Links November 2020

To friends and subscribers from the USA: Stay healthy and safe! Be wary and prudent! And as they say: Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.
Mark Twain

Nothing else left to say about the irredeemable empire. 

Doctors and nurses are exhausted, many have been infected and more than a few died. ICU beds are filling up to capacity. 

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is nature’s message to attempts of restoring the “old normal.” This is another warning alongside the warnings of climate change, habitat collapse, and sickening pollution.  

There should be no return to the old normal. There should be no further industrial exploitation and destruction of nature. If the second wave doesn’t change human’s ways a third wave will be unleashed. And then a fourth wave. Every consecutive wave will be more deadly.

This is an epic battle about the future of the planet. If nature wins, humans will be dethroned, humbled, and subjugated to the rules and limits of the natural world. If humans win, nature will be replaced by an artificial environment of concrete, steel, glass, and plastic. Humans will not be able to adapt to this environment, they will wither away and after a few generations will go extinct. Their realization that they depend on nature will come too late.

It is very quiet here again, just like during the first lockdown. People are worried and confused, some become aggressive and one better leaves them alone.

A society without looking straight into ones face, without touching, without feeling and smelling each other, a society without sitting or laying quietly side by side, listening to each others breath, a society without compassion and love?

A frightening prospect.

Social distancing, masks, quarantine, contacts mainly via telecommunication, deferred health checks, anxiety and despair — all this will reduce average life expectation by at least ten years.

With 47 million human hosts the virus has ample opportunity to evolve into even more infectious and sneaky strains due to the merciless rules of evolution by natural selection. The fast spread of a new variant, called 20A.EU1, may explain why the situation in Europe got so bad so fast.

There could be lot of unpleasant surprises. Be alert, cautious, and stay healthy.

Trust in natures wisdom!

Feline news:

http://hatchingcatnyc.com/2020/10/27/mascot-cats-new-york-yacht-club/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123031.htm
http://hatchingcatnyc.com/2020/10/30/reddy-peaches-william-davis-hassler/
https://laughingsquid.com/cats-watch-from-glass-panels-in-store-celing/

Against the odds:

https://aeon.co/essays/art-lessons-from-the-1970s-for-survival-in-an-ecologically-blighted-world
https://theconversation.com/allotments-have-been-disappearing-from-cities-heres-why-they-are-ripe-for-a-comeback-147871

Environmental news:

https://www.treehugger.com/oneybees-colony-collapse-disorder-5025129
https://meta.eeb.org/2020/10/29/a-recap-in-tweets-a-tumultuous-week-for-farming/
One can only hope that the European Union breaks apart so that some countries with a less ignorant leadership get a chance to reign in industrial agriculture.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/20/large-scale-permafrost-thawing/

Economic news:

And then came inflation…

Don’t forget, your financial assets are not worth anything if they are not backed up by military force. US President Nixon ended the gold standard in 1971 and the US$ is fiat money.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/10/hubert-horan-the-airline-industry-collapse-part-5-the-battle-to-protect-airline-investors-from-economic-reality-enters-a-new-phase.html
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/28/after-covid-will-the-recession-become-a-depression/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/30/lead-o30.html
Ford and Fiat Chrysler report increased profits.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/world-bank-chief-economist-reinhart-many-businesses-are-in-sectors-that-arent-t-going-to-recover-a-47f6b33c-54cf-4acc-854f-96ab74d85e97
https://aeon.co/essays/the-challenge-of-reclaiming-the-commons-from-capitalism
https://evonomics.com/rand-meets-david-sloan-wilson-atlas-hugged/
A novel which is a devastating critic of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of greed.

Pandemic news:

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3107786/young-hongkongers-suffer-tired-eyes-insomnia-difficulty
https://aeon.co/essays/touch-is-a-language-we-cannot-afford-to-forget
https://theconversation.com/a-second-pathway-into-cells-for-sars-cov-2-new-understanding-of-the-neuropilin-1-protein-could-speed-vaccine-research-148497
Another pathway allowing Sars-CoV-2 to enter cells has been discovered.
https://www.businessinsider.com/frozen-food-unlikely-to-transmit-coronavirus-like-in-new-zealand-2020-8
Infection by frozen food is possible but rare, says the WHO.
https://www.rt.com/uk/504647-coronavirus-antibody-prevalence-falling-england
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3107433/coronavirus-kashgar-lockdown-health-authorities-analyse-47
An infection cluster in China’s Xinjiang region.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3107429/coronavirus-frozen-food-firms-culprit-two-outbreaks-china
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201022112559.htm
Neural damage may be caused by immune response.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029141941.htm
New research shows, that the Sars-CoV-2 spike proteins can disrupt the blood-brain barrier, raising the risk of neurological damage in COVID-19 patients.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-mask-mandate-putin-covid-cases-spike/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-flu-shot-might-reduce-coronavirus-infections-early-research-suggests/
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/study-identifies-those-most-risk-long-covid
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212555v1.full-text
https://www.rt.com/news/504851-macron-second-lockdown-covid
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6943a4.htm
The Summer School actually did make an effort at social distancing, though obviously not enough. “Classes were held in outdoor pavilions with approximately 20 students per class seated <2 meters apart at tables. Teachers wore masks during class and were socially distanced from students at all times.” And: “All illnesses were mild to moderate, and no hospitalizations or deaths occurred.” Which suggests that there is a dose-response relationship.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/30/industrial-food-production-and-the-pandemic/
Fight, and end industrial agriculture!
https://www.ft.com/content/2782655a-0441-4d38-bb03-5c4e67ead110
The new mutation 20A.EU1 conquers Europe. Is this new variant even more contagious?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-coronavirus-mutation-contagious.html
About variant D614G.

https://journal-neo.org/2020/10/30/covid-19-a-silent-end-to-the-world-as-we-knew-it/
The article makes valid points. Finance managers all over the world and on every level will certainly use the crisis to strengthen their grip on money flows, to privatize and financialize everything. They will also try to solve all problems with financial trickery. (When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.)

Their remedies at this stage of the pandemic though are completely inadequate and could lead straight to social collapse and chaos with theft, robberies, and looting being the norm. 

One sentence in the article needs to be objected: “… a pandemic that was more likely than not, manufactured.” 

Where is the evidence? Without solid proof this is just useless speculation which leads to nowhere. One could equally say a pandemic like this was inevitable because of high mobility, urbanization, specialization, long and complicated supply chains, industrial agriculture and industrial food production, with foreign laborers from low-income countries toiling in slave-like conditions, and weakened human immune systems because of environmental pollution and an unnatural sedentary lifestyle. 

Media, technology, and propaganda news:

https://taibbi.substack.com/p/10-ways-to-call-something-russian
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2020/10/28/its-not-a-social-dilemma-its-the-calculated-destruction-of-the-social/
Exhausting to read, but informative and important! It may be the last text you read before trashing your mobile phone and your computer.
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2020/10/31/its-not-a-social-dilemma-its-the-calculated-destruction-of-the-social-the-facebook-enclosure-of-africa/
https://tessa.substack.com/p/great-reset-dummies
https://www.rt.com/news/504967-greenwald-resignation-intercept-biden-censorship
How could Greenwald think he can publish freely whatever he wants on Pierre Omidyar’s personal “Mighty Wurlitzer”? Omidyar, worth some 13 billion US$, is a major donor to the Democratic Party.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/10/glenn-greenwald-resigns-from-the-intercept-over-censorship-of-article-on-hunter-and-joe-biden.html
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/10/30/greenwalds-intercept-resignation-exposes-the-rot-in-all-mass-media/
https://www.globalresearch.ca/memory-failure-predicted-attention-lapsing-media-multitasking/5727967
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/505028-white-helmets-james-lemesurier/
A well researched article about establishment media’s effort to rescue the reputation of the “White Helmets.”
https://fair.org/home/us-media-lie-about-bolivias-movement-toward-socialism-before-during-and-after-election/ 

Imperial news:  

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/11/03/the-us-empire-is-a-smiley-faced-serial-killer/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-jails-privatization-special-repor/special-report-u-s-jails-are-outsourcing-medical-care-and-the-death-toll-is-rising-idUSKBN27B1DH
https://www.blackagendareport.com/covid-19-exposes-economic-misery-us-capitalisms-new-normal
http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2014/10/an-indigenous-peoples-history-of-us.html

Imperial conquest news:

https://www.rt.com/news/504631-bolivia-morales-terrorism-charges-drop/
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/10/21/bolivia-fascism-coup-election/
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/10/25/bolivia-coup-interview-patricia-arce/
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Mining-Leader-Orlando-Gutierrez-DiesDue-ToInjuries-20201028-0008.html
There are calls for a second coup and one can bet, that the CIA is weighing all options.
https://dezayasalfred.wordpress.com/2020/10/28/the-war-on-cuba-final-episodes
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/10/iran-forfeiture-civil-complaints-weapons-fuel-doj-demers.html
US piracy. This is a rogue state and it will remain a rogue state no matter who wins the election.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Like-Old-Time-Piracy-The-US-Seizes-Venezuelan-Oil-and-Sells-It-20201030-0003.html
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2020/10/30/exclusive-huawei-sting-operation-exposed/
https://gowans.blog/2020/10/22/washingtons-long-war-on-syria-an-update/

Armageddon and WWIII news:

Many of us live in an artificial environment of concrete, steel, glass, and plastic. Many of us have no access to intact natural spaces. Many live in urban areas where noise from traffic and industrial activities drowns out the tweeting of birds and the whisper of leaves. Many of us sit in front of screens most of the day. Many of us are raised along the paradigm of competition and success, with fame and wealth being the main goals.

How can they have a feeling for peace under such circumstances?

Maybe art is a useful method to open the hearts, increase sensibility, and make the imagination of peace possible.

Remembering John Lennon, Phil Ochs, and others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
This (certainly CIA edited) list contains trivial, shallow, and silly songs, but also  sincere, genuine, and deeply felt ones. Many of them, like Marvin Gaye’s Whats Going On or Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms, were commercial successful.

Recommended reading for Chinese leaders:

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 78
The weak conquer the strong, the tender conquer the rigid. In the world there is no one who does not know it, but no one will practice it.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3107027/beijing-gives-cautious-welcome-vladimir-putins-hint-over
https://www.globalresearch.ca/hijacking-united-nations-security-council-continues/5727462
https://www.globalresearch.ca/letter-us-attempts-sabotage-entry-force-new-treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons/5727955
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/505073-china-five-year-plan
https://gowans.blog/2020/10/25/the-chinese-uyghur-dark-legend-and-washingtons-campaign-to-counter-chinese-economic-rivalry/

Uncategorized news:

https://theconversation.com/hikikomori-understanding-the-people-who-choose-to-live-in-extreme-isolation-148482
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/30/pers-o30.html
The UK Labour Party is purified from principled socialists like Jeremy Corbyn.
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3106621/conductor-yip-wing-sie-battling-breast-cancer
European classical music is an important cultural document and an illustration of human nature just like literature, painting, and other arts. This explains and justifies Chinese interest in European music.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/five-real-conspiracies-you-need-know-about/

News from cat land:

As stated already at the start of the blog post, it has become very quiet here again, just like during the first lockdown. The occasional car, tractor, or truck is passing by, one neighbor still pollutes the air and the airwaves with his annoyingly loud lawnmower. 

The birds are still tweeting and from some distance there are dogs barking. My cat companions fortunately don’t bark, bellow, howl, roar, yell, yelp, or scream. They purr, and that is the one sound beside bird songs which I like most.

Yesterday it had 20 degrees Celsius, astonishing warm for November. I hope that the garden plants (my plant companions) don’t get the false impression that spring is here again.

The mild autumn is good and at the same time bad news for hedgehogs. They have more time to grow and prepare for hibernation, but fleas, lice, and ticks, not paralyzed by cold temperatures, will attack and weaken them.