Wanderthread Redux (Part 1)

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 2:56am

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If George W Bush had murdered a million Americans, if he had been responsible for three hundred 9/11 attacks, how concerned would you be about expressions of hostility towards him? How happy would you be to see him walking around unpunished, rehabilitated and accepted by the wealthy elites?

When I say that George W Bush is a mass-murdering war criminal, I am making a statement of fact. It is not a political slogan.

In a just world, he would be dragged before the Hague, stripped of all wealth and power, and spend the rest of his miserable life sweeping up the rubble in the cities he destroyed.

The continued acceptance of GWB by the US public is an insult to the survivors in the nations he attacked. It is also a very obvious demonstration of the point that the victims of the US empire are not really considered to be human.

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 3:28am

The “good” billionaire:

“I think Chevron’s benefited society in all kinds of ways, and I think it continues to do so,” said Buffett, whose company at the end of last year owned a 2.5% stake in the California-based driller. “We’re going to need a lot of hydrocarbons for a long time, and we’ll be very glad we’ve got them.”

While Buffett acknowledged that the world is “moving away from” fossil fuels he said “that could change.”

“Believe me, Chevron is not an evil company,” he added. “I have no compunction — in the least — about owning Chevron. And if we owned the entire business, I would not feel uncomfortable about being in that [industry].”

Buffett was responding to a question about whether it was fair to view the oil and gas industry as similar to the tobacco business, which Berkshire swore off in the 1990s.

Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 97, went even further in his support for the company. He posed a scenario in which one of his family members was trying to decide whether to marry a young man who is an English professor at Swarthmore College or a Chevron employee.

“Which would you pick, sight unseen?” asked Munger. “I want to admit I’d take the guy from Chevron.”

Berkshire’s leaders also cast doubt on the potential for catastrophic impacts from climate change, which most scientists say is increasingly likely if the world blows past 1.5 degrees Celsius of average warming.

“What’s happening will be adapted to over time, just as we’ve adapted to all kinds of things,” said Buffett, who has a net worth north of $103 billion.

Munger was even more skeptical of the scientific consensus.

“I don’t think we think we know the answer to all these questions about global warming and so forth. And the people that ask the questions think they know the answers,” he said. “We’re just more modest.”

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 4:10am

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Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 4:16am

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 6:50am

Youtube comments section:

From a video about a woman who adopted an orphan duckling.

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 10:05pm

Inside the US, stories like this are treated as bizarre when they aren’t just ignored.

Outside the US, stories like this are recognised as just stating the fucking obvious.

American self-perception is completely disconnected from reality.

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 10:16pm

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 10:18pm

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 10:28pm

Wanderfound · June 1, 2021, 11:22pm

That “killer robot” story:

Turkish, used against Libyans.

Functionally, it’s basically a flying landmine with a trigger zone extending as far as it can see.

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 1:27am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 1:31am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 1:43am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 3:10am

The SDA (“Shoppies”) are notorious as the most useless and corrupt of the major Australian unions. They’re in the pocket of the big grocery chains that employ most of their members.

The Brisbane tramways were owned by the General Electric Company of the United Kingdom. Despite this they were managed by Joseph Stillman Badger, an American, who refused to negotiate with the Queensland peak union body, then known as the Australian Labour Federation. After this rebuff a meeting of delegates from forty-three Brisbane based Trade Unions formed the Combined Unions Committee and appointed a General Strike Committee. The trade unionists of Brisbane went out on a general strike on 30 January 1912, not just for the right to wear a badge but for the basic right to join a union.

Within a few days the Strike Committee became an alternative government. No work could be done in Brisbane without a special permit from the Strike Committee. The committee organised 500 vigilance officers to keep order among strikers and set up its own Ambulance Brigade. Government departments and private employers needed the Strike Committee’s permission to carry out any work. The Strike Committee issued strike coupons that were honoured by various firms. Red ribbons were generally worn as a mark of solidarity, not only by people but also on pet dogs and horses pulling carts. Daily processions and public rallies were held to keep strikers occupied.

On the second day of the strike over 25,000 workers marched from the Brisbane Trades Hall to Fortitude Valley and back with over 50,000 supporters watching from the sidelines. The procession was described as being led by Labor parliamentarians, with the procession being eight abreast and two miles (3 km) long, with a contingent of 600 women. The strike spread throughout Queensland with many regional centres organising processions through their towns. The strike committee regularly issued an official Strike Bulletin to counter the expected anti-union bias in mainstream newspapers.

It was only when the strike spread to the railways that the Queensland government became concerned about the situation. At this juncture it banned processions, swore in special constables and issued bayonets to its police force. Commonwealth military officers and spare-time troops volunteered as special constables, and many of the specials wore their commonwealth uniforms into action.

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 3:20am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 6:21am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 10:55am

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 10:32pm

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 10:35pm

Wanderfound · June 2, 2021, 10:40pm

Freeze peach.