Book publishers just spent 3 weeks in court arguing they have no idea what they’re doing

On August 22, oral arguments ended in the Justice Department’s antitrust trial to block the book publisher Penguin Random House from merging with rival Simon & Schuster. The result of the trial, which is expected to be decided later this fall, will have a massive impact on both the multibillion-dollar book publishing industry and on how the government handles corporate consolidation going forward. Perhaps fittingly for a case with such high stakes, the trial was characterized by obfuscation and downright disinformation nearly the whole way through.

Book publishers just spent 3 weeks in court arguing they have no idea what they’re doing

Everyone pays the cost as the rich keep spending

Everyone pays the cost as the rich keep spending

Meanwhile, the Biden White House is doing what it can to buffer inflationary pain for working people. It has been releasing strategic petroleum reserves in a partly successful effort to lower prices at the pump, extending pandemic-era caps on some student loan payments and pushing for antitrust action in areas where corporate concentration (which has grown hand in hand with financialisation) may be responsible for some inflationary pressure.

But more changes are needed. The success of corporate lobbyists in overturning efforts to roll back carried interest loopholes are shameful. Student debt forgiveness — no matter how generous it is — will not change the fact that the cost of four years of private university in the US (an elastic cost that can be bid up indefinitely by the global rich) is nearly double the median family income. Housing markets continue to cry out for major reform.

I suspect it will take a younger generation to push through these sorts of systemic changes. They simply don’t have as much asset wealth to protect.

Nazism in eastern Europe (and the US)

Any dilettante in History and politics is aware of Nazi kernels in eastern Europe. Like any predatory ideology, such inspiration may become a global threat if not addressed on time, has shown once more the actuality

Nazism in Eastern Europe

Related:

Ukrainian Association in Baraboo honors Nazi collaborators with statues at children’s summer camp

Introducing the Ukrainian Youth Association of America (CYM-A), an old crypto-fascist cult under the heavy influence of the “Bandera movement” since 1946.

Russian Allegations of Rampant Nazism in Europe

The current status of the investigation into the murder of Darya Dugina

*Updated note: The translation links no longer work. You’ll need to copy and paste the links into Google Translate.

The current status of the investigation into the murder of Darya Dugina (translation)

And, most likely, it was not the Americans, but the British. In the USA you have to get in order to eliminate a people, much too many signatures from the very top. And then you would say directly that it was. So it was in Afghanistan with the leader of Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden. The assassination was approved with the signature of President Obama. So it was with the assassination of Iranian General Suleimani on the personal order of President Trump. The British quieter and without the signature collection. And they love their cars. The MINI Cooper, for example. This is a weakness. And the next step – for the beauty of purely English murder it would be to strangle Natalia Vovk somewhere and to give Russia the blame. So you could finish the Whole thing. And the tracks would be blurred.

The articles are in German by independent journalist Thomas Roper. I’ve provided links to the English translations by Google next to them (the language can be switched at the top of the translated articles). He suspects that it was British intelligence, as did Nicolas. Thomas connects Ilya Ponomarev, Michael Khodorkovsky, and Alexei Navalny to George Soros. He also points out that Ilya Ponomarev wrote, and worked, for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is connected to the Free Russia Foundation. CSIS is funded by various Western governments, corporations (oil and defense industries), and NGOs; including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. On another note, quite a few from the Biden Administration have worked at CSIS including Antony Blinken (State Department), Kathleen Hicks (Defense Department), and Kurt M. Campbell (National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific).

Related:

Soros and Kiev supported the group is behind the murder of Darya Dugina (translation)

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