I hope it's not going. I saw the other day that Congress had passed a USPS funding bill. Now if they will only fund the IRS well enough to catch the tax cheats. . .
Russia’s Tech Workers Flee the Country March 9, 2022 at 8:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Financial Times: “The wave of emigration, if permanent, will prove a significant long-term drag on an economy already hit by EU and US sanctions that have crippled its stock market and currency and cut it off from western financing.”
“With almost all European airspace closed to Russian aircraft, flights to Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi have been sold out for days, while other travellers have packed on to buses to the Baltic states.” ===================== Not to mention people fleeing to Finland.
It occurs to me to wonder if Russia's decline might bear comparison (or at least analogy) to that of the Ottoman Empire--another huge country, and in its time a great power. From great power status to extinction took the Ottoman Empire hundreds of years; if we figure it from the Battle of Lepanto to the exile of the Sultan and the founding of the Turkish Republic, that is about 350 years. The Ottomans made numerous and extensive attempts to modernize their manufacturing economy and armed forces, all to little effect.
One of my all-time favorite books, "The Medieval Machine" by Jean Gimpel, makes the argument that the relative technological backwardness of the Orthodox countries compared to the Catholic (and later Protestant) countries can be traced to a religious conservatism that militated against the mechanical clock and therefore all the social and technological advances that sprang from it. John Lewis made a similar argument about the Muslim countries.
I just voted in the special election to replace Devin Nunes. Whoever wins the general election will hardly have time to learn where the House restrooms are before the next election, for which the district boundaries will change. We will yet again be gerrymandered into a Republican district mostly in the mountains to the east and north which really has nothing to do with our urban area. But whoever is elected will have a slight advantage in the new district that coincides with much of our current district. The chance of me doing anything helpful on my way out is not great, but I still did it.
The seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases for the entire state of Illinois is 1227. That's for a population of 12.5 million. And ICU cases, a trailing indicator, stand at 106.
Ukraine is preparing to potentially move its sensitive data and servers to another country if Russia’s invasion continues deeper into the country, said a senior cybersecurity official to Reuters.
Systems of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that were monitoring nuclear material at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have stopped transmitting data, said the agency today, reported Reuters. Same as at Chernobyl yesterday.
Russia admits using thermobaric weapon system in Ukraine, UK says; fears chemical weapons may be next.
The Biden administration is considering sanctioning Russian uranium supplier Rosatom. Huge implications for domestic uranium mining and nuclear power operators.
More images from an earlier Russian airstrike today that destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, where pregnant women and medical staff were present.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has rejected every off-ramp offered by the US to de-escalate and has, instead, ramped up Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, reported Reuters.
Russia’s stock market will not open on Thursday, but the foreign exchange market, money market and repo market will open at 10am Moscow time, said Russia’s central bank, reports Reuters.
======================== Thousands of dockworkers at ports along the US west coast are refusing to handle any Russian cargo in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Dani Anguiano writes. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents about 20,000 workers at 29 ports from Bellingham, Washington, to San Diego, California, announced the policy last week, calling the invasion “an act of aggression that endangers a population of more than 40 million people”. With this action in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we send a strong message that we unequivocally condemn the Russian invasion, said Willie Adams, the ILWU International president. West coast dockworkers are proud to do our part to join with those around the world who are bravely taking a stand and making sacrifices for the good of Ukraine. ============================
I was just thinking of the fleet of USPS vehicles that DeJoy ordered...gas powered instead of electric.
ReplyDeleteHow's that going now? Ha!
I hope it's not going. I saw the other day that Congress had passed a USPS funding bill. Now if they will only fund the IRS well enough to catch the tax cheats. . .
DeleteRussia’s Tech Workers Flee the Country
ReplyDeleteMarch 9, 2022 at 8:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Financial Times: “The wave of emigration, if permanent, will prove a significant long-term drag on an economy already hit by EU and US sanctions that have crippled its stock market and currency and cut it off from western financing.”
“With almost all European airspace closed to Russian aircraft, flights to Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi have been sold out for days, while other travellers have packed on to buses to the Baltic states.”
=====================
Not to mention people fleeing to Finland.
It occurs to me to wonder if Russia's decline might bear comparison (or at least analogy) to that of the Ottoman Empire--another huge country, and in its time a great power. From great power status to extinction took the Ottoman Empire hundreds of years; if we figure it from the Battle of Lepanto to the exile of the Sultan and the founding of the Turkish Republic, that is about 350 years. The Ottomans made numerous and extensive attempts to modernize their manufacturing economy and armed forces, all to little effect.
DeleteGee, that would be a great essay question for a history exam! Or a prompt for a term paper, more likely.
DeleteOne of my all-time favorite books, "The Medieval Machine" by Jean Gimpel, makes the argument that the relative technological backwardness of the Orthodox countries compared to the Catholic (and later Protestant) countries can be traced to a religious conservatism that militated against the mechanical clock and therefore all the social and technological advances that sprang from it. John Lewis made a similar argument about the Muslim countries.
DeleteHow Beijing manages its relations with Moscow will help define it as a great power. [Click]
ReplyDeleteThe Russian leader is creating the very Western alliance he feared. [Click]
Richard Russo: I’d run out of sympathy for COVID skeptics. Then I remembered my father’s stiff neck. [Click]
I just voted in the special election to replace Devin Nunes. Whoever wins the general election will hardly have time to learn where the House restrooms are before the next election, for which the district boundaries will change. We will yet again be gerrymandered into a Republican district mostly in the mountains to the east and north which really has nothing to do with our urban area. But whoever is elected will have a slight advantage in the new district that coincides with much of our current district. The chance of me doing anything helpful on my way out is not great, but I still did it.
ReplyDeleteThe seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases for the entire state of Illinois is 1227. That's for a population of 12.5 million. And ICU cases, a trailing indicator, stand at 106.
ReplyDeleteA New Iron Curtain Drops On Russia [Click]
ReplyDeleteEndurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic [Click] Wow! 107 years to the day after it sank in 10,000 feet of water. Degree of preservation astounding.
ReplyDeletePutin’s War updates [Click]
ReplyDeleteUkraine is preparing to potentially move its sensitive data and servers to another country if Russia’s invasion continues deeper into the country, said a senior cybersecurity official to Reuters.
Systems of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that were monitoring nuclear material at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have stopped transmitting data, said the agency today, reported Reuters. Same as at Chernobyl yesterday.
Russia admits using thermobaric weapon system in Ukraine, UK says; fears chemical weapons may be next.
The Biden administration is considering sanctioning Russian uranium supplier Rosatom. Huge implications for domestic uranium mining and nuclear power operators.
More images from an earlier Russian airstrike today that destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, where pregnant women and medical staff were present.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has rejected every off-ramp offered by the US to de-escalate and has, instead, ramped up Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, reported Reuters.
Russia’s stock market will not open on Thursday, but the foreign exchange market, money market and repo market will open at 10am Moscow time, said Russia’s central bank, reports Reuters.
========================
Thousands of dockworkers at ports along the US west coast are refusing to handle any Russian cargo in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Dani Anguiano writes.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents about 20,000 workers at 29 ports from Bellingham, Washington, to San Diego, California, announced the policy last week, calling the invasion “an act of aggression that endangers a population of more than 40 million people”.
With this action in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we send a strong message that we unequivocally condemn the Russian invasion, said Willie Adams, the ILWU International president. West coast dockworkers are proud to do our part to join with those around the world who are bravely taking a stand and making sacrifices for the good of Ukraine.
============================
Foreign volunteers eligible for Ukrainian citizenship in fight against Russia, Ukraine says [Click]
Robert Reich: We aren’t going after Russian oligarchs in the right way. Here’s how to do it [Click] Well, maybe.
The Coronavirus’s Next Move [Click] Different ways it could evolve, and how we will have to deal with each.
ReplyDeleteOr rather, how we should deal with each.
Delete