I don't see why anyone would think that the US is still ot trying to destroy and subjugate Afghanistan despite pulling back on direct military power and reverting to siege warfare [and subterfuge]. The US leopard does not know how to change it's spots.

I heard one analysis that said that China pumped money into the economy by construction (instead of a war machine or 'quantitative easing' to the financial sector, as the us does) to provide liquidity and income to the people and increase money supply to everyone, not just for profits to private business. New building was not the only goal of the policy, and a downturn in construction and the construction business sector, not entirely private, is covered by the state treasury. It worked -- poverty levels were reduced because the workers' got income.

I think it was Daszak who said 'What do get when you mix science and politics? You get politics."

So far I see him as being a credible source, and don't know of any lies from him. Fauchi tries to be but is too wrapped up in politics and worrying about the effects of telling the truth (as when he said the public didn't need to wear N95 masks), and is too easily intimidated. The other virologists and scientists on those podcasts I am much more familiar with, and trust their intentions as well as their expertise, after having listening to last year of pods and some well before those, and 'fact checking' what they say myself about the science.

I'm looking at possible motives in only minor ways -- I check the data, evidence, and science from a wide variety of sources, but I also take into account the motives of those saying it was created in a lab, which is part of the anti-China propaganda campaigns, as the domestic politics. This sounds to me very like the lies about Syria using chemical weapons, anti-Iran, anti-Lybia, anti-Venezueal, western sponsored coup in Ukraine, WMDs in Iraq, anti-Palestinian stories, novochok lies, and various false flags, on and on, throughout the years, all in the same imperialist patterns. The 'Covid drama' exists only because the politicians and media created it. Otherwise it's a fairly typical pandemic from a scientific and medical standpoint, and a normal evolutionary reification of the other Corona, or other viruses.

Cut through the noise and look at the latest podcasts at microbe.tv to hear what the top experts in virology and evolution say about this (with links to data and scientific papers). It's past time to put the nonsense to rest.

TWiV 762: SARS-CoV-2 origins with Robert Garry
This Week in Virology - May 30, 2021
Robert Garry joins TWiV to explain how the molecular biology of SARS-CoV-2 shows that it came from Nature and not a lab, including the receptor binding domain, the furin cleavage site, and the two lineages circulating in Wuhan wildlife markets.

TWiEVO 68: Stepping through time with SARS-CoV-2
This Week in Evolution - May 29, 2021
Nels and Vincent explain a new method for calculating the most recent common ancestor of SARS-CoV-2, which concludes that the ancestral virus was circulating in October/November 2019, before its first detection in China.

TWiV 760: SARS-CoV-2 origins with Peter Daszak, Thea Kølsen Fischer, Marion Koopmans
This Week in Virology - May 27, 2021
Peter Daszak, Thea Kølsen Fischer, and Marion Koopmans, members of the WHO team investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2 join TWiV to explain the work done by the committee during phase one, their conclusions, and the extent of work that remains to be done in phase two

People need to learn how to handle information in this "post truth" era and become discerning about sources.

I want to plug three podcasts, now sponsored by Sputnik (in order of my personal preference) Critical Hour, By Any Means Necessary, and Political Misfits -- available on a number of platforms, as well as on the Sputnik News site. Various other good sources can be found through listening to these.

Good to see you are still in the fray, and recovering.

As to catching up on the news, we still got weather, wild bears still do their thing in the woods, and the chimps are still flinging feces at each other and trying to get more power and money as the daily soap opera continues. If the world survives for another ten years there is not much of note, specifically, which will need to be remembered then.

An overall trend is becoming more clear. Russia, China, and a few other countries are becoming more overt in their push-back against the empire, as ways around dealing with become more developed and they are better able and prepared to for any coming battles. Putin is mostly paying attention to Russian domestic issues, as indicated by his 'state of the nation' speech, and my impression is that Russia is less inclined to be 'polite' and play western games as it grows stronger, along with China, and other countries. The US continues to lose power, despite it's blustering, and it's path to decline has not significantly changed but is in the same old ruts. It's not news, or new, but further along.

It's like Spring: yes it's sporadically getting warmer and Summer is still coming, and the spells of hot and cold, wet and dry, will not stop the seasonal changes, so don't sweat it if you miss a few local developments or don't catch up on all the stories, or pass by some of the noise from media, politicians or government. If anything important happens it will be revisited down the road -- just keep an eye on which way the road is headed overall and dwell on recovery and feeling better.

The primary problem with what Biden said is not just that it was stupid and lacking class that that it is a lie, as well as utterly hypocritical. Obviously, the leader of any country is involved in life and death decisions, especially for a nation involved in military actions, but President Putin has been extremely restrained in using force and has been one of the great proponents for peace in the world. He is about as far from being a "killer" as any national leader I can think of.

Once again a US politician spouts made-up lies, as usual. As accustomed to that, and the evils of the US, as I have become, it is as repulsive and destructive as all the earlier times it has happened.

This technical and scientific material is difficult to understand at first, but by persisting, looking things up, and learning it becomes much easier with time.

It's like when I was two or three I understood very little English but only a year or so later I had become much more knowledgeable, even by just listening to the adults talking (listening to ignorant kids spouting nonsense, not so much). About the same with learning computers, or any field of knowledge: learn from the best sources, especially the top professional scientific researchers, professors, and specialists, and don't just believe everything you hear, especially from politicians and those with hidden agendas.

Gotta do the research for yourself, and see the contradicting narratives to have confidence in the material.

This technical and scientific material is difficult to understand at first, but by persisting, looking things up, and learning it becomes much easier with time.

It's like when I was two or three I understood very little English but only a year or so later I had become much more knowledgeable, even by just listening to the adults talking (listening to ignorant kids spouting nonsense, not so much). About the same with learning computers, or any field of knowledge: learn from the best sources, especially the top professional scientific researchers, professors, and specialists, and don't just believe everything you hear, especially from politicians and those with hidden agendas.

Gotta do the research for yourself, and see the contradicting narratives to have confidence in the material.

This is very flaky and not based of solid science, or should be relied upon, and has gross distortions and misinformation which I spotted right away. I have been educating myself for the year since the covid-19 disease broke out, in virology, immune systems, and related materials, via micro.tv, and the TWIV, Immune, and related podcasts, as well a number of the other sources, including Vincent Racaniello's (Columbia University) course on virology videos, Brian Barker's (Drew University) immunology course, and scientific papers and news from a variety of places (Stat magazine, Nature Journal, and other regular publications and organizations).

Solid information can be had at microbe.tv and Prof Racaniello's virology.blog, as well as the experts on the podcasts during the course of discussion and sources they link to, and is almost all non-political but all science and medicine based (including the honest discussion of uncertainty and data inherent in those fields). This is the real stuff and cutting edge, and has been for decades.