BIG by Matt Stoller has the article Why Are Judges Encouraging Inflation?

A conspiracy to raise prices can be understood as price-fixing, and price-fixing is a felony according to Section One of the Sherman Antitrust Act, passed in 1890. The statute says “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce.. is declared to be illegal.” From the 1890s onward, explicit price-fixing with no other context except profiteering, was understood as illegal. What Unilever is doing, signaling of pricing moves in a concentrated industry, known as ‘tacit collusion,’ is potentially such a conspiracy. In the 1970s the Federal Trade Commission and judges considered that exchanging information while moving prices in concert was an illegal method of fixing prices.

But for years, courts have been loosening antitrust law, including those against price-fixing. In 2017, for instance, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case called Valspar Corp. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co, not only found that tacit collusion was legal, but that in the case of a concentrated industry, it’s rational. And so they wouldn’t even let it get to a jury.

I knew that the courts were facilitating monopolies, but this article gives details that I had not known.

What’s also interesting here is the breakdown of ideology. Typically antitrust observers see conservatives as more hostile to antitrust enforcement, and progressives as more favorable to it. But in this case, that line didn’t hold. The Third Circuit is ideologically mixed. In the Valspar case, two out of three judges were appointed by George W. Bush, and one was appointed by Bill Clinton. With a 2-1 vote, the judges adopted a strong pro-big business posture, and the lone dissenter was one of the conservatives. The Ninth Circuit is considered a more progressive place, and the judges in this case were all appointed by Democrats – William A. Fletcher (Clinton), Johnnie B. Rawlinson (Clinton), and Cathy Ann Bencivengo (Obama). Fletcher in particular is known as a stalwart left-winger, with strong progressive views on the death penalty, immigration, free speech, the environment, gun control, gender equity, etc. And yet, on the question of big business, these progressive legal minds were in lockstep with the Fortune 500.

Glenn Greenwals has created this YouTube video Greenwald: The White House’s game-playing denials of bio labs in Ukraine.

Investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald examines United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland’s vague answer about whether or not Ukraine has biological weapons facilities.

Watch this now before this is prohibited from being viewed in the USA.

Lee Camp has the Rokfin video The 3 Sides of Propaganda In Ukraine.

He opens up the possibility that the Ukrainian maternity hospital that the Russians bombed may have been evacuated and used a a military outpost before it was bombed.

I am not sure how long this video will be available without going through a paywall.

Patrick Armstrong post the article RUSSIA UKRAINE 2 on March 4.

So far the Russian military operation in Ukraine has been a reconnaissance in force preceded by the destruction of the supplies and headquarters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces by standoff weapons. The object being to suss out where the Ukrainian forces are, to surround them, to check existing Russian intelligence against reality and, at the same time, destroy known headquarters, air and naval assets, supplies and ammunition depots. And, perhaps, there was the hope that the speed and success (Russian/LDPR forces dominated an area of Ukraine about the size of the United Kingdom in the first week) would force an early end (aka recognition of reality).

Since this article is almost a week old, some of this is a little dated.

Patrick Armstrong was mentioned in my previous post An intelligent analysis of Putin, WEF and the Ukraine NATO alliance. I wanted to post a link to one of his article before his name disappeared from my memory.

Medium has the article Let’s All Remember What This Nation Stands For.

As we stand on the brink of World War Three for the umpteenth time in U.S. history, it seems like a good time for us to remember who we really are as a country.

This does go on a bit. I haven’t read it all, nor have I followed any links that also look interesting, but it looks like you could spend a lot of time enjoying what is there and following the links to many videos.

If I am lucky, I will remember to come back to this, finish reading it, and follow some of the links.

Here is one of the links I am watching right now. “United States” to Imperial America: Our Hidden Empire.

Vanessa Beeley has the interview An intelligent analysis of Putin, WEF and the Ukraine NATO alliance.

An illuminating conversation with Alex Thomson, former GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), Russian speaker and regional expert, a regular guest on UK Column News.We cover the Russian incursion into Ukraine and the preceding history that will put the Russian initiative into context. We also cover the Putin-WEF connections that many analysts are highlighting – Alex brings a little more nuance, history and insight to the overall global parasite class composition.

The Analysis has the video Matt Taibbi on Putin the Apostate.

And as I said Matt’s done a great piece about the rise of Putin, and here he is. Now joining us is Matt Taibbi. He’s an award-winning investigative reporter, was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine and writes a top written column on Substack. Thanks very much for joining me, Matt.

Of course I don’t agree with everything that has been said here, but it is food for a lot of thought.

I had no idea of Matt Taibbi’s history with and in Russia.

I think part of the explanation of Putin’s adventure in the Ukraine is understood by referring to Greenberg’s Law of Idle Threats.

Never make a threat you don’t intend to carry out. If you have any doubts about your ability to carry out the threat, do not make it.

Corollary:

If you never test the opposition about whether they make idle threats, then you enable them to ignore this law.

There are people speaking in defense of West Ukrain who have never heard of the Donbass in Eastern Ukraine. On Youtube, you can watch Donbass – 2016. Documentary Anne-Laure Bonnel (subtitles EN FR SPA ITA).

I notice that many of the things the USA is accusing Russia of doing in the Ukarain is the type of things the Western Ukrainians did to the Eastern Ukrainians. How much about Eastern Ukraine do you see on USA news media? Surely the reporters and producers of USA news shows know this untold story of Eastern Ukraine, but they choose not to tell you about it.

Breakthrough News has the video How Ukraine War Affects the World Order & the Global Power Balance, w/ Vijay Prashad & Rania Khalek.

The impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine isn’t isolated to Europe. As the US and NATO pour weapons into a Ukrainian insurgency, the risk for confrontation between nuclear armed power is rising. Does this mark the end of unipolarity and the beginning of a multipolar world? If so, what does that mean? How will support for a Ukrainian insurgency feed into the rise of the global far right? What will be the impact of the war and sanctions on Russia, which are already causing wheat, fertilizer and gas prices to skyrocket? And what should be the anti-imperialist left’s position on these major developments?

To help us frame these events in a global context, Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations,” joines Dispatches with Rania Khalek.

This is an excellent opportunity to expand your knowledge and your thinking. You also get to watch Rania Khalek throughout the interview (Don’t forget to listen to her questions and the answers from Vijay Prashad.)

Jimmy Dore has the episode Ukraine Neo-Nazis Infiltrate EVERY LEVEL Of Military & Government.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting cries of “We are all Ukraine,” many have been eager to downplay the proliferation of neo-Nazis in Ukrainian paramilitary groups, the Ukrainian armed forces and even parts of the government.

As Jimmy and The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal discuss, reports of neo-Nazis in Ukraine are not at all exaggerated, and the Zelensky government is, in fact, largely beholden to these racist, xenophobic, anti-gay groups that brag of the “fun” they get from fighting and killing.