variety 20180811

The monsoon season progresses here in sunny upstate NY 🙂

What to expect from Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh [Truthout] https://truthout.org/articles/trump-card-brett-kavanaugh-and-the-unitary-executive-theory/

Monstanto, Glyphosates, etc: California plaintiff with cancer wins damages vs the industrial giant [BBC]. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45152546

Another item relating to our denialist EPA: Court orders EPA to ban another harmful substance [The Hill]: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/401086-court-orders-trump-epa-to-ban-controversial-pesticide

Trump, protectionism: Giving protectionism a bad name? [NC] https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/08/trump-giving-protectionism-bad-name.html

A possible explanation to Trump’s repeated 180 degree turns in his foreign policy rhetoric. [Project Syndicate] https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-leading-america-to-victorious-decline-by-anatole-kaletsky-2018-08

Run on the Turkish Lira [Marketwatch]: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-reasons-why-the-selloff-in-turkeys-lira-matters-to-global-markets-2018-08-10 

Bonus: Chomsky on regime change in Nicaragua [CounterPunch]:  https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/08/03/chomsky-on-regime-change-in-nicaragua/

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Regarding the Turkish currency crisis… I’m concerned this would reintroduce the flow-of-refugees issue to the EU, which just leads to worsening reactionary right-wing politics as its end result.

A flow of refugees could happen in a number of ways. One possibility is austerity required by bailout lenders playing the role of debt collector (whether the IMF/EU banks, or geopolitical partners to the east). Another even worse one is if Turkey’s lenders instigate a proxy conflict / attempted regime change. This is possible, considering the Trump administration’s preference for high drama, Saudi policy currently passing thru the crazy phase of the moon, and Turkey’s generally strategic location. If there is even a hint of talks about pipelines as part of the financial dealings (most especially if involving Iran), that could be trigger another round of messy international relations type experimentation. Ideally the crisis would be resolved relatively soon – otherwise, if given enough time, neocon’s will eventually reduce the debate to their level.

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