First impression: Fascinating that Japan is grouped with North Korea as well as South. But Thailand? Where did that come from?
OK, I look at the key and get a glimmer. But it still seems pretty daft. Just for openers, it utterly ignores the realities of anything but current national boundaries.
For example, Tibet was never colonized, controlled, or influenced by Europe. And not part of China until well after European influence was being eradicated in the PRC. For that matter, all of Russia** east of the Urals should be "colonized by Europe", not part of Europe. Just like the Stans in central Asia.
** For that matter, a case could be made that even European Russia qualifies as "partial European influence" -- the cultural differences from the rest of Europe are pretty stark.
That really shows world domination clearly. And not coincidentally, many people are leaving those colonized parts of the world for because of the difficult living conditions.
I have been noticing incidents of cultural transfer possible because of the Internet. Have you seen/heard "Jerusalema?" It started with a South African musician using European musical instruments but his own language and music traditions who wrote a song about a Middle Eastern religion. He produced a video of people dancing in the style of his cultural background which because a global phenomenon of people doing watered down versions of the dance. The song is simple, addictive, and emotionally resonate, full of yearning. It is notable how much better the dancers are in the African videos!
Another example is Music for Change, tho they focus on songs that originate in the US, mostly.
If we are converging globally, I hope some of the better aspects of other cultures influence us rather than just us influencing them. I mean values, not just food and music.
indeed. i have the same problem with podcasts. i really want to have more of them to listen to, but i'm stuck with only three* because every other one i've tried has a speaker who can't get to the point.
and podcasts / YT channels with more than one person are just torture - it seems like most of them are only there to make stupid jokes with each other.
i need a certain level of information density: not too low (most podcasts / channels) and not too high (i need to be able to follow it while devoting some attention to driving).
*
The History Of The English Language
Strong Songs
Sound Opinions - even though it's two people, they have the ability to stick to the topic and not make it all about their cute nervous joking
wonkie, tell me about it. Unfortunately, when I find something I think is interesting to post, if it is at all timely, those are the kinds of things that I find have to cite. It also is shitty because I want to be careful about stating what people are saying, but the whole structure makes that difficult if you want to be careful. I'll try and have the video start at the key point, but it is a pain.
I think aging has affected my attention span. I CANNOT listen to videos. It seems like no one has the skill of getting concisely to the point. I can't tolerate rambling, circling the point without landing the plane, or a long buildup of "context" that I already know. A video presentation should be like a persuasive essay: the thesis should be stated clearly at the outset.
Maybe this is what Bannon meant when he advised King Lear Jet to flood the zone with shit.
The cheapest way to dye the shirts brown.
Someone needs to update this classic:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hubert_Lanzinger_Der_Bannertr%C3%A4ger_(The_Standard_bearer)_Oil_on_plywood_ca_1934-36_Adolf_Hitler_as_knight_Denazified_hole_in_Hitler%27s_face_scrathes_US_Army_Center_of_Military_History_USHMM_No_known_copyright_restrictions_2450324-2396x2.jpg
Caveat: His Orangeness has the stature of neither the Austrian painter nor the Italian he tries to imitate in public. He is just another case of history repeating itself as a farce (or Grand Guignol just with less taste and brains). But cheap imitations can be lethal too.
I still think His Orangeness would be a better (ridiculous) fit for the painting above
Another podcast, unfortunately, with only the youtube computer generated transcript.
https://youtu.be/eOYf0qo9Mco?si=hh5fFoopjfIifald
I like the pair who do this, though it is interesting that they are a lot more negative on the conditions that China is facing then their guest (Michal Meidan, head of China Energy Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies), is. She doesn't think it as big a speed bump as they do which I agree with, so she is obviously correct.
There's a transcript at the NYT, which is what I used.
I'm always amazed at the people I know who post seven YT vids and two podcasts a day from some left-wing political influencer - many close to the same age as my students. Most of those are haphazardly arranged and not very cohesive, and more noise than signal.
I want information, and I want it to be accessible, not padded out for good engagement numbers and juiced for the outrage algorithm.
At least with a transcript I can skim and find the things that are worthwhile, and then use that to anchor my further reading.
nous, just a quick note in case you didn't know, you can pull a computer generated transcript off of youtube. I've been listening to this sort of stuff while I'm exercising, I certainly understand not wanting to waste time. I'll go back and do that if there is a point I want to double check, copying it and dropping it into bbedit, though the formatting makes it tough sledding to read the whole thing. It's ironic that while at the same time, instagram and tik-tok are trying to give us these concentrated bursts of info, it's simultaneously accompanied by the podcasts that take 15 minutes of content and stretch it to an hour.
I agree with you about Klein, especially about him talking too much. He seems to be angling to be this generation's Broder, whether he realizes it or not.
I had to chase down a transcript because I refuse to give over an hour of time to what is at best 15 minutes of substance.
I like Talarico as a Christian reformer. He's speaking for a lot of the values that used to be present in evangelicalism back before it was radicalized by anti-abortion rhetoric. I also like his ability to use the language of Christianity against the Christian nationalists. And I think he's good at speaking to non-Democrats in a way that makes them feel as if they have been heard and understood, and been treated with compassion.
I'm not sure, however, that his approach to things is going to move the needle on immigration or on social justice for minorities. I think his framing and appeals mostly decenter any conversation about those things in meaningful detail and zoom out until those details become too fuzzy to register as things in the big picture. That's not to say that he doesn't care about or support those issues - I know he does - I'm just not sure that those issues can be addressed with the sort of compromises and conversations that he gives as examples of how to bring political opponents together.
I'll start to pay more attention to Talarico when I start to see him opening up space for AOC to feature in the discussion.
Also, Klein talks too much and he is, for all of his talk about needing open discussion and bringing people together, really quite focused on elevating the aisle-crossers and code-switchers and trying to goad them into saying what is wrong with the disruptive progressives on their own side.
Well, he floated the idea of exchanging Greenland for Puerto Rico, so the Greenlanders could be moved there. If we follow BP, there is a large walrus population in the Caribbean.
(as a reminder: https://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0609/BP-s-gulf-oil-spill-response-plan-lists-the-walrus-as-a-local-species.-Louisiana-Gov.-Bobby-Jindal-is-furious)
Why not let him speak for himself? If by "what happened" CharlesWT meant "Jonathan Ross shot Renee Good in fit of fascist pique", then maybe he was.
Michael Cain: ICE believes they are law enforcement. So far, the courts seem to agree with them. ... I’m slightly amazed that we know who the ICE person behind the mask was.
I say "ICE believes" that they are The Law, but never mind. I'm sincerely curious about the courts. Are there particular cases you're thinking of? (This is not a "cite, please"; I can look things up myself if I have a hint to start with.) It would not surprise me, BTW, if some court somewhere ruled that ICE "agents", do in fact have the authority to write traffic tickets as "LEOs".
...and demand that South American countries also enforce it in their territories and expect them to obey under Maduress.
I've mentioned before that Trump's view of South America is hopelessly Caribbean-centric. Most South American countries' top international trading partner is either already China, or China's share is within reasonable distance of the #1 partner. And it's getting worse: as soon as Chancay opened and knocked 20% off the shipping costs, three different Chinese companies began selling EVs in Peru; Tesla doesn't sell EVs in Peru.
This is typical of Trump's general world view. During his first term, he visited six foreign countries before he set foot in a state west of the Mississippi River (Cedar Rapids, IA). It was more months before he went farther west than Iowa.
I like Talarico. He entered the race before Crockett, so no conspiracy against her by evil white liberals--despite the rumors on Bluesky. I think Talarico's reclaiming of Christianity is hugely beneficial. Also, he is clear spoken and makes the moral issues front and center--the morality of Dem policies and the immorality of so many Texas Republican actions and policies. He isn't defensive. He is attacking and moving the Overton Window.
I like Crockett, too, but I don't think she has the ability to change the terms of the conversation the way Talarico can.
That change in the terms of the convo seems important since it is unlikely that either will win a Senate seat. The goal needs to be to change TX politics over the long term by changing hearts and minds and that means reframing perceptions.
Of course I don't live there, so I won't be voting and likely don't have sufficient local knowledge to support my opinions.
Maybe His Orangeness' whisperers will soon call for a renewal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (and SCOTUS wil overturn its overturning of the same) and demand that South American countries also enforce it in their territories and expect them to obey under Maduress. Since Greenlanders are genetically East-Asian too (essentially Mongols in kayaks), that would also serve as legal basis for their eviction once Greenland has come Heim ins Reich. [/s???]
There’s some speculation there that China is not ready and willing yet to take on the US in South America, and this move by the US has shown the rest of the continent that Xi is mostly talk.
The new deep-water port China funded at Chancay, Peru has entered the conversation. Peru has increased its seafood exports to China via Chancay. Bolivia has signed a deal to increase its lithium production and ship it to China via Chancay. Brazil is making noises about exporting semi-refined rare earth metals to China via Chancay. The truly paranoid are already muttering about China leasing adjacent space for a naval base.
When Donald Trump took office, ICE numbered approximately 10,000. Despite this event’s lackluster attendance, their recruitment push is reportedly going well; the agency reported 12,000 new recruits in 2025, which means the agency has more new recruits than old hands. That’s the kind of growth that changes the culture of an agency.
This reminds me of a maxim about doing large projects: "Three things everyone wants - fast, cheap, and good. But you can really only have any two of them."
The tRump admin has broken this rule and has chosen "fast" twice.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “An interesting map”
First impression: Fascinating that Japan is grouped with North Korea as well as South. But Thailand? Where did that come from?
OK, I look at the key and get a glimmer. But it still seems pretty daft. Just for openers, it utterly ignores the realities of anything but current national boundaries.
For example, Tibet was never colonized, controlled, or influenced by Europe. And not part of China until well after European influence was being eradicated in the PRC. For that matter, all of Russia** east of the Urals should be "colonized by Europe", not part of Europe. Just like the Stans in central Asia.
** For that matter, a case could be made that even European Russia qualifies as "partial European influence" -- the cultural differences from the rest of Europe are pretty stark.
"
That really shows world domination clearly. And not coincidentally, many people are leaving those colonized parts of the world for because of the difficult living conditions.
I have been noticing incidents of cultural transfer possible because of the Internet. Have you seen/heard "Jerusalema?" It started with a South African musician using European musical instruments but his own language and music traditions who wrote a song about a Middle Eastern religion. He produced a video of people dancing in the style of his cultural background which because a global phenomenon of people doing watered down versions of the dance. The song is simple, addictive, and emotionally resonate, full of yearning. It is notable how much better the dancers are in the African videos!
Another example is Music for Change, tho they focus on songs that originate in the US, mostly.
If we are converging globally, I hope some of the better aspects of other cultures influence us rather than just us influencing them. I mean values, not just food and music.
On “Talarico”
LJ, I was not complaining about you or your posts! I appreciate you watching stuff so I don't have to! And I appreciate you making posts.
"
indeed. i have the same problem with podcasts. i really want to have more of them to listen to, but i'm stuck with only three* because every other one i've tried has a speaker who can't get to the point.
and podcasts / YT channels with more than one person are just torture - it seems like most of them are only there to make stupid jokes with each other.
i need a certain level of information density: not too low (most podcasts / channels) and not too high (i need to be able to follow it while devoting some attention to driving).
*
The History Of The English Language
Strong Songs
Sound Opinions - even though it's two people, they have the ability to stick to the topic and not make it all about their cute nervous joking
"
wonkie, tell me about it. Unfortunately, when I find something I think is interesting to post, if it is at all timely, those are the kinds of things that I find have to cite. It also is shitty because I want to be careful about stating what people are saying, but the whole structure makes that difficult if you want to be careful. I'll try and have the video start at the key point, but it is a pain.
"
I think aging has affected my attention span. I CANNOT listen to videos. It seems like no one has the skill of getting concisely to the point. I can't tolerate rambling, circling the point without landing the plane, or a long buildup of "context" that I already know. A video presentation should be like a persuasive essay: the thesis should be stated clearly at the outset.
On “An open thread”
Maybe this is what Bannon meant when he advised King Lear Jet to flood the zone with shit.
The cheapest way to dye the shirts brown.
Someone needs to update this classic:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hubert_Lanzinger_Der_Bannertr%C3%A4ger_(The_Standard_bearer)_Oil_on_plywood_ca_1934-36_Adolf_Hitler_as_knight_Denazified_hole_in_Hitler%27s_face_scrathes_US_Army_Center_of_Military_History_USHMM_No_known_copyright_restrictions_2450324-2396x2.jpg
Caveat: His Orangeness has the stature of neither the Austrian painter nor the Italian he tries to imitate in public. He is just another case of history repeating itself as a farce (or Grand Guignol just with less taste and brains). But cheap imitations can be lethal too.
I still think His Orangeness would be a better (ridiculous) fit for the painting above
On “Talarico”
Or make them into giant house flies! Or cartoon penguins! So fun...
"
We know. You can also have them speaking to each other naked.
"
At least with a transcript I can skim and find the things that are worthwhile, and then use that to anchor my further reading.
I just let Grok serve it up for me. :)
Progressive Christianity vs. Christian Nationalism
On “¿Qué quieres decir cuando dices China, por favor?”
Another podcast, unfortunately, with only the youtube computer generated transcript.
https://youtu.be/eOYf0qo9Mco?si=hh5fFoopjfIifald
I like the pair who do this, though it is interesting that they are a lot more negative on the conditions that China is facing then their guest (Michal Meidan, head of China Energy Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies), is. She doesn't think it as big a speed bump as they do which I agree with, so she is obviously correct.
On “Talarico”
There's a transcript at the NYT, which is what I used.
I'm always amazed at the people I know who post seven YT vids and two podcasts a day from some left-wing political influencer - many close to the same age as my students. Most of those are haphazardly arranged and not very cohesive, and more noise than signal.
I want information, and I want it to be accessible, not padded out for good engagement numbers and juiced for the outrage algorithm.
At least with a transcript I can skim and find the things that are worthwhile, and then use that to anchor my further reading.
"
nous, just a quick note in case you didn't know, you can pull a computer generated transcript off of youtube. I've been listening to this sort of stuff while I'm exercising, I certainly understand not wanting to waste time. I'll go back and do that if there is a point I want to double check, copying it and dropping it into bbedit, though the formatting makes it tough sledding to read the whole thing. It's ironic that while at the same time, instagram and tik-tok are trying to give us these concentrated bursts of info, it's simultaneously accompanied by the podcasts that take 15 minutes of content and stretch it to an hour.
I agree with you about Klein, especially about him talking too much. He seems to be angling to be this generation's Broder, whether he realizes it or not.
On “An open thread”
More news about the sort of people that ICE is happy to have working for it:
https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-racist-account-back-at-immigration-court/
Maybe this is what Bannon meant when he advised King Lear Jet to flood the zone with shit.
On “Talarico”
I had to chase down a transcript because I refuse to give over an hour of time to what is at best 15 minutes of substance.
I like Talarico as a Christian reformer. He's speaking for a lot of the values that used to be present in evangelicalism back before it was radicalized by anti-abortion rhetoric. I also like his ability to use the language of Christianity against the Christian nationalists. And I think he's good at speaking to non-Democrats in a way that makes them feel as if they have been heard and understood, and been treated with compassion.
I'm not sure, however, that his approach to things is going to move the needle on immigration or on social justice for minorities. I think his framing and appeals mostly decenter any conversation about those things in meaningful detail and zoom out until those details become too fuzzy to register as things in the big picture. That's not to say that he doesn't care about or support those issues - I know he does - I'm just not sure that those issues can be addressed with the sort of compromises and conversations that he gives as examples of how to bring political opponents together.
I'll start to pay more attention to Talarico when I start to see him opening up space for AOC to feature in the discussion.
Also, Klein talks too much and he is, for all of his talk about needing open discussion and bringing people together, really quite focused on elevating the aisle-crossers and code-switchers and trying to goad them into saying what is wrong with the disruptive progressives on their own side.
On “An open thread”
I like "public safety" much better than "law enforcement." Instead of "LEO," you'd have "PSO," but that looks too much like "POS."
On “¿Qué quieres decir cuando dices China, por favor?”
Well, he floated the idea of exchanging Greenland for Puerto Rico, so the Greenlanders could be moved there. If we follow BP, there is a large walrus population in the Caribbean.
(as a reminder: https://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0609/BP-s-gulf-oil-spill-response-plan-lists-the-walrus-as-a-local-species.-Louisiana-Gov.-Bobby-Jindal-is-furious)
On “An open thread”
wj: Charles was actually agreeing with you.
Why not let him speak for himself? If by "what happened" CharlesWT meant "Jonathan Ross shot Renee Good in fit of fascist pique", then maybe he was.
Michael Cain: ICE believes they are law enforcement. So far, the courts seem to agree with them. ... I’m slightly amazed that we know who the ICE person behind the mask was.
I say "ICE believes" that they are The Law, but never mind. I'm sincerely curious about the courts. Are there particular cases you're thinking of? (This is not a "cite, please"; I can look things up myself if I have a hint to start with.) It would not surprise me, BTW, if some court somewhere ruled that ICE "agents", do in fact have the authority to write traffic tickets as "LEOs".
As for the outing of Jonathan Ross, it was Kristi Noem that did it. He may be grateful for that, BTW.
On a general note, "LEO" always sounds to my ear like "WMD" -- a conflation of disparate things for propaganda purposes.
--TP
On “¿Qué quieres decir cuando dices China, por favor?”
Greenlanders are genetically East-Asian too (essentially Mongols in kayaks)
Well, if you want to get technical about it, all Native Americans (First Nations) are genetically East Asians, too.
Hmmm, wonder where they'll decide to put the reservations this time. (Well, except for those like Miller, who will go for a "final solution")
"
...and demand that South American countries also enforce it in their territories and expect them to obey under Maduress.
I've mentioned before that Trump's view of South America is hopelessly Caribbean-centric. Most South American countries' top international trading partner is either already China, or China's share is within reasonable distance of the #1 partner. And it's getting worse: as soon as Chancay opened and knocked 20% off the shipping costs, three different Chinese companies began selling EVs in Peru; Tesla doesn't sell EVs in Peru.
This is typical of Trump's general world view. During his first term, he visited six foreign countries before he set foot in a state west of the Mississippi River (Cedar Rapids, IA). It was more months before he went farther west than Iowa.
On “Talarico”
I like Talarico. He entered the race before Crockett, so no conspiracy against her by evil white liberals--despite the rumors on Bluesky. I think Talarico's reclaiming of Christianity is hugely beneficial. Also, he is clear spoken and makes the moral issues front and center--the morality of Dem policies and the immorality of so many Texas Republican actions and policies. He isn't defensive. He is attacking and moving the Overton Window.
I like Crockett, too, but I don't think she has the ability to change the terms of the conversation the way Talarico can.
That change in the terms of the convo seems important since it is unlikely that either will win a Senate seat. The goal needs to be to change TX politics over the long term by changing hearts and minds and that means reframing perceptions.
Of course I don't live there, so I won't be voting and likely don't have sufficient local knowledge to support my opinions.
On “¿Qué quieres decir cuando dices China, por favor?”
Maybe His Orangeness' whisperers will soon call for a renewal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (and SCOTUS wil overturn its overturning of the same) and demand that South American countries also enforce it in their territories and expect them to obey under Maduress. Since Greenlanders are genetically East-Asian too (essentially Mongols in kayaks), that would also serve as legal basis for their eviction once Greenland has come Heim ins Reich. [/s???]
"
There’s some speculation there that China is not ready and willing yet to take on the US in South America, and this move by the US has shown the rest of the continent that Xi is mostly talk.
The new deep-water port China funded at Chancay, Peru has entered the conversation. Peru has increased its seafood exports to China via Chancay. Bolivia has signed a deal to increase its lithium production and ship it to China via Chancay. Brazil is making noises about exporting semi-refined rare earth metals to China via Chancay. The truly paranoid are already muttering about China leasing adjacent space for a naval base.
On “An open thread”
Itshould be noted that two is only the maximum. This administration demonstrates that you might get only one. Or, more often with them, none.
"
This reminds me of a maxim about doing large projects: "Three things everyone wants - fast, cheap, and good. But you can really only have any two of them."
The tRump admin has broken this rule and has chosen "fast" twice.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.