The Evening Blues - 8-21-23



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Harold Burrage

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues and soul singer Harold Burrage. Enjoy!

Harold Burrage - Messed Up

“War is too important to be left to the generals”

-- Georges Clemenceau


News and Opinion

Big Brave Western Proxy Warriors Keep Whining That Ukrainian Troops Are Cowards

Amid continuous news that the Ukrainian counteroffensive which began in June is not going as hoped, The New York Times has published an article titled “Troop Deaths and Injuries in Ukraine War Near 500,000, U.S. Officials Say.”

Reporting that Ukrainian efforts to retake Russia-occupied territory have been “bogged down in dense Russian minefields under constant fire from artillery and helicopter gunships,” The New York Times reports that Ukrainian forces have switched tactics to using “artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire.”

Then the article gets really freaky:

“American officials are worried that Ukraine’s adjustments will race through precious ammunition supplies, which could benefit President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and disadvantage Ukraine in a war of attrition. But Ukrainian commanders decided the pivot reduced casualties and preserved their frontline fighting force.

“American officials say they fear that Ukraine has become casualty averse, one reason it has been cautious about pressing ahead with the counteroffensive. Almost any big push against dug-in Russian defenders protected by minefields would result in huge numbers of losses.”

I’m sorry, US officials “fear” that Ukraine is becoming “casualty averse”? Because safer battlefield tactics that burn through a lot of ammunition don’t chew through lives like charging through a minefield under heavy artillery fire?

What are the Ukrainians supposed to be? Casualty amenable? If Ukraine was more casualty amenable, would it be more willing to throw young bodies into the gears of this proxy war that the US empire actively provoked and killed peace deals to maintain?

Something tells me that the US officials speaking to The New York Times about their “fear” of Ukrainian casualty aversiveness do not know what real fear is. Something tells me that if you marched these US officials through Russian minefields under constant fire from artillery and helicopter gunships, then they would understand fear.


Western officials have been spending the last few weeks whining to the media that Ukraine’s inability to gain ground is due to an irrational aversion to being killed. They’ve been decrying Ukrainian cowardice to the press under cover of anonymity, from behind the safety of their office desks.

In an article published Thursday titled “U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal,” The Washington Post cited anonymous “U.S. and Western officials” to report that the massive losses Ukraine has been suffering in this counteroffensive had been “anticipated” in war games ahead of time, but that they had “envisioned Kyiv accepting the casualties as the cost of piercing through Russia’s main defensive line.”

The same article quotes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba telling critics of the counteroffensive to “go and join the foreign legion” if they don’t like the results so far, adding, “It’s easy to say that you want everything to be faster when you are not there.”

In an article published last month titled “U.S. Cluster Munitions Arrive in Ukraine, but Impact on Battlefield Remains Unclear,” The New York Times reported unnamed senior US officials had “privately expressed frustration” that Ukrainian commanders “fearing increased casualties among their ranks” were switching to artillery barrages, “rather than sticking with the Western tactics and pressing harder to breach the Russian defenses.”

“Why don’t they come and do it themselves?” a former Ukrainian defense minister told The New York Times in response to the American criticism.

In an article last month titled “Ukraine’s Lack of Weaponry and Training Risks Stalemate in Fight With Russia,” The Wall Street Journal reported that unnamed western military officials “knew Kyiv didn’t have all the training or weapons” needed to dislodge Russia, but that they had “hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day” anyway. 

“It didn’t,” Wall Street Journal added.

In the same article, The Wall Street Journal cited a US Army War College professor named John Nagle admitting that the US itself would never attempt the kind of counteroffensive it’s been pushing Ukrainians into attempting.

“America would never attempt to defeat a prepared defense without air superiority, but they [Ukrainians] don’t have air superiority,” Nagl said, adding, “It’s impossible to overstate how important air superiority is for fighting a ground fight at a reasonable cost in casualties.”

And now we’re seeing reports in the mass media that US officials — still under cover of anonymity of course — are beginning to wonder if perhaps it might have been better to try to negotiate peace instead of launching this counteroffensive that they knew was doomed from the beginning.

In an article titled “Milley had a point,” Politico cites multiple anonymous US officials saying that as “the realities of the counteroffensive are sinking in around Washington,” empire managers are beginning to wonder if they should have heeded outgoing Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley’s suggestion back in November that it was a good time to consider peace talks.

“We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” one anonymous official says, adding, “Milley had a point.”

Oops. Oops they made a little oopsie poopsie. Oh well, it’s only Ukrainian lives.

Imagine reading through all this as a Ukrainian, especially a Ukrainian who’s lost a home or a loved one to this war. I imagine white hot tears pouring down my face. I imagine rage, and I imagine overwhelming frustration.

This whole war could have been avoided with a little diplomacy and a few mild concessions to Moscow. It could have been stopped in the early weeks of the conflict back when a tentative peace agreement had been struck. It could have been stopped back in November before this catastrophic counteroffensive.

But it wasn’t. The US had an agenda to lock Moscow into a costly military quagmire with the goal of weakening Russia, and to this day US officials openly boast about all this war is doing to advance US interests. So they’ve kept it going, using Ukrainian bodies as a giant sponge to soak up as many expensive military explosives as possible to drain Russian coffers while advancing US energy interests in Europe and keeping Moscow preoccupied while the empire orchestrates its next move against China.

Last month The Washington Post’s David Ignatius wrote an article explaining why westerners shouldn’t “feel gloomy” about how things are going in Ukraine, writing the following about how much this war is doing to benefit US interests overseas:

“Meanwhile, for the United States and its NATO allies, these 18 months of war have been a strategic windfall, at relatively low cost (other than for the Ukrainians). The West’s most reckless antagonist has been rocked. NATO has grown much stronger with the additions of Sweden and Finland. Germany has weaned itself from dependence on Russian energy and, in many ways, rediscovered its sense of values. NATO squabbles make headlines, but overall, this has been a triumphal summer for the alliance.”

“Other than for the Ukrainians” he says, as a parenthetical aside.

Everyone who supported this horrifying proxy war should have that paragraph tattooed on their fucking forehead.

Collective west preparations for the West Germany plan

Netherlands and Denmark to donate up to 61 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

The Netherlands and Denmark have announced they will donate up to 61 F-16 fighter jets between them to Ukraine once pilot training has been satisfactorily completed, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited both countries after months of entreaties to bolster the Ukrainian air force.

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said her country would provide 19 jets – “hopefully” six around new year, eight more next year and the remaining five in 2025. “Please take this donation as a token of Denmark’s unwavering support for your country’s fight for freedom,” Frederiksen said.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, did not put a number on the Dutch donation, but said the Netherlands had 42 in its air force. The country was already in the process of replacing them with more advanced US-made F-35s.

“Today we can announce that the Netherlands and Denmark commit to the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine and the Ukrainian air force,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president at an airbase at Eindhoven. The jets would be handed over from existing stockpiles once “the conditions for such a transfer have been met”, he added.

A clearly pleased Zelenskiy released a photo taken of himself and Rutte in front of an F-16 and was later filmed getting into the cockpit. In social media postings he added that he had reached an agreement “to strengthen Ukraine’s air shield”.

Ukraine Using Biden's Cluster Bombs To WREAK HAVOC In Russia Conflict

US Intelligence Deems Ukraine’s Counteroffensive a Failure

According to the Washington Post, the US intelligence community has assessed that Ukraine’s Spring counteroffensive will fail to meet its core objectives. Western officials said their war games had predicted massive Ukrainian losses, but that Kyiv would remain committed to the operations and gain the upper hand on the battlefield.

The Post reports it spoke with Western and Ukrainian officials familiar with the intelligence assessment. Washington declined to offer an official statement on the bleak outlook for Ukrainian forces.

Washington hoped Kyiv’s forces would recapture Melitopol, a Ukrainian city near the Sea of Azov in the country’s south. However, Moscow has several layers of defenses and minefields defending the town. ...

The lack of success by Ukrainian forces is creating political issues for the White House. The Post reports that some Republicans are turning against approving Joe Biden’s proposed $24 billion aid package to Ukraine after they learned of the grim intelligence assessment.

Lukashenko Warns Belarus Will Use Nukes if Attacked

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to use nuclear weapons, deployed to his country by Moscow, if “aggression is launched against us.” This comes as neighboring NATO states have deployed thousands of troops near the Belarusian border amid heightened tensions between Minsk and Warsaw.

During an interview with the state-run media outlet BelTA, Lukashenko appeared to admonish the Washington-led alliance of the massive risks escalation would entail. “If aggression against our country is launched from the side of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, we will immediately respond with everything we have… And the strike will be unacceptable,” he warned. ...

Lukashenko continues, “We didn’t bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone,” he explained. “Yes, nuclear weapons represent a strong deterring factor. But these are tactical nuclear weapons, not strategic ones. This is why we will use them immediately once aggression is launched against us.”

South Africa Hosts Major BRICS Summit as Bloc Eyes Global South Expansion to Counter Western Powers

China Launches War Games Around Taiwan After Taiwanese VP Visits US

On Saturday, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched extensive air and sea drills around Taiwan after Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te returned from a trip that included stops in the United States.

Lai, the frontrunner for Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, visited New York on his way to Paraguay, one of the few countries that has formal diplomatic relations with Taipei. On his way back, Lai stopped in California, and he returned to Taiwan on Friday.

While Lai’s stops in the US were relatively low-key as he did not meet with any high-level US officials, China warned it would take measures in response, as tensions are soaring between the US and China over Taiwan.

Guatemalan Presidential Candidate Bernardo Arévalo Wins in Landslide Rejection of Ruling Elite

Court records detail basis for police raid on Kansas newspaper

The police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper alleged in previously unreleased court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner. But reporter Phyllis Zorn, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer, and the newspaper’s attorney said on Sunday that no laws were broken when Zorn accessed a public state website for information on restaurant operator Kari Newell.

Late on Saturday, the Record’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, provided copies of the affidavits used in the raid to the Associated Press and other news media. The documents had previously not been released. They showed that Zorn’s obtaining of Newell’s driving record was the driving force behind the raid. The newspaper, acting on a tip, checked the public website of the Kansas department of revenue for the status of Newell’s driver’s license as it related to a 2008 conviction for drunk driving.

Marion police chief Gideon Cody wrote in the affidavit that the department or revenue told him that those who downloaded the information were Record reporter Phyllis Zorn and someone using the name “Kari Newell”. Cody wrote that he contacted Newell, who said “someone obviously stole her identity”. As a result, Cody wrote: “Downloading the document involved either impersonating the victim or lying about the reasons why the record was being sought.” ...

Meyer said Zorn actually contacted the department of revenue before her online search and was instructed how to search records. Zorn, asked to respond to the allegations that she used Newell’s name to obtain Newell’s personal information, said: “My response is I went to a Kansas department of revenue website and that’s where I got the information.” She added: “Not to my knowledge was anything illegal or wrong.”

Rhodes, the newspaper’s attorney, said Zorn’s actions were legal under both state and federal laws. Using the subject’s name “is not identity theft”, Rhodes said. “That’s just the way of accessing that person’s record.” ... The investigation into whether the newspaper broke state laws continues, now led by the Kansas bureau of investigation. The state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, has said he doesn’t see the bureau’s role as investigating the conduct of the police.

Big Short's Michael Burry Bets 1.6 BILLION On Crash

As Abortion Rights Win Votes Across US, Nebraska Becomes Latest State to Launch Referendum

Three rights groups in Nebraska plan to make the state one of a growing number where constituents are being asked directly whether they approve of the Republican Party's efforts to ban access to abortion care, with the coalition filing paperwork to include a ballot initiative in the 2024 elections.

NBC News affiliate WOWT in Omaha reported late Thursday that officials at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska (PPAN), I Be Black Girl, and Nebraska Abortion Resources updated their ballot initiative registration that day after initially filing organizational papers on August 4.

They are forming a coalition called Protect Our Rights to promote the initiative, the precise language of which has not yet been determined.

The coalition told the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC) that its intended purpose is to place a question on 2024 ballots regarding a new amendment to the state constitution that would protect the right to abortion.

The news was reported a week after a judge in Lancaster County, Nebraska rejected abortion rights advocates' legal challenge to the state's 12-week abortion ban, which the groups said they will continue to fight in court. The ban was signed into law by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen in May.

Working Class Anthem Attacked By Establishment As “QAnon!”

Maui Local SLAMS Biden As An 'IDIOT'; FEMA Pledges PENNIES Ahead Of POTUS' Visit

Biden will reassure Maui fire victims they will control rebuild, says Fema chief

The administrator of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, said Joe Biden will on Monday reassure the people of Lahaina they will be in control of how they rebuild when he visits the Maui community devastated by a historically deadly wildfire.

The president and the first lady, Jill Biden, will meet first responders, officials and victims, getting a first-hand look at the widespread devastation, Criswell told CNN’s State of the Union. “He’s going to be able to reassure the people of Maui that the federal government is there to support them but we’re doing it in a way that’s going to allow them to rebuild the way they want to rebuild,” Criswell said.



the horse race



CAUGHT! Biden Used FAKE NAMES On Emails To Ukraine Officials!

JOE BIDEN On The Stand?! Hunter THREATENS 'Constitutional Crisis' By Calling Dad To Testify

Former top Trump aide says he was unaware of document declassification – report

The former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told investigators he had no knowledge of Donald Trump either talking about or declassifying confidential information, it was reported on Sunday, potentially skewering the ex-president’s defense in his classified documents case.

Meadows’ alleged admission to the special counsel Jack Smith, reported by ABC News, suggests Trump made no blanket declassification of secret papers later seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort by FBI agents, leading to 40 criminal counts against him.

Trump, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, has insisted without proof he gave automatic clearance to every government document he took to Florida at the conclusion of his administration in January 2021. But his lawyers have not yet presented the defense in court and doing so could open the possibility of Meadows being called as a witness to contradict it, ABC said.

According to ABC, Meadows also told Smith he was not involved in packing the boxes, did not witness Trump or anybody else doing so, and claimed he was unaware the former president was taking anything with him.

If true, it would be extraordinary that one of Trump’s closest aides had absolutely no knowledge of anything to do with the retention of the documents. It might also suggest Trump knew what he was taking and planned and executed the operation himself.

Could Trump be barred under the constitution’s ‘engaged in insurrection’ clause?

As Donald Trump fights a mountain of criminal charges, a separate battle over his eligibility to run for president in 2024 is fast emerging. ...

But one provision in the constitution, section 3 of the 14th amendment, makes things more complicated. It says that no person who has taken an oath “as an officer of the United States” can hold office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.

That language disqualifies Trump from running for office because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, two prominent conservative scholars, William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St Thomas, concluded in a much-discussed article to be published the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

“The bottom line is that Donald Trump ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ and gave ‘aid or comfort’ to others engaging in such conduct, within the original meaning of those terms as employed in section 3 of the 14th amendment,” Baude and Paulsen wrote in their 126-page article, which traces the history and original understanding of the amendment. “If the public record is accurate, the case is not even close.”

The provision was enacted after the civil war to bar those who had joined the Confederacy from holding federal office, Baude and Paulsen note in their article. Never before has it been tested to bar a presidential candidate from office.

RFK Jr, Marianne Williamson EXCLUDED From Mainstream Coverage DESPITE Poll Numbers



the evening greens


Mountain treelines are rising due to climate crisis, study finds

Mountain treelines are rising in response to the climate crisis, a study has found. Scientists from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, used remote sensing to map the highest points of patches of tree coverage on mountains. They found that 70% of mountain treelines had moved uphill between 2000 and 2010.

On average, treelines moved upwards by 1.2 metres (4ft) a year, but the shift was greatest in tropical regions, with an average increase in elevation of 3.1 metres a year – and in all regions they found the rate of change was accelerating. ...

Treelines sometimes move in response to human activities such as changes to land use. However, in this study the researchers focused on closed-loop mountain treelines, which encircle the very tops of mountains and are mostly isolated from human activities. The researchers found that the treelines still moved, which demonstrates that they are sensitive to changes to climate beyond human influence.

California REELS As Hurricane Meets Earthquake

Tropical Storm Hilary brings flooding to California as a quake hits Los Angeles

Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Mexico over the Baja California peninsula and reached south-east of San Diego on Sunday afternoon.

Hilary is expected to head towards the US south-west until Monday as authorities warn of life-threatening and catastrophic flooding.

Despite weakening to tropical storm, the storm was still packing winds of 80mph as it approached the south-western US, with “catastrophic” flooding expected to follow landfall. ...

Meanwhile, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit southern California on Sunday afternoon, with at least five aftershocks detected that were measured between 2 and 4.0 magnitude.

Following the earthquake which the National Weather Service has described as “moderate”, the NWS said that there is currently no tsunami threat for southern California.


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Better Late Than Never? Spain’s El País Sounds Alarm Over Consequences of Ukraine “Proxy War” for EU’s Future

Seymour Hersh: Summer of the Hawks

Every Empire Falls

How German Foreign Minister’s Cancelled Trip Due to Plane Problems Is Symbolic of Country’s Decline

Ex-French president Sarkozy says Ukraine has no place in Nato, compromise with Russia key to end war

Ukraine SitRep: Chernihiv Drone Exhibition - Russian Offensive

Tanker Carrying Stolen Iranian Oil Unloads Near Texas

Israeli embassy officials attempted to influence UK court cases, documents suggest

​Outraged by the FBI's Catholic Memo? Targeting Muslims Laid the Groundwork

RFK Jr draws quite a crowd – what does it mean for 2024?

‘Fighting a huge monster’: mine battle in Guatemala became a playbook for polluters

The Most Blatant Lie Biden Has EVER Told!

Here’s Why Barack Obama Is The WORST Ex-President In Recent Memory


A Little Night Music

Harold Burrage - She Knocks Me Out

Harold Burrage - Hi Yo Silver / I Need My Baby

Harold Burrage - Crying For My Baby

Harold Burrage - A Fool (For Hiding My Love From You)

Harold Burrage - I Don't Care Who Knows

Harold Burrage - I'll Take One

Harold Burrage - You Eat Too Much

Harold Burrage - Got To Find A Way

Harold Burrage - I Feel so Fine

Harold Burrage - You Make Me So Happy

Harold Burrage - Mountain of Soul


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Comments

snoopydawg's picture

.

I don’t think that who we vote for will have any effect on what the players behind the scenes do. .. and I don’t remember giving any deep state actor permission to ruin my life.

Is McKinsey & Company the deep state?

McKinsey worked with Purdue Pharma to “turbocharge” sales of OcyContin (extended release heroin). As part of that contract, McKinsey proposed that Purdue rebate $14,810 to CVS (another McKinsey client) for every overdose attributable to the pills they sold thus compensating CVS for every lost customer. McKinsey also advised J&J that supplied the raw ingredients for OxyContin from genetically engineered Tasmanian poppies that are “particularly rich in opioids.” In an extreme conflict of interest, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, that regulates prescription opioids, was also a McKinsey client.

When one pulls back the curtain (via the courts, bankruptcy proceedings, or whistleblowers) on one corporate scandal after another, one finds McKinsey lurking in the shadows.

The individual scandals are so sensational that it would be easy to miss the bigger picture. The important thing to understand is that McKinsey works for EVERY major player in every sector of the economy — governments, regulatory agencies, municipalities, militaries, intelligence agencies, international organizations, companies, non-profits, the arts & culture, media, and philanthropies. In the process they reshape the entire global economy… to serve McKinsey.

In the short term, capital likes this because now the 30,000 smartest people in the world dedicate their lives to increasing profits. But this is a nightmare for actual humans as McKinsey hollows out the entire global economy. The result is that work speeds up, leisure time shrinks, performance demands increase, inequality skyrockets, people become stressed out, and society becomes hyper-competitive. The average citizen ends up miserable and a handful of people in the ruling class are delighted.

Because of the work of McKinsey and other management consultants we now live in an Economic Hunger Games while being told that this is the best of all possible worlds. And it is important to underscore the point that McKinsey does not care if systems break (including the global capitalist system). Economic chaos just generates more clients and more revenue for McKinsey.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

yep, mckinsey is one of a handful of companies that the world would be better off without. they have made an artform out of self-dealing.

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6 users have voted.

@snoopydawg with McKinsey as the consultants. The three of us on the company team joked about getting pink slips when we killed the project, but we recognized that it wasn't really a joke.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Marie1

when you worked with them. I knew they were bad from the things that came out when we found that Mayo Pete worked for them during his time in Afghanistan, but this article exposed so much more and how far their tentacles reach. They seem to be as big of parasites as blackrock and vanguard. The globalists have their tentacles in everything too it seems. And our government is not fighting them, but working with or for them. Ugh!

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg was still a partnership. By then they were already a leading management consulting firm and known to scoop up new MBAs. A McKinsey partner brought a new business proposal to the CEO of the company I worked for. He was intrigued, hired McKinsey as the consultant, and passed it down to the SVPs of the two specialty departments. One of them assigned it to a subordinate, Joe. The other, Bill, loved "off the wall" proposals; so, he chose to lead the project. He added a branch manager, Tom, that liked to sniff around odd proposals. And for giggles and in keeping with the climate of affirmative action, a woman that was too young to know much and liked a challenge. (These were add on assignments to our regular jobs.)

So, the four of us traipsed off to an office in Beverly Hills to meet the originators of the proposal and the McKinsey partner consultant. Sat through a "dog and pony" show and then a power lunch at a French restaurant. McKinsey assigned an MBA to construct a computerized pro-forma financial analysis. Bill assigned me to present the "dog and pony" show to the executive committee to get approval to proceed. The response was "intriguing but haven't a clue what it is." Nor did Bill (who was gung-ho), Joe, Tom, or I.

As presented it was a product to guarantee the residual value of business personal property. They kept using boxcars as the personal property example. But why would anyone want to purchase at a high price? Why would we have no risk and substantial profits? We asked the McKinsey consultant to research a few things, but he never got around to it. Presented it to some in-house MBAs who weren't helpful. The company librarian pulled all the research information that I asked for but it also wasn't helpful. The three of us agreed that we were missing a critical element, but what was it? Why had Lloyd's and a US company sold a guarantee?

One day the McKinsey MBA called to inform me that he'd tweaked the computer model and would be coming to SF to show me. I informed him that a) I wasn't in charge of the project and b) didn't have time to meet with him. He ended up meeting with somebody that had nothing to do with the project (billable hours and expenses).

Tom finally got lucky -- someone he knew, knew someone, etc. A Wells Fargo management consultant. (Wells was a reputable banker back then.) For a dinner he was willing to point us in the right direction. (He was wicked smart and very funny.) What we were looking at was an accounting scam. A way to legally engage in off-balance sheet accounting. Which made it a credit enhancement product that legally my employer couldn't engage in. Plus the risk was unquantifiable.

We were unable to determine if McKinsey understood that. (In my experience (and remember that I didn't know much about anything at the time), they weren't half as smart as their reputation promised. We were able to discover that they were double dipping -- charging consulting fees to us and the Beverly Hills company.

We knew the right thing to do, but it was politically dicey. We were mid-level employees, and the the McKinsey partner had the ear of our CEO. Tom presented our decision to the CEO and we held our breath. None of us heard anything further about it from our senior officers.

About nine months later the Lloyd's product blew up -- lawsuits on the order of $300 million. Took years to settle but the settlement amounts weren't reported. That reinforced my loathing for McKinsey.

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@snoopydawg Forewarned is forearmed.
Tell Sam she is my favorite client.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

QMS's picture

but my mind is shrinking into an unorganized mess

many thanks for the news and blues nevertheless

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question everything

joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

every now and then my own mind feels like an unmade bed, too. Smile

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enhydra lutris's picture

tense of hearsay? Ah, who cares.

Biden will reassure Maui fire victims they will control rebuild, says Fema chief

Assuming that the FEMA chief is shockingly credible for one in their position, Biden might very well reassure Maui fire victims that they will control the rebuild, but that is as reliable as anything else the liar in chief utters, which means , at best 50 - 50.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

heh, if you're one of those folks that buys that time is cyclical rather than linear, in this case the future is, "heck of a job, brownie!"

have a great evening!

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Pluto's Republic's picture

Harold Burrage was a true icon in certain circles I passed through.

Most of the cuts are familiar, but I remember well "You Eat Too Much" because it was played often by a collector I knew.

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QMS's picture

@Pluto's Republic

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5 users have voted.

question everything

joe shikspack's picture

@Pluto's Republic

i have always really enjoyed harold burrage's early chicago recordings on the cobra label. most of them are backed up by willie dixon and some of them have guitarist otis rush on them. great stuff worth looking for!

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https://nypost.com/2023/07/13/biden-trips-walking-up-air-force-ones-shor...

President Biden once again stumbled walking up the steps to board Air Force One on Thursday, despite using a less challenging, shorter staircase to get on the aircraft.

The 80-year-old president made it roughly halfway up the 14-step staircase connected to the presidential plane in Helsinki, Finland, when he took a misstep and appeared to brace himself for impact before quickly recovering and making it up to the aircraft’s lower entrance.

Biden turned and waved to onlookers at Helsinki-Vantaan International Airport as Air Force One prepared to depart for Joint Base Andrews after the president’s visit with Nordic leaders following a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania.

The president has been observed boarding Air Force One using a shorter set of stairs since taking a hard fall at the Air Force Academy in Colorado last month after he tripped over a sandbag during a graduation ceremony.

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joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

heh, well, i've always said that biden's entire career has been about failing upwards. Smile

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@humphrey

....for all diplomatic arrivals and departures for all nations.

Age and physical inabilities should be erased as a significant criticism of any world figure.

Mental and moral abilities and interactions in public should be the sole criteria for making judgements about a Leader.

Let's get this done. It is a simple matter that can be done using existing technology.

Otherwise, I would hope that all of them fall down the stairs frequently.

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5 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

...has been fighting the US Leftists' battles for them?

She certainly articulates these battles each and every day, with great clarity. And summarizes in precise detail the positions held by the Left's political opposition.

I think it's brilliant that she puts her writing into the Public Domain. Heroic, even. I do hope she receives a generous income stream for her efforts ... and does not become demoralized by the nearly non-existent political voice of the authentic Left in the US.

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14 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@Pluto's Republic

i think so. she is doing yeoman's work by expressing the concepts simply and not falling into any of a number of dogmatic ideologies. i really appreciate that.

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11 users have voted.

@joe shikspack said she had no right to criticize the US, that she was just stirring up trouble.
Butt out, he said.
He had lived in Texas for years, then Canada, then California.
He is back home, hoping his dying Mom left him a lot of $ in her will.
Like many Aussies I have known, he started out great, then turned into a rude and crude man.
The more he hit on Caitlin, the more I liked her.
Guatemala. Where I met the Aussie. Joe, that is a 3 1/2 hr flight from Houston. 45 minutes from the airport to the Barcelo hotel in Guatemala City. A day trip to Chichicostinango to the markets, a day trip to the pyramids at Tikal.
I have gone twice. Will go again. One day.
Can't say enough about the people of Guatemala. What they lack in education, they make up for in heart and soul. I wish them the best, and hope an election win for the people there turns out better than the elections for the people do here.
I have time for a few more videos. Great info tonight.
Thanks for all you do!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

joe shikspack's picture

@on the cusp

anybody in the world has a right to criticize the global hegemon. especially the aussies. your friend was probably not aware of how much the u.s. government has interfered in aussie demockery.

i have my doubts about whether the prospective guatemalan president will actually take office. the ruling class is not looking for a new broom, nor is the u.s. government. i wish guatemalans luck.

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@joe shikspack The tour takes you to a restaurant. In an adjacent room, you hear fuck this, fuck that. Loud, profane...laughs, etc... Tour guide says, Aussies live here. Ignore them. They are uncouth.
Can't tell you how many times I have experienced that. Africa, S. and C. America.
I have been to Ecuador when the lefties were in power, and again when the righties took power. Night and day. One of our site members is down there. He doesn't post anymore. I hope he is ok.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

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soryang's picture

North Korea intends to launch "satellite" within week from Aug. 24

The Japanese government said Tuesday it has been notified that North Korea intends to launch a "satellite" between Thursday and Aug. 31 in what is believed to be a rerun of a failed attempt a few months ago.

Pyongyang tried to launch what it called a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit on May 31 but was unsuccessful.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant government agencies to analyze North Korea's plan as much as possible and coordinate with the United States and South Korea in urging Pyongyang not to carry out the launch.

Kishida told reporters that Japan considers the launch of a rocket with a satellite by North Korea as equivalent to the firing of a ballistic missile, breaching U.N. Security Council resolutions that have resulted in sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/08/6ba066982671-urgent-n-korea-i...

Recommend reading this entire Hankyoreh editorial below:

[Editorial] Quasi-alliance with US, Japan carries risks – but Yoon’s happy to ignore them

It was the first step toward a trilateral collective security organization, a de facto quasi-alliance, and a fundamental shift in the postwar Asian security order.

At the center of the agreement is the US strategy of containment toward China. The three leaders criticized “the dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims that we have recently witnessed by the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea,” and reaffirmed the “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

This completes the US strategy of uniting South Korea, the US, and Japan to counter the “Chinese threat” — a move that China has reacted strongly, labeling the cooperation an “Asian version of NATO.”

Given its geopolitical position, South Korea is likely to pay the most for the escalation of tensions with China as a result of its quasi-alliance with the US and Japan. The risk of Korea becoming unwittingly roped into disputes surrounding Taiwan and the South China Sea has also increased.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/1105180.html

I heard two pretty astute South Korean political observers Kim Eo-jun and Hosaka Huji (Phd. born in Japan) say that this three way "non-alliance alliance" is driving the South Korean trade problem with China in the wrong direction. Yoon is oblivious. The diplomacy did nothing for his poll numbers, he even lost ground in conservative strongholds and among the over seventy crowd.

To offset recent bad publicity the Yoon administration is ramping up prosecution, warrants etc. of democratic party opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.

This won't help any-

The NY Times is reporting that Japan may start dumping the Fukushima radioactive waste water this week.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/world/asia/japan-fukushima-water-rele...

Thanks for the news and EBs Joe!

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語必忠信 行必正直

soryang's picture

@soryang

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語必忠信 行必正直

joe shikspack's picture

@soryang

this is nuts:

Kishida told reporters that Japan considers the launch of a rocket with a satellite by North Korea as equivalent to the firing of a ballistic missile, breaching U.N. Security Council resolutions that have resulted in sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.

equating satellite launches with hostile missile launches is ridiculous. kishida should be laughed out of office for trying too hard to come up with a pretext for hostilities with north korea. but then, i suppose that is what biden is looking for ...

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