May 12, 2020

Rachel's issue tonite, Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction

Source: Amazon Book Reviews

'Germany’s Deutsche Bank has a long history of some, frankly, “odd” financial dealings that began when the bank was created from putting together many banks to make one large one. Some of these shenanigans involve Donald Trump’s business loans, but David Enright looks at the bank in its history in his book, “Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump and an Epic Trail of Destruction”.

Russian oligarchs mix with shady characters from all over the world in money laundering that other banks wouldn’t touch. Why would Deutsche Bank make specious loans? Who was behind the bank’s business decisions and how do people like a US Supreme Court Justice figure into American politics? David Enright’s book is a great read which exposes the dirty side of Deutsche Bank and its dealing.'

Read more: Link to source

The author of Dark Towers, David Enrich, the expert on Deutsch, was on Rachel tonight.

Author Enrich states that this is a great issue, and will be argued tomorrow before SCOTUS. It could, and should, lay bare Deutsch 2 billion dollar loans suspicious ['loans'] to trump. Deutsch knows a lot about trump's dealings. Investigated internally by Deutsch, long paper trail. Deutsch 'seems willing to cooperate, and could deliver troves of trump information over the summer'. Quote, best as I recall, 'this may be the last chance for the trump financial story to be told'.

[As Rachel noted earlier in the show, trump lawyers have argued, that trump could 'shoot someone on 5th Avenue, and cannot be investigated, indicted,' etc. as President].

note: This op was originally posted by empedocles in LBN. I moved it so that it would be visible.

Powell's Books is my online go-to bookseller so I'll see if I can buy it there. Lots of good reviews for it.

May 10, 2020

Report on the ground here in Albuquerque, with decisions about becoming a socially

responsible militant...

So this last Friday I went out for my regular shopping day. I had to go to Vitamin Cottage to pick
up a supplement that WalMart can't keep in stock (along with rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide,
tvs and more). But I was impressed at Vitamin Cottage. It's not a large store and they limit the number of customers allowed in to 10 at a time. So I walked right in, mask and all. The employees were masked and one of them was wiping down some bottles that had arrived in a shipment. I was directed to my product and after I picked it up I wiped it down with my own wipe and the cashier scanned it while I held it. The only thing wrong there was one customer with his small child, neither of them masked. Some people just don't care who they kill...

Then it was on to check our post office box. Nothing but junk mail...

Then it was on to WalMart and while I was doing my thing a lot of anger came over me when I followed the shopping directions in one aisle and several people were coming the other way, all
unmasked. So I loudly pointed out to them the proper direction, verbally and with some finger pointing. I know I got through to one of the women since I came up behind her a few aisles later
and she was following the proper direction. I felt a little foolish for raising my voice but damn, we've got to get through to these people. Now I'm thinking of making up some protest posters and
demonstrating in front of various stores...

Just this morning I ran up to WalMart to pick up a few things I missed. Not so many customers this morning but I ragged on a couple of employees in one aisle who were shooting the shit and not
distancing. One employee talked back so I kept on ragging. Damn it, I can do this all day, you punk!

I also observed that when I use an alcohol wipe it takes the red color of printing on certain bags of tortillas off (and makes a mess of my wipe) but when I use a hydrogen peroxide wipe it doesn't take off the color. Also hydrogen peroxide causes my paper napkin wipes to disintegrat so I've begun
using cloth washcloths. Works good and I can by washcloths by the dozen at WalMart...

Let's all survive in spite of everyone who's trying to kill us!

May 10, 2020

The Johnny Cash Show, TV Gold on Saturday night... Weekend tv programiming is pretty

dismal but I still manage to find something interesting. I watched a couple of Johnny Cash tv shows
from 1970 and 1971. Wow, that bought back lots of memories.

It's always a pleasure to see Johnny Cash and June Carter but the one show from January of 1971
was great. Guests included Eric Clapton with Derek and The Dominos, Carl Perkins, The Everly
Brothers with their Dad and Mother Maybelle Carter who all provided a musical feast and made my eyes happy.

I can easily imagine my Dad watching and enjoying it too, back then. It's good to know that much has changed but much remains the same...

link to Derek and the Dominos and Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash show January 1971

link to menu of Johnny Cash tv and other videos
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=johnny+cash+tv+show+january+1971

Join me in enjoying this Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down with Kris Kristofferson...

May 9, 2020

"The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months(...)

When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman&quot ...)

This is an excerpt from the book Humankind (written by Rutger Bregman) found in The Guardian website 5-9-20.

from the article:

"For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind. This development is still so young that researchers in different fields often don’t even know about each other."

snip

"I first read Lord of the Flies as a teenager. I remember feeling disillusioned afterwards, but not for a second did I think to doubt Golding’s view of human nature. That didn’t happen until years later when I began delving into the author’s life. I learned what an unhappy individual he had been: an alcoholic, prone to depression; a man who beat his kids. “I have always understood the Nazis,” Golding confessed, “because I am of that sort by nature.” And it was “partly out of that sad self-knowledge” that he wrote Lord of the Flies."

snip

"It’s time we told a different kind of story. The real Lord of the Flies is a tale of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other. After my wife took Peter’s picture, he turned to a cabinet and rummaged around for a bit, then drew out a heavy stack of papers that he laid in my hands. His memoirs, he explained, written for his children and grandchildren. I looked down at the first page. “Life has taught me a great deal,” it began, “including the lesson that you should always look for what is good and positive in people.”

much more at link:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months

The article may seem long to some but IMO it's very worthwhile...

May 9, 2020

Al Jazeera 5-9-20: Triple anti-viral drug shows COVID-19 promise in Hong Kong study(.)

Drug trio allows patients with milder symptoms to recover quicker than those treated with single drug, new study says.

From Article: "Researchers in Hong Kong have found that patients suffering milder illness caused by the new coronavirus recover more quickly if they are treated with a three-drug antiviral cocktail soon after symptoms appear.

The small trial, which involved 127 patients, compared those given the combination drug - made up of the anti-HIV therapy lopinavir-ritonavir, the hepatitis drug ribavirin and the multiple sclerosis treatment interferon-beta - with a control group given just lopinavir-ritonavir."

more at link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/triple-anti-viral-drug-shows-covid-19-promise-hong-kong-study-200509082156229.html

This ongoing work is interesting and encouraging...

May 8, 2020

I had the Talking Heads song Life In Wartime (1984) running through my head the last couple

days so I finally tracked it down. I think it'd make a good anthem for a convention or street march.
Whaddya think?

link to lyrics: https://genius.com/Talking-heads-life-during-wartime-lyrics

link to live video:

May 7, 2020

From The CBC/Canada Broadcasting Corporation 5-7-20/COMEDY because between tRUMP

and COVID-19 we all need a laugh... lots of choices at link: https://www.cbc.ca/comedy

May 7, 2020

From The BBC 5-7-20: "Coronavirus: How much news is too much?" This is a question I've begun

asking myself for some time now so let's see what The BBC has to say. I also have to add that I also
have been asking the same question regarding news reporting in general, which today appears to be all bad... However, back to the focus on COVID-19 reporting...

From the article: "By Maddy Savage 6th May 2020
News consumption skyrocketed at the start of the pandemic, but for some it’s led to fatigue or anxiety. Where do you draw the line while staying informed?

Constant notifications on your phone. TV news specials and debates in place of your favourite sports show. WhatsApp and Messenger stacking up with Covid-19 articles your former flatmate or estranged aunt just “had to share”. Sound familiar?

If our daily news intake was counted in calories, many of us would have piled on even more weight in recent weeks (yes, we empathise with those of you struggling with lockdown snacking). There was a swell of traffic to news sites around the world as the pandemic went global in March. Broadcasters also logged record ratings, including an uptick in younger viewers who’d typically shun traditional evening news bulletins. But as the crisis continues, some are now opting for a different diet.

It totally consumed me at one point, and I had to stop – Parul Ghosh

“It’s so easy to get lost on the internet with one article leading to another... it totally consumed me at one point, and I had to stop,” says Parul Ghosh, a 32-year-old entrepreneur. She found herself glued to global news websites and TV channels far more than usual, while also attempting to keep up with different national strategies. In India her family are living under strict lockdown, while Sweden, where she is currently based, has left more of society open. “I was stressed, because I constantly compared things to what's happening back home,” she says. 'I constantly compared things to what's happening back home,' she says. 'I constantly worried about my elderly parents and when I would be able to travel to them'."

much more at link:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200505-coronavirus-how-much-news-is-too-much

I rate today as a "Ho Boy" day for news, from the Beatles' lyric in the song A Day In The life...
which goes "I read the news today, Ho Boy..."

May 6, 2020

From The BBC/Entertainment & Arts 5-6-20: Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop singer dies aged 73

"Jamaican singer Millie Small has died at the age of 73 after suffering a stroke.

The star was most famous for her hit single My Boy Lollipop, which reached number two in both the US and the UK in 1964.

It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales."

more at link: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52557332

I first heard about Millie when I watched a documentary about Jamaican music and musicians some
years ago. RIP, Millie...

May 6, 2020

From Al Jazeera 5-6-20: Out of pandemic anti-Blackness, a case for pan-Africanism

Virtual pan-Africanism can be a refuge. by Yannick Giovanni Marshall

"Chinese Jim Crow including "no blacks allowed" policies, evictions, forceful testing of Africans and African Americans and leaving Black people to starve on the streets of Guangzhou led several African leaders to come together and demand an end to racist mistreatment.

It was not much but it was enough to spur a Chinese whitewashing campaign, forcing officials to try to spin the reporting as sensationalising isolated incidents. Relationships will be mended and Chinese capital will soon overcome this minor threat to its access to African land and resources."

snip

"Time will not loosen the world's grip on anti-Blackness and so what is required now is a radical loss of patience. There is no point in taking the world by its shoulders and shaking them while screaming about the existence of Black humanity. They will not get it."

much more at link:

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/pandemic-anti-blackness-case-pan-africanism-200502160650489.html

I have an interest in "racial"/ethnic matters and the writer uses passion and many internal links in support of this opinion piece. I especially was drawn to the words "what is required now is a radical loss of patience", which we can apply to any number of societal/political problems. It's writing like
this that keeps me reading Al Jazeera every day.