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Ian Welsh1 day ago
Canadian Housing And Immigration Policy[image: Canadian Housing And Immigration Policy]
So, Canada has done two interesting things in the last couple years to deal
with the effects of Covid. The first is let in a lot more immigrants:
Canada added more than 431,000 new permanent residents last year, the
largest annual increase in its history, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
seeks to ease the country’s labor shortages.
The new admissions met the 2022 target set by Trudeau’s government and
exceeded the prior year’s record of about 401,000 newcomers, according to a
release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ... read more
Ian Welsh is not happy. As usual.
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Ian Welsh2 days ago
As China Rises, Europe Falls[image: As China Rises, Europe Falls]
Some interesting news in the semiconductor wars:
BREAKING: Netherlands firm ASML's stocks have been falling since China's
Huawei unveiled a new patent in Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, confirming
the worst fears of the firm's executives who have opposed US restrictions
(Motley Fool).
— SGM World News (@SGMWorldnews) December 31, 2022
Now, ASML had indeed opposed US restrictions. They said explicitly that in
the case of sanctions, China would learn how to make the machines
themselves.
Europe’s technological lead is being destroyed by followi... read more
The Republican party is foolish.
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Ian Welsh3 days ago
Obvious Predictions For 2023[image: Obvious Predictions For 2023]
*Covid *will not miraculously end. New variants will continue to be born,
and they will generally be optimized for immune escape and damage.
Hospitals in most countries will continue to be under high strain, because
governments will keep pretending Covid is over when it is not and that it
doesn’t ravage people’s immune systems. I find this chart of Canada’s Covid
experience applies to most countries in spirit.
*This will likely be the warmest year on record*, but the coldest year of
the rest of your life and if it isn’t, it’ll be in the top 5 o... read more
Ian Welsh is not happy. As usual.
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Ian Welsh3 days ago
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 1, 2023[image: Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 1, 2023]
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 1, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
*The dark side*
*Dress Rehearsal: Trump’s attempt almost two years ago to undermine the
2020 election reads today like a blueprint drawn for a future autocrat.*
Fintan O’Toole, January 19, 2023 issue [The New York Review]
To understand the attempted coup that culminated in the assault on the
Capitol on January 6, 2021, it is useful to go back to Donald Trump’s
immediate response to the election he actually won, in 2016. The head of
his transition team, ... read more
Iritations . . ,
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Ian Welsh5 days ago
Open Thread[image: Open Thread]
Use to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.
read more
More please.
Sooner is better. As soon as you can is best.
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Ian Welsh6 days ago
How To Relax, Change & Be Free[image: How To Relax, Change & Be Free]
Jiddu Krishnamurti was a lecturer and teacher for almost 50 years. He was
famous, there are a lot of books transcribing his talks, and he maybe got
one person enlightened.
Jiddu was the anti-guru, guru. He didn’t want to give concrete
instructions, because when people follow concrete instructions they aren’t
free: they’ve got a system and they’re just enacting the system.
Reading him is frustrating. I’ve read his lectures multiple times over the
years, and each time understood a bit more of what he was saying.
One main point is that everyone... read more
Worth a try.
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
A Map Showing The Two Main Geopolitical Blocs[image: A Map Showing The Two Main Geopolitical Blocs]
Yeah, it is mostly this simple:
It really is the imperialist West vs. the entire world
This is how they voted on a UN resolution calling for a new international
economic order based on equity, sovereign equality, and cooperation,
opposing unilateral sanctions and advocating for debt relief for the Global
South https://t.co/veNO3uMdC5 pic.twitter.com/wy6amH7TUm
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 15, 2022
This is pretty much the map for UN resolutions aimed at Russia, too.
As I’ve noted before the bottom line is that if you... read more
The governments of the world are not wise.
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
A New Age Of Vertical Integration[image: A New Age Of Vertical Integration]
There was a time when companies preferred vertical integration: they wanted
to own their supply chain. Then, for a long time, the mantra was to
concentrate on one’s core business and let other specialists take care of
all the non-core parts of your business.
Well…
The reason vertical farming failed is that if you want to do it you also
need to control your power source. In a world where civilization is slowly
collapsing, you need vertical integration.https://t.co/jXtY1GOKg5
— Ian Welsh (@iwelsh) December 25, 2022
This is no longer viable... read more
Supply chains are disturbed.
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 25, 2022[image: Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 25, 2022]
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 25, 2022
by Tony Wikrent
[Twitter, via Naked Capitalism Water Cooler 12-23-2022]
Justin Welby, as Archbishop of Canterbury, was pontificating on Twitter
yesterday. I noted he said he said ‘The Magnificat turns the world upside
down’. I agree, it does. So trust me, this is all about economics, and why
the Church is failing on this key issue. A thread….
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) December 23, 2022
The Magnificat turns the world upside down.
A young girl in an unknown ... read more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullius_in_verba
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
Merry Christmas[image: Merry Christmas]
I hope you’re having a good one, and if you aren’t, consider my thoughts
with you, for they are.
read more
I had a good solstace.
Happy new year.
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
Open Thread[image: Open Thread]
Rather delayed today. Used to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.
read more
More please.
Sooner is better. As soon as you can is best.
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Ian Welsh1 week ago
The Decline Of Facebook (Meta)[image: The Decline Of Facebook (Meta)]
Back in August of this year Cheryl Sandberg stepped down as Chief Operating
Officer of Meta, . I’d been keeping a lazy eye of Facebook and Meta for a
while: the organization felt sick to me, not in terms of ethics, but in
terms of health. Sandberg jumping was a sign: the most important insider
other than the founder and CEO leaving.
Then, this week:
Industry icon John Carmack has announced that he's leaving META.
"We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly
self-sabotage and squander effort." https://t.co/xl1FQkFYu... read more
Facebook is fine.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Part III Of My Interview: Twitter and Reasons For Hope[image: Part III Of My Interview: Twitter and Reasons For Hope]
Last of three parts.
Here's the final episode of my interview with @iwelsh. In it, we discuss
the mess that Twitter has become, and Ian shares what gives him hope.
Ian Welsh on Twitter Madness (Part 3 of 3), by @costrike
https://t.co/drcygtQ3VC
— costrike (@costrike) December 21, 2022
*(I am fundraising to determine how much I’ll write this year. If you value
my writing and want more of it, please consider donating.)*
read more
I did listen to them agree with themselves.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
It’s Not Just About Climate Change, It’s About Ecological Collapse[image: It’s Not Just About Climate Change, It’s About Ecological Collapse]
Earthworm Edition:
…they estimated a decline in earthworm abundance of between 33% and 41% in
the last quarter of a century, the period for which the best data was
available…
Dr Matt Shardlow, of the charity Buglife, said earthworms were essential to
healthy soils and productive ecosystems and the decline in UK earthworm
populations – at a rate of about 15% per decade since 1960 – was “deeply
alarming”.
“Devastated earthworm populations in arable soils are to be expected due to
the widespread use of toxic... read more
Many things are temperature dependent.
Many others depend on things that are dependent on temperature.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Consequences Of The End of Zero Covid In China[image: Consequences Of The End of Zero Covid In China]
Back in November I wrote that China’s Zero Covid policy was the right thing
done the wrong way. Briefly after, consequent to some protests against
Zero-Covid, China basically abandoned the policy.
The main problem is the same that exists in almost every country: even the
most competent elites in the world today are, when not graded on a scale,
incompetent buffoons incapable of running anything properly. Zero-Covid
should have been about making necessary infrastructure changes to clean air
so that over time restrictions could b... read more
Big numbers beget big numbers.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Life In The Absence of Coercion[image: Life In The Absence of Coercion]
On Friday I wrote an article which asked two questions: one about what
you’d do if you couldn’t be easily coerced with violence:
Imagine that if you chose no physical object could affect you. Bullets
don’t work, fists don’t work, no one can grab you or put you in handcuffs,
and that’s true of everyone.
The second was:
What if you didn’t need to eat or drink and you cold and heat didn’t bother
you or harm you and you didn’t get sick? You might still want shelter or a
home or objects like books or computers, and objects like cosmetics would
... read more
Coertion has been less effective recently on me.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 18, 2022[image: Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 18, 2022]
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 18, 2022
by Tony Wikrent
*Strategic Political Economy*
*We need the return of the state *
[Tax Research UK, via Naked Capitalism 12-14-2022]
Neoliberalism is built on lies. For decades the deceit at its core has been
ignored because it appeared to deliver prosperity. It does not any more.
That is why everything is unravelling.
The biggest lie that neoliberalism promotes is that all value is created by
private sector business, which claim is contrasted with a claim that
gov... read more
Alternative news.
It may increase one's understanding though it is only distantly related to events.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Open Thread[image: Open Thread]
Use the comments to discuss topics unrelated to the week’s posts.
*(I am fundraising to determine how much I’ll write this year. If you value
my writing and want more of it, please consider donating. )*
read more
More please.
Sooner is better. As soon as you can is best.
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Ian Welsh2 weeks ago
Imagine A World Where Violence Or Need Are Impossible[image: Imagine A World Where Violence Or Need Are Impossible]
There are two main types of coercion in the world.
*The first is violence.* If you don’t do what someone else wants, they will
do something physical to you.
So, imagine if that was impossible. Imagine that if you chose no physical
object could affect you. Bullets don’t work, fists don’t work, no one can
grab you or put you in handcuffs, and that’s true of everyone.
What would change about society if this were true? What would change about
how individuals act?
*The second is need.* What if you didn’t need to eat or drin... read more
Such a world is unstable.
Force appears to work.
Its application pleases a few twisted individuals.
When there are methods to untwist those individuals the world will be better.
20
Ian Welsh3 weeks ago
Interview on Climate Change, the New Cold War and the Rise of China[image: Interview on Climate Change, the New Cold War and the Rise of China]
I did an interview few weeks ago with Chris Oestereich, which he’s putting
up in three parts. I listened to part three today and, while I rarely say
this, I thought it was quite good and if you’re interested in any of these
topics, probably worth your while.
*(I am fundraising to determine how much I’ll write this year. If you value
my writing and want more of it, please consider donating.)*
*Listen to the podcast here.*
read more
Theodore Roosevelt as a boy was advised to speak softly and carry a big stick.
Governments including the U.S. fail to comprehend the U.S. stick.
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