social media platform’s digital advertising.

Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s chief executive, vowed to take on Facebook and other big tech companies with a series of antitrust cases. He’ll be working with lawmakers in Brussels to combat big tech. Meanwhile, in the US, Facebook requested a federal judge earlier this month to dismiss landmark antitrust suits against it, claiming that its “innovative free products deliver value” is helpful to users, adding there’s no evidence whatsoever of anti-competitively. The Federal Trade Commission and almost every state have filed lawsuits against the social media platform for its market power abuse after acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Thomas Frank.

Liberals Blame Rightwing ‘Misinformation’ For Our Problems. Get Real (Frank)

The Republicans didn’t suffer the landslide defeat they deserved last November; the right is still as potent as ever; therefore Trumpist untruth is responsible for the malfunctioning public mind. Under no circumstances was it the result of the Democrats’ own lackluster performance, their refusal to reach out to the alienated millions with some kind of FDR-style vision of social solidarity. Or perhaps this new taste for censorship is an indication of Democratic healthiness. This is a party that has courted professional-managerial elites for decades, and now they have succeeded in winning them over, along with most of the wealthy areas where such people live. Liberals scold and supervise like an offended ruling class because to a certain extent that’s who they are.

More and more, they represent the well-credentialed people who monitor us in the workplace, and more and more do they act like it. What all this censorship talk really is, though, is a declaration of defeat – defeat before the Biden administration has really begun. To give up on free speech is to despair of reason itself. (Misinformation, we read in the New York Times, is impervious to critical thinking.) The people simply cannot be persuaded; something more forceful is in order; they must be guided by we, the enlightened; and the first step in such a program is to shut off America’s many burbling fountains of bad takes.

Let me confess: every time I read one of these stories calling on us to get over free speech or calling on Mark Zuckerberg to press that big red “mute” button on our political opponents, I feel a wave of incredulity sweep over me. Liberals believe in liberty, I tell myself. This can’t really be happening here in the USA. But, folks, it is happening. And the folly of it all is beyond belief. To say that this will give the right an issue to campaign on is almost too obvious. To point out that it will play straight into the right’s class-based grievance-fantasies requires only a little more sophistication. To say that it is a betrayal of everything we were taught liberalism stood for – a betrayal that we will spend years living down – may be too complex a thought for our punditburo to consider, but it is nevertheless true.

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“..journalism which unduly inflames domestic divisions and/or undermines confidence in institutions ipso facto helps Russia..”

How The Censors Won (Michael Tracey)

[..] The star witness in that 2017 hearing, appearing right alongside former National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander, was Thomas Rid. Impressively presented by C-SPAN as a “War Studies Professor” at King’s College London, Rid made a passionate case that the US body politic had been woefully unprepared to contend with an onslaught of what he called “the dark art of disinformation.” [..] the three entities that Rid singled out for condemnation in the testimony — WikiLeaks, Twitter, and “over-eager journalists” — either capitulated to varying degrees in the ensuing years to his demands, or were otherwise neutralized. The founder of WikiLeaks was prosecuted by the US government and currently languishes in UK prison, which removed one of the central threats that so troubled Rid.

Twitter, whose founder once espoused a relatively maximalist conception of free speech (at least compared to other social media companies) drastically changed its philosophy on such issues — embarking on repeat banning sprees, suppressing newsworthy materials falsely classified as “Russian disinformation” just weeks before the 2020 election, and eventually purging the sitting president from the platform. Even more excitingly for Rid, elite journalists’ attitude toward the alleged menace of “disinformation” became increasingly indistinguishable from his own. In the years since that 2017 testimony, it was more and more the journalists themselves who led the charge in demanding censorship to curtail supposed “disinformation,” especially if they could somehow speciously link such “disinformation” to “harassment” and/or “violence.”

And the “over-eagerness” of journalists to report newsworthy information that Rid had condemned was replaced by journalists instead harboring extreme paranoia about being accused of aiding scary foreign influence campaigns — and thereby turning into “unwitting agents” of those scary foreigners. That created a new industry-wide taboo against doing anything which may be perceived as assisting in the dissemination of unjustly “hacked” materials, even if those materials are authentic and expose the malfeasant conduct of powerful officials.

[..] The most telling part of the “Intelligence Community Assessment” was its contention that a key tactic of Russia is “exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US.” Variations on this Rid-adjacent theme have frequently percolated in elite discussions of the horrors of “Russian interference” since 2016: the idea that Russia seeks to gain world domination by inflaming domestic divisions in the US and undermining confidence in US institutions, and so journalism which unduly inflames domestic divisions and/or undermines confidence in institutions ipso facto helps Russia.

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“Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party trumpet..”

Federal Judge Alleges Democrats Control Almost All Major News Outlets (ZH)

A federal judge this week said that the Democrat Party is close to controlling the press as he detailed what he described as shocking bias against Republicans. D.C. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman outlined his opposition to the Supreme Court’s key decision in 1964 in New York Times v. Sullivan, which has since protected many media outlets from lawsuits. Silberman, a Reagan appointee, wrote that the ruling is “a threat to American Democracy” and must be overturned. “The increased power of the press is so dangerous today because we are very close to one-party control of these institutions. Our court was once concerned about the institutional consolidation of the press leading to a ‘bland and homogenous’ marketplace of ideas. It turns out that ideological consolidation of the press (helped along by economic consolidation) is the far greater threat,” he continued.


“Although the bias against the Republican Party—not just controversial individuals—is rather shocking today, this is not new; it is a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the ’70s. (I do not mean to defend or criticize the behavior of any particular politician). Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically), The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal leans in the same direction. The orientation of these three papers is followed by The Associated Press and most large papers across the country (such as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston Globe). Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along,” he added.

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Project Veritas hardly ever loses a suit.

NYT Used ‘Deceptive Disinformation’ To Smear Project Veritas – Judge (RT)

A defamation suit from Project Veritas against the New York Times is moving forward, as a judge has ruled the newspaper posed opinion as fact in their coverage of the conservative news outlet. A New York Supreme Court judge handed Veritas, known for its undercover and whistleblowing videos, a big “win” this week, allowing a defamation suit against the paper and two reporters to proceed forward. In the ruling denying a motion to dismiss the suit, the Times was accused of acting with “actual malice” and “reckless disregard” in multiple articles covering a 2020 video report from Veritas on alleged illegal voting practices taking place in Minnesota. It was not the only voter fraud allegation Veritas covered in 2020, with one video expose actually leading to the arrest of a Texas political consultant on charges of election fraud and illegal voting.


In the Minnesota video, multiple people are seen taking part in or discussing ballot harvesting and linking the act to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota). The report alleged ballots were being paid for and even filled out for voters to favor certain candidates. One ballot harvester featured in the video, Liban Osman, has since claimed footage of him was heavily edited and that he was offered money to connect the alleged fraud to Omar – an allegation Project Veritas denied. The five Times articles in question called Veritas’ Minnesota videos deceptive, but Justice Charles Wood determined this was not fact, but rather opinion from reporters Maggie Astor and Tiffany Hsu. “The Articles that are the subject of this action called the Video ‘deceptive,’ but the dictionary definitions of ‘disinformation’ and ‘deceptive’ provided by defendants’ counsel certainly apply to Astor’s and Hsu’s failure to note that they injected their opinions in news articles, as they now claim,” he wrote in his decision.

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“..a 72-percent drop in the number of audits of those making more than $1 million. In all, 98 percent of those making more than $1 million did not face an audit last year.”

The IRS Is Letting Rich People Fleece Everyone Else (DP)

By some estimates, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans manage to avoid paying about a quarter trillion dollars of owed taxes every single year. Now, new government data show that audits of the super-rich and large corporations have hit a new low, leaving billions of dollars of uncollected taxes at precisely a moment when lawmakers say new revenue is needed to fund infrastructure and climate investments. In response, two progressive Democratic lawmakers have authored legislation cracking down on tax evasion. The new Internal Revenue Service figures compiled by Syracuse University researchers show that in the last eight years, there has been a 72-percent drop in the number of audits of those making more than $1 million. In all, 98 percent of those making more than $1 million did not face an audit last year.


Source: Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse

Similarly, there has also been a 55-percent drop in the number of audits of America’s largest corporations. In 2012, almost all corporate giants were audited. In 2020, however, almost two thirds of those corporations were not subjected to audits. Amid this decline in scrutiny of the rich, a letter to the Biden administration from 88 progressive groups pointed out: “Since 2011, audit rates for millionaires, who are disproportionately white, have dropped more than twice as much as for taxpayers claiming the (Earned Income Tax Credit), who are disproportionately people of color. Audit coverage is now the heaviest in many low-income majority-Black counties.” The sharp reduction in audits of the rich contributes to the tax gap between the amount of taxes owed and paid.


In 2012, audits of wealthy individuals and large corporations recovered roughly $29 billion of revenue. Eight years later, the far fewer audits recovered less than $7 billion. IRS referrals for criminal prosecution and Justice Department tax convictions have both hit an all-time low. “At a time when Americans face growing economic inequality and financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS is letting billions of dollars in tax revenue slip through its fingers,” wrote Syracuse researchers. “As public attention focuses on how the country can restore faith in our democratic institutions, one area that should not be overlooked is how the nation can better ensure that our income tax laws are fairly and effectively administered.”

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“The requirements of international law and treaties, as well as decisions of international bodies, can act on the territory of Russia only to the extent that they do not entail restrictions on the rights and liberties of man and citizen, and do not contradict our constitution../”

Russia Set For Showdown With International Law Over Yukos & Navalny (RT)

What matters more: Rulings from overseas courts, or laws made by politicians back home? That’s the question Russian officials are weighing up, after a string of court orders they say are at odds with the country’s own principles. An international legal battle over the collapsed Yukos oil empire has been raging for more than a decade in courts across the world, most notably in the Netherlands and the US. A record-breaking $57 billion legal bill now hangs in the balance. Former shareholders in the now-defunct company accuse the Russian government, which regards them as oligarchs acting in bad faith, of “appropriating” its assets and causing it to go bankrupt. Appealing initial decisions by a Dutch tribunal in favor of the claimants, the country’s lawyers have said that judges had failed to take into account Russian laws against corruption and fraud.

According to Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko, the case is part of a “legal war” being waged against the country in international courts. “The situation is very difficult and serious,” he said. “Russia must adequately defend itself, and sometimes even attack back.” Quite how the state might strike back became clear in December, when the Constitutional Court, one of its highest judicial bodies, ruled that Moscow should refuse to pay the colossal sum if it loses the latest ongoing appeal over Yukos. The case is being litigated under the terms of the Energy Charter Treaty, which Russia signed up to but never ratified, with foreign courts insisting they still have jurisdiction. The Russian judges claim that entering into the pact and supposedly agreeing to foreign mediation broke a fundamental provision of the country’s constitution.

Specifically, judges said, subjugating national laws to international rulings is against those principles, and therefore, when Boris Yeltsin’s government entered into the treaty in 1994, it did so on an invalid basis. No leader, the court claimed, has the right to trade away the sovereign right of self-determination, or to “challenge the competence” of Russian courts. If the judges in The Hague eventually uphold the decision to hand the multibillion-dollar sum to those who lost cash after the collapse of Yukos, stumping up the funds would therefore be optional, the ruling insists. This decision would effectively cut Moscow free from any obligations to foreign courts under the terms of treaties it might have signed, and acting on it would put the country on a collision course with the West, which could look to take unilateral action to enforce any settlement.

[..] Speaking ahead of a national vote on the constitution last year, President Vladimir Putin set out in no uncertain terms that he views domestic laws as more important than overseas rulings, a position that he shares at times with leaders in the US and China. “I believe that the time has come to make some changes,” he said, “which directly guarantees the priority of the Russian constitution in our legal environment.” “The requirements of international law and treaties, as well as decisions of international bodies, can act on the territory of Russia only to the extent that they do not entail restrictions on the rights and liberties of man and citizen, and do not contradict our constitution,” Putin added.

[..] Earlier this year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the country to release jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny. The anti-corruption activist is serving time in prison after being found guilty of breaching the terms of a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for fraud. In a statement, the Strasbourg-based court said “a Chamber of Seven judges of the Court decided… to indicate to the Government of Russia… to release the applicant. This measure shall apply with immediate effect.” However, the country’s Justice Ministry rejected the calls outright, saying that they were “unenforceable” and unprecedented for a number of reasons. “Firstly, this is a clear and gross interference in the activities of the judiciary of a sovereign state. Secondly, this demand is unreasonable and unlawful, since… it does not include a single rule of law that would allow the court to make such a decision.”

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Home Forums Debt Rattle March 21 2021

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • #71524

    Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) German artist, philosopher, composer, mystic Cosmic Tree   • Europe’s Covid-19 Setbacks Risk Another Summer Trav
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 21 2021]

    #71525
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) German artist, philosopher, composer, mystic Cosmic Tree

    Wow, I’m gobbsmacked; Hildegard von Bingen is one of my heros; …
    She’s very obscure IME, and present company excepted, never featured or spoken/written about…
    …it is nice to be surprised like this…it is so rare…
    Cheers Ilargi…

    #71526
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    The White House is punishing staffers who have admitted to past cannabis use, according to The Daily Beast.

    It’s as if the new administration is systematically trying to alienate anybody who voted for them for any reason.

    #71527
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “UK has already said: forget about summer travel abroad.”

    Yes because Britain is a penal colony run for the benefit of the prison guards. If you hadn’t already noticed by the cameras. Predicted, along with every other part, like going back and re-writing news/history, by George Orwell. I’d say “Australia should be so proud” but the other Zed nations are following on like spaniels to re-instate their own penal colony prisons. Highlight on the word “colony” as in “colonial”, “extraction.”

    But everyone love it more than breathing, who am I to say? My kids will be the Morlocks who eat your Eloi children and laugh. If you can’t be arsed for your human rights, why should I?

    “ Printing Money in Times of Corona (AC)”

    The point of the lockdown – since it was never medical, being against everything the CDC ever published – is to allow printing to extend the banks against infinite compounding deadline, while killing the peasants with zero velocity. That’s why $1B? $100B? A month for banks, and “Whoa whoa whoa, slow down: we can’t give a WHOLE $2,000 in per YEAR income UBI for the people! 1/10th of the poverty line is MUCH too high!

    I don’t know how this could possibly be simpler. If people get money – and Powell JUST SAID THIS, in Fed-speak, but as directly as they come – if you open up we’ll probably have instant inflation > hyperinflation. That’s why this time they’re going for the 1930 “Technocratic” utopia, revived from the wonders of fascism. But this time it’s different! “We’ll control the horizontal, we’ll control the vertical, we’ll control production, consumption, food, electricity down to the second! Nothing will go wrong when WE’RE in charge with big fat computers, just ask Texas!” No more disruptions or failures ever again. Give us 100% of all power and all your human rights and we promise.

    People: Duh, okay! You’ve only hurt us and stolen our houses 100% of the time before.

    “ FBI Investigating If Cuomo, Aides Lied to DOJ about Nursing Deaths (SAC)”

    Like MF Global, shredded emails, smashed phones, MERS, 30,000/year opioids, cars daily with fentenyl to murder a whole city, ships with $6 B in coke, 12 cities burned down and 50 people killed, dead interns in offices of news anchors, 200,000 children missing a year with the highest rate in D.C., bombs planted the night before a spontaneous unplanned uprising, Congressmen sleeping with Chinese spies and keeping them as lifelong staffers, the FBI is much too busy prosecuting Grandma Flag for trespassing to bother with the largest mass murder in NY, or even U.S. history. I mean, they’ve got innocent people to prosecute for anthrax and Whitey Bulgurs to get off. With the meth-smoking lab that will post any results you ask.

    “UK Prepares Antitrust Probe Into Facebook (ZH) “

    As above OBVIOUSLY a shakedown for cash so Facebook only keeps 90% of their crime. If it weren’t, there’s years, decades of stuff to stop and arrest them for today. Ask Putin. He’s being too nice. 30 days to stop FB/YouTube’s official child pron online? How about 30 minutes? It’ll give the police time to show up at your offices.

    “Liberals Blame Rightwing ‘Misinformation’ for Our Problems. Get Real (Frank)”

    Dore and others are all over this now that the Squad is proven to be the scam we expected they are. They’re like, “You need to organize.” We? Us? We do? YOU OWN EVERY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT YOU USELESS BACKSTABBING HACKS. You said if we got you in the House, the Senate, the President, you’d pass medicare for all: it was all the Republicans’ fault. Zero. No minimum wage, no health care, no stimulus in a public freefall, that small money being snatched by creditors, more wars. AOC is all in on this. She’s like, “IF (is will never happen until the sun burns out) they cancel student loans, you wouldn’t pay taxes on this gift we’ll never give.” AYFKM? Forgive it and I’ll pay the d—-d taxes, it’s be a joy! You’re going to forgive $70k undefaultable and I’d have to work out a plan to pay $15k undefaultable instead? Deal! Nope. She traded everything for NOTHING. Nothing. And isn’t sorry, she’s out gaslighting you to do more. As similar Republicans said in 1994 under Gingrich: “Mr. Speaker, exactly how large a majority do we need before we start passing anything we promised?”

    So here we have one empty suit in W Va who apparently can hold all Congress hostage. That’s right, all other members don’t exist: it’s HIS fault. Yet the 8? 12? Progressives WE VOTED IN are completely helpless and can’t hold legislation hostage EVEN TO VOTE. Nope. Too busy tweeting about what they’re NOT going to do again tomorrow.

    Puh-lease. Don’t worry, NY Times says it’s all because the News, speech, isn’t censored ENOUGH. As Federal Judges just said, it’s because they aren’t biased against Republicans (and moderates, and Progressives) ENOUGH. They have to be more like Dictator-for-Life concentration-camp running, ethnic cleansing China, no joke, she says. Where there are no apps, no place on earth people can speak in private without her monitoring and tattling on you. Yup, the only solution is to run more articles that Andrew Yang is a Nazi! (Run yesterday, look it up.) Like Bernie before him (look it up). Why? Because he dared talk to Americans without hate, hostility, and condensation. You know, like the good people do. “There but for the grace of God go I.”

    Well, they suuuuuuure learn slowly, but maybe the last 2,000 kids in cages in two months, now put up – with free Covid – with $1,400 checks in the hotels it’s illegal for you to use, might break through. …Nah. Logic and Reason. Our sole enemy. It’s my cult, right or wrong.

    “US body politic had been woefully unprepared to contend with an onslaught of what he called “the dark art of disinformation.”

    Yes except it came from the CIA, FBI, NY Times, CNN, and Twitter. But I repeat myself.

    So…when all your ratings have crashed and no one believes you and are ignoring and going around to Substack as the NY Times credibility ceases to exist, you call that winning. How, exactly? Because you can completely censor 12 newspapers no American can read with a straight face? You already had that. There was the Weekly World News. (and Newsweek).

    If only Fox WAS right of center. They’re probably where Clinton was in 1994. Their President (except not) is pro gun control, pro DACA, and pro gay-marriage. Besides, they have crashed because – finally – people realized they are controlled opposition, run by a rabid leftist and now his even more leftist kids. Doesn’t anyone ask question how he could have the furthest left papers in Zed, but the furthest Right in the U.S.? Goldberg. Look it up. THe best cover Fox has is that NBC attacks them for doing the same thing CNN does: Lie to support oligarchs and start wars.

    Project Veritas hardly ever loses a suit.”

    They release the whole videos to view if anyone could be arsed, and win every lawsuit brought to evidence and discovery. That’s how you know they just have to be false and untrustworthy. If they were trustworthy like NYT and CNN and WaPo, they’d retract headlines almost daily and lose every suit. I mean, apparently that’s what people believe: I just report it.

    The IRS Is Letting Rich People Fleece Everyone Else (DP) “

    But we have a solution! Tax the rich more! More tax code! It’s been 100 years, income disparity has been increasing every year, we just need that One. More. Year. And I’m sure it’ll be different this time.

    Besides, owning a million just makes you a homeowner. As a business, you’d probably have 5 employees. The real two-level tax some from a) people who can afford a Senator and b) people who don’t yet own a Senator. That is, the billionaires are sacking the millionaires. Not the poor, duh, they don’t have any money. Right now we’re probably in the hundred-billionaires attacking single-billionaires. Sacklers vs mattress guy.

    The other point of this is for Government to be smaller than corporations, and subservient so we have final, universal fascism. TPP was the official attempt at that, but Facebook and Amazon are the other.

    “Russia Set For Showdown With International Law Over Yukos & Navalny (RT)”

    Who? I only pay attention to people who matter, like have a 2% rating in their own country. Read: Not Kamala Harris. Smoker-in-chief.

    #71528
    zerosum
    Participant

    <strong
    A holistic view

    “The Costs of Coronavirus Lockdowns”

    Did you see ….
    Did you pretend to be asleep ….
    Are you still using the pandemic paint brush …

    Under that pile of printed $ $$$ are empty saving bank accounts, empty pension funds, overleveraged, rule 72.

    Today its called “Misinformation” , “disinformation” , “Deceptive Disinformation”
    Yesterday it was called “Fake news”

    Today opinions are called news

    Yesterday, politicians made promises
    Today, politicians make profits

    Yesterday, it was “kids in cages”
    Today, its “kids in protected hostels”

    Yesterday, there was propaganda
    Today, there is social media, and photoshop for sound, pictures, video, thinking

    Today, there is mass unemployment, destroyed small businesses, stoked widespread depression and mental illness, and trillions to keep the whole ship from sinking.

    The other side of the coin …..
    On top of that pile of printed $ $$$ are ….
    “The Profits of Coronavirus Lockdowns”
    Bankers … lawyers … accountants … politicians …. enablers …. Biden’s lalaland
    laughing all the way to the bank

    #71529
    zerosum
    Participant

    check this out
    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/cornered-powell-cant-raise-rates-economy-remains-life-support
    We believe the Fed is once again making a policy-mistake that will cost investors dearly. However, such will take time to play out, so investors will dismiss the warning short-term as “it’s different this time.”

    #71530
    Rototillerman
    Participant

    I’ve appreciated Thomas Frank’s interviews with Matt Taibbi on the Useful Idiots podcast, but lately I’ve begun to feel that he is like the baseball announcer that criticizes one coach’s decision to call for a pitching change while failing to notice that all the players on the field are wearing the same uniform.

    #71531
    Noirette
    Participant

    I am having trouble in understanding why Biden was appointed President.

    I can only see this event as a strong indicator of the weakening and coming effritement, slow shattering, splintering, degrading, of the Pax Americana, of the USA as a dominant power, or even, in some time, of the USA as a viable, cohesive entity.

    // Taking it for granted that the election was stolen and Biden was chosen by a DNC cabal – see all the other candidates quitting – / by the PTB / aka Deep State / some combo / or all. //

    Reasons. Heh. ? .. ?

    1. Biden is the perfect puppet, as he doesn’t understand what is going on. US presidents are all puppets in a way, since Bush J., just to quote an arbitrary point (as in other countries as well), the trick is to find one who looks good.

    But, Biden presents a decrepit, abysmal, public face, doing *irreparable* harm to the USA’s image. Similarly, the idea that “the aim is for Biden to die / quit and Harris to become President” is lame, this can be accomplished with any President. Moreover what would be the advantage of having Harris as Prezzie? Just another puppet and not competent.. loathed by many…> It all seems like a shoot-yourself in the foot exercise.

    In the ROW, all important ppl, pols, etc. know that Biden is a senile basket case, not even a real person .. (Medicos consider his being hoisted to the post elder abuse.) The Biden – Russia, Blinken – China events show that expressed resistance to and disdain of the US has risen, and cynical triumphant laughter from round-about is echoing loudly.

    2. Is the aim WW3? A blundering idiot Prez. and crossed signals provoke growing animosity – Russia, Russia, Russia, bis repetita, resistance to China’s rise and development, etc. Which then goes ka-blooie…and most of us die. Yet, in the US some survive, etc. Heh sounds like future-fic. If so, this isn’t well thought-out.

    3. Might certain factions desire a break-up of the USA to return power to more local forces? Leading to some split-ups, aka secessions, the US states? For more control?

    4. A few powerful ppl hope for tremendous financial returns. That is a constant, but what they do / how etc. is another story.

    5. Other?

    ROW = rest of the world

    #71536
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    I read Zerohedge but grow weary of its tendencies towards strident alarmism. “Protesters in London, Germany, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Vienna and elsewhere came out for the Worldwide Rally for Freedom.”

    Australia? I live there. Saturday protests? Which? When? Where? Nothing happened that I saw.

    #71539
    WES
    Participant

    Imagine any woman holding “Hillary” up as her “hero”. Hillary who’s father replaced Al Capone as Chicago crime family head. Great choice!

    Why would one be surprised that after Obama took over the IRS in 2012, that rich people are no longer being auditied? Only conservatives get audited these days. That ia why all the rich are now democrats!

    It should come as no surprise that the FBI (Obama) are investigating Cuomo. They want to get rid of him. Seven women and 15 000 dead seniors didn’t do the trick. Ogling pretty female reportors didn’t work either! The FBI is the police force used to carry out crimes the powers-to-be want done. We are watching a crime in progress!

    US law trumps all international laws. So why shouldn’t Russian laws? Not the same.

    So Chicago worried about air ventilation to beat the Spanish flu. Hospitals put patients outside in tents in the sun. We are so much smarter 8today aren’t we?

    #71542
    zerosum
    Participant

    stay on the message

    Wave …. surge ….. influx ,,,,, crises ….

    do not say

    Refugies ….. immigrants ….foreigners ….. caravans ….

    do not explain

    why they are coming ….
    why they are leaving their homes ….
    what volunteers are doing to help

    explain

    illegal ….. catch and release 72 hrs…..
    overwhelmed ….. manpower shortage …… overcrowded ….. doing their best …. humanly …..
    drugs dealers …. abuse … rape …. smugglers

    #71543
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    Dr. D the US has not been trying too hard to tax the rich in the past few years. Do you think that might have something to do with rising inequality?

    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IITTRHB

    #71544
    generic
    Participant

    “Hugh Rodham replaced Al Capone.” Interesting if true. Provide a reliable source.

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