YouTube has the video of the Oliver Stone production of The Putin Interviews – Part 1 (English Subtitles).

Published on Jun 13, 2017

Oliver Stone interviews the Russian president Vladimir Putin about divisive issues related to the US-Russia relations.

Download Links to the series:

PART 1 (504 mb): https://fil.email/5lMzwL9R

PART 2 (655 mb): https://fil.email/nRvAvpBj

PART 3 (498 mb): https://fil.email/YDd8CART

Since this is subtitled, try to view this full screen on the largest screen you have. Even without enlarging it on my desktop computer, I was able to read the subtitles with my inferior vision, but it was easier when I made it full screen.

It is important to be able to view this cideo with an open mind. Try to free yourself from arguing against it until you have taken in the words that are being said. For some this will be easy to do. I just fear that for others (Stephen Colbert, e.g.), they will be so busy forming a rebuttal as Putin and Stone speak that their minds won’t even understand what is being said.

The Real News Network has the Max Blumenthal interview Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul Buck Party Consensus on Russia and Iran Sanctions.

Investigative journalist Max Blumenthal explains that these sanctions punish Russia and Iran unnecessarily intensifies the conflict between the US and these countries.

When I have to say that Senator Rand Paul is one of only two sane senators in the U.S. Congress on this issue, you know the world is about to come to an end. Has someone been importing drinking water from Flint, Michigan into Washington D.C. to deaden the minds of our political “leaders”?

Naked Capitalism has the article The Fiscal Policy Experience Since the Great Recession. The article finishes with a nice summary of how we ought to look at government deficits. (Emphasis added by me.)

The question should always be whether the fiscal position is supportive of a high level of economic activity, and the budget deficit should be large enough to support that level of economic activity—but not larger. When private sector demand is low, then potential savings are high and will become available to support budget deficit of an appropriate size. Debts accumulated from appropriate deficits can similarly be readily accommodated. Instead of fretting about the debt ratios and striving to always balance the (structural) budget, the focus should be on why a deficit is often necessary for a reasonable level of economic activity.

This nicely puts an end to the straw-man argument that austerity fanatics frequently put up. They try to make their point with an argument using reductio ad absurdum (Latin for “reduction to absurdity”). They propose the theory that if a deficit is good for the economy, then a bigger deficit must be better. Then they propose absurd levels of deficit to prove that deficits cannot be good. The above summary from the articule talks only about “budget deficit of an appropriate size”. Deficits can be too large, but they can also be too small. Reductio ad absurdum just leads to absurd results. Dismiss the people who try to prove that deficits are never good.

Space Daily has the story Researchers discover shortcut to satellite-based quantum encryption network.

From the ground, researchers measured laser signals that originated from a satellite and traveled through Earth’s gravitational potential and the turbulent atmosphere. The successful characterization of quantum features under such conditions is a precondition for the implementation of a global quantum communication network using satellites that would link metropolitan area quantum networks on the ground.

I have blogged about various quantum mechanical issues. The issue at hand here is quantum entanglement. In particular, I thought I understood it in the post ‘Quantum teleportation’ breakthrough by DARPA-funded physicists. However, I still don’t feel comfortable that I really understand many of the details for practical use of the physics.

I can’t remember the book that I read about quantum entanglement, but perhaps it was The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn. The title doesn’t sound as familiar as it should if this is the book.

AOL has the article CNN Interview with Bernie Sanders’ wife after Alexandria shooting takes unexpected turn.

Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Jane Sanders took an unexpected turn Thursday as the CNN host and the wife of the former presidential candidate sparred over the media’s role in the current national political environment.

Jane Sanders didn’t quite get the right words to explain to Wolf Blitzer what is wrong with his coverage of the “news”. She couldn’t get through to him with an explanation of his focus on personalities and sound bites rather than issues. She mentioned oligarchs, but Wolf never did. How are we ever going to explain to the corporate press that we are onto the game they are playing? They cover the news to get ratings and to promulgate the message and philosophy that their oligarchic bosses want to spread. We want news that will be useful for solving the problems faced by the 99%. We don’t need news that focuses on how to improve the lives of the 1%, and cares not a whit about how it harms the 99%.