boilingfrog
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Does anybody know of a graph or chart or something that shows, say, a historical ‘mean’ death rate versus the excess deaths that (are alleged to have) occurred from Covid?
An MD family member watched the Malone-van den Bossche interview from Spain, but replied, “What about all the people who died from Covid BEFORE the the vaccine was available?” I didn’t stray into the whole “with covid or from covid” debate again, was just wondering if deaths really were simply steady…
No solid data, no solid money, then no good decisions, and no good outcomes.
(V Arnold – thanks for reminder. Problem addressed this morning)
“…and they can all go to jail.” Hahahaha…
I think “Hybrid Immunity” was developed by the same professors (aka “experts”) who gave us Modern Monetary Theory, teaching in the College of Backward Rationalization at Harvard University.
Thanks for the morning chuckles
The total embargo of Russian oil and gas reminds me of a “government shutdown” here in the states… the FAA, air traffic controllers, etc still operate so the private jets and sports teams (among others) still play… but the national parks are shut down so the poor have to cancel their camping vacations.
Same as it always was, no surprises there
@V Arnold,
I watched that entire interview, too (will next water the garden late!); fascinating. My friends in research at the university are desperately seeking finance to support their labs, as state monies dwindle. Some wrestle with the ethics of corporate money (like money in politics, strings are always attached!), and for some it’s simply not seen as an ethical issue.Two metaphorical and/or analogous thoughts occurred to me, though, with regard to the vaccine, virus and financialization (Mike Hudson):
(1) In my experience it is the “older population”, especially, who are crying and rending their garments that ALL must be vaccinated, boosted… in order to keep them alive, longer. In an analogous situation, this same generation has sold future generations down the proverbial river in order to keep their ill-gotten wealth.
In discussions with a weathy and elderly client about a potential market crash, their comment was, “But what about ‘us’? What would happen to ‘us’, we would lose everything and we’re too old to work!?”” (The “It’s not fair!!” rant was left unthought, and unstated…but certainly implied)
(2) This wonderfully edited, long-form interview allowed the two docs to convert highly complex ideas and concepts into understandable sentences without interuption. The docs spoke about this “battle” between viruses and our bodies, seeking ‘stasis’, a balance between transmissability/ survival and lethality (ebola an example).
My mind jumped to this being analagous to “predatory and parasitic financialization”. Debt, properly secured, properly priced, might be beneficial at times. (Debt jubilees would be part, too)… but now we’ve far surpassed the point where debt has killed (or at least is killing) the host. Ebola Economics.
Extraordinary, risky, experimental financial life support efforts are being implemented (analogous to vaxing the kids to see what happens and save the elderly), and will most likely damage everyone.
I probably wasn’t clear enough with these analogies, hopefully the point is communicated.
After a first quick read of DrD (always appreciated), I guess this is what is Hemingway meant by, “How did I go bankrupt? Slowly at first, then all of the sudden”. You can only ay whack-a-mole so long. More moles moving more quickly. Reread later…
Re the shipping “logjam”, Kunstler has long talked about the role of ‘letters of credit’ in global trade. We’re seeing that now (?).
NPR just said, “Inflation has continued to rise, fastest in 40 years… confounding economists and Wall Street… wrong… food, energy and housing rising the most… the Fed signaling an aggressive rise in interest rates…”
Phew! Sure glad it’s Putin’s fault, not money printing, in all it’s forms…/sarc
Glad I’ve been reading all the ‘negative’ take on things at TAE, while also listening to Judy Woodruff’s positive take, so that I’m better prepared for what I’d term, “reality”. My wife still thinks Ukraine is beating Russia…hmmm… maybe they are… doesn’t seem like it, though.
I’m listening to the Jan 6th coverage and wondering, “What do they hope to accomplish?” The search for scapegoats is over, I guess now it’s public confirmation time. Pathetic waste of time and energy, but, it’s Congress, what else would we expect?
Most of my clients closely attached to the university are spending big to modify, remodel, enlarge, etc their homes to the latest fashion. They are feeling “wealthy” on their salaries, stock holdings and pensions. They are aghast at the delays in some formerly easy-to-atrain materials and the prices, but move forward.
Simultaneously, I hear them talk about “so many interim positions” at the university, and bringing back retired faculty as “adjuncts” instead of hiring new, young faculty into tenure track positions.
Curiously, for these very bright and educated people, the messages being sent from our marketplace are seemingly not being heard. Or acknowledged.
Solidly Democrat and left-leaning, they see no connection between President Biden and the current state of our world. It’s all about the need to keep Trump down.
My working class clients are a little more in tune to energy prices and a sense of turmoil and fragility. Several are focused on insulating their houses, better windows and doors… And, planting gardens. Many are implementing “workarounds”, or simply ignoring, with regard to nonsensical rules (clotheslines, gardens, poultry).
Interesting to observe the response as I move between these two worlds.
Am now struck by the image of a wooden barrel leaking at many points among the staves, and instead of barrel rings made by a smithy, we have two or three rings of rats holding hands, barely keeping it “together”.
Whack-a-mole writ large.
And as Lira and Bernhard say/write, eventually some of those rats will be forced to let go as their citizens rise up in cold and hunger and anger. Imagine the pressures being exerted on this rain-of-rats, from both directions…
At out local “Tier 1, land-grant research university”, Greystar and others from Wall Street are building literally cities of apartments… renting from $1000 to $1600 per BEDROOM per month. Sources say occupancy was 60% last semester… this will be interesting to watch.
AP: ” (Please spare me: if you are a regular here then you do have a “negative” bias brain.)
And then you might ask, “so what?” To which my reply would be: have you ever considered why the slant, why the drift?”Yes, I would fully acknowledge that ‘fact’ in myself, the more negative bias. And the reasons that I am aware of come from far afield. And immediately upon typing that I can sense the “Buts…” popping up, the rationalizations …
I’ll hold that awareness and continue to read.
@VA
I know that I’ve often been getting ‘dumped’ by the site after clicking the button for uploading comment. RE your comment on comments, maybe folks are tending gardens and husbanding chickens?A cattle rancher friend in WY told me yesterday that cattle trailers (semi pulled) went from $4/mile to $9/ mile this year. He’s very nervous about hay prices. Heard from management at the local concrete “factory”, part of a chain (of course, who isn’t nowadays) that their fuel costs are up a million dollars this year. Don’t see concrete trucks running on electricity any time soon.
Having no formal military training, and especially at the higher level, was interested in Dr D Rich’s comments about the development of an officer corp the other day. That had never occurred to me and I immediately began to think of the ‘rumors’ of Ukrainian forces by officers as it relates to that observation. But, I’m not there to verify, of course.
The recent Mr. House article by the Critical Theory professor in The Philosophical Salon blew my mind. That combined with the trove at Consciousness of Sheep has kept me, personally, busy. That, and the gardens and chickens, and contemplating ways to simplify…
That dog really is amazing. Scratching my head with how a human would communicate such lessons to a dog.
And I’m still scratching my head over the argument “intentional versus incompetence” with regard to world events. Covid, monkeypox, “vaccines”, Ukraine, energy embargoes, elections, food plant fires, fertilizers, WEF…
I mean, each could be an island of incompetence unto itself, or… the Dr. Evil clip comes to mind… the enormity of that is, well, ‘enormous’.
In a potential analogy: “evolution or creation – either is miraculous”
Agreed, not too long… and nice timeline on the never actually resolved financial crisis. I’ve read we’re just now seeing the impact of Covid stuff… the war spending, embargoes, etc hasn’t flowed downstream. Yet.
Bill Blain, ha! He has his moral NIMBY outrage when someone tries to smear cream on his “Norman Rockwell, quaint village”… waiting for him to short wheat futures and lead a demining flotilla in the Black Sea.
Currently visiting in the DC area and blue & yellow flags flying all over, especially at churches. Food prices rising, but all seems peaceful in the suburbs. Washington Times contrasts mightily with The Washington Post.
Passed along the Naomi Klein piece, with no comment, to a young family member having menstrual and fertility issues. No reply, but even considering mRNA as a contributor would be a huge mental shift…“Learn to be Still”, From The Eagles’ “Hell Freezes Ovr”, 1994. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song, brought to mind by posts today. If I was clever enough I’d post a link. Might be a good mantra in these times
…
We are like sheep without a shepherd
We don’t know how to be alone
So we wander ’round this desert
Wind up following the wrong gods homeBut the flock cries out for another
And they keep answering that bell
One more starry-eyed messiah
Meets a violent farewell
Learn to be stillLearn to be still
I read so widely to attempt to get the “view from 30,000 feet”. Can I change the big picture? Nope! But I often thing about an analogy to tectonic plates… by having a sense of the big tectonic plates underlying the world as it appears to exist today, one can position oneself (attempt to) to be saf-ER, or have a better understanding of opportunities for civil disobedience (hearkening back to Thoreau), or what ever.
Situational awareness. Consciousness.
As I drive around my section of Appalachia I see a slow degradation down into what might be called a more “3rd world status”. More campers in yards with slide-outs extended and 100lb liquid propane tanks attached, showing me friends or relatives habitating with homeowners. Broken down cars on the side of the road is also a marker.
At the research university we see Wall Street money (literally, folks like Greystar) buying existing apartments, tearing em down and building ever higher and denser, with the ubiquitous “resort-like pool and amenities” for $1k a bedroom per month.
Farmlands plowed under by the tens of acres and “new homes “starting from the low 450’s”.I watch for signs of a pivot to Asia from Ukraine. I watch for signs of a slump in the student population. I hear rumors that occupancy in these newer, expensive apartments is 60%.
Demand for my labor continues unabated, and the fact that I “crashed” my lifestyle years ago (reading TODrum, ADReport, OTMinds, Granola Shotgun – where’s Johnny now?!) lessens the stress.
The insights gathered here, from around the world, are invaluable – a hearty thanks to all! Some days I wish I could give up th reading, the thinking, the observing… and “just live” (right VA?). But I realize, at least for me, the reading, thinking and observing IS part of life.
So here I gather, taking a sip from “my drink”, listening, realizing maybe I’m not crazy for seeing things differently, being slightly intimidated by the mental horsepower gathered, and trying to add something of value if I occasionally am able.
Sorry to ramble, but you folks are a safe harbor. It can get overwhelming out there…
VA, I just had surgery and your “limbering” comment caused me to laugh out loud – painful, but well worth it. Thank you sir!
Yes, very happy the non-stop missile and artillery barrages will (hopefully) be starting to wind down. It seems a fate worse than death.
The natural transition of the US “off” center stage, will certainly continue, just down different avenues.
I didn’t realize the new commander was a non-aviator till I read Dr. D Rich: that seems insane to me. Delivering aircraft to a point closer to conflict is the main objective, and it would seem to me that understanding that particular aspect needs to be soaked into every pore of the decision-maker to a level that much of it is unconscious… practice that is fully learned and absorbed.
Maybe in a similar fashion, good docs probably need physiology and anatomy basics fully absorbed and unconscious when figuring out tough cases.My memory recalls reports of doctors creatively (and successfully) treating Covid cases early on based upon symptoms, and their experience. At some level this level of mastery becomes unteachable in classrooms (especially University of Phoenix?).
And mastery is truly the issue at point at this level of responsibility.
D. Rich,
I appreciate your comments but am sometimes confused by your writing; simply cannot infer what might be obvious to you and probably others.With regard to your last sentence, it seems you are taking a jab at some country or person, but it’s just not clear to me. “At least Russia’s WWII sacrifice was in response to an existential threat.” Could you clarify?
Again, your comments often are valuable to me, but I can remember having some of those very thoughts about you. If my addled old brain remembers correctly, you’ve made it clear you graduated from the academy, know a bunch of admirals and generals, and basically dislike/resent all of them, their decisions and how they got where they did. Have I understood all that correctly? (I’m a curious carpenter, not a psychiatrist or anything)
Re: Noirette and expansionist “policies”.
It seems that when the pie has stopped growing, and started shrinking, the only way to get more is to take it from someone else. Fully scalable.RIM, DrD, VP, Red, others… really appreciate your diligence and tenacity in (repeatedly) telling “your truth” (as I poach from Gibran).
Please don’t stop! It’s helping many of us maintain what’s left of our sanity.
VA, I agreed with your art comment whole-heartedly and as I took care of the animals this morning I was pondering the “Why”. Why is it better because it’s NOT a photograph (again, I agree). Sure as heck could not come up with a rational answer so I’m content to just say, “Because it just is…”
Before my mother passed she would ask me, “Why do you read all this stuff? You know you can’t make a difference?”
And I’d say, “Yeah, but when it reaches a peak, I don’t want to be carrying my pitchfork and torch toward the wrong castle.”I am absolutely stunned by the single-mindedness, close-mindedness, of those around me. Just stunned. There is no logic, no thinking, no even LOOKING at information that might challenge their (very simplistic, in my opinion) world-view.
Maybe I’M actually the crazy one? To be so apparently and soundly “out-of-step” with one’s society is discomfiting, mentally.
My respect for the REAL heroes of the past, who stood up to unimaginable “out-of-stepness”, persecution, pain, etc… has grown immensely. Martin Luther King, for example. I pray for one millionth of his courage, commitment, clarity and fortitude. Just one millionth…
Raul,
With regard to the leaked document, I immediately thought: “blatant attempt at manipulating the coming eelection”. Locate ’em and sentence ’em, just like Chelsea Manning.
I’m no lawyer nor (do I identify as) a woman, but I think a safe abortion should be an option to a point, especially in certain situations (rape comes to mind).Where I struggle is with the “selective pro-life” folks, abortion of babies is evil, especially white babies (let’s be honest), but killing children far away gets nary a mention. You’re either for all life or you’re not, not a lot of gray.
But I’m open to listen to other logical viewpoints and willing to change my view.Begins with lines from Carl Sandburg’s poem, “The People, Yes” (copyright 1964) as follows.
“Get off this estate.”
“What for?”
“Because it’s mine.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From my father.”
“Where did he get it?”
“From his father.”
“And where did he get it?”
“He fought for it.”
“Well, I’ll fight you for it.”Carl Sandburg, “The People, Yes!” 1964
Had reason to be in the ER recently and in a private moment asked a nurse her opiniin on “masks”… and then, if she was following some of tge latest from Vanderbilt hospital.
Both raised her blood pressure, especially the latter, and she was only too happy to yank her (useless) mask off and hold forth. VERY upset at what happened in Nashville, would love to make a change in career, but few opportunities here in Appalachia and she wanted to keep her trailer. She described it as a smoke grenade to hide misdeeds at a senior administrative level…
We see the same thing at the local university. A house cleaner picks up $0.50 off a desk for a soda – charged and prosecutioned. A professor boinks a coed, commits grant fraud and embezzles $500,000 – they are quietly passed along to another institution. Wouldn’t want to sully the name, turn off the spigot. “Justice” is well and good, but we’re here to serve a higher purpose: the pursuit of knowledge (remotely or in person)! Athletic departments defended with the same twisted self-serving greed: “That I May Serve (mySELF)”
ALL rationalized for a “higher good”. It’s biblical, and Thoreau touched on it, too: whenever someone is making bank pursuing a “higher good”, I check to make sure I still have my Timex, and put a firm hand on my wallet.
Still observing the China reverse-embargo in a “smokescreen”… WT_…?With the Saint Seraphim piece, my day is already complete. Thank you kind sir.
@DrD – JMG responded to a question and mentioned pondering the behavior of China now… said he has thought it might be about quashing some internal uprising. Will be curious for your thoughts over time with regard.
In a “shaking my head in a sad way” funny, I have been called “too cynical” by my family and some acquaintances. Seriously.
RIM lays it out in today’s posting as if presenting in a court of law:
Twitter is bought by a zillionaire who opened up his space collection to help Ukraine and it will probably lead to some “space combat”…
…as his newest “morally pure as the driven snow” legal staff, Ms. Gadde, cries while she simultaneously hires a former FBI lawyer who’s thick in the middle of an investigation of election tampering through the conspiratorial (let’s not beat around the bush with terms) development and (conspiratorial) spread of misinformation.
In the middle of all this is the (certain to be conspiracy) cynical abuse of “lawyer-client” privilege in order to hide, or attempt to hide, the misinformation from prying “rule of law” eyes, and then using Twitter to slap down anything that escaped their clutches.
Yep! Got it. I’M the cynical one…
When, in the history of man, have those conducting “content moderation” ever been on the ‘right’ side of history?
I can’t come up with an answer, anybody else?Given that, how does one effectively comport oneself in such times?
Gonzalo Lira, he seemed such a wonderful soul, intelligent and possessing the ability to laugh at himself. So very, very sad. He will be greatly missed.
Starting to wonder if Vegas has a pool betting on who will get the presidential clemency at the big guy’s term. The list is getting longer-and-longer.
As Jung theorized, if you see a person accusing another of some behavior, take a look into the actions of the accuser…
Bribes from foreign governments and entities…
Fake charities, and abuse of same…
Flaunting the rule of law…
Attempting to overturn a lawful election…The Gonzalo Lira news makes my stomach hurt really, really bad…
As I read, as I watch, as I grieve, I am often brought back to The Hunger Games, especially #3. “The Hob” where the poor deplorables barter (hey! That’s me!) … watching Gayle King & friends, or Fox, with their fancy glasses, clothes, hairdos, reminds me of the citizens of the capital, Panem. (Get it? Panem… “bread”).
Donald Sutherland, who seems the cause of ALL bad things, evil incarnate… is NOT the one Katniss kills at the end. No, it’s the one spouting all the politically correct BS (sorry to be a spoiler). Well worth watching, IMO. The ‘devil’ is far too smart to show up with horns, much more likely with an ice cream cone or something similar.
Twilight’s Last Gleaming by the inimitable and fully immersed in history J.M. Greer is starting to look more-and-more a book of prophecy. Sadly. And now my breakfast is sitting poorly…
Reading Charles Hugh Smith’s “Musings” brought back a lot of older thoughts… I always assumed the Boeing executives who managed a “fast-tracked” approval process, would find themselves facing arrest warrants for manslaughter outside of this country.
CHS had several charts on “administrative vs. doctor” growth in healthcare, both in both population and salary. I’m VERY curious about the “savings” Vanderbilt is experiencing by experimenting in “hyper-efficient” healthcare…but can’t seem to find a lick of information besides Dr. D (thank you). Some MBA on the illustrious V-bilt staff, probably “Senior Vice-President of New Avenues of Growth” is probably studying the vertical integration of funeral homes. Since his bonus depends upon it, he’ll probably be pushing the cost savings/revenue growth of letting ALL the nurses go!
Up here in Appalachia, we had a school superintendant who let a bunch of teachers aides go (to save money), and told the teachers (with a straight face, mind you!) that it was being done for them, to increase their flexibility! (Thank you or that boot in the face, may I have another?)
When the pie is shrinking the only way to get more is to take it from someone else!
Raul,
Very much appreciate your thoughts when you “step in” amongst the exhausting work of aggregating the important issues each day. Thank you Thank you Thank you
A restful sleep for you tonight (me hopes)I coincidently came upon the Jacques Baud piece last evening, and couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, it ties so many of the apparently random pieces of flotsam into a pretty coherent tapestry.
Running down links, including checking to see if he was a real person… I couldn’t find anything missing or significantly waving red flags.
His interview with Thomas Kaiser is as clear as it comes. Maybe, too clear (or is that just good editing?)
“The policy of the USA has always been to prevent Germany and Russia from cooperating more closely”
Curiously, the same folks ‘demanding’ Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any deliverations regarding January 6th because of conflicts of interest…
…seem to have no problem with Drs. Fauci and Collins being involved in covid investigation and policy development.
Not to side with former president Trump, but it seems that TPTB are gonna go after his corporation for inflating the value of real estate for their gain.
Um, doesn’t that describe the entire residential AND corporate real estate “industry”?
Oh, my silly me, being “logical” again…
As Hemingway is alleged to have said, “First they destroy the currency [to gain], then they start a war [to cover it up].”
My intelligent brother asked me last night, “What does Russia gain from showing a mobile rocket launcher going back to a mall to be re-supplied, and then the missile strike?”
Me: “It shows it wasn’t a civilian target”
He: “Yeah, but does it help explain their invasion (i.e. legitimize)?”
Me: “I think Russia has been stating their case since before 2014. They no longer care what we in the West think”.The concepts that (1) Russia doesn’t care what WE in the West think and feel, and (2) the new world order that Biden speaks of is plain as day if one were to look at a chart of the history of world reserve currencies… these concepts are simple beyond the capacity of most to even imagine (to borrow from Greer).
“These guys seem to have a weird delusion they’re in charge [control] of something.” Exactly
Still trying to wrap my head around McCleod, Luongo and Dr D’s interpretation. Inside money – outside money; real power – soft power… brought to mind Carl Sandburg’s poem (1964) The People, Yes.
“Get off this estate”
“What for?”
“Because it’s mine”
“Where did you get it?”
“From my father.”
“Where did he get it?”
“From his father.”
“Where did he get it?”
“He fought for it.”
“Well, I’ll fight you for it.”That may help describe the world we’re entering
(The comments yesterday brought to mind the MF Global “fiasco” under Corzine’s watch. That seemed to go away fast for the CME, especially the lawsuits. Does anyone really know how that resolved? I’m guessing the plaintiffs were made whole by TPTB. Just curious.)
Oxy,
Been to similar parties…maybe not quite so high up the food chain, but close. Physician ‘specialists’ with homes on the Atlantic Ocean, financial advisers who simply want to get back to “the good old days”. You ask a question of them regarding interest rates, corporate debt of Fed balance sheet and they look at you as they would the maid, if she spoke up.Terrifying that these ‘community leaders’ are so narrowly-focused on themselves, and their wants… Definitely angry with the Captain for daring to rearrange their deck chairs! I tend to ‘tap out’ early, not worth the energy. Best universities on the East Coast…and can’t grasp a logical fallacy.
One of the retired history professors I do carpentry for told me we are certainly, in no way, in a similar situation as 1929 (as in: “not as bad”). He had no curiosity to discuss further, so I didn’t pursue. Why bother, his reality is CNN and NPR.
As Greer wrote:
“Knowing many stories is wisdom,
Knowing no stories is ignorance,
Knowing only one story is death”For me and a (very) small group of friends who can still discuss this thing called ‘ideas’ without enmity here in Appalachia, the phrases “biblical” and “prophetic” often occur. Brett Weinstein writes (…Hunter-Gatherer…) “Cultural beliefs are often literally false, but metaphorically true.”(p. 216)
Though certainly no biblical scholar, the idea occurred to me that the “reset” folks talk about is the exact inversion of the concept of “jubilee”. Historically, I believe it is the individuals who are released from their debts and not the “corporations” (in whatever form they existed).
Now, it seems, those that “have” want to hold the individual to task and have consistently released the ‘corporations’ from liability and responsibility.
It will be interesting, to say the least, when the banks we bailed-out of ‘foreclosure’ (that occurred due to their own behavior and lobbying) come to foreclose on the individual…
From what Oxy says, it sounds like the Aussies will say, “Okay. Here are the keys”.
I read all this with great interest and am seeing things through a slightly different lens (or, more likely, have my hands on a different part of the proverbial elephant).
The history of reserve currencies, and how the United States appears to be nearing the end of our time on top. It’s not a political or emotional statement, as history seems to point out the pattern pretty clearly. It just “is” and that could be a book.
We see so many countries now moving away from the petrodollar, trading directly without bothering to utilize the greenback. No, I’m not an expert nor an economist, just a carpenter, and am sure the dollar still dominates mightily. But, I anticipate this de-dollarization process will continue to really accelerate now.
This doesn’t take away from any of the “funny business” behind the scenes, reported here, by The Saker, The Slog, MoA… But just another wrinkle in the fabric of it all.
Nicole and Raul used to discuss energy at the Oil Drum, and then finance with a debate of “Inflation or Deflation?” All of it wonderful, wonderful food for thought, and a call to action within circles of control.Greer has talked about, among other things, the dependence we’ll have on anecdotal evidence because of, well, just look around… and acting. Some will say, “I can’t do anything about it, so why bother to read and ponder?”
Well, you live your life and make decisions based upon your view of the future. If you don’t actively contemplate and act (nod to John Day and others here), then your decision and actions say you’re simply expecting the future to be like the past. Good luck with that…
Sorry for the long wind, many thanks to all here, especially Raul, who give so generously. And good luck to all.
