The Weekly Watch
Under the Radar
Yesterday as hurricane Delta came by, they warned people to be weather aware because there could be under the radar tornadoes. It made me think of so many things that are "under the radar"...mostly because the corporate media fails to inform, and they want our attention purposefully turned elsewhere. TPTB do not want US citizens to know Russia brokered a cease fire. Sadly it appears to have failed. All they can do is bad mouth their sputnik V vaccine which is in clinical trials. How often have you heard the main stream media report on Julian's torture? Evidently the US is building a permanent base in Syria in order to guard the oil we've stolen as we impose crushing sanctions...not to mention more sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile the debate about the debate is 24/7.
It is the decline of the US empire. Gerald Horne and Chris Hedges discuss the impending collapse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgOiiPeZgoY (7 min)
In the same interview Chris has an excellent description of our situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHCmmb4Ewg (9 min)
Richard Lachmann, US sociologist and author of First Class Passengers on a Sinking Ship: Elite Politics and the Decline of Great Powers. He discusses how the United States’ decline is similar to the imperial collapse of the Netherlands and Great Britain, how climate change could accelerate the US’ decline, what a post-US hegemony world would look like and why China nor India could achieve the power the US achieved, what the Iraq War, Barack Obama's and Donald Trump's election meant for US hegemony, the possibility of mass social unrest and mass movements within the US as the country declines economically and geopolitically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTIDJKd3EN4&t=2m58s (10 min)
It's the economy, stupid
In the second quarter of 2020, the bottom 50 percent of households—some 165 million people—held $2.08 trillion, or $12,600 per person, while the richest one percent of the population controlled $34.2 trillion, i.e., over $10.4 million per person. In percentile terms, the top one percent of the population held 30.5 percent of all wealth, while the bottom 50 percent controlled only 1.9 percent.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/10/iran-o10.html
It remains unclear who will be the occupant of the White House next January. What can be easily predicted is the state of the economy for tens of millions of citizens. It appears what is called a K-shaped recovery is permanently dividing the country into the haves and have-nots. And this seems to be acceptable for those who are the haves!
CrossTalking with Michael Hudson & Steve Keen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqBhz-qleyU (26 min)
Max and Stacy are on target this week as usual.
The first clip is called hosing down the economy with money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV1fzBl2oII (1st 15 min)
and the other I'm featuring is plunder trickles down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvM4rYSrXpo (1st 15 min)
COVID in the US
Nothing like a coronavirus pandemic to bring home the need that all of us have — both as individuals and as a society — for an adequately funded, fully functioning, competent government capable of serving all.
https://otherwords.org/covid-19-and-the-reality-of-small-government-cons...
While most of the developed world has been dealing with the impact of the pandemic in a reasonable fashion, it’s played out differently here in the U.S.
https://scheerpost.com/2020/10/09/surviving-the-pandemic-in-a-broken-cou...
John Campbell looks at the COVID expression in the US and Americas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cf0kpWT7l0 (23 min)
Deaths, 233,000 predicted by end of October
COVID is the third leading cause of death in US
None the less it is only about a third of the heart disease and cancer.
Heart disease: 647,457
Cancer: 599,108
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
Diabetes: 83,564
Influenza and Pneumonia: 55,672
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 50,633
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173
John also discussed the long term effects of COVID in some patients.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7-pLxvf9dk (32 min)
Crippling fatigue
Breathlessness
Persistent cough
Joint pain
Muscle aches
Chest pain
Hearing and eyesight problems
Headaches
Loss of smell and taste
Damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys and gut
Depression
Anxiety
Struggling to think clearly
Not directly related to severity of acute phase
Some cases may be related to pneumonia
Speaking of long-term effects, what will be the societal effects?
COVID-19: How 3 Prior Pandemics Triggered Massive Societal Shifts. Andrew Latham begins with the Antonine and Cyprian twin plagues, which ravaged the Roman Empire and gave rise to Christianity. https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/09/covid-19-how-3-prior-pandemics-tri...
The severity of the disease is dependent on the viral load at infection. This is the primary data point Chris uses to encourage mask wearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KANNNty9V3o Well worth the 30 min watch
Wearing a mask may save your life. Or it may just give you a vastly reduced or even asymptomatic experience with Covid-19 the disease.
The logic is as easy as 1, 2 3. (1) Covid-19 is a bad disease - you don't want to get it. 2) Wearing a mask means that an infected person spreads fewer virus particles about. They lower the 'dose' they are leaving behind them in the world. (3) A lower dose for an uninfected person means a less bad run of Covid-19 the disease, maybe even none at all.
This idea of a "lower inoculum' or starting dose, is one I presented on March 15th. Now it is gaining steam and it needs to be much more widely appreciated.
If you've got loved ones you wish to protect from a bad case of Covid-19, then this episode is for you.
Oh, and - wear a mask!
Dr. Osterholm gives his perspective on the COVID-19 outbreak that has occurred in the White House. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s2NiBbRl4A (5.5 min)
War and destruction ... Americas most common export
Donald J. Trump has proven to be America’s twenty-first-century maestro of death and destruction, the P.T. Barnum of, as he put it predictively enough in his Inaugural Address, “American carnage.” In fact, he’s been a master of carnage in a way no one could then have imagined. https://scheerpost.com/2020/10/05/trumps-regime-is-getting-deadlier-by-t...
“Explainers" of the conflict between Armenia-Azerbaijan read like Wikipedia-ripoffs filtered through Washington's built-in "blame Russia” colander.
https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2020/10/06/driven-by-delusion...
The Ceasefire In Nagorno-Karabakh Is Unlikely To Hold
The war over Nagorno-Karabakh was already near a stalemate. While the attacking Azerbaijani troops were able to gain a few uninhabitated villages in the southern lowlands success elsewhere was scarce. They compensated for that by using loitering ammunition from Israel and Turkey against badly camouflaged Armenian tanks and by shelling civilians in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/10/the-ceasefire-in-nagorno-karabakh-...
Sanctions are the modern day siege. We've targeted Cuba for decades. Now there's a new round coming for Iran. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/10/iran-o10.html
Conflict is a global issue. Chris Hedges discusses what happened three decades ago in Yugoslavia when the country broke down into brutal warring factions, with author and journalist, Slavenka Drakulic. Drakulic's book They Would Never Hurt a Fly is about the war criminals from former Yugoslavia on trial in the Hague. She explores not only the motivations of these killers, their sense of themselves, but how these crimes came to flourish in her country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBFJR1pR-k4 (28 min)
Domestic politics...
President Donald Trump sent out a storm of Tweets that included a unprecedentedly bold challenge to the FBI and CIA to stop their foot dragging and declassify documents related to Russiagate and Hillary Clinton... Trump understands that taking on the FBI and CIA is inherently risky. His public upbraiding and instructions to them on Twitter should be seen as a sign of desperation...The stakes are high for senior officials of the FBI, CIA and Justice Department. Remember: they fully expected Hillary Clinton to win in 2016; they took liberties with the law to make sure she did; and, when she didn’t, they had to hustle to hide their tracks.
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/07/ray-mcgovern-trump-orders-russiaga...
Within 24 hours of the announcement of charges against 13 Michigan fascists who plotted to kidnap and kill Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the corporate media has pushed the story off the front pages. The far-reaching implications of this plot, and its connections to Trump’s strategy to transform the election into a coup, are being covered up.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/10/pers-o10.html
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard released a video Tuesday afternoon stating that she believes the charges against Snowden and Assange should be dropped because they acted in the best interest of the people. She and her colleagues are introducing new legislation to amend the espionage act and allow whistle-blowers due process in a court of law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpTKk7FFOxk (2 min)
AOC and Tulsi...what's the beef?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uicO85mqZqY (20 min)
The funniest news of the week was flygate! Katie, Matt, and Thomas Franks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P03_idf6cA (3 min)
Boy, Calvin has the American approach down to a tee. Since corporate media has refused to cover the travesty of Julian's trial, let me recommend this interview
Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria was interviewed by BreakThrough News, and he laid out the essential information about WikiLeaks‘ publisher Julian Assange’s extradition case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deSrAq2SKv0 (9 min)
We got about 2.6 inches of rain out of the remnant depression of hurricane Delta over 36 hours or so. That should boost garden production.
There's so much more that flies under the radar. I hope you'll share your favorite neglected stories below. Have a great Sunday.
Comments
morning lo
and everyone
More truth, if you can stand it
B.C. gives Pacific BioEnergy green light to log rare inland rainforest for wood pellets
https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-pacific-bioenergy-old-growth-logging-wood-pellets/
.
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Fossil Fuel Industry Engaging in 'Pervasive Fraud' that Threatens Global Economy, Report Warns
Rush to Build LNG Export Terminals Falters as Uncertainty Grows Over Financials
https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/10/08/cameron-lng-export-terminals-finan...
I knew there was a reason I quit reporting on this stuff. So many sad stories and not much change.
In other news, digging more on the dispersion chamber today. Thinking about the power of water and erosion. Getting there. Hope all is well on the home front. Take good care.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
Sadly profit reigns supreme
And they are willing to sacrifice the entire ecosystem to maximize it. I'm convinced we need to do away with corporations...they are not people....they do not have a conscience...they have one objective, profit.
That area of TX is also where all the plastic factories are ginning up. I guess greed exposes our stupidity.
Best of luck with the bioswale project. I thought you might get a rain soon to test it out.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Doing away with corporations
Cass just posted this. Starts at 15:00. Excellent. Pass it on.
[video:https://youtu.be/l9BNi6I53p0]
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
Thank You again and again for your Weekly Watch
I listened and watched to a couple of the links, especially those with Chris Hedges.
As this is an 'Open Thread' I allow myself to ask this question: I become more depressed and tired by the day, so I have more and more difficulties to make up my mind about certain people and their arguments. Two of them are Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris from 'The Duran'. I listen to them often, yet I have the feeling I don't understand where they stand, left or right. May be that is a good sign but it makes me nervous.
I like to know where the left is. A saying in German explains that left is where the thumb is right. Now I am not a lefty, so for me it is easier to know where the right is. According to the explanations of common German wisdom tells me the right is where the thumb is left.
You think I should try to figure it out or should I give up?
I think I just should stop thinking, as usually seldom something clear and productive comes out of it. I intend to write down my life story. I have so many questions, but can't post them in public. What would you do? Write it anyway? I could throw it into fire-safe box to be found next century in an undisclosed location, right? Someone would be happy to read it then.
Have a nice Sunday, hope everything is growing in your garden despite the weather and climate.
Good to "see" you on Sundays. Bye.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Glad you came by!
As to left and right. Hold out your hands, the hand that make the letter "L" with your thumb and fingers is the left. Another interesting aspect is if you're left handed, you're in your right brain.
The Alex's on Duran are Trumpateers, but they are willing to look at the evils of empire. I support different solutions than they, but also learn things not discussed elsewhere.
Putting people in left/right boxes is often counter productive. Evaluate ideas, not people is my thought.
The garden is going gang busters. I've yet to dig sweet potatoes, but may get started after this rain. I like to get them before the first frost...which is still a couple of weeks away here.
I'm sure your son would treasure your story. That might be reason enough?
Hope your garden and woods are doing well. Take care and get some rest!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Another good Covid link
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-mumbai-dharavi-covid-lockdown/?u...
60% infection, incredible population density and poverty, but functioning and even thriving.
Why don't we have those cameras here?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Thanks for the link...
Once we get past COVID we have (perhaps) a larger challenge! But as RA suggests, it may be an opportunity to change our approach. I hope so.
Still getting a little drizzle as Delta dissipates. Hope your weather is pleasant.
Have a good one!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Cold and rainy
Alternating with hot & dry.
My two yellow peach trees have dropped almost all their leaves. the white peach is just starting and the apples haven't eve started changing. Plums have dropping yellow leaves, not the apricot.
Forty to fifty degree temperature swings. Heat & A/C on in the same day. I'll bet we are in for a doozy of a Winter.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I predict...
...a doozy of a future in general. Ride the wave you have I guess.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
A widely-published article about Russia Today recently...
...in a lot of the corporate-friendly outlets:
How Russia Today Skirts High-Tech Blockade to Reach U.S. Readers
The Kremlin-backed outlet has been boosted by a news aggregator dominated by conservative media sites
This link is from WSJ so pay-walled -- here is another site with the same article: https://www.365news.com/2020/10/how-russia-today-skirts-high-tech-blocka...
The gist is that RT is a right-wing linked resource since it reports on many stories that our domestic media are tasked with concealing.
This is intended to stifle the sharing of un-approved information not published by neoliberal media and short-circuit any progressive unification that might form to oppose their priorities under a Biden-Harris rule.
The topics listed in the first paragraph are among many that "respectible" outlets like WSJ will not touch, but have been covered well in RT.
Thanks for the hit piece...
I like RT, and every correspondent I've ever heard discuss RT's policies claim they have much more freedom to cover issues than when they were in corporate news.
Chris Hedges, Lee Camp, the Keiser report, and many other shows are much better the US fare. I guess that's why they are being falsely attacked.
It as though PBS, NPR, and VOA are not propaganda machines?
Thanks for the heads up. If Julian is extradited to the US there will not be any honest journalism allowed thereafter. The Grayzone is pretty brave in their reporting too. Wouldn't surprise me to see TPTB go after them as well.
Well, have a nice day and good week!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Wildfires
I was thinking about just how bad our media was a couple of days ago. I just finished reading about how there were massive wildfires in Lebanon and Syria. Same east coast/mountain range and drought as California. I went to Facebook and the usual climate change deniers were blaming the fires in California as acts of arson. Now if our media was worth a damn they would be reporting things in context so Americans in general would know that California is not an isolated case. Instead, they can make this idiotic claim and the average American doesn't have the knowledge to refute it. It is sad someone has to look outside of Western media to get a real understanding of what is going on in the world.
Ain't that the truth?
And even that is a challenge because of an almost total corporate capture of media. Thankfully there are some independent sources.
Here's two decades of fire around the planet
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/global-maps/MOD14A1_M_FIRE
Also missing is the link to the melting arctic sea ice.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068961
Thanks for coming by and adding your thoughtful comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning Lookout. Thanks for another great WW.
Good info and links and great illustrations.
Naturally Calvin has a good handle on the US was of living and thinking, Calvinism was a powerful ideology, in various forms, in the early US and still influences national "thought processes".
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks for the visit...
Calvin seemed the perfect character for this week. I miss him (and the Far Side).
Have a great day!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The far side is back, not sure if there isn't two, new and
re-runs. Been too busy to dive in, but I seem to recall tht the announcement was accompanied by some new material.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Seems to be back...
Thanks for the tip!
https://www.thefarside.com/
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Profanity on other planets
Thanks a lot for all you do here and at home Lookout, your energy seems endless and good. Little river, big spirit. Right on brother.
Peace
All I could do is manage a string of cuss words
Kinda like I do when someone pisses me off.
So nice of you to drop by. Thanks for the visit!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
lol quite funny
@lookout
Thanks, I never will mix up left and right again.
But, now, I am right handed, does that mean I am in my left brain? Gosh, thanks God, if that is so. I always wanted to be in my left brain.
My life story ... my son knows it better than I myself. Kids ... well, you gotta live with what you have.
No, I think my life story would be worth for other folks, because when I read here I am aware of how little people know of other cultural thinking in other 'tribes' than they self-declare to belong to. Is it true that I am the only one here, who could claim to be a quasi-current immigrant to the US? Well, don't get jealous, you wouldn't want to be an immigrant to the US today, that's for sure. /oops - I did
notmean that.Sorry to post that late. Busy day. I am done and ready to go to sleep. Apologies for my lousy response.
Hope you had a wonderful Sunday. Have a good one next week as well.
https://www.euronews.com/live
It sure does!
I'm strongly left handed. So much so that I play my instrument left handed. Being left handed forces you to have alternative approaches. No idea how it has really affected me.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We live in a world
When I taught basic accounting, in the introduction I always asked the students if they could tell left from right. They would look at me like duh! I'd admit that it was difficult for me; so, they already had an advantage in learning accounting.
Dang lefties!
Whenever someone brings up lefties and music, I always recall a poll taken by my youngest daughter's high school orchestra instructor. He asked for a show-of-hands of who was right and who was left-handed. Turns out, 80% of the orchestra was left-handed! Blew my daughter's mind (also a lefty), but the instructor said 80% was pretty normal. Wow!
Back in school days when I was hot stuff on brass, I was constantly fighting off lefties trying to take my first chair spot. Little did I know... They had a natural advantage over me!
Same among computer scientists
Very high incidence of left handedness.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
I intend to listen to all the videos this upcoming weekend
I will be enjoying a couple of days of vacation at a nearby lake. This 3 day vacation was ruined by a 3 hour emergency meeting with a client today, and an eye exam tomorrow. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow morning.
I appreciate all your efforts, always find your linked articles and videos great.
Have a great evening!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hope y'all have a great few days off
I respect the work you're doing for folks. Someone needs to represent the "people". Thanks for doing your part. So enjoy a few days to catch a breather!
We had a couple of friends over down at the camp house. Distanced and stayed outside. Sure was nice to laugh and joke around. Take care and have a wonderful break.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I recall you saying you had a little get together.
My client of today works out of state, and we planned almost 2 weeks ago for today's extremely important and productive face to face.
Tomorrow is spoiled by an appointment for an eye exam.
For those that do not know it, about 2 or 3 years after your cataract surgery, you will need follow up surgery to suck off the accumulated film from your new, miraculous, implanted lens. I drained off my left eye 2 years ago, am unable to see a damn clear thing out of my right eye. The painless procedure to suck off the film is a major pain in the rear to schedule. Exam here, surgery there, and on and on.
I hoped COVID-19 might not be prevalent at the time I had to do this, but I need vision, and at some juncture, I will need vision to cope with the damn virus.
My clients, my people, invariably "the little people". They are my heart, my soul, my reason d'etre.
I will post a song at the time I can see clearly now.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
It will all be clear soon.
Should be no problem for the eye people to do this, so things will be crystal clear right away. I'm sure you know all that, but I wanted to say it.
The "Wear a Mask" video
is informative. We've known for months that 100% compliance on wearing a mask reduces the spread of the coronavirus, but the hypothesis on inoculum dose adds far more weight to the value of masking. While not stated, 100% masking is like a natural vaccine for a large percentage of the population.
We can deal with this...
But we refuse to behave and have a consistent message. Too bad we are so incompetent.
Thanks for coming by and dropping a comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”