Max Blumenthal and his kowtows to Beijing

Since that IS a Mandarin word, I just LOVE using the word "kowtow" for the people who drink and/or peddle the Xi Jinping Thought Kool-Aid.

One of the most notorious of them is Max Blumenthal.

Basically, whatever other good work he may do at his Grayzone site is ... erased, eradicated, obliterated, or whatever other modifier you'd like, by his sucking Xi's Chinese schlong on denying severe repression, concentration camps and cultural genocide against Uyghurs.

Max does this in large part, per Workers' Liberty, by creating strawmen, mixed with ignoring what can't be refudiated or strawmanned.

Axios has more, which show the rest of Max's panoply of reasoning-free reaction to critics. He engages in ad hominems (without denying that Lenz has found real evidence) followed by further ad hominems against Axios for it daring to ask him, the great Max Blumenthal, a question. (Note that Max never answers it.)

With Uyghur women now making new claims of rape and sexual torture, Max becomes more an untenable shill.

Uyghur women are telling the newest truth, it would seem, about how Xi's China has treated them: rape cases, along with sexualized torture and other claims. It's a long read, and a must-read. Too bad the likes of Howie Hawkins and Margaret Flowers of the Green Party, Rainier Shea of the People's Republic of Humboldt Bay, and Blumenthal of East Chinastan Daily News will try to poo-poo it.

Meanwhile, the Intercept has the goods on massive new leaked Chinese government files of police surveillance of Uyghurs and related issues. It follows up with an investigative report on Uyghur detentions.

Flowers has responded to a call-out on Twitter over the latest revelations, and I have responded.

https://t.co/ws59vqrUAg

"While we recognize that there are aspects of PRC policy in Xinjiang to critique, these critiques should be debated and resolved on Chinese terms and in Chinese dialogues, and not be used as crude ammunition in the U.S.-led geopolitical assault on China."

— Dr. Margaret Flowers (@DrMFlowers) February 6, 2021

My first response in a two-parter:

There are plenty of people not part of the *bipartisan foreign policy establishment* who do NOT use the Chinese policy toward Xinjiang as "as crude ammunition in the U.S.-led geopolitical assault on China." That includes leftists like me. This isn't "zero-sum." (sigh)

— Your Glenn Greenwald pouty tomato face 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) February 6, 2021

And my second.

And, since this is not a zero sum game, I can avoid drinking Xi Jinping Thought Kool-Aid AND avoid drinking US bipartisan foreign policy establishment Kool-Aid. I don't have to discuss Xinjiang and Uyghurs on "Chinese terms," Dr. Margaret Flowers.

— Your Glenn Greenwald pouty tomato face 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) February 7, 2021

Flowers didn't want to stop digging, and offered this:

What's your point then? My sources are people who have been there and know the situation. https://t.co/QoYkEZONQT

— Dr. Margaret Flowers (@DrMFlowers) February 7, 2021

To which I offered the first of a three part thread response:

Well, the leaks of data came from people who "have been there." Patrick Cockburn is among those in Merika who doesn't totally buy the two-siderism angle, either. And, the ICIJ, which includes many non-American journos, has written about it., too.
AND? The Uyghurs ARE THERE! 1/x

— Your Glenn Greenwald pouty tomato face 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) February 7, 2021

The "Uyghurs were there" response should nail it.

If it doesn't? Since the Stalinist USSR, or before that, Russian Potemkin villages, authoritarian and totalitarian governments that have wanted to deceive those who are ready to be hoodwinked have easily done so.

And, if that's not enough, via the app Clubhouse, which recently briefly broke through the "great firewall of China," I can now tell Flowers the petards are also hoisting on her "Chinese terms" in another way. Diaspora Chinese, and also Taiwanese Chinese, told mainland Chinese that they needed to learn some things about Xinjiang.

What's a mix of funny, sad, ironic and hypocritical is that Flowers, one of the leaders of a third party, is engaging in two-siderism.

(Update, March 12, 2021: I suppose we should discuss freedom of the press in "Chinese terms" as well, if we're going to be all bent over backward?)

What's also a mix of funny, sad, ironic and hypocritical? Flowers' saying we should let Xi Jinping Thought go unchallenged is exactly the type of argument that could be used by the U.S. bipartisan foreign policy establishment.

It's also not the first time Flowers (and partner Kevin Zeese, when still alive) have peddled the Xi Jinping Thought Kool-Aid.

Back to Max.

And, to the degree he might have some good insights elsewhere on Grayzone, even they are not free from challenge, precisely because of how he supports Xi Jinping Thought on the Uyghurs. 

And, probably supports Chinese quasi-official lies about US vaccine safety, given that China Global Times, which has interviewed Max before, is among the peddlers of these lies.

And, beyond that, his changes of heart on things like Syria look suspicious. He started becoming an Assad defender in Syria only after visiting Moscow — and soon afterward. Many others believe that not all atrocities in Syria are traceable to Assad, but we hold to this based on information we found without going to Moscow.

He's not alone, sadly. Margaret Kimberly, even before spouting the bullshit on Black Agenda Report, was doing it elsewhere, per Coda Story. (At least, I hadn't seen it at BAR first.) That piece is good for noting a history of leftist apologetics for left-leaning dictatorial violence.

Finally, remember who Max's dad is. He may have different reasons for peddling bullshit, but, he certainly learned well from Sidney about HOW to peddle it.

Will the Yang Gang crack up over Andrew Yang's anti-BDS BS?

Andrew Yang is officially out of the bad (and officially in Pander Bear territory), with part of his campaign for NYC mayor being officially anti-BDS, and with this, is officially in Just.Another.Politician.™ territory.

Beyond the general issues, it's also clear that he's full of shit in particular ways, and that he is clueless about the First Amendment's freedom of assembly clause, which, as much or more than the free speech clause, protects the rights of people like you and me to conduct organized boycotts.

He first compared the boycotts to "fascist boycotts of Jewish business." Totally false. There's no police state behind BDS boycotts, first. Second, the motive is totally different.

But, when called out, he not only refused to back down, he doubled down.

He accused BDS of supporting violent resistance, which it officially does not.

This sets aside the issue of Palestinians' violence being a response to Israeli violence. 

And, of Israel continuing to criminalize nonviolent protest by Palestinians.

Third? The Pander Bear territory.

Yang is running for NYC mayor. And it's clear he's targeting the majority of Jewish voters that are still full Zionists. After all, as the piece above notes, this started with him running an op-ed in Forward.

I'm "shocked."

Yang struck me as a Pander Bear on Basic Income in his prez run. Although he didn't often go into details, it seemed to me he supported more libertarian types of BI, like Scott Santens does. (Santens, AFAIK, is still lying and claiming that there is no division between different types of BI, when I and many others have covered this in detail.)

In short, Yang was appealing to tech-neoliberals, or to narrow the working space more, tech-left-neoliberals, within the younger end of Gen Xers and older Millennials. (Note that I divide generations differently than pop sociologists and marketers; my Boomers end in 1960, with a mini-generation of "Tweeners" born 1961-69, Xers running 1969-1986 or so, a Gen Y from there to 1998 or so, and Millennials after that.)

Some friendly related reminders:

Santens was once dumb enough or grifter enough to call Trump a "basic income Moses." Also, per the "covered" link, yes, "following" on Twitter doesn't mean everything, but following both Charlie Kirk and Turning Point?

Santens also supports cryptocurrency, which is HUGELY climate-change unfriendly, another reason certain Greens should stop fluffing him.

Tulsi Gabbard was another political grifter who latched on to BI, and who is anti-BDS, and yet has too many left-libs who drink her Kool-Aid.

Texas Progressives: the Pelosi honeymoon is over

National

Whether or not Movement for a People's Party was trying to game some things with "Force the Vote," the Democratic Congressional establishment is trying to game things with their priority bill by designation, HR1. David Bruce Collins notes that it would (if it actually lives up to that) cut, but not eliminate, so called dark money from races but ONLY at the expense of third-party matching funds, making that MUCH more difficult. He notes other problems with HR1 besides that.

Jimmy Dore has channeled his inner Caitlin Johnstone and red-black alliance wet dreams to try to normalize Boogaloo Bros. fellow travelers.

More evidence is coming in on the coordination of the Capitol riot.

Mark Pitcavage explains the history of the word "sheeple".

 

National-sports

SocraticGadfly explains why he is totally on board with the pending trade of Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Texas

Texas Dems have run two real Hispanics for gov in the past 20 years, and they were two two biggest flops in that time, as Loopy Lupe Valdez well underperformed other Dems running for statewide race in 2018, and in 2002, Tony Sanchez turned out to be a former Republican donor. So, instead, maybe Dems will run a fake Hispanic in 2022, as Billy Bob Beto, aka Robert  Francis O'Rourke, has indicated interest in challenging Strangeabbott. And, of course, Beto's a Pander Bear and other things.

Rep. James White, who has an R. last initial, wants TDCJ to rename prisons that are named after former slaveowners and other racist types. It's a start. How about decriminalizing pot next? Or ending arrests for Class C misdemeanors, to further the spirit of Sandra Bland-based reform?

Thanks to the Innocence Project, Rosa Jimenez is finally free (and not deported, either).

Wind energy is nice, but what do you do with all the old blades, which aren't really recyclable? The Observer looks at options.

Ted Cruz supports a constitutional amendment to term-limit senators. Anybody really expect him to voluntarily not run in 2024? (Actually, it's possible he tries to get the prezzie nomination again; it's also likely he fails again.)

Grits for Breakfast expresses cautious optimism about new Travis County DA Jose Garza. Grits also has a roundup of criminal justice issues.

Off the Kuff examines a couple of polls about current political attitudes in Texas.

 

Loren Steffy observes that the oil industry didn't do so well under Donald Trump.  

 

Reform Austin reports from the first Senate Special Committee on Redistricting meeting. 

 

Jef Rouner calls for a MAGA ban at fan conventions. 

 

North Texas

Jenna Ryan, the new Shelley Luther, may face a tougher time grifting for (alleged) legal defense money.

As of the weekend, we were up to seven arrested Capitol insurrectionionists from North Texas.

I agree with TPWD and remain doubtful that it was a mountain lion that killed a Hood County man. Related? I've seen way too many Texans claim to have seen a cougar/mountain lion/panther when almost certainly you saw a bobcat. You're 10 times more likely to see a bear in Texas, and yet, nobody actually claims to see one.

Walmart's bringing robot-fueled warehouses to two North Texas stores to fill pick-up orders, and Kroger is converting one Dallas store to clerk-free. Both are brought to the table by COVID, but likely would have happened soon enough anyway.

Kool-Aid and weathervanes from Fernando Mercado

Mercado is one of the contributors at Independent Political Report, where I was just added to the roll a month ago.

The Kool-Aid part? That's the beverage of trans activists he's peddling on the Green Party's Lavender Caucus et al vs the Georgia Green Party.

I offered up a few general thoughts on the leaving of the Rhode Island GP, the de-accreditation of the Georgia GP and the possible deliberate dominoes toward the Georgia GP in my first post at Independent Political Report, which has since had a follow-up, with comments by Fernando showing he's willing to drink trans activist Kool-Aid.

Among these things is his claim in a comment that the only people conflating sex and gender are the alleged "transphobes." Technically, he may be right; trans activists are really more shell gamers, sleight of handers, or gaslighters.

That's not to say I agree with everything said by every defender of the Georgia Green Party. Far from it. That's also despite Fernando's mischaracterizations that I do agree with everything, and that Hugh Esco represents every point of view of every defender of the GAGP. 

And, "shock me," but Fernando is now becoming disenchanted with the Movement for a People's Party because of Jimmy Dore, and before that, over Force the Vote. Given how much he was trying to peddle the MPP Kool-Aid just a few weeks ago, this one is actually laughable.

As I told him, knowing that Dore is a Seth Rich conspiracy theorist and that Jesse Ventura is an antivaxxer and other types of conspiracy theorist is why I never because enchanted in the first place. (In a comment in reply to mine, he admitted that he had rose-colored glasses for Dore previously, but said he had already seen through Jesse.)

Drew Springer, Pander Bear

Most of state Senatecritter Drew Springer's 11-bill gun nutz wish list is pandering. Some of it lacks legal standing. Some of it is unconstitutional.

The bills about intrastate gun sales? Nothing new here. Widely believed to be unconstitutional, ruled so in one case in 2014 by the Supreme Court, and in the past, opposed by the NRA, no less, per the first link, for fear it would undercut them.

The other stuff? 

SB 541? Unconstitutional. Clearly so, even more than the bills referenced above, as Drew doesn't restrict himself to intrastate sales issues here.

SB 545? Nothingburger and a pander, as there's no such legal restrictions right now.

SB 547? Pander Bear for the Shelley Luthers of North Texas and the Luke Maciases of wingnut media, as, before the SD 30 special, Drew said zip about Strangeabbott's special orders. I remember that from a campaign forum, as the other Rethuglicans, not just Luther, even Denton Mayor Chris Watts, brought it up, and Strangeabbott's lapdog Springer was silent.

SB 548? More of the "set Texas free from DC, but keep Texas cities and counties enslaved" bullshit.

SB 549? Probably has little chance of passing. Pander Bearing to the bars portion of the booze world. Probably also legally challengable as a carve-out unless the Lege changed the definition of a bar in general from 51 percent booze to 60 percent.

Coronavirus week 43: Double-masking, latest on variant strains (and wear a mask on the bus)

• First, Pfizer says that the British and South African variants have only small effects on its vaccine. Note that this study it cites doesn't include the Brazilian variant. Also, "small sample size" and other issues apply to the study.

• More here on all the variants in the U.S. Pfizer and Moderna both say in that story that they're planning booster vaccines.

• Will an annual vaccination be needed? And, how much will it need to be tweaked, assuming I'm right that a universal vaccine against all coronaviruses just isn't feasible, at least not anywhere in the near future? Answers on that are here, and seem to be "probably" for the first and "moderately" for the second. That said, per the likes of Skeptical Raptor, mRNA vaccines are fairly easy to tweak. On the other hand, they remain two dose vaccines. And, on the third hand, I wonder if he's not tilting fairly hard to the optimistic side of the equation.

• On the third, fourth, and further hands? Moderna's booster won't be ready until the coming winter. I assume the same is true for Pfizer. Moderna also said its vaccine is moderately less effective against the South African strain; per the first link, despite spin from it, Pfizer's vaccine appears to have a few more problems with it than with the UK variant.

• Dr. Scott Gottlieb, an increasingly trustable voice, says the South African variant also appears to challenge prior immunity more. That, then, ties back to the third paragraph about annual vaccination. NPR confirms the level of worry.

• The Washington Post also weighs in, and says the UK variant, though it may not challenge the existing vaccines the way the South African variant does and the Brazilian variant likely does, may be up to 30 percent more lethal than the original strain.

That same story also notes an interesting and concerning issue — the low rate of first responders to get vaccinated.

• Wired, in a long read, says that blown pandemic responses have given the virus working space, and working time, for its evolution. It also notes that the Brazilian variant has at least one of the more worrisome evolutions that the South African strain does. It also notes that delayed vaccination speed could give the new strains the same working space, which leads to ...

• Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, in fact, says that COVID-19 could become endemic. And, perhaps just enough for continuing low-grade disruptions of Western economies, above all the consumer-centric US one. Update: Nature magazine, in a survey of those who should know, had 90 percent of scientists agreeing it will go endemic. Much less certain is the long-term virulence.

 

• One thing you can do to help yourself is, per the New York Times, be like me and double-mask!!! I took an airplane vacation over the holidays. Double-masked in airport terminals and on planes. I double mask if I'm going to take more than 3 minutes grocery shopping. More on double-masking here.

• Let's say its annual death toll drops by 2/3. Assuming we hit 540K by the end of February, and assuming that we missed some numbers a full year ago, we're still talking 180K a year, three times the deaths of a bad-case flu year. Oops.

• The part of the header in parentheses? The Biden Administration is requiring that.

• That said, how, and how well, will Biden's order be enforced? In Michigan, local cops are abetting scofflaw restaurants on defying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's orders.

 

• Steven Brandenburg, the Wisconsin pharmacist who destroyed vaccine last year? Also a flat-earther. And a microchipper believer. And a prepper. Probably a 5G guy, too.

==

Dos Centavos tells us about his successful Harris County vax portal registration.

Winco is now on my boycott list. 

A Greenie "organized" COVID denialist group

I use "organized" in scare quotes for two reasons.

One, it's not "organized" in that it's not an official Green Party group. (Stand by, though; with the myriad caucuses and such the GP already has, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody made an ask for an org like this.)

Second ... it's surely not organized.

I knew that there were plenty of individual Greens peddling this Plandemic and other COVID denialism; there's an official group for this now. Green Party of the United States needs to disavow this. In a sense, it already has, with science-based pronouncements like this one last May from nominees Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker. On the other hand, it could be argued by the party, and certainly by denialists, that this is only a personal statement by the two of them. 

The org has a bunch of loosely connected shit it threw at the wall. A few of its concerns are good, like Facebook as a monopoly, but that has ZERO to do with the truth of the matter about COVID. It appears hit-and-miss; its blog lists posts for last August, then nothing until this month. It appears to be in part a vanity project of Jack Dresser, who has reposted some of his Op-Ed News postings. (eyeroll) Dresser is also, for lack of a better phrase, a "smart meter conspiracy theorist," not just on claiming they're spying, but that they are dangerous radiation emitters, like ... wait for it, wait for it ... 5G smartphones.

It also includes nutter Green 2020 prez candidate David Rolde. Whether the group was more his idea or Dresser's, I don't know. Rolde is also a 5G nutter, among other things. And, finished fifth in his own state, as a write-in, in last year's GP prez primary in Massachusetts.

It claims to have four board members but only lists three: Those two and Ibrahim Taher. 

I've now wasted enough time.

 

Well, not quite. I'm unaware of similar groups with the name "Libertarian" or even the name "Republican" in front of them, implying affiliation with the political parties. I'm certainly unaware of a "Democrats" group. Greens who reject COVID denialism and conspiracy thinking should also reject "branding" by such groups and not tut-tut it.

Winco now on my coronavirus boycott list

Winco, at least its Denton store, which nearly got boycotted by me last summer, now is officially on boycott, at least for now. Saturday, a multigenerational party of masklessness came in the store no more than a minute before me. (They appeared to be grandparents, their adult daughter and her daughter.) I went to customer service and told them. Their PA announcement about "please wear a mask" was at no more volume than conversational level. I am pretty sure my semi-shout at them from the other end of the same aisle as them, even through a double mask, was more likely heard by them. Surely they saw me staring at them. They did nothing. So, I contacted the clerk who manages the self-checkout line. She basically gave a nudge of "didn't you hear the PA?" Nobody went after this party. So I left. Winco has been tagged and messaged on Twitter, and posted and messaged on Facebook.)

I may be accused of stereotyping, even as the White population of Denton trends moderately more Democratic, but they looked likely to be Trump Train riders.

The Dallas Snooze said last week in an above-the-fold P1 headline that we're likely to have 90,000 more people die in the next month. Per Fauci, that's our 9/11 a day for another full month.

And, since Winco is employee-owned, and likes to brag out it, especially if other people join me in boycotting, they're cutting their own throat by being lackadaisical.

Winco has responded via Twitter messenger. Dialogue is:

Winco:

Good afternoon, Thank you for reaching out and bringing this to our attention! Is there any chance you recall the approximate time you were in yesterday? We can follow up with local management to ensure the policy is being monitored and to check if the individual(s) stated a medical exemption, where allowed by applicable mandates. Thank you!

Me:

Approximately 2 pm Saturday. Given that it was FIVE PEOPLE I highly doubt that there was a medical exemption cited for all five. And, to be REALLY HONEST, I doubt anybody was asked for anything in the first place. You need to fix this.

Winco:

Thank you so much! We will get this over to local management to be reviewed right away. Please do not hesitate to alert a member of management if you notice something like this on a future visit. This will allow for them to approach the individuals to remind them of the policy and to check if a medical exemption has been stated. Wearing a protective face covering is one of the tools to combat the spread and we still highly encourage each person to individually do their part by maintaining distance as well. Have a great rest of your weekend!

My follow-up:

This is largely corporate PR bullshit. Kroger did it last summer over #KrogerAndy, but, it wasn’t a local Kroger. I think, over other reasons, I boycotted Kroger for a visit or two, but that was it.

This? 

C’mon.

Per my first response? The only medical condition “infecting” the whole family was the psychological one that could be called “terminal arrogance,” or per social media, “privilege.” They appeared to be grandparents, their adult daughter and her daughter. I may be accused of stereotyping, even as the White population of Denton trends moderately more Democratic, but they looked likely to be Trump Train riders.

Their second response basically ignored other aspects of my first response. Employee attitude in general seemed semi-lackadaisical. I went to customer service and told them. Their PA announcement about "please wear a mask" was at no more volume than conversational level. I am pretty sure my semi-shout at them from the other end of the same aisle as them, even through a double mask, was more likely heard by them. Surely they saw me staring at them. They did nothing. So, I contacted the clerk who manages the self-checkout line. She basically gave a nudge of "didn't you hear the PA?" Nobody went after this party. So I left.

And there you are.

Ironically, I had upped my shopping at Winco while in the short-term boycott of Kroger, as I noted, in also talking about more local boycotts of Walmart (still on after six months) and Tom Thumb (ended last time after three-plus months but will start again if it gets slipshod again).

GameStop, Idries Shah and non-skeptical lefists

For most of last week, as GameStop, then #GameStop then thanks to Elon Musk #gamestonk trended, the narrative was that this was just a bunch of everyday Joe Redditors and others having fun punking hedge funds etc who had shorted GameStop stock.

Not really, as Russ and Pam Martens have detailed at their excellent site, Wall Street on Parade.

Keith Gill, they detail, is the person goosing this. He has not just basic but advanced FINRA licenses. And, he works for Mass Mutual, which ain't a nobody.

It appears this is Goliaths vs Goliaths, especially as Russ and Pam linked to a Reuters story saying that BlackRock, nowhere NEAR a nobody, has made a killing on this.

And, the Ryan Cohen of the Twitter account on Gill's video (screengrabbed at left) is also not a nobody.

Per Wiki, he founded the company called Chewy, eventually bought by PetSmart. He then went on to become the biggest individual investor in Apple. And, as of the time of the goosing, was the biggest individual investor in GameStop.

That, in turn, led me to further thoughts, and I emailed the Martens on Saturday asking if they had any information on:

1. Do you think Mass Mutual is already away of Gill's activity? Related: Might this be semi-official but still disavowable?
2. Further related, especially if Gill is doing this on his own: Might there be other money behind Gill?
3. Speaking of money ... is it possible that Gill pays out "walking around money" to at least select "influencers" in places like the Reddit subgroup? Related to that: might this be in some version of bitcoin rather than USD if he is doing that?

I'll provide any updates as I get them. (As of Wednesday morning, I have none, even though the Martens have done one post since then, and also even though they responded to me the last time I queried them. This is true both for the questions above and the question below.)

The Martens link to a CNN article to excoriate MSM financial coverage. Let me add a new NYT piece. The Martens imply, per my question 1, that Gill IS a Mass Mutual employee. The NYT says "was" and also doesn't name Mass Mutual by name. (I've added this to my questions to Pam and Russ, and also tagged both NYT reporters on Twitter. We'll see what, if any, response we get from them.)

Meanwhile, non-skeptical lefitsts?

First, this is why I self-identify as a skeptical leftist in the masthead. 

Second, per Idries Shah?

“To 'see both sides' of a problem is the surest way to prevent its complete solution.

Shah was implying that any complex issue has more than two sides.

That said, while his thought is generally applicable in the world of human endeavors, it isn't always so.

With GameStop, it's not complex. We have one side, and it's called "capitalism." Stop peddling bad narrratives.