In the shadow of the Himalaya

image generated via ChatGPT

Rescue efforts continue in Nepal and Tibet following deadly glacial flooding. {The Guardian 31 August}

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/31/nepal-tibet-floods-rescuers-hundreds-trapped-hydropower

FTA: Rescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 12 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, ​the ⁠country’s disaster ​management authority has said.

The death toll from the ⁠unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud ​and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 939 people, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border.

About 500 of the missing hydropower workers at projects damaged by the flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts are thought to be trapped in tunnels built to control the flow of water.

As rescue efforts drag on, experts fear the chances of finding survivors in tunnels are diminishing as oxygen levels fall.

Some workers called for help when flooding started on Wednesday and those who had managed to escape tunnels said many of their colleagues were still trapped, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, the president of the Nepal Independent Power Producers’ Association.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by difficult terrain, persistently high flood waters and difficult weather. With more than 40 bridges destroyed, rescuers are relying on helicopters, while India and China are sending prefabricated truss bridges to help restore access.

The swollen Trishuli River has also continued to change course unpredictably, making planning a challenge. Areas that were dry one day are flooded the next, and further floods are a constant concern.

Hundreds of bodies, many unidentified, that were swept down the mountains by the torrent, have been buried in shallow graves after DNA testing on the plains ⁠of the Himalayan region.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Amazon collapses, dragging half the internet—and all reliant upon it—into paralysis: a mere fire drill for civilisation’s fall

image generated via ChatGPT

{Mashable 20 October} ‘AWS outage update: What happened today and why’

Perhaps the body politic hath been something more than rash in permitting a slender coterie of vast corporations to hold dominion over near the whole compass of human commerce—and to consign it all to ‘the cloud’. If an entire infrastructure collapses at the faintest tremor, of what practical worth is that infrastructure? And why does no redundancy—of any worth, at least—exist to sustain it? From the internet to the power grid, from energy production to the extraction of the earth’s finite resources, few of us truly grasp the fragility of our modern age, or how fearfully we have enthralled ourselves to the artificers of Silicon Valley. Verily, we are become their vassals—SLAVES at the mercy of our technological overlords.

These incessant glitches fray my nerves and leave me in a state of abject vexation—and of late, there hath been no paucity of such afflictions in my own affairs. I shall not recount the full litany of woes, yet it suffices to note that my grocery delivery—through Amazon Fresh—was abruptly cancelled this very morning amid their latest systemic collapse. Then, in attempting to activate a new debit card with a different institution—yet one of the countless enterprises now beholden to Amazon Web Services, alongside such disparate entities as McDonald’s, Venmo, and innumerable others encompassing nearly every conceivable sphere—I found myself stymied by yet another glitch, and obliged once more to telephone some remote call centre in India to have the matter rectified.

It is without end—until, at last, the entire fabric of society doth crumble utterly, and whatever remnant of humanity survives is cast back into the dim estate of the cave-dweller. This technological grotesquerie hath insinuated itself into the sinews of daily existence, sowing silent chaos in the lives of billions. And this most recent outage—still not wholly resolved as I write—is but a fire drill, the ominous prelude to a coming conflagration that shall devour the whole edifice.

Do I, then, harbour hope for that collapse? I cannot with certainty avouch it. For I was an unwanted soul upon this planet long before the rise of the tech barons in the 2000s and 2010s; unwanted I remain beneath their cold dominion; and it shall matter little whether I be wanted once they—and the brittle edifice of their devising—have dragged the sum of civilisation into the abyss. For I shall not endure to behold the final ruin. Then again, judging by the precipitous haste of our present decay, that reckoning may well descend upon us before next Thursday—and I may not be so fortunate as to miss the ensuing ghastly revels. Such would be my luck. —Arthur Newhook, 20 October 2025.

Copyright 2025, Arthur Newhook.

Law enforcement in the U.S. seized over 115 million fentanyl pills in 2023, up from 71 million in 2022, and only 50,000 in 2017

Darwin Brandis/iStock

Fentanyl, with potency exceeding fiftyfold that of heroin, is primarily manufactured in laboratories in India and China before clandestine entry into the U.S., typically via Mexico. According to this DW article, opioid addiction is far less rife in European nations endowed with robust and functioning healthcare systems, evidenced by a mere forty-nine (49) recorded fentanyl overdose deaths in the European Union in all of 2021. In stark contrast, the U.S. witnessed more than 200 deaths per day in 2022, and that may be a conservative estimate.

Nearly every solution enacted at federal, state, and local levels to combat the opioid crisis has been punitive and counterproductive. I dread America will persist in this approach for years to come, reflective of a society divided and politicians, particularly on the right and within the GOP, increasingly keen to exacerbate hardships for those their respective factions deem as societal outcasts. More needless suffering, deaths, and imprisonment shall ensue, and #Murica will become more and more of a s**thole country.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Global supplies of rice at a twenty-year low

Getty Images

The severe effects of climate change in Asia, the war on Ukraine, and export restrictions enacted by the Indian government lead to higher prices for one of the world’s most consumed staples. {CNBC 4/19}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.

Ode to Ukraine: Emerging global power and guiding light among nations

(VIDEO) The daily nationwide moment of silence, followed by the glorious national anthem of Ukraine - A magnificent piece of music, accompanied by English subtitles and stunning war footage. Some may call it propaganda, some may call it nationalism, but I only see necessary patriotism in a war that was not of their choosing. They are rolling up their sleeves and fighting back, as their forefathers did against the Nazi invaders in World War II. At that time, however, they were a vassal state of the Soviet Union. Now it is their time in history to achieve glory as a strong, independent nation. America’s day has just about passed - we’re one presidential election away from the death knell - and Russia’s time is long up. Both will only grow more dangerous, but never again will they be prosperous or respected the more they descend into darkness. #Murica is ultimately going to end up like the Middle East, full of warring tribes, religious extremism, and great poverty and ignorance. It is already playing out, we’re becoming a breeding ground for terrorism just as the lands that produced al Qaeda, Hezbollah, ISIS, and the rest of that scum.

But Ukraine is going to win their war. In time they are going to emerge as a great global power; a vital partner in the world’s last bastion of humanity in Europe - the one continent that, apart from a few rogue or not entirely cooperative players, has demonstrated it has learned its lessons about the horrors of war and tyranny. Beginning with Germany, of course. And along with Germany, France, the EU, and the UK, Ukraine will be a vital bulwark against the emerging Axis of Evil of India and China. Who will be joined by the fallen empires of Russia and (post-2024) America - both nonetheless remaining rich in natural resources and therefore to be (further) exploited and controlled by evil overlords in Beijing and Delhi. Of course, China and India have to make peace with one another before this plays out, but my gut says that process is already underway, with Putin playing the key role in mediating between them. Mutual animosity and distrust toward the West, as well as territorial aims such as retaking former Soviet states and reclaiming Taiwan, are driving these superpowers together. Pakistan may factor into this one way or the other; India will always be their blood rival, but it’s hard to see them making common cause with Europe. 

Plucking America from the Western alliance, after we had always been the center and strongest power of it, would be the new Axis’ coup de grace. American nationalist populists are gradually moving away from championing alliances with other Western nations and toward favoring closer relations with Russia. But that’s #Murica: Ukraine is now the crossroads between the free world and the despotic backwaters, and they are the first line of defense between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ LORD, protect and uplift them, and bring the tyrant, Putin, to his knees. #StopPutin #StandWithUkraine Слава Україні

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Saturday afternoon: Putin’s ‘special operation’ divides Russian families, India spreads its wings as a global menace, Hungary’s Orban stands for re-election, and AG Garland faces scrutiny for the pace of January 6 investigations

Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

‘Our mothers have been zombified by propaganda, I am not discussing anything with my mother.’ - Putin’s war of aggression is tearing Russian families apart. I’m now of the firm conclusion that it is best to not discuss current affairs and politics with family members, which I should have practiced all along. The devotion to Vladimir Putin by the majority of Russia’s people is a wake-up call to us: While it is vital for the masses to overthrow the dictator, they are not going to. The Russian people are tired, having been bullied and gaslit for too long, and they are more fearful of us - the West - than anything else. Some of this also, no doubt, has to do with age-old prejudices or grievances with the Ukrainians that many Russians possess, and also nostalgia for the Soviet Union. Therefore, Putin was certain he had built-in cover to sell the ‘special operation’ to his subjects, and he was correct in that calculation. (Daily Beast 4/01)

The Kremlin gives praise to India’s government for not judging the ‘special operation’ in ‘a one-sided way’ - I keep saying that India is right on the cusp of being a major global menace, and they are showing their true stripes at this critical moment. Only a mutual animosity with China is preventing the official formation of a new Axis of Evil with Russia. (BBC News 4/01)

Ferenc Isza/AFP/Getty Images

Hungary’s Viktor Orban stands for reelection - With the eyes of the world on neighboring Ukraine, the nationalist populist Orban is manipulating laws, shutting down media outlets, and legalizing something called ‘voter tourism.’ Which is allowing foreigners to come into Hungarian villages for a day, cast their vote for Orban, and then go home. Hungarian citizens without a permanent residence in Hungary may also use mail-in ballots, a right not afforded to Hungarian citizens living within its borders. Isn’t this all essentially what the GOP is always accusing Democrats of doing, allowing illegal aliens to vote in our elections and screaming that mail-in voting is illegitimate? Yet it is American Republicans and ‘conservatives’ who have fallen in love with this Orban character. Any and all principles will be violated when there are votes and dollars to be had. (New York Times 3/31)

House January 6 Commission puts the screws to reticent AG Merrick Garland - Frustration with the snail’s pace at which these investigations are unfolding is felt. As this article notes, however, this is ‘the largest criminal prosecution in the [DOJ] history.’ I’d prefer that members of the commission would address their concerns privately, instead of publicly grandstanding. Hard to expect any politician to refrain from grandstanding about anything, I know, but this is serious business. Justice is slow in coming, but it is coming. Realize - as Merrick Garland does - that when justice is served as it must be, millions of nationalist populists will be livid and will turn to (further) violence. These folks have already been foaming at the mouth since the pandemic began, and the election outcome and subsequent events are now driving them over the edge. The rhetoric from that side is becoming scary and law enforcement needs to prepare. I’m not going to put any pressure on the DOJ, because they’re bracing themselves for what is to come and preparing for the fallout. (AP 4/01)

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Russia retreats from Chernobyl, ‘acute radiation sickness’ suffered by Russian troops

Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Russians retreat from Chernobyl plant - No doubt, a massive moral and tactical victory for Ukraine. The Ukrainian fighters have stunned the world, supporters and detractors alike. The fight is far from over, but one side undoubtedly has the momentum and conviction. (Axios 3/31)

'Several hundred Russian soldiers were forced to hastily withdraw from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine after suffering “acute radiation sickness” from contaminated soil, according to Ukrainian officials.’ (Daily Beast 3/31)

(VIDEO) How large is discontent among Russia’s political and security elite? - Expert Andrei Soldatov discusses why he believes Vladimir Putin has made a fatal error, how Russia severely underestimated Ukraine’s fighting capabilities, and why Putin is not going to survive in office. (Deutsche Welle 3/30)

Ukrainophobia - Countless tragedies and countless deaths have resulted from it. It's starting to become 'a thing' on our shores. (Wikipedia)

(VIDEO) Thank you, Poland - A brave Ukrainian soldier thanks the Polish people for their support.

24/7 live feed of Ukraine 24 on YouTube - Several different news channels in Ukraine are pooling their coverage, 24/7. Not in English, yet I feel that I'm learning a ton about the Ukrainian people by watching. So inspiring, and my jaded ass is not one to declare much of anything that way. Слава Україні

Jeff Darcy/Cleveland Plain Dealer

Alex Jones to be fined $25,000 to $50,000 per weekday so long as he refuses to appear for a deposition in the Sandy Hook lawsuit - If he is going this far to escape liability for unproven claims, then it is certain he is guilty of spreading blatant lies and disinfo. (AP 3/30)

‘The anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has surged in popularity as an alternative treatment for Covid-19 despite a lack of strong research to back it up, showed no sign of alleviating the disease, according to results of a large clinical trial published on Wednesday.’ (New York Times 3/30)

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Kyiv woman who had her home burned down by Russian shelling says a relative in Moscow believes the Ukrainians are destroying their own properties on purpose

We are now seeing - in earnest, for the first time since Nazi Germany - the full effects and results of years of gaslighting - how it warps hearts and minds, and ultimately leads to bloodshed and horrific destruction. As for America, the January 6 insurrection, the continuing belligerence shown toward COVID-19 protocol, and the fact everybody wants to tear their neighbors' throats out all merely portend the hell these hate-filled fools are going to unleash upon the earth. It is the biggest nations on said earth – China, India, Russia, and the United States – that are backsliding toward a new level of despotism and are poised to form a new Axis of Evil to rule the planet. Once the domestic Fascist Cabal – agents of Putin, all - get President Biden and his administration out of the way, and once they start liquidating all the ‘undesirables,’ America will have completed its turn from an imperfect bastion of liberty to hellish despot and predator upon humanity. Europe will be eaten alive without any reasonably viable allies in the world (the likes of Australia, Japan, or maybe Canada being able to do much in this scenario are slim.) Is this what we all want for our near-future and for the long-term? Because people sure are acting as if that is what they want. All due to being fed a diet of never-ending grievance, and the innate desire of man that his ignorance must never be questioned but championed instead. Yours truly has plenty of grievances of his own and does not proclaim to know everything, but at least I know better than to hide behind demagogues, or to work to destroy the global order and replace it with something that would ultimately be far worse - a dystopia than these fools cannot conceive of in their little minds.

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Axis of Evil: Western intelligence services determine that China asked Russia to hold off on Ukraine invasion until Beijing Olympics concluded

Sputnik/Reuters

Putin has consistently courted China and Xi as allies. Xi does not want Russia standing in the way if and when China makes its move on Taiwan. Xi is likely pleased that Putin is testing global outrage – and the limits of the international response – of a such a bold invasion in modern times. Both wish to severely weaken and even all-out destroy America, the European Union, and Western allies, and we’ve known as such for years. So it is not a shock that the Chinese are reported to have had some degree of foreknowledge of Putin’s designs on Ukraine, and perhaps the Russians know something about what Xi may be cooking up. Russia, China, and probably India, Iran, and a handful of lesser aligned powers, are forming a new Warsaw Pact style organization to counter the NATO nations. So long as they wish to destroy the West instead of living in peace with it, this is a marriage of necessity for the belligerents. Russia and China have not always been allies, and are not very likely to always remain in harmony with one another in the long-term. Ukraine is ground zero, and I fear Taiwan will be next, in their unholy war on humanity. And what is the Western world going to do about it, other than taking up arms in a wider war that would almost certainly end all life on this planet? Via the New York Times -

WASHINGTON — A Western intelligence report said senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to senior Biden administration officials and a European official. 

The report indicates that senior Chinese officials had some level of direct knowledge about Russia’s war plans or intentions before the invasion started last week. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met with President Xi Jinping of China in Beijing on Feb. 4 before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Moscow and Beijing issued a 5,000-word statement at the time declaring that their partnership had “no limits,” denouncing NATO enlargement and asserting that they would establish a new global order with true “democracy.” 

The intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was classified. It was collected by a Western intelligence service and considered credible by officials. Senior officials in the United States and allied governments passed it around as they discussed when Mr. Putin might attack Ukraine. 

However, different intelligence services had varying interpretations, and it is not clear how widely the information was shared. 

One official familiar with the intelligence said the material did not necessarily indicate the conversations about an invasion took place between Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin. Other officials briefed on the intelligence declined to give further details. The officials spoke about the report on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence. 

Given the close nature of the relationship between Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin, senior Chinese officials are likely to have briefed Mr. Xi on any important exchanges between officials of their nations in the period around the leadership summit, analysts say. 

When asked by email on Wednesday whether Chinese officials had urged Russian officials to delay an invasion of Ukraine until after the Olympics, Liu Pengyu, the Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington, said, “These claims are speculation without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China.” 

China held the closing ceremony of the Olympics on Feb. 20. The next day, Mr. Putin ordered more Russian troops to enter an insurgent-controlled area of eastern Ukraine after state television broadcast a meeting between him and his national security council and, separately, a furious speech in which he said Ukraine should be a part of Russia. Early on Feb. 24, the Russian military began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including carrying out attacks on cities with ballistic missiles, artillery and tanks. (Read more)

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U.S. records its lowest population growth in the nation’s history during the pandemic; Deaths outnumber births in more than two dozen states

AFP via Getty Images

AP - US population growth at lowest rate in pandemic’s first year

In the long run, fewer mouths to feed and fewer people to cause problems in the United States would be a net positive for the planet, though will likely be offset by the uncontrolled and unacceptable levels of population growth in places like India, Africa, and other poverty-stricken backwaters of the world. There is a (very humane) reason we spade and neuter our cats and dogs, and necessity demands we will soon have no recourse but to apply the same to humans. Make no mistake, there are going to be some severe issues that result from lower birth rates in the U.S. – some are already present – but overpopulation will eventually lead to humankind’s demise. - 

U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic as the coronavirus curtailed immigration, delayed pregnancies and killed hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents, according to figures released Tuesday. 

The United States grew by only 0.1%, with an additional 392,665 added to the U.S. population from July 2020 to July 2021, bringing the nation’s count to 331.8 million people, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The U.S. has been experiencing slow population growth for years but the pandemic exacerbated that trend. This past year was the first time since 1937 that the nation’s population grew by less than 1 million people. (Read more)

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New York Times report: ‘Most of the World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent Infection From Omicron’

Sergey Ponomarev/NYT

Incredibly disheartening, and anti-vaxxers are likely having a field day with this report. But it’s been known all through the course of the pandemic that if not enough people took the necessary precautions, then the virus would mutate. Omicron is the end result of widespread belligerence, and ultimately the blame belongs to all the ordinary people demanding that they are ‘done with COVID.’ Guess what, we’ll never be ‘done with COVID’ now, fools. - 

A growing body of preliminary research suggests the Covid vaccines used in most of the world offer almost no defense against becoming infected by the highly contagious Omicron variant. 

All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced by a booster, appear to have initial success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world. 

The other shots — including those from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and vaccines manufactured in China and Russia — do little to nothing to stop the spread of Omicron, early research shows. And because most countries have built their inoculation programs around these vaccines, the gap could have a profound impact on the course of the pandemic. 

A global surge of infections in a world where billions of people remain unvaccinated not only threatens the health of vulnerable individuals but also increases the opportunity for the emergence of yet more variants. The disparity in the ability of countries to weather the pandemic will almost certainly deepen. And the news about limited vaccine efficacy against Omicron infection could depress demand for vaccination throughout the developing world, where many people are already hesitant or preoccupied with other health problems. 

Most evidence so far is based on laboratory experiments, which do not capture the full range of the body’s immune response, and not from tracking the effect on real-world populations. The results are striking, however. (Read more)

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'Fell victim to authoritarian tendencies.’ United States added to the list of ‘backsliding democracies’ for the first time

Julio Cortez/AP

The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance report is a sobering indictment of America in the 21st century. But we are hardly alone in the global march toward tyranny. It is human nature, especially in times of turmoil, to place security - and protection from ‘the other’ - above individual liberty. -

The United States for the first time was added to a list of “backsliding democracies” in a report released Monday by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 

“The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale,” the International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy 2021 report said. 

The study, which analyzed trends from 2020 to 2021, found that more than a quarter of the world’s population now lives in democratically backsliding countries, which International IDEA defines as nations seeing a gradual decline in the quality of their democracy. 

“The world is becoming more authoritarian as nondemocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by adopting their tactics of restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law, exacerbated by what threatens to become a ‘new normal’ of covid-19 restrictions,” the report found. “The number [of countries] moving in the direction of authoritarianism is three times the number moving toward democracy.” 

International IDEA classes countries as democratic (which includes those backsliding), “hybrid,” and authoritarian, the latter two of which it considers to be nondemocratic. It bases its analysis on 50 years of democratic indicators tracked in about 160 countries. 

The report found that some of “the most worrying” democratic backsliding happened in some of the world’s largest countries, including Brazil and India. It also highlighted “concerning democratic declines” in the United States and three European Union members: Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. (Read more)

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Are American diplomats and intelligence officials being targeted with a mysterious illness by a foreign adversary?

Bianca Bagnarelli

Falls under the category of conspiracy theory, as nothing has been proven outright; but it’s also entirely plausible and the bio-terrorist threat must be taken seriously. The Russians, in particular, are not above this sort of thing. And that is putting it kindly. Jerusalem Post -  

A suspected case of "Havana syndrome" was detected in Colombia last week, the most recent in a series of suspicious attacks that appear to target US diplomatic and intelligence personnel. This latest incident appeared to happen just days before the visit of the US secretary of state. What this means is that these attacks may be targeted and timed – that they are not random and that a powerful adversary of the US is using them systematically.   

“US embassy staff in Bogota may have been injured by the mysterious illness, which causes a painful sound in the ears, fatigue and dizziness,” the BBC reports. “First reported in Cuba in 2016, US diplomats around the world have since reported cases of the syndrome. Its origins are unknown, with some speculating it is a type of weapon.”  

The Wall Street Journal reported the most recent attack, which included “unexplained health incidents,” according to an email sent by US Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to visit this month.   

In August, US officials said “the Vietnam leg of US Vice President Kamala Harris' South Asia trip had to be delayed by a few hours due to reports of two US diplomatic personnel coming down with the mysterious combination of ailments that have come to be known as Havana Syndrome.” 

The embassy said that there had been a "possible anomalous health incident in Hanoi," a phrase Washington has used to describe the syndrome. The incidents began in Cuba in 2016 but have also been identified in Germany, Austria, Russia and China, according to reports. 

EARLIER THIS year it was reported that the US State Department would gather more information on the health of diplomats after complaints they were not taking this seriously. According to The Independent, “US diplomats who have suffered from the mysterious “Havana Syndrome” tore into Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a recent meeting, arguing that the government hasn’t done enough to help victims and has brushed off their concerns as vague unexplained health incidents (UHIs).”  

There is some dispute within the US government and between recent administrations about what is happening. Some 200 diplomats and intelligence members have been affected. Although details are classified, there is a question over whether these are random "incidents" or targeted attacks. According to a New York Times report, more than half the victims of the syndrome are CIA officers. That report on October 1 said there are 100 CIA officer victims. According to another Times report, the CIA even recalled its Vienna station chief over the handling of the incidents. US lawmakers have backed changes to address the syndrome's victims, and the CIA is trying to increase attempts to confront the incidents. (Read more)

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Another sobering COVID-19 milestone: 200 million worldwide infected, 4.5 million dead

Photo: World Economic Forum

The Biden administration is set to announce that all foreign visitors will be required to have been vaccinated before entering the country. From Marketwatch - 

The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness headed above 200 million on Thursday, while the death toll climbed above 4.25 million according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. leads the world with a total of 35.3 million cases and in deaths with 614,785 as the highly infectious delta variant continues to spread fast, especially in states with low vaccination rates. New cases are rising sharply and and the U.S. is now averaging more than seven times as many cases a day as it was at the beginning of July, according to a New York Times tracker. The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The requirement would come as part of the administration's phased approach to easing travel restrictions for foreign citizens to the country. No timeline has yet been determined, as interagency working groups study how and when to safely move toward resuming normal travel. India is second by cases at 31.8 million and third by deaths at 426,290 according to its official numbers, which are expected to be undercounted. Brazil is second in deaths at 559,607, but is third in cases at 20 million. Mexico has fourth-highest death toll at 242,547 but has recorded just 2.9 million cases, according to its official numbers. In Europe, Russia continues to pull ahead of the U.K. by deaths at 159,803, while the U.K. has 130,300, making Russia the country with the fifth-highest death toll in the world and highest in Europe.

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Week in Review, 07/15 - 07/21

A ‘pretty dark story about what’s happening in the U.S.’ Life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years in 2020 as COVID raged the country, and may continue to drop in the years ahead as the pandemic’s long-term effects become more apparent

Very discouraging, and a direct result of all the disinfo, myths, conspiracy theories, and blatant falsehoods that far too many Americans are desperately clinging to: U.S. COVID cases rise as Delta variant spreads

‘With vaccination rates still not at the threshold needed to stop the spread of Covid-19, most Americans who are unprotected will likely contract the rapidly spreading Delta variant, one expert said’

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky: ‘This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated’

Starting to feel as though all the progress we made in the last few months is about to be completely lost: Arkansas Children’s Hospital doctor warns of critically ill kids with COVID-19

From a doctor in Alabama, last in the nation in vaccination rates: ‘One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late’

'Pandemic profiteers' are using deceptive tactics to peddle products and subscriptions; ‘Federal Trade Commission is under pressure to crack down.’ If America were a sane society, spreading vaccine disinfo for profit during a deadly pandemic would be a felony and worse. We’re done for

President Biden slams Facebook, says ‘they’re killing people’ for allowing vaccine disinfo on their platform: Spreading blatant and deadly falsehoods in a time of national emergency is not ‘free speech.’  All rights and privileges can, and will, be abused. Social media companies should not be in the business of enabling such abuse; not when lives are on the line

The Los Angeles Times editorial board argues that it’s time to force the unvaccinated to get incolucated

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade compares choosing not to get vaccinated to cliff diving, saying people are making the ‘choice’ to die: The unvaccinated do make a ‘choice to die,’ so to speak, but it’s not the choice of people they may be spreading their germs to. Is that not bloody obvious by now? Oh, but it’s ‘not their job to protect anybody,’ he says. A-ha. This is what we’re up against

FAA and TSA sound alarm on sharp increase in in-flight incidents involving unruly passengers, the overwhelming majority of these being mask disputes. ‘(M)ore than 85 physical assaults on TSA officers since the beginning of the pandemic’

Unvaccinated Trump supporter on Cape Cod who spread vaccine conspiracies dies after battle with COVID: Of course, many are saying the lady got what she deserved. But it’s very sad. Just so much death that could have been prevented

India’s COVID death toll is estimated to be up to ten times higher than the 415,000 reported by the nationalist regime: By my very rough (possibly incorrect) calculations, if Indians are dying at the same rate as they have in America, then about 2.5 million would be dead. But this report says it is somewhere between 3.4 and 4.7 million, meaning they are dying at a higher rate than Americans

Coming soon to America, no doubt. Mucormycosis: India records more than 4,300 'black fungus' deaths, mostly affecting COVID-19 patients

‘Africa is now in the deadliest stage of its pandemic, and there is little prospect of relief in sight’

Trudeau: ‘Canada could open its border to fully vaccinated Americans for nonessential travel as early as mid-August’

States that ended federal unemployment benefits see no clear-cut job gains: A lot of people are getting fed-up with being taken completely for granted in return for peanuts. We’ve heard a lot of talk of that lately, and these stagnant numbers would appear to back that up

New revelations emerge in the ‘Kremlin papers,’ with intelligence agencies confirming the Russians had compromising information on Trump and he was therefore viewed as the person to ‘destabilize’ America (mission accomplished)

Another omen that institutions are failing and the constitutional republic is in worse shape than we even realize: The most powerful man in the U.S. Armed Forces feared potential ‘Reichstag moment’ aimed at keeping Trump in power

It’s as though we’re becoming some Northern Ireland, only much larger and messier: Two men charged in plot to blow up Democratic Party headquarters in California

The Arizona recount - A scam of epic proportions, but #Cult45 sheep will commit Harakiri before ever admitting how badly they are being duped. Or are they even being duped? So long as their pet hatreds are being stoked, they are forever loyal to their leader and will always play along with the lies: We now know exactly what the Trump-backed Arizona ‘audit’ is going to do

‘Support for secession is growing among every partisan group in the months following the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol but particularly among southern Republicans, a new poll found.’ America is not going to remain intact. Sometime in the next decade or two, it’s all coming apart. Simply because Americans want nothing more than to tear each others’ throats out. We really do not like one another

‘Free speech’ does not drown out bad speech. The ‘ugly truth’ of how Facebook enables political extremism may just be that Zuckerberg is a naive dope with a little too much faith in people. At least that’s what a new book essentially claims

A local judge ordered a New Jersey Trump supporter to take down anti-Biden banners over obscenity complaints: Would wager anything that if this stupid woman lived mostly among fellow Trump supporters, and an outspoken Biden supporter moved in among them, she and her fellow travelers wouldn’t be so kind to that individual. Trump supporters have proven time and again they only care about their rights, and not yours. Liberty for me, but not for thee. At the core, they are overgrown schoolyard bullies

Yeah, we’ve got a real Bolshevik in the White House alright (/s). President Biden: ‘Communism is a failed system -- a universally failed system. And I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute.’ Deems Cuba ‘a failed state’

White House to issue advisory to companies about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong; ‘The situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating. And the Chinese government is not keeping its commitment that it made how it would deal ... with Hong Kong’

Anti-Semitic activists hiding behind specious, misleading, and very selective human rights concerns to punish the Jewish State for having the gall to exist is a great evil. Thankfully, unlike Ben and Jerry’s, not that many corporations have bowed to the pressure from the likes of BDS, and are still doing business in the region

‘Several of the central figures under investigation by the Haitian authorities in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse gathered in the months before the killing to discuss rebuilding the troubled nation once the president was out of power’

The days of pretending climate change isn’t a reality are long past, as extreme weather events only continue to increase in frequency and intensity. A terrible tragedy unfolding in Central Europe as at least 120 are dead in widespread flooding, 100 of those alone in Germany

Continued prayers for all: Merkel and German lawmakers approve emergency relief aid for those affected by deadly floods; dozens still missing

At least twenty-five killed in massive flooding in Henan province, China

Mysterious illness killing songbirds in several eastern states; Massachusetts officials urge residents to remove bird feeders and bird baths

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Week in review, 06/20 - 06/26

Photo: AP

Relieved this whole saga is coming to an end: ‘A judge sentenced former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin on Friday to 22-and-a-half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd’

‘4.8 undiagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infections for every diagnosed case of COVID-19, and an estimated 16.8 million infections were undiagnosed by mid-July 2020 in the United States’

Delta Plus is now a COVID-19 ‘variant of concern,’ as three Indian states told to keep watch and the variant has been detected in at least nine other countries (including the USA)

99.9% of COVID hospitalizations and 99.2% of deaths in May were unvaccinated people

Scientists discovering that either COVID or COVID symptoms are causing some patients’ brains to shrink

COVID-19 took a major toll on the United Kingdom, as deaths outnumbered births for the first time in over forty years and the increase in the death rate was the highest since World War II

‘Republican states are failing to meet the basic needs of their residents. Among unvaccinated Americans, infection rates are climbing. More will get sick in those places, and some will die. Republicans are unwilling or incapable of meeting the challenge’

Graph: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Is the current rise in inflation a temporary post-COVID effect, or is it here to stay?

As a one-time retail worker, I am delighted to see this happening: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job.’ Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work

Buyers paying up to a million dollars over asking price for houses: A decaying nation, and yet more proof that it has become an evil country as well. Ordinary people are being deprived of living in actual homes, at an increasingly rapid, scary pace. For no legitimate reason other than shameless greed

Gen. Mark A. Milley. Photo: Getty Images

Top U.S. general rejected Trump suggestions military should ‘crack skulls’ during protests last year: The people crowing the most about ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom’ are always the ones most eager to silent dissent, and this is their hero and protector. No real mystery anymore as to why millions are loyal to Donald Trump

The GOP is not upset that young people are being indoctrinated into an ideology, only that it’s not their ideology that is being forced: Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill requiring college students and professors to register their political beliefs with the state

DOJ sues Georgia over voting restrictions law

FBI issues warning that frustrated QAnon adherents no longer ‘trust the plan’ and may begin to resort to real-world violence: QAnon is not dead, it is evolving into something far worse

January 6 was child’s play compared to what is to come: ‘However much crazy you think is percolating in American society right now, you are very likely underestimating the situation.’ The appetite for political violence is growing on the American right

America is a nation abandoning meritocratic principles, and this will be our downfall. George Will: Attacking ‘merit’ in the name of ‘equity’ is a prescription for mediocrity

‘(A) people without a heart, unable to see half their countrymen and countrywomen as anything but the enemy.’ Timothy Egan: America is getting meaner

Take this with a grain of salt. I live in the Commonwealth, and have traveled most everywhere east of the Mississippi. There’s good and bad everywhere: Massachusetts ranked among the ‘least kind’ states in America in study

Photo: Kai Geng

The discovery of an unknown, now extinct, species of humans? Yeah, that would be a pretty big deal: Scientists hail stunning 'Dragon Man' discovery

‘Hundreds of birds are dying without explanation in parts of the South and Midwest. Wildlife experts in at least six states and Washington, D.C., have reported an increase in sick or dying birds in the past month’

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Week in review, 04/24 - 04/30

Seems to me the majority of people are no longer interested in reading news articles (or reading, period), and most especially if their narrow worldviews are in any manner challenged. Echo chambers that demand no critical thinking are so much easier and provide far more entertainment for the masses. As the old saying goes, of course, 'the masses are asses.' Always been true, and truer still today in this unprecedented technological age. All the information in the world at our fingertips, yet blissful ignorance is always going to prevail …

In defense of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Efforts by the far-right to portray Dr. Fauci as ‘some bespectacled Beelzebub’ fall flat and are ultimately self-defeating

Not yet close to America’s death toll, but at the rate they’re going it may not be long: India passes 200,000 Covid-19 deaths as new cases spike to a world-record 360,960 in one day, ‘widespread shortages of medical oxygen and beds’

‘Russia has launched a major campaign using ministries, companies and pro-Kremlin media to promote the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and spread fake news that the West and the European Union are trying to undermine the shot, an EU agency said in a report Wednesday’

‘The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines were found to be 94% effective at preventing hospitalizations among people ages 65 and over in a real-world study published Wednesday by the CDC’

Beware of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, another huckster having great success peddling fear and disinformation about COVID vaccines to evangelicals and others predisposed to be anti-vaccine

‘A man and his three sons are facing criminal charges after they sold more than $1 million worth of toxic industrial bleach that was fraudulently marketed as a cure for COVID-19 and other serious medical conditions, federal prosecutors said’

‘The Border Patrol says it has insufficient time and space to conduct coronavirus testing at crowded processing stations.’ This obviously needs to be rectified. At the very least, it should be ensured those coming to this country are not spreading disease

If Florida sees a surge in COVID infections soon, we’ll know where it likely started: 15,269 pack Jacksonville arena for UFC event

Massachusetts surpasses 640,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with a statewide death total of 17,199; an estimated 30,000 active cases

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announces the final phase of the Commonwealth’s reopening plan

Photo: AP

The United States formally recognizes the mass slaughter of Armenians by Ottman Turks as a genocide: Over a century in the making, and what leverage do Erodgan and Turkey really have to do anything but pout over it?

Turkish despot Erdogan calls on President Biden to reverse calling the mass killings of Armenians a genocide

Prayers for the innocents left behind: U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan already underway, Pentagon confirms

President Biden unveils American Families Plan, including provision for universal preschool: It is said the first three years of a child’s life are the most important in determining their life course, and I firmly believe learning should begin young. As soon as possible. Ideally, it would not be the federal government providing these services, and I’m certain the president understands this. The government should not have to cajole parents and communities into properly educating their children, but here we are. We cannot continue to allow our kids to fall behind so many other nations, especially those most hostile to us

‘No one will have to endure inane punditry that Biden has finally “grown into the presidency.” He is comfortable in his new job — and determined to do big things.’ Jennifer Rubin: Biden’s address to Congress proves we have an adult back in the presidency

Approval ratings must be always taken with a grain of salt, as data can always be twisted to suit an agenda and the opinions of most Americans are worthless to begin with. For whatever those ratings are worth, though, President Biden’s approval is considerably higher than his predecessor’s were at this time in 2017. What is most important is that this president is leading by example, conducting himself with dignity, and America is finally making a little bit of progress in the fight against COVID-19

Photo: PolitiFact

Fact check: No, President Biden is not going to prevent us from eating red meat

Fresh off election falsehoods, Republicans serve up a whopper about President Biden

‘At some point, the blame for modern Republicanism must pass from the party to an electorate that could cure it at once by levying harsher political costs.’ Janan Ganesh: Blame the U.S. electorate for the Republican Party’s success

‘The G.O.P. response to the Biden agenda has been anemic because the base doesn’t care about mere legislation, just their own cultural standing.’ David Brooks: The GOP is getting even worse, and Trumpians are having a venomous panic attack

Any wonder these people went to the desperate lengths they did to prevent a lawfully elected president from taking office? Feds execute early morning raid of Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office in investigation of his dealings in Ukraine

Arizona Republicans choose a known conspiracy theorist to lead another futile audit of last fall’s election: Can gaslighting be any more shameless than this? Why are we still litigating an election that is over, and why are so many committed to this Big Lie when there has not been even one shred of credible evidence there was any election tampering? These f**kers lost and really should move on with their lives, but endless grievance is what the base demands and where the money is

Tucker Carlson’s anti-mask rant: A ‘useful data point for how American conservatism has transformed, especially in the Trump era, from a movement that (at least putatively) believes in limited government to one that primarily prizes marshaling the power of the state to punish those who disagree with it’

‘In a world where nothing is true, everything is permitted.’ Max Boot: The American right is becoming completely untethered from reality

‘White conservatives always assume they’re on the side of popular opinion.’ Absolutely true, and why so many of them accepted the Big Lie, even without real evidence. A well-reasoned response to an editorial writer who complained of ‘wokeness’ ruining his experience at Disney World

‘(T)his paragon of limited government is threatening to hurt companies who express opinions he disagrees with.’ Ted Cruz says the quiet part out loud

Sure, a multi-billion dollar, majority black sports league is going to expel its most marketable star to appease eternally aggrieved white people. Okay: Ohio bar owner refuses to show NBA games until LeBron James is ‘expelled’ from the league

Federal hate crimes charges filed against the Georgia men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery

Conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction charges added in 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Menthol cigarette ad, early 1960s

FDA moves to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars: A terrible decision that is going to adversely affect - or at least seriously piss off - many black Americans. This country has far more pressing issues than to engage in this anti-smoking hysteria any longer. So it’s unhealthy, who cares!? I do not care. All of you out there have made life in this country and world so god-damn stressful with all your noise and bulls**t, and I’m supposed to feel sorry for smoking a cigarette? F**k off

Good: U.S. population grew over the last decade at its slowest rate since the 1930s

If sanity prevailed, this would be hailed as an achievement and not something to hide: Chinese government censoring reports that their population fell for the first time in decades

Alexei Navalny makes court appearance via video link, calls out Putin as ‘a king with no clothes’ and says Russians are being turned into slaves

Rest in Peace, Michael Collins. Apollo 11 astronaut dies at age 90

Pioneer League to replace extra innings with a home run derby: Utterly hate this idea with a passion. Settling games with a skills contest has made a joke of hockey, and it has no place in baseball. Play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, stop fixing that which isn’t broken

Got to hand it to Bryce Harper, the guy is tough: Phillies star says he ‘feels good’ after taking a 97 MPH pitch to the face from Cardinals pitcher Genesis Cabrera on Wednesday night

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.