Here’s a new Open Thread for all of you. To minimize the load, please continue to limit your Tweets or place them under a MORE tag.
For those interested, here are my three latest pieces.
The first discussed the astonishing behavior of Israel over the last few decades and especially recently, which might rank as sheer madness and has only avoided disaster because of its protection by what I call the our system of “media mind-control.” Next, came an analysis of nutritional issues, covering my surprising discoveries regarding questions of carbohydrates, fats, and sugars. Finally, most recently was my long analysis of the important but widely-ignored racial aspects of China’s dramatic economic and technological rise.
- The Total Madness of the State of Israel
The Unz Review • October 14, 2024 • 5,600 Words - American Pravda: Is Sugar the Deadliest White Powder Drug?
The Unz Review • October 28, 2024 • 5,900 Words - American Pravda: The Racial Roots of China’s Rise
The Unz Review • November 4, 2024 • 13,300 Words
I’d also strongly recommend this recent interview with Alastair Crooke, a former senior MI6 official and British diplomat, with many decades of experience in the Middle East. He strongly holds that the recent Israeli air attack on Iran was almost entirely unsuccessful and actually aborted, and his views are fully seconded by quite a number of independent Western experts with a great deal of military expertise. Meanwhile, the absolutely uniform account found in the Western mainstream media is diametrically opposed, claiming that the Israelis inflicted severe damage on Iranian air defenses and missile production facilities.
Obviously, both versions of reality cannot be correct and the entire strategic landscape in the Middle East depends upon which more closely approximates reality. Given the remarkable dishonesty of our Western MSM on all these sorts of matters, I personally lean much more towards Crooke’s version, but can’t be sure:
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Karlin’s endorsement of Kamala Harris:
https://ehc.zone/p/trumpism-cant-get-fooled-again
And his prediction:
https://ehc.zone/p/open-thread-us-election-2024
Israel does not want to win its wars in the sense of getting a final victory. Ongoing hostilities at a low level with tit for tat strikes and raids every decade or so with the Palestinians and their supporters in Middle Eastern countries are ideal for Israel, because then Israel does not have to meaningfully negotiate and can have the current control of the occupied territories frozen in perpetuity.
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Re Coumbs. Any crime is whatever the courts say it is. The Sex Trafficking and RICO laws may be written to catch professional career criminals controlling lucrative rackets and prostitution and course Diddy is not a godfather or pimp. Skilled prosecution is all about overcharging people for what they have done and making it stick. Kamala campaigned for sex trafficking laws to protect immigrants from being trafficked. When those laws were on the books she then used them to overcharged those immigrant women barely earning a living as masseuse escorts ect with sex trafficking. Diddy made the fatal error of hitting a woman in a hotel lobby, the assaults was seen on TV and the public demand was for something to be done. Doesn’t matter that she was with him for 11 years and he was paying her handsomely her not making money off of of her (she may not have been in love with him but she was in love with the lifestyle he gave her), and then made a settlement of 30 mill; he has to be crushed to restore faith in the law, so he will die in prison. And ever penny he has made will be taken from him and his family through a tsunami of lawsuits, most of which are going to bogus in search of free money.
Karlin should spend more time thinking about the puppet masters instead of writing commentary on the puppet theater.
Let’s see, we had an attempted assassination of the front runner former President, but no substantial accountability or punishment resulted from this massive security failure. What this means is open for debate, but it strongly suggests the election process is not legitimate.
Trump will obviously win the popular vote again by a large margin. However, we do not know how the vote counters will play it this time around.
My guess is 50.5% chance of another steal for the Dems. The puppet masters hope this will lead to civil strife but that is unlikely. Therefore the usual suspects will stage a number of false flags to promote the idea of rampant violence. Actually, most people will ignore this provocation, but the deep state will use this propaganda as an opportunity to increase control.
49.5% chance they give it to Trump, perhaps with a wide popular margin seen as a mandate. Actual cases of acute TDS will flare up everywhere across the propaganda-intellectual class. The USA will start a war with China so that Taiwan is destroyed. This will delay the PRC’s inevitable lead in AI. AI will inform the government that the USA is doomed unless we restrict immigration to those with IQ > 140. Moreover, conventional public schools in the USA will be banned from educating anyone with IQ over 125.
Trump is projected to barely lose the swing states and because of independents.
This is a key reason why I didn’t think they should run him again. Independents just plain don’t like him.
His tribal fans however don’t want to look at the data. They want to believe that the election is a battle between True Trump Patriots vs Evil Democrats.
Well there are people in the middle.
The recent Iowa poll is not a good sign for Trump. Harris has a huge lead with independent women and they are motivated to vote.
Grab em by the pussy.
So glad the Republicans rallied around this former Democrat and lifelong con artist. We are about to get Harris the dingbat unless some unknown group either pulls for Trump or stays home.
Most cells in human body fat are immune system ones and highly pro inflammatory, especially when full. I think year round sugar is the problem; it traps energy and makes one hungry to add to stored energy. Historically, fruit is only there for a short time apart from in the tropics. Even Orangutans in the tropical rainforest have to burn some ketones and so are tapping into their fat stores for a few months anually.. There is quite a lot now about fructose (half of table sugar/ sucrose molecule) in the diet stimulating uric acid production to flip the metabolism by various complex mechanisms including mitochondrial ones into to a ‘store fat for the winter’ mode. Having that imperative year round is the problem.
Historically human agricultural societies, especially in northern Europe went into low activity almost hibernation in winter. The harvest was a time of prodigious effort, and plenty of food intake. Not necessarily sugar, but even a large amount of ordinary carbs can raise the human body’s own synthesis of fructose and raise uric acid. See Pelmutter ‘Drop Acid’ and some YT talks of his. There are some interesting podcasts on the fructose containing foods or foods such as processed ones, that make the body manufacture more of its own fructose, and the link to Alzheimer’s by Dr. Richard Johnson
One bad effect of cutting sugar and cards out for many of us, apart from the pleasure of sweet comfort food is that according to the psychiatrist Chris Palmer, ketogenic diets make one less schizy so the conspiracy theories might be suddenly less credible with your brain energy amped up.
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Interesting about the poor Indians in India getting skinnier; in the West they seem to get pudgy. Economists tend to think that a high proportion of the population of working age is the key to economic growth. I expect the Indians who can will increasingly be leaving India for the West, and our experts will be telling us it is essential to compete with China. Shouldn’t Chinese will be imported for that? A diaspora makes it much less of an investment to migrate so the later waves are of lower quality in a great many cases. I wonder what all these extra people will be doing once AI removes so many occupations? Going by the recent leaders of Britain and the US, the second generation already here constituting an elected overclass, those to come will be a reserve army of labour for service jobs including any new ones.
I really don’t follow the Diddy story or celebrity stories for that matter but it is peculiar that Diddy had buttsecs with Britain’s most outspoken Putin supporter.
Oh and Russel still dresses like a fag and has pending rape charges:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russell-brand-being-considered-prosecution-004551352.html
Allegedly Combs is a serial rapist and a serial rapist of juveniles. It looks like he is going to prison for a very long time and you might not have noticed this, but
NOBODY is defending that negro. NOBODY.
Maybe he will get OJ’s dream defense legal team and a friendly jury. On the other hand all OJ did was murder his ex-wife and her boyfriend. It’s not like he raped six dozen music and movie stars.
You have this backwards.
Muslims occupy Jewish & Christian land in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The global Islamic community is unwilling to meaningfully negotiate, as at least partial migration of Muslim colonists out of Jewish Palestine is required for any viable solution.
Palestinian Jews are thus stuck in and on and off skirmishing against the Muslim colonists. Hopefully the end of the UNRWA dole will compel the Islamic community of nations to offer serious options to help their coreligionists stop squatting on Judeo-Christian land.
PEACE 😇
So, will it be back to let’s prosecute Trump till something sticks and he’s behind bars? Some have been known to say that immunity from prosecution was Trump’s major motivation to win this election.
Brand looks sort of part Indonesian or Burmese to me. He said he took the male role with a homosexual colleague in an encounter when he started work, at 16 I think. He also talked about his father taking him to Thailand for a sex tourism jaunt and loudly saying saying ‘I think I am going to be sick’ when he overheard the prostitute with Brand telling him she was falling in love. One female observer of Brand in his heyday said was acting like a pig, but women were throwing themselves at him. When a man has had literally hundreds of consensual sexual encounters back in the day (as Brand and Diddy surely have), how can he defend himself against an allegation from decades ago that is replete with details? Not a major event in his life. I don’t think anything said on social media is of any consequence as regards Western policy towards Ukraine.
It surely would be good in the short term for Ukraine to totally win, because Russia would not be a threat to the West for the foreseeable future. But Russia would have ran itself into the ground and be exhausted. Quite possibly Russia would no longer be a great power, except in a nuclear sense. But in the long term Russia would consequently see the West as an implacable enemy bent on subjugating Russia and not a country that Russia could ally with. The Kremlin would rebuild their armed forces almost entirely against a perceived threat from Nato. America would have to subsidize European defence against the Russia threat and forget about Russia ever helping an American led alliance to contain a future megapower China. win, because Russia would not be a threat to the West for the foreseeable future, but Russia would have ran itself into the ground and be exhausted.
Quite possibly Russia would no longer be a great power, except in a nuclear sense. But in the long term Russia would consequently see the West as an implacable enemy bent on subjugating Russia and not a country that Russia could ally with. The Kremlin would rebuild their armed forces almost entirely against a perceived threat from Nato. America would have to subsidize European defence against the burgeoning perceived Russia threat and forget about Russia ever helping an American led alliance to contain a future megapower China. Would the US do that or would it tell the Europeans they had to pay for their own defence? If so it would near bankrupt countries like Germany and Britain with flatlining growth prospects that have become accustomed to raiding their defence budget to pay for social spending without raising taxes, which is considered imperative for modern governments.
You are like Kamala when she was a prosecutor: overcharging people. The lack of a higher authority in the international system means great power states are compelled to act in immoral ways to preserve what they consider an acceptable level of security; individuals no matter how good or bad have little influence on the course of events such as what happened to Ukraine when it tried to leave the Russian orbit and join the Western one. As soon as it became independent, Ukraine was worrying about a Russian invasion and trying to bring the NATO menber countries in to deter such. there were NATO member countries participating in ecersises inon Ukrainian soil against a thinly disguised Russian invasion / uprising scenario in the easly 2000s, and these even took place on Crimea.
Putin’s invasions of Ukraine happened on Obama and Biden’s watch. Biden had been a Ukraine hawk as Obama’s VP. There was no compronise with putin and no reason to think Ukraine would not be supported by the US especially in an all out war of conquest. Even after he showed in Georgia and 2014 annexation of Crimea, undercover invasion of Donbass, that he was willing to use force to separate Ukraine from any strengthening Nato links, Ukraine and the West ignored Putins complaints about erosion of Russia’s sphere of influence, for almost 2 decades.
Zelensky got elected by saying he would get Putin to withdraw, but in office Zelensky made the fatal error of flirting with an agreement that would prevent Ukraine joining NATO then dismissing the idea. That was the second time Putin had been duped into thinking he could get what he wanted and given Trump had (partly to counteract bad publicity about his Ukraine policy being improper) given Ukraine actual weapons, Putin realised he was wasting his time with mere menaces and began to toy with the idea of a full invasion. Actions of Zelensky against Russian speaking leader/ oligarch and nutually esculating use of weapons supposed outlawed by Minsk brought him to a decision that a outright war on Kiev was necessary.
Russia is not trying encirclements or Thunder Run type tank drives into enemy rear areas because the armored maneuver warfare every military has been training for up till now have been shown up; those blitzkrieg schwerpunkt for breakthroughs simply don’t work any more for anyone. Not for Russia, or for Ukraine. What does work, although at considerable cost to the Russians, is broad front advances spearheaded by infiltration by many small groups on foot through wooded areas or windbreaks o large field. On road the Russians are using motorcycles to cover ground at top speed. All proceeded by non stop artillery that has an effect particular deleterious for the morale of the kind of troops the Ukrainians are having to now rely on to man their defence line.
Girkin is safely ensconced in a Russian jail. What Ukrainians in Donbass dug outs would tell you is the Russian army has proved to be vulnerable yet perpetually recrudescent: an opponent best avoided. No Ukrainian being mobilised right now wants to be in the infantry. Lack of rotation and replacement has attrited the reliable determined troops. New Ukrainian infantry formations are being formed but are almost totally lacking in combat experience. Or desire for such.
Things look promising for Trump: (1)
Will Trump score an Electoral College victory of 312-226?
This would be a really hopeful sign for the country. He has been very strong with independents and swing voters, especially since his debate win versus Harris. MAGA has made substantial gains 2020 to 2024 with men, minorities, and youth demographics.
#LetsGoBrandon 😇
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(1) https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/11/04/are-you-ready-for-it-the-final-poll-from-2020s-most-accurate-pollster-is-here-n4933977
American’s like yourself have their very own female Richi Sunak.
Go Team!
I’m eager to see exactly what the NorK Spec Ops are really capable of. 10,000 of them is a good number for some sustained combat viz Drones and Infiltration tactics in Ukie occupied Kursk Oblast.
War Gamer’s Delight if true. Merc Westerners vs NorK Storm Troopers. NuKursk
This would be a really hopeful sign for the country. He has been very strong with independents and swing voters, especially since his debate win versus Harris.
Your own poll shows that independents are split. He has lost independents since the debate with Harris. His numbers with independents were much better in 2016……before they knew him.
Other polls show a bigger drop with independents.
MAGA has made substantial gains 2020 to 2024 with men, minorities, and youth demographics.
He has gained in those areas but has lost older White women and they are reliable voters.
One of his biggest gaps is with independent White women.
The other problem with the Atlas poll is that RFK is not listed as an option. He was not able to get his name off the ballot in Michigan. He is also on the ballot in Wisconsin.
RFK Jr. begs his supporters not to vote for him as he remains on swing state ballots
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-begs-supporters-not-213918696.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Sorry RFK but there will be stoners and conspiracy theorists that don’t get the message.
American’s like yourself have their very own female Richi Sunak.
What country are you from? Do they teach plural vs possessive?
I really don’t like either candidate.
I’m not thrilled with having to choose between a convicted felon who fundraised for Hillary and an Affirmative Action dingbat. It’s really an East Coast sleezeball Democrat vs a West Coast left-wing Democrat.
I’ve already voted and left both their circles empty. White people of America have again disappointed me with a final ballot that contains two clowns. It should be a clown that takes your ballot and honks as you drive away.
To continue talking about BAME pols in the UK:
Dawn Butler says she is one of the First Ones.
Sounds like a reference from A123’s favorite scifi show.
Video Link
https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/First_Ones
Can think of one disorder caused by a mutation in a gene for an important protein in the nervous system, which doesn’t seem to even manifest in girls, though the gene is not located on a sex chromosome.
What is Jill Biden wearing today?
Could it be a MAGA red power suit?
Should the establishment DNC have stuck with Joe? They have not been able to build a credible case for Harris.
PEACE 😇
Special Forces are a bit useless in the continuous front Ukraine war at this point. Koreans are do or die types , but I doubt they are there for ninja style light infantry stuff in the style of William S. Lind’s writings. The motive to bring them in is surely to turn the tables on Ukraine and divert their forces from the main battle. They would not have expected that, Russia is starting to come up such ploys, seen with feints (like the Kharkov one).
I suspect from omnificent US intel the highest command level Ukrainians knew well ahead of time all formations manning the Donbass defence lines would be ground down by the steamroller Russia was preparing to though at it.. Kursk was an attempt to draw off Russian foces and divert them from a concentrated Big Push. It has not worked because the Kremlin just called in the North Koreans to more or less hold the line. However the Kursk offensive does nevertheless function to get the best and most determined Ukrainian units out of the inferno descending on Ukraine’s so called fortress belt. Probably, preserving their elite formations as a reserve was an unspoken consideration in favour of the relative jaunt away from the hell on the Eastern Front defence line bloodbath on an increasingly disadvantageous battlefield, and into Russia proper.
I know some Ukrainian women refugees and from what they say I get the impression that the Ukrainian men from the West of the country, even if ethnically Ukrainian got press ganged into the army in their late teens from the start of the war and of late are making up very high proportion of the casualties. The corollary of that is Ukraine West of the Dnieper has a lot of manpower that is still untapped.
America’s singular possessiveness brought you to this point though.
IMO, Jill just doesn’t have the same mimetic power of other first ladies. Like HRC or “Big Mike.”. Or even like Barb, Laura, or Nancy.
Partly because Biden is so senile. But also of herself.
Possibility is Civil War 2.
I would like to see some specialized crack troops shooting down drones with 4 gauge shotguns. I am sure this happens, but how often?
To keep the Universe in balance Joe has to vote for Trump.
ROTFLMAO
Here is news from 7:12 PM, EST: (1)
Trump is showing strength with independents and swing voters.
PEACE 😇
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(1) https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/11/05/election-night-livewire-america-decides-donald-trump-or-kamala-harris/
With 71% of the votes in, Trump has a 9% lead in Florida (versus the ~6% lead he had in the poll aggregators and the 3.5% lead he had in 2020). If I was betting money, right now I’d definitely go for Trump. It’s not impossible that it’s just a Florida phenomenon but historically poll errors have been correlated at an inter-state level.
Well, no, sorry. Florida called for Trump with an 11% lead and he’s also leading Georgia by 11% with 36% of votes in. Anyone still betting money for Kamala? Let me know please. I have an offer for you.
Nate Silver says it is unbelievably close. Hold onto your MAGA hat. I’m predicting it won’t be called when I go to bed. I am planning to go to bed in 5 hours.
Belial vs. Lucifuge Rofocale. What a choice.
Can the Amish even imagine such a creature as Kamala?
They probably can’t hear her cackle because of rejection of video media.
Do they understand what a whore she is? Is that really fit to print in Amish newsletters?
MAGA pushed early, in person voting this cycle. Locations with bad weather and/or long lines are resulting in lower turnout for the DNC.
Even the Libtard networks are admitting both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are leaning Trump. With luck Harris will concede tonight. Alas, bitter and clingy are core to her personal character.
PEACE 😇
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(1) https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/11/05/election-night-livewire-america-decides-donald-trump-or-kamala-harris/
The Kursk salient is full of western contractors, cosplay Das Reich and LSAH
ROTFLMAO
Here is news from 7:12 PM, EST: (1)
That’s a single exit poll.
Independents are split on Trump and Harris
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article292234415.html
Trump is showing strength with independents and swing voters.
He hasn’t cracked 50% with independents in years.
Neither side can claim independents. This has been a weakness of both candidates.
I fully agree with the general sentiment of independents which is that these candidates suck.
Did you even read the article at your own link? It supports my position:
NPR loathes Trump, and they had to come clean that he was ahead +3%. That implies his actual lead among independents is much larger.
PEACE 😇
Post Covid Florida is full of New York refugees.
OK I read Unz’s China post and 200+ comments.
I suppose it’s OK but I know there are people commenting there who have information that I am far more interested in than anything they post. In a word there isn’t anything actionable.
If China is going to dominate the world economy shouldn’t there be some way for a retail investor to take advantage of it? The last time I looked at the usual channels the most highly touted products were Asian mutual funds and there didn’t seem to be any way for an average American to get something analogous to an S&P 500 index fund with only Chinese companies. Am I just ignorant and every single one of you is sitting by their computer cashing in on this Chinese bonanza?
The second thing I would be interested in is Chinese tips on health and fitness. I have no attraction to Tai Chi which seems like it’s the big thing. Maybe I only got inferior information so far but my experience previous was that for me it is not very useful. Not harmful but only marginally beneficial and utterly inefficient. The only one thing I use which as near as I can tell came from Chinese martial arts is the horse stand static pose. That is a fantastic exercise and if there is a convenient repository of a dozen more similar exercises I would absolutely try them out.
There’s dozens of people over there boosting Chinese culture and whatnot but practically nothing that interests me. Anybody know a decent Daoist magic or Daoist yoga book? All the magic books I have seen that looked like they ought to be good had downright retarded recipes like drinking or eating mercury. I am definitely not going to do that.
If you take book tips from Ron Unz there are some great ones in that post. His thesis on evolution of chinks seems totally contrived. Apparently I am the only person on the internet who knows brilliant couples with nothing offspring.
Belial vs. Lucifuge Rofocale. What a choice.
Boy clown vs Girl clown.
Did you even read the article at your own link? It supports my position:
No it does not.
A 3 point lead among independents would be a split. That’s within the margin of error.
Clinton and Reagan were strong with independents.
Neither Harris nor Trump can say they have strong independent support.
A few weeks back, made my first observation in the wild of a person (non-Chinese) actually watching a Chinese TV show.
They probably want you to drink Red Mercury, but don’t try it without the guidance of a master.
I’ve been watching a mountain of recent Chinese War Films.
They feature Chinese boys getting strafed by US aircraft much of the time. They don’t dwell on Japanese atrocities anymore and instead show the US in Corsair or other Korea era fighter bombers decimating the plucky Chinese footsloggers.
It’s very interesting.
The Chinese make fascinating films about the Korean War. US fighter-bombers strafing helpless Chinese infantry most of the time.
Polymarket at 10:00 PM (Eastern)
88% — Trump
12% — Harris
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://polymarket.com/event/presidential-election-winner-2024
Although I don’t tend to like your general alignment, did you know that John Johnson was the alias of Guy Fawkes. Indeed he claimed to be John Johnson when the guards swept through the Parliament looking for the 36 barrels of gunpowder intended to kill King James.
I did not. I presume that it is coincidence. The JJ here is “weak sauce” versus Guy Fawkes.
PEACE 😇
Video Link
One of my favorite Chinese movie scenes is found in the infamously terrible The Founding of a Republic (Do not watch!) and involves American soldiers, but not at war.
Madam Chiang Kai-shek goes to Washington to ask for more money, and she walks by two marine guards. And, I kid you not, the black one looks like he wants to rape her. And the other guy (Euro) is basically like rolling his eyes at being paired with him in a desegregated military.
And I didn’t verify it historically, but I am pretty sure her visit was a few months after Truman’s executive order to desegregate the military, so it is a deliberate nod to that.
Polymarket at 11:00 PM (Eastern)
93% — Trump
7% — Harris
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://polymarket.com/event/presidential-election-winner-2024
I’ve never seen the movie. Looks cheesy.
But I’m glad you are thinking about me.
I’m sure my ex-girlfriends also think about me at times.
Update from the NY Times
PEACE 😇
This is why you are a worthless white nigger. That’s the only part that drew you attention.
The brilliance of that film was the rehabilitation of Lin Biao and the depiction of Chiang’s personal rivalry with Li Zongren.
Ireland whored itself for the Jew Bucks and can’t speak their own original Gaelic language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_tax_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
Georgia called for Trump
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Polymarket at MIDNIGHT (Eastern)
97% — Trump
3% — Harris
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The Harris campaign is sending everyone home. Despite the loss, no concession speech is forthcoming tonight.
PEACE 😇
__________
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/11/05/election-night-livewire-america-decides-donald-trump-or-kamala-harris/
https://polymarket.com/event/presidential-election-winner-2024
Well it looks like Vladimir Putin’s election interference machinations worked this time.
Ha ha just kidding.
I wonder if Paul Krugman is going to predict the end of the economy and the stock market again. I bet Joe Rogan is getting totally wasted. Aren’t you going to be too wasted to comment pretty soon here now?
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/05/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Polymarket at 1:00AM (Eastern)
98.5% — Trump
1.5%% — Harris
Trump won independents and swing voters in record numbers.
PEACE 😇
__________
https://polymarket.com/event/presidential-election-winner-2024
New calls:
• Alaska 3 for Trump
• Pennsylvania 19 for Trump
That makes 270 Electoral College votes.
Elvis has left the building
PEACE 😇
Looks like both he and I were wrong in regards to this!
Trump won! Anyway, if America wants more restricted immigration, then let ’em have it! My family and I are all already US citizens by now, so we can afford to be selfish during a moment such as this one. Very sad, cruel, and cynical, but it is what it is.
I do hope that mass deportations won’t happen under a second Trump term, though.
It will be a long night as in 2020: dark, closed off, motivated spinsters and school-admin types counting the endless inner-city votes. Sh..t happens…
But Heraclitus taught us that we can’t step twice in the same river so maybe it will hold. If it does tens of thousands Ukie lives will be saved. The old man and his Euro-puppets have 2 months to go out in a ball of fire, they just might…or Trump made a deal and will do it for them (like Meloni).
Gunpowder was pretty good though.
Video Link
You get a lot of calls wrong Jew Boy.
YouTube time stamping of streams does not function properly.
Jump to about 40 minutes in…
Video Link
PEACE 😇
I think you’ve been persistently proven to be a queer Jew boy.
Retire the alias.
Well, admittedly I did put significant bet on Karamela. I figured if there’s going to be a Second Steal, I may as well make some coin on it.
In the event, it proved completely unnecessary. I hadn’t dared dream of such a sweeping victory. Tonight, I feast on shitlib tears.
Sounds about right.
There”s also the matter of micro-plastic ingestion, in addition to poor diet and sleep habits.
Popular vote, House and Senate. JD got a rousing ovation at the victory address. Encore:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/23042024-alexander-motyl-is-dead-wrong-about-jd-vance-and-russia-ukraine-oped/
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=d094fb0ad0a20eda&q=%22Alexander+Motyl%22&tbm=nws&source=lnms&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWtG_mNb-HwafvV8cKK_h1a5eSkyfXNgRC6a9SKsMT7FKel2oEVH7CAeL9GJLZ9zSE1b0VTwOacLkI4XgtHWeWNmKPMmJVT-fsL2j8HgVBOedFE0rcv3l9ce7iX7VQHiBT41qOitP2uFNPJwqo3Nj1J21-Gh5tg3bNyqf1kLEJ7mR0Orp4LTigYJIGRfW985SFZs7PWg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDg-HnnseJAxVxElkFHSV2H8sQ0pQJegQIJhAB&biw=1024&bih=615&dpr=1
Jake Tapper was hyping the newest Russia hoax claim, while of course ignoring the actual case of meddling in the form of EU Greens telling Jill Stein to back out for the benefit of Kamala.
Too big to rig.
I expected Trump to win – news about National Guard mobilization on the Democrat West Coast were telling – but I did not expect him to win popular vote, which is amazing should that turn to be true.
The best bit about a Trump win is Guardianistettes losing it:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/06/trump-wins-election-consequences-despair-america
“once again, a violently and grossly misogynist man has been elevated to a position of superlative power over a flawed but competent, hardworking woman….he is surrounded by incels, bigots, conspiracists and sadists…”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/06/election-anxiety-is-consuming-me-alive
“During the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, my hair began falling out and one of my eyelids started twitching. “
Absolute gold…the Guardianistas may self-explode, they are so deeply disappointed, the words twirl in their minds like grenades, power, misogyny (Trump seems to beat any woman they put up against him). Thetwitching eyelids is a sign of the coming apocalypse.
A small point: the Hindu harridan is possibly competent in whatever it is she does (courtesan?), but she is definitely not hardworking. But Guardian has never understood what work is…
Trump won the 3rd time
As said before, Dnepropetrovsk is such a hub for many key things in 404, just as Donbass 2 regions……but without the subject of psychiatric illness that “ukrainianism” is, that it should take a fraction of the effort required for the khokhol scum to collapse for future Dnepropetrovsk front when it’s liberated.
At that point practical reality and considerations should start to develop ahead of the parasitism and prostitution that dominates in Banderastan state.
I think in the best scenario for Banderatards – Cubanisation of the fake state. I.e supported/client state of the lowlife traitor eastern European countries ( Cuba supported in this time by most Latin American states), complete military and economic investment ban and greatly reduced financial abandonment by their western masters ( similar to USSR similarly weakening bilateral with Cuba after the missile crisis), and us having similar situation to 404 as US to Cuba. Anything that could be made easier in China’s Belt and road policy if going via Ukraine via Russia…. should be ensured to have only the “via Russia” bit as much as possible.
Ukraine obviously wouldn’t survive anywhere near as well as Cuba in those circumstances.
I’m lovin’ it, although nothing can repeat the rapture of 2016
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/nov/06/us-presidential-election-2024-donald-trump-kamala-harris-latest-news-updates#top-of-blog
To be fair, there are a few brave commenters at the Guardian suggesting that the subject of why Trump won and what voters see in him could be worth exploring, but they’re very much in the minority.
You mean, you actually enjoyed it?!!!
Granted, it is possible to manipulate imdb scores (as Hollywood and the Indians know) and rotten tomato scores, I have almost never enjoyed a movie below a 6 on imdb. One exception was the very cheesy movie High School Confidential, (1958), which I believe was <6 at one time but is now above it. (I recommend it to Mr. Hack, if he never watched it.)
If I am remembering the old score accurately, it may have been downvoted by some for its antidrug message.
Btw, as I think I have expressed before in some form, perceptions of foreigners is one of the most interesting aspects of Chinese films (or really any foreign film.). It can be noteworthy, if there is merely a black face in a crowd – Western media almost skipped this stage entirely. But it is also interesting how they view other countries/peoples.
Someone here once spoke about comedic/tragic cycles of depictions of ww2 Japanese in China. Though I thought one Jackie Chan movie (comedic more than tragic, though uneven in tone) didn't fit the supposed cycle profile at the time it was released (Tragic)
I seem to have missed your strong endorsement of this film. I’ll be sure to look for it and watch it. In short, what did you enjoy about it?
This is one I caught like 20 years ago on TCM, so my memory of it is kind of foggy. But that I remembered it probably counts as an endorsement.
for some hard to describe reason, I do enjoy some of these ’50s films that would be dismissed as cheesy today.
Partly, I feel like they are less cynical and more earnest. Also, I appreciate how there is no DIE. As a very straight-laced person, I like their moral rectitude. (Even a lot of ’30s movies have questionable morals)
I feel there is a pretty good moment of suspense towards the conclusion of the film. Some of the other reasons I’d give might kind of be spoilers. (At least, I think it is better to watch the film without hearing them beforehand.)
Gotta admit, that is pretty funny about the eyelids twitching. 😀
Couldn’t find a clip of anyone with eye’s twitching, so this one where the hunchback’s mouth twitches at 1:05 will just have to do.
In this scene Trump is just trying to enjoy his simple after victory meal in peace and a room full of Kamala supporters led by the hunchback won’t let him.
Trump does what he has to do…
Video Link
Let’s start by deporting known alien criminals and see how that goes.
A bit more seriously…January 20th is a long way off, and a lot can happen in two and half months. Namely the very real possibility of a Russian style Civil War commencing in the United States.
As things stand, all the giddiness being displayed at the moment is quite remindful of the giddiness that many of the Jan 6 protestors displayed when the capitol was first breeched on that fateful day nearly four years ago now…
https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/10/29/is_the_left_preparing_for_war_if_trump_wins_1068515.html
‘Prominent post-election scenarios forecast such widespread rioting that the newly elected president would be compelled to invoke the Insurrection Act.’
British media coverage of foreign events has never been worse. Last night Channel Four had the ridiculous lawyer Michael Cohen (who fell out big time with Trump) and…wait for it…Stormy Daniels, the ex-porn star who sued Trump, on a panel of ‘experts’ which also included Boris Johnson. Rory Stewart, ‘ex’ intelligence operative and diplomat seriously argued on Britain’s most popular politics podcast that Kamala would win Iowa based on one unrepresentative exit poll and then doubled down from there. The British establishment is looking like an idiocracy.
Also, remember AP confidently asserting that Trump could only win a majority of whites in Appalachia or that Vance was a bad pick for must-win state Ohio – going by memory this looks like the biggest margin of victory there since George HW Bush in 1988. I guess we can’t expect Europeans to be knowledgeable about US politics if even people who live there are also so clueless.
Alexander Dugin with a strange tweet (‘we have won’). Might not age well.
Trump has a very rhetorical style, but rhetoric is what politics is about. Trump defeated a woman and lost to a man, so for the rubber match the Dems put up another woman.
What we really need is a nostalgia thread on the good old days of November 2016 ff.
I remember that fifteen people stopped talking to me and I never said one word of support for Donald the Fat; the simple fact that I didn’t give a shit was enough.
The most hilarious episode was when Richard Spencer was talking to the tv guy on camera and the antifa guy sucker punched him in the head.
You write this idiocy on Nov. 5 when normal people already acknowledged the Trump huge victory in the neighbourhood of 310, plus Senate and House.
Good bye Chuck Shumer from the important position and good bye to Democ-rats leading the important Senate and House Committees. Welcome to restoring Trump – Putin alliance. This time they will not be able to derail the clean up of the Washington nest by fake investigations as they did in the Trump’s first term.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14048345/How-Donald-Trump-pulled-stunning-political-comeback.html
Nooo! Do you mean supporters of GLBT against the rest…for that to happen they would need guns which they refuse to have.
John Johnson ought to retire this handle. Comically wrong at almost every turn as he posts masturbatory footage of Russian troops getting blown up by Ukie drones.
I almost gave up on Trump but you strongly stay with him to the final victory. This time he knows how to drain the swamp.
Lotus Eaters and Russell Brand for the W.
I guess it’s a bit too late now but my offer is still open for a formal bet. Just a couple of months ago some people here were assuring us that “they” were going to steal the election again. Kamala hasn’t conceded yet so if anyone is interested, I’m accepting offers.
By the way, two regular commenters left the blog on account of that discussion. AnonfromTN made it clear that he was leaving because he could no longer stomach those of us who didn’t really believe in the steal narrative. And Bashi left some days later, never to be seen again, after having a testy discussion with me on the same subject. I’d love to hear how they explain last night.
Perhaps the voting process itself is largely fair in Western countries, unlike Russia? Perhaps in the US it is only possible to cheat at the margins, when results are extremely close in some states with a couple of corrupt districts? Perhaps that’s not even what happened in 2020, as proven by several recounts and some of Giuliani’s team’s claims being debunked? If we live in a controlled democracy where secret cabals steal the elections from us last night demands an explanation from those supporting that idea.
So much for the horrid chance of having Nuland as SoS and L. Cheney as NSA.
Ohio was a safe red state, as I said. Republican would win it no matter who the candidate was and I said so. You are confusing Ohio with Pennsylvania.
Trump got a smaller percentage of white votes than any previous Republican. He won by a massive surge in support by Latinos.
I made clear in my comments that Vance would cost some Eastern European votes in places like PA, but that other factors could compensate for that. They did. Trump got a majority of Latino men votes and I suspect a Latino majority outside California. There are many more Latino voters than there are Ukrainians and Lithuanians.
If the Latinos had not switched to Trump as they did, he would have lost.
We now have a Latin American style ruler, who naturally got a lot of Latin American votes. Including by a forum member who came here from Latin America.
Rejoinder to Richard Haass’ and Larry Johnson’s 11/4 Comments
Re: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/perfect-has-become-enemy-good-ukraine-haass?utm_medium=newsletters&utm_source=fatoday&utm_campaign=The%20Perfect%20Has%20Become%20the%20Enemy%20of%20the%20Good%20in%20Ukraine&utm_content=20241104&utm_term=EDZZZ003ZX
Another wishful thinking and frankly foolish article from a foreign policy establishment politico. Russia has already rejected the idea of a ceasefire for the purpose of building up Kiev regime military capability. As the party winning and likely to win the NATO proxy war against it, Russia will have a great say on a future settlement.
There’s also the selective BS (when applied to Russia) about ethically not redrawing boundaries via force – with no mention of what NATO has done regarding Kosovo. Borders continue to be redrawn elsewhere via armed conflict. South Sudan is a recent example. In the not-too-distant past, Germany was reunified after it had been forcefully separated. Hence, it’s not so out of the ordinary for some historically and culturally Russian territory to be reunited with Russia.
In an ideal, truly open society quality setting, high profile foreign policy analysts should be challenged when providing faulty commentary. The geopolitical likes of Richard Haass are behind the eight ball in recognizing that the increasingly influential multi-polar world order isn’t keen on accepting Western neocon-neolib double standards.
Re:
This video concerns the ongoing dishonesty The NYT keeps putting out as noted in the below linked article from several months ago:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/01072024-nato-proxy-war-ongoing-biden-new-york-times-deceit-oped/
Excerpt (supporting hyperlinks at the above linked article) –
It would not surprise me if Trump picked Nuland for State. The Jews love her for one. She has experience in top jobs for Republicans for two. Who does he have that’s better for three. Keep those Russkies guessing for four.
She doesn’t make him look too fat when they are standing side by side at the photo sessions. Actually that could even be number one.
If you think things didn’t make sense before just wait.
Dems overrated the Russia hating vote in Pennsylvania.
“…when the capitol was first breeched [on January 6]…”
Please stop.
Any Democrat false flags should be used to trigger aggressive deportation of illegal immigrants even if the two issues are only tangentially related. They can start with criminals, Haitians and Somalis. One million relocations per month is a good goal for the end of the first year.
Pennsylvania has about 250,000 Ukrainians + Lithuanians. I don’t know much about Lithuanians. Ukrainians are traditionally 90% Republican, I’d guess in this election they were 60/40 against Trump.* If it were a close election in PA like in 2016, then Vance on the ticket would have lost the state. But other factors made it irrelevant.
*Why not all in for Kamala? Because Ukrainians have been bitterly complaining about Biden’s weakness. Zelensky’s recent interview was pretty bad for Biden. Zelensky’s interview was devastating. Idea only gave Ukraine 10% of the anid that the Republican Congress had authorized, and was leaking confidential information. Instead of a clear choice it was one of either slow trickling aid or a gamble of no aid or better and more robust support. Vance was a signal for bad odds, but it’s still unknown. Ukrainians don’t like much of the rest of the Democratic platform.
I think this is 6D trolling.
I wonder if the puppet masters will let Kamala take the wheel for the last month so they can say the USA had a female president? She can pardon the Biden family for deep criminal activities in Ukraine and China. Then after 4 years of intensive Neuralink training and adrenochrome boosting they can run her again in 2028 as the grand dame of American politics. No really. Ok, maybe she will need an AI brain implant as well.
If it had to be, better for the country that it is with a solid mandate and popular vote victory than as it was in 2016.
I think you’ve been persistently proven to be a queer Jew boy.
Only in your dreams are Unz dissenters all Jewish and therefore can be ignored. You might find comfort in your delusions but they don’t change reality.
I noticed you haven’t been defending Putin recently.
Did you finally figure out that the 2.5 week special operation isn’t going well? What gave it away? Nearly year 3 and Putin is using North Korean troops to try dislodge Ukraine from Kursk?
The CIA expert was wrong again btw. Same with Ritter. They didn’t believe the report about North Koreans was true. Must be a conspiracy.
Well it wasn’t. Putin is buying Communists to kill Orthodox Ukrainians. That’s the reality.
Retire the alias.
No I have too much fun making my critics look through my history and grudgingly admit that their theory of me coming here for Ukraine/COVID/Whatever is wrong and that I originally came from the Kersey blog.
I’ve been accused of being a Pharm plant, a paid Ukrainian team, and also Lindsey Graham.
But you are going with Jew? Is that right? You do acknowledge that most theories about me must be wrong? On a logical level you admit that must be the case?
You write this idiocy on Nov. 5 when normal people already acknowledged the Trump huge victory in the neighbourhood of 310, plus Senate and House.
Why don’t you look up what Greenwich Mean Time means before calling people idiots. Then look at your own timestamp.
He took the swing states within the margin of error. And independents split in greater number which is the group that he needed.
Both candidates were high risk as the polls predicted. Trump would have lost to an actual moderate and not an AA dingbat.
Can you not separate analysis from cheering?
Lol. Splitting the split hair! It’s like watching medieval coin clipping by Shylock.
They may not be as unarmed as you might think, something which has already been prominently modeled for them in that Civil War movie of last Spring. [See clip below. Also see Edward Bernays 1928 book Propaganda and the great value he ascribes to movies in programming people’s unconscious minds.]
I have hopes by the way, it’s just not in this Capitalist/Communist, Right/Left, Conservative/Liberal, manufactured and probably long broadly controlled two centuries plus old dialectic, where both ‘sides’ (presently manifesting as Republican vs Democrat in the US) act as controlled opposition of the other.
Alexander Dugin has gone bonkers since his daughter was murdered. He should be working full time on his memoirs. With full time attention they could be epic.
Everywhere it is only possible on the margins (other than places we don’t visit). The margin can be small, few 10’s of thousands, or 5-10%. You have this idée fixe that in Russia, Georgia, Moldova… massive cheating happens. But it is quite similar – who is allowed to run is managed (as in US) and there are some districts where people make up stuff. But the result seldom differs from what most people want – Putin won because he is more popular than any single alternative. So did Trump.
First of all it doesn’t – even a ‘cabal’ can make a rational decision not to overreach, doing something twice would be quite provocative. There are probably better processes in place by learning from 2020 and the gap was obviously too big this time. But those two events – 2020 and 2024 – were independent events, behavior in one doesn’t explain or relate to the other.
It was an establishment mistake to keep Trump out (by any means) in 2020. He is back, reinvigorated, with a new purpose. He can do more now and make more dramatic changes than if they let him serve 4 more years that were mostly taken up by the C19 hysteria. Now he has a clear field and much more of a mandate. These lib-elite guys are fools, they mess up everything, they lack real life experience…
You mean that forum member who lived in Latin America before coming to the US and, knowing the place very well, voted for Trump as the best option to postpone the Latin-Americanization of the US?
If that’s the one, be warned that he takes no lessons from a self-described ‘non-assimilated’ American who went as far as supporting the banana-republic attempt by Latin-America-born Judge Marchán to jail the ex-President of the US on legal grounds never used in this country before.
It is quite likely that Trump’s personality attracts many Latinos but I am involved in the construction business and talk to them basically everyday. What they really dislike is masses of newcomers taking their jobs and pressing their wages down. The funniest guy is probably a Mexican from Guadalajara who supports the Aztlan idea. He doesn’t consider himself to be in foreign territory in Utah but supports Trump nonetheless because ‘the border must be controlled’. Even illegal immigrants who have been here for some years have their livelihoods built in the US and seeing new competition arrive in massive amounts is quite disastrous for them. More so than for old-stock Americans on average.
A huge advantage of the 4 year gap — Trump used that time to build up what Barbarossa refers to as soft power via campaign rallies, fund raising, endorsements, etc.
It will not be perfect. Those unreasonably demanding 100% of absolutely everything, instantly will probably continue to hurl lies & insults to undermine MAGA.
We are still waiting on the House results. The GOP will have a larger margin. And, Trump pushed out 9 of the 10 the worst of the establishment House NeoCons. This will help in terms of both appropriations and policy measures. However, there will be some holdovers that want to create trouble.
The Senate will have more GOP seats, which will produce a better cabinet. However, Trump will have to make some concessions. It is the way the system works. Also, MAGA will not have 60 seats to break a filibuster. Large legislation will be difficult.
If he wants to generate a maximum impact, Trump needs a stack of executive orders that he can sign in the first few days. Some likely steps.
• Pardoning everyone targeted as part of the J6 witch hunt
• Shutting down Jack Smith’s illegal operation
• Finding that Title IX does not allow males in female athletics
• Declaring a new Title 42 emergency to restore “Stay in Mexico”
• Declaring asylum claims can only be filed if the U.S. is the closest safe country
Deporting large numbers of undesirable migrants will take some preparation. Cutting off work will cause a certain amount of self remigration. However, some home countries may not want their citizens back.
Tariffs make sense to drive MAGA Reindustrialization. This will take longer to put in place. There will have to be detailed preparation so that they do not accidentally create spot issues. They may require a multi-year phase in.
It will also take some time to fix civil service rules. Obama put a significant number of political operatives into protected positions. Ground work will be required before these bad actors can be drained.
One thing that Trump should do, that he probably will not, is — End “birthright” citizenship. Children of those temporarily in the U.S. (illegals, asylum seekers, refugees, students, temporary work visas H1/H2, tourists, foreign officials, etc.) would be citizens of their parent’s home country. Children of permanent green card holders would receive citizenship when their parent completes the process. There is every reason to believe this would pass Constitutional review.
PEACE 😇
There’s a war going on against autarky, something which Trump (at least symbolically) represents in the minds of many of his detractors, as does presently Putin’s Russia, Xi’s China, N Korea, and Iran.
And autarky in their view is the same difference as being Hitler.
Therefore, any Russian style civil war scenario in the United States very likely will quickly expand into a global war against autarky, aka WWIII. They’ll present this world war against peoplehood and identity as being a war against ‘the last vestiges of Hitlerism’, and against the standard ‘hate’ and ‘division’, but for ‘inclusivity’ and ‘equity’.
[See the book Imperial Apocalypse for a description of Russia’s experience with civil war and world war 1917-21, and what might well be in store for the United States and the whole of the Anglosphere in the near future.]
This is all ultimately about the creation of the long sought after world state.
As previously stated, a lot can happen between now and January 20.
https://truthovernews.org/p/democrats-plan-for-color-revolution
The only way to have a civil war in the United States is Federal Government employees start shooting at each other. Who do you think is going to pay them to do that?
“Lotus Eaters and Russell Brand for the W.”
Do you mean the band? Great record.
Oy Vey Eisen.
Poor Spin Launch hasn’t been able to find a location for their new facility.
Don’t know if I would want it it my backyard, but I wanted to see the idea tested, on a bigger scale. I suppose they are limited by infrastructure, but it is kind of mind-boggling that they didn’t find a location. US has become too NIMBY, but what about the rest of the world?
Eisen might not know many Federal government employees. They all are smart enough. And 99.99% of their thoughts processing is devoted to acting precisely as are told to and deciding if/when to ask their boss for clarification on any possible perceived ambiguity on exactly what they are told to do.
I want one. If you don’t need to launch a human or a monkey there are many other possibilities. Humans should never volunteer to sit on rockets either.
Postponing it by becoming it is an interesting strategy.
The idea that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law is alien to your sensibilities I’m sure. In the countries like the one mine is becoming (and this election is a step in that direction), taking for granted that rich and powerful people can get away with anything is commonplace.
Yes, it’s a problem for these Latinos when new ones come and drive their laborer wages down. It’s less of a problem for old stock Americans who benefit from the cheaper labor, though. Do you also vote for Trump in order to prop up wages for previous waves of Latino immigrants at the expense of the natives who hire them?
It isn’t all over for AP!
Kamala could still become the leader of India or Jamaica. Or, maybe, Trinidad and Tobago!
Alexander Dugin sacrificed (or accepted the sacrifice) his daughter in a proper human sacrifice by fire. The fact was evident from the phallus-like place of her funeral, Ostankino Tower. No wonder he went bonkers – he didn’t seem to me a person who would fully internalize Stockholm syndrome or trauma-bond with his deity.
The fullest discussion of rules of human sacrifice I found in a rather unexpected place – an art house animation movie, which I watched only because I like animation in general, and this one was quite peculiar. the movie has just 7 ratings, which means it is hard to get (I saw it on some film festival). I shall quote from my review:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22076772/reviews/?ref_=tt_ov_urv
“The longest story, and one with the clear story line here is the story of the sacrifice of Alcestis, spiced with occult elements of the story of Biblical Rachel, here Alcestis’ friend, desiring a semen from Apollo, a god synonymous with the Devil in the Book of Apocalypse. As we know, Alcestis decided to freely descended into the land of the dead in exchange for the life of her husband. Here, this dramatic decision is preceded by the debate with Hermes on the rules of human sacrifice which apparently cannot be paid, cannot be suicidal, and cannot be ill.”
Incidentally, these rules explain the persistence of shootings among young people, for example, in schools.
The second paragraph makes the most sense. Nuland isn’t so Jewish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Nuland
Her passion has been Central and Eastern Europe Russia bashing advocacy. She has been too Cheneysque regarding Trump. Trump’s campaign has been top heavy with Carlson, RFK Jr. Gabbard, Vance, Musk and Ramaswamy – folks with a noticeably different take than Nuland.
With Trump-Vance, there’s the potential for a saner Russia policy when compared to the neocon infested Dems. I agree that there’s still the potential of a foreign policy swamp factor foreign policy influence in the second Trump administration.
Rumor is that the Chinese will build one on the darkside of the Moon which seems like a great place to operate a superweapon to dominate the Earth.
You omit the 800,000 Poles (according to Dem Party propaganda) in that state. Lawrence Wilkerson recently referenced someone who told him that the first wave of post-Soviet NATO expansion related to trying to win Pennsylvania. In this most recent election, Kamala’s propaganda trumhed a get tough with Russia policy benefiting 800,000 people of Polish background in Pa.
Good reason to believe that Ukrainian-American views on the NATO proxy war involving Russia-Ukriane are changing. This wouldn’t be the first such instance as exhibited with the Cuban-American community:
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/12/23/as-cuban-american-demographics-change-so-do-views-of-cuba/
Georgia has changed from the neocon-neolib slant that was more prevalent in the early 2000s. Good reason to believe that Kiev regime controlled Ukraine might follow suit at some point.
It’s absurd to believe Biden has been soft on arming the Kiev regime. Much has been given with only a limited amount left to practically give as the US has other strategic interests to consider.
Regardless, much of these weapons require experienced personnel – something greatly lacking, unless people from NATO armed forces take a greater role.
Remember Lindsey Graham positively liking the idea of fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian – something said by the editor of The Economist as well. Quite another story to have Americans and others from the Collective West dying in great numbers.
Biden to speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine – media
https://www.rt.com/news/607256-biden-rush-ukraine-aid/
The US president reportedly wants to leave Kiev in the “strongest position possible”
Ms. Harris can still become the leader of the USA, just in time for Christmas. Then her pals can start a war which can be used as an excuse to avoid the Presidential transition. Ask Tsar Zelensky, he may have some tips on how to pull this off.
She can be our first Maharaja 🙁
Carlson and Musk are not getting cabinet slots. Carlson is actually kind of stupid and Musk knows better than to even discuss it.
Ramaswamy most certainly should not get a cabinet slot.
Realistically Gabbard or RFK Jr might maybe have a small probability at a cabinet slot. I say P~.04 and .02. What P would you like to put on them? Joe Rogan likes them but that is not a qualification. Nuland is a long shot. P~.2 but that is 5X Tulsi Gabbard.
I can be just as silly as anybody here. Roseanne Barr for press secretary!
I have no idea how Georgians and Moldovans conduct their voting processes. I see that the BBC has become an “election denier” in those countries so my natural instinct is to presume that they must be counting the votes well. As for Russia, we’re talking about a one-man rule for decades so it’s not even the same system as the US. Even before Putin’s rule it is widely acknowledged that Yeltsin rigged the elections when the Communists won.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that most Russians don’t support Putin though. All I know is that the US has had democratic institutions for almost two and a half centuries and majority rule is embedded in the collective psyche, even at the most parochial levels. Russia, by contrast, has been ruled by tyrants and strongmen for almost all of its history, so it wouldn’t even be fair to expect the same respect for electoral processes in both countries. I am actually fine with different societies across the world having different institutions and it’s none of my business if Russians prefer to be governed by strongmen. The only thing I’m saying is that Russians clinging to the 2020 US election controversy to convince themselves that there is no difference between Russian and American elections is not serious.
The people saying that it was useless to vote because the cabal would decide the winner for us do owe us an explanation. There were a number of them right here and if we would have all followed their advice, we’d have a Kamala president now. Luckily we didn’t.
I don’t think you were one of them but your explanation is quite unconvincing too. What I see is thousands of bipartisan election workers and observers in every district of the country reporting the results in real time, whether they like them or not (at least half of them yesterday didn’t). I’m missing a convincing mechanism of how a secret cabal that presumably monitors election after election in the US and convenes to decide what to do with the votes could rig this process.
It’s not even easy to understand what you’re trying to say here. It’s me who hires Latino workers all the time. I hired a Latino painter this morning. I guess it’s good for me to be getting lots of new laborers but I honestly hadn’t even thought about that. In the long term I don’t think it is good for my family at all.
Just accept my condolences and let it go. Based on what you have written here yourself about your upbringing, I do understand your motives and don’t need to construct elaborate machinations for your vote. The country you were raised to identify very strongly with is waging an existential war so if there ever was an occasion to base your vote on the interests of that country, it was 2024. You might even get lucky. Trump may have taken Putin’s decision to not congratulate him personally. It’s not looking good for the continuation of that war, based on who he is surrounded with right now, but who knows.
Neither one wants a cabinet slot. Carlson has 0% interest in the drudgery of governance. Musk might be the head of an efficiency/reform Presidential commission.
He is a smart guy, but made all his money on one pharma research firm that did not pan out. He will likely get something, but not one of the major cabinet seats..
RFKjr could be head of HHS. That would place him over FDA and other health related issues. Perhaps a 33% chance?
Gabbard is against foreign wars, but has no shot at Department of State. It is hard to see any cabinet seat. Like Vivek, she might get something a bit further from the center of power. She could replace Samantha Power at USAID.
PEACE 😇
He certainly should. National Security Advisor or even Secretary of State would suite him very well. Director of the FBI too.
Trump pretty much confirmed that RFK Jr is getting some health-related position in his speech last night. Tulsi is more uncertain but I would put her in one of the positions above that Ramaswamy doesn’t get. Unfortunately, Trump still hasn’t called to ask for my opinion though.
What will happen to the government in Germany, now that the traffic light coalition is failing?
The Russia, Russia, Russia myth has been debunked. However, warm & open communication by Putin could create media issues for Trump.
Contacts were made through less formal channels, so it is clear that no offense is intended. Nether Trump nor Putin wants improving bilateral relations to be a major media story until after Inauguration Day.
There will be little (or no) money for Führer Zelensky going forward. Both Mikhail and I have pointed out that the $60B from the Anti-Trump/Anti-Johnson package is largely expended. Barring a wacky lame duck session, the gusher of American cash will end in Feb/Mar timeframe.
PEACE 😇
Given the strength of the anti-war parties AfD and BSW, there cannot be a great deal of motivation to voluntarily dissolve the far left, pro-war Traffic Light coalition.
GR or one of the German commenters would have more detail. However, my understanding is that the under German system, it very difficult opposition parties to force a No Confidence vote compelling early elections. The next scheduled election is September 2025. Even crippled, the extreme left Scholz coalition is likely to hold until then.
PEACE 😇
Someone should ask Alexander Dugin to define a globalist and then explain why Putin isn’t a globalist.
Especially in the context of Russian meddling in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Syria.
There will be little (or no) money for Führer Zelensky going forward. Both Mikhail and I have pointed out that the $60B from the Anti-Trump/Anti-Johnson package is largely expended.
Why would you call it that when Trump greenlit the package for Johnson to sign?
The military aid for Ukraine is mostly in drawdowns. They’re giving Ukraine existing inventory and then contracting with US companies to replace it. It’s really not direct spending and it will take years to replenish the stocks. They’ve already been given the most important part which is the ATACMs inventory.
Barring a wacky lame duck session, the gusher of American cash will end in Feb/Mar timeframe.
Ukraine hasn’t requested another package. They probably have more Bradleys than they need.
Not sure why you think Putin and Trump are such great pals.
It was Trump that sold Ukraine their anti-tank weapons.
Putin opposed the sale but Trump sided with the US military industrial complex.
RFKjr could be head of HHS. That would place him over FDA and other health related issues. Perhaps a 33% chance?
You guys are getting too excited over Trump’s pillow talk.
He wanted to pull RFK voters and will say all kinds of things. We don’t know if he privately hates RFK. Trump is vaccinated and told his own followers to do the same.
Let’s not forget Trump’s first term where he ended up replacing populists like Bannon with swamp creatures.
Trump doesn’t have to do pillow talk anymore. He got his votes and can do what he wants. There won’t be another term so he’ll be less likely to do anything out of payback.
Maybe he will keep RFK. Maybe he will kick him to the curb.
We really don’t know. But we do know that he needed RFK voters in swing states. It was close enough to be a concern.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14050577/amish-revenge-pennsylvania-polls-election-2024.html
Not happening with Nuland. Pompeo, Rubio and Graham have much better odds.
Carlson, RFK Jr., Gabbard, Vance, Musk and Ramaswamy have been high profile during the Trump campaign. They clearly differ with the neocons as does Donald Trump Jr.
What are you blithering on about?
Trump exchanges pillow talk with is his wife. None of us, including yourself, has any idea what that contains.
___
You seem to be incredibly distressed that polls showed Trump’s strength with independents. And, that analysis was confirmed accurate by the election results.
Have you considered being a little more factual? And, a bit less histrionic? It would make your attempts at communication less deranged.
PEACE 😇
Serious discussion of the UK spending 5% of GDP on rearming is now making the rounds.
You guys need to pace yourselves. I predict 1/3 sensible picks, 1/3 apparently terrible and 1/3 never heard of.
Will we see Kayleigh McEnany and General Flynn?
I suspect Jared will have a more active role, but I hope I am wrong.
Trump is now 78 years old and his team is expected to run everything almost entirely on their own. Let’s see if he can get the players right this time. His job was to pick the team which picks the team. His lead is currently Howard Lutnick.
What are the odds the Trump White House will be the most Jewish ever?
With Trump and RFKj rubbing elbows and trading memes I wonder if we will get a Warpspeed mea culpa by the end of Donald’s term? Check back in three years.
Scholz wants to hyperinflate GR’s money so he can only afford “American cheese”, assuming he first gets a wheelbarrow to roll his euro down to the Supermarkt.
It seems FDP has thwarted him for now.
You didn’t read the Ellis Medavoy interview, did you? Taking down Fauci’s business is about as probable as hunting out the scum who did nine eleven.
So far I have made it to the 2hour 14min mark of the Lex Fridman Rick Spence show. It is a useful document and I plan to go all the way to the end of it. Spence is a credentialed conspiracy researcher if you can imagine such an animal. This is my number one datum:
evidence that Spence is not a government propaganda agent is zero.
This goes along with a datum that I have had for some time:
evidence that Fridman is not a government propaganda agent is zero.
By no means are they a waste of time. Just be assured they will never say that nine eleven was an inside job. Not in a million years. The corona virus project looks like it is in the set {John Kennedy assassination, 2001 world trade center explosions, . . .}. It’s intelligence. Over our pay grade. Secrecy automatically begets lies in a machine of perpetual motion.
For all practical purposes this is the same thing as never.
Thank you.
And congratulations on your preferred candidate’s victory.
I disliked both candidates strongly, but disliked Trump more. A major reason for that was his new associates. The good news is that his transition team seems normal, some guy from the old Bush White House is involved. Trump may have more of a 2016-2020 administration after all, albeit one with more loyal people. If so (too early to definitively tell) – too bad this wasn’t clear prior to the election, although there is much more of a market for voters who want a crazy circus than for people like me.
This was certainly a factor, one important enough to have easily overridden whether or not either Trump or Kamala was slightly worse.
Btw that Cirillo person appeared on my Twitter feed recently. She/He was strongly condemning Biden. This person also condemned Democratic trans activism and extremism. Would be funny if this person voted for Trump.
You are correct about the fakeness of claims that the 2020 election was stolen. It’s rather remarkable – these people think the Democrats somehow managed to steal an election while Trump was in charge of the country and in states with Republican governors in 2020, but failed to steal the election when they controlled the federal government.
New elections will be called in January, scheduled for March. Pro-Ukrainian CDU leads the polls. It’s good news.
The UK has a long way to go to improve their armed capability. Making this goal difficult is the UK’s socioeconomically challenged status on the domestic front.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Jeffrey Sachs in his cabinet.
JD Vance is being groomed for the future. He might play more of a role than other VPs.
Agree that he might feel compelled to go for some neocons. If so, hopefully they’ll be put in positions where they can’t do too much damage.
Merkel, De Gaulle, Thatcher, Blair, Erdogan…number of Western leaders were elected and ‘ruled’ for decades. Each country has its own system, most don’t have limits on how long a person can be elected for. I can add many more, some ruled with breaks like Putin. I am not a big fan of it but it seems harmless if it reflects majority (or plurality) of voters. Putin does.
US history is unique and short. Europe has been ruled by ‘strongmen‘ for all of their history: Spain until mid-70’s, CE until 1918. The differences you highlight are lazy stereotypes or self-brainwashing. Keep it in perspective, Henry VIII was as bloody as Ivan the “Terrible”, Euro powers were more murderous around the world than Russia with more victims.
Russia has a vertical-power culture – institutions are centralized, powerful and hierarchical. It is more accountable, but also more abusive. The West today has a horizontal-power model – every group with money and influence rules – the government-President is somewhere in the middle of the game, visible but not powerful to do much. It feels better but it leads to paralysis, nothing is done, people’s will is easily ignored for years (migration, wars, economy, etc…). Let’s see what works better in the long run.
This time it would have been very hard – you can’t step twice in the same river and the gap was too big. I am not sure about 2020 – it was too close, messy, with a newly created opportunity to cheat more on the margins, it was a worse process than elections in most advanced places in the world.
If you find my views unconvincing that’s fine, I will settle for “what happened in 2020 was too sketchy to know for sure“. 2024 doesn’t change it – different circumstances, process, numbers. I am glad Trump will be back (probably), and it may be better now than a continuation in 2020.
Those are easy and if Trump doesn’t do them (Day One) he will become irrelevant. But it will go to courts and media will scream.
That takes too long. It is much easier to assign few people to manage a warehouse in Kentucky or El Paso.
Regarding appointments, some names I have seen are neo-connish to the extreme – and Trump has that unfortunate tendency to do the self-defeating and the ‘unusual’ (remember Bolton to ‘scare the enemies’?). I also think the media will take a break and start the war-on-Trump all over again. One good thing is that Trump is aware he only has 4 years – I doubt he would want to be remembered for any wars or for do-nothing Presidency.
I suppose there’ll be elections next spring. My prediction: FDP won’t be in parliament again, AfD and BSW will gain somewhere between 25 and 30% of the vote, the “democratic” parties will then decide they have to do the “responsible” thing, and there’ll be a coalition of CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens, with Freddie Merz (a truly despicable figure) as chancellor (if they could, they’d do just CDU/CSU-Greens coalition, but unlikely the Greens will get enough votes for that). Germany’s march over the cliff will essentially continue as before, with only some cosmetical details changed.
Only other possibility I can see is CDU/CSU doing a minority government where they seek support from all parties (including AfD and BSW) depending on the issue, but that would be a novelty in the BRD and I don’t think CDU/CSU have it in them.
Not sure it is possible to be more Jewish than the Biden administration.
I have low expectations on foreign policy, hoping for more good on the immigration and cultural front.
Sounds about right. It is hard to understand the Greens being back…no matter what their results enough people go ‘green’ in a mass psychotic mania. Freddie Merz is a piece of work even by today’s European standards. One bright side is that the SPD will probably go historically low…but all that will result in are worse social benefits.
How do Euro countries manage to be ruled by ‘coalitions’ of what everyone hates? Not just Germany, it has just happened in both UK and France.
There’ll probably be a big Mideast war. Iran seems to have decided they’ll do another strike on Israel (maybe this time from Iraq), it will escalate to a general conflagration, and of course the US will join in (fitting, since the US with its blanke cheque for Israel is the primary reason things have escalated to this point).
There won’t be a negotiated settlement on Ukraine either btw, it’s too late for that. Most likely Russia wll achieve a breakthrough in Donbass in the not too distant future and drive on towards the Dnepr (and no Western Wunderwaffen can change that, given that the crucial issues for Ukraine are lack of manpower and artillery ammunition).
Trump will make no difference to any of that.
Greens have a hard core of 9-10% supporters (parasitical public sector employees and the like) who will vote for them no matter what, and they’re also massively overrepresented in the media (recent survey found 41% of journalists are Greens) which gives them outsized influence, so they’re not going away. There’s also significant overlap between them and CDU/CSU, they get along pretty well, any claims to the contrary are just theatre for the remainder of dumb conservatives who are still mentally stuck in the 1980s.
Anyway, little grounds for hope, everything will continue to become worse.
When the UK had bases all over the globe it was an economic titan. Now we make a “living” selling coffee* and houses to each other, and looking after each other’s kids so mum can work to help pay for the overpriced house.
And when the kids grow up they can work in retail sheds selling Chinese stuff, or drive the Amazon delivery vehicle.
The call by the usual suspects to rearm Europe comes just as Europe has been impoverished by the destruction of its cheap energy supply, cheered on by the usual suspects.
* which comes from Switzerland for tax reasons and at high cost so the profits go offshore.
In the past few months, some have claimed that the different parties were building a consensus to ban AfD, and it has been progressing behind the scenes. Doesn’t seem likely to me, especially now.
But I agree with the political doomerism. Things haven’t even halted in the much-vaunted, supposedly politically practical example of Denmark. Some people were getting excited recently about some entry graph for Sweden, but I can’t really see it. Some are saying Japan is folding now.
The one thing I will say, is I think the tone of mainstream alt-media (I mean like more normie political content on YouTube) has shifted ever so slightly. They seem to be kind of acknowledging that migration to Europe is a problem, but in a very toned-down and even schizo way. I think it is a real change – more like a barometer of the situation, than them gathering courage or belief.
IMO, the troubles with German industry will precipitate into something political eventually. I have met Germans who explained where they came from by referencing auto plants.
I wonder whether Barbarossa has an opinion on this, but a lot of Amish men seem to look stringy or even paunchy.
For people who live a more trad lifestyle, they don’t seem to have impressive physiques. I even wonder how well they would do in an arm-wrestling contest.
I suppose taken as a group, they must be much less obese. But would they really seem superior to men from the ’70s or ’80s? I get the feeling not.
It’s always been a nation of shop keepers selling tea and coffee since the early modern era. Doesn’t alter the fact that a 5% gdp on defense spending is planned.
These oddities will not last long. The anti Iran folks will be strongly pushing everyone else aside.
Genuinely curious why you dislike the SPD, given that Schroeder and Scholz have been reliable Russian tools and (soft) allies. Scholz was an anti-NATO activist in the 80s, protesting against American missiles in Europe, had friendly contacts with DDR people. He may be afraid to openly clash with the USA now (he operates within parameters available to him), but he goes as pro-Russian as he can, stating Ukraine won’t be in NATO, vetoing certain weapons systems, etc. Johnson said Scholz hoped Ukraine would fall quickly in 2022. He was probably truthful.
I have been following the U.S. and missed this bit of news: (1)
I did not realize that Scholz was intentionally arranging a failed confidence vote to end the SPD led coalition.
SPD needs to spend some time in opposition to rebuild their party. Would they serve under CDU? I am a bit dubious.
Migration has become more of an issue, which suggests a CDU+BSW team up could be available, with the intent of thwarting AfD. This grouping would also find common ground on more liberal budgeting.
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Trying to reach 50% of the seats with any coalition seems incredibly hard. Under the German system, what happens if a majority is impossible?
• Is it like Israel — A string of snap elections until some group reaches 50%?
• Or, is there a way for a minority coalition to take charge?
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-coalition-government-collapse-olaf-scholz-finance-minister-christian-lindner/
Iran’s economy is in terrible shape and they have huge domestic rifts. It is hard to see how Khamenei would be helped by escalating an unwinnable foreign war. Losing abroad leads to losing at home.
Iran can barely supply their proxy Hezbollah with large numbers of largely inaccurate rockets. Mechanically and logistically, how does this become “general”? Israel and Iran cannot readily get at each other. How would Iranian ground forces attack Israel, or vice versa?
Trump refused to be baited by Khamenei in his first term.
There is every reason to believe that Trump’s 2nd term will avoid direct conflict. Instead it will rebuild the containment policy in conjunction with other regional players.
PEACE 😇
You may be right, but even still I wouldn’t try anything if I were you unless you can do at least 20 push-ups. Holding and guiding the reins of a horse drawn carriage looks like it could require some serious strength, or even without any horses…
For whom? CDU has held the reigns before. They were disastrous.
Or are you arguing against the interests of the eponymous people? (Whose interests some might consider the interests of Europe, as a whole, since they are kind of the strategic or economic heart of the place?)
It’s only a matter of time…
Scholz and SPD are weak and don’t stand for anything – Schroeder was an economic neo-liberal who in a Blair-like way reformed Germany for worse. Not everything is about ‘Ukraine’.
But if you want to focus on Ukraine, SPD’s neither-here-nor-there position is making the situation worse. They have no power to do anything and their speeches or hopes only muddy up the crisis. That has led to a huge number of Ukie casualties – unlike you, I care for them. But CDU, Greens, FDP are equally clueless. If Germany would stand up for its own interests there would be no war and EU would function better.
The stuff from the 80’s is irrelevant, who cares who demonstrated for what 40 years ago? Get real, we have a bloody war, it needs to be addressed today. SPD has failed to do it.
There could be a bigger Mideast war, but US will not join it more than today: only arms, money and cover in the UN. Trump is extremely unlikely to commit US troops. That automatically limits how big the war can get.
I agree it is too late for negotiation in Ukraine, it is up to Russia how far they can go. Trump’s opening offer is: current lines, postpone NATO (they mentioned 20 year delay), and everything frozen. With the threat of arming Kiev more. Russia is unlikely to agree and doesn’t have to. I also agree that Ukraine can’t fight much longer, at some point the army will collapse and pull back. Any deal up to April 2022 would have been much better for Kiev and NATO.
Merkel was an absolute disaster.
She’s gone now.
Says the guy who insisted Ukraine would collapse in March 2022.
Ukraine and Russia are about even in terms of propensity to collapse. Either one could, for various reasons, but most likely neither one will at least for another year if not longer.
With Trump’s election, oil prices look to decrease substantially.
Definitely. Some CDU asshole from Saxony who lost his seat to an AfD candidate and only entered the Bundestag through the party list has actually even gathered enough cross-party support in parliament to begin the process for banning AfD. Also looks all but certain that Verfassungsschutz will declare all of AfD (instead of just some party branches) to be confirmed far right-extremist. So it’s certainly something the establishment would like to do. But I agree, events may be moving too fast for that now.
It’s the biggest crisis in the history of the BRD, no doubt about it. Nothing post-1945 comes close.
Nah. Wagenknecht has tried to blackmail the CDU in Thuringia and Saxony to adopt a stance contrary to the CDU’s party line on foreign policy, most crucially regarding the planned stationing of US medium range missiles in Germany (an extremely important development, which has of course totally escaped the notice of most commenters here), coalition talks there have essentially failed because of that. There’s no prospect at all of a CDU-BSW coalition on the federal level.
A lot of people were directly impacted (killed) by Fauci’s business. Hopefully there will be some retribution before he dies.
Who loses 5% or do they plan to increase taxes and debt?
What happens if SPD refuses to serve under CDU?
There is a real chance that no coalition can reach 50%.
PEACE 😇
I think Russia can avoid collapse for many years by progressively putting the country into a more militaristic posture. This would eventually include martial law and have a focus on practical survival and not modern financial metrics. Russia may be the only country in the world at this point which is adequately self-sufficient to pull this off.
Some oligarchs would lose a lot of wealth so part of a martial law process will be to bring them to heel or get rid of them.
I have no idea tbh. Maybe a minority government or just another general election, in the hope that it will produce results for a viable government? Certainly looks like German politics could become much more unstable. They haven’t even gotten the supplementary budget for 2024 through parliament, let alone the one for 2025, and the fiscal situation will only get worse due to the contraction of German industry.
Have genuinely missed your Middle Eastern alarmism. In a weird, roundabout way, it makes me feel nostalgic for my youth, when I heard people invoking Saddam in the prophecies of Nostradamus, and I swear they were producing programs with stand-ins, where he was launching nukes.
Btw, I did a quick google search, and yes, they are doing that with Iran now. (At least the Nostradamus prophecies, I assume there are AI videos of nukes.)
I haven’t been on the ground there to make a real world estimate.
I put zero credibility on the Daily Mail photography editorial department. That guy might be selected to look skinny. Photos add 10-20# appearance in the three dimension to two dimension compression. That man really is a bean pole.
Did you read the stories that Nuland was axed because she was soft on China?
A few people made billions. We aren’t even going to find out if it was purely a business deal or deliberate warfare on the rabble was X% of the motivation. Forget it Jake Chinatown.
The absolute best you can hope for is a sports or entertainment big star dies from the experimental genetic medicine and some scraps of facts make it to gossip media. More likely with a sports guy. The best information on the project came from sports media operators Pat McAfee and Joe Rogan.
Wagenknecht is one of those people whose name must not be spoken in polite society. In the set with {Ted Kazcynski, . . .}. I don’t even know what she looks like. Anatoly Karlin might never have heard of her.
Rubio drifts:
https://www.rt.com/news/607294-trump-rubio-grenell-secretary-state/
He’s no longer supportive of militarily aiding the Kiev regime along neocon lines. His characterization of a “stalemate” is incorrect given that the Kiev regime is losing with a weakened military.
Elsewhere, I heard that Tom Cotton has expressed no interest in becoming Secretary of Defense.
It’s probably not going to get to that point.
The fate of Trump is the linchpin for all that is likely about to occur.
Everyone should hope and pray that nothing happens to Trump.
As for Trump, why has he been insistent upon following this almost assuredly suicidal course he is on? Yes, he has an ego, but can that explain risking the life of his wife and family?
I can only presume that they must have some powerful Epstein Island like blackmail material on him, something that if released would forever damn his memory in the eyes of one and all, and, or, they have made credible threats upon the lives of members of his family, if he doesn’t comply with what has been asked of him.
So Trump follows the orders he has been given, as suicidal as they may be.
Iran looms large at the moment, and it will be recalled that Trump has publicly charged the United States to ‘obliterate’ Iran should they assassinate him. And Joe Biden is obliging, telling Iran that if they do assassinate Trump it would be an ‘act of war’ on their part.
A humiliated and frustrated Iran, still wanting revenge for the assassination of Soleimani by Trump, has the motivation.
A woke, still likely incompetent Secret Service ‘protecting’ Trump, in which he is basically being served up on a silver platter to any would be assassin, is not particularly reassuring.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/25/us-news/trump-hopes-us-obliterates-iran-if-hes-assassinated-by-the-american-adversary/
https://nypost.com/2024/10/14/us-news/assassinating-trump-would-be-act-of-war-biden-tells-iran/
Former President Donald Trump called for Iran to be annihilated if the US adversary were to ever assassinate him…”If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered ‘gutless’ cowards!” he added.
Should the unthinkable occur, and Trump is JFK’d, and Iran is deemed culpable, the United States would be compelled to declare war on Iran. As Russia is effectively allied with Iran, the war would likely soon include Russia, and probably N Korea, too, which already has troops in Russia. Ultimately, China on Iran and Russia’s side, will likely be included in WWIII as well.
There’s no reason to think that a great many of Trump’s millions of loyal followers won’t accept Trump’s charge that his death be avenged, and sign up for the US army to fight Iran.
And the new US President JD Vance, a former US marine and author of Hillbilly Eligy, as fake a ‘Southern’/’Appalachian boy’ as he might well be, would be just the man to rally Trump’s followers to do so in honor of his memory, in a war where a lot of these ‘heritage Americans’ will probably be killed (just as the liberal US establishment would like).
Yes, WWIII will likely go nuclear, but at first it will be conventional.
As this world war with Iran will almost certainly include Russia, there’s no reason to think that American boys and their officers won’t soon be fighting in Ukrainian/Russian trenches not too far away from and not dissimilar to those that Russian boys and their officers were fighting in in WWI and are depicted in the 1965 film Dr Zhivago.
And what will the Joe Biden/Kamala supporters be doing? Sure, some will no doubt sign up to go fight ‘Putler’s armies’ in Russia and Ukraine. But I suspect, even with some of those, and a great many others of them besides, as radicals they will likely soon be calling WWIII ‘Trump’s War’, as after all, it was Trump’s assassination which will have been the catalyst, and they will do all they can to undermine the war effort as a last jab at Trump, his followers, and ‘Trumpism’.
The ultimate goal will be a Communist revolution in the United States, and ultimately the whole of the Anglosphere, and they may just succeed. They succeeded once before, in Russia and much of the Russosphere during the time of WWI, after all.
And should there be a Communist revolution in the United States and immediately following a Russian style civil war throughout the Anglosphere, all of this coinciding with a world war, will the British royal family experience the same fate as Czar Nicholas II and his family did?
The idea that the same place where a Capitalist revolution begun in 1776 would go full circle and conclude in a Communist revolution some 250 years later, might seem fantastic, but I can assure you it’s no more fantastic than what actually occurred in Russia and is described in the book linked below, Imperial Apocalypse, where between 1917-21 Russia experienced world war, Communist revolution, civil war, economic collapse, plague, and, famine, all near simultaneously.
I’d prefer to be wholly mistaken, but the ingredients are all there for the United States and the whole of the Anglosphere to experience something very similar.
“always been a nation of shop keepers”
It was a nation of inventors, tinkerers, industry and mining, as well as a nation of mariners perhaps only second to the Portuguese. Radar, jet engines, computers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Flowers
Britain industrialised herself, then the world. You’ll find steel from long-closed companies like Dorman Long and Cleveland Bridge in bridges all over the world.
In hindsight Mrs Thatchers decision to follow the classical economists just as Japan, with its very different economic model, was starting to move up the industrial food chain followed by the rest of the Far East, was a catastrophic error for the UK and has led directly to the (relative) disaster zone of today.
There is hormesis though.
It’s far more likely then that Israel would assassinate Trump. They have a lot of form.
I see what you mean. I think a lot don’t give their permission to be photographed, so that might be the more assertive types, with more robust physiognomy. And anyway, there may be a political bias against them.
But I am tempted to assign it to different whimsies. Like the horse is doing all the work. And excercise outside work is considered a vanity.
They would certainly be an interesting group to study in terms of nutrition and activity.
For kicking off a world war, the main thing is that Iran gets the blame, whoever is ultimately in reality responsible.
As for it contributing to setting off a Russian style civil war in America, it wouldn’t surprise me if there is just a little ambiguity about who dunnit, as in a few things that could point to some Biden/Kamala follower(s) possibly being involved.
I’m sure the corporate US media will kindly help out in this regard by playing endless loops of Biden/Kamala supporters wishing Trump dead, lamenting that past assassination attempts failed, and their publicly celebrating in the streets once the assassination has occurred, just like they did with the Rodney King beating video decades ago and kicking off the LA riots.
The backs of the poor
Napoleon wasn’t wrong. Although what he meant by shop could have included workshops.
Most Amish guys that I see are on the stringier side, though there are some stockier guys too. The only Amish guys I see that are really overweight at all are older, perhaps in their 60’s. Almost of the women are quite pudgy once out of their 20’s though.
The guy in the picture looks like one of those soft rich Lancaster Amish though! He doesn’t look cordy enough to be around my parts.
Being functionally strong doesn’t require an impressive bodybuilding physique. I’m only 145lbs but I consistently surprise people by how much I can move and how long I can keep up a pace. It’s all about coordination and body mechanics when you are working, know how to exert leverage and use muscle groups together effectively.
I would not do great in an arm wrestling contest, but I guarantee I could work most of those guys into the ground.
I’m not really sure what you mean there.
They work their butts off from an early age but know how to balance that off with loafing around too. They do know how to relax and can be quite fanatic about taking lots of time off for pursuits they enjoy like hunting or fishing.
I’ve been invited off the cuff for lunch before with Amish. As far as nutrition they are quite grain and meat heavy, though a lot is home made which helps. They like processed food like the rest of ‘Muricans and will hit the Little Debbie, Doritos, and Mt. Dew pretty hard for snacks. Some of them are starting to wise up about that garbage though and pushing to keep to home made.
Other than the processed snacks they basically eat like you would imagine an average American farmer circa 1900 to eat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
When I was a young ‘un in the 1970s, there were a lot of industrial relics of those days still about, and people like Anthony Burton were documenting them:
https://gandmtools.co.uk/product/remains-of-a-revolution-anthony-burton/
You could wander in a Yorkshire valley and come across an abandoned but intact water-powered textile mill, the machinery gone but the mill pond, wheel and leats still intact, and hundreds of old wooden bobbins lying around.
The very big mills, or some of them, have been preserved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromford_Mill
“Cromford Mill is the world’s first water-powered cotton spinning mill, developed by Richard Arkwright in 1771 in Cromford, Derbyshire, England.”
Note the defensible, castle-like entrance – the hand-loom weavers and spinners hated the factory system.
Somebody should slapped this turn-coat Republican’s dirty lying mouth. MSNBC is nothing but a 24/7 Democrats propaganda – they are still wondering how could they lose.
I’ve heard that, too, from professional fighters. They say that some of their toughest opponents have been the slim, lean types.
They must have done something right to have the largest and resource richest country. They have even sold Alaska, unfortunately to their enemy.
American political system is based on only two choices, blue and red. On many important issues is acting essentially as a colluding duopoly, a one step to political monopoly disguised by elections.
I wouldn’t quite call it normal but I agree it is a good team:
In addition to McMahon and Lutnick, Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard have been given honorary roles on the transition. Trump Jr. is expected to help with selecting staff.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/07/congress/donald-trump-transition-team-00186912
https://graymirror.substack.com/p/narrative-and-reality-in-trump-47
There isn’t anybody for Trump to hire except assholes.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Powell was right in his famous 1968 speech. One of the big errors was not in defining who exactly the English (or British) people were at some point.
You still could have had the industrial revolution and as long as peoplehood as defined was treated as sacrosanct everything would of been okay. But when you treat people as just another interchangeable, ultimately expendable resource, the same as wood, coal, and oil, such as with the accursed cheap labor/mass immigration system, you will have big trouble in this regard.
The world is a big enough place that it could have been allowed that those who claim to not care about such things, ie organic peoplehood, could have been allowed to have their very own country, just for them. They could have set an example for the rest of the world, starting off by calling themselves ‘New Utopia’, but known soon enough by everyone else as ‘New Favala’.
That would of been a shame about them fouling their own nest as it were, which I have little doubt is what they would have done, but at least they wouldn’t have trashed the whole world as these irresponsible types are in the process of doing currently.
I probably shouldn’t have put those two sentences together.
But with the first, I mean something like, the Amish seem to enjoy better material conditions than many peasant farmers and laborers traditionally in Europe. Like, few people in Ireland could afford a horse and many did not own their land. Some of them not only have horses but employ implements with gasoline motors. Do they really work as hard as the tenant farmers of old?
With the second, I meant that I suspect that the Amish would consider weightlifting a sin. Tantamount to a vanity. People trying to put on mass or sculpt. People taking creatine supplements.
From the pictures I have seen, they don’t look as hard, as people from the 1800s.
Did real Indians come out in force for Trump? Or were they mostly the Liz Warren types?
So Trumps election win claims its first scalp, the Germans are imploding, Sholz fires his finace minister…the Europeans are running around raiding their piggy banks trying to stump-up the cash to keep project Ukraine going in anticipation of the U.S tap being shut-off, the question is why?
For what purpose will it serve European governments and people to keep the bleeding, both human and financial, going?
I suspect, for a while now, that these European “elite” have plunged their personal and family wealth on a favorable outcome in Ukraine for them, now, they stand to lose everything.
I would enjoy seeing von der Leyen, Sholz and others selling newspapers on the street to earn a living.
That clarifies your thoughts there. Thanks.
The Amish certainly don’t have to be as hard-bitten as people from the 1800’s. Gas engines are a massive labor saving device even if used sparingly as the Amish do. They also benefit greatly from the general economic reality of absurd abundance that is our reality in the US. By which I mean that they sell a lot of products and services to the “English”. So, if I’m building silly lake mansions for rich people and I buy timbers from the Amish, they are getting a piece of that pie. They are directly and indirectly benefitting from the modern industrial in all sorts of ways.
So, the Amish are pretty hard driving compared to almost all normal “English” today but they wouldn’t be anything special in terms of fortitude 150 years ago.
Spanish Inquisition?
Am fascinated by the idea of these pig dogs they had in medieval times.
Like a sheep dog, but for pigs.
Probably they weren’t that interesting and just regular guard dogs, without specific characteristics. And, yet, what if they were special?
If pigs are smarter than sheep, would pig dogs have been smarter than sheep dogs?
How is this related to Trump?
All three German coalition partners, SPD + FDP + Green revere corporate WEF elites. They despise Trump’s AfD/BSW Populism.
PEACE 😇
Germany’s absurd, dysfunctional policies were propped up by the liberal-Biden America – the center of the world for the ruling Euro elites. The stuff they do makes no sense: migrants, wars, gender-madness, green energy…it is also very unpopular.
But as long as they had the US support rulers like Scholz felt safe. The bosses approved and protected. Trump coming back is changing it. Last time they were assured by Washington that Trump was a one-off aberration and would be under control – and mostly he was. The second time the story doesn’t hold water, they know they are f…ed.
Most of the leaders who went out on the limb against “Trumpism” will depart. Czech president, the infamous commie-lib Pavel, called Trump ‘odious’ and said he would not shake his hand. Many liberal papers put headlines that for the ‘first time US elected a convicted criminal‘ – they know the gig is up, so they s..t on the world. The same in US among the committed libs, the world is disappearing under their feet so they scream…
About ‘even’? Wow…so a country with 150 million people and economy growing 3-4%, with support from China-BRICS (half of the world) is the same as Ukraine that shrunk from 50 million (1991) to under 30 million, lost 20% of its lands, some very valuable like Crimea and the Donbas resources, and is kept afloat with a stream of ‘virtual‘ money from US-EU, with no good military choices left – for you that is about the ‘same’ and either one can ‘collapse’. Is that your post-Trump win trauma speaking?
2024 energy prices in Europe are $756/ton
In 2021 it was $462
US price in Europe is $784
Quite a jump isn’t it? That is across EU – Germany and CE are worse. The prices are partially subsidized until 2026 but industry is already departing. Can you explain how would the prices go down? Maybe a deep recession would do it, but US can’t produce much more and at a lower price.
Airplanes don’t fly the way we ‘want’. They fly based on physics, engineering, weather – you don’t seem to understand that basic reality…:)
Hodges, Woodward, Zakaria debunked:
Of course the claims about “stalemate” are just total cope, in reality Ukraine’s position steadily worsens, while Russia has been able to not only keep up the pressure, but increase it (e. g. numbers of glide bombs steadily rising throughout recent months…so much for “Russia is soon going to run out of missiles and other munitions”). There’s only one way in which this can end, that is Ukrainian collapse, unless there’s some kind of divine intervention.
The proposals supposedly floating around in Trump’s circles are also unreal, the “Korean scenario” they talk about isn’t something Putin would or should ever accept (“We totally promise Ukraine won’t join NATO for 20 years, but we’ll still send them a ton of weapons and keep the territorial issues open”, lol), no prospect that can be the basis for a negotiated settlement that salvages of Ukraine what can still be salvaged. The anti-European animus in that proposal is also disgusting…”Let the stupid Europoors patrol a demilitarized zone, we’re not going to pay for it”. Typical, Americans create a mess, then walk away from all responsibility and even play the poor, exploited victim that only ever acted out of sheer altruism and was taken advantage of by others. Of course they won’t be paying for the reconstruction of what remains of Ukraine either (wonder who will, since Germoney will soon be a thing of the past). Just fuck the US.
Damn, the full counting in US is still not over, so can’t check for sure if some own pet theories had any slightest basis reality;) However it seems that previous poll agregates at least guessed rightly rising pro-Trump trend lately, but some individual pollsters were just disastrous (Iowa lol) and flushed their own reputations down the drain for the sake of short term delusions.
Have written earlier that normal win of any of the candidate might be more preferable at this point than some post electoral mess like Florida 2000 or J6 and indeed it seems there is some sense of disbelief or even slight dissapointment from some apocalypsis addicts that everything went relatively so smoothly this year lol
ofc, in theory there is still a chance of some disturbance before and during inauguration, but mho in reality the winning side this year way too much undisputable and Dem side way too much demoralized by result in order to mobilize any succesful own crowd enthusiasm just in two three remaining months.
Why do West Euros seem to hate Trump but Easties like him?
Commie rule destroyed the bourgeoisie (and aristocracy) there and led to a general proletarianization, so it’s not surprising when Eastern Europeans like a low-class, crude and vulgar celebrity simpleton like Trump. Kind of like 50 Cent complimenting Trump for being a fellow gangsta.
Of course Western Europeans hate Trump for all the wrong reasons (American libtard talking points recycled by their own media), so it’s not like they’re any smarter either.
Divine interventions are rare. Maybe another geographic trade-off can be offered to Russia, but I can’t think of one. The war will end when Ukraine is bled out: Russia will dictate the terms, EU pay the costs, US wash its hand and blame the French (or Germans). The Ukies will be full of regrets and their country will never be what it could have been…And Russia will be bitter for a generation, not good for EU business.
That’s how it goes, the boss walks and the underlings suffer. There is a lot of blame for the Europeans – they didn’t have to line up like lemmings and obey Washington in the pointless march east. US – other than in prestige – was going to win regardless: weaker Europe, bloodied Russia, and they don’t care about the dead Ukies…US arms have been sold and tested. Maybe the fault is with all those generous ‘work trips’ and scholarships for the budding Euro elites, the cheapest way to buy a country….:)
Our former President is heading for a 1-year Stanford position to teach. She doesn’t speak English. But the hired mulatto has to be paid to motivate others…
Seems like the most likely outcome. And of course all the strident advocates for this disaster will deny their own responsibility and cultivate a stab in the back mythology (“If only more weapons had been sent earlier…”).
I wonder how all of those Azov types will react. Or Ukrainians in general (not necessarily the same as the Azov people, I’d suppose, but who knows).
Of course, they’re deliberately cultivating a submissive and dependent pro-American elite. Which makes all those “populist” talking points about how the ever so benevolent US is being exploited and can’t retreat from Europe, because the Europeans just won’t let them, very, very tiresome.
But I agree, no excuse for accepting that state of affairs and going along with it, not just willingly, but in many cases with unbridled fanaticism.
Since the data coming from you (direct lies 7-8 times out of 10 on historical average here) it’s worthless without given link;)
Zelenskyy will murderoff the Azov foot soldiers and retain power.
This, in part, is because some American interests transcend party interests.
What is even more tiresome is Europeans blaming America.
• Merkel single handedly destroyed the Minsk deal
• Scholz and BoJo wiped out the Istanbul talks that could have ended the fighting within weeks.
Yes. Nuland damaged Ukraine. However, that was way back in 2014, under Obama.
Do you really believe Europe’s policy towards Ukraine/Russia was controlled by the Trump administration from 2017-2020? There was very little coming from the White House, and it was driven solely by domestic concerns about the bogus impeachment investigation. Claims that Washington was running Europe in this time period are ludicrous.
Do you really believe Europe’s policy towards Ukraine/Russia was controlled by the Biden administration from 2021-2024? The Veggie-In-Chief was owned and operated by foreign powers. He had no American policy. European powers ordered or bought influence to induce U.S. funding for a very European folly.
America will regain national honour and prestige by walking away from the mistake owned by European elites — Merkel, Scholz, Macron, BoJo, etc. By beating the boss Europeans out of the door, underling America can make sure blame is appropriately assigned to the actual troublemakers.
How long will Europe elites keep trying to fight to the last Ukrainian? It will be much harder now. They have no vassal in DC to send another $60 billion.
PEACE 😇
Btw, welcome back.
This is very true and a part of it. Another part is that they are more conservative and more opposed to the crazy societal changes; and so, despite Trump’s personal cynicism and vulgarity he is regarded as being on time same side on various issues. I know Eastern Europeans (Poles and Ukrainians) of non prole backgrounds who have supported him and who have a more measured opinion of him even if they do not support him.
Sometimes stabs in the back are not mythology but actual.
Though one of the smartest and best informed people here, you are a natural pessimist and this colors your opinions.
For Ukraine, the likeliest result hasn’t changed in years: the stalemate will become formalised once both sides realise ongoing death is fruitless, Russia will retain some territory while having to accept that it cannot conquer and annex all or half of Ukraine, the rest of Ukraine does what it wants (becomes a unitary nation state like its immediate western neighbors and Baltic friends, joins Europe, keeps its strong military). Until this likely inevitability is accepted by both sides (just as Putin still wants a puppet state in Ukraine, so most Ukrainians still want all their territories back), there will be a lot of useless death and destruction.
Hopefully Trump will accelerate the process but Putin may be unwilling and may need more time.
Visegrad Europe will be better off than before the war. It will have mitigated some of its demographic problems by gaining people from eastern Ukraine whom Putin has ethnically cleansed. In supposedly saving them from Ukrainianization by destroying their cities, he has made it so their children and grandchildren will be Poles, Czechs, etc. Ones who will probably hate Russia. Poland’s economy keeps doing well.
In the short term Ukraine will be badly off of course, a lot will have to be rebuilt, many have been killed, many others have left and won’t return. But the country will be more cohesive, the western parts better off (far fewer have left from there, this region also absorbs and s refugees from the East), integrating with Europe will be good.
Just as the war has shifted some power and prospects away from old Europe to new (Visegrad) Europe, within Ukraine the shift from the East (partially annexed, partially destroyed by Russia) to the Center and West has accelerated.
The war has been a disaster for Germany, as you know much better than I do. In large part because of Germany’s own prewar failures. Choosing to lose nuclear power was an incredibly stupid thing to do (apparently the ones behind it were financed by Russia? This went hand in hand with dependence on an Eurasian despotism for gas), as was accepting all those non-European refugees who won’t assimilate and won’t work. Well, you got some ethnically cleansed Russian-speakers from Eastern Ukraine, Putin said he would help them stay Russian-speakers but instead they or their descendants will probably become Germans, there’s that at least, it may balance the Syrians and Afghans you brought in yourselves.
If I were secretly Trump on this forum (A123?), my A-1 priority as soon as I got in, would be, just as a practical joke, to order intelligence services to track GR down and mail him his dual American citizenship papers!
If Russia could have used all of its 150 million people it would have, but it can’t. It is forced to rely on inmates and desperate people willing to die for money, and the number of these declines at a rate that matches the decreasing number of additional Ukrainian conscripts. So far the North Koreans are a small stop-gap measure.
A lot of Russian economic growth is just military spending.
Most of this was lost prior to 2022.
Neither side is capable of breaking the other. Russia advances slowly, Ukraine is willing to retreat in exchange for a favorable casualty ratio (observed not just by Ukrainians but by Russians such as our former host). Nothing indicates that Russia would be capable of taking a large city so at most it may slowly eventually retake Kursk and advance to the edge of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, etc. after losing many men and after many months, a year, or years.
As I said, under Trump oil prices will decrease substantially. This will be a massive blow to the Russian budget.
Presuming you’re not joking, do you have any kind of link on that?
All I could find was modern terms for dogs used to hunt feral pigs, ie ‘hog dogs’ and ‘pigging dogs’. No doubt they had them in medieval times but you seem to be talking about something a bit different.
As an amusing aside in my researches I of course ran into ‘Scweinehund’, where to the extent the term is still used in German it’s not dissimilar to how our archaic term ‘blaggard’ or ‘black guard’ was once used, ie meaning a real bastard.
People also speak of their inner demons, their inner weaknesses, as being their ‘inneren Schweinehund’. 😀
https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/schweinehund.html
Now that Team Trump is presenting policy again we may find out what Chabad wants to occur in Ukraine, beyond as many dead Slavs as possible. The two year delay since 2022 has made it more difficult for Putin to make compromises which would have been natural in the beginning of the SMO. The Russian economy and military are both apparently much stronger now, so the factions that want to fight the West and protect Russian security interests in Ukraine have a stronger position and louder voice.
Ukraine did get a lot of advanced weaponry. I’m no military expert, but I’ve seen claims that it may already have been at the limits of what could realistically be absorbed by Ukraine. It’s not as simple as just handing over weapons systems after all, you need trained personnel which can operate, maintain it and utilize it effectively in combined arms operations. And Ukraine’s manpower issue couldn’t be remedied at all absent direct Western intervention (which would have led to catastrophe).
Some things could have been handled better, it’s hard to understand why industrial production in the West wasn’t ramped up to provide at least a decent supply of artillery shells to Ukraine. But there was never any prospect of Ukraine outright defeating Russia (as opposed to forcing something like what Finland achieved in 1940). Zelensky and his Western cheerleaders adopted unrealistic war aims and a fatally flawed strategy, that’s the main issue imo.
That’s just wishful thinking on your part. There is no structural stalemate, Russia is massively stronger than Ukraine and systematically degrading Ukrainain fortifications in Donbass, and Ukraine’s energy grid. Anything Ukraine can do to Russia in return doesn’t amount to much more than pin-pricks.
More wishful thinking. Quite apart from the fact that not all Poles seem to be fans of the Ukrainians living among them (I’ve seen some fairly negative comments on Twitter), the geopolitical situation for Poland (which is essentially what you’re talking about) isn’t better than before the war at all, if this indeed ends in a permanent confrontation with an antagonistic Russia that has gained ample military experience in Ukraine. Poland is in dire demographic straits anyway (now one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, and no, that won’t be magically remedied by Ukrainians whose fertility is also low), maybe military spending amounting to 5% of one’s GDP isn’t the best or most sustainable investment for such a society.
This has been a disaster all around, maybe at some point you’ll realize this too.
Please cite a source for Scholz’s alleged role in that, that’s a rather novel claim I haven’t heard before.
(not sure either that Johnson’s role was decisive. But in any case, in hindsight it was clearly a mistake by Zelensky to break off those negotiations).
Are there any Russians beyond Strelkov and Karlin who believe the notion: “in 2024 Ukraine has a favorable casualty ratio”?
It is not clear that Trumpian saber rattling toward Iran will reduce oil prices; refer to the Strait of Hormuz.
A ramp up of shale oil drilling is still limited by high interest rates. Other new oil sources take a long time to reach the market. We may find out if Team Trump is willing to dance with hyperinflation to partially offset the price shocks due to posturing over Iran.
In my view, there are several reasons for engaging the North Korean troops. This signifies the Kremlin is expanding military alliances against the West in order to protect Russian citizens. Furthermore, this shows that Russia is specifically strengthening its Eastern flank on the Korean peninsula. Finally, they are training non-Russian troops to participate in post-SMO peacekeeping efforts in the country formerly known as Ukraine. These soldiers will work against guerrilla fighters and will be there to at least partially dilute the Chechen peacekeepers. They must be battle hardened to do this job properly which is why they are present now. However, I don’t think the DPRK can risk sending too many men since they will be potentially disruptive upon their return to Korea.
I wonder what percentage of Ukrainian professional soldiers from 2022 are still alive and capable of fighting?
Thanks for bringing this up. The insult is well-known to me, as it is a common one (at least heard in Hollywood stuff), but I wasn’t really thinking of it, when I heard of pig dogs.
And that psychological twist of use seems to have interesting sociohistorical implications worth puzzling over. Modern neuroticism? Or tendency to get distracted?
I heard of pig dogs while watching this video. Am afraid that I do not really think the video is a good one, as it seems to be mostly be talking about dogs, and from my perspective missed some important animals – like herons – though I recognize the line between a working animal and a pet can be a fuzzy one.
And one part was interesting – talking about how peasants in the woods could keep a hound, but it had to be declawed.
But I think the channel, which focuses on medieval life, is sometimes interesting.
In German, we can possibly perceive a kind of status difference between the cow and pig, due to this insult. Believe someone once brought up the swineherd in the Odyssey here.
In Ireland, the native aristocracy was practically eliminated, which is sometimes used to explain the friendly stereotype of Irish people. Still seems to be anti-Trump.
My own theory is that it has something to do with the media-state complex. Maybe, like the opposite spectrum of corruption. Not less corruption, but more formalized and built-in, and bureacracy-heavy.
But the polls are so startling, that I can’t even really believe that people feel this way and simply aren’t trying to conform or say the safe thing.
There are still plenty of people with crazy anti Trump signs up around here “Dictator (in red), or Democracy (in blue)”
I am not anti free speech, but it kind of harms the aesthetics of these old houses to know crazy, virtue-signaling people inhabit them.
Thanks. Id never heard of such a thing (ie ‘pig dogs’ to control herds of pigs) before, but presumably d knows what he’s talking about.
‘Herd’ for pigs didn’t sound quite right, but apparently it’s acceptable, along with a whole lot of other terms…
A group of pigs can either be called a drift, drove, passel, sounder, litter, team, or herd, regardless if we’re referring to guinea pigs, wild pigs, or domestic pigs.
I suppose I should tone down my anti-Americanism here. Maybe Trump’s re-election will have some positive effects after all, at least on the existential migration issue and similar matters. I certainly wouldn’t have preferred that creepy witch Kamala to win (no redeeming features to Biden’s administration at all, just horrible on every level), and on Wednesday felt quite a bit of Schadenfreude when thinking about how stupid the anti-Trump shitlib elites in Europe now look once again. Can’t be thrilled about Trump regarding foreign policy though. Already seen suggestions that Iran-obsessed sodomite Grenell might be the next secretary of state…bad sign if correct.
That type of talk is really dangerous. They need to drop their obsession with Trump and take a hard look at themselves, but instead they just keep doubling down, which is what they’ve been doing since at least Jonestown in 1978.
Doesn’t it ever occur to them it might be they themselves who are about to create a dictatorship…if they haven’t already with the Biden regime and the 2020 stolen election. Trump isn’t inaugurated until Jan 20, if he lives that long, and even if he does will they let him exercise his authority as president, should Trump try to do so?
And who is responsible for that if not the Kiev regime installed by the Washington for killing their own citizens Russian minority in Ukraine. Against the hypocritical EU policies on minorities. However, the conflict started with two antagonistic sides wanting something different.
NATO, as a declared enemy of nuclear power Russia, gradually and arrogantly expanded closer and closer to Russia with in mind to establish their iron curtain at the eastern Ukraine border. On the other hand Russia, although tolerated the NATO expansion but set the unyielding red line and their iron curtain at the western Ukrainian border.
This conflict was greatly enhanced by the behaviour of Kiev regime towards Russian minority and the Washington interfering in Ukraine political arena. Russia obviously strongly responded to these intolerable events at their border.
There will be more attempts
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Elser
Perhaps Trump is going to be Hitler anyway.
humor for open thread
The election of Donald Trump is a nightmare for democracy, human rights, and Europe. This is one of those pivotal moments that change the course of History. We now find ourselves alone in Europe. Alone facing war on our continent, alone facing Putin, alone facing the far-right and authoritarian wave sweeping across our nations and the world, alone facing the climate catastrophe. Alone. Trump has already announced he would sacrifice Ukraine and negotiate European security architecture with Putin. Europe could therefore find itself in the situation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, during the Munich Agreement, waiting in the corridors while the “great powers” decide its future and very existence.
And who is responsible for that if not the Kiev regime installed by the Washington for killing their own citizens Russian minority in Ukraine.
Why don’t you explain that sentence given that Zelensky won in 2019 by defeating the pro-Western candidate.
Are there any Russians beyond Strelkov and Karlin who believe the notion: “in 2024 Ukraine has a favorable casualty ratio”?
It’s a dangerous position to take in a totalitarian state. Another Zed blogger was killed last month for having an unfavorable view.
Let’s not forget that a pro-Russian blogger supposedly killed himself a few weeks after stating that losses were worse than the government was stating. I guess he found being honest to be depressing.
I’m not sure why anyone would be surprised by a favorable casualty ratio. Ukraine has been using defend and withdraw tactics. That normally favors the defense. You can go play paintball and see why the defense is favored. When you are walking into a defended area you can’t see where everyone is hiding but they can see you. They can choose when to attack while the offense has to be ready at any moment to counter-attack.
This has been a major problem in war ever since the machine gun was invented. Someone can spray a company of troops from the woods and then escape. Urban areas make it even harder for the offense.
In my view, there are several reasons for engaging the North Korean troops.
I thought it made sense given that Putin has been doing everything to not conscript again. It also means that rumors of them sending wounded troops back to the front are most likely true.
A combination of hysteria and paranoia. They’ve been listening to and apparently actually believing their own propaganda for too long.
Hitler favored holding land for morale over entrap and withdraw tactics. His generals favored the latter as they understood the effectiveness and especially in a war like the Eastern front where they were losing and outnumbered. Hitler eventually allowed the tactic but by then they had already used too many troops in stupid “for German spirit” attacks in Kursk and Ukraine.
I remember reading a GI diary of how the Germans would use the strategy on the Western front to the frustration of the troops. The Germans would hide in a pillbox with a machine gun and then unload when a platoon approached. By the time the Americans got to the pillbox the Germans would be gone. They had already left to setup a new defensive position. The Germans would also leave boobytraps. Imagine seeing your friend’s head blown off in the initial assault and when you finally take the position your other friend loses his arm from picking up a helmet. Maddening stuff of nightmares.
I accept the notion that Russia now has a favorable 10:1 casualty ratio. They regularly claim 2000 Ukrainian casualties per day which implies Russian losses of 200 per day. Maybe the ratio is 5:1 for 400 Russian casualties per day. These are decisive winning numbers in a war of attrition, but this still leaves 400 gory deaths or injuries per day to turn into war porn videos such as you like to present. Even the lower Russian numbers are on the order of 100,000 casualties per year. It is a nasty business and I hope it ends soon.
Yes, I’d not be surprised if there weren’t more attempts.
Someone on another thread was pointing out that this might explain why at least some of the modern ‘progressive’ elite aren’t acting too worried about Trump having won the election.
They’d also pointed out that Trump’s heir apparent, JD Vance, a former US marine, and the author of Hillbilly Eligy, as fake an Appalachian/Southern boy as he might well be, would be the ideal person to rally Trump’s legions of male followers to ‘avenge’ Trump’s assassination by fighting in Iran, where no doubt a great many of them would be killed, which is just the fate the liberal US establishment would want for them.
Putin will accept a non-humiliating peace offer, if one is offered to him. He’s already making sounds to that effect and it has been his traditional modus operandi everywhere, including in Ukraine in 2022, when the SMO had gone south but he could still hope to control much more territory than he does now. He is making slow gains in Donbass, that only appear impressive in comparison to what he has achieved so far, but he’s not managing to drive the Ukrainians out of Kursk and is having to rely on Nork troops. Any further gains will be at a high cost and risk of a adangerous escalation if he does reject Trump’s offer.
As I said months ago, Trump is coming to power at the right time for a negotiated settlement but there are important hurdles. One is the Europeans, who will pressure to continue the war, another one is Trump himself, who may get distracted and listen to the many bad actors that still lurk in his entourage, and another one is what you mention of things having gone too far. But this last factor alone should not prevent a settlement. Putin cannot trust any promises made by the West and the Ukrainians but neither can these trust any promises made by the Russians and this is the only kind of peace you can get when you aren’t able to get your enemy to capitulate.
Plenty of bad signs on the foreign policy front, in spite of the anti-war people that are very close to him for now. It is best to expect some hawks and neocons to make their way into Trump’s administration, not just because they still have plenty of power in the GOP but because Trump is the same man he was in 2016 and he’s not going to change at 78. The only hope is that Elon, Vance, Trump Jr, RFK, Gabbard, etc will manage to keep out as many of these characters as possible, not only to make a change of policy possible but also to protect Trump from being betrayed by people who do not share his views at all, as he constantly was during his first term. We’ll see.
That would be a loss. I am sure we all enjoy your anti-Americanism here!
Sounds like “Grendel.” Btw, sometime you should read the revisionist American novel about the monster. (Which was required at my high school.)
I thought it was interesting. (Of course there is a certain political subtext which could be interpreted different ways – mainly postmodernist.) In a way, I liked it, except for one sentence, which triggered my disgust reflex. I had to look up the author to check if he was a homo – but with some of these guys, they are in a certain milieu, so it is difficult to tell.
Lol. I can never decide if these guys are serious or play-acting for the strange social enjoyment of it. Because there is a kind of organizing aspect to it – those who don’t like BS won’t join.
Putin will accept a non-humiliating peace offer, if one is offered to him. He’s already making sounds to that effect and it has been his traditional modus operandi everywhere
His Western bloggers continue to state that he will not negotiate and yet he already tried doing that. He offered to walk with the occupied oblasts and shared control of Crimea. No Odessa.
Both Larry and Ritter have gone on rants about Putin as if they are Black women talking about a boyfriend who is about to GET SERIOUS.
HE AINT NEGOTIATING NOW. YALL PISSED HIM OFF. HE GONNA TAKE IT ALL CAUSE YALL ANGERED HIM. HE BE GETTING ODESSA FO SHO. YALL DONT KNOW HIM. ODESSA IS HIS.
Putin in reality: I’m actually willing to walk without Odessa and I have made two offers that don’t contain it.
I have now read 378 comments (excepting the anons and replies to anons) in the Ron Unz’s latest chinks article. Some of them are excellent. Not one commenter so far has said anything where I could ask them about the topics I am really curious about. And I can’t just post it in there @ anybody or not @ anybody because then nobody would even see it.
I doubt that at this point, he probably thinks Russia’s winning the war, and unlike you, I think he’s essentially correct about that. Recently saw an assessment by Austrian army officer Markus Reisner, who’s pro-Ukrainian, and while he stated that Russian forces are also exhausted and worn down, he said that a) they’re keeping up and increasing the pressure (e. g. the number of glide bomb attacks is increasing from month to month), b) they’re now in the 2nd of three Ukrainian defense lines in Donbass (and the first was the most heavily fortified one), and after that it’s open terrain up to the Dnepr, so once they’ve broken through, there may be big operational movements again. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Kursk attack has gone nowhere (at this point it’s only tying down Ukrainian troops, has done nothing to stop Russian advances in Donbass) and there’s every indication that Ukraine faces severe shortages in manpower and artillery ammunition.
And regarding what would be a “non-humiliating peace offer”: Putin certainly won’t accept anything like that “Korea scenario”, which would leave core issues unresolved and might only lead to re-opening of the conflict a few years down the line. I think he wants a definitive solution, so he can say he’s the statesman who made Russia a great power again and successfully faced down the collective West, and then hand matters over to his successor. Which means no Ukrainian NATO membership ever (not just “not for 20 years, but we’ll keep our security ties to Ukraine and arm them to the teeth”, which would be similar to the situation before February 2022, but on a much higher level), and handing over all (!) of the four annexed oblasts. Obviously this is extremely hard to swallow for any Ukrainian government after all those sacrifices, will probably only look acceptable after even more fighting and death. So no, I don’t think this will end with a negotiated settlement.
Will have to read Beowulf first (have downloaded an English prose translation from LibGen), thanks for reminding me.
Putin is managing a lot of powerful, yet contradictory influences. Some have become weaker since 2022, some stronger.
VVP wants to support the New Russia (RusFed) project, he wants to get along with powerful oligarchs and Jews, he doesn’t hate Ukrainians, he wants to get along with the West and China and hopes to leave a strong Russian legacy. It could make your head spin.
I think the Russians have the means to wipe out the Ukie forces in Kursk in a month with high altitude bombing. Instead, they used the incursion as a casus belli to greatly expand the bombing of Ukrainian infrastructure across the country. I think the West expected an even stronger response which could have been used to justify overt NATO action against Russia; the incursion makes no sense without some hidden political motive. Making Russian citizens mad at the Kremlin for incompetence doesn’t work as the hidden motive in this case since the incursion makes them even more angry at Kiev and the West.
Probably Team Trump will offer Putin a deal which protects (((oligarchs))) in all three countries at the expense of Russian security. If Putin takes it he may be rapidly retired and Medvedev moved up. If Russia rejects such a deal, Trump may be forced to give massive concessions to make good on his “stop the war in 24 hours.”
One messy way to sort things out might be to throw some Neocons and CIA creeps under the bus and admit what dastardly role the USA and the West played in creating the Ukraine problem. This penance might reduce Russian post-SMO concerns and allow the Europeans to guarantee a “no Ukraine in NATO, ever” clause in some credible way.
Beowulf was the very first book in 7th grade my favorite middle school English teacher assigned us. We also had to read Animal Farm and A Separate Peace by John Knowles. According to wikipedia the last one is a faggot book but I don’t believe my teacher was aware of this idea if it is true. I never heard it until 5 minutes ago.
Speak of the devil, they’ve just charged three in an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
The really important one of the bunch, an apparent Iranian national, they had in custody where he made a complete confession. He was then somehow released and is now ‘at large’. They think he’s likely back in Iran, but they’re not entirely certain.
Very reassuring..
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/11/08/us-files-charges-over-iranian-plot-to-assassinate-donald-trump-before-election-day/
Well, this is an interesting topic, but I am largely ignorant of the history of these terms and how they might have varied across time and place.
In the case of a person, a swineherd, I think it makes a certain sense to call them that, as it kind of conserves the language referencing the person: shepherd, cowherd.
in modern times, people think of them in the sty, but in more ancient times, they were often put into the woods at the right time to eat acorns. (I guess it is still done but generally with fences). So it may be that our modern ideas involve smaller groups of pigs, where they are more constrained by liability laws, of them getting loose and eating stuff. I can almost imagine the dog trying to prevent this from happening, as many modern dogs will do, but am unsure about it.
The one language connection of which I am aware, and which I think is worth highlighting is regarding the English word “muck”, which has a Germanic origin. The Irish word for pig is “muc.”. But the connection seems to be a distant one.
One report on the Hatfield McCoy feud is it began with a Hatfield absconding a McCoy pig that was out in the woods. I like the version where it began with a Hatfield man and a McCoy woman better.
The current gains actually exceed the initial demands.
-1- Parts of 4 oblasts
-2- ZNPP
-3- Dnieper river access to secure Crimea fresh water
In terms of land this works pretty well. Russia does not want difficult to assimilate cities like Kiev and Lviv. That could repeat GW Bush’s error in Iraq — Win the War. Lose the Peace.
If Kiev insists on fighting further they could lose more land. Perhaps Odessa? Hooking up to Transnistria makes a certain amount of sense. Leaving New Ukraine landlocked would eliminate many avenues for future mischief.
The NK/SK line has endured for decades, but it is an overly tense paradigm. Also, Russia is winning. They can push for a more stable solution to prevent Kiev from re-opening the conflict. Likely provisions of any final deal:
-4- DMZ to keep the sides apart
-5- No Ukrainian nukes
-6- No NATO ever
-7- No foreign troops/bases
-8- Enforceable limits (but not full demilitarization) of New Ukraine forces
The smaller New Ukraine has to pay a price for Führer Zelensky’s aggression. Hopefully, this would build up their backbone so they do not follow any future stupid & suicidal directions from European elites.
This would not prevent an exclusively economic arrangement with Europe. However, full EU membership would be impeded by all sorts of issues that have nothing to do with Russia.
Look for Zelensky to skip the country at some point. He could live big on the European talk circuit, speaking to continental Globalists. If he makes it out in time, at worst he will receive a Europe funded sinecure. They might even try to set him up as
FührerPresident in Exile.PEACE 😇
Yes, yes. Please do so.
Speaking personally, I really enjoy some of this ancient heroic literature, replete with the pagan idea of a hero, to contrast with the Christian King Arthur, or modern ideas.
Didn’t you enjoy The Aeneid? Before long, we will have you reading the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Well, somewhat. But it’s probably not the best example for heroic epic, it’s not really the product of an archaic society after all, and might actually be considered to be somewhat artificial. iirc there are even interpretations which claim it subverts the heroic tradition and its values, e. g. that abrupt ending when Aeneas first hesitates, but then kills Turnus when he sees the belt Turnus had taken from Pallas and is overcome with rage is sometimes seen as criticism of the heroic code. Not sure I find that plausible though.
The parts I found most interesting were those which looked forward to later Roman history and featured imperial ideology.
Maybe I should. In any case quite remarkable that Ireland produced such an extensive literary corpus in the vernacular at such an early stage.
I am no military expert at all but what I see with my layman eyes is that the Russians are finally managing to break the Ukrainian defenses in the Southeast but are still struggling everywhere else. They’re stalled (for over a year, in some cases) in Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Seversk, Kupiansk, Volchansk, Kursk,…
Even if they manage to take all of these, they still have a big part of Donetsk to conquer, including the big conurbation Konstantinovka-Kramatorsk-Slaviansk (or retake rather, these were controlled by the rebels in the initial uprising of 2014). They are nowhere near doing that and we’re just talking of Donbas. If the Ukrainians collapse in the Southeast, the Russians could finally start conducting big envelopment operations, which they have failed to do during the whole war, and try to isolate Donbas but I doubt they’re capable of that, as long as Ukraine keeps receiving assistance from the West. We are not in the 30s or 40s of the past century, when wars between peer enemies were won decisively in a few years. We seem to have entered a new era in military operations where wars drag on for years and decades with no final resolution: Syria, Libya, Yemen, Israel, Sudan, Ethiopia,…
Even if the US were to cut off all aid to Ukraine, which is hard to envision (Trump actually provoked this war by lifting the taboo of lethal aid to Ukraine and making Putin lose any hope of an agreement with the West on Ukraine), the rest of the alliance could provide enough aid to prevent Putin from taking all of Ukraine, which is the only realistic way he has of achieving his initial objectives. Ukraine is already part of NATO for all practical purposes. Article 5 does not impose members to send troops to help each other. It just says that members will provide the aid they consider necessary to the attacked member: exactly what they are doing in Ukraine. Putin has integrated Ukraine in NATO all but on paper.
The smaller New Ukraine has to pay a price for Führer Zelensky’s aggression.
Polls show that a majority of Ukrainians support the war.
Why is it aggression on the part of Zelensky to be serving the will of the people?
You believe he should ignore the people and surrender the country?
Even if the US were to cut off all aid to Ukraine, which is hard to envision (Trump actually provoked this war by lifting the taboo of lethal aid to Ukraine and making Putin lose any hope of an agreement with the West on Ukraine)
That’s incorrect.
There was no taboo of lethal aid. Ukraine bought US weapons on the open market and Trump approved it.
Putin tried pushing his arbitrary rules and said that Ukraine shouldn’t be allowed to buy anti-tank weapons. Why? Cause Putin says so.
Just a tad suspicious that Putin was so opposed to Ukraine buying weapons that would be useful against Russian invasion.
Ukraine is already part of NATO for all practical purposes. Article 5 does not impose members to send troops to help each other.
Also wrong. Ukraine is not part of NATO for practical purposes.
Article 5 requires that states provide assistance and a Security Council is activated to direct aid. NATO states are not required to donate to Ukraine and the Security Council has not been activated to assist Ukraine.
Ukraine cannot call Article 5 on any practical level as they are not a NATO member. Most of the equipment donated has been 3rd or 4th generation. An actual NATO member under attack would be given the latest military technology along with an adequate amount for defense as determined by the Security Council. That would have happened immediately upon Russia’s attack. In reality NATO members have debated giving Ukraine various types of aid and have imposed restrictions that would not be placed on an actual NATO member.
Objective observers find this incredibly easy to envision.
The Biden/Harris regime flew Führer Zelensky to America on an Air Force transport. The Führer then campaigned for them, against Trump/Vance. There is no way for the neo-Nazi Kiev regime to “uncampaign”. Having picked the losing side, rational analysis points two to possibilities. -1- Minimal funding. Or, -2- Nothing.
Due due the impeachment inquiry, in 4 years there was one-and-only-one package of over $100MM. It was dated locked to a Putin election win in Russia. Everyone serious grasps that this only large event was:
• Entirely about domestic politics
• Implied nothing about U.S. policy towards the Kiev regime
Trying to blame Trump’s 1st term for the current problem is ludicrous. You must know that absolutely no one will believe your unhinged fantabulation.
____
In addition to reducing or eliminating funding to Führer Zelensky, Trump’s 2nd term will start lifting sanctions on Russia. That will be a little later as there are 60/90 day review periods involved.
• U.S. energy prices will go down, helping MAGA Reindustrialization.
• Global price reductions + sanctions eliminations will be neutral short-term and positive long-term term for Russia.
Short-term, Russia is selling at below market prices. The end of sanctions will allow them to sell more freely at the new lower market prices. This implies flat but revenue positive income.
Long-term, improved U.S.-Russia bilateral ties will improve the quality of hydrocarbon equipment & services in Russia. This will make their operations more efficient and profitable. America and Russia will rise together.
PEACE 😇
In addition to reducing or eliminating funding to Führer Zelensky, Trump’s 2nd term will start lifting sanctions on Russia. That will be a little later as there are 60/90 day review periods involved.
Review periods eh?
Well everyone has their wishes for the Trump presidency.
Only slight complication in all this wishing is that Trump won’t be running again and can ignore anyone.
I wish I may
I wish I might
Hope Trump’s ego
Shines on my dreams tonight
– The wish of the Trump fan
Good luck to everyone. My bets are:
1. Military industrial complex comes out a winner
2. RFK fans not so much
U.S. energy prices will go down, helping MAGA Reindustrialization.
Where is our big beautiful wall?
I can’t believe google still isn’t showing 312-226 electoral votes.
What do Willie Brown and the 2024 election have in common?
Kamala blew them both. LOL LOL LOL
(Never laugh at your own jokes but that isn’t my joke.)
Be my Gavrilo Princip says Merrick Garland to the Iranian.
Retire the Alias.
LOL are you upset my name is shared with some dumb movie?
Aren’t you always complaining about Jewish influence?
Well have a look at who made it V for Vendetta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wachowskis
It’s the Wachowskis brothers/sisters.
Two brothers that went tranny.
Yes both of them.
One at least kind of looks like a liberal dyke. Other one still looks like a dude.
I’ve never seen the movie and I’m going to pass. I hated the matrix.
I don’t think those conflicts are really comparable to Ukraine which is mostly a classic inter-state conflict fought by conventional militaries (and strange as it may sound, given war crimes like at Bucha, is also a much more “civilized” conflict, since the majority of casualties are military combatants). Something like the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan might be more relevant for comparison, and that ended with the decisive victory of one side.
I don’t know what makes you think that. European militaries are in a pitiful state and have already given a substantial part of their own inventories to Ukraine, they can’t really hand over more without serious damage to their own defense capabilities, nor can the necessary material easily be mass-produced. Most crucially, unless there’s a direct intervention, there’s no way of making good Ukraine’s manpower shortages.
I don’t think Russia would need to occupy all of Ukraine either (and presumably the Russians would rather avoid that if they can). If the Ukrainian frontline collapses and there’s a Russian advance towards the Dnepr, it would be pretty clear that Ukraine has lost and that there’s no point in fighting on.
But I admit that essentially all of that is speculation. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens
Hope there’s not been a misunderstanding, songbird.
I wasn’t calling you a ‘Scweinehund’, or anything like that, just making conversation rather. 😉
It got a lot – enough to prevent the Russians from conquering the place. But much less than the Ukrainians were asking for in order to try to win the war quickly.
Ukraine had more than enough men to operate more than the small number of HIMARS it got. And then there is the issue of delays. The ATACMS could have come much earlier. Training and deliver of F-16s could have begun a year earlier and many more could have easily been supplied. All of these delays prevented the possibility of a swift end to the war. For example, early in the war Russians were still concentrating their soldiers in large groups. ATACMS with cluster munitions would have been utterly devastating.
Yes.
If by defeat you mean retaking Donetsk then I agree. But if more was provided sooner Russians could have been driven out of southern Ukraine before they were able to build the fortifications there.
The balance has not changed, if anything Ukraine has gotten stronger since when the war started. The number of available troops by each side is comparable, Russia has increased glide bombs while Ukraine has increased drones. Russia is advancing slowly, but at great cost.
and systematically degrading Ukrainain fortifications in Donbass, and Ukraine’s energy grid.
And Ukraine has been systematically destroying Russia’s oil infrastructure and attriting the Russians enough that they need help form North Korea.
Destroying 30% of the Black Sea Fleet and forcing it to leave Crimea, destroying a couple of months worth of ammo production, forcing Russia to burn through much of its Soviet weapons and hardware stocks, destroying 14% of oil refining capacity is hardly mere “pin pricks.”
Attitudes have shifted as Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainian refuges from the West have returned home (where it is relatively safe) and have been replaced by Russian-speakers from the West, who will probably not return home because Putin destroyed their homes.
But these attitudes don’t mean much: the kids are in Polish schools and getting assimilated. The mixed grandkids will simply be more Poles.
Poland is much better armed now, will benefit from Ukrainian expertise. Russia has gained experience but has burned through much of its massive Soviet stocks, and its non-military economy has fallen much further behind.
The population boost provided by the Ukrainians mitigates some of the population loss from low birth rate, at least for the current generation. Poland has added about a million people from Ukraine – about the equivalent of 3 years worth of childbirths.
A temporary fix of course, but a good one.
As for low TFR, of course it is a problem but since it isn’t combined with an influx of non-Europeans it is not a fatal one. So future Poland mav have 30 million rather than 40 million people, but they will still be almost all Poles so there is a chance of revival. OTOH if 35% or 40% were non-Poles that would not necessarily be the case, even if native Polish TFR were higher.
It’s been a disaster for Ukraine and Russia, and then for Western Europe (especially Germany). Visegrad Europe, China, Turkey, and the USA have not been harmed and may have benefited to varying degrees.
Swineherd…don’t hear that one too often nowadays.
The Wachowski brothers got close with The Matrix but choked.
V for Vendetta is their only good movie in my opinion. It is worth watching for anyone posting at Unz.
Jupiter Ascending has their best sci-fi concept but is a poor movie.
That was the same trip where Zelensky also met privately with Trump and had a news conference. Trump praises Zelensky at 3:30 here, saying that Zelensky was “like a piece of steel” who helped end the impeachment:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538756-1/president-trump-meets-ukrainian-president-zelensky
I’m not convinced about that, and in any case, it seems unlikely the North Koreans will send more than a few thousand men, since the bulk of their armed forces will be kept at home (all the more so since tensions with South Korea are increasing; also seems risky for the regime to send large numbers of North Koreans abroad, even to Russia, where they have freer access to information). The whole business is very odd and I don’t really understand it tbh. One would suppose that inserting foreign troops (most of whom probably don’t know Russian) would cause all manner of operational difficulties. I haven’t yet seen a plausible explanation for what exactly is going on there.
Russia doesn’t have to so it only uses a fraction of its power. Norkies are smaller than foreign mercenaries Kiev uses. You always bring up the irrelevant.
The same for US-EU – in US it is the dominant activity in many regions. Why do you always only bring up the same about Russia? Like a hypocrite who can’t see his own side – Bible has a nice verse about it…:)
A lot was also lost in 2022…why does it matter? The timing of events is random, what matters are the results. Those are bad for Ukies and the West. What happened before 2022 had a temporary feel, it was in negotiations – now it is permanent.
You don’t have to be broken to lose a war. At some point Kiev won’t be able to effectively defend – and they will not want to. This is an irrational behavior on their part – they are dying to be “in NATO”, just think about how stupid that is…
You are making up the ‘casualty‘ ratio – my sense is that the casualties for both sides are lower than the politicized “estimates”. There are no large-scale battles, very little fighting in the cities, etc…The ratio almost certainly favors Russia, but the overall casualties for both sides are probably under 100k. But we don’t know.
Why? You need to give us specifics. In EU the cost of energy is up about 60-70%. US can only make money on LNG if the prices stay high – you don’t seem to understand that people are in business to make money, nobody will do stuff that loses money and if the prices go back to 2021 levels a large part of US (and other) production will not make a profit. You should learn something about capitalism…:)
If there is an economic crisis the prices will go down – but the Russian ‘budget’ will be the least of the EU concerns. With Trump that is unlikely in US.
Being a small, closed community, Amish have a high level of inbreeding which is a factor of degeneration.
They allow cousin marriages below first cousins too.
They may be using them to man defences in quieter parts of the front to save more capable units for offensive operations? It would be interesting to know how many there are at this point, afaik there have already been pictures of Africans and Nepalese (?) serving in Russian units. Then there is the question about how many Central Asian contract soldiers there are, these would probably make better soldiers from the Russian military’s point of view.
Matrix made me wonder why the centre of resistance is called Zion, and not Jerusalem, and more broadly, made me realize that in Jewish – and popular- lore Zion became more popular than Jerusalem, which is not obvious at all. When you find reasons for the ascendancy of Zion to detriment of Jerusalem, you will be a step closer to full understanding of our world.
Hint: start with assumption that Zion and Jerusalem are not synonyms.
Son of Gog, it is about fulfilling biblical prophecies about WORLD wars (in terms of many nations participating).
That would make sense. From North Korea’s point of view, I’d assume the motive would be primarily economical, maybe also gaining combat experience in a modern war. In general, the geopolitical shifts of the last decade or so might have given North Korea’s system a new lease of life. Their system by itself is probably unsustainable long-term, but now they might have found a new patron again like during the Cold War (and who knows, maybe they also get increased support from China again).
Africans in Russian units are even more puzzling in a way, one wonders how that is being organized.
I was thinking of this too: inbreeding depression. The founding population was very small and there have been very few converts – I am personally only aware of one.
Old Order Amish grew out of like 500 people (maybe already related?), I think. Wonder if Mennonites look superior.
I once asked a German girl to explain an insult (Waschlappen, I think it was) to me, and she asked “Did someone call you that?”. LMAO, no!! It was in a story!!!
mainly seems to be in literature. Odyssey and Ivanhoe are where I recall it.
Please, put all tranny pics under a “more” tag with a warning.
That, or post them on some forum specializing in the topic. Ask XYZ, if in doubt.
Yes. The one where Trump told Zelensky he was friendly with Putin: (1)
And encouraged Zelensky to negotiate.
The visual from their brief encounter was staged to illustrate the distance between the two.
I was surprised that the sides agreed to the meeting.
Once in place, it could not be gracefully cancelled after Führer Zelensky went out of his way to insult Vance. Trump showed that he was level headed and diplomatic by going through with it. Zelensky received nothing but a few platitudes.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.foxnews.com/world/trump-meets-ukraines-zelenskyy-trump-tower-says-russias-war-must-end-fair-deal
Please acknowledge the defeat of AP’s favored political candidate – Kamala conceded – by not posting any more tranny pics.
As insults go, that one seems relatively benign. I believe it means formally a wash cloth, or as we might say a wet noodle, or, a ‘sissy’, a ‘softy’.
‘Haariger Affe’ is another insult, which means ‘hairy ape’, but that’s no great shakes either.
‘Scweinehund’ is a good all purpose one, short, sweet, and to the point. 🙂
That’s one hell of a shiny table, Trump put Zelko in a quarantine, damning visual.
Trump’s plan is an opening offer. If Zelko doesn’t go along it will be a downward spiral. But he can’t accept it and they have only 3 months to start WW3. Maybe enough time…:)
Euros have pooped-in-their-pants after Trump’s win, busily apologizing, some trying bravado of ‘going alone’, but ‘Russia-can’t-win’ mantra limits their options. How are the Ukie soldiers feeling? What was the saying about how does it feel to be the last soldier to die in a losing war?
An interesting etymology, if true: (from the wiki)
IIRC, Razib liked it.
I have even imagined the right way to shoot certain scenes or ideas, so they would translate well to a big screen – adding a few lighter garnishes, to help balance the mood of the substantial violence.
Probably flatter myself here, but I think some of my ideas are genuinely pretty good. A pity it isn’t some sort of nationalist project, with careful planning and solicitation of ideas, which could compete, before some final crystallization.
Have heard there is a large corpus of later manuscripts sitting on shelves somewhere which has never been transcribed, or translated. An object of neglect, by the globohomo state.
Likely none of it is high literature, but to someone like me it would probably be pretty interesting.
I once tried to read some book on poetry published by a priest in France in the early 1600s. My interest in it was actually kind of genealogical, as he was from a clan I was interested in, and he described a 500 person Christmas feast at a castle. I wanted to try to figure out if he was describing a scene in the castle some of my ancestors lived in.
My best determination was that it probably was not. But maybe ridiculous to split such petty differences, as they may have gone to it, or had their own in their own heyday. Or as likely as not, I am descended from those people too, and can’t trace it.
The poetry itself was kind of interesting in its own way. Not so much for art’s sake, but for its evident importance to the nobility and the themes it contained.
They’ve clarified a few things, now.
It turns out the one guy purportedly in Tehran at the moment is originally from Afghanistan. He confessed, but during phone interviews with the FBI rather than while in custody, as (supposedly) he wants to buy leniency towards an associate of his already in prison. It’s still a bit murky.
The stochastic terrorism that’s been set in motion is still at work, however:
‘Who will rid us of this troublesome president elect, who symbolically represents this troublesome people?’
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-brings-charges-thwarted-iranian-plot-assassinate-tr-rcna179342
The special military operation is not a war and Kursk is not a battle. Look at the situation map. Kursk is a gladiator sport exhibition. The Korea boys are going to the Olympic games.
You are nowhere near cynical enough. Do you really think anybody shot at Trump in Butler PA?
Has anyone explained how a photographer can take a picture which shows the bullet whizzing by after grazing Trump, despite the fact that this type of image has apparently never been observed before in millions of pictures? The Youtube videos I saw which claimed to reproduce this effect were not comparable. Pictures of tracer bullets do not count.
Son of Gog must be Germany in your opinion? How about the ethnicity of Magog?
Hysterical and paranoid, or not, this is a pretty good description of the official public narrative driving an impending WWlII.
Some kindly advice to Europe and to the rest of the world..don’t listen to this. Most of this is only real inside of your head. It’s not the actual reality of things.
Turn off the TV, radio, and internet, so that you can decompress.
And then just walk away. 🙂
‘The election of Donald Trump is a nightmare for democracy, human rights, and Europe. This is one of those pivotal moments that change the course of History. We now find ourselves alone in Europe. Alone facing war on our continent, alone facing Putin, alone facing the far-right and authoritarian wave sweeping across our nations and the world, alone facing the climate catastrophe. Alone.’
‘Trump has already announced he would sacrifice Ukraine and negotiate European security architecture with Putin. Europe could therefore find itself in the situation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, during the Munich Agreement, waiting in the corridors while the “great powers” decide its future and very existence.’
Trump well understands that he owes a favor to Zelensky. Vance was chosen to appease Magots such as yourself, to continue garnering your support. As time passes, Vance will prove to become an anvil around Trump’s neck.
Anybody else out there notice how Trump already seems to distance himself from Vance on the victory stage, not even seeming to acknowledge his presence?
I can’t think of it now, but isn’t there some kind of argument that proto-Germans already had a word for “ape?”
I suppose it is supposed to be some kind of poetic repetition, and there is a similar insult in English – though I have always attributed it to feminists. But I find it kind of alarming that they would have to specify an ape with hair!
Yes, we’ll find soon enough how receptive Putin is to Trump’s offers and how well Trump manages to put in practice the brilliant ideas he’s been talking about for a couple of years now. Of course, if he puts Pompeo or Rubio in charge of the project, it may end up in a fiasco even if the Russians are ready to accept some realistic compromises (some additional “painful decisions”, in General Surovikin’s words).
But can we at least agree that no matter what happens, Germany will receive some blame and her leaders will accept paying a disproportionate share of the bills?
I would also predict that nobody will learn any valuable lesson. If anything, the warmongers will see their prior beliefs vindicated, NATO’s continued expansion will be seen as even more necessary than before, having the Russians proven to be the terrible enemies they were portrayed as, and, having normalized the idea of risking nuclear war like we never did during the Cold War, we may end up with an even worse confrontation down the line.
The new new Hitler.
Sahra Wagenknecht
She has a PhD in Economics and her father was Iranian. She grew up as a commie.
Veddy Intewesting.
Get ready for more surprises.
Any idea who those two guys with Trump are? That could be very valuable information wrt his future foreign policy guidelines. He did lay out a a very nice plan yesterday on the “deep state” issue though.
What is owed to Zelensky.
Germany is now in the process of deindustrialization, and also has to support millions of unproductive (and potentially dangerous) immigrants and the coming tsunami of boomer retirees at home. So I don’t know if there’ll be the funds available for shouldering much of the financial burden, like our “partners” certainly expect. Given what happened with Nordstream, any self-respecting nation would tell them to fuck off, but that’s too much to ask for from elites as deluded as Germany’s…instead they’ll double down on their braindead Atlanticism and militant Westernism. Just saw that the German embassy in Georgia is apparently inciting Georgians to protest, with references to the events of 1989 (“change is possible”)…just tiresome, and irresponsible.
You’re right that people have forgotten all the lessons of the Cold War. Most people don’t seem to realize how much worse the situation already is than during all but the most serious crises of the Cold War (like the Cuban missile crisis). I recently looked at some documents from the early 1980s relating to the NATO double track decision about stationing of intermediate range missiles, and it struck me how even back then, at a time which is usually considered one of the most dangerous phases of the Cold War, there was a constant dialogue with the Soviets and offer for negotiations about arms control. Now medium range missiles are set to be stationed in Germany again, essentially recreating the dangerous situation from 40 years ago, but there is almost no public discussion about it, and most of the channels of communication with Russia are gone. Yet apart from some older people with personal experience of the Cold War, this isn’t regarded as the potentially existential issue it is, instead you get plenty of pseudo-tough posturing (“I’d rather die in nuclear war than live under Putin’s dictatorship” is literally what one female “conservative” commentator wrote on Twitter, just mind-bogglingly demented).
Russia.
AP and google are still begrudging Trump the 11 AZ electoral votes. Fattest Donald the Fat event since 1 April 2007 Wrestlemania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WrestleMania_23
I can see her with a Hitler mustache.
Everything I read about political and social issues in Europe is quite disheartening. No idea who that commentator is but I can believe that the idea that Europe runs the risk of falling under a Putin dictatorship is quite mainstream, not even a fringe idiocy like the ones that are propagated around here. After all, the mass media have spent years spreading the narrative that Putin was behind every nefarious incident in Europe, from Brexit to the Catalan referendum.
At least in the US people who run in opposition to these lunacies can win elections. I even think that running “against wars” helped Trump quite a lot to win this election, even if that wasn’t the main concern for most. However, there are plenty of morons here too, not least among Republicans. Many of the self-described “Reagan Republicans” assume that being more radical than the Democrats with regards to Russia is the logical position, not realizing that Reagan did adopt a policy of confronting the Soviets but never went as far as anything that is being discussed now and indeed kept dialogue with them always open, allowing Perestroika to succeed. Some of these dorks, like Burgum, seem to be under consideration for Trump’s cabinet.
“given war crimes like at Bucha”
Bucha certainly looked like a war crime, but whose? It was presented to us as a massacre of random civilians by the evil Russkies, but was it in fact a massacre of pro-Russians by Ukraine?
Remember that at the start of the war the guy in charge of a military hospital ordered the doctors to castrate all Russian prisoners? And he was a lawyer in civil life. While he backtracked after all the publicity, it shows what some people had in mind:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10636597/Ukrainian-doctor-tells-TV-interviewer-ordered-staff-CASTRATE-Russian-soldiers.html
The Nork stuff is BS. Don’t be surprised if the actual figure is several thousand or less.
DPRK forces getting training in Russia is nothing special. It’s not because they are needed by Russia to fight in the NATO proxy war. That’s one of several myths about that conflict.
“Sahra Wagenknecht … her father was Iranian. “
Is Wagenknecht an Iranian surname? I know Iranian = Aryan, but all the same…
Or did our swarthy Aryan “hit and run” ?
Lost cause trying to convince those not wanting to get out of a misinformed bubble that soothes their weltanschaaung.
The relevant tweet is quoted here:
https://weltwoche.de/daily/eine-deutsche-publizistin-ist-bereit-den-atomtod-zu-sterben-ein-arzt-traeumt-vom-kampf-in-einer-verstrahlten-welt-der-atomkrieg-wird-von-intellektuellen-total-verklaert/
I wouldn’t say it’s a mainstream belief in the sense that such sentiments are all that widespread…it’s more of an “elite” (EHC?) belief.
Maybe, but it’s hardly reassuring if people like Pompeo and Grennell are in the running as secretary of defense and secretary of state. Trump is anything but a principled “peace candiate”, there’s a lot of potential for disaster here.
Don’t be such a dumb contrarian, of course Russian troops killed civilians at Bucha. The Ukrainians probably exaggerated some things (it doesn’t seem to have been a large-scale organized massacre, more like a series of smaller-scale killings), but some war crimes certainly happened there. That question should be separate from the larger questions about the war.
It never occurred to me before, but I assume that the surname Coward is a contraction of cowherd.
Wikipedia article says he disappeared when she was a child. German women are not known for their virtue. By which what I mean is they are typical.
You were there to know that as fact and/or have a contact who was there and is credible? Are you sure Kiev regime forces didn’t kill any whether as collateral damage and/or when they entered Bucha following the Russian withdrawal.
And Gog?
Well, guess.
There is enough hints in my comments here.
As for Ukrainians, I am unsure whether or not they are sons of Gog. Some of them probably, if Rurik story is true.
So yes, you have it: Germanic people are sons of Gog. Note:all these people created their own SS divisions.
Oh, I hate guessing, when I have a bona-fide expert of the subject matter on the line who could clarify things for me. You’ve already clarified that Magog is Russia, so who is Gog?
Man, why do you repeat your queestionn when I have already answered it?!
Interestingly, I think the insult “coward” comes from the Normans.
Speaking of surnames, I believe the Japs used to have an interesting system where not everyone had the right to a surname. Might be worth emulating in certain cases.
Ezekiel 38
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
Lizzo spent her first ten years in Detroit.
You’re right.
We get so used to our English words we sometimes forget their original meaning, though it’s right in front of us.
Sort of like how ‘breakfast’ no doubt came from a break to the fast. 🙂
https://www.houseofnames.com/coward-family-crest
It derives from the roots, cu, meaning cow, and hierde, meaning herdsman.
Wtf are you talking about? John Johnson was the actual Guy Fawkes Alias. What’s that to do with a recent Hollywood flick?
😆 Open Thread humor 😂
Here is an antidote for you.
PEACE 😇
Cow-herd has more popularly evolved to the surname Cowart (1).
The insult coward appears to derive from animal tails (2). I have heard a slightly different version that traces to coat tails flapping in the wind while fleeing.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.houseofnames.com/cowart-family-crest
(2) https://uselessetymology.com/2017/12/05/the-etymology-of-coward/
OK 2:14:46 is the time stamp on the first remarkable report from Rick Spence Lex Fridman.
Manetho, 4th C BC Greco-Egyptian historian is the first outside record that Jews are a uniquely nasty population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manetho
He didn’t invent it. His is the oldest surviving account.
Car Server
That’s a possible translation of the name.
Why do you not believe Trump’s 100% proven, 1st term track record?
Objective facts irrefutably demonstrate that Trump is not pushing for war. He even refused to take the bait when sociopath Khamenei tried to start one.
Why are you so emotionally panicked over something that is clearly untrue?
When has Grennell openly advocated aggressive first strikes? Your accusation is so wild, you need to provide CREDIBLE citations to back it up.
Everyone expected Tom Cotton to take DoD. Several months ago, I would have deemed the idea of Pompeo as well nigh impossible. However, names keep vanishing from the short list. While still unlikely, it now worth some review.
You are correct that Pompeo is more of a warhawk than MAGA Trump. However, he also follows orders. There is little doubt that, if appointed, he would use his seat at the big table push for more action. However, if the decision came down against his personal views, Pompeo would execute the duties of his office according to instructions from above.
Pompeo’s reappearance would be surprising, but not alarming.
PEACE 😇
Lol. Btw, I read another Harry Harrison novel: Bill, the Galactic Hero (1965)
This one I didn’t enjoy very much. Not saying it was bad exactly, but the themes (satire on war, the army, and bureaucracy) made it kind of a downer. It was silly, but felt too constrained by the theme, to have the feeling of possibility that I think makes for good scifi. It definitely had a pessimistic tone.
I was kind surprised because I felt it must have been written several years after the US got involved in Vietnam. But it actually seems to have been written at least partially before the war.
Regarding HH satires, imho it was way better than Bill:
In a loose sort of way – that it is a humorous scifi story about a film director – reminds me of the William Tenn short story Venus and the Seven Sexes, which I thought was funny when I read it years ago.
IIRC Bill was one of Harrison’s lowest rated works. I either never read it, or do not remember the story.
Deathworld and Deathworld 2 were respectable. However, I do not believe it went further than that.
PEACE 😇
Arguably Brave New World is a story about the film maker Alpha Minus. Rather than about Savage or Lenina and Bernard.
It’s over the weekends when the big news events take place..
https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-signs-mutual-defence-treaty-185759512.html
ADDENDUM / CORRECTION
Well now… The entire “short list” for DoD is out of the running.
We will have to give it a few days for trial balloons to go up.
PEACE 😇
General M. Flynn deserve to be reinstated.
Google and AP finally gave Trump the 11 AZ electoral votes. You can get yourself properly drunk off your ass now I suppose. Did you know Joe Rogan has a mudshark wife and he is adopted daddy to her half negro daughter for close to twenty years? When the progressives lose Joe Rogan it’s mos def time for them to do a great re-set. The wailing and gnashing of teeth might be good entertainment.
Elon Musk circling around Trump reminds me of Rasputin around Nicholas. Although, there is nothing wrong with that.
While expected, this is almost a dare to NATO to bring Ukraine into the fold under some ad hoc ‘rules’. Kiev will say, “We want a partnership, too!”
Putin will agree and explain to Ukraine that yes, they should sign a strategic partnership agreement with Russia immediately!
Afraid it has been so long since I read it that I don’t remember the character.
But I do remember having a folder in school (bought at a store) that weirdly had this line printed on it:
“Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever.”
Speaking of surnames, I think Lawless and Outlaw are pretty interesting ones.
Wouldn’t it be disadvantageous to have a name like that? If it was the centralized state that caused surnames, then why would they approve of names demonstrating that their authority had been successfully bucked?
Wonder if they are associated with borderlands.
That’s not how I remember Trump’s first term. imo his policies contributed a lot to where we now are regarding Iran (that is increased risk of war with Iran and/or of Iran building nuclear weapons). But I know there’s not much point in discussing this with you.
Grennell is consumed by his desire to spread sodomy. He’s likely to promote wars against all free nations like Uganda which don’t share this agenda.
Still, at least it’s a positive if Pompeo isn’t going to be part of Trump’s administration.
Of late, more and more of the US msm news articles are (once again) painting Trump as an ‘evil dictator’, acting ‘in collusion’ with other ‘dictators’ in Russia, Eastern Europe, N Korea, etc, the writers of these articles themselves being a self described part of ‘the resistance’, as if in their delusion they actually believe they are living in 1944 occupied France.
One can see how the narrative for a likely impending WWIII is shaping up: It will be a war of the ‘free world’, consisting of Western Europe, Poland, Ukraine, Japan, S Korea, Australia, Canada, the UK, ‘the resistance’ in the United States, against ‘a newly resurgent axis of evil’, specifically a global axis of ‘authoritarianism’ and ‘autarky’, ie Putins Russia, Xi’s China, Iran, N Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Trump’s United States, which is presently on the march to take over the world, the last gasp of Hitlerism.
The linchpin, the catalyst for the start of WWIII, will most likely be Trump’s assassination which will be blamed on Iran, whether they actually did it or not. The United States will then be compelled to declare war on Iran as Trump has publically charged it to do. Siding with Iran, Russia, N Korea, and China will likely soon join in the fighting.
Large numbers of Trump’s followers, solemnly rallied by Trump’s heir apparent J D Vance to avenge Trump’s death, will then sign up for the US military to go fight in Iran and get themselves killed, which is just the fate the liberal US establishment wants for them.
In view of ‘the resistance’, aka ‘the woke’, ie the electorally defeated Biden/Kamala supporters in the United States, WWIII will be ‘Trump’s War’ led by Trumpian forces. They see Trump’s United States, with it’s border wall, deportations, and tariffs, as fake and extremely limited as most of that will probably be, as hardly any better than Iran, or Russia, or Hitler’s Germany for that matter. It’s all the same to them.
They will therefore do all they can do to undermine the American War effort, just as their spiritual forebears (the Bolsheviks) did all they could in WWI to undermine Czarist Russia’s war effort.
The resistance aim in the United States will be the overthrow of ‘Trumpian America’ by way of a Communist revolution.
This Communist revolution will likely in turn ignite a Russian style civil war, in not ‘just’ the United States but perhaps the whole of the Anglosphere, which in reality is to be a war against identity, which will be rigged in favor of the Communists from the very beginning.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/laurence-tribe-not-over-resistance-180236216.html
“We are about to see all of the institutions activated in a way that we haven’t had to see before.”
Apparently, a person who herded cows was kind of looked down upon in medieval Britain. The later castle rustling which went on there probably didn’t help in that regard.
At least by the mid 20th century in the US, such as in the 1959 opening and closing of Rawhide, cow herding had a respectable, almost heroic status. [Though that might be historic revisionism, IIRC ‘cowboys’ in real time in the 19th century didn’t have the best reputation.]
Hard to believe that’s Clint Eastwood in that clip…
The Norks want the money and possibly advanced technology that Russia will give them in exchange for this.
We were made to watch this 1980 made for TV version of Brave New World.
Poor Keir Dullea was forever sci-fi typecast by 2001:
Heimholtz Watson
I am skeptical of this etymology. The cow was a very important animal in Britain – pretty much demonstrated by lactose tolerance levels. So, I think a negative association with someone who looked after it would be unnatural.
In Ireland, the Normans were certainly quite interested in cows.
French doesn’t have a similar-sounding word to “cow.”. Probably Frankish did. But I tend to suspect the evolution of the word coward from the Latin cauda for tail is probably right. I wonder if it was some insult in the Roman army.
I also get the sense that at least in 19th century Ireland, there was a certain status that came from looking after herds of animals. Not high status, but far from the lowest.
I was actually just thinking about him the other day because a 2001 scene was in my youtube feed.
I was thinking he looked substantially more masculine than many cast today. Like the ideal of a competent man, rather than a soy or stupid one. Zero blacks in that movie, I think. (Racial jokes aside.)
Sociopath Khamenei is pro-war. The way to limit his aggression is containment, which was Trump’s 1st term policy. Khamenei was cheating on JCPOA and obtaining funds to arm proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Trump reduced the risk of war by formally ending the failure that was helping Iran obtain nukes and money for aggression.
Alas, you seem emotionally overwrought on this subject. Thus, I know there’s not much point in trying discussing it further with you.
PEACE 😇
You are really lost and a bit of a fanatic. Israel is a Western proxy (or possibly vice versa) and gets funds to push around and kill the local Palestinian population. Don’t give us some religious nonsense from 2,000 years ago, people could justify almost anything by their made-up national myths.
Iran to my best knowledge has not started a war for centuries. Israel started (by even Western accounts) a half dozen wars. They are in the middle of two wars right now. So who is pro-war? Can you actually use facts and reality and stop making up things because you hate some groups?
If Trump is pushed into a war in the Middle East it will ruin his presidency. I don’t think he wants to do it, but we will see.
Interesting discussion.
I’d start with cower. Cowed. The W may just be a V. Something like seeking cover. A coward hides from the fight seeking cover.
Arizona has a strange discrepancy President versus Senate:
Harris 46.4 / Trump 52.6 (+6.2%)
Gallego 49.7 / Lake 48.2 (-1.5%)
Historically, a nearly 8% gap seems implausible. MAGA has election integrity investigators on the ground, but no announcement about critical problems as of yet.
How much did Lake hurt herself with long-time Republicans by openly insulting John McCain voters? How many Hispanics split their ticket Trump + Gallego?
____
This year’s results make the 2020 steal so obvious even deniers should be able to see it by eye.
Note: Left hand scale starts at 50MM
Election rules were both better and more consistently enforced this time around. The fact that Trump’s victory was far too large to steal probably headed off counting center shenanigans.
PEACE 😇
You cannot be serious…
The October 7 war was started by Iran via their proxy Iranian Hamas. Iranian Hezbollah has also started conflicts.
LOL… No.
Israel has been attacked many times. Here is an extensive list:
You really need to give up or your Jihadist fanaticism. Can you actually use facts and reality and stop making up things because you hate a specific group? After spending 2,000 years recovering their land, Palestinian Jews are not going to be forced out again.
Let me offer you the opportunity to engage constructively… Sorry this is a repeat to some, but no one will offer a serious answer.
How will the global Islamic community of nations close the gap in Gaza between the fresh water supply and the Muslim population?
Self sufficiency is difficult to impossible without adequate resources. Clearly, stealing water from nuclear armed, indigenous Palestinian Jews is impossible.
There are two PRACTICAL concepts to deal with Iranian Hamas destruction of the aquifer:
-1- Increase the water supply to Gaza, via pipelines and/or desalination.
-2- Relocate Muslims out of Gaza to Islamic lands with water.
Option #1 brings all sorts of issues that threaten sustainability:
• Who will pay for the desalination plants?
• Who will pay the annual costs to operate them?
• What happens if they are blown up because terrorists try to hide behind them?
• Will Islam commit to large transfer payments every year for decades (possibly forever) to keep this infrastructure in operation?
At 2.5 headed to above 4 million, it is hard to conceive of any workable plan solely based on increasing the supply. Explosive population growth is surging demand.
Option #2 is much more effective as a permanent resolution. Help Muslims with an honourable and compensated return to their authentic religious lands around the Persian Gulf. Given that Iranian Hamas destroyed the aquifer, Iran is an obvious destination.
Gaza would be livable, and might even prosper, with a Muslim population of 500-750K. At 4MM+ existence will be bleak. How long will Islam keep their coreligionists trapped in Gaza?
PEACE 😇
atm Trump has nearly 75, Kamala nearly 71 million votes (while the full counting is not over yet if I’m not mistaken), so the ZH pic from the first election night probably can make impression only to arithmetically impaired;)
I watched this film last night and indeed found it to be “cheesy” as you put it. I prefer the sensationalism and eerie stereotypes presented within the original Hollywood ode to this sort of “moral rectitude” in “Reefer Madness”. The zaniness of this cult classic made it even more riveting and fun to watch. I did find a very good 23 minute review of this film that goes into a lot of detail, certainly better than anything that I can come up with this early morning, before I’ve even drank my first cup of coffee (no cannabis mixed into the brew, I promise). 🙂
“High School Confidential” 2.5 out of 5 stars
Great news. Maybe Trump learned from his first term that Trotskyite neocon filth will always undermine you no matter well you treat them.
Interesting connection, between cower and cover. IIRC, the Spartans used to disdain walls.
With cauda, am thinking especially of dogs. Which is kind of an interesting counterpoint to the PIE tradition of the kóryos with its connection to wolves or dogs. Or really Irish tradition, where the word for hound was kind of a synonym to warrior. I wonder if there could be some kind of urban link here. Country dog (fierce) vs. city dog (cowering.)
I agree, cows were a highly valued, status symbol property, in Celtic Britain and Ireland.
Wiki seems to indicate, depending on context, that ‘coward’ could mean two different things, more positively a cow herder, or, negatively a fearful person. If that’s the case, who was responsible for making it (at least sometimes) a negative? The Romans, or the even later arriving Anglo-Saxons, and, or, Normans.
Who was it that came up with ‘scot free’ and ‘welcher’? Screwing with what had been positive language and making it into sometimes a negative could of been sort of a psyop to aid subjugation.
Also, I seem to recall cattle rustling, ie cattle stealing cross border raids, got to be a chronic problem on both sides of the border between Scotland and England. Was cattle rustling also a big problem in Ireland? What was the penalty if caught? I can only imagine in England it was hanging, but maybe in Ireland it was a bit different.
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/couherde#Middle_English
Going to go out on a limb here, and say that perception of the film must be heavily linked to the Big Five. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t some notable outlier among different movies. And if there wasn’t some broader trend for the decade. As indeed, I think must be for other decades, in other directions. (I never did enjoy ’70s styles.)
traditionally there was a constant or regular low-level warfare between different clans for cattle.
they would generally try to ransom the nobles, but of course it depended a lot on the circumstances, like if it was a leadership battle inside a clan. Or whether it was the chief’s brother against an ally. Or whether there was some kind of preexisting understanding that they weren’t supposed to do it. Sometimes a larger lord would try to keep the peace by imposing a penalty on a smaller, like a part of their lands would be given in restitution as a lease.
Not too sure about peasants or later times.
For the most part, I would have to agree.
I don’t know what you mean by the “Big Five”?
Personality traits, like openness to experience.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits
Btw, there is some kind of science behind this in its connection to appreciation of different movies and genres, but I forget the exact number of factors. Sailer did a post.
I am probably somewhat abnormally straightlaced (“not open to experience”, or as they use the term), and also – I don’t know what the name of the trait is – but someone super-resistant to wanting to feel part of the crowd, or do what others are doing.
I think it might be high disagreeableness? But I am not sure, as I feel like I am pretty polite IRL, whereas I associate the word with rudeness and unnecessary friction.
Personally, have never smoked pot, and have only seen others light up, and been subjected to fumes/smells that I found unpleasant.
Have already said this before – but I think it is a good demonstration of how weird I am – I have been to parties as a teenager, where I was the only one not drinking. (In my experience nobody cares, or else I am too indifferent to how they feel to perceive it.). Btw, it is kind of a weird entertainment to observe drunk people while having all your wits about you.
Iran was an ally of Nazi Germany. This is why both the Soviets and the English entered it during WWII.
There are no bathing suit photos of Eva Vlaardingerbroek on the first two pages of google image search (Eva Vlaardingerbroek bathing suit) from my computer. There aren’t any beaches in the Netherlands but where does she go on vacation? Iceland?
Must be using some morally conservative version of it, got this immediately in first page even if technically it can be argued whether is it really bathing suit;)
Excellent. That is the most conservative 2 piece bathing suit visible in the 2024 universe. There are fabric folds large enough to conceal sufficient anatomy detail you cannot even estimate her bra cup size. Do you think that is an off-the-rack suit or custom tailor work?
The google sorter may have me in one of the prude bins. I didn’t get anything like that.
There are some pics of her in that first page of mine just with conventional bra too in some beach, where smaller size can be estimated lol
The Big Five method was part of the same American war research budgets that gave us Martin Seligman, Jordan Peterson, and enhanced interrogation manuals. See A Clockwork Orange for a dramatic presentation.
That’s just made up. iirc Iran was even in compliance with the agreement for a year or so after Trump left it, only then gradually started reneging on its commitments.
Your part about “Israel has been attacked so often” is propaganda too of course. More often than not it has been the aggressor. Even Six Day war which is often framed as a preemptive war to prevent Israel’s destruction was essentially a conflict Israel chose to embark on with the intention of grabbing more land (which it then subsequently started to colonize, contrary to international law). Yom Kippur war is the only instance I can think of right now where Israel was attacked, but that was with the intention to regain Egyptian and Syrian territory (Sinai and Golan) which Israel occupied.
And I’m not emotionally overwrought at all, I’d prefer to ignore all those Mideast matters (none of the involved parties is all that sympathetic from my pov). But a big Mideast war would be rather detrimental to European interests, we’d be directly impacted by the fallout. I don’t think it would be positive for the US either, but apparently American “patriots” of your kind haven’t yet had their fill of involvement in this region.
They did’t start a war or even participated in WW2. If you are talking about sympathies 50 other countries can be added. Pilsudski was an admirer of Hitler…
‘Proxy’ is a weasel and undefinable term. You got nothing and should refrain from posting silly propaganda nonsense, it makes you look very unserious.
Why do you keep making things up? You have to know you are not going to get away with it.
It is 100% proven fact that Khamenei was cheating on JCPOA while Obama was still in office: (1)
The IAEA is known to be very friendly with Iran, verging on co-conspirator levels of complicity. Khamenei’s violation was so extreme, obvious, and undisguisable even the IAEA could not orchestrate a cover up.
Thank you for welcoming the involvement of MAGA, anti-war patriots. We will not put boots on the ground in Iran. And, we will cooperate with other participants in the region to contain Iranian aggression via their proxies Iranian Hamas, Iranian Hezbollah, etc.
Globalists are far more dangerous to peace. They were allowing Iran to build nukes, and funneling money to them which created conflicts via Iranian Hamas and Iranian Hezbollah. Harris could have accidentally started WW III.
____
You really need to be more rational and less tearful on this topic.
• Why are you panicking so much when the President who did not put boots on the ground in Iran is coming back?
• What OBJECTIVE, not emotional, reason do you have for believing Trump will not deliver regional stability again?
Trump’s 1st term record is objectively strong on the anti-war front:
-1- Trump oversaw the Abraham Accords after all.
-2- Trump moved American troops out of the kill sack between Erdogan’s and Assad’s lines. That kept the U.S. from being sucked into Turkish escalation.
-3- Trump had effectively ended the Afghanistan conflict and was working on a sound withdrawal plan.
Regardless of your overwrought feelings, you should be able to see the positive gains made by Trump’s anti-war 1st term.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) From 2019 – https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14910/iran-nuclear-deal-violations
Everyone notices that you refuse to address the objective question about fresh water for Gaza.
Why do you keep running away from civil discourse on this critical issue?
Your ducking, dodging, and evasion makes you come across as incredibly unserious.
PEACE 😇
Arguably the US rebuilt the German state between wars. The basic German trucks were GM and Ford.
The threading bug is back. #372 is a reply meant for you.
https://www.unz.com/akarlin/open-thread-262/#comment-6854871
PEACE 😇
I finally made it all the way through Rick Spence Lex Fridman; all 3.5 hours. It wasn’t fun but worth the effort. It might be the best statement of the Overton window boundary of conspiracy discourse today.
The edge. Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter theory is completely deranged. Spence’s preferred theory is the Tate and LaBianca murders were a half-baked attempt to create a distraction for the arrested Bobby Beausolil. There is no indication that either Spence or Fridman has any acquaintance with the underground drug world. It was a little extreme, but murder as pay back for a drug deal burn was well known in 1969 Los Angeles.
Both of these scholars may be shocked when they find out nine eleven was an inside job. As of today it seems they could not imagine such a thing. Also if Spence read my review of Chaos he didn’t take it to heart. He said the book was very difficult to get through. I said you can quit reading at page 170. : )
lol, that “National Council of Resistance of Iran” is an outfit of those MEK nutters (once listed as a terrorist organization by the US, but then taken off the list, presumably because it was decided they could be useful against Iran), not a credible source at all.
If Iran cheated, there should have been further investigations via the IAEA. What’s certain is that leaving the nuclear agreement and adopting “maximum pressure” like Trump did hasn’t stopped Iran’s nuclear programme, in fact they’re now closer than ever to building nuclear weapons. What’s your way to deal with that?
The intention behind those accords was to pretend the Palestinian issue didn’t matter anymore, that Israel could go on with its colonization programme in the West Bank, that there was no need for a genuine peace progress, and that Israel’s Arab partners would be fine with that. Well, the last year has demonstrated in a rather drastic fashion that the Palestinian issue hasn’t gone away, and that Trump’s policy is an appalling failure.
You know, it wouldn’t be great for stability either if he “just” started a bombing campaign or droned some prominent Iranians like he did with Soleimani.
But I admit it may be too early to worry about any of that. We’ll have to wait and see. Let’s hope Trump has drawn some appropriate lessons from his 1st term.
Elementary class-consciousness.
We’re much closer to Brave New World than to 1984, but all our clever scientists haven’t been able to stop the sexually transmitted diseases associated with “everyone belongs to everyone else”.
Never thought of blaming the Canadian JBP on American war budgets but I am romanced by the idea.
Is it meant to be “class” or “caste?”. I think the latter.
I have a strong pro-HBD bias, but I feel like it demolishes the idea of a blank slate, which makes its association with modern American schooling strange. (Wasn’t required reading at my school, but 1984 was.)
I don’t know about this. I think it largely has been stopped. (Not saying that is a good thing.)
Syphilis was crushed by antibiotics – sure there are still cases, but it was on track to kill millions and millions. HIV has largely been crushed by antiretrovirals which were hugely expensive to develop. It is possible to prevent it being passed on to babies now. HPV has a vaccine.
Sure, there is monkey pox, but I think that is kind of an outlier. The gay lobby hasn’t had time to work on it much yet.
Yeah, the rates of stds are rising but dysgenics and open borders.
LOL… Why did you ignore this part of the citation?
• Do you believe the IAEA is also an “outfit of those MEK nutters”?
• If not, do you accept the IAEA report as accurate?
The IAEA findings demonstrate that Iran broke the JCPOA arrangement while Obama was still in office. It is incredibly obvious that Khamenei never intended to keep his word.
Last year? Trump was not in office.
Did you mean to say — Biden/Harris policy, appeasement of Iran & Iranian Hamas, is an appalling failure? If so, that would be accurate.
I agree.
Trump learned from his 1st term that cooperating with regional allies to contain Iranian aggression worked very effectively as pro-peace policy. Hopefully, he will repeat this highly successful anti-war program in his 2nd term.
There is every reason to believe this will be the case.
PEACE 😇
Because it wasn’t conclusive proof that Iran hadn’t been in compliance with the agreement, let alone for violations that would have justified completely leaving the agreement (a unilateral US decision, none of the other parties to the agreement took the same stance). It’s a propaganda narrative to come up with an ex post facto rationalization for a step Trump’s administration was intent on taking anyway. But there’s no point to arguing with you about this since you’re operating on a different plane of reality. So let’s leave it at that and hope that the MAGA project won’t be blown up by getting involved in yet another Mideast disaster.
Elements of Walden Two thought. It’s not all bad.
More very dangerous talk…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-biden-post-election-pep-153000697.html
Donald Trump, the man whom Gen. Mark Milley called “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country,” does not deserve to have the blue carpet rolled out for him at the White House.
LOL… Your wild flailing makes no sense.
How is unequivocal IAEA proof that Iran violated JCPOA not “conclusive”? You are just making stuff up.
Another??? There were none during Trump’s 1st term. He undeniably had at least four wins with:
-1- The Abraham Accords
-2- Moving American troops in Syria away from Erdogan’s
-3- Effectively shutting down Afghanistan
-4- No boots on the ground Iran
Reality shows that Trump’s 1st term objectively delivered anti-war outcomes. This is despite meddling by the NeoCon influenced Senate.
Why are you trying to deny provable facts?
It is not working for you. Your position comes across as highly emotional pulp fiction. I guess there no point to arguing with you, as you have yet to come up with any credible facts… Only absurd propaganda narratives.
PEACE 😇
The research grant that funded his PhD came from somewhere. Who do you think paid for it? Granola Nut Health Farms?
You’re not the only one.
The ‘styles’ of the 70’s, if they can accurately even be called styles, gave off a vibe of being unkempt, disordered, disheveled, dirty, covering up unwashed bodies, and topped off by greasy unwashed long hair.
That was a result of the Vietnam War and the latter 1960’s.
A good example of the post Charles Manson 70’s ‘fashions’ I’m talking about is the random sampling in the first minute of the 1973 Marine Corp recruit film below. [To be sure, those could mostly be criminal elements ordered by a judge to sign up for the Corp, or go to prison but it’s still pretty representative style wise of the time. 🙂 ]
Compare the above with the below in 1965 and very early 1966. Both are the same place, ie Southern California, and the same ages too, more or less the same people, but you can really see the change style wise, not a positive one, in those short eight years, which may as well have been an eternity.
The women weren’t too bad either. 😉
I’m not even exactly a big fan of The Vogues, but it is interesting how people were wearing suit and tie even for dancing.
What would Huxley have made of the elite class getting their rocks off on camera at Epstein’s and Diddy’s places? The bride price of a Kardashian with 50 plastic surgery cut ups?
Lizzo is an alpha.
The comics were closer. R. Crumb.
Even Superman.
In the UK, clap and syphilis are at record levels. Mostly due to gay men and immigrants.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65810160
When Balmer was shaking his fat ass onstage at the Microsoft meeting screaming DEVELOPERS what was the average BMI of a microsoft programmer? We could use a cutup of Balmer and fat Musk yelling at a Trump rally.
How true is this idea that Pacific Islanders vote red but it is obscured by Asians?
Five O’Clock World was a great record, a real working anthem – I had no idea they were such a preppy bunch.
I suppose fashions started converging earlier, but I once felt very disturbed to see bell bottoms in a Japanese movie from the ’70s. IMO, there is something jarring about seeing how global some of these (bad) fashions already were decades ago.
I thought of one person who would surpass Roseanne Barr as Press Secretary. Alex Jones. Tell him he has to quit drinking and go to AA meetings daily and it could work for at least a few months.
In 1911, supposedly 11.4% of the population in London had syphilis, and in 1770s it was 1/5 over 35. At least, if modern estimates can be believed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_syphilis
Do you think Diddy had a medical tech on site for Sex Transmit Disease testing?
The ruling liberals tried the ‘don’t give an inch!‘ (and worse) last time and it led to paralysis. It only delayed the slow collapse of globo-liberalism. They can’t do better, they would need a complete change in zeitgeist, a shift in all relations. Then they could go on with the mad-lib idiocies in the chaos. Unlikely.
The problem with liberalism is that it is very appealing. It has everything going for it except results – it generally accomplishes nothing and societies gradually disintegrate. Liberalism is the ideology of ‘we don’t know what we want and we want to keep all options open’ – like a young person not wanting to commit. It is very attractive in that way but naturally has to end.
The transgender madness, NATO in Ukraine, massacring Palis, migrants everywhere, and the very existence of people like Kamala, Baerbock and Lamy can be seen in that light like latter-day nose-rings or ugly tattoos that popped as the liberalism was running out of steam. Relax, it is almost over…:)
It’s true the percentages were probably higher in Georgian London, but no one was counting then.
Only on Htrae could somebody like Crumb evolve to taunt us all with his brand of surrealism. Good luck in escaping the mold:
Trump to the rescue?
Diddy’s gang probably adopted the best practices of the gay porn industry in regard to STDs. He may have been taking PrEP.
https://stonetoss.com/comic/love-sick/
Every country gets the Donald it deserves.
He is on trial for having his woman get drunk and bang other men while he played with himself.
Willie Brown’s skank ho took 59% of CA, 58% of WA, and Satan only knows what % of the Federal government employees. The locomotive out of control has lost only a small bit of steam. Curtis Yarvin had the best take. Elon Musk isn’t going to bring start up culture to Washington. He would not have a clue how to run NASA.
S&P 500 broke 6000. I guess that’s a positive. Like the French Revolution it’s too soon to tell.
I can’t see this one being down to liberalism, it seems to be one of the few cases where liberalism is practically sidelined by appeal to older things. On the one side there are certain strands of Christianity and there is Judaism. There may be ancestral guilt about Aryanism among some of the Europeans. On the other side there is Islam. The influence of the appeal of sacred community and rule by authorities beyond this world is present in it.
These are overriding the liberal stuff about the freedom of the individual and the rights of man, about rational self-interest etc.
From what I can see Muslims are still often overtly guided by religious influences in their politics, especially on this issue, whereas among Jews and Christians it can be partly re-described in secular language.
Another interesting thing is the birthrate in Israel and Palestine, where the perception of sacred community is going to be strongest due to mortality salience and perception of existential risk, they remain high.
From the allegations I’ve heard, he should be on trial for pederasty and pedophilia. And probably blackmail.
Do you think he will make it worse?
Somewhat, but it is a liberal world so they own it…:)
The Euro liberal elites are genuflecting in front of the genocide of Palis, their servility makes them responsible. Birthrates or religions are not the issue – globo-liberalism is again killing the natives and can’t explain it coherently so they just bend the knee. After preaching for decades about “the only (liberal) democracy in the Middle East” all they do is beg for the killing by the ‘liberal democrats” to slow down.
There is really no way back from this fiasco, the rest of the world will eat them alive – and they should, hypocrisy this massive is usually fatal…
First of all, the French Revolution was a good thing (the confused Chinaman was only joking). How do we know? The Louie-XX guy and his vapid pale Habsburg b..ch were quickly disposed off and the blue-bloods have behaved ever since. That’s a good thing.
True, but it always starts with a slow-down. Ideologies decline after they peak – globo-liberalism is just an ideology. It is now on shaky ground, you have to give to Trump&Co. – they did it. Nobody else had the guts. He may betray, but the cat is out of the bag…
I concur.
The changes are not like flipping a switch. All sorts of people have to be replaced throughout the administrative state, judicial cases must be won, etc.
As I have said many times before, it is unreasonable to ask for 100% of absolutely everything. Instantly! Only #NeverMAGA cultists make such demands. Such unreasonable screeching is as an obvious attempt to undermine MAGA policy.
There is no reason to believes that Trump would betray. It would be better to phrase that as:
Will the Deep State betray Trump & America?
Long time FBI and intelligence folks are trying to find options to betray.
The Senate will most likely be led by potential traitor John Thune. Trump should have a better, but still imperfect, cabinet this time around.
House appropriations will also be better. But, with only ~10 seat margin, some compromises will have to be made.
There is good news. Trump made a strong pick for Border Czar: (1)
PEACE 😇
___________
(1) https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-taps-former-ice-director-tom-homan-border-czar
More good news on restricting immigration: (1)
When will the panicky naysayers stop opposing MAGA?
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/11/president-trump-names-stephen-miller-as-deputy-chief-of-policy-for-term-2/
…the Holocaust. And their own nations’ responsibility in the Holocaust.
The only (Jewish) liberal democracy (that arose directly out of the Holocaust).
So are you going to be piloting a plane to bomb the Jews?
I don’t think anybody advocates for an armed intervention against Israel (would be somewhat impractical anyway given Israel’s nuclear weapons), but not sending them weapons, not supporting them diplomatically and suspending Israel’s privileged economic relationship with the EU would be fairly obvious steps. If the Israelis insist on going on a rampage around the region and committing daily war crimes in the process, they should do so on their own and deal with the consequences themselves. As it is, they’re only creating problems for their Western backers.
But I agree that the Holocaust cult probably plays a big role in the schizophrenic stance the Western liberal establishment has adopted (and it is schizophrenic, by the logic of “humanitarian interventions” you’d have to treat Israel like Serbia was in the 1990s). Israel used to receive much more criticism, e. g. there was widespread diplomatic condemnation by Western states even of something like Israel’s strike on the Osirak reactor in the early 1980s. Reagan was angry with them over their actions in Lebanon, etc. One factor why that is so much more muted today (despite Israel’s flagrant violations of liberal norms over the last year) is probably that now you’ve got people in charge in the West whose world view was formed in the 1990s when the Holocaust as civil religion business reached new heights. May be questionable though if that can last, given the tensions and contradictions in that world view.
This is what I was thinking, anything that can be presented as European nations doing things that might lead to the death of Jews has this problem around it, there is a kind of super-sensitivity to it that is not present in the case of other nations. Middle Eastern and other Islamic nations can do and say things that most European countries can’t.
It is interesting what effect it will have on the status of the Holocaust religion though. I think you could see it fading here in the UK compared to how it was in the 90s even before the latest round of Israeli military action, and there is now more space for anti-Israel protests (often led by Muslims but definitely including left-wingers who are non-Muslim), but it is still contained.
Up to a point the Holocaust has become somewhat displaced by slavery and colonialism, but its possible it is still too formative as a historical reference point for post-war liberal democracy, and I’d guess more so in Europe where colonialism is less of a thing. It’s something that demographic change might eclipse, as politics becomes too far removed from the older frame. In the meantime they are pushed into adopting these awkward political stances.
To review:
1.) Mr. Hack hated the high school movie I recommended.
(High School Confidential)
2.) Dmitry, during Covid sequestration, said he hated the high school movie I recommended.
(Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.)
3.) Swedish Family, who disappeared some years ago, said he would watch the high school movie I recommended, and disappeared soon afterward.
(3 O’Clock High)
I haven’t seen any of these films in over 20 years.
Three O’Clock High is my favorite of the bunch.
Some believe that the character in Three O’Clock High was supposed to be a kind of crypto-Jewish protagonist, or one that Jews would especially relate to.
One interesting thing about the film, IMO, is how it almost treats the villain in kind of an Asian way. Mostly, he appears kind of evil, but somehow the sum of it isn’t Manichean.
It reminds me of Rumble in the Bronx, when the hooligans are trying to kill Jackie Chan with broken glass bottles one moment, and then they are friends the next.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/three-oclock-high-1987
This is 2024. What we do is manufacture a spike protein that bonds to Ashkenazi cells the way the corona 19 repels them.
Neither Christian Americans nor, especially, Shia Muslim Iranians (who’ll be the ones dying) want this war. It is only the Israel Jews, American Neocon Jews, and the MIC that wants this war and will profit from it. These war profiteers, both financially and geopolitically, need to be taken outside and shot.
There are tensions even in Germany. In recent years they’ve made an increasingly big deal about German colonialism in Germany’s “culture of remembrance”, with the atrocities against Herero and Nama in German Southwest Africa the prime reference point. So it must be awkward for the German establishment when Namibia criticizes German support for Israel:
https://www.dw.com/en/namibia-germany-unable-to-draw-lessons-from-its-horrific-history/a-68065159
Obviously I don’t have much sympathy for all those 3rd worldist anti-colonialist types either (and frankly, I resent the unhinged anti-German resentment one sees regarding Gaza, it’s telling that these people don’t direct their ire primarily towards Jewish diaspora organizations but instead go on and on about alleged European traditions of settler colonialism and genocide, at a time when European nations are systematically being dismantled through mass immigration). But they’re correct insofar as what Israel is doing is pretty similar to some colonial wars of the more extreme kind. It’s logically hardly defensible to condemn past European imperialism and support Israel’s actions.
You should not resent it. You should be forewarned by Muslim intolerance. Followers of the Anti-Christ Muhammad equally loathe Christians and Jews.
The Great Muslim Replacement targets Jews and Christians alike. Palestinian Jews and European Christians are in different stages of exactly the same invasive threat. Both AfD and Likud are correct. The answer is Remigration of Muslims back to Islamic lands.
Yes. You can find anti-Semitic Jews haters of theoretically Jewish lineage. For example, despite his heritage, George IslamoSoros hates Judeo-Christians. As a devotee of the Anti-Christ Muhammad, he both:
• Supports the BDS genocide of 7 million Palestinian Jews.
• Funds Muslim troop transports bringing combat aged Muslim males to Europe.
However, these small numbers of oligarch elites are not driven by Judaism. They worship the construct of SJW🏳️🌈Muslim Globalism. This religion/ideology is intellectually unsound and ultimately suicidal. Both Christians and Jews have common cause opposing it.
PEACE 😇
Wouldn’t you like to take a break? Your powerful arguments have already convinced us all here that Trump acted very wisely when he didn’t respond to Solemaini’s provocation after he blew himself up in Baghdad and that Israel’s problems are due to being too humanitarian. Your efforts would be better used on some other Unz blog where they haven’t been exposed to your persuasive rhetoric.
I didn’t know the German government had ended up in this weird position. I’m not sure what the official British position is at the moment, other than that it is something ambiguous that has caused some problems for the last government and the current one.
It’s an unusual situation in that I thought that in 3rd worldist political thought, its supposed to be the case that oppressed peoples can’t then become oppressors, because their experience makes them into natural liberators.
The Israeli population mostly seems to be made up of a mixture of Jews from the Middle East and former Ottoman Empire, and Jews from (mainly) Eastern Europe. The latter could still be in the running for ‘maximal victim’ status, given their historical experience, somehow they have now become settler colonists anyway. And often either Western rationalism and/or capitalism is blamed for inspiring colonisation, but the Israelis have been colonising unattractive land because they ultimately believe it was granted to them by God, this doesn’t fit with either of these explanations. This may be why there is this preference for evoking European settler colonialism instead.
Wouldn’t you like to take a break from your obviously failing #NeverMAGA deception?
Everyone gets it. You oppose Trump & MAGA because you are fully committed to open borders and the suppression of Judeo-Christian values.
Your lies and insults failed to deliver your precious Harris to the White House. Your desperate desire to replace Americans with immigrants is collapsing. Despite your opposition, Trump has made two excellent remigration appointments with Stephen Miller and Tom Homan. You must be sobbing at these choices.
Have you considered taking your “Iran First” extremism to other sites? They would love your Azov neo-Nazi antisemitism over at WaPo and NYT. Your irrational hate is not working here.
PEACE 😇
Kind of strange that you have a Polish priest being shot by Nazi as your example of someone being shot.
Napolean Dynamite is one of the few movies that gives a pretty accurate view of an American high school.
Too many American movies depict a high school from a snooty California burb.
I like Ferris Bueller but I still haven’t been to a part of Chicago that has parades where the crowds are filled with White people. I must have missed that street.
Wtf are you talking about? John Johnson was the actual Guy Fawkes Alias. What’s that to do with a recent Hollywood flick?
Everything because no one outside of Britain would talk about him if not for the movie.
He was a failed assassin and a complete idiot for thinking that killing the king would somehow help the Catholic cause. As if the British royalty would tolerate not just a coup but one that installed a Catholic.
If you like the movie made by Jewish trannie brothers then just admit it. Er sisters? We need some type of term for a failed tranny. Like definitely not passing.
I honestly haven’t seem the movie. I really hated the Matrix and I’m even less enthused after learning about how the Matrix brothers decided that they are actually both girls that need to get banged. F-cking disturbing.
Trump just delivered another blow to both your Open Borders and Azov neo-Nazi agendas: (1)
Your “Iran First, America Last” propaganda narrative is collapsing rapidly.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-taps-former-rep-lee-zeldin-head-epa
There is not one person here who cannot find the zero hedge website on their own. It’s like the Daily Mail except for deplorables.
Never saw it, but I think it fits into the modern fashion where they are afraid to show strong male protagonists.
a lot of high schools aren’t that bad looking, but they never seem to pick one of those brutalist ones built in the ’70s, during inflation, over an old town dump, that was rumored to be designed by a guy who built prisons.
This is one of the interesting things about the movie, IMO. John Hughes very much cherishes the suburban setting, but keeps the idea that one can go into the city and have adventures.
There almost seems to be something metapolitical about it demographically, where the suburbanites have fled the city, but believe it is not altogether lost to them, or won’t be lost to them in the future.
The ’80s movie Adventures in Babysitting seems to portray the city with a bit more menace.
I fondly remember The Breakfast Club from that time frame. Though, I suspect I would like it less if I re-watched it now.
War Games was also a somewhat high school movie. It does not hold up to detailed scrutiny, but was fun and made a respectable point.
Both featured Ally Sheedy. Although, most seem to remember her for the somewhat later Short Circuit.
PEACE 😇
When good men have been horrifically executed throughout history, men like this priest, maybe it’s time to execute the proponents of mass murder for profit, the men and women who happily accept one million dead if they’ll make 100 million in profit.
I used this image, which I had never seen before, because it is both horrible and powerful. Unlike this good priest about to be murdered, the MIC guys, the Neocons, and the profiteers in Ukraine and elsewhere will deserve it. Of course, never pull the trigger until you’re 100% sure, until you have 100% solid proof, that they are guilty of mass murder.
Never saw it, but I think it fits into the modern fashion where they are afraid to show strong male protagonists.
Well maybe try watching it before passing judgment. There is no “they” as it was written and directed by the guy who plays Napolean. It reflects some of the awkwardness he experienced and observed in high school.
a lot of high schools aren’t that bad looking, but they never seem to pick one of those brutalist ones built in the ’70s, during inflation, over an old town dump, that was rumored to be designed by a guy who built prisons.
I wasn’t talking so much about the appearance. I mean the rigid cliques with bleach blonde snobby cheerleaders in league with asshole preppy jocks. The average American high school of course has cliques but the cheerleaders and football players are a lot more varied looking. Even in White areas there is more diversity among Whites than as depicted on television. Most Hollywood movies are takes on some generic Los Angeles burb. That is true for movies that take place in other states. You can tell that the writers have no idea as to what a high school in South Dakota or Iowa looks like. They don’t show how football players can be farm boys that are just as awkward as the nerds.
This is one of the interesting things about the movie, IMO. John Hughes very much cherishes the suburban setting, but keeps the idea that one can go into the city and have adventures.
I like his movies and I do like the parade scene but it’s a lie. I’ve been to Chicago.
The ’80s movie Adventures in Babysitting seems to portray the city with a bit more menace.
Let me guess…..White gangs? I honestly can’t stand that about 80s movies. They try so hard to not have Black gangs in Black areas. There were never NYC gangs of mohawk punks that were terrorizing Good Whites on the subways. Deathwish is a good movie but isn’t based on a city that ever existed.
I’ve never seen a movie that depicts a Black city honestly. Even the Black gangster movies have their own spin on it. They’re not going to show the homeless and random Blacks that stand around. The Wire is pretty good but he idealized the gang structure. But a lot of the hood he got right. I wasn’t surprised to learn that he has actually been in Black areas. But he also hid some things like the fat stroller pushers. There are a lot of really fat Black people and you will see these massive women pushing a baby around with no man in sight. Hollywood likes to depict Blacks as generally in shape. They also aren’t as consistently athletic as in the movies. You will see Blacks of all types playing basketball. Half starving looking Blacks, fat Blacks, huge Blacks. They also don’t show the odd looking mulattoes which are more common than Whites realize. Like a dark Black with frizzy red hair and freckles.
As a guy who worked in Alaska for almost 25 years, this short scene from Napoleon Dynamite is weirdly hilarious:
You’re correct: Napoleon is anything but a strong male protagonist.
I used this image, which I had never seen before, because it is both horrible and powerful. Unlike this good priest about to be murdered, the MIC guys, the Neocons, and the profiteers in Ukraine and elsewhere will deserve it. Of course, never pull the trigger until you’re 100% sure, until you have 100% solid proof, that they are guilty of mass murder.
So you would shoot Putin if given the chance?
No, I’d shake his hand. The man is the greatest living leader on the entire planet. He, more than anyone else, saved Russia from the USA, NATO, and (((you know who))). His accomplishment will never be forgotten, he’ll be remembered as Vladimir the Great, while we had the four stooges: George, Barack, Donald, and Joe running America into the ground.
Have said this before, but my main criticism of it is that it sounds too much like a play. If there is one place that does not make me think of a play, it is high school.
Easily Broderick’s best movie.
Short Circuit was a great movie, in part because of Indian face.
No, he didn’t write it, but was friends with the guy who did. (According to wiki.)
IMO, it fits into some broader trend, where guys like Michael Cera were becoming stars.
well, it is a comedic movie. So the menace is light-toned, like a homeless guy (not black) at a bus station, or garage mechanics that want to charge an arm and a leg. Race doesn’t really enter into it, but I think the light menace is still symbolic of race.
i enjoy some of these mixed ethnic gangs. Croc Dundee 2 was very funny in that regard.
No, I’d shake his hand. The man is the greatest living leader on the entire planet. He, more than anyone else, saved Russia from the USA, NATO, and (((you know who))).
No I don’t really understand.
He started a war where over 200k Slavs have died. We don’t know the actual number. Why would you shoot MIC execs but not the dictator that launched the war? The MIC execs wouldn’t be swimming in profits if Putin stayed in his borders.
How did he save his country from Jews? You do know that he recently praised the Jews and cited Russian antisemitism laws as important for their protection? Which means criticizing the Jews in Russia can land you a trip to a penal colony.
Putin referred to Netanyahu as a close friend and Israel has in fact denied weapons requests from Ukraine.
Explain exactly how he saved Russia from the Jews compared to other ex-Soviet states.
His accomplishment will never be forgotten, he’ll be remembered as Vladimir the Great, while we had the four stooges: George, Barack, Donald, and Joe running America into the ground.
So you are certain that Russia will exit this war as better off compared to 2021?
No, he didn’t write it, but was friends with the guy who did. (According to wiki.)
Well I saw him on a talk show and he spoke as if he did it all. So the wiki is probably true.
i enjoy some of these mixed ethnic gangs. Croc Dundee 2 was very funny in that regard.
It wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that NYC really did have an explosion in Black crime in the 1970s.
That part of NY history has been erased by Hollywood in favor of 1980s rainbow punk gangs that fight over turf.
On a related note the Deathwish remake is actually decent and has believable thugs. The original is still better but only because of Bronson’s lines. I remember reading that the remake wasn’t given much marketing out of fear that it could draw a backlash. Colors has some corny scenes but is at least honest about what the gangs looked like. Well except for the Irish looking Mexican.
Don’t be ridiculous. I used the same nomenclature that you used in describing the film “cheesy” and rated it a 2/5 out of five. Even if I were a little generous in my rating, in deference to my overall respect for your opinions on such matters, this is no reason to twist my own opinion of the film. Did you expect me to do cartwheels and jump for joy after viewing this one?
What movie?
Waltz is much better for Ukraine than was Biden’s Sullivan.
“ Mike Waltz, who Trump just picked as National Security Adviser, has explained his vision for how to end the Ukraine war:
– Ramp up sanctions on Russia
– “Take the handcuffs off” Ukraine, by allowing them to strike further inside Russia”
“By the way, this interview wasn’t from the heady days of early 2022, when both parties were neck-deep in war fervor. It was from November 4, 2024 — the day before the election”
Aid will be in the form of Lend Lease rather than giveaways. To be repaid if/when Ukraine wins.
They tweet’s author intentionally distorted the quote, and you repeated the misleading phrase.
Context matters. Place this in front of what Waltz said:
Of course, Putin is and has been open to negotiations. No leverage is required to get him to the table:
– There will be no ramping up of sanctions on Russia
– There will be no “taking the handcuffs off” Ukraine
The fact that Waltz suggests that the U.S. can better enforce existing sanctions is indeed disturbing. The interviewer should have asked how that would happen. India, China, Turkey, and others have already proven that the existing sanctions on Russia are effectively unenforceable.
PEACE 😇
I see you are betting on a miraculous last moment Hail Mary. They usually go nowhere…
Neither Waltz nor Sullivan matter, by now they are remote bystanders. The sanctions are ‘ramped up’ as much is possible, nothing is held back. Ukies have been striking inside Russia as much as they can, a bit more won’t make any difference except give Russia an excuse for a massive retaliation.
Any moron who still says that Russia is a ‘gas station‘ is so dumb about the current state of the world he will do more harm to people employing him. Do you still subscribe to that McCain’s idiocy? I thought you were in touch with reality, but maybe you are not…
Of course, each recommendation is an experiment, and I want your true psychological reaction, to probe your inner mind.
In fact, I feel I am missing one important piece of data in this regard: you never stated your own favorite high school movie, unless I missed it? (I feel I know some you would like better, based on the Big Five, but I don’t know if they fit into your period of nostalgia, and don’t want to bias you beforehand.)
Now, you are confusing me. Is this a hypothetical? Or are you saying your actual score was <2/5?
If the latter, if gives me great pleasure to know, it created such a strong reaction in you. I prefer a low score to a middling one. Though myself would be comfortable saying I hated anything that I rated 2/5.
I was joking a little about Swedish Family. I doubt he actually hated my recommendation, as he seemed to be psychologically interested in what I thought was a movie that reflected the experience of American high school, even if in a hyperbolic way.
But I would consider it a coup, if he returned now, and said he hated it. Then it would be a triad, like the old poets used to like. I would conider it a great accomplishment, and need to switch to recommending Japanese high school movies (,for they are the only other ones I have seen in quantity) and hoping against hope, that people would be willing to watch them, and tell me they hate them, as that is the only way I could earn my second triad. But very few are willing to read subtitles.
I don't think I have ever interested you in a foreign movie…
Here are my picks for foreign high school movies:
1.) Battle Royale (Jap, 2000)
2.) Swing Girls (Jap, 2004)
3.) Bad Genius (Thai, 2017)
I could also go anime.
Never saw the remake. But I remember some of the press reaction at the time.
I remember how some were saying that in the original Bronson was supposed to be a crazed psychopath, and it was denouncing his character, which seems like a weird opinion to me, as whatever the case, it is clear it had a vicarious resonance with people. (Which is something the press were clearly worried about happening again.)
My memory of the original is vague, but it is kind of funny to me how one of the thugs is the Jewish and swarthy Jeff Goldblum.
If you look at my original comment, you’ll notice that I wrote 2.5/5.0, not 2/5 (my mistake). If pressed (and am I’m in a hurry right now, I overslept and am getting ready to go to work) “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. This is not my favorite genre, so I’m not a good psychological patient for you here. 🙁
I do emjoy the spy genre, and finished watching a 6 part series, John Le Carre’s “The Midnight Manager” last night. Now here’s a really excellent and suspenseful Spy yarn to watch! Are you aware of how and why Le Carre became an Irishman towards the end of his life? How about you, have you ever considered making the change? 🙂
Trump probably wants to play the Russian oligarch card and Waltz’ comments support the ‘Trump stronk’ meme.
He is a post-Cold War soldier brought up after MAD tensions had dissipated. These limited remarks suggest he knows little about nuclear warfare or Russia. Maybe he will have some sensible advisors.
I didn’t know this, but it is pretty funny:
I can’t think of the exact line now, but he once wrote a character who had an Irish father and a DRC Congoid mother, and he called him something uproariously bizarre like a “sun-kissed Irishman.”
I can’t be a fan of him, as he is too woke. If I had to pick a celebrity that lived in Ireland part of the time, it would probably be Angela Landsbury.
There are a lot of places in Ireland that I have never been to, and would like to see. Certain hills and old graveyards. (I am still searching for some old family tombstones that I am pretty sure exist somewhere, and which I could learn something from.) Sites of torn down castles or ruins, or old battles.
I envy the people over there who can make small trips every weekend.
But seeing demographic changes, even in the countryside, would be extremely disturbing. If I had to have a fantasy about moving back there, it would be becoming part of the resistance, as LatW urged me to do variously in Germany and then Austria.
Btw, I did once sing Die Gedanken Sind Frei over there, so I do feel in a kind of grandiose way that the Germans were trying to train me in my youth to be a leader of their resistance.
But, OTOH, one of my distant Irish ancestors had a really cool nickname (maybe it could have just been his real name?) that he won in battle against high odds, while making an unexpected stand, instead of turning tail. (I wonder if was just part of a deliberate ambush strategy, beforehand.)
Nice work from our parliament chairman here – Lithuania doesn’t have any long term Gazprom contracts since 2016, isn’t buying any RF natgas anyhow since 2022 and is feeling relatively normally out there;) Despite very limited size, it should be desirable model for emulation all EU in natgas sector if speaking purely on mercantilistic terms – common European market is perfect destination for expanding North American natgas exports, thus reducing trade imbalances betwwen EU and US, while NATO can function as protection tool of that market.
All the constant BS about allegedly “cheap” RF natgas can be dismissed outright as during decade before Covid Gazprom’s average price for Germany was roughly around 330$ for 1000 m3, while starting US LNG offer for longer term contracts in 2023 was about 380$. Even charitably (for RF) assuming that price wasn’t lowered anyhow during negotiations then is still roughly the same price when accounting all the inflation since, therefore giving up EU market for RF is nothing but acting against US trade interests, which only openly or crypto paidly putinistas in US can be shilling for;)
https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall-how-west
If you like East Germany you ought to see what they did in Croatia.
I honestly think the original is a good cultural piece.
You can see how Whites were frustrated with inner city crime while trying to not single out Blacks….even though it was mostly Black.
Of course many here will blame Jewish producers but non-Jewish White producers were doing the exact same thing. Trying to ignore the elephant in the room while selling street justice type movies to White audiences.
A politically incorrect cop movie worth watching is Dark Blue. I really don’t think that would get made today.
Haven’t seen it.
Don’t know if it is a good movie exactly, but one cop movie that seemed to be politically incorrect in a way which made of its time and not of now is The Big Easy (1986).
When I saw it, I couldn’t believe how the protagonists seemed overwhelming not black, even though the setting of New Orleans is pretty black. I don’t know, maybe,there was a black cop there somewhere in the mix, but if so, very much in the background, and much more so than other ’80s cop movies. They’d never make it the same way today, especially after Katrina and Floyd. Since Cajun heritage and family is a bit of theme in it, one could say it is almost crypto-racialist. (Though in truth most of the villains are not black, IIRC)
Today, at the very least, they’d probably make it an interracial romance.
Russian general down:
Either it was a drunken accident or the Russians actually made a believable hit.
Am honestly quite shocked that it makes financial sense to import any crop from Israel into the US.
Isn’t it densely-populated, water poor, and quite a distance away?
Frankly, my assumption is that it is some kind of scam. Like some kind of subsidy is going into the equation.
Ha, ha! I wonder how the typical customers would react, if they knew that agricultural water over there is often wastewater.
Am honestly quite shocked that it makes financial sense to import any crop from Israel into the US.
Isn’t it densely-populated, water poor, and quite a distance away?
Olives and olive oil.
Olive trees need heat and the harvesting is labor intensive.
America uses a lot of olive oil. The economics work out because the oil is a dense and refined product.
Fun fact: The best American apples are not eaten in America. They go to Japan.
This seems to be the full script:
https://www.codepink.org/traderjoes
None of those products make sense to me, as imports. Incidentally, I wonder if Mr. Hack, GR, or LatW (or A123) are eating Israeli cheeses or other products and what their opinion of them is. Mr. Hack never gave us closure on that new cheese he acquired.
Buying Israeli feta is most likely a religious or political purchase. So you are right in that the economics probably don’t work out for some of those foods. It’s not purely an economic decision.
I had to shop at a Trader Joe’s for a period and hated it. Tiny parking lot spaces, crowded isles and smug cashiers that wanted to wax politics and tell me about some sustainable chicken burger. Or I would get flowers for my wife and have some lib chick give a major look of resentment. Sorry if you don’t have a man buying you flowers. Women’s lib says you don’t need them anyways. I’d like to leave now. Thanks.
Their cheap wine sucks. Why do people keep serving it? You can get decent wine at Costco for $12. That’s cheap. I really hate it when White people buy $9 Trader Joe’s wine and think they beat the system. Then they serve it to guests……ugh. I am the guy that cracks a beer and says no thanks.
After unification an elaborate survey results show that 51% of East Germans felt happier in East Germany.
“Trump expected to choose Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state”
Bad choice! It looks like repeat of the 1st term bad choices. Was not simpleminded Rubio vehemently opposing Trump immigration policies and sided with Jeb Bush for influx of more Latinos and against the Trump wall. Rubio is a professional politician serving to special interest group.
The America First position would be to drop the embargo for American farmers and stop listening to a minority of Cuban Republicans.
The Wachowskis are not Jewish.
Le Carre liked being within the EU and his wish came true when he became Irish. I though it at least prescient if not humorous that he pegged Trump as some kind of an authoritarian heavyweight early on, before it became fashionable to do so, as it is today:
No intellectual lightweight and having lived through a lot of history, his opinions are at the very least worthy of consideration. We’ll just have to see how Trump progresses this time around.
The soft goat cheese was very delectable. I used it up making smoked salmon sandwiches, instead of cream cheese. At about $8 for two tubes, what’s there not to like? A very light, smooth cheese, not at all sharp or pungent.
The NY Times expects it. However, their track record is fairly spotty. I am waiting for an official announcement.
Rick Grenell would be a better choice. However, should it come to pass, Rubio is mediocre rather than catastrophically bad.
Secretary of State deals with international issues. Thus, Rubio’s spotty record on domestic policy is not as directly relevant. Rubio has openly adopted Trump’s line on the big 3 global issues — China, Ukraine, and Iran. He also brings potentially helpful connections in South and Central America. Being in thrall to NATO is a bit of a liability.
There is also an indirect win. Tom Cotton is next in line become chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. That would be a powerful oversight role to make sure MAGA priorities are pushed in the intelligence agencies.
PEACE 😇
The Wachowskis are not Jewish.
Well if that is true then Wokechoke can sigh a breath of relief as he seems to like their awful movies.
They’re just degenerate trans sisters that get bttf-cked. A fine example of our naturally pure non-Jewish media. Just like the Fox corporation.
HOT SHOWER
1. is Rubio a homo? I have no inside dope; I don’t want to have any inside dope. Lots of chatter. He could be Deep State Homo’s man on the inside.
I’m sure they have kompromat on Trump from when he was dating Roy Cohn but I don’t think Donald the Fat is a homo.
2. Rubio is in the Congress UFO club with that twat Gillebrand. Maybe he wants to sit down with the gray aliens.
He isn’t a closet case.
The closet cases always have an odd pick for a wife. They have access to a lot of women and then choose an odd looking Asian or a funny fat chick as basically a roommate. The one Asian girlfriend or wife is a red flag. As in an early girlfriend from high school or college.
Vance would be a suspect case.
Speaking of Le Carre, I just finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and thought it was quite excellent. I’m planning to start Smiley’s People shortly.
do you think someone can become Irish in their 80s? Seems kind of late in the game, especially for someone of such questionable fidelity.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Carr%C3%A9
Makes me wonder what kind of screening process they had in his intelligence organization, and whether he was handing secrets over to the Soviets.
Le Carre wasn’t as far as I know in Intelligence for long at all, but long enough to build a believable picture of that world in his novels. Left in the 1960s.
His A Perfect Spy is quite autobiographical, his dad, like the hero’s dad, was a successful crook, scammer and conman, all the things a good agent needs to be.
The Irish thing was just afaik a Brexit protest.
They did have a problem with screening in the Secret Service in the post war years, until the 1960s (when was Philby discovered?). They came close to appointing a Soviet agent as the head of the organisation.
A fictionalised variant of the story is the plot of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy…
Interestingly, Trump is actually turning the leadership of the CIA over to an Indian. Sher Singh better be extra careful, after the inauguration. Don’t trust anyone with an American accent!
Much of the Cambridge 5 story, especially Blunt, looks like a case of freelance helping out the USSR as fellow AntiHitler travelers rather than communism per se. The actual scientists who supposedly helped the Soviet’s with bomb blueprints were on the other hand attempting balance out American monopoly on Atomic weaponry. Not sure the Russians couldn’t have built bombs by themselves anyway. Spies are such narcissistic drama queens.
On the topic of British spy fiction I just started watching the TV series The Sandbaggers, widely available on free apps. It came out in 1978 but was cut short due to the untimely death of its creator Ian Mackintosh. It’s low budget with less than impressive action scenes, but since I don’t care about action very much that’s not a drawback for me. The first series/season is interesting and like the TV series based on John le Carré’s books has a cynical unromantic view of intelligence services and takes place almost exclusively in smokey, poky, and shabby looking rooms of the kind I remember from the England of the 1980s.
Not great, but solid: (1)
Could any better choice obtain Senate confirmation?
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/12/president-trump-announces-nomination-of-john-ratcliffe-to-cia-director/
Epstein and Diddy are straight out of agent 007 movie fiction villain guys. Also Marina Abramovic.
Which is the world’s most powerful intelligence agency?
President Trump has announced his selection of William Joseph McGinley to serve as White House Counsel for the second term. This is someone who previously served faithfully, so it looks respectable.
The comments on this article are speculative, but intriguing: (1)
I do not want to jump on anything that seems “too good to be true”. However, Rick Scott is well positioned to work with MAGA as Senate majority leader. Both Thune and Cornyn are… Ahem… Burdened By What Has Been.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/12/president-trump-announces-william-joseph-mcginley-as-white-house-counsel/
I see in your fantasy world you believe Ukraine needs a last moment Hail Mary.
The reality is that the condition of stalemate continues. The disproportionate Russian casualties necessary to desperately gain a little more land just confirms it.
Plenty slips through and Russia still sells oil.
You are inadvertently correct. The problem is that “they can” has been limited by Biden (and Scholz). Thank God, they will both be gone soon.
You think that Russia would want to play a game of mutual destruction of electric grids with Ukraine? Guess which place has far colder and deadlier winters, and would be unable to move its citizens to Poland for warmth?
It sure does. And here is why:
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-trader-joes-wine-is-so-cheap-2014-12
(Article is from 2014 so prices are lower than now)
The movies have a selection bias for the one time in ten the good guys win.
Good grief
Oil is a commodity you can always sell. Do you think China, Turkey, India…will stop buying?
There is no stalemate, Russia is advancing. The b..s about casualties is an obvious PR attempt to cover up that reality. Don’t you worry about more real and proportionally worse Ukie casualties?
What would ‘no limits’ bombing of Russia look like? Is Kiev going to do what Israel and NATO do and bomb cities to kill masses of civilians? Russia would respond with worse. Then what? More media one-sided demonizing until we go to nukes?
You repeat the same mantra of more escalation and more weapons that got Kiev into this mess. They lost the war, they need to limit the damage. From the beginning of war in 2014 (not in 2022) the only way to prevent Kiev accepting an unpalatable deal was to go full-NATO war and that would end with a nuclear exchange.
You are a madman…calm down and accept the deal: no NATO in Ukraine and normal rights for the Russian minority – that at this point includes a separation from Ukraine.
All elites are on the same side – the world is ruled trough and by conflict, not despite conflicts, or against them. The idea is to manage conflicts, not to solve them.
Poles must be carefully managed – recently USA took care of Iran, the counterpole to Israel, insisting that Israel’s counterattack doesn’t touch nuclear or oil installations. And it didn’t.
And for how long that restraint may last after inauguration?;)
https://archive.ph/B8nJY#selection-1997.0-2009.155
IMHO, the end game is a mutual nuclear destruction of Iran and Israel, to fulfil the heart’s desire of Tanit worshippers, Tanit symbol being everywhere from the shape of the table in UN Security Council room to the “2001: Space Odyssey” movie.
The Arian invasion must be finally avenged! No wonder CIA must be then led by an Indian under Trump.
It is just to polarize people.
When the final war Israel-Iran happens, something too happens (Trump’s assassination/disease/incarceration) which will either keep USA outside or make USA engagement grossly inadequate (let’s say Iran sinks US aircraft carrier and USA doesn’t do anything in the next weeks).
The row of chairs left and right make raised hands, the gallery makes body, the table is head.
Proportionately more Ukrainian casualties is not real.
But Russian desperation to bend the stalemate at extreme cost is real.
Here is an example of the nature of part of the Russian GDP “growth”:
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-ukraine-war-military-death-pay-6cfe936e
“ Deathonomics in Russia: ‘Russian economist Vladislav Inozemtsev calculates that the family of a 35-year-old man who fights for a year and is then killed on the battlefield would receive around 14.5 million rubles, equivalent to $150,000, from his soldier’s salary and death compensation. That is more than he would have earned cumulatively working as a civilian until the age of 60 in some regions. Families are eligible for other bonuses and insurance payouts, too….
So many soldiers have now been killed that the payments—totaling as much as $30 billion in the past year as of June—are a telling symptom of how the war is transforming Russian society and the economy at large….
Now the mounting death payments are providing an injection of wealth into some of Russia’s poorest areas in return for a steady stream of soldiers for the war effort. Poverty levels are now at their lowest since data collection began in 1995, according to official statistics
:::::;:
What a great economy! Russia’s latest efforts will increase the boom.
Guess I was wrong, but he was considered a top contender, up until the last minute, though there were opinion pieces against him.
Some of Trump’s other picks are interesting. Secretary of Defense has a tattoo that says Deus Vult, but is probably some kind of neocon, as he fought in Iraq and also has Jesus in Hebrew tattooed on him.
Americans getting tattoos in Hebrew is crazy. I remember meeting one on train in Czech Republic (!). I asked him about it and he said it is some sentence from the Scripture in Hebrew (I forgot which verse it was). He couldn’t explain why he prefers Hebrew to English, despite not speaking Hebrew. He wasn’t bothered by ridiculousness of this, though, which seems to be a kind of American trait: Americans are hard to shame.
Nonsense numbers, $30 billion? Maybe you meant rubles? And how would WSJ know? They took a line from an economist and elaborated a narrative. Is that what you are into?
Why not? Because you say so? We don’t know the precise numbers, but Ukraine is covered with memorials and has admitted running out of human cannon-fodder. There is a taboo in the West to discuss the Ukie casualties, but after the war they won’t be able to hide it.
Regarding economy, paying for the Ukie weapons (and more) is also beefing up the US and EU economies. Why do you always only look at the “other”? I told you already there is a nice verse in the Bible about it…
You forgot to tell us how is Trump going to keep China, India, Turkey,…buying Russian oil. I will give you anther chance. Or is it as often with you only a feel-good hope?
Fims based on Le Carre’s novels are pretty good too. “The Spy that Came in From the Cold” was the one that put Le Carre on the map. A great film starring Richard Burton, who played the aging agent who led a rather non-descript lifestyle to a tee. A lifestyle that was just the opposite of James Bond. As far as “Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy” goes, do note that there were two different video presentations made. One, an actual film, and the other a 6 part television series. If you like the book, you’ll enjoy them both. Smiley was played by the same guy in both adaptations.
The Japanese are a hop, skip, and jump away from building the tree ships from the Hyperion saga.
Actually seems kind of gimmicky to me. Probably heavier than a metal shell. But maybe, there would be some weird use for it, like turning it into fuel.
IIRC, wood has long been used for re-entry shields. (At least some of them.)
They [Ukraine] lost the war, but Ukrainian troops are still stationed in Kursk? Have you switched from palinka to huffing that nasty stuff that kremlinstoogeA123 uses? How many months now has Ukraine entrenched itself into Kursk? Russia, a real military superpower… you make me howl with laughter and disbelief. Your script writers in the kremlin need to pay you more for your clever delivery, keep at it boy! 🙂
Maybe we should eschew twitter.
The stated Russian mission is to destroy the military forces in Ukraine. If they blitzkrieg and capture the country quickly, most of these forces are still intact and must be dealt with. If Russia slowly and throughly destroys these forces first, then there is less trouble once Kiev capitulates. In other words the slow grinding combat facilitates the eventual transition from fighting to policing. Ukraine gets to chose how many men die before the inevitable capitulation takes place.
It is really surprising that you Slavs are not angry at Zelensky and his Jewish masters for leading so many of your kin to their deaths.
When Kiev capitulates, the surviving AFU forces will be repurposed to keep NATO out of Ukraine.
+++
The hawkish USA cabinet announcements may have the opposite effect on Russia from what team Trump is hoping for. Picking a foreign policy moron such as Rubio suggests no serious negotiations of any kind are expected. This leaves Russia to continue implementing Plan B: completely demilitarize all of Ukraine. Harsh rhetoric from the newbies in the White House will further empower the Russian military-industrial complex.
He is tatooed up like an NBA player. This increases his sex appeal. As my grandma would say, trash.
He isn’t fat!
I wonder if Mossad has any footage of him raping little boys. Just kidding. I don’t wonder that at all. I would give a probability estimate of .98.
Your own interpretation of Tanet imagery to be seen within the U.N.? How about within the film “2001 A Space Odyssey”, what do you see there?
Mr. Hack is lost in the woods south of Kursk, he doesn’t get the futility of Kiev’s war.
I agree, it let’s Russia easily off the hook. Trump is redoing his first term with “new names” but the same self-defeating incompetence in personnel. But given that layered incompetence is intent we can see what Trump will do – or is allowed to do.
Wars with Russia, Iran, China, are not really possible – if they try it will be a complete disaster. It is also likely that Trump is simply going day-to-day trying to stay on the firm ground. And that when he is confronted with the ultimate choice he will huff-and-puff but choose peace.
Would that make Rubio the highest UFO guy?
Probably, but sometimes even these rumors are interesting in their own right.
Like that one recently in Germany, where they were saying they wouldn’t have the paper for the snap election because of Greens. How benighted, plagued, and dominated by Greens do you have to be to believe something like that?
________
The story of Tubman being made a general posthumously doesn’t make we think of wokeness directly, but more like she is due for a promotion, after having her spirit called to action on the astral plane to work hexes, for over a hundred years, by hoodoo witch-doctors.
How about: Those who worship Tanit own and rule this place.
OR simply: We worship Tanit!
OR: We dedicate all our shenigans to Tanit!
OR: We like Tanit!
You don’t believe in hidden senses, do you?
Tanith symbol is at the end, after the monolith:
A slave mark you say, then.
I don’t remember what he had written upon himself, but it was rather serious, awe, not hope, inspiring.
Christopher Mellon is the highest known UFO guy. If you watch his presentation at the Sol Foundation Stanford UFO conference it is telling when it is obvious on a laptop youtube window the fellow’s suit cost more than my car.
There is only one of those presentations that is actually worth watching. I forget her name but the woman is some sort of social scientist and she spoke about the psycho set of professional pilots and the exceptional treatment which should be accorded when they make unidentified observations from the cockpit.
Robert Bigelow is the highest known UFO guy who should ever be paid attention to.
Unlike Europe, USA has a great tradition of cinema which shows how things really are (Dr Strangelove [strange love between Americans and Nazis haha], The Network, Wag the Dog etc), yet they consistently come across to me as more simple-minded and less suspicious about the world than Europeans. I don’t understand it.
They also cite the Russian Central Bank stats showing relevant bank deposits.
Beckow thinks he know more about the Russian economy than Russian economists. Cute.
The funny thing is you were claiming that stuff in GDP calculations such as mortgage services isn’t “real” – but these death payments are real 🙂
Meanwhile Russian steel production is down 7% in the last 10 months, pig iron production down 6%. Russia’s economic growth is largely driven by the deaths of Russians. A lucrative harvest of Russian human meat.
Both sides have death notices and obituaries and people count them. Ratio was about even but in last months Russia’s became much worse. Which matches the movements in the front. So we don’t know precise numbers but we know Russian numbers are worse in exchange for very slow gains.
Why do you keep coming back to this. If one of the sides in this conflict is “Jewish” it is Putin.
Führer Zelensky is post-Judaic apostate linked to neo-Nazis. He visited Jerusalem to intentionally insult authentic Jews. I can dig up the citation again if needed.
What mythical “Jewish masters” are you trying to invent? Führer Zelensky’s puppeteers are European leaders, most notably.
• Not a Jew, Merkel
• Not a Jew, Scholz
• Not a Jew, Macron
• Not a Jew, BoJo
• Not a Jew, Starmer
Despite Kier Starmer’s marriage to a woman of Jewish ancestry, I believe he is officially an atheist.
It is still not officially announced. Remember the rumor about CIA that did not pan out. Rick Grenell would be a better choice
Rubio was certainly hawkish years ago. He has moderated quite a bit more recently. He is fully on board with Trump’s anti-war plans for Ukraine, Iran, and China. As a foreign policy realist, he would be able to drive serious negotiations. Though Rubio’s affinity towards NATO deserves a wary eye.
Most of the MAGA concerns are about Rubio’s domestic policies. However, those have little direct bearing on the State Department role. The keywords to describe such a pick would be cautious and adequate. Neither stellar nor a catastrophe.
Also, clearing Rubio out of the Senate would generate 2 indirect wins:
-1- Tom Cotton would become head of SSCI
-2- A MAGA Senator, likely Matt Gaetz, would fill the Florida seat
PEACE 😇
Three replies to one comment of mine, from the same person? This is a first for me. You know APP, I may not always agree with everything that you write, but I do find you to be an intelligent commenter here, often worth reading. One small suggestion though, try answering simple questions with simple replies. No need for any veiled, cryptic or assumptive replies, it’ll be more useful and interesting that way. Thanks!
Gurdjieff said they were innocent and not cynical because of not being immersed in the hypocrisy for a thousand years. Not stupid at all though. If you think those hillbillies are dumb that is just ignorant. Everybody should read at least a little William Faulkner. Snopes trilogy (Hamlet, &c) is the best place to begin but everything he wrote is very good or better.
They might catch up to the Godless Europeans sooner than you can imagine. The next Great Awakening should be arriving any decade now.
It all started when he got a huge contract to promote drinks brands, did a great job of it; wanted a bigger share of the profits; sued and called the company (a subsidiary of the huge Diagio) racist. Then his ex Cassie suddenly had top line lawyers representing her, and sued. Instead of paying, his lawyers (or perhaps insurance company) quibbled over the settlement there being 10 mill between them. There was a payment of 30 mil, which was ostensibly for not publishing a tell all book, a day after the suit was filed. I don’t think Diddy thought what he was doing with Cassie was illegal. She was with him for 11 years and if not in love him, was with her lifestyle. She got drunk for those sex shows he wanted, so what?
The paedo stuff is 99.9% BS. I could believe it about Bieber (although Diddy’s thing seems to be watching ) because he was living in Diddy’s house and had time to groom him but no way is someone as wised up on business as Diddy going to take some little kid who has never met him and force him to perform fellatio. For all Diddy knew the kid could scream his head off.
The the insurance company will be telling Diddy he has to settle these cases as fighting them will cost too much. Diddy may still be worth over a hundred million. There is a lot of free money if you are wiling to get in quick and lie in a civil suit. You can bet they will all have substance abuse problems to blame on what they say happened to them
Alec Guinness played Smiley in the two TV series but was long dead when Gary Oldham played him (apparently against the wishes of Le Carré) in the film adaptation.
The best fictional treatment of espionage overall IMO would be the French TV series The Bureau (Le Bureau des légendes) which was on Amazon Prime, though you can probably watch it with a library (eg. Hoopla) account in the US.
You replies made me think that you still make think that it is all not meaningful, so I reacted to this realization.
Besides, those are things you must kind of discover for yourself to fully accept them, so I just gave hints. The truth is not in the sun for everyone to look at.
To accept them, you must be ready to abandon some of received knowledge, which you may or may not be ready to do.
You needn’t worry about me, I seldom look directly into the sun, at least not for very long. 🙂
Support for Ukraine in this high intensity war (and it may be going to get a lot more intense) cannot be sustained by the kind of economies the West now has. The West is going to have to shift to state capitalism in order to continue. Russia is too different to judge it by Western financial metrics, they have resources and people that are capable of a lot more if better organised to a single aim. War is where the command economy aspect of Russia comes into its own. The Kursk front could let them use NK troops in combat on what is universally agreed to be Russian territory.
Most of the elite units of the Ukrainian army are in Kursk rather than defending the the four oblasts. I have heard different about the east but in West Ukraine prime military age men are not compelled to join. So Kyiv is not worried. Worse for a while may be better for Zelensky His position in asking for longer range missiles and more of them may be strengthened by Russian advances.
Putin must facing reverses to negotiate, and Kursk is not making him worried. The logistics in Kursk are favouring Russia, yet they are mounting an economy of force operation and mainly leaving it for later it would seem. I think Russia and Ukraine both have years of fighting left in them.
Thanks for the correction.
You may want to watch “Game, Set and Match”, a British TV series (13 separate series), based on 3 books of Len Deighton. The reviews were less than stellar, but I seem to have enjoyed wading my way through it. The transfers used on Youtube, however, weren’t the best. Have you ever watched “The Night Manager” that I mentioned above. Good stuff in my book.
The former British PM Boris Johnson, who is apparently now modeling himself as a new 1930’s era out of power Winston Churchill, and who once wrote a book about the man, is alleging that due to Trump’s isolationism that Britain ultimately may have to go it alone and send troops to Ukraine to fight Putin.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boris-johnson-says-british-troops-161338331.html
Apparently, especially with Trump having won the US presidency, the new narrative is early WWII era like ‘woefully ill prepared Britain alone’.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-not-air-supremacy-over-161612741.html
btw, which one has won it all lately?;)
There is a saying in business about how a company goes bankrupt, “very slowly, gradually, then suddenly…“…but you don’t seem to understand that area of life. Suffice to say if Russia grinds down the Ukie military Kiev will collapse (unless BoJo sends his Welsh archers to save them…it is truly a bizarre world…:)
You are still refusing to answer a simple question: how is Trump going to prevent China, India, Turkey,…buying Russian oil? You were counting on it as part of the ‘new victory’ plan, so how?
As I read yesterday on Zerohedge, one of A123’s favorite news sources, on foreign policy, no matter who you vote for, you always get McCain.
– Hegseth, Sec Of Defense. Supporter and lobbyist in Congress for the Iraq war. Speaker at a McCain rally, introduced by Lindsay Graham. Radical supporter of a new war on Iran. Extreme zionist views. Called Russia ‘gas station with a flag’, warned that Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union and said that the future of the US and the Western world depends on Ukraine. Endorsed by Bill Kristol in his MN Senate campaign.
– John Ratcliffe, CIA Director. Called for joint attacks on Iran with Israel. Joined Mike Pompeo in lobbying for the renewal of FISA warrantless surveillance over the past year.
– Waltz, National Security Advisor. Congratulated on his nomination by Bernard-Henri Lévy. Advisor for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Expressed firm agreement with Lindsey Graham and demanded that the US deploy more drones to the Black Sea to antagonize Russia. Asked Biden to bomb Iran and “take the handcuffs off” Ukraine, by allowing them to strike further inside Russia. Opposed withdrawing from Afghanistan and supported a permanent occupation force.
-Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the UN. Denounced the Biden-Harris administration for insufficiently arming Ukraine and Israel. Leader of the “anti-Semitic” panic of the last year, called for harsh penalties against pro-Palestinian protesters.
And if by any miracle we don’t get little Marco as Secretary of State, we’ll get another war hawk for sure. Marco is neocon extraordinaire, called for a no fly zone in Syria, even if that led to having to down Russian planes, and supported every one of the forever wars.
In less than a week Trump has clarified the great doubts people had about any change on foreign policy with regards to his first term. He may be unfocused and unpredictable but the strong neocon team he has single-handedly invited to his White House are not. They do have very clear ideas and will sabotage any pro-peace initiative he may have in his more lucid moments. If he pushes back, we’ll see another repetition of the backstabbing and insubordination he suffered in his previous term. It is easy to predict that some of these people will end up turning against him and, if the necessity arises, calling to vote for the Dems, like several of his earlier appointees with the very same credentials did.
The amazing thing is that these people may now be Trump “supporters” but they have paid much less of a price for that support than the pro-peace supporters who have left the Democrat party or the business world. He doesn’t owe them anything but he’s made sure to have his agenda kneecapped by this team in the barely 2 years he has to implement any anti-swamp change before the next midterms give the Democrats a chance to stop him in Congress. And that’s on top of the rebellion he is already facing in the Senate with the nomination of neocon Thune as the majority leader.
Time to focus on domestic issues because any hope of change of the swamp policies on foreign policy is already doomed. Thank God Don Jr and Elon publicly announced that they were 100% trying to prevent the entry of neocons in the new administration LOL. Without their efforts (and presumably Vivek’s, Tulsi’s and RFK’s) we may have had Bolton back in the White House.
Hmmm very interesting.
Had no idea that the San Joaquin Valley cranks out cheap wine for Trader Joe’s.
I would have guessed it to be from a cold weather state where they have more variability.
hey, at least all the figurative mikels got Tucker as new Spicer, but that may be bit of elaborate taunt of him as well cause it will be funny seeing Carlson having to praise US support for Benjamin and his actions in Israel all the time lol
However 1st Trump administration was revolving door equivalent so it’s very doubtful that any the new appointees will work full term in 2nd one;)
Biden of course. Last week he got his revenge against Pelosi and Kamala, the Senate is back in his hands and the main tenets of his foreign policy run no risk of being changed at all. Unfortunately, domestic issues and foreign policy go hand in hand. Hawks on one are invariably doves on the other so not much to be expected realistically on that front either. Elon is the richest man in the world, he doesn’t have to stand the crap that is coming his way sooner or later. Will he last longer than Bannon?
Your delusion levels are over 5000. Bringing in North Korean Communists to help drive Ukraine out of Kursk is not part of some 5d chess plan. Putin does not want to mobilize and is sending not only untrained contractors but crippled soldiers.
Watch this video and tell me that everything is fine:
Reports of high Russian casualties are most likely accurate. Russia supposedly had over 1 million active duty before the war started and they are bringing in North Koreans.
“It’s a CIA hoax”
– ex-CIA miliary expert Larry C Johnson on the reports of North Koreans being used for combat operations in Russia.
Note that videos of North Koreans in combat gear were captured on cell phone video before Larry went on his rant about how it can’t be real.
I don’t think that’s official yet but today at least I’m having the pleasure of seeing Tulsi and Gaetz appointed to his cabinet, both accused of being “Putin agents” by the figurative and literal sudden deaths 🙂
Will the Ukraine war open a new front in Trump’s cabinet meetings? It’s gonna be fun to watch for sure.
Curtis Yarvin who grew up in the federal government when his Dad was a middle manager in the State Department explained all of this in his Wednesday morning post. There is no one else but neocons who even qualifies to get a job interview. The miniscule fraction who sympathize with Ron Paul don’t even get a five minute time slot.
Wow. You are pulling out all the stops with your #NeverMAGA deception. You really need to be less histrionic over the loss of your precious Kamala Harris.
This may shock you, but people do change over time. When was this “McCain rally”? 2008? Why don’t you catch up to present day reality?
There are huge numbers of people who learned from the Iraq mistake. Hegseth does not want to repeat such a post-war reconstruction failure.
DEI damage to recruiting and merit is the biggest challenge for the new Secretary of Defense. Hegseth certainly has the skills and background to take on the issue of revitalizing the fighting corps.
This does not appear be true. Your warmonger buddy AP tried a near identical deception and was caught just a few posts ago: (1)
Have you considered taking your act elsewhere? They/Thems would love your “Iran First / America Last” routine on other sites.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.unz.com/akarlin/open-thread-262/#comment-6857369
It is really surprising that you Slavs are not angry at Zelensky and his Jewish masters for leading so many of your kin to their deaths.
Ukrainian polls show majority support for the war and Zelensky.
I’ve pointed that out before and with sources.
Why are you trying so hard to blame a Jew instead of facing the simple reality that Ukrainians do not want to be ruled by Putin?
Putin tried to takeover Kiev and the Ukrainians voted by Javelin.
The very Javalins that Trump approved in a weapons sale.
They are currently voting by drone. There is also a US Bradley causing havoc in Kursk. Maybe the Koreans will help save the locals.
Ukrainians want to be Ukrainian. Why do you have such a hard time with that basic fact?
He probably knows he was spared of hard choices which Trump will be forced to make.
Mikel will be really upset over this quality pick. To sooth his extremely fragile mental state, I will use a source other than ZH: (1)
Establishment types will be very sad (some fearful) about this choice.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/11/13/heads-will-explode-at-this-latest-trump-cabinet-pick-n4934259
Shouldn’t you be occupied re-reading the last 50 000 words of Elon Musk tweets?
Elon is the richest man in the world, he doesn’t have to stand the crap that is coming his way sooner or later. Will he last longer than Bannon?
Elon is getting an isolated position.
Bannon was butting heads with swamp creatures over issues like taxes. He didn’t want another capital gains tax for the wealthy. Trump went with the creatures.
Bannon turned out to be a con artist but his overall strategy was correct. It makes more sense for Republicans to go populist. Tax breaks for the wealthy don’t make any sense from an economic or strategic level. Bush said that such breaks would pay for themselves and it didn’t happen. They ran up debts.
Support for Ukraine in this high intensity war (and it may be going to get a lot more intense) cannot be sustained by the kind of economies the West now has. The West is going to have to shift to state capitalism in order to continue.
For what exactly? 155mm shells? The US is building new production lines and without a change to the economy. It’s called contracting.
South Korea is still sitting a huge stockpile of shells.
Ukraine has more jets than pilots and they haven’t requested more tanks or infantry fighting vehicles.
Putin must facing reverses to negotiate, and Kursk is not making him worried. The logistics in Kursk are favouring Russia, yet they are mounting an economy of force operation and mainly leaving it for later it would seem.
But why would they stay this long in Kursk in the first place? They aren’t trying to use it in a negotiation which means the only remaining answer is to set a trap.
Ukraine is fully aware that the supply line would favor Russia. That means they still think it is worth the effort to draw them in. They probably modeled this entire offensive through a British military computer. The US seems to have been unaware of the plan. It would also be unlikely for US generals to recommend putting limited troops in an unsupported pocket. Remember that they didn’t want Ukraine to stay in Bakhmut and their advice was ignored. The British tend to favor cheeky plans of deception.
Britain is preparing to defend itself against ‘the axis of upheaval’ according to new army chief.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c035d05je2jo
UK is part of the Axis of Upchuck so he’s thinking along the right contour.
I started to watch The Night Manager but gave up after the first episode but I can’t remember why. Maybe I should revisit it. Game, Set, and Match looks more interesting as it’s older and less likely to be infected with PC and I see it is available on YouTube so I’ll give that a go when I’m done with The Sandbaggers. Incidentally, I just noticed Len Deighton, born in 1929, is still alive.
Was Chernenko’s death the manifestation of the mass desire of Soviet schoolkids to get a day off from school, with another state funeral? Did too many wish him dead, in the same moment?
Given the amount of histrionic screeching there has been about Trump’s appointments, have you noticed the complete silence in relation to the one genuinely bad selection?
Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Yes. She was due a role for her support. But, DNI does not seem like a good match for that specific role.
Why are the #NeverMAGA cultists not bleating about her?
Do they see her as an anti-MAGA ally?
PEACE 😇
This could also describe Russia’s increasing human losses or Russia’s economic performance. Other than the death money – that is increasing.
China probably not. India, Turkey – some combination of carrots and sticks, I imagine. It would not be too hard.
When did I claim that?
Don’t worry too much – he’s going to try to get Tulsi in charge of national security. Thank God that Thune and adults are in charge of the senate. She will most likely not be confirmed. Maybe he nominated her as a personal favor, and he won’t get blamed if she is dumped by the Senate. That would be clever of him.
Do you appreciate the Crusader tattoos on the new Defense Secretary?
As for domestic policy, sex maniac Gaetz has been nominated for AG.
Congratulations on the Latin American-style circus our politics are becoming.
Are you accusing the Republican from Oklahoma of being a liar?
I had to look up who that is now. Avril Hanes. Who cares? Intelligence manager might be the most redundant function in the government. They handle secret stuff.
You know what shadows every secret? Lies. If you have time to follow Avril Hanes or her replacement you should think about getting a life.
Deighton lives?
You’re going to have a very tough job the next 4 years defending Stefanik’s neocon speeches at the UN and the actions of the neocon team that Trump has assembled to lead US foreign policy.
As an advocate of the Judeo-Muslim values, we expect you to keep applying huge doses of Taqiyya, like you do when you stupidly misrepresent the positions of your interlocutors, but think about it: 4 years joining Bill Kristol, John Fetterman, Ian Bremmer, Jonathan Greenblatt and the most rabid Russophobes of this country in their praises of the people chosen by Trump for the military and foreign policy apparatus.
If he has done a dramatic 180 on Iraq, it’s only been to swap it by Iran, who he wants to level to the ground, including Mosques and schools, if necessary. What a big change. To be clear, I wouldn’t oppose in principle taking out the Iranian nuclear weapons installations (or the Ukrainian ones, if they try to go nuclear). The world doesn’t need any more nuclear-armed nations and if there’s one thing the American military supremacy should be used for it’s to keep the world as free of those demonic devices as reasonably possible. But that is not the issue here. The issue is having plenty of experienced congressmen and party members who are totally aligned with your values to fill cabinet positions and choosing those who have never agreed with you and will surely boycott you instead.
Less than a year ago your champion Little Rubio teamed up with Democrat Tim Kaine to pass legislation to prevent any US President (ie Trump, who else?) from leaving NATO without their approval:
https://thehill.com/homenews/4360407-congress-approves-bill-barring-president-withdrawing-nato/
It’s 100% true. Being a proud member of the conspiranoic wing of MAGA, I wouldn’t be surprised if you claimed that these are fake videos but watch your heroes Hegseth and Waltz going on anti-Russian, pro-war tirades:
At least he isn’t picking Victoria Nuland for State!
I thought it was a little weird that they had the public repudiation of Pompeo and Haley. It seemed like maybe it was a warning shot to the guys he does hire that he expects obedience, not creativity, in his appointees.
Russia is going slow in Kursk, same as they are doing in Ukraine. This gradual and methodical approach seems to make sense for a number of reasons.
The interest rate prediction is not unexpected. Check back in two years.
USA-approved drone attacks on Engels Air Base are still on the short list of most stupid US moves ever. I hope we live long enough to see the execution of the criminal morons behind this policy.
I was surprised Russia had not brought in DPRK troops sooner and always expected these soldiers to see combat. The survivors will most likely go back to Pyongyang to pass on lessons learned and improve readiness of the military. After the 1990s, Russia kept North Korea partially at arms length in the interest of maintaining good relations between Moscow and Washington. The troops are a signal that this phase of Russian foreign policy may be ending.
I have no idea if the sad tale of the Russian troops is real or what it means.
Very strange turn of phrase. I thought you were a Catholic, but now it seems like you are identifying against Crusaders. Or perhaps, West Euros.
I feel like if you were more familiar with the story of Jean de Joinville, or the Knights of St. John, etc., you wouldn’t employ the word with such a derogatory tone.
Am somewhat skeptical that they had tattoos, but in any case, we can be pretty certain that they wouldn’t have had Hebrew tattoos.
The man is not a Crusader, but a neocon. The Crusaders wanted to recapture the Holyland. They did not want to invade Iran.
Maybe they can enlist all those fighting age migrant men they’re housing in hotels everywhere.
Anybody from the native population in western Europe who’d be willing to join the military under present conditions is simply an idiot. I guess those establishment ghouls can try to bring back conscription, good luck with that.
ROTFL (and TL;DR)
Those of us who believe in Judeo-Christian values have Jesus and God on our side.
How can you be so pathetic and incompetent you expose your love of Kamala Harris in the first few lines if your post? The fail is truly EPIC with you.
Everyone here knows that you are a massive supporter of SJW🏳️🌈Muslim Globalism. Your attempt at Taqiyya trolling catastrophically failed to the point where everyone is laughing at you.
You need to return to Tehran for retraining. Or, better yet, you should just stay there. You and Khamenei could share #NeverMAGA cult, Iran First, Death to America fanaticism.
PEACE 😇
The guy is scum tbh, literally a war crimes advocate. Insane that Trump appoints such a self-styled crusader as secretary of “defense” (who’s literally written a book about what means to be an “American crusader”, of course it’s mostly about supporting Israel), it’s like a deliberate attempt to confirm jihadi narratives.
Don’t count your chickens until they hatch. Let’s see who actually gets to play come January 20, 2025 and who is still in the game by July 20. At that point things may be clear.
That’s possibly the plan. There will surely be RINOs in the Senate who will join forces with the Democrats to reject Tulsi, Gaetz and RFK Jr. All the neocons, by contrast, will pass the hearings with flying colors and we’ll have an unsurprising repetition of Trump’s first term. With Thune and Johnson replacing McConnell and Ryan, it’s deja vu all over again.
Sex “maniac” because he allegedly had a consensual affair with a 17 year old that nobody could bring charges for? Even if true, that is legal all over Europe, your favorite continent, and in most other parts of the world outside of the US, as far as I know. The war in Ukraine may be making you feel too close to Puritan New Englanders. Weren’t you saying before the war that you had to hang out with Europeans to avoid the locals?
Whether it’s a stunt or not, I totally support putting someone like Gaetz in charge of the DOJ for the same reason that someone like Homan is necessary to control the borders. The Latinamericanization of the justice system and the FBI that you have enthusiastically endorsed is too deep to be repaired by an insider. Only a young, energetic character can fix a mess like that and prevent the US from continuing to slide into banana republic territory. Forget about Ukraine for a second if you can. You would also benefit from living in a country free from censorship, politicized justice and collusion of the security apparatus with the media and Big Tech.
It was telling that A123 just mentioned the “post-war reconstruction failure”. Presumably the argument is that the decision to go war against Iraq was essentially correct, it’s just the subsequent occupation was badly managed or should have been avoided (I remember one particular psychopathic commenter from Sailer’s blog making just such an argument a few years ago…the lesson from Iraq is simply that one shouldn’t occupy Iran, just subject it to blockade and a relentless bombing campaign. I suppose it isn’t an entirely uncommon argument in certain circles).
As a professional propagandist I’m sure you appreciate that Kiev has 24/7 pro-war propaganda delivered with a high skill level. Fake poll results resulting from thirty years of propaganda mean little. This tragedy may continue until the Ukie victims of this propaganda wake up and hang the lieutenant propagandists from lamp posts. The lead propaganda rats will have moved to warmer climates by then.
Rumor is that there are a lot of changes in the mainstream Press to “balance” things out, in reality to hire neocons. I’ll admit that seems a bit worrisome.
I found this part of a review:
Strange threat to put first in the US.
I should probably stop quoting these rumors, but the other one for that Patel guy is that he is going to be the director of the FBI. Can’t decide whether that means Sher Singh will be safe or not.
I thought that one of Trump’s strongest points in his debate with Kamala was taking a realpolitik stance on a settlement between Russia and Ukraine and speaking against the possibility of nuclear escalation. I think that was a fairly heartfelt sentiment since it wouldn’t have much pander value.
From the little bit I saw of Hegseth and Waltz they don’t inspire confidence so far on a foreign policy front.
However, as emil nikola richard mentioned I would strongly imagine that Trump is prioritizing loyalty in his appointments this time around and will be pushing a stronger centralized policy directive.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14077417/Fox-News-host-Pete-Hegseths-tattoos-decoded-Donald-Trump-Secretary-Defense.html
This is almost as good as the Doge coin spike.
Hmmm…. “Essentially correct” is a bit of an overstatement. However, it was not totally crazy either.
Let’s remember Saddam’s track record, he:
• Had WMD (chemical)
• Used WMD against the Kurds
• Invaded Kuwait
U.S. intel had some high level penetration of Iraqi senior leadership. Saddam’s generals were telling him that they were building nukes, and that was intercepted. 20/20 hindsight we now know that Saddam’s generals were lying to their leader. However, that was not obvious ahead of time. Regardless of “correctness” of the decision, the war (military combat) was in fact won.
Everything went to shambles and the peace was lost. If GW and his team had a sane post-war plan, for example partition, it might have turned out OK. Instead, they chose to duplicate the proven failure of Lebanon. Forcing Sunni, Shia, and Kurds into a unified democracy made no sense. Saddam had used Sunnis to club down Shia and Kurds for many years.
The lessons learned were solid:
-1- Be much more suspicious of intel
-2- Do not engage in large scale nation building
Despite Mikel’s ludicrous attempts to manufacture a strawman, one thing is certain. Trump’s 2nd term will not put boots on the ground in Iran. No external forced regime change. No nation building. The strategy is containment. And, there are many partners in the Persian Gulf region that will join that effort.
Trump’s 1s term demonstrated this strategy. Erdogan & Obama were for external regime change in Syria. Trump jettisoned that plan as unworkable. The NeoCon Senate made full withdrawal impossible. However, no one believes the fig leaf “protect oil” cover story. Pro-peace Trump moved American forces out of the kill sack between Erdogan’s and Assad’s lines to prevent escalation.
Again, Trump’s 1st term anti-war track record is objectively and undeniably clear:
I do not understand why pro-war radicals, like Mikel and AP, yearn to undermine pro-peace Trump’s 2nd term in favour of pro-war Harris (or another NeoConDemocrat). Mikel’s aggressive #NeverMAGA agenda is particularly terrifying. It is clear that his plan is cutting the Iranian theocracy loose with no restraint or limitation. He wants to plunge the entire Middle East region into fire. Mikel is literally pro-war madness given form and substance.
PEACE 😇
It was totally obvious at the time that the Bush administration and its lickspittles abroad like Blair were merely looking for a pretext for a war they had already decided on anyway (and no, they weren’t just misled by faulty intelligence, that’s much too charitable an assumption). It was also obvious that a war on Iraq would in all likelihood have profoundly destabilizing consequences and greatly strengthen jihadi extremism, plenty of people warned of it. The general secretary of the Arab league said that it would “open the gates of hell” in the region
https://www.arabnews.com/node/223999
and that is exactly what happened.
People who supported the war back then have no excuse.
I also concur.
In addition to loyalty, people are being picked to match their personal strengths to roles. The only notable exception to this, so far, is Gabbard.
Hegseth is chosen to rebuild the military from DEI and other mismanagement. A task he is well suited to. He is not going to be the person selecting what conflicts to fight. That will be decided elsewhere.
Rubio has all sorts of undesirable domestic policy stances. However, his posting at State is about foreign policy. Rubio is lock step with Trump on the big three — Iran, China, Ukraine. He is not the boisterous over reaching NeoCon he was many years ago. IMHO, still too fond of NATO though.
PEACE 😇
Probably not, might well start a campaign against Sikh extremists to curry favour with India, so Sher Singh might be extradited or sent to a Gitmo-type facility.
Isn’t Sher Singh still in Canada?
It does start out rather slow, but it steadily builds up to an exciting crescendo. If nothing else, the on location filming in Cairo and Istanbul are worth the cost of admission alone (IMHO). I look forward to watching the Sandbaggers, but somehow got lassoed into watching an older version of Marco Polo…
In 2003, many Americans still trusted the major media.
Looking back, the progs were intentionally lying. Their corruption has become much more clear over time. Losing the peace in Iraq was certainly a contributing factor to exposing the scam.
I am surprised that 12% of Republicans have any “confidence”. Are Boomers the bulk of this group?
PEACE 😇
So Pete is not a serious secretary of defense. Still, he may be better than Austin.
I don’t know what to make of an adult who started getting tattoos. Kind of reminds me of J.D. changing his last name N times.
Self and ego get a lot of abuse but even a woman is completely lost without them.
Say what you want about Nazis but they at least had an ethos!
What a shameless clown AP is. He was among the foremost advocates of Latino immigration – they’re Catholic and they come armed with “European language skills” (a serious argument, apparently) – now he carps about “latinization” every two posts. Lol, I wonder what the story will have changed to when I visit again in six months or so.
It’s not going to happen, they are making way too much money on it. You seem to be unfamiliar with the business world…:)
In other words there is no plan – above you listed dropping oil prices. With Trump a lot of things are uncertain, but the chance of an economic crisis is much lower – that’s when the energy prices drop. Trump helps oil producers, Russia among them. The supply at prices lower than today is limited, it is expensive to blow up rocks 10,000 feet underground and move oil-gas 2,000 miles.
The war is now in a morbid deadly embrace, each side is trying to get the enemy to give up. Who gives up first depends on the depth of their reserves and morale. Russia has an order of magnitude more in material and human reserves. Morale has a number of factors: chance for victory, emotions, the ratio of losses, etc…By attacking Russia-Kursk and drones over Moscow, Kiev has increased the morale in Russia – it’s unthinkable that any Russian leaders would now just give in.
And Ukies? The 30% who say “land-for-peace” is a large baseline group who had enough or who never wanted to fight Russia “to join NATO” or to have Brits vacation with warships in Crimea. There are actually a lot more of them. What are the chances that Zelko could win in an election next year? (You never ask the most important questions.)
imho it wil be used as potential bargaining chip by Trump, but Poland could be more than happy to host it instead of Germany too in their new base as well:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-11-13/us-and-polish-officials-open-missile-defense-site-that-russia-has-long-protested
I never understand why people think the British armed forces (and Mi6) are so capable. The Ukrainians are the premier tacticians; Western military science has been exposed as old hat, their advice remains strictly armchair.
Whatever the original objective was I think Kusk in now is a politically opportune operation precipitating the introduction of North Koreans (much to Zelensky’s delight), and–don’t laugh– providing a safe space for the bulk of the elite formations of the Ukraine army, while the Russia FAB and piecemeal infantry infiltration steamroller attrites old geezer in units that were created with wholly overage recruits considered unsuitible for active acte sevcice (counter attacks). They are just for dying in place manning fortified positions. So far no one has been going all really out in this war. Not Russia, not Ukraine and certainly not the US.
Because it is not clear to Kyiv how much Russia can yet call on, in my opinion the priority for Zelensky right now in preserving a cadre core for future expansion of the army to fight decisive battles to come much further West than the conflictt has been so far. The Ukrainians in Kursk consist of many of the best and most determined units Kiev can call on, with excellent artillery and especially drone support, so the reduction of Kursk (40% so far) is going at a stately pace and the Kremlin is using not particularly valuable units for the most part.
In Donbass, the Russians are using their best and will pay a price for gains, because there too Ukraine has that good artillery and excellent drone advantage but the kremlin are willing to pay it. Kyiv is banking on future ground to the west and supply being even more advantageous. Lines of communication length are key; the further the Russians advance the more vulnerable they are to strikes on logistics hubs, while the better is the Ukrainian supply system.
Russia is determined to keep going and America can’t let them because the Nato countries Japan etc. are watching, so although the advance, for reasons of artillery logistics mainly I suspect, is at snail’s pace, the gains for Russia will eventually reach a point (within striking distance of crossing the Dnieper) at which Ukraine will have to go all out by drafting 19 years olds and up, and Trump will have to really unleash the deep strikes while handing out Abrams tanks etc in hitherto undreamt of quantities. The big battles are still to come, and will be Russian men against Western machines, mostly.
Your true and illuminating comment exposes QCIC’s vey untenable positions regarding the Russo/Ukrainian war. I don’t know what really motivates this guy? He would like his audience here to believe that most Ukrainians, deep in their hearts, really do want their country to become a Russian satellite country again, firmly under the heel of kremlin authoritarian rule. He knows next to nothing about Ukrainian history and culture, yet likes to flood this website with hist nonsensical views. He’s become a real waste of time, as far as I’m concerned. 🙁
Just imagine he’s Viktor Medvedchuk in disguise and everything falls into the right place;)
Why do you ask? 🙂
Your explanation actually helps…a lot. Was QCIC’s father a Nazi henchman too? 🙂
Boris is a complete fantasist – given that for thirty years now about a third of UK births have been to minorities, we are just not the nation of WW2, let alone WW1.
For the last 50-odd years the Army’s been kept going by small town, non-uni kids, often from former industrial or mining places. But they’re running out, and I just cannot see conscription happening. Non-compliance would be huge and the prisons are already full.
” to have Brits vacation with warships in Crimea”
We’ll need to build some first. The task force that sailed to the Falklands in 1982 was Britannia’s last hurrah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkands_War_order_of_battle:_British_naval_forces
I guess we could find a few frigates if we empty Portsmouth.
” Trump will have to really unleash the deep strikes while handing out Abrams tanks etc in hitherto undreamt of quantities”
Well last time out he didn’t build a wall, nor did Mexico pay for it, so you may be right.
“Ukrainians in Kursk consist of many of the best and most determined units Kiev can call on”
Very odd place to have them, then. No idea if the Russians are interdicting the lines of retreat back to Sumy, but I’d have thought they should be.
This is what I was thinking: the traditional dichotomy between the CIA and FBI, as Patel was considered for both positions. Domestic and foreign remit split.
But, I think GR is right. To start off, I believe the FBI can legally operate abroad in certain conditions – Canada would probably be only too happy to bow.
Even if not, Toronto is quite close to the US. It is practically inside it. More USians live at that latitude than Canadians. Sher Singh, assuming he wasn’t assassinated directly by Patel’s agents, would probably be placed at the bottom of a boat, with a hood on him, and brought across Lake Eerie to some NY Gitmo.
I was watching the Ushanka show on YouTube and he was talking about his schooldays, sizing Chernenko up, when he came in, and then being disappointed when the compararively young-seeming Gorbi was put in place.
I just thought it was really funny from that perspective. It reminded me a bit of my own schooldays. Usually, we would hope for a snowday.
But I do remember this one, stressful class where you actually had to take notes, and one day the teacher didn’t show, and this guy said to me “Good, I hoped she was dead, or something!”. And I am sure he was joking but that seemed pretty dark to me at the time, as she had kids.
You missed it, but he was calling me “Catholic Irish” in a seemingly derogatory manner, which I found very bizarre and amusing, as being Catholic seems fairly implicit in being Irish.
Also, after a long time denouncing the cruelty of English settlers, he was celebrating the contribution of Poles and Ukrainians to Jamestown. And the settling of the Canadian Prairie by Ukrainians, claiming no one else could have done it.
They are safer in the Kursk forests on the border than in the east or south. The main value is that in a crisis they can be in Kiev much faster. There was also originally hope that Belarus could be pulled in and that some units in Belarus would join the Ukies – it didn’t happen. The Ukie elite formations are too small and mainly useful for pushing the draftees forward to die. They can also play power games in Kiev.
I agree that some of the most decisive fighting is still ahead. Both sides are stalling: Kiev to keep itself going and Russia to be fully ready. The videos of the Ukie draftees who surrendered are very sad – old men taken from streets and sent to die. If Kiev tries 19-year olds the parents will revolt. And there is a limit on how many foreign fools will go and fight for Ukraine.
Tanks are of little use in a war of artillery and drones. If Kiev goes for massive deep strikes the likely response is “NATO-like” destruction in some Ukie cities. Horrible pictures, one-sided propaganda, but really just a lot of dead people. Trump will threaten it and Russia will likely call his bluff.
Or the madmen will go nukes – they simply can’t be seen as losing, what a clusterfuck by immature morons with too much time on their hands, no experiences and too many maps…
Too bad about the warships. Can they use the migrant Channel dinghies? They probably originally planned on just taking the Russian Crimea ships. Why not? You know the ‘gas station’ thing they seem to believe in…
For the skeptics, there were line items in the US Federal 2014 budget to build an American school in Crimea for families of servicemen. They thought they had it in the bag, that’s why they are so pissed…
I’m glad that I asked:
This looks interesting. Hopefully it’ll help me understand where QCIC is coming from? 🙂
His partisan stuff is not his best, IMO, as many already satisfy that niche.
I was going to recommend his book to you, but after reading the first page or two, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
If he ever is, don’t worry. I’ll bring him some cookies and updates on the topics of discussion around here.
I don’t think we have to worry about Sher Singh though. Canada would never cooperate with our new fascist empire! Vulnerable POC like our dear Sher must be protected at all costs from the Trumpist hordes!
I’d be careful in trying to bring him down. His collection of knives and swords looked quite formidable. Is it just my imagination, but he seemed to like sharing photos of this collection more with me than with anybody else here? I often wondered why this distinct honor was designated for me? I hope that he’s Okay…it must have been our shared Eurasian heritage at play here.
There are some reports that they are still pushing forward with a ban of AfD. I still have a hard time believing it will go through, but if it does, may I suggest that they change the glass dome of the Reichstag, into a rainbow-colored one, or perhaps better yet, use some very technologically-advanced black paint that completely absorbs all visible light?
The agents they have in the FBI these days would probably have a hard time doing it.
I feel that he was amused by your initial reaction and probably understandably felt insulted by you for not treating Sikhs as a people with a martial bearing and philosophy.
113 MPs are supporting it (minimal number required would be 37):
https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutschland/2024/diese-abgeordneten-unterstuetzen-das-afd-verbotsverfahren/
Mostly Greens and Social Democrats, plenty of them with migrant background themselves. Only a few CDU members are in favour. One of them is Roderich Kiesewetter. He’s one of the most strident pro-Ukrainian voices in German politics, arguing that Ukraine must be enabled to carry out missile strikes deep in the Russian interior. He’s also a very big supporter of Israel and has called for sending the Bundeswehr to protect Israel against Iran. So he’s got the whole package.
It will probably be lost on you, but I think I’ll still add a few additional points regarding my misgivings about those planned missile deployments:
1.) Unlike with the NATO double tack decision of 1979 it isn’t coupled with an offer for negotiations with Russia about mutual arms reductions.
2.) They’ll only be stationed in the BRD, so there’s no risk-sharing (Pershing 2 missiles were also stationed in other NATO countries like Britain and Italy iirc).
3.) As far as I can tell, it hasn’t been clarified at all what say, if any, the German government and/or military would have about the use of those missiles. Their most logical use would be for a preemptive strike in a period of crisis when it’s been decided that a Russian attack is imminent. But who would make that decision? How would other European NATO countries be involved in such a decision, which might have serious repercussions for them as well after all?
So at the very least there should be intense public debate about the pros and cons of those missile deployments, but unlike in the 1980s this hasn’t happened at all.
Given those issues, I’d be more than happy for Poland (and ONLY Poland) to host those missiles. It might considerably increase the chances for Poland’s nuclear obliteration, and since Poland has been traditionally conceived of as the martyr of nations, that would be a fitting conclusion to its national story.
I don’t recall anything in my initial reactions to his postings here that were in any way insulting? I recall stating that I was surprised by his militaristic depictions of his people, whereas, I thought that they were a religious and peace loving people, as evidenced by my understanding of their culture here in the Phoenix area. The Sikh religion very much reminded me of the the Persian inspired Bahai faith. I remember posting some photos of their local and lovely exotic looking temples of worship. I even remember, within the last year or so, posting a large colorful photo of a fire-breather at one of their festivals, a get together in Toronto if memory serves me correctly. He seemed to really appreciate that photo. Insulting?…..
I recently saw it mentioned that thanks to the Boris wave projections have been revised and that “white British” will become a minority in Britain already in the early 2050s (before it was projected to happen in the mid-2060s). Quite the achievement by Boris.
I feel bad for the 20-25% normal people in Poland (there are some), but it is heading that way. If this continues with the remote nutcases in Washington thinking they are not vulnerable and playing a cool game it is going to end in a nuke-exchange of some kind.
If that happens we may all be f…ed, but partial scenarios are more likely. I will leave the damage to Russia to others, they enjoy dreaming about it, right AP, Mr. Hack, Johnson, sudden death?
So what would be the targets for Russia? Not Ukraine and Baltics – too close and too many Russians live there. US is too far and it would be a full nuke exchange so none of this would matter. In a partial Russian response there are two criteria:
– military importance (bases, missiles)
– nation’s level of hostility to Russia.
Poland wins on both and the martyrdom would be assured. The runner-up is Romania (very sketchy behavior), possibly Czechia and Germany – maybe bases in the west. Among the dark horses, Sweden stands out and also the smaller vassals: (Denmark, Norway, Holland. My sense is that the Romance-speakers would not be attacked.
Let’s hope they sober up before it gets to that.
Japan didn’t have the Bomb and Ukraine soen’t either and can’t have make one without risking the Russians destroying it before it gets made. Anyway hitting Russia with a nuke would not destroy Russia but result in unlimited retaliatory devastation of a kind that would end Ukraine as a state forever more. NoUkrainian would obey an order that would result in his whole families death and his arrrest were he to survive; talk of a Ukrainian nuke for being used on Russia is merely a ploy, because no credible scenario for it being used even as a deterrent can be envisioned.
Nuclear weapons are a deterrent to nuclear war so no one is going to first use nuclear weapons against Russian forces in Ukraine. That is why the US allowed Britain and France to have nukes; it simply was not credible that Washington would get into esculating tit for tat ending in a nuclear exchange in order to save any country but America itself. That is my opinion on balance, but one thing I am quite a bit more sure of is America is not going to start a nuclear war against Russia just because it nukes the Ukrainian army; not a chance.
It is not discernable at present whether Russia can overcome Ukraine conventionally once Trump really aids Ukraine with supply US arms (that is coming). Putin is barely half way to conquering the four oblasts, and when he does Kyiv will not agree not to join Nato unless the Russian army are across the Dnieper, within striking distance of the capital, and making progress that will be a challenge to attain against the level of US support Ukraine would then be getting.
If Russia can do it it is going to require them making immense sacrifices. I think a failed crossing of the Dnieper with a lot of KIA followed by a second try aided by a tactical nuke or two is the most likely scenario for a nuclear weapon use by Russia. But if they wanted to be sneaky they could always target the core of the Ukrainian army intended as the cadre for future young recruits, currently in Kursk experiencing difficulty digging in, with a few airbursts, thereby cutting off any units surviving as still combat capable
I’m not convinced that would be much of a consideration in case of war. There are important NATO bases in Italy too. I suppose France might be safer though, because it’s got an independent nuclear deterrent.
Germany would definitely be a primary target because of its function as NATO’s central logistical hub in Europe (Rhine-Main area especially).
My stance has not changed, so here it is with new wording. I admit that my spin is a bit different when responding to JJ’s obvious propaganda.
I am against nuclear war and World War. I believe the West has voluntarily started a war in Ukraine which could easily turn into nuclear war. By easily I mean greater than 50/50 odds. Because of this risk, the Ukraine project is both the most foolish and most blood thirsty imperial project ever. Apparently most Ukrainians are unaware of what is really going on.
The West and NATO have manipulated Ukrainian public opinion and politics to make the Ukies into pawns in a proxy war against Russia. I believe the long-term goal of the Ukraine project and similar efforts in Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries on the Russian border is to weaken Russia enough that eventually a coup of some sort can be implemented in Russia to collapse it so the country is no longer a distinct sovereign state. A key aspect of this project is the willingness of oligarchs within Russia to sell out the country for gains of their own. Unfortunately for the Western schemers, Russia had maintained and upgraded nuclear deterrence capabilities since 1990 even while it was weak both economically and in conventional military terms. Because of this defense capability, the West was obligated to very slowly and thoroughly manipulate public opinion in the target countries, building on pre-existing tensions and turning them into actionable nationalism. This means public sentiment in the target country reaches a point where a lot of people are willing to die or at least send their neighbors to die. This vicious process has been executed many places throughout history and is not controversial. It is simply obvious in Ukraine. One interesting aspect is the process was completely visible and Russia was too weak to do much about it from 1991 to 2014. Surely this delay emboldened the Ukies and their Western puppet masters.
I believe that in 2014 Russia was too weak to respond directly with anything other than nuclear weapons. However, they were cleverly able to repatriate Crimea which may have avoided nuclear war. Clearly at that point Russia was not capable economically or in terms of conventional military force to drive NATO proxy forces out of Ukraine. I believe the Russian move into Syria in 2015 was pivotal both internally and externally in terms of putting Russia on a stronger war footing over the next six years. By 2022 NATO realized their window of opportunity to militarily dominate Russia in Ukraine and crush Moscow economically was closing. Either side might have begun serious military operations first, but Russia apparently followed the maxim: if a fight is inevitable, strike first. This led to the early moves of the SMO including the feint on Kiev.
At this point in late 2024, Russia may continue to grind through the entirety of Ukraine to accomplish her stated military objectives over the next several years. This seems the most likely outcome unless: 1) Russia is tiring economically, 2) The West escalates and raises the risk of nuclear conflict and thus increases the Russian military pace to reach a favorable conclusion, 3) Putin decides to wrap things up with some serious concessions to Ukraine’s masters, 4) China makes a back room deal with the West which forces Russia to resolve the current phase of the conflict.
To go back to etymology:
I have recently mentioned the strange connection between the Germanic (English) “muck” (meaning something like dirt or mud) and the Irish “mucc” (pig.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moccus
One could almost suppose the proto-Germanics weren’t as fond of pigs.
I think it is interesting how we don’t see this transformation with cows.
The word ox is Germanic. I assume it is related to the modern Irish “os” (which I am not exactly sure means ox, but at least means some kind of cow.)
I haven’t watched the show. The image at 1:22 is blood curdling if you appreciate what they are looking at.
Russia is going slow in Kursk, same as they are doing in Ukraine. This gradual and methodical approach seems to make sense for a number of reasons.
Well that is your own theory. The ISW has the better track record and they believe that Russia is going slow due to strong resistance from Ukraine and poor tactical strategy by Russian commanders. The Russians don’t know how to deal with the drones and use meat wave attacks as the only option that they can conceptualize.
USA-approved drone attacks on Engels Air Base are still on the short list of most stupid US moves ever. I hope we live long enough to see the execution of the criminal morons behind this policy.
It’s just another drone attack. They happen near daily. Not sure why you would focus on the effectiveness of one versus another. Some targets will be ideal, others not.
The US doesn’t have to approve such attacks and in fact the US request for Ukraine to not target refineries was ignored. Those are Ukrainian designed drones.
The survivors will most likely go back to Pyongyang to pass on lessons learned and improve readiness of the military.
I doubt most will go back. Their lives were most likely purchased.
There is also no such thing as a 1 year tour of duty for anyone in the assault teams.
You are still working on the assumption that we haven’t heard from the Koreans. That is not the case. Both you and Larry C Bootlicker need to work on deriving information from a variety of sources.
At the moment it looks like Russia can produce 1000 glide bombs and maybe 200 long range missiles per week. Presumably the production rates are gradually increasing. Russia is reportedly taking out 2000 AFU soldiers per day.
If this trend continues for the next year, the implication is another 700,000 Ukrainian casualties and the physical destruction from 10,000 large missiles and 50,000 even larger bombs. The missile strikes are likely focussed on air defense sites, command and control nodes and key logistics points. Defeating these targets allows the glide bomb strikes to progress across Ukraine taking out militarily relevant infrastructure. In a year, the AFU will have no longer have the ability to fight East of the Dnepr.
Keep in mind that this approach still minimizes civilian casualties in Ukraine by avoiding carpet bombing and hand-to-hand fighting in the largest cities.
As it might make both Germany and Poland happy (in spite of different reasoning/motivations) then it sounds as near perfect potential deal;)
Your true and illuminating comment exposes QCIC’s vey untenable positions regarding the Russo/Ukrainian war. I don’t know what really motivates this guy?
Putin defenders have no choice but to stand on untenable positions. Their hero in the Kremlin is inconsistent and forgets his own decrees and statements. He can’t even keep a semi-consistent narrative for the war.
Most Putin defenders are centered around 3 motivations:
1. Hatred of Jews
2. Spite for the West
3. Russian Imperialism
Here at Unz the most common reason is #1 but also the most ridiculous. Putin is fighting the Jews….while praising Jews….and has close ties to Israel. It gets even stranger when White nationalists adopt this position. Putin claims to be hunting Neo-Nazis in Ukraine….with the help of Jews in his government…..while trading with Israel…….and Orthodox Slavs die…..well take that Jews! Some fascinating logic at work. This motivation has a tell-tale sign in bloggers like Larry and Macgregor. Though they don’t speak openly about the Jews they will spend an inordinate amount of time talking about Zelensky and not the people of Ukraine. There is an understated belief that it’s a Jew that is responsible for prolonging the war when polls show that Ukrainians simply do not want to join Russia. Both MacGregor and Anglin avoided talking about Prigozhin even though he was in charge of the main front. They wanted to pretend that he didn’t exist until he was all over the headlines. It’s really quite childish and also mentally unhealthy to maintain such contradictions. Anglin would go on rants about Jews in US government and then completely avoid Prigozhin. I still haven’t seen any of these bloggers mention Putin’s Jewish propagandist.
Position #2 is really just based in plain old spite. It’s similar to Blacks hating the police so much to where they celebrate a murderer for bucking the system. Putin draws defenders that are so resentful of the status quo that they’ll take a mass murderer……..who won’t be changing the Western status quo.
Position #3 is actually pretty rare and though immoral it is at least explainable. These defenders want Russia to expand as far as possible even if it means burying Orthodox men and replacing them with Muslims. I honestly have less of a problem with this position when it is honest. I obviously don’t support Russian Imperialism but as a political position it is tune with reality and doesn’t require crazy attempts at rationalizing Putin’s actions or trying to depict him as a victim. The Imperialists don’t have to defend arguments like “missiles on the border” or “mass shelling” that they read on pro-Russian blogs and just assumed were true. We have seen Putin defenders get very frustrated when asked to source such claims. Well the Imperialists don’t have to bother as they aren’t looking for an excuse.
He would like his audience here to believe that most Ukrainians, deep in their hearts, really do want their country to become a Russian satellite country again
I’ve noticed that around 95% of Putin defenders do not like talking about this simple fact. It’s a very uncomfortable subject for them. They want to believe that the Ukrainians have been tricked by Jews or the West into believing that they aren’t Russian. I have more respect for honest Russian Imperialists that know the Ukrainians will have to be subjugated by force into an empire that they despise.
My theories are intended to break through the propaganda bubble made by the mainstream media and supported by other turkeys. When the claims don’t make sense and contradict known facts about Russia then other theories are warranted. No doubt there are still lots of mysteries about the conflict which seem to be the bread and butter of your propaganda.
I don’t know what you mean about North Korean troops, nothing would surprise me. I think the net result is they incrementally expand Russian military power and will improve her defense on the Korean flank. This mingling process between the Russian and DPRK military will probably be very gradual unless Russia expects the West to call Kim Jong Un’s hand and restart the Korean war. Best Korea has done lots of work modernizing the old Soviet tanks, so who knows, maybe we will see some variants in Ukraine optimized to prevail against drone warfare?
Engels is a strategic nuclear airbase and is therefore a higher class of target. I don’t believe the memes of “Ukraine defying US orders” or “Ukrainian drones.” I do believe that Russia continually attacking and destroying surface to air missile sites across Ukraine for almost three years suggests that NATO has diverted a huge number of missile defense systems to Ukraine, far in excess of what is publicly discussed. Many of these were probably former Soviet systems scoured from around the world but many are modern Western equipment. This is just a guess, but I don’t think the numbers add up without this assumption.
Smarter breeds have smaller brains. Not surprising as a lot of dog intelligence seems to involve attention span.
https://www.livescience.com/animals/dogs/smarter-dogs-have-smaller-brains-surprising-study-reveals
That’s like saying US involvement in WWI will incrementally expand France/Britain military power and will improve their defense on the Indochina/Singapore/Hong Kong flank when in fact their inability alone to deal with Germany signaled nothing but begining of the end as truly independent sovereign powers even if it was not that crystal clear seen outcome for everybody in 1918/1919 timeframe.
The same fate awaits RF which out of mindless predatory instincts by Kremlin degraded to the point of having the need to become importer of mundane artillery/troops from NK in order to be able to keep fighting in UA and Kursk out of all possible places;)
ofc such historical paralels are unfavourable to modern UA, but should be noted Germany still remained more or less but intact functioning country after WWI even when losing lots of land, people and money.
A demilitarized one with a 100 000 man army, banned from developing certain types of weapons. So in that respect the analogy is fitting, since it’s one of Russia’s goals to impose something similar on Ukraine (and by now it’s most likely Russia will succeed in that goal).
The BBC reports that Bruno Mars Rose APC has conquered all of the Korean mindshare.
I did get halfway through it.
My theories are intended to break through the propaganda bubble made by the mainstream media and supported by other turkeys.
Well you don’t seem to quote the MSM much so I don’t see what you are breaking.
I rarely watch the MSM for anything more than the weather. I watched them a bit for the election but mostly used the internet.
You’ll have to quote them to show us that you are responding to them.
No doubt there are still lots of mysteries about the conflict which seem to be the bread and butter of your propaganda.
I don’t know what you mean by your statement. I got the NK troops correct while Larry and Ritter did not. I also did not believe that Russia would take Kharkiv by the end of summer and that Ukraine would be immediately removed from Kursk. Both Larry and Ritter went on rants about how Russia was about to smash the Kursk salient. Still hasn’t happened. I do not claim to be some oracle. However unlike Larry and Ritter I try gain information from a variety of sources and do not sell clickbait for Putin fans.
You talk of propaganda and yet I was consistently better than the alt-right favorites since the Kursk occupation. Talk all you want but the record is there. Larry and his stooge interviewer will probably scrub some of those videos. These pro-Putin bloggers have some huge holes at the start of the war. Funny that.
I don’t believe the memes of “Ukraine defying US orders” or “Ukrainian drones.”
It’s not a meme.
The US government asked Ukraine to stop attacking oil refineries. Biden didn’t want them running up the price of oil before the election. That request was ignored.
You obviously stayed in your alt-right bubble on that one.
The Verge is trying to climb aboard the MAGA bandwagon.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289649/big-tech-leaders-donald-trump-presidential-election
The new Intelligence Cabinet Secretary should hire Kamala Harris to run the honey pot division.
I see the Ukraine mess as a direct continuation of the Cold War. While this dangerous era supposedly ended, the distinctive feature of nuclear weapons (and bioweapons) never went away. After the fall of the Soviet Union the West decided to pursue the weakened state of Russia to fully subdue it. This is standard imperial practice and every aspect of this is easily recognizable in the Ukraine project with a little knowledge of history or even just common sense and awareness of human competitive behavior. The problem is that we are still in the era of nuclear weapons, so many of the assumptions about how the West could pursue a proxy war against Russia were not correct. In other words, the West is trying to fight a proxy war from the pre-nuclear era. As a child of the Cold War I view the Russian position on her security as completely natural and similar to what the USA would have in the same position. The Russian buffer zone was a tacitly accepted compromise agreed upon by nuclear powers in order to avoid nuclear catastrophe. The Neocons simply wanted to ignore this (“we make our own reality”) and a lot of people have died and the risk of nuclear war is now the highest ever. Worse yet, most people are too uninformed to be concerned or even notice this huge danger.
When I refer to Putin it is usually in the sense of any major leader as merely the public face of a group of powerful people who define policy. Typically this person is trying to control and coexist with these centers of power. Putin seems to be more effective at this control than most.
For specific opinions related to VVP, I have these:
1. He is ex-KGB so I do not trust him.
2. He is the most skilled extemporaneous political speaker I have ever seen.
3. He seems to have been successful holding Russia together after the fall of the USSR when it was faced with many challenges and intentional efforts to break it up.
4. He obviously strongly supports Jewish people and has deep ties to Jewish power around the world.
5. His view of modern Russia is “RusFed” as Ivashka explained and not Russian nationalism at all. This is apparent in many aspects of the Ukraine mess.
6. He has short stature but seems to have worked around it.
Back to Ukraine and their nationalism. What they wanted post 2000 could only be achieved by working with Russia and remaining neutral. Western promotion of Bandera-esque radical nationalists made this impossible. In the long run, moderate Ukrainian nationalists such as Hack and AP may get what they want, but this will not make up for the millions of lives destroyed by the murderous foolishness they wholeheartedly supported.
I am pro-freedom and love America because it was once humanity’s beacon for individual freedom and can be again in the future. I am not alt-right and do not watch Ritter or Macgregor or the MSM any more than I have to.
Much of what you write at Unz seems to support the mainstream narrative of “Ukraine good, Russia bad” with your own cynical spin of the city boy turned wise country person (prepper).
I don’t believe you are as gullible as many of your responses suggest. This indicates you are dishonest and not misinformed, but maybe it is a fine line sometimes.
Overall, my views on the Ukraine conflict are simple. I am against nuclear war and I believe the West intentionally started the Ukraine project using the gullible Ukies as pawns. This was a continuation of a larger aggressive Western effort against Russia which included expansion of NATO and dismantling the civilizationally important nuclear weapons arms control framework. Russia’s attitude toward the Ukraine project cannot be understood without keeping these critical precursors in mind.
On more rational days I agree with you: it’s is highly unlikely anyone would use nukes. But there is a little doubt: the situation is extremely polarized, leaders are low quality by historical standards, it has very high visibility – and the single biggest concern for the Western-leaders seems to be not to lose face. Could be a fatal combination…
It’s a slow-moving attrition war that will be won when one of the sides can no longer effectively fight. From the very beginning the odds were it will be the Ukies. How long can they last? So the river crossings or Norks in the woods are of less importance – at some point the Ukie army will cease to be viable. Of course NATO wants to stretch it out so they don’t have to admit to a defeat, or because they hope that somehow Russia will collapse or lose the will to fight. But that doesn’t change the reality on the ground.
I am sure they could find somebody to obey…if not, here are always Colombian mercenaries. But it won’t come to that: Russia has the means to preventively destroy Ukraine if their planned nukes would become a threat.
Kiev threatening Russia with nukes is very desperate – it has no real functional impact and it gives Russia a free hand to do anything they want with the Ukies. Another stupid move by Kiev…
Russia is reviving the old Soviet ties to North Korea. This is completely natural since the West was unable to peacefully coexist with Russia. North Korea is not so important to Russia in the short run unless the West decides to attack North Korea as a military distraction for Russia. North Korea does not have much that Russia needs, so trade in military support and troops seems inevitable, blood for food if you are a cynic. This interaction obviously makes North Korea stronger as well so they will do whatever is asked. In the long run this may be a good step for everyone.
If the standard of living increases in the North it will become easier to reunite the North and South in some way. This will be a slippery slope for Juche in the North, so I predict ten years of gradual catchup by North Korea, but then something has to change before control is lost. At that point, South Korea can kick out the West and the two Korean states can loosely join together. The Kim family will still control the North, much as the royal family apparently still controls the UK from behind the scenes.
Hopefully it will not pass. Even if it does, it will placed on hold pending inevitable rounds of court proceedings. AfD and BSW will earn large numbers of seats. The main obstacle to economic recovery is the Green party, and they will also have significant representation.
Will SPD salvage enough representation to allow for a CDU+SPD coalition? If not, that makes the most “policy” viable combo CDU+SPD+BSW. However, that assumes SPD is willing to participate in such a composite. They probably believe that their best move is spending time in opposition. They can clean house and solidify messaging.
There are credible scenarios where forming a majority coalition is impossible. That leads to unknowns, as Germany has not experienced that particular problem under its current governing documents & rules.
PEACE 😇
Even if Ukraine managed to have a working deliverable nuke, Russia as the possessor of overwhelming nuclear superiority would be free to buff or not. They could also just attack Ukraine nuclear faculties’ at the first hint of Ukraine working on such a weapon
Or, in view of the tens (possibly a hundred) of thousands of KIA so far and with the prospect of at least the same again, then having to use nukes tactically anyway in the endgame the Kremlin might decide to not wait till 2026 for theatre thermonuclear hijinx, and jump the gun with a cheeky little battlefield nuking of the Ukrainian army concentrations in Kursk right now. Russia nuking Russian territory would have huge political advantages inasmuch as it would play much better internationally. In forested areas the somewhat debilitated survivors and all their equipment would be totally trapped by all the fallen trees.
I am pro-freedom and love America because it was once humanity’s beacon for individual freedom and can be again in the future.
So you would be thrilled if Putin was deposed and Russia returned to its 1991 borders and allowed free speech?
Much of what you write at Unz seems to support the mainstream narrative of “Ukraine good, Russia bad” with your own cynical spin of the city boy turned wise country person (prepper).
That’s an interesting theory of a city boy turned prepper but I didn’t grow up in the city.
Most White men in the city are there for work. That is why you see long lines of cars leaving the city every day. They go into the city for work and then leave. Most of those men could afford to live in the city if they so desired. They are going back to homes in the burbs that cost just as much as a condo. It’s White women that think it is neat to live in a room with a cat for their 20s. Most White men hate the city. I in fact suspect most American White men have genes for the outdoors and the city is against their nature. In Chicago it has become the norm for White police and first responders to work a 4-20 and get a hotel. Then they drive 2-3 hours back to their home. They actually make enough money to where the wife can stay home.
Overall, my views on the Ukraine conflict are simple. I am against nuclear war and I believe the West intentionally started the Ukraine project using the gullible Ukies as pawns.
So your position is that Ukraine would ideally exist as a state but without Western interference? 1994 borders then?
In other German (ethnic) news, they didn’t emplace the statue of Sobieski that was supposed to be erected in Vienna.
Well, yes, but we’re talking about A123 here. Who knows what he really believes in? He’s too bizarre to represent any larger group. As long as Trump appoints radical pro-Israel activists to his cabinet, he’s fine with any shortcoming they may have. There is a reason why he objects to Tulsi and Tucker. And of course, what does he care about the US having caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths in its war of choice in Iraq? The more the merrier, same as in Gaza. Come to think of it, a pro-Israel, pro-Russia guy with British mannerisms and strong anti-Muslim sentiments… he may be some sort of Hindu.
Btw, none other than Bolton has joined A123 in praising Waltz LOL. He says that he’s known him for years and will be an excellent NSA.
In fact, I wouldn’t have objected to Waltz too much if he was just one of a couple of hardliners to be hired and Rubio wasn’t in the group. If Trump follows through with his plan to bring Russia to negotiate, he does need some leverage and some “bad cops” in his team. The idea was not to let Putin advance as much as he wants with no consequences. But his choices fully confirm that we’re going to see a sad repetition of his first term. Rubio may have decided to pose as a loyal ally but what have these two men ever had in common? Rubio supported amnesty for illegals and is a full-fledged neocon who less than a year ago promoted an openly anti-Trump initiative with the Democrats to sabotage any anti-NATO moves by an incoming Trump presidency. Hiring him for Sec of State is retarded beyond belief. But fully Trumpian, as we saw 8 years ago. And he’s going to get nothing in return from the RINOs, as they made clear yesterday in the Senate.
Was talking to that old guy again who has the same dryer since the ’70s, and he told me another thing that absolutely floored me with shock:
He has a car from the late ’60s (don’t want to be too specific), and he told me that he just recently had the brake lines done, and it was the first time he had ever had them done.
This is even way more shocking than the dryer thing to me. I can’t fathom how it is possible in this climate, where they put salt on the roads every winter. I know people with cars like 40 years newer which have had their brake lines crumble.
The Battle of Vienna is where Neal Stephenson kicks off System of the World. At its peaks this trilogy is climax of all art of the 21st century so far. With a book you can rapidly skim over the portions that suck. : )
My theory is he is a worker in one of those mega churches where the minister is on his second career after his first career as a rap artist fizzled out.
I wonder if he realizes how transparent he is. He started supporting the concerted witch hunts against Trump when Haley still had chances of becoming the nominee and thus he could get a more pro-Ukraine candidate. Prosecutors and judges openly aligned with the ruling party and using legal arguments never used before to bankrupt and imprison the leading candidate of the opposition is straight out of a banana republic, or Russia itself. You don’t even see that stuff in Latin America much these days. But hey, if that’s what it takes to get a pro-Ukie president, what does he care?
Somehow, he has also managed to convince himself that saying that it’s me who supports the erosion of the American institutions because I lived in Latin America is a good defense strategy LOL, as if it wasn’t clear who wants to latinize the US, both politically and demographically. I guess I should apply Napoleon’s maxim and not interfere with your opponent when he’s making a mistake but it’s actually sad to see a religious conservative who once voted for Trump turned into a Kamala-voting defender of open borders and the deep state. I’m sure there was a better way of defending Ukraine’s interests. For example, leave the presidential choice blank and vote for interventionist Republicans for Congress (the opposite of what I did but a much more defensible position).
Was supposed to read Zodiac for a certain class, but never got more than like five pages into it because I disliked the swear-filled dialogue and also because I hate the idea of being assigned reading.
That is the most I have read of him. But I still remember the twist at the end, as someone else described it to me.
I’m not sure why you guys find him to be such an oddity. Maybe at Unz but he is the norm elsewhere.
America is filled with Christian conservative White men that view the world as one giant US (Israel, America, Trump, capitalism, apple pie, Dallas Cowboys) vs THEM (gays, satan, the left, vegetarians, public medicine, Islam, Palestine, SF 49ers).
It doesn’t make a damn bit of sense and it is very common.
These are Breitbart type posters that have a very “spiritual” view of the world. Meaning everything is on team Satan or God. Two big giant teams of Good vs Evil. Doesn’t make a lick of sense when you ask them to break it down. Well it wasn’t built on sense in the first place.
They currently can’t agree on Putin but they definitely agree on Israel and Trump being a hand pick of God. Trump, Israel and Dallas Cowboys.
Note that A123 is rarely accused of being a Jew by actual American posters. They know his crass jingoism and oversimplification of politics. I get called a Jew for having nuanced opinions. A123 is basically every other conservative Christian dad.
I would be thrilled if America found its values and broke our habit of starting, participating and supporting wars of choice. Recently, these include the misadventures in Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan and Syria. Since I believe the West started the Ukraine war I think we should just leave and let the Slavs figure it out; ‘Mission Accomplished’ yet again! Unlike the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Russians have no interest in genociding the Ukies so there is absolutely no justification for our interference. Some new government will be formed in Kiev and life will gradually go back to normal. It will not be perfect but eventually may be better than what Ukraine had in 2014.
I have no idea what the borders of Ukraine should look like. The original 1991 borders were known to be problematic from the beginning as has been conclusively demonstrated. As long as the West aggressively postures against Russia then the buffer zone idea is what is important. This is partly emotional, but so what, people are emotional.
doge is open for business
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
I don’t find those “It doesn’t hurt to have a madman on the team” arguments convincing. These people are demented ideologues with only a tenuous connection to reality. They aren’t playing the madman like Nixon arguably did (who in reality was intelligent and pragmatic, though cynical), they really are mad and dumb, and it’s not like Trump himself could compensate for that.
And if the “leverage” consists of threatening to enable Ukraine to fire Western-supplied missiles deep into RF territory, well, that’s not a threat one could make good on without risking a direct NATO-Russia clash, as has been discussed here many times before. Other arms shipments might be less risky, but in some areas there are shortages (my understanding is a non-trivial part of the stocks for the most advanced anti-missile defense systems has already been expended against the Houthis and to protect Israel…), and in others there probably wouldn’t be an immediate effect (the US could certainly send large numbers of Abrams tanks, it has thousands of them after all, but question is what good it would do at this point).
imo the point for a negotiated settlement is probably past, and the “Korean scenario” floating around in Trump’s circles is unrealistic (and also quite undesirable from a European pov).
Did the Washington Post tell you that?
___
If you get to assign me a source.
I get to assign you a source.
You are oversimplifying. However, there are things that are 100% obviously Good vs Evil.
For example, There are only two genders! Affirming child mutilation is genuinely EVIL. Even among adults it is an anti-social embrace of mental illness. Society should help these individuals to protect them from self harm.
In Europe, the Great Muslim Replacement is Evil. Why should European Jews and Christians tolerate enemy Jihadists arriving in massive numbers? Palestinian Jews face a near identical Evil and are thus natural allies in common cause.
PEACE 😇
Establishment #NeverMAGA deep staters like Mikel will be weeping over this: (1)
Investigating and reining in BigPharma is the latest thing that #NeverMAGA cultists want. The confirmation battle will be intense.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/14/president-trump-announces-nomination-of-robert-f-kennedy-jr-as-hhs-secretary/
LOL, one does not have to be a Puritan to conclude that a 36 year old having a coke-fueled sex party with a 17 year old girl is wrong.
Of course, maybe you can’t tell the difference, you didn’t grow up here after all.
Point out where I have advocated for Latino immigration. I have not.
I have pointed out that Latinos are much better and far less disruptive than the immigrants that Western Europe gets (they are not too dissimilar to the southern Italian peasants we got 120 years ago) and are mostly decent people. They are after all Catholics, speak a European language, and are of partial European descent.
But I have also stated that there should be a moratorium on mass immigration from the South.
At any rate, becoming like Latin America from the top is more dangerous than having more Latin Americans at the bottom. Trumpism is degeneration from the top. Of course he gets the votes of immigrants who came from from Latin America, including our Mikel.
You have honestly confused me a bit here.
I thought “Palestinian Jews” was a term you used to advance the idea that they are native to the region? If so, what do you mean by “European Jews?”. Or can you explain the two terms, as you use them?
You like to invent my being supposedly “derogatory.”
Like when you claimed I used “crusader” in a “derogatory” way.
Trolling, or do you really have such problems with understanding what others write?
The smear campaign is going to be a doozy. Yves Smith posted yesterday: 1.) RFKJr claimed and never walked back MMR vaccine causes autism; 2.) RFKJr’s book is filled from the first chapter with bogus science and gross misrepresentations of factual science; 3.) BUT a smaller food part of the FDA would be fine for him to supervise such as promoting real food not junk food and round up.
It was one of the more astonishing things I have seen on the internet all year. Not up to the level of Ron Unz addressing Miles Mathis but for sure on that same list a little lower down.
I don’t know if she ever got to the AIDS chapters. I would have asked her about that but I was afraid she might have a stroke.
Shall we look at the context? I believe it was part of a triad:
1.) Crusader tattoos
2.) Sex-Maniac
3.) Latin American circus
To go to the blockquote:
Were you praising those three things?
I am always trolling. But frankly logical composition is a problem today.
You may be over complicating things unnecessarily. For short form discussion, you would be well served by using the simplest possible definitions for the context of resisting inherently violent Islam.
• Palestinian Jews & Christians are those in the Christian & Jewish religious homeland. These are Judeo-Christians being targeted by Jihad.
• European Jews & Christians are those in Christian & Jewish Europe. These are Judeo-Christians being targeted by Jihad.
___
Are you inquiring about the near identical Jewish & Christian claims on Europe?
Let me illustrate — The religion of Gaul, presumed to be a version of Celtic afterlife, is long extinct. There are no religious Gaulists. It is hard for theologies with a population of zero to make credible claims. Other ancient European religions are similarly defunct. With no prior religions in practice, Judaism and Christianity (despite their origins in Palestine) have a pretty solid stance on European claims. Due to the obvious population disparity, Judeo-Christian Europe is typically referred to as Christendom.
This has a direct parallel in Palestine. The religion of Baal-Hammon is extinct. If they were around, they could theoretically press a claim. However, they are long gone. The only two remaining authentic Palestinian religions are Judaism and Christianity. Due to the obvious population disparity, Judeo-Christian Palestine is typically referred to as Jewish.
PEACE 😇
I think I was the first one to point out what you say in the first sentence above. Very bad choices by Trump that will not only undermine the policies he and his most prominent supporters in this election campaigned for, they will also betray him personally like half his cabinet did in his first term. They all had the exact same ideological profile.
As for the second sentence, yes, we have discussed that here many times. But the idea now (neocon appointments with their own ideas notwithstanding) is to put an end to the war by making both enemies negotiate. Put yourself in Putin’s shoes. He is slowly advancing now and it doesn’t look like Ukraine can do anything to stop the steady attrition of its forces. Why would he accept a negotiated settlement if all he sees is doves in the US who will just cut aid to Ukraine if the negotiations fail? I’m not saying that the US should escalate this war even more if no agreement is reached but that no peace agreement is possible if all the US does now, after having saved Ukraine from defeat during the past 2.5 years, is pack and leave. Some good cop/bad cop strategy is necessary to force both parties to stop the hostilities at this stage.
Unfortunately, this is the most dangerous moment the world has lived in at least two generations and the situation requires very delicate steps. Trump was never going to get the war ended in 24 hours but appointing people who agree with him just on Israel but not on Ukraine, NATO, interventionism or anything else is amazingly self-defeating. Lavrov warned yesterday that Russia is not signing another Minsk.
Did the Washington Post tell you that?
No I sometimes read Brietbart and your posts would fit right in the comments.
A total nonsense term like “globoislamohomo” would be accepted at Brietbart and possibly even voted up.
You are oversimplifying. However, there are things that are 100% obviously Good vs Evil.
For example, There are only two genders! Affirming child mutilation is genuinely EVIL. Even among adults it is an anti-social embrace of mental illness. Society should help these individuals to protect them from self harm.
It was obviously tongue in cheek but your sports like mentality of US vs THEM is common in Christian conservative men. It’s easier for them to think about the world in terms of Good vs Evil, God vs Satan, Israel vs Islam, Diesel trucks vs Electric cars. It’s black and white thinking for White Christian men that want to box everything into two sides…..with them on the good side of course.
When they meet someone like myself that opposes sex changes for teenagers and also questions how free military aid for Israel is America First they become uncomfortable. They want to imagine all opposition their positions as held by blue haired urban socialists. It’s a desire for tribal simplicity in a complex world.
You are a bit of an oddity here and I am fine with that. But over at Brietbart you are the norm.
RFK will embarrass his naive followers if he gets challenged on his beliefs.
He could at least play the “we don’t know” game with the COVID vaccine.
But opposing the MMR vaccine is downright stupid and falls apart to critical thinking. There is just too much data to show that it saves lives. We have tons of global data on measles.
RFK probably knows he is lying and is hoping the MMR subject doesn’t come up.
He has also tried promoting the idea that HIV medication doesn’t actually work. He doesn’t have an explanation for why AIDS deaths just happened to drop off after antiretrovirals became widely available. There are also staggered roll outs. It’s just not defendable.
The guy is a crackpot and would not survive a serious grilling.
I have dealt with his followers and it is clear that they don’t know what they don’t know. These are the same anti-vaxxers that had no idea that we can actually see viruses. They seem like high school graduates from the 1970s.
RFK is a lawyer and has zero background in biology. An attention whore who was once involved with Greenpeace.
“It’s Ma’am!”
Make America Healthy Again = MAHA, but how do you pronounce it?
We could go with a boring “ma-ha” or alternatively, something like a very crisp “Mah-Hah!” along the lines of accusing someone of a crime or skipping school.
I go with Mah-Hah! As in, “Mah-Hah! You bastards put fluoride in the water!”
Don’t panic, the fluoride is just an example; YMMV.
This is pretty famous.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriori_genocide
But I wonder if anyone here is familiar with the theory that the Moriori were the original inhabitants of NZ, killed off by the Maori?
Haven’t really looked into the details. But I assume some evidence suggested this. I see on the wiki page for Moriori they say that they came from the south island and split from the Maori. But I don’t know how definitive that could be.
Most likely, I imagine they were pretty similar to start with, even if they split way before then.
I really doubt they are allowed to dig up old skeletons there, from other politics I’ve seen.
Putin, like Trump and many of his recent appointees see the post-war failure in Iraq. How would Russia assimilate Kiev or Lviv?
Russia is also in direct contact with the failed state of Lebanon due to their presence in Tartus and ties to Assad. They want a rational government in Kiev, not a failed state with a long border.
Putin is primed to be very reasonable. The two core issues are easy to understand.
-1- A new border informed by current lines. This also gives him considerable gains with ZNPP and Dnieper access.
-2- Limits on future Ukrainian offensive potential so there is no Round 2. No nukes. No NATO ever. No foreign troops/bases. And, a cap on Kiev’s native military build.
Führer Zelensky, puppet of European elites, will not go along with these reasonable demands. Thus, Trump will have to cutoff support for the European folly that started with Angela Merkel spiking the Minsk deal.
Trump has been picking based on loyalty. And, to the extent those positions interact with foreign policy, their ability to follow orders on the Big 3 issues — Ukraine, China, Iran. Former NeoCons who have spent over a decade moving away from mistaken endorsements of McCain in 2008 are fully on board with the cohesive team.
Führer Zelensky must know he cannot win an election unless it is rigged “2020 Style”. And, it seems unlikely the can pull that off. He is also aware of the fates of Saddam and Qaddafi. If he wants to survive, he will travel to Europe for diplomatic reasons and then refuse to go back. New Kiev leadership could then make the minimum necessary concessions for a practical deal.
PEACE 😇
Do you have a link to her comments? Are you agreeing with her?
Speaking of Miles, I wonder if he and Ron ever had lunch or did their people (AKA CIA handlers) nix the idea of a meet? 😉
Humourless #NeverMAGA cultists will panic over this… Everyone else will get a good laugh.
PEACE 😇
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/11/links-11-13-2024.html#comment-4131772
Thread begins there.
I don’t agree with anybody. I assign probabilities. In her case I factor in she was a finance major (very very bright) and educated herself on these issues mostly sifting through the internet which is 99.9% garbage. Her debating RFKJr would be a duel in the land of the blind.
P(RFKJ getting through the Senate Confirmation) way under .5.
P(Miles CIA) > P(Unz CIA).
The IM Doc component of that thread is one I pay attention to. His trajectory through the corona experience was riveting.
I understand that in the new Gladiator movie, Denzel has some sort of gay scene that was filmed but cut.
I wonder what the evolution of that was.
Possibly true, although one shouldn’t forget John Adams’s warning of who the US Constitution was only adequate for. The US will become a totally different place both if it rots from the head or if its demographic composition changes dramatically, as your preferred candidate wanted to do.
Besides, the rise of right-wing populism is not what is threatening American institutions right now. Let’s review some well-known facts:
– Alvin Bragg and Leititia James are Democrat prosecutors who came to office with the promise to persecute their most hated political figure.
– Judges Engoron and Merchan are also Democrats who didn’t recuse themselves in the trials started by their two coreligionists above in spite of their glaring conflicts of interest.
– These two trials could only be constructed using novel legal arguments never used before and still Trump was found guilty and received a historically unprecedented fine for actions where no victims were found.
– The Democrat DOJ participated in these witch hunts, as it had previously participated in prosecuting supporters of the same rival politician.
– The FBI spied on the Trump campaign using false information and led Congress and the whole country to believe in a non-existent Russian collusion.
– The FBI colluded with Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech companies to censor legitimate opinions and bury truthful news.
– In its constant harassment against half of the country the FBI went as far as killing a disabled 70-year old in Utah for posting some anti-Biden idiocy on Facebook. They could have perfectly overpowered and arrested the man while he was limping on his way to church like he did every Sunday. I could have probably done that myself if they had asked me to but they showed up unannounced in his home at dawn and killed him like a rabid dog. Never in a million years would they have done that to a Black guy posting anti-Trump crap on FB.
How are all of these actions not the hallmarks of a police state? When has a Democrat or Republican administration persecuted its main political opponent like that?
Someone who supports these activities has no business talking about how the US is “becoming like Latin America from the top”. Even if Trump’s 2nd term becomes another disappointment, the American people saw these events for what they were and gave you the defeat that you deserved. You wouldn’t be seething now at Tulsi and Gaetz’s appointments if all these banana-republic actions had not taken place with your approval.
Southern Italians that were only assimilated after the 1924 Immigration Act restricted immigration for two generations. How is the US going to assimilate tens of millions coming from the Third World if it didn’t even manage to assimilate someone born in the US in the Civil Rights era like you and is not even trying to assimilate residents anymore? One third of Californians are unable to read medical instructions in English.
Dead Calm at the Tiller.
Sure, just cutting aid to Ukraine would be irresponsible, and maybe one could even make a plausible threat to increase it quantitatively and do so to keep up pressure in negotations. But there are certain qualitative leaps towards direct participation of Western countries in the war that one simply must not take, under no conditions whatsoever. Threatening to escalate to such levels in order to force Russia into accepting a settlement will either lead to Putin successfully calling one’s bluff (making the humiliation for the US and NATO even worse) or, if one makes good on those threats, has a good chance of leading to a catastrophic NATO-Russia war.
Of course without such escalation time is essentially in Russia’s favour. Imo Russia will eventually win on the battlefield and be able to impose terms on Ukraine. But there is no easy way (or quite possibly none at all) to prevent that now, unless one is prepared to either make an acceptable offer (which goes well beyond what Trump’s administration has indicated so far) or risk a nuclear war.
That’s why the “Korean scenario” is unrealistic. One should try to prevent further territorial losses for Ukraine, but something like “No NATO membership for 20 years” just won’t cut it, NATO membership has to be permanently excluded (which might not exclude establishing some other kind of security guarantee, maybe involving third parties). Of course that would be quite the humiliation for the West after all those statements to the contrary, but it’s inevitable now, unless the priority is saving face at any cost.
Whatever the original objective was, how is Kiev going to retreat from Kursk without having the Russians follow them to Sumy and advancing towards Kiev again? A very daring operation that can cost the Ukrainians a lot for no discernible gain, as it didn’t seem to do anything to stop the Russian advances in the South.
I agree with everything you say here but perhaps some “Korean scenario” could have been possible with better staff picks by Trump. In the foreign policy team he has chosen it’s all sticks and no carrots. The Russians must be counting on a repeat of his 1st term and no changes in policy for the better (as they warned would happen before the elections).
I don’t think so, Putin won’t accept anything but a definite resolution, which is exactly what a “Korean scenario” seeks to avoid, in order to minimize the loss of prestige for the West. And frankly, a “Korean scenario” would be very bad from a European pov too. iirc you can read German, here’s a good piece making the argument why it’s not desirable:
https://www.ipg-journal.de/rubriken/aussen-und-sicherheitspolitik/artikel/stirb-an-einem-anderen-tag-7861/
That is, because it wouldn’t create a stable order, but rather a vastly more dangerous situation than during the Cold War and put immense strain on European societies. If Trump’s team can’t come up with anything better than “Europeans should patrol a DMZ, we’re not going to pay for it, take that, Europoors, lol”, that’s not very impressive.
Whatever the original objective was, how is Kiev going to retreat from Kursk without having the Russians follow them to Sumy and advancing towards Kiev again? A very daring operation that can cost the Ukrainians a lot for no discernible gain
Russian POWs are claiming that Russians are suffering high losses.
It’s most likely a trap that they will eventually have to abandon. It is in fact a known military strategy and not something off the wall. You try to lure in the enemy where they feel pressured to push forward. Get behind their lines and basically kick the hornet’s nest.
I’m honestly surprised they have held it this long. It really shows that Russia is not operating at full scale and has poor military leadership.
It’s too early at this point to say if it was worth the effort. We really don’t know the casualties on either side.
I don’t think so, Putin won’t accept anything
Why are you so certain of what Putin will or won’t accept?
Every single pro-Putin self-described military expert has been wrong about Putin. They all have given us some rant about how HE BE SERIOUS NOW AND AINT NEGOTIATING and then he later offered to negotiate.
Thanks. IM Doc seems reasonable.
I also go on probabilities for many popular and sometimes important topics where the facts are often unknowable.
I give
P(Miles CIA) ~ P(Unz CIA) ~ 0
On the other hand,
P(Alex Jones is in cahoots with someone) > 0.75.
I think the confirmation process for Trump’s cabinet nominees will be a wild horse trade and difficult to predict. If not that is telling in itself. I wonder which ones are ringers which make Team Trump political points by their selection but are intended to be traded away to get others approved?
I never seriously delved into the MMR discussion. My impression is the correlation between the increased vaccine schedule (including MMR but many additional newer shots) is highly suggestive and has not been adequately explained or refuted, especially when adverse events are correlated with the time of vaccination. Maybe not.
The picture didn’t show on my machine. What about this one?
It’s a quicksand tarpit. The people making money on vaccines can swamp anybody with research reports. If you personally know anybody you care about who has been injured by a vaccine you can recognize these swamp creatures. Nobody has ever invented a due process for this.
I have a friend working for a Bill Gates vaccine outfit. We don’t talk about it. One thing that I don’t see many people noticing is RFKJ cannot be listened to. His repulsive voice is from a vaccine injury. The universe is speaking to us loud and clear. And Ron Unz seems deaf to the OBVIOUS fact.
Yours is good. Suddendeath’s is better. It’s the one on the left.
reddit.com
/r/DutchFemaleCelebs/comments/13djwbp/eva_vlaardingenbroek_3x/When did Russia offer to negotiate without preconditions? Since April 2022 they have said they are “open to negotiation” if their conditions are met. The conditions are: no NATO and Kiev gives up land. Before negotiations.
You don’t read the Russian statements or are you lying for your cause?
Well, at least it is more fun…the serious people will be apoplectic, the ‘horror!’…the appointments are mostly symbolic, RFK, Tulsi, Goetz…will be blocked or emasculated. The entertainment is worth it.
Vaccines can be positive in measured doses after a thorough research and giving people a choice. The C19 concoction was none of those, it was not even a vaccine – I am not sure what it was. The best we can hope for the millions of lemmings who lined up to take it (some 4 or 5 times!) is that it was basically a placebo. Bill Gates should be vaccinated daily until his eyes are popping out, he would be a perfect test subject…
“But seeing demographic changes, even in the countryside, would be extremely disturbing. “
Lots of Brits in counties Cork and Kerry, living in the countryside. But both Cork and especially Dublin have their share of “New Irish” – Africans, Eastern Europeans, various Arab/Pakistanis.
MAGA cutting support for Kiev aggression was campaigned on by many GOP candidates, not just Trump. The only open question is, “How much”? Will it be 75%? 90%? 100%? Long before Trump picked a single staff member, de-escalation was locked in.
You are correct — Time is on Putin’s Side.
It is no secret that “public statements” are not “final positions” in negotiations. It is not uncommon for items to be put in with the foreknowledge that they will be conceded later. No one should run around in histrionic fear over an EU armed DMZ that will not happen.
In private & secret negotiations, the U.S. is already locked into anti-war, MAGA de-escalation. That suggests that the actual offer will be will be largely acceptable to Russia. For example:
___
A new border informed by current lines. This also gives Russia considerable gains with ZNPP and Dnieper access. The Kremlin could sell this as a victory at home. Parts of 4 oblasts is actually better than all of 2.
Limits on future Ukrainian offensive potential so there is no Round 2. No nukes. No NATO ever. No foreign troops/bases. And, a cap on Kiev’s native military build.
A DMZ that applies to both sides would be useful, but it does not have to be the salted earth Korea model. Keeping 18-25 year olds with rifles and grudges away from each other avoids mistakes that could easily grow. Larger units like artillery will be kept further back so they are not prepositioned “in range” of potential targets.
Civilians could still live and work in this type of softer DMZ. It would be likely less than popular though. Professions working the land would stay. Also, inevitably older folks on family plots. Where the border is the Dniper, deconfliction would be required so both sides can put civilian boats in the water. None of this is new or ground breaking on the global scene.
____
The most likely scenario will be a Zelensky walkout or other intransigence where the Kiev regime is correctly blamed for not credibly negotiating in good faith. Both Trump and Putin agree to better relations. America gains in terms of national honour and prestige by disengaging from this mess.
The next question becomes, “What will Europe do”? Starmer says that the UK will stay in. Germany and France have gigantic budget problems. While they may want to come up with an additional €5+ billion/month, it is not clear that they can.
Fundamentally, there is no path to a Ukrainian win. They are losing ground on every front. At some point Kiev will accept that they must make a deal to survive. IMHO Zelensky is not capable of this and will either leave or be removed from office before a bilateral Russia/Ukraine peace treaty is reached.
PEACE 😇
Korea is a source of instability and after 70 years it hasn’t gotten any better, probably worse. Proposing a “Korean scenario” is irresponsible and it doesn’t help any side – all it would do is help the Washington neo-cons temporarily save face.
The only stable state is a victory by one side or another and rearranging the whole region to suit the winner. The original NATO plan was for the loser Russia in a tight box with NATO bases on all sides, economy destroyed and waiting for the next ‘color revolution’ in Moscow. That is not going to happen now.
It leaves two clean options: Ukraine wises up, becomes neutral and offers friendship to both Russia and EU (US is out in this scenario), elite turnover in Kiev, expression of regrets by both sides, maybe EU partnership. NATO would be the big loser and Russia may not be willing to risk anything in Kiev – the Ukies have been weirdly treacherous burning their bridges. So this one may not be possible…
Or Russia pushes on and eventually wins without any need to offer a deal. The face-saving in the West will be that it took ‘too long’ and cost ‘too much’…as if that mattered. So they will throw in Finland! to pretend that it is a draw…these are severely self-brainwashed people, the reality scares them.
Russia is certainly capable of further expansion in Donbas and in the South but eventually it would reach large cities such as Zaporizhia and Kharkiv. How would it take such huge fortified cities? It would be unable to do so.
Russia demands that Ukraine open itself up to easy conquest (demilitarization) in 10 years or whenever Russia rebuilds its military. The Ukrainian people and no Ukrainian government would accept that. And yet Russia would not be able to conquer Ukraine and thereby impose those conditions.
Even the original Finlandization ended with Finland’s entrance into the EU and NATO.
There is no way of guaranteeing that Ukraine will never join NATO or some other alliance, other than conquest and occupation of Ukraine as was done in Central Europe and East Germany after World War II. Any democratic Ukrainian government would move westward, and only Russian tanks would prevent the westward oriented Ukrainian government from coming to power. Especially now when Ukraine no longer has its most pro-Russian parts, in Crimea and Donbas. So this would mean a large and permanent Russian garrison keeping the puppet regime in power, or outright annexation.
Is Putin’s Russia capable of that? Highly doubtful. Highly doubtful that it could capture all of Ukraine in the first place.
An official 20 year moratorium is at least honest and realistic.
So the eventual most likely result will be Russia coming to terms with Ukraine eventually joining NATO (or some face-saving solution like a formal British or American deal with real teeth, or Ukraine having a devastating deterrent of its own) and Ukraine coming to terms with losing territory in the East and Crimea.
As a conciliatory gesture, Kamala could be brought in under the Trump administration to warn about the dangers of STDs and generally of being a harlot.
Additionally, Trump could offer to expand research tracking down the gay germ and trying to cure these weirdos like “admiral” Levine and that nuclear-waste luggage-stealer.
You’re pinning all of your hopes on the same old worn out song. The only places that Zelensky is going to go is to the West to continues garnering support and weaponry. Otherise he shows up close to the front to confer medals on the brave Ukrainian soldiers that are defending their homeland from the unwanted and despised aggressors. He’s quite a cheerleader:
From the beginning of the war, Zelensky has stated that he’s staying put. BTW, when do you predict that he’ll be leaving Ukraine?
Seems like they are in every county village now.
EU was never an issue – why do you constantly lie about it? it is EU that is not eager to accept Kiev. It took Finland 75 years to officially join NATO.
Conquest? What? Are you now officially siding with Nazi Germany? Good, you show your true colors…How about calling it a liberation from Nazism? That doesn’t ring a bell? US-UK were on Russia’s side, did you forget?
Eventually? In 75 years? There are no “real teeth” or “devastating deterrent (nukes)” possible – it is NATO or bust. Out of curiosity, since nobody trusts anybody anymore – thanks to the NATO’s previous expansion lies and Minsk betrayal – how can you have a deal? Who would enforce it? Who would believe it?
How did they determine that a cat’s terminal velocity is about 60 mph? Computer modeling?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_righting_reflex
A cat once fell 32 stories and survived.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17492802
When did Russia offer to negotiate without preconditions?
Well of course Putin has preconditions. That is often part of negotiating.
But that doesn’t change the fact that Ritter and Larry were both wrong. They depicted Putin as irreconcilably angry and would be marching to Kiev. They both said that Ukraine lost their chance to negotiate and now it will all go to Russia.
Putin offered again to negotiate after their rants.
Maybe actually watch them before commenting.
They have actually done this multiple times. The most recent was with Kursk. They both did their black girlfriend rants. OH HE AINT PLAYIN NOW, YOU DUN MADE HIM MAD HE GOIN TO KIEV. I WARNED Y’ALL.
Motorcat made history in 1969:
I think the confirmation process for Trump’s cabinet nominees will be a wild horse trade and difficult to predict. If not that is telling in itself. I wonder which ones are ringers which make Team Trump political points by their selection but are intended to be traded away to get others approved?
Gaetz for AG seems like trolling until you learn that it’s a possible path for him to get out of his underage sex case.
Trump does seem to payback his loyal followers. It’s most likely a trade. The Senate rejects Gaetz in exchange for dropping the investigation into him having sex with a 17 year old.
Gaetz is kind of an idiot. He actually showed off pictures of her.
I never seriously delved into the MMR discussion. My impression is the correlation between the increased vaccine schedule (including MMR but many additional newer shots) is highly suggestive and has not been adequately explained or refuted, especially when adverse events are correlated with the time of vaccination. Maybe not.
If anti-vaxxers like RFK had a clue then they would avoid MMR.
They run into huge problems with staggered rollouts. As with liberals they seem to forget that the US is not the only country in the world. So they end up having to explain why country A had X drop after the rollout and then country B had similar drop 10 years later. There is just too much data for this type of anti-rationalism to work. A lawyer in California with a history of being a kook is not going to show that hundreds of thousands of actual scientists are faking it.
It just shows what happens when you rally around a liberal lawyer who doesn’t have a background in biology. He might make a seemingly convincing case of bullshit which is what lawyers do. But it won’t hold to critical thinking from anyone with a smidgen of knowledge in this area.
RFK will be completely humiliated if he is grilled by the Senate. They will bring in actual virologists and RFK will look like a jackass. But that could be the plan. Trump may intend on not only getting rid of him but getting revenge over RFK opposing his “beautiful vaccine”.
Don’t know what the resistance is planning with Gabbard and Goetz but I don’t see how Kennedy gets confirmed. The most generous spin might be the best defense is a good offense and Donald the Fat is figuring this is a good way to tie them up. I don’t know. Sure does seem like that is one of those 4D chess excuses.
I do not think that Trump is very smart.
Schizophrenia cannot be cured. It can only be managed with debilitating levels of tranquilizers, antipsychotics, and other toxic drugs.
Those preconditions are about the results of the negotiation – if Kiev-NATO accepts them, what is there to negotiate? The shape of the table? If Russia’s preconditions preclude negotiations, they are not really offering to talk, don’t play dumb.
The same is true about Zelko’s preconditions (“Russia surrenders”) – any 3-digit IQ person concludes they are not interested in talks.
(I only have the foggiest idea who the Larry-Rutter guy is and I don’t care. If you want to discuss it I am sure you can find him. I have my own views.)
Does Ron Unz still read Vanity Fair?
https://archive.ph/g7AE6#selection-577.0-577.103
Well yeah, I admit that Ukraine is in a very difficult position, obviously there would need to be some sort of security guarantee so that Russia can’t just restart the war and attack a demilitarized Ukraine again. I don’t know what the solution here could be, it’s one of the most difficult issues of the conflict. But I’m absolutely convinced that not taking NATO membership off the table will mean continuation of the war, until there’s either some general escalation and direct NATO-Russia conflict (less likely) or Ukraine has been bled out and comprehensively wrecked (more likely).
I disagree with you about the fundamental dynamics of the war, imo there is no stalemate, and there clearly is no way Ukraine could ever win now in the sense of evicting Russian troops from the 1991 borders (or even just a large part of what they’re currently holding).
Those preconditions are about the results of the negotiation – if Kiev-NATO accepts them, what is there to negotiate?
A precondition is not a result of the negotiation. It’s what one party wants to retain before negotiations occur.
If Russia’s preconditions preclude negotiations, they are not really offering to talk, don’t play dumb.
You have not made a single statement that negates anything I have said.
Putin offered to negotiate. He offered to walk with the occupied oblasts and yes he wants other conditions. We don’t know how much he would be willing to compromise on other demands. Ukraine at this point does not want to give him the four oblasts and so a formal negotiation did not occur. Two of those oblasts never had a separatist movement and overwhelmingly rejected the pro-Russian candidates. Putin not only offered to negotiate but changed his own word on Crimea. His recent offer proposed some form dual management.
Ritter and Larry claimed that such offers to negotiate would not exist after various actions. Meaning such offers would no longer be available and Ukraine will fully surrender to Russia. That is what they claimed. A line has been crossed and they missed their opportunity. They were wrong….again. Putin offered to negotiate after the Kursk incursion. This is not the first time Larry and Ritter gave us their “crossed line” rant as if he is their boyfriend.
Stop trying to overcomplicate the situation as a form of damage control. I’m not even convinced you actually watch Larry and Ritter.
Read something about number of naturalizations in Germany today. During the first two years of the SPD-Greens-FDP government (October 2021-December 2023) about 500 000 foreigners were naturalized. Large contingent of Syrians among them (about 70 000 just in 2023), so to a large extent it’s the Merkel wave getting German passports (while keeping their old ones, since the law was changed, so dual citizenship is now allowed for everyone, not just EU citizens as it was previously).
By the time of the next elections, it will probably be around 700 000 naturalizations, in a little over three years.
I probably should stop worrying or thinking about all this geopolitics nonsense, as if it still were 1980. In the end it’s merely a frivolous distraction from more important realities.
Very smart people don’t do too well in the American system, Trump is about right – just smart enough, risk-taker, with initiative.
You are probably right about Kennedy, too bad. It would be fun to see the panic by 200 million Americans scared to death by pharma that they will die without the pills-shots, and by Kennedy that they can die if they take too many…A rolling circus, with fat ‘mericans collapsing like a herd of Buridan donkeys unable to decide.
This is one of the reasons that I hold out some hope that Trump will not abandon Ukraine as some of the Maggots here seem to think that he’ll do:
Zelensky to the rescue.
First of all, I didn’t know Larry-and-Rutter were two guys, thanks for enlightening me.
I am going to say it one more time: the Russian preconditions are about the results of the negotiation – if Kiev-NATO accept them, what is there to negotiate?
The preconditions: no NATO and four oblasts go to Russia. I have never heard anything about “dual” Crimea, you made that up. Russia says that issue was settled in 2014. If any Russian official suggested “dual management” give us a link, don’t fabulate.
Think it through: if the Russian preconditions are accepted the talks will be over in 30 minutes, handshakes (or not) and an exchange of docs. If they are not accepted there will be no negotiation.
If they meet about the precise boundaries of the oblasts that is an afterthought – by then the basic condition of no NATO in Ukraine would be accepted. Russia holds most of the cards and has time on its side – Trump will try to escalate to the brink of nukes, then fold and accept Russian demands. How else can it go? Be specific – how is NATO going to win a war when they made it clear they will not actually fight. It is not that complicated.
The “Vaccine evangelist” article on the front page is promising. It explains why many people ask the question twice, “How do you know these things are effective?” If we do not know if they are effective, how do you know the risk-benefit tradeoff is worth it?
Some parents know their kids were injured by vaccines because they have problems which cropped up definitively after the kid got some shots. This is not controversial since these side effects are well known and often officially listed, though usually considered “rare.” However, the incidence of side effects tends to be lowballed while the benefits tend to be overstated in several respects. Therefore interested parents may have no way to make an informed decision.
Unfortunately, for good or bad, this is Public Health 101. Do not give the cattle a choice, they are unqualified to decide. While this is sometimes true it involves trust and places a big obligation on the public health officials and big pharma. We know they have lied and failed many times so any trust is misplaced. Hopefully RFK can stir up an informed discussion. Unfortunately a lot of the serious rules and policies are undisclosed and may be classified at a level which legally obligates government officials and contractors to lie to protect what are deemed to be important secrets.
It is a serious mess since the money and power involved create dangerous incentives.
Lisdoonvarna, on the west coast, is now down to 31% Irish, from close to 100% Irish (& maybe some English) just a few years ago. Ballyhaunis, near the west coast, is down to one third Irish. Numerous towns (I’ve counted three) in Co. Longford, also fairly far from Dublin, now less than 50% Irish. This is the fastest ethnic displacement in Europe.
Gaetz for AG seems like trolling until you learn that it’s a possible path for him to get out of his underage sex case.
If there was something to this wouldn’t the most partisan political Attorney General in US history have charged him by now?
This is one of the reasons that I hold out some hope that Trump will not abandon Ukraine as some of the Maggots here seem to think that he’ll do:
We have Putin supporters talk about Ukraine as if it is Iraq and Trump is going to “withdraw” as if we have troops there.
We have given them military aid and that has to be approved by Congress.
Trump could indeed veto a bill but there isn’t one pending. I’m not sure if most Putin fans understand how our government works and assume Trump will be some type of king that decrees Ukraine to be the loser.
It should be remembered that presidents can use government spending to inflate the economy. They can use military spending as an excuse to borrow and kick the debt can further down the road. It does become part of the GDP and the media will unfortunately use it as a metric without any context. GDP growth is up for the quarter, GUD JOB PRESIDENT.
Trump greenlit the previous Ukraine bill and without any negotiating. I really think the Senate was highballing and that he could have cut it in half. But he told Johnson to not only sign a bill that gave the full amount but split the Moscow Marge wing. She was furious but Trump didn’t give a fuck. He will usually payback political supporters but not always. That bill was a big middle finger to the House GOP subset that wanted an end to Ukraine aid. Quite a shock really and Brietbart went into a tizzy over it.
She was 17. 17 is legal almost everywhere.
If there was something to this wouldn’t the most partisan political Attorney General in US history have charged him by now?
That’s not the role of the Federal AG.
It’s a House ethics case.
If you are hoping this is a liberal or media conspiracy against him then I can save you the time:
It’s not. There are House Republicans that want him out.
But feel free to read about the case on your own. The guy is a scumbag.
She was 17. 17 is legal almost everywhere.
LOL some real fine politicians.
“It’s legal in Mexico”
These are people that are supposed to be trusted with creating laws.
The opposition is very tired. The weary yearn for peace. Be patient for a few days. When they get a little bit of rest all hell is going to break loose. Figuratively speaking. There is going to be far more noise than any of us will be able to comfortably tolerate.
I don’t think RFKJ is very smart either.
Let Ukraine build its own nuclear deterrent?
https://www.mearsheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mearsheimer-Case-for-Ukrainian-Nuclear-Deterrent.pdf
Russia would hate it, but would it be worse for Russia than Ukraine in NATO?
India can live with a nuclear-armed Pakistan right next door, after all. And Pakistan is much more of a state sponsor of terrorism than Ukraine will ever be.
It isn’t legal in California. Whether it should be legal is a separate question, of course.
If Turkey would now naturalize its own Syrian refugees, of which it apparently still has over three million!
It’s legal where I live. It’s legal in Texas. CA is the anomaly. What state did Gaetz get his freak on?
Amazing how after all the abuses of power we’ve seen since the entrapment of Flynn right through the Russia Collusion Hoax to the politically motivated attempts to imprison Trump you (and the usual addicted to losing fuddy-duddy conservatards) suddenly get outraged about ethics when it comes to sex stuff.
On RFK, has he ever suggested banning pharma ads or, perhaps more realistically, restricting them as they do in civilised countries? I don’t care too much about ‘Big Pharma’ – though no doubt their $$$$ influence news coverage – but judging by the last time I saw US network TV an advertising ban would deprive these enemy media companies of a significant chunk of their revenue. That would be great. Kick em when they’re down.
“Pakistan is much more of a state sponsor of terrorism than Ukraine will ever be.”
Yes, but my impression is that Pakistan are doing this of their own volition – although there are so many armed groups there Pakistani Government A could sponsor a very different bunch to Pakistani Government B.
But Ukraine will have a State Department hand up the glove puppet of Ukraine, so terrorism inside Russia is always a possibility.
In Pakistan the southern province of Baluchistan is also the terminus of part of the Chinese Belt and Road.
And, as chance would have it, there are a lot of terrorist attacks going on there… whoever the sponsors are, it’s not the Pakistani Government.
The basic Trump-Ukraine equation is easy to state but requires inside information to solve.
–> Trump prefers to follow Chabad’s wishes for Ukraine and does not want a major war on his record.
If someone can find an honest translation of the official position on Ukraine held by Chabad this might be easy to solve. The official position is the one intended for Jewish people.
The main confounding factor in my opinion is that the more reasonable actions by the US may construed as weakness or at least will be portrayed that way. Trump seems to be very sensitive to how perception influences actions, so this issue might become dominant in Team Trump’s policy decisions related to Ukraine.
Of course, the only thing that looks worse than starting a war is losing one.
+++
Trump’s natural deal making approach will be to offer a compromise. I doubt he realizes that this option may no longer be possible. I can imagine that Putin might be the only person in Russia willing to take a Trump compromise deal. If Putin could force the Kremlin to accept a marginal deal he has to trade that off against how much it weakens his legacy and also invites future Western aggression.
Research into gayness as a disease state has been heavily stigmatized. It is likely that it is not easily fixable. But even turning super gays into regular homos would probably be an improvement.
The real Russian “pre-conditions” included no expansion of NATO, no dropping out of the nuclear arms control agreements, no missile bases in Eastern Europe and no implementation of anti-Moscow coups in Russian-speaking former Soviet countries on the Russian border. All of these were entirely reasonable and the West simply ignored them and broke existing agreements due to hubris.
How does anyone think this Ukraine mess can be negotiated to an end? As long as the West has not collapsed it is almost certain that the governments will violate any agreements and press Russia again. The politician/bureaucrats may have some semblance of decency and restart the project in a new country, say Kazakhstan. Or they may just burn the treaty and say, “Are you kidding? We never intended to abide by that silly agreement. On to Moscow!” Therefore if Russia signs such a compromise then we can expect another war sooner or later. The Kremlin might sign something for internal political reasons but don’t kid yourself about the implications.
A cartoon you are nostalgic about but have forgotten the name of? I don’t follow…
The last time abundant resources were allocated it was a clusterfuck. I knew a man who was involved in the research at Tulane Medical School in the early 1960’s. It was close to a real world prototype for A Clockwork Orange. The guy I knew had deliberately forgotten the entire episode. He was a completely respectable med school professor when I knew him. I went to the library and looked at his published research.
Don’t ask don’t tell and the closet and straight acting straight appearing are the way to go. Gay marriage and gay adoption can disappear the sooner the better. This is why Vanity Fair is shitting bricks. They don’t give a hoot about trannies.
Okay, I can see how you could misinterpret that one.
My interlocutor has a strong dislike of Crusaders, which is why I mentioned the tattoos. Nothing negative about Crusaders themselves was implied.
Neither side is particularly Jewish. Why would there be such a position?
Even if there is one calling out Führer Zelensky’s open antisemitism, it would not rebound to the Ukrainian people as a whole.
Neocons like John Bolton, Mikel, and Bill Kristol will raise their voices together in an attempt to misrepresent MAGA’s anti-war platform. Fortunately, everyone serious ignores the bleating of team “Iran First, America Last”.
Why do you incorrectly insert the term “marginal”?
The Kremlin and MAGA will work together to offer Fuhrer Zelensky a “fair” deal. If the European puppet refuses a rational outcome, American will cut off senseless Kiev aggression.
PEACE 😇
Amazing how after all the abuses of power we’ve seen since the entrapment of Flynn right through the Russia Collusion Hoax to the politically motivated attempts to imprison Trump you (and the usual addicted to losing fuddy-duddy conservatards) suddenly get outraged about ethics when it comes to sex stuff.
I’m not a conservative and most independents wanted Trump to drop out as they correctly view him as a criminal:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/majority-independents-double-haters-trump-end-2024-campaign/story?id=110778206
Trump is on tape admitting to a felony.
https://truthout.org/articles/transcript-of-trump-recording-shows-he-knew-docs-were-classified/
I’m sorry if you have a hard time with that reality. I have much more respect for Trump voters with the “I voted for the felon” t-shirts.
As for Gaetz I am not outraged. That implies some level of emotional reaction.
I simply don’t think our political leaders should be allowed to do cocaine and have sex with 17 year olds. I also don’t think they should be allowed to take home classified documents and show them off to guests. Feel free to disagree. Defending amoral politicians has become the norm. It’s like talking about the weather.
On RFK, has he ever suggested banning pharma ads or, perhaps more realistically, restricting them as they do in civilised countries?
Pharma ads are partially restricted in the US. Banning them comes with its own set of problems. You could potentially have a situation where some retired person doesn’t hear about a new life saving medication. In any case both parties would oppose such a measure. We have two corporate parties and RFK sure as hell would not get past them.
I agree. However the former problem is fatal while the latter can be ameliorated via intervention from the top and assimilation. There is no going back if the top falls. Being shot in the head is generally more serious than being shot in the leg.
Bragg merely continued the work of his predecessor.
When a hated political figure commits crimes he ends up being prosecuted. In a civilized society none should be above the law, even rich and powerful people. At least, in this country.
Maybe you were still living in Latin America when Clinton was impeached for getting a bl**job from his intern?
Are you stating that Democrats shouldn’t try legal cases involving alleged perpetrators who are Republicans?
It was novel that a major political candidate was using campaign funds as hush money to pay off a porn star whom he was having an affair with while his wife was pregnant.
https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/apr/12/heres-what-manhattan-district-attorney-alvin-bragg/
Such behavior might be normal for people where you are from but is not what we Americans traditionally tolerate.
As I said, you promote rot at the top.
This is true, the FBI was wrong here (it may have been fed misinformation by the Russians, ironically), and clearly bad.
Not sure about the FBI collusion, but the censorship of Hunter’s laptop by the media companies was clearly wrong.
Though the Democrats are complaining that the media companies downplayed Trump’s craziness during this election cycle. He was good for business.
He threatened to kill the president (“some anti-Biden idiocy” – lol) and other people, and had the means to do so. One of his messages: “Hey FBI, you still monitoring my social media? Checking so I can be sure to have a loaded gun handy in case you drop by again”
His home was raided when the president was in his state, 2 days after he had threatened to kill the president. He refused to comply and barricaded himself in his house, forcing the FBI to storm it. He was shot when he allegedly pointed a revolver at a cop. He stated that he would have a loaded gun ready for them (see above).
Do you also oppose the shootings of Black criminals threatening and pointing revolvers at cops or is it only a problem when someone like this deranged person does so?
Has a Black guy threatened to kill the president, been well armed, barricaded himself in the house when people came to arrest him, and pointed a revolver, after which he emerged unscathed?
You think that arresting a well-armed man barricaded in his house who threatened to kill the president and various other people with his extensive gun collection and shooting him after he allegedly pointed a revolver at them is “the hallmarks of a police state?”
Or prosecuting a rich and powerful man for using campaign money to buy the silence of the stripper he f*cked while his wife was pregnant?
I do not support all of the above, but on balance Trump is far more of a non-American style ruler than the bland Democratic establishment behind Kamala. With Kamala we would have had mild center left rule, kept in check by a Republican Senate and a conservative court. I’m afraid that with Trump we will have some crazy combination of Peron, Chavez, and Berlusconi (Italians are Latin American-adjacent). You are used to that, you bring that to this country. Sorry, I am not.
Traditional Americans, represented by the old school Republicans, seethe at those appointments. For example Pence noted that RFK was the most pro-abortion person ever chosen to be in charge of American healthcare. So they will likely not make it past the Senate. Naturally you who promote the Latin Americanization of the American political culture do not mind them.
And of course I did not approve all those actions you described above.
There is talk of Trump circumventing the Senate (so much for the Founders insistence on checks and balances – something too American for your taste?) to get them in without approval. A South of the Border Strongman move of the sort you are used to and don’t object to.
Most Latinos outside of California voted for Trump. Maybe they did so for the same reason you did – he’s your type of ruler. The kind a non American can appreciate. So such poor assimilation is a problem.
But maybe they voted for Trump not because they have un-American political instincts as you do, but because they have successfully assimilated to the uneducated white working class, who also voted for Trump.
I think it might be a mixture of both.
Here’s a modern American-style Chavista saying Trump is never wrong:
Weren’t you always insisting that EU depends on NATO?
Were you lying then, or lying now?
I suppose the Czechs voted for the Commies but everyone else was conquered by them, after the Nazis had conquered them first.
There was no liberation, it was a less-brutal invader taking over from a more-brutal invader. Liberation came 40 years later.
You can have a deal when both sides agree to it an neither one is coerced into it – as was the case with Minsk.
Sadly, neither side is ready for it yet.
Interesting on the brake lines. I’m guessing that the steel was better quality when the car was first made and the fact that he is still driving the car at all speaks to some commitment to maintaining it. If he kept the undercarriage washed religiously I could see how he could manage it.
Any time I do brake lines I go right for the copper-nickel alloy lines as they won’t rust, but those are fairly recent and wouldn’t have been on his car.
The steel was definitely better (and thicker) for body panels in the past. I’m amazed how quickly newer vehicles rust out and how well vehicles from the 90’s do comparatively.
I have had many people I know indicate that Trump was picked by God and fulfills various Biblical prophesies. It’s too silly for me to feel like it’s worth engaging with but I’m very familiar with the mindset. You are correct that it is extremely common.
I’m not a person of color
We are PersonS of Sword.
Ardas (Sikh prayer) at 2016 RNC – Trump Won
No Ardas at 2020 RNC
Ardas at 2024 RNC
……..
The name of the cartoon is in plain view right at the beginning. It’s looking at you straight in the face:
I don’t get it?
I predict that Ron’s next article will begin-
“I was reading Vanity Fair the other day as I have been for the past 30 years and a dynamic which has been troubling me for years became fully realized in my mind. I’ve noticed a troubling and statistically significant decline over the decades in the fashion coverage of celebrity debutantes, but I’ve always uncritically accepted the mainstream narrative surrounding this coverage. That all changed last week when I realized the depth of the deception…”
Bad angle, but ended up winning.
ਅਕਾਲ
Your many unsuccessful attempts to paint Zelensky as some sort of an anti semite are of course quite ridiculous. You’re exhibiting the symptoms of some sort of a madman who has banged his head iagainst a wall too many times.
“Fuhrer” Zelensky doing another incredible photo opt at the wailing wall in Jerusalem, continuing his elaborate hoax of posing as a Jew, according to world expert of Judaica kremlinstoogeA123, Does anybody buy this nonsense?
You called it “Motorcat” when it was called “Motormouse and Autocat.”.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattanooga_Cats
Honestly, never heard of it before, and don’t care about the difference, except when you combine it with the phrase “made history.”. That is beyond the pale!
Do you remember that commercial “Where is the beef?”. Well, where is the history, Mr. Hack?
That is not bad. Your talent is better than this trash however. You could do Ron’s take on the crypto currency market. Think big!
I sometimes wonder to what extent the decline in durability of cars and appliances is due to newer regulations and to what extent it is due to planned obsolescence, to drive new sales.
Someone the other day told me that they were interested in buying a used car from a dealer and I was amazed at the price. I think it was like 2018 and $18,000. Could be half-rusted through by now.
And that is the impasse (for now). Russia demands conditions that will make Ukraine defenseless in case of future attack (demilitarization, and no alliance). Ukrainians cannot accept that – it amounts to giving Russia the unoccupied parts of Ukraine without a fight, the loss of country.
It also sets a new precedent of international relations.
As long as Russia insists on both demilitarization and not NATO (or other alliance) it basically admits that it plans to attack Ukraine in the future.
The only solution would be something that would compel Russia to accept what it currently does not accept. It can involve carrots (recognition of Crimea and Donbas) but also would need sticks (punish Russia while the war continues, economically and on the battlefield).
If not NATO, then some other deterrent that would not leave Ukraine defenseless. Of course, as long as Russia hopes to one day conquer Ukraine, it will demand to keep NATO off the table.
Frankly, NATO membership would be the best option for Russia (other than total conquest, which would be impossible). Ukraine’s military would not have to be as big that way, and Russia could make some deal with NATO not to station certain weapons in Ukraine. Ukraine would be prevented by NATO form acting on its own.
It’s not a stalemate on the 1991 borders but around the current lines, which have not changed much. Ukraine will not be able to take the large Donbas cities, Russia will not be able to take the large Ukrainian ones such as Zaporizhia. Any movement between these areas by either country will be slow and very deadly. As is the case for Russia’s recent advances. Russia is taking a 2:1 KIA disadvantage (at least) just to move the front slowly.
I have had many people I know indicate that Trump was picked by God and fulfills various Biblical prophesies. It’s too silly for me to feel like it’s worth engaging with but I’m very familiar with the mindset. You are correct that it is extremely common.
Your are correct in that they are not worth engaging.
If they feel challenged then they may move you in the “dark spirits” group.
Some groups like the Baptists will put you in that group by default. In their minds you have to prove that you aren’t part of the orgy seeking electric car driving crowd of their imagination.
Most Latinos outside of California voted for Trump. Maybe they did so for the same reason you did – he’s your type of ruler.
Anyone who has been around Hispanics knew that running a woman was a risk for the Democrats.
Most liberal Whites have not been around Hispanics. They at most know Raul at work who was born in LA. They have not been around Hispanic families and definitely not regular guys.
Hispanic men are already annoyed with White men for allowing too much egalitarian non-sense. They view themselves as “mid level” and don’t buy into liberal ideas of race and gender not existing. Race denial to them is a childish rejection of reality.
They view White patronage of Blacks as a waste of resources. They would prefer an honest competitive America where they end up in the middle. If Blacks starved then they would shrug. A lot of them have cousins that were robbed working low level jobs in Black areas.
When they vote Democrat it is for offers of benefits. It has nothing to do with their views on race or gender. They admire White men more than Whites realize. They don’t have a problem defaulting to them in the workplace. Liberal resentment of White men is unnatural to them. Hispanics have a joke that marrying a White person is as good as a college degree. In Mexico and South America they already have hierarchies that overlap with European heritage. The upper class is more Spanish than Mestizo looking. This is normal to them and they view liberals as over comforted Whites that can’t face reality.
I only buy older cars and from the Southern states. I just picked up a low milage Mil. Surplus 1994 F350 Diesel for $3500. No rust truck from Kentucky that just needed batteries and a solenoid and a few other minor bits. There are lots of good deals out there to avoid the stupid prices if one can do some mechanical work.
Planned obsolescence is certainly a thing as newer vehicles are much harder to diagnose and work on. Dealers want you to buy a new car not fix your current one, which is reason numero uno to avoid the stealership mechanics. Regulations have an indirect role since efficiency requirements incentivize extremely complicated emissions and mechanical systems as the automakers try to satisfy consumer’s endless desire for more performance and the government efficiency regulations. Plus they do many things to shave weight, like thinner body panels and plastic oil pans. Meanwhile high levels of complication just mean more failure points.
In my opinion the 90’s and early 2000’s were the optimal time for vehicles. They had attained a very high level of efficiency and reliability while still only being minimally complicated. Fuel injection for example is far superior to carburetor fuel delivery. We are well past the diminishing returns on vehicle complexity.
Your many unsuccessful attempts to paint Zelensky as some sort of an anti semite are of course quite ridiculous. You’re exhibiting the symptoms of some sort of a madman who has banged his head iagainst a wall too many times.
The Putin faithful have been losing it ever since Russia did not quickly push Ukraine out of Kursk.
They also couldn’t believe that he was bringing NK troops into combat. It ruined the image of SoopaRoosa at least having unlimited men.
Scott Ritter looked and sounded mentally unstable in his most recent video. He actually claimed that Trump is only hiring Christian Zionists to make it look like he is pro-Israel. It’s all a ploy you see.
“As an avid reader of the Financial Times for most of my adult life I’ve always considered myself as having a finely honed sense for the financial vicissitudes that drive the modern economy and have never seen any reason whatsoever to venture beyond the conventional confines of Keynesian economics. However, my confidence in the conventional narrative was suddenly shaken when my attention was directed to the emerging reality of cryptocurrency and its’ possibilities in eroding, what I now realize, is the Jewish stranglehold on finance.”
Sorry, I forgot to mention Jews in the last one. Bad mistake on my part.
I agree that the mid-nineties car technology level has everything needed. Most all “improvements” since then are regulatory-driven complexity and intentional planned obsolescence as you point out. Reductions in emissions are totally incremental.
On the other hand, I think modern automotive steel and corrosion protection are much better than in times past. In some special cases the thinner panels may rust through sooner, but I think this is the exception not the rule.
It seems the engineers and their managers are getting dumber over time, which is consistent with education decline and AA/DIE hiring (see Boeing). Features like plastic oil pans or water pumps and belts inside the engine (in the oil) are completely uncalled for. I’m sure studies were done to justify these features but they are obviously poor choices with negligible benefits. I was surprised to learn that gasoline direct injection regularly causes carbon build up which is almost guaranteed to cause engine damage. Oops.
Kinda like kremlinstoogeA123 claiming that Zelensky isn’t really a Jew, but a Nazi whose blueprint for ideology can all be found in Hitler’s “Mein Kamph”. These guys are all looney tunes that should be put into strait jackets and then put into a funny farm…
Perhaps it’s time to consider buying an electric vehicle? I was told once that there are only 27 points on a Tesla that can screw up. Easy to find and easy to repair. Versus thousands of such points on most any other mechanical vehicle. I had an electric chip on my Nissan Altima go out a couple of years ago, very difficult to find and repair. Cost to fix it…………:-(
But from EU point of view, not Russia’s. Brussels always insisted that countries allowed to join EU first join NATO. Why do you reverse what I say? It is a sign of giving up, are you?
You doubled-down on your Nazism. Based on your ‘logic’ US-UK also conquered France and West Germany – no ‘liberation’. Or were Nazis only ‘bad’ in the west but ‘good’ in the east?
You suffer from nationalist emotions and pure hatred of Russia. Did Russia also invade France and the “Napoleon in Russia” was a misunderstanding, Frenchies and their eager Polish puppets defending from aggression? It is your ‘merican education‘ – so did Reagan liberate Auschwitz or was that Hanks?
We agree on that. It goes deeper – it may not be solvable with a compromise. One side is going all the way down. Ukraine is in a demographic collapse – down to 29 million and only 180k kids born in 2023 (including in Russian parts). The Ukies are literally disappearing in front of our eyes and you still want to ‘defeat the Russians’? Do you really think Zelko&Co. care? They will live in comfort in Florida…
10 million Ukies who left will assimilate, Russian parts will be resettled (not sure by whom), and the rump Ukraine will be a sad poor borderland with bitter people also dreaming about living. Those are the wages of hatred and lying about the past…so keep it up.
Only a super-set of wishes – Russia never seriously asked for all of it. Having ‘coups’ is a part of life whatever one calls them. Russia in 2021 asked for a ‘new Euro security architecture‘ – ideally what you list would be in it, but it was a wish list.
If NATO negotiated in 2021 they could agree on no-NATO in Ukraine-Georgia, inspections for NATO missiles in Poland-Romania (normal in peace times), maybe a new ABM treaty. But NATO refused basically saying they want a full war in Ukraine. Russia started out with a small war to force a deal, then NATO doubled down with ‘we want a big war‘. Russia obliged, but it is still only medium-size war. It can get worse.
It can’t – one side has to lose and a deal imposed. The lack of trust means a harsher deal. NATO has catastrophically miscalculated – they started their march on Russia with no willingness to actually fight. Using Ukies is a fool’s gamble and they will run out of them.
This is one of the most existential moments in the human history – there seems no way out. NATO is too powerful and still dominant to accept a defeat. Russia is more powerful in the region and will not give in. But further escalation is limited by common sense and nukes. Ukies are extras with no speaking role – so any deal will be at their expense.
The West and Trump are hoping Putin is still secretly a liberal he used to be. But when people play a role for a long time it becomes who they are, plus his entourage. As a fall-back Trump asks for a presentable deal, let’s pretend that US didn’t lose…they are in effect asking for Russian charity. We will see, but I doubt Russia will give it. Then Trump may throw a temper-tantrum that will make it worse…
Tesla range is garbage in the cold.
It sounds like keeping the old USSR and Warsaw Pact in existence but under the control of a Russian nationalist and capitalist government in Moscow.
From a political pov the amount of sovereignty being granted to Russians in Moscow seems to make it a non-starter, the sort of vision that would push countries like Poland to want to join NATO in the first place and cause unrest in Russian speaking former Soviet countries, because of what the Soviets themselves had spent the period 1921-1989 teaching the populations there.
EVs do have their good points as per failure points but I live in the boondocks and am rather hard on my vehicles (dirt roads, towing trailers, dropping beams on them etc.) so there is no way I’m going to buy anything that expensive.
If I scratch the paint on my 30 year old truck it can just join the rest of the scratches and dings.
Plus as Sher Singh points out, the cold weather range and performance on EVs is dubious.
No, it doesn’t – you provide an exaggeration ad absurdum. It was simply a common sense normal peaceful Europe that had no need for NATO missiles on the Russian border, for aggressive dreamers and infantile meddlers obsessed with telling others how to live.
All Euro governments from Ukraine to Portugal are ‘nationalist and capitalist’, have you noticed? It is obvious to any rational observer that at many influential Western leaders would like to get their hands on Russian resources, control and intimidate…The rest of the population is passively going along.
At this point the best way forward is to stop the mindless attack on Russia and everything Russian like the Russian minorities in Ukraine, Baltic, Moldova… It won’t work and it is wrong. I doubt the brainwashed Westies are capable of comprehending any of it…they were raised on instinctive Russophobia.
Ford did finally wise up and put aluminum body panels on their trucks which is brilliant. I’m not sure about the superior steel and corrosion protection in general though. My anecdotal observation has been the opposite, though that could be bias and selective observation for all I know. I’d be interested to see some science on it, though to be honest I may not take the time to look for it.
I’m sure some of these features perform well enough under controlled lab conditions, just not in the real world. Engineers are great for their tunnel vision while having little idea of common sense applications. Serviceability should be a major part of engineering design but it clearly isn’t.
Carbon build up is a really big deal in new extremely high tolerance engines as is oil sludge clogging very tiny apertures in the engine which are necessary for proper lubrication. I’ve seen a lot of new cars totally trashed by the owners not being religious with oil changes.
Had no idea that Israel has more lawyers per capita than America.
You’re right that the cat character in the cartoon that I provided was named Motormouse and not Motorcat, but how you figured that out by providing a link to a totally different cartoon series,”Chatanooga Cats”, is unexplainable to me??
And you’re right in pointing out that the name “difference” doesn’t really matter, for I was only trying to point out that a cat, albeit a small American alleycat, had already greatly broken through the speed barrier of 60 mph and that this event had already been recorded in the late 60’s of the last century, by filming the event.
How? By including a speedometer within the cat’s racing car, of course, where recent speeds reached
are carefully recorded. How else? 🙂
DO NOT RESCUSITATE (DNR)
I might not be around much longer. The explanation below is why. Some parts of this site are horrific but the Karlin threads have always remainined dignified.
My medical misadventures continuted. My stroke was followed by massive heart attacks. The first time my heart stopped for 7 minutues, the 2nd time for 9 minutes. The doctors decided to give up. My status was moved to DNR. 90% die after this. The doctors did however leave the ventilator switched on. My children, their cousins and the older generation did not let me go. They read hymns I had sund in church choir at 8 years old, played our favourite songs from summer holidays in Pembrokeshire. I responded by squeezing hands. That was two weeks ago. I”m home. A litle weak but seem to have all my mental factulties. We are testing my physical ones as my strength recovers More later.
You’re right that the cat character in the cartoon that I provided was named Motormouse and not Motorcat, but how you figured that out by providing a link to a totally different cartoon series,”Chatanooga Cats”, is unexplainable to me??
And you’re right in pointing out that the name “difference” doesn’t really matter, for I was only trying to point out that a cat, albeit a small American alleycat, had already greatly broken through the speed barrier of 60 mph and that this event had already been recorded in the late 60’s of the last century, by filming the event.
How? By including a speedometer within the cat’s racing car, of course, where recent speeds reached
are carefully recorded. How else? 🙂
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62919131/tesla-has-highest-fatal-accident-rate-of-all-auto-brands-study/
2X the average.
For some demographics dying in an automobile accident is the leading cause of DEATH. It is near the top of the list in every demographic. I used to work for a big corporation where people died on the job often enough that we kept detailed spreadsheets. The leading cause of on the job deaths was automobile accidents by a large margin.
You’re right that the cat character in the cartoon that I provided was named Autocat and not Motorcat, but how you figured that out by providing a link to a totally different cartoon series,”Chatanooga Cats”, is unexplainable to me??
And you’re right in pointing out that the name “difference” doesn’t really matter, for I was only trying to point out that a cat, albeit a small American alley cat, had already greatly broken through the speed barrier of 60 mph and that this event had already been recorded in the late 60’s of the last century, by filming the event.
How? By including a speedometer within the cat’s racing car, of course, where recent speeds reached are carefully recorded. How else? 🙂
Sorry to hear that. I wish you a recovery insofar as that’s possible.
Wish all the best in achieving health recovery as much as possible in such difficult conditions!
I saw a show a couple weeks ago where a man pulled his daughter out of a coma by sitting there reading Great Expectations out loud. She might have come out totally on her own but there are some things we will never know.
Well there are actually a lot of things we will never know.
Good luck with further recovery. Thank you for your comments here in the Karlin section.
Related to the energy theme – maybe the best statement and appointment so far from Trump:
Hopefully Keystone oil pipeline, which should make oil transportation from Canada cheaper and safer, also will be revived, continued and finished.
I wish you the best and hope you fully recover, never give up.
This other stuff is of no importance, but you helped with keeping us dignified and that’s something.
Thanks for confirming that according to you, EU admission depends on NATO.
The underlying cause is irrelevant. Since you admit that no NATO = no EU, you admit that Russia vetoes Ukraine entrance into EU if it forces a deal that prevents Ukraine from fulfilling a condition (NATO membership) necessary for EU membership, according to you.
Sorry, I am not one of your World World II era countrymen.
Referring to Soviet rule over Poland and Eastern Europe as conquest and occupation rather than liberation is not Nazism. Ask one of your uncles what Nazism actually is.
US-UK did conquer Western Germany in 1944-1945. Did your poor Slovak schools not cover events outside your country?
As for France – if the governments that followed would have been overthrown by the locals in favor of a another one if not for US and UK troops it could be considered a conquest and occupation of France (and Netherlands, and Belgium, etc.) rather than a liberation.
Do you think the Russian forces will be able to storm and conquer Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kiev, Lviv, etc.? That is what it would take for Ukraine to go “all the way down.”
Similarly, do you think Ukraine is capable of retaking all that has been lost after 2022, or Crimea or Donbas?
Neither one will happen.
Since neither one will happen, Russia will in the end have to accept a free Ukraine on areas it will have been unable to conquer, which by definition will be a Ukraine capable of one day joining NATO or some other alliance, or of having its own deterrent (so, no demilitarization). Conversely, Ukraine will in the end have accept the permanent loss of some lands because there is no way it will be able to militarily take all that was lost after 2014.
I suppose there is a very small chance of some Russian economic collapse/revolution causing the Russians to lose interest in much that they have conquered, enabling Ukrainians to take back some of what was lost. You stated that losses start slowly, then move fast. This could describe Russia’s economic woes (interest rate highest since 90s, some of the largest Russian construction firms have just started collapsing, large decline in steel production, etc.). I wouldn’t count on a Russian economic collapse – I’d guess the chances of that are 1% at best. But not impossible.
Odds of a Ukrainian collapse (meaning not in Donbas, but loss of large cities including Kiev that would enable a Russian takeover of the country necessary for the conditions such as no NATO ever and demilitarization you predict) are much lower, basically zero.
You predicted that they would have all fled in the first weeks of the war.
How did your prediction pan out?
You are a good man and I will pray for you. Wishing you a full recovery.
I was hoping that he would have been the VP pick. I would have voted for Trump without hesitation in that case.
Hang in there man. Lots of people going through near death experiences that recovered unexpectedly and are still here with us long afterwards. Follow your doctors’ advice religiously, which probably includes not taking any of us here seriously. But thanks for coming back and stay in touch. All the best.
Best wishes and prayers that you get better.
PEACE 😇
To the Editor: This is the correct reply, the other two (#737 & 739) should be deleted. Thanks & sorry for the extra work!
Drill baby drill.
There is no editing in Karlinstan after five minutes except once in awhile a stupid faggot like Anatoly Karlin gets banned for sock puppet shit. You should know this.
Everybody knew everything about Stormy Daniels in 2016 and nobody cared much, not even Trump’s enemies. We’re in the 21st century. 6 years later Bragg literally invented a new definition of “crime” (that he never even articulated in a specific way) in order to build a prosecution against his hated political rival. Straight out of Ukraine or Venezuela.
He was also a disabled elderly man who only left home to buy groceries in an electric shopping cart and attend church on Sundays. That’s why he spent his days venting on FB. The FBI must have known this perfectly well if they were monitoring him. As his desolate neighbors said, he was no threat to anyone but himself and a couple of undercover agents could have perfectly neutralized him the moment he stepped out of his home. But they preferred to fabricate a “threat” from a dangerous Trump-supporting “domestic terrorist” for gullible dunces.
Well, I would never claim to be a model citizen. I would probably fall short of John Adams’s standards, like most immigrants from later periods, including your grandparents. But at least, I do have some clear moral principles and, unlike you, I oppose the killing of innocent people regardless of who carries it out. I suspect he would have liked that particular attribute.
What your family brought to this country is a man who supports corrupt justice practices, as the whole world has learned are the norm in Ukraine, and votes for a presidential candidate based on the interests of a foreign country. That kind of disloyalty was actually codified as a crime that carried harsh penalties in the times of the Founding Fathers.
I’m sure most Ukrainian-Americans assimilated well and perhaps your grandparents would have been prouder of you if you had abstained instead of voting for such an anti-Christian candidate. But, since you insist in bringing up our origins and engaging in a pointless comparison of our citizenship merits, it’s worth remembering who each of us is and where we come from.
By the way, John Adams had some good things to say about the Basques of that time, who he visited while being an ambassador in Europe. He selected the Basque (Biscay in his words) self-governing laws as one of the examples in Europe that the new republic should base its rules on.
In riding
through this little territory, one would fancy himself in Con-
necticut; instead of miserable huts built of mud and covered
with straw, the country appears full of large and commodious
houses and barns of the farmer; the lands are well cultivated;
and there is a wealthy, happy yeomanry. The roads, so danger-
ous and impassable in most other parts of Spain, are here very
good, having been made at a vast expense of labor.
https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/2102/Adams_1431-04_Bk.pdf
I don’t know if there was anything recognizable as Ukraine in those days but it doesn’t look like any of the Founding Fathers found any inspiration in it for their project.
Nobody pays attention to the legacy media anymore but luckily in 2024 corrupt prosecutors and judges played the role of the corrupt media in 2016 and 78 million Americans showed them the middle finger again. Don’t blame for this, blame Alvin, Letitia, Garland and Wray:
Am impressed you are so cohesive. Probably unusual.
Anyway, best wishes!
The funniest among the outraged are those who have just voted for the candidate of abortion on demand, child sex mutilation and men in women’s restrooms. All so that a foreign country can get more weapons. Imagine how seriously we can take their moral indignation lol.
Below, Molly Hemingway explains the Gaetz nomination. (Of course, you being unable to sleep at night worying about the Russians have absolotely no problem with the Russia Collusion Hoax)
It was a segment on that show.
Too abstract for me, to compare a fall, with motorized travel. I have myself traveled faster with cats than 60 mph. And the French once put a cat in space.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9licette
Which was named after Felix the Cat ,who himself probably traveled faster. If not, probably Tom from Tom and Jerry, which was apparently ripped off to make Autocat.
Probably more up Mr. Hack’s alley than mine, based on his Big Five.
Some parts of this site are horrific but the Karlin threads have always remainined dignified.
As someone who doesn’t always behave well here your situation certainly puts our petty arguments into perspective. Best wishes to you.
The reply was to QCIC’s post, not anything you wrote. I believe QCIC is an American and is not of Slavic descent.
No point in discussion with someone making claims to unique insight on objective reality deriving from what they say is inaccessible experiential knowledge.
Best wishes with your recovery Philip.
More on the establishment panic over Trump’s high quality nominations: (1)
It is sad that #NeverMAGA commenters here side with the likes of Bill Kristol and John Bolton. At least it reveal a their true affiliation to the NeoConDemocrat, warmonger agenda.
___
A federal investigation found nothing on Gaetz. This was followed by a House “ethics” investigation. It has been over a year, and the House panel has also come back with nothing. Lawfare and witch hunts are tools of the radical #NeverMAGA Globalists.
PEACE 😇
__________
(1) https://www.zerohedge.com/political/all-right-people-hate-trumps-cabinet-picks
You might want to chill out. You haven’t seen anything yet. This is going to be like the pussy hats X 10000. Almost all of the opposition is frozen, speechless, and resting. And not resting like Monty Python’s parrot. Resting like a hibernating grizly.
Why? That is a bizarre claim. EU can hold to its previous rule that Ukraine not in NATO can’t join EU. But what does that have to do with Russia? Russia has never objected to Kiev in EU – it is EU that pushed Ukraine away in spite of public speeches. Russia only objects to Ukraine in NATO.
They can surround the large cities with the same effect. The point is that the Ukie army can’t go like this indefinitely. They are being slowly destroyed and don’t have unlimited resources or willpower.
The scenario of an endless last-ditch resistance that you foresee doesn’t fit Ukie demographics. But let’s say they do it – what would it look like? Much smaller poor and depopulated Ukraine living off Western aid. The West would lose interest – the point was to use Ukraine against Russia, have NATO bases and control Crimea. When those goals become unattainable how long will US-EU send $100 billion annually to Kiev?
It is not sustainable and the only way out was to win the war and defeat Russia. It’s obvious they will not win now and the rest is just management of consequences.
10 million Ukies fled – so my prediction was true. Keeping track of individuals is not the way it works. What matters is 10 million who left – including millions of men unwilling to fight and rich Ukies with their families.
Battle of the Nations
United States Germany
I’ll let A123 address that point. He knows that part of Trump’s electorate much better than me.
But in general I don’t like Trump’s ideas on tariffs and of course the plan he floated on Rogan’s interview about replacing income tax with tariffs is bananas. To get the same revenue he would need to impose an average tariff of around 70% on all currently imported goods as opposed to the current ~5%. Leaving aside inflation and retaliatory duties by the rest of the world, it would simply mean that revenue would plummet and the deficit would go through the roof, as most imports would become noncompetitive, trade would stop and there would be nothing to apply such a tariff to. It will never happen.
Elon and Vivek’s ideas are also a bit concerning. They could cause huge benefits if applied wisely but the latter has been very seriously talking about firing 50% of federal employees through a lottery system, which might provoke a recession. It’s more than a million people out of work all of a sudden. I’m not saying that it should not be done, I’m just hoping there’s some serious economist in their team tempering their ideas. Otherwise, deregulation and experimental zones free of federal limitations are great initiatives. But Vivek would have been better as a counterpoint to the interventionist hawks.
RFK is a whole chapter on his own. I would have actually considered voting for him as president in my non-swing state because for me peace is the leading concern but as head of HHS it’s a totally different matter. Apart from having some kooky ideas, he’s not really a qualified person to implement the deep changes that the US needs, both in how the FDA operates and in general in how the health system in the US works. It lags behind many advanced countries for most people and the cause that Americans are much more obese and less healthy is not exactly because fluoride in the water and stuff like that, although the food industry most likely does have an important role. He might do more good than bad if he surrounds himself with competent people but he’d also be better in a different role.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/lithuania-government-include-party-whose-leader-is-trial-antisemitism-2024-11-10/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/thousands-protest-vilnius-against-government-party-whose-leader-is-trial-2024-11-14/
Had never heard of that politician, so looked him up on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remigijus_%C5%BDemaitaitis
But his alleged antisemitic comments aren’t given in detail, and the links are all in Lithuanian.
@sudden death: What’s this about?
You have no idea what might happen in the hypothetical scenarios. The main agent is China. China has tariffs. There is no reason not to try some of this stuff. The individuals it will hurt will give you all the reasons and also they will totally make shit up. So what? When the United States built its industry at the end of the 19th century they had plenty of tariffs.
Best wishes with your recovery.
Mr. Hack, Felix the Cat is obviously traveling very fast here, in the 1928 short Japanicky, after he is headbutted by the goat in the rear end and flies spinningly all the way to Japan, where he threatens to cause a revolution by introducing them to the chair.
I think he is obviously traveling faster than Autocat ever did. At least, if you understand physics.
I concur.
Tariffs do much more than raise revenue. While the cash intake is of course helpful, the meat of a tariff policy is spurring economic activity. There is a virtuous cycle making things domestically.
• Companies buy goods & services locally.
• Their employees buy goods & services locally.
• That secondary activity pays more wages that again buys goods & services locally.
Compare that to an imported good. The manufacturer & their employee wages have little to no benefit to the U.S. economy, so there is no virtuous cycle.
___
Tariffs clearly make sense as policy. They would probably need to be phased in over time. 4%/yr × 4yr = 16%. That would avoid shocks to the system while increasing high value production in America. No one is considering anything as radical as 70% for all goods.
It also needs support from other elements of MAGA Reindustrialization. Abandoning green energy failures would be disinflationary. Changing the balance of education to favour trades would increase the availability of productive labour.
Of course #NeverMAGA Globalists, such as a certain commenter here, hate ideas that would help local workers. They want to exploit Americans to pad the balance sheets of tax dodging multinationals.
PEACE 😇
Who drew this Hanania meme?!
Definitely not the Fritz the Cat artist. Possibly the Felix guy.
Hanania is the first person I ever heard say the corona virus experimental genetic medicine invention, manufacture, and distribution was the greatest achievement of the human race in the 21st century. When he said that bitcoin was under 20K though.
Of course I do. I have already explained what would happen and why.
I think it’s easy to understand that there are no tariffs if there are no imports. Imagine someone who is now paying 5% to import some good into the country and, after abolishing the income tax, needs to pay 70% of its value. Who is he going to sell the same product to at such an inflated price? This is good for local manufacturers but very bad for consumers and terrible for the Revenue Service. The more successful a tariff is in driving business back to the US, the less you collect with those tariffs and now you cannot raise revenue from personal income either.
Only the most hare-brained Trump supporters believe that he can replace income tax with tariffs. Find me an economist who believes that is possible without reducing public spending to a tiny fraction of what it is now or bankrupting the country.
Exactly. When federal spending was 2-3% of the US GDP it was perfectly possible to fund those expenses with tariffs. Now the US has a huge military, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, 3 million bureaucrats, welfare, $1.16 trillion in interest payments on the debt (and growing) plus all the rest: 23% of the GDP.
Is Trump planning to cut expenses at all? Other than the bureaucracy, he isn’t planning to cut on any of those huge items so the idea he came up with on Rogan’s show is a pipe dream. Note that I’m not talking here about increasing tariffs, that’s a different discussion. I’m just talking about Trump’s plan of replacing income tax with tariffs. But fortunately he will surround himself with plenty of economists and he may not have made the math but he’ll understand it when they show him the figures. We’re safe.
Nimitz mentions some of the evidence for pre-Maori landfall on NZ, but he says the original population either died off or migrated before Maori arrival.
Doesn’t seem obvious to me how that would be possible.
On the Southern island they were hunter gatherers. The Moriori on the Chatham islands were super-inbred – I wonder if that was why they were supposedly so peaceful, they really shared genes.
Which of the people in this video is you?
Trump never proposed a 70% tariff.
Provide a citation with that number, where Trump states that value in a serious proposal, not an off the cuff, laugh line.
Absolutely everyone (except you) grasps that Trump says things that are aspirational and/or entertaining. Grim, humourless, over literalism proves that you are trapped by #NeverMAGA cult extremism.
Trump had a line about “EndIng the Ukraine War in 24 hours”. Was that intended to be taken literally? Of course not. It was an expression of optimism. And, in that light, Zelensky has started being more conciliatory since the election results came in.
Trump had an off the cuff remark about “Replacing income tax with tariffs”. Was that intended to be taken literally? Of course not. Everyone knows that unhinged emotionalism is driving you to deceptive strawmanning. What do you get out of inventing nonexistent policy proposals and then attacking them? No one takes your absurd fabrications seriously.
All you are doing is embarrassing and discrediting yourself.
• Have you considered taking a break from posting?
• Or, going elsewhere?
You ranting & histrionics are not achieving anything here… Other than providing comic relief.
PEACE 😇
The law of unintended consequences is very important when making these major fiscal changes.
As a businessman, Trump is often concerned about scarcity. Many of his well known businesses are about making money from exclusivity which is often closely related to scarcity.
However, we are in the time of plenty. Productivity continues to increase. With AI, robots and cheap energy (solar and nuclear as examples) most anything which can be made now will be almost trivial to make in twenty years and in principal should be very cheap. Keep in mind that it is not just that technology is continually improving, it is that the rate of improvement is increasing. AI will likely increase the pace of improvement enormously in many important fields. This supports the idea of “grow our way out of it”, where “it” is some problem we care about.
This accelerating material prosperity raises all kinds of important issues that normal political operators do not understand and probably have not considered. On the other hand, people such as Musk and others in that strata do think in these futuristic terms.
When will we have a hundred people permanently on the moon and how will this change life on Earth?
Have you ever spent any time on a navy ship or in a mine or in a missile silo or on a drilling platform? A permanent state of duress is only possible to survive if you are very hearty and you have been sentenced to the penal colony. People are not going to live on the moon. Maybe condemned prisoners. Maybe.
The investigation began soon afterward. Trump’s lawyer Cohen was convicted in 2018 and the investigation of Trump began soon afterwards.
Sorry, in this country people should not be above the law because they are rich and connected. Chavez would never have been investigated, as Trump was. But no doubt he (and his supporters, like you) would want it not to be so.
You really think that disabled elderly men with personal arsenals are incapable of killing people?
Here a 90 year old man went to a nursing home and killed his wife:
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/manatawny-manor-nursing-home-shooting-chester-county-pennsylvania/4008855/
Since you admitted that this 75 year old was capable of going to the grocery stores and going to church on his own, he obviously would have been capable of getting somewhere with his AR-15 and killing people.
These were his own words, not fabrications:
TO MY FRIENDS IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF IDIOTS: I KNOW YOU’RE READING THIS AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW CLOSE YOUR AGENTS CAME TO “VIOLENT ERADICATION”
“Hey FBI, you still monitoring my social media? Checking so I can be sure to have a loaded gun handy in case you drop by again”
When he learned Biden was coming to Utah, 2 days before Biden’s arrival:
I HEAR BIDEN IS COMING TO UTAH.
DIGGING OUT MY OLD GHILLIE SUIT AND CLEANING THE DUST OFF THE M24 SNIPER RIFLE.
WELCOME, BUFFOON-IN-CHIEF!
“Perhaps Utah will become famous this week as the place a sniper took out Biden the Marxist”
He also had a previous history of waving his gun around and threatening people:
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-craig-robertson-fbi-provo-417bb506bcfdab943bcfa47004e14202
I oppose the killing of innocent civilians. Unlike you, I do not blame authorities for killings that are the result of criminals’ or terrorists’ actions. I blame the criminals for those killings.
You may not be capable of knowing the difference between corrupt and non-corrupt justice practices, given your background. Or you may think that rich or powerful people should be above the law. Like they are in the places that you came from.
But what you call “corrupt justice practices” is simply investigating and prosecuting crimes that are committed by rich and powerful people. Or arresting a well-armed man with a history of waving his gun around who has made specific threats to kill a politician visiting nearby and who has the weapons to do so.
Since the interests of Ukraine and those of the United States are aligned (it is in neither country’s interests for Russia to expand and become more powerful at the expense of Ukraine’s existence), there is no disloyalty. However, Syria, Iran, Russia, and China are enemies and rivals of the USA. You support those, such as Tulsi Gabbard, who represent their interests.
So in addition to trying to remake this country into another Peronist Argentina with touches of Chavismo (Chavismo policies include nationalization, social welfare programs and opposition to neoliberalism (particularly the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank)) where rich politicians are above the law and violent would-be shooters aren’t taken down, you also vote for people who support the foreign interests of America’s enemies and rivals.
Trump nominated the most pro-abortion and anti-Christian person for the position in charge of America’s healthcare. He surrounded himself with people such as the Hindu Vivek Ramaswamy, who wanted to throw Christian people in Europe to the anti-Christian Russian and Chechen wolves.*
Kamala is also nasty in her own way, but she would have been constrained by a Republican Senate. At any rate, both candidates take positions that are detrimental to Christian interests.
Interesting, thank you for posting that.
Ukraine was far and obscure but it belonged to the Polish civilizational space and two Poles were instrumental in the success of the American Revolution. Poles and at least one Ukrainian had been present at Jamestown.
*Of course, we will see if he merely used them to get elected and if he governs differently. There are some positive signals now, such as Rubio and Waltz.
All teasing aside, I agree with your entire post, except that you have a twisted idea of “peace.”
I still enjoy the very earliest, historical cartoons. Felix the Cat is already 105 years old! My very favorites came out of the Max Fleischer studios. Real surrealistic masterpieces: Popeye, Betty Boop and of course Superman. Don’t know whether Betty Boop ever appealed to you, with your pronounced prudish preferences? I’ve outgrown her appeal, but can still watch her with some measure of astonishment. 🙂
Hanania is a pretty repellent person. Here he’s joking around with some guy named Zach Goldberg about potential real estate investment in Gaza and Lebanon:
https://nitter.poast.org/RichardHanania/status/1857145693233950913#m
Even granting that as a Palestinian Christian he may have good reasons to dislike the Muslims in the region, that’s just warped. Elite human capital indeed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/opinion/trump-ukraine-russia-war.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ak4.sPeD.1-BURrYmzdo0&smid=url-share
Pretty realistic imo. Must mean something when “prestige” media start pushing that line.
Touche! Very well stated.
How is that different from the world view of the most demented neocons?
He has a criminal case pending, mostly for claiming that it was Russians&Jews whom destroyed WWII era Lithuanian disastervillage of Pirciupiai, which was burned by Nazis in 1944:
https://www.unz.com/akarlin/open-thread-220/#comment-6005074
There has has to be a vote in parliament about stripping his legal immunity in parliament after election, but allegedly agreed to voluntary do it himself as the condition of coalitional agreement and most likely he will get some criminal sentence after trial.
btw, before those claims he never was interested in Jews publicly, had a political carreer together with Gerard’s favourite Lithuanian politician Paksas and always more or less, but was supportive of RF, so conspiratorial minded version may be about him simply being used as a project in order to make propaganda fuss which will result in bad image of Vilnius in eyes of officially very philosemitic official Berlin and Washington these days, which both has troops stationed there now;)
Good article, and in Sunday NY Times no less…:) They are exploring throwing in the towel, but no specifics on a deal. Scholz was used to break the taboo by calling Putin (he is disposable), others will follow…It looks like they are asking Russia what would they settle for. NATO is definitely out and the 2-4 oblasts, the question is what to do about the rump-Ukraine.
Limbo is a place of temporary punishment for past sins with an opportunity for redemption or miraculous intervention by a ‘savior’. If Kiev fails in limbo next step is a permanent descent to hell. What exactly is NYT trying to say to Kiev? On the positive side, it looks like nobody has the balls to go nuclear or to send NATO soldiers to Ukraine.
Doesn’t sound like a very sympathetic character. I’m surprised his party will be part of the government, given his pro-Russian past.
Scholz doesn’t matter anymore, and Germany should do nothing at all regarding negotiations with Russia, not even as a mediator, because then it would later be used against Germany (“You sould out Ukraine”). Insofar as Europeans will be involved at all, let Poland, Britain and the Scandinavians take the lead and own the results.
I have always considered her a very weird phenomenon. Her head is bigger than her torso (and I am saying this as a person with a very big head.) and also visably deformed in multiple ways. Her mouth is where her chin should be. How can she be an object of sex appeal? I genuinely don’t understand it, but it is obvious she was designed that way and that is why she is famous.
I recall reading some article in my youth which asserted that men would be attracted to the headless torso of a woman (but not vice versa). It reminds me of that.
I could maybe grasp it if she was rotoscoped from a beautiful woman, but she really is too abstract-looking or uncanny valley for me.
Anyway, IMO, it is interesting how you are a fan of all these old cartoons, but I have never seen any sign that you have ever watched any stuff from Japan. You seem psychologically open to appreciating cartoons, but perhaps not crossing any cultural line. Despite your willingness to eat in these different restaurants.
Btw, did you ever watch Johnny Quest or was that before your time? I would have thought it might have appealed to you with its jazz. But I guess it is not very surreal, as compared to some others.
Am familiar with Goldberg. He posts a lot of charts, relating to wokeness.
I am not kidding when I say, I wonder if he is a homo, and that has some influence on it. A lot of his posts seem homoerotic. He could be trolling, but it is a very odd way to troll, IMO.
It seems obvious to me that he cultivates trolling as a way to build his engagement. It must be hard to do data-driven posts. But it is hard not to interpret his stance on Gaza as crass opportunism.
I don’t think any Euros or EU will be involved….damning descent to irrelevance in their own region. If there are talks they will follow from the Istanbul’22, Turkey or other ME countries could be mediators. Possibly Hungary – but that is a long shot.
Scholz is the worst chancellor in decades, sad character who got played. Do you think CDU/CSU will take over in February? Would they keep the soc-dems as a junior partner? When Germany goes with a ‘unity’ government it is an admission of defeat.
Syria is not some enemy and rival of the US.
Its per capita is <$800.
It is a poor, benighted land that I wouldn't even consider taking a vacation in, based on the climate alone, leaving aside the instability.
I would maybe take a vacation in Iran. Parts of it are very scenic.
The U.S. is headed out the door first. You are suggesting Germany follow that example. It would be a wise choice.
Alas, I suspect you will be disappointed. Both SPD and CDU are open supporters of Kiev. Barring something truly unprecedented, the next German Chancellor will be CDU leader Friedrich Merz. Is there any reason to believe that he will advocate disengagement?
PEACE 😇
For Lithuanian ruling socdem party it’s not some kind of taboo, they have a history of making coalitions with such types, but also have a history of politically partly cannibalising them during the course of several years. Guess the cynical hope is to do that again while full litigation will be going on during the course of next few years, also hoping that foreign ado will be somehat supressed and forgotten due to new elections in Germany and post-electional transition in US;)
I agree, Betty Boop is a real oddity even in a world of surrealistic hallucinations. 🙂 My real favorites were Popeye and another Max Fleisher creation that I didn’t mention above, Mighty Mouse. Truth be told, I didn’t really watch a whole lot of Betty Boop (ever) for they never showed many of her cartoons in my neck of the woods. I did enjoy Felix the Cat and watched him almost every day. He was a regular on the Casey Jones lunchtime show, loved his magic bag. Tell me more about Johnny Quest, I’m not familiar with him at all?…
From what I’ve read, the environs around Tehran and going north into the mountainous area is quite interesting.
He was not played. He set himself up for failure from Day 1. The Traffic Light coalition made no sense. FDP and the Greens are wildly divergent on policy objectives. Green damaged the economy. And, yellow constrained spending that could offset the economic damage. Decline was inevitable.
Did SPD get any of their own core policies?
Everyone believes that CDU/CSU will be the big winner.
CDU would be happy to include SPD. Does SPD want to be junior partner? Signs point to “no”.
The SPD brand is in tatters due to compromises under Scholz. The smart political move on their part is going into opposition. That would allow SPD an opportunity to clean up messaging and rebuild with their base.
Without SPD participation, CDU will be left with poor or no options. To have any shot at economic recovery, a massive surge in hydrocarbon electricity is required. Thus, CDU has to keep the Greens out.
If CDU cannot find partners to reach 50%+, how does the German system handle the situation?
PEACE 😇
It was basically an adventure show, where a boy would travel to different locations with his scientist father, his bodyguard, and an Indian boy sidekick and his dog.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Quest_(TV_series)
I think it was popular at the time, but they cancelled it due to high production costs. In the ’90s, I think Ted Turner revived it. The music from the original is highly praised.
I have wondered if the Indian character was created as part of some deliberate Cold War propaganda. To try to bring India into the American orbit, or decrease resistance to overtures to India, or opening the border to Indian migration.
But I suppose I might be overthinking it. The Green Hornet was a character from the 1930s and he had a Filipino sidekick, though I guess one could argue that was somehow political and about American empire.
I was just reading about the show:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Awsumb
It’s very bizarre in the current age to consider there was a time when kids would go home from school for lunch. I think it would be very much a taboo idea now in a multiplicity of ways.
Anyway, it is interesting, how in these older days, it seems like there was more local programming. When radio was bigger, seems like a lot of cities had their own drama or other program. But the phenomenon survived even later, to a degree, with some of these late-night horror hosts like Svengoolie, though that is now national.
Chicago was making a few of its own shows, up at least until very recently. Maybe, still?
There will be incentives to get people out there. Possession is nine tenths of the law, as the oligarchs say.
Plenty of people have been voluntarily sailing around the world on dangerous and boring missions for centuries. Many European colonists went to new lands on very risky terms. With 8 billion people on Earth there will be a few who want to colonize the solar system. If not there will be those who can be talked or bribed into participating.
I suspect it is time for the next version of an East India company. It may have a very long payoff, but in our high standard of living world there are many bored people with a lot of money. The technology exists and with Starship the cost of initial lunar development is manageable.
I remember your saying that Sikh culture is making inroads in rural men. And while I was playing a gig last night in a very rural spot I saw a guy at the bar with this shirt on.
https://www.sikharms.com/shop/swag/shirts
I asked him what the deal was with the shirt and he didn’t have any idea about Sikhs but he likes the guns the company makes.
I thought you’d get some amusement out of that anyhow.
All the greatest blessings to you and your family with whatever time you left, which I sincerely hope is longer than you expect. Thank you for letting us know.
Interesting article. I suppose people such as AP and Hack are the intended audience. It has a lot of painful facts they need to consider while still having the requisite pro-Ukraine slant so there is no reason they cannot absorb the overall message. On the other hand, I think the author is crudely but diabolically promoting the idea that Ukraine should develop nuclear weapons. Somehow she doesn’t want to mention the prior Western moves which directly created this conflict and its intrinsic risk of major escalation to World War 3.
He is an Edgelord. One time he got a high score on an IQ test and he thinks he is going to be a ruler like Baron Harkonen.
Do you think we now have people permanently in Antarctica? That is Wakiki Beach compared to the moon.
What is the longest continuous time a person has spent in Antarctica? Google does not have an answer to this question for some reason. I have known guys who did three months. They were desperate. As in the sort of person Meyer Lansky might trust. Captain Ahab is fantasy.
https://www.inc.com/samuel-bacharach/your-own-private-whale-leadership-lessons-from-moby-dick.html
Kinda like kremlinstoogeA123 claiming that Zelensky isn’t really a Jew, but a Nazi whose blueprint for ideology can all be found in Hitler’s “Mein Kamph”. These guys are all looney tunes that should be put into strait jackets and then put into a funny farm…
Putin supporters are losing it. I noticed a decline in their mental stability after it was clear that North Korean soldiers would be used in combat. They went on more off topic rants and were much more sensitive to criticism.
Ritter hasn’t looked this anxious since he realized he was jacking it to a cop.
Girkin’s DPR associate recently said that Putin was duped by Shoigu and their losses are much worse than they think. He seems to think that Shoigu blew it for them. I’ll post the video later.
That’s hilarious given that it took Putin 2 years to figure out that Prigozhin was right and that it wasn’t such a good idea to hire an emergency services director with zero military experience. Putin really did hire him based on connections and covered him in gawdy medals to make him military looking. Just like an African dictator.
What a country. You can’t make this shit up. Putin’s Jewish chef was ironically his best general and had the best sense of the Russian military. So damn funny. Most of Putin’s Unz fans hate the Jews and yet if Putin had listened to his Jewish chef then they would be in a much better position.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/17/what-have-trump-administration-nominees-said-about-israel-and-its-wars
Great article. Nothing about Huckabee and red heifers. I am presuming that is cockamamie caca unless I find some reliable source material.
There is little mystique to Antarctica and no long term vision for the continent. Besides, I thought access to Antarctica was restricted to protect all the secret bases there, including the alien and Nazi sites 🙂
As for going to the moon, I don’t think it will be tough to find candidates to move there. We have billions of people, finding a few thousand with the right combination of attitude, skills, incentive and pressure to go doesn’t seem difficult at all. I think the purpose will be to stage Earth’s civilization to the asteroid belt, so it is sort of a bootstrap effort which may be paced by any benefits derived from the belt.
As for going to the moon, I don’t think it will be tough to find candidates to move there.
Why would anyone move to the moon?
It’s a spinning rock with no atmosphere and even if we invented some anti-gravity device it would take a huge amount of energy to run it.
Then what? We walk around moon bases and look at the earth? While earth sends up food and supplies? So a supply line?
The US government can’t even afford to send a dozen astronauts into space.
Fortunately, the non-aligned commenters here who are simply against a Western-instigated World War Three will keep our sanity, at least until the ringleaders behind creeps like Nuland and her ilk are held to account. Moreover, we know that the public story of the eventual resolution over Ukraine could easily look strange since it may incorporate behind the scenes concessions which are kept secret.
No doubt Shoigu is a mixed bag and Putin knew this as well or better than anyone. A first order guess is that Shoigu was always there to prevent the military from becoming too powerful, too soon. Wagner was part of this calculation. It seems like a dangerous game since the weak Russian conventional military forces inspired the Ukraine project. However, Putin is the Machiavellian leader with the facts, not me.
I haven’t watched any Ritter video in a while, but your interpretation of his angst (if any) may be backwards. He probably expects Kiev to substantially capitulate during this winter. Once a capitulation is accepted as a fait accompli, general interest in the conflict will drop by a factor of ten overnight. His three year run of expanded fame may end. Then he will need to find a new gig or simply go back to writing occasional nice essays on important anti-war topics as he did for decades.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ufc/article-14092079/Donald-Trump-arrives-UFC-309-Dana-White-Robert-F-Kennedy-Jr.html
I am neither a neocon nor an “anti-neocon” (someone who reflexively just takes the opposite view of whatever the neocons happen to support). That is, neocons do not determine my opinions either way. Nor should they decide the opinion of any normal reasonable person.
Regardless of who says it – do you disagree that Syria, Iran, Russia and China are rivals (at best) and/or enemies (at worst) of the USA?
NY Timers has been pro-Russian for awhile. Ukrainians nicknamed it New Ork Times a couple of years ago IIRC.
Don’t rush it. I guess the Donmeh behind Aljazeera are not ready to start touting the Red Heifer.
I think you are confusing “enemy” or “rival” with peer.
One can be an enemy or rival and not be a peer.
Why would anyone move to the moon?
Agreed. The Europeans are now more irrelevant and powerless, even regarding matters that directly affect them, than during the Cold War. Quite the achievement.
All but certain imo, Merz will be the next chancellor. Exact composition of the government will depend on the election results. If they can do it, they’ll go for a CDU/CSU-Greens coalition (Merkel’s dream come true). But the Greens may not be strong enough for that. So it might be CDU/CSU-SPD again, or even CDU/CSU-SPD-Greens (because “democrats” have to stand together against the Nazis and National Bolshevists from AfD and BSW). In any case, things will essentially continue on the same disastrous trajectory.
Syria is an utterly ruined country that doesn’t even control all of its notional territory. I’m also not quite sure what exactly they have done to the US to earn the label “enemy”. I guess there was some terrorism-related stuff in the 1980s and support for the insurgents in Iraq after the 2003 invasion (after the neocons had essentially sent the message “You’re next on the list”). On the other hand, Syria participated on the coalition side in the 1991 Gulf war. After 9/11 the US also renditioned suspects to Syria, so they could be more intensively tortured there:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/05/cia-rendition-countries-covert-support
So clearly there was some scope for cooperation. To the extent Syria is an “enemy” today (again, pretty laughable description for such a ruined country) it’s so, because the US and its European sidekicks chose to embark on a regime change project and after the failure of that project to continue the attempt to cripple Syria’s economy (and occupy part of its territory in the US case).
Iran, Russia and China are of course much more serious powers, so some amount of rivalry may have been inevitable (especially with China given its unprecedented rise). Still, the current enmity must at least in part be the result of US actions. Even Putin offered a lot of support to the US after 9/11 after all and in his first years in power was clearly interested in constructive relationships.
Congrats on surviving such hefty outages, keeping the faculties intact, and best wishes for your recovery. Had no idea you were poorly.
I always appreciate and learn from your posts here.
The basic problem with your argument is that it essentially boils down to “these countries are irredeemably hostile anyway, so no reason to make any effort to keep relations from getting even worse”.
And clearly that’s not true. I was surprised to learn that Russia until recently still exported enriched uranium to the US:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russia-restricts-enriched-uranium-exports-united-states-2024-11-15/
So it can (and does) get even worse. Possibly up to a total break-down in relations and open war.
Apparently social media confirms that being inhumanly deformed is not a barrier to be considered as having sex appeal.
To be fair the US rendition bases might be (and almost certainly are) in the bits of western Syria where Damascus’ writ doesn’t run.
As I understand it the US are still occupying the oil fields.
” I was surprised to learn that Russia until recently still exported enriched uranium to the US”
It was still exporting titanium, used in all manner of aircraft and missiles, last thing I knew.
But the Ukraine gas pipeline, which supplies parts of Europe with Russian gas, and where the long term contracts are about to expire, surely takes the biscuit. AFAIK Ukraine have been faithfully passing on the Russian gas to European client states for the last two years, and Russia have faithfully been paying the transit fees to Ukraine.
• Any idea who will be calling the shots for SPD?
• If so, do they have a public stance on CDU cooperation?
On its face, becoming a subordinate player to CDU seems suicidal for the SPD. However, parties sometimes do not act in their own best interests.
PEACE 😇
No, that was in about 2001/2002, long before the civil war. The Assad regime back then was initially happy to cooperate with the US against suspected jihadis, and the US was happy to take advantage of Syria’s advanced torture expertise. That only changed after the invasion of Iraq, not because of any love for Saddam’s regime (the Syrian and Iraqi Baath parties had been enemies for quite some time after all), but because the neocons had made it clear that for them the Iraq war was only the beginning of a project to remake the Middle East, and that the next step would be to topple the governments in Syria and Iran. After that, the Assad regime began supporting insurgents in Iraq, or at least turned a blind eye to their cross-border activities (similarly with Iran).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Syria#Extraordinary_rendition,_2001%E2%80%9303
Fortunately, the non-aligned commenters here who are simply against a Western-instigated World War Three will keep our sanity, at least until the ringleaders behind creeps like Nuland and her ilk are held to account.
What did Nuland do exactly? As an assistant to the secretary of state for European affairs from 2013-2017? You do acknowledge that as an assistant she can’t direct department policy?
No doubt Shoigu is a mixed bag and Putin knew this as well or better than anyone.
Shoigu is not a mixed bag. He lacks military experience and should not have been their minister of defense. But that was a lucky break of Ukraine thanks to Putin’s arrogance and refusal to consider the possibility that Prigozhin was correct.
Shoigu comes from a background in emergency services. I am not exaggerating his complete lack of military experience. He has a degree in civil engineering and was not even a low level officer upon leaving college. Putin covered him in military medals after giving him the position. It’s a mobster government.
Putin made a series of mistakes with Shoigu. He didn’t simply hire him. Prigozhin said that Shoigu was intentionally starving him of ammo and Putin didn’t bother to investigate. It took two more years for Putin to figure out that hiring a 911 director for a high level military position isn’t such a good idea.
Putin is a textbook case of a dictator with an inflated sense of grandeur and overestimates his own decisions. Hiring Shoigu shows a contemptuous attitude towards knowledge itself. Putin seems to view officer’s school as a bunch of bullshit that anyone can learn in a weekend. I guess our Westpoint grads are all playing jackass and not learning the lessons of the great wars. I could tell that both Putin and Shoigu were clueless in their initial attacks. It’s like watching 10 year olds play with a massive military. I would have more faith in a 12 year old that has played strategy games.
I haven’t watched any Ritter video in a while, but your interpretation of his angst (if any) may be backwards. He probably expects Kiev to substantially capitulate during this winter.
So you are going to run damage control for Ritter without even watching him? It’s amusing as to you how try to convince yourself that you aren’t ridiculously biased towards Putin and his handful of US defenders (half of which have some type of conviction or sexual accusation).
Ritter isn’t merely anxious over Ukraine. In case you hadn’t noticed he also churns out “Israel is about to be defeated” videos for his fans. His record on Israel is even worse than Ukraine. I think Israel is in the wrong so I rarely bother to correct him in that regard. Israel isn’t the underdog and is clearly better armed than a bunch of Arabs in tank tops. His Israel fantasies are harmless but Russian State media actually used him for a period as the “US military expert” for propaganda. Of course they don’t mention why he is blacklisted in US media.
Erdogan and Obama were big on “regime change”. Trump’s 1st term pulled the plug on that idea, and Biden/Harris kept that stance. Tulsi Gabbard met personally with Assad some years ago. So, there are opportunities to improve relations.
The Senate made it impossible for Trump to achieve a full Syria withdrawal during his 1st term. The total remaining is IIRC less than 1,000 troops. Regardless of the stated mission, their actual objective is monitoring Iranian regular forces and Iranian Hezbollah. Perhaps Trump’s 2nd term will bring this tiny remanent force home.
The biggest issue for Syria is the presence of Turkish and Iranian combatants. These powers have large numbers of forces in theater, and there is no obvious negotiation path to get them to go home. Iranian aggression against Israel is creating spill over in Syria.
PEACE 😇
Douglas Macgregor recently wrote an interesting article on radically restructuring the US military in the face of a looming budget crisis. His advice seems intended for Team Trump. As part of his discussion of modern warfare he lists Ukrainian casualties as 1.8 million (600,000 KIA) and Russian casualties at 125,000 (75,000 KIA).
For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, no explanation is possible.
That’s touching but not an actual explanation for what would be a 100 billion dollar project at minimum to spend on technology that does not yet exist.
In a democracy we actually have to explain why a massive public project should exist. You’re spending the money of others (or borrowed from China) and you would have to explain why we should invest a moon base when we don’t have enough hospitals.
I fully support NASA fans getting together and crowdfunding billions of dollars to watch astronauts drink milk in space. Anyone who thinks it is cool to see milk in a ball can put up their own funds.
Since Scholz is obviously a failure, there’s now talk about making the minister of defense the SPD candidate in the coming elections:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Pistorius
Supposedly he’s the most popular politician in Germany (no idea, why he would be, but then Merkel was popular too).
No different from the Merkel era, when they still achieved many of their evil goals.
Don’t you lose face, or appear paranoid and agressive, if you consider the weak and distant your enemy or rival?
I don’t care for any of Syria’s neighbors. I can’t even fathom, why someone would consider installing a new regime in Syria, in the interests of the American public. Frankly, I am shocked that you care so much for the place, even given the relationship between Assad and Russia, I don’t see how it is remotely relevant to your professed area of interest Ukraine. If anything, supporting Assad probably ties up Russian resources.
Regime change had obviously failed by then, and Trump signed this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_Syria_Civilian_Protection_Act
which is essentially designed to block reconstruction in Syria.
Noteworthy that some European right-wing politicians, most notably Giorgia Meloni, have called for a normalization of relations with Syria. There’s a real conflict of interests with Trump’s approach here.
It would certainly be better, if the Iranians left, but under current conditions Asssad’s regime is dependent on Iranian support. So maybe those conditions should be changed (see above).
Don’t know, if Turkey can be motivated to leave, since for them the Kurdish issue is of overriding importance.
I agree that Nuland was merely the public face of a larger project to attack Russia with a proxy war in Ukraine. The project predates her, but she enthusiastically embraced the effort to execute the Western coup in Ukraine. Keep in mind that her husband is Robert Kagan who is a founding Neocon scholar. I see Nuland’s actions in Ukraine to weaken post-Soviet Russia as part of a shared purpose between the couple.
From what I can tell the early feint on Kiev was well executed. I doubt Shoigu or Prigozhin were behind the strategy.
I have learned a few things from Ritter’s writings and interviews over the years. I share his concerns over escalation and nuclear war. That is the extent of my knowledge and interest.
I don’t think a moon base needs to be a government project, nor should it be.
The SpaceX Starship rocket is based on minor extensions of old technology and seems to be very promising. The economy of scale and design for low cost will make space development much more accessible which was the intended goal. The technology to build a permanent base on the moon exists now. The life-support technology is very similar to what has been demonstrated on space stations for fifty years and on nuclear submarines for sixty-five years.
It is OK to acknowledge that you do not understand something.
The really comical, yet sad part about this is that in his most recent comments, all he really did was just utter dismay at Israel’s brutality in Gaza. Yes, he didn’t phrase it the right way, he went a bit too far, but the point he was making is not very different from how many Americans and especially W.Euros themselves feel about Israel right now. And if I’m not mistaken, even some Western politicians have said similar things. Or at least criticized Israel heavily. And Žemaitaitis was in fact complaining that Israel had struck a Palestinian school that had been built with EU funds. So basically, we’re paying to make the world more bearable, while Israel strikes these places indiscriminately, so Israel makes itself extremely expensive for the world (besides the fact that it was a violation of international laws).
It’s just that the leading Western regimes will try to silence this now. Once again, we, Balts, are held to insanely high standards, when others don’t follow even a tenth of it. Isn’t it cheaper and less stressful to just build a proper military of our own?
The funny thing is that the ICC in fact agrees with this leader of “The Dawn of Nemunas” – the ICC has a war crimes order out for both Putin and Netanyahu. And that’s exactly what he said – “Putin is not the only barbarian out there”. And that Jews inspire hatred through their actions, which technically is correct in the current unfortunate situation. But of course the authorities have to connect it to the whole “historic anti-Semitism” context.
No, we need a smarter and more intellectual version of this guy, alas, populists are incapable of producing that type. And of course the intellectual nationalists, once they get anywhere near power, immediately shut up about all of this. Or are made to shut up.
Micheal Roth, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Bundestag, who was one of the Westerners to lash out at this, is a flaming ultra-liberal who actually was trying to lecture Lithuania about “civil unions” (e.g., gay marriage), if I’m not mistaken. He was not speaking in the name of the whole Bundestag, much less the whole German people, it was his individual stance and he is a radical supporter of Israel (even as the head of that post).
So just because Trump got elected, that doesn’t mean it will be easier to deal with these attacks from Western embassies. The West should take a better look at themselves, they just had a “pogrom” in Amsterdam. Of course, it was no pogrom at all, just Muslims taking it out on Israelis for having killed their kids en masse. Of course, the Jews tried to paint it as if the Euros attacked Jews. They just want the Euros to cover up for the negative reputation that Israel is getting from all those mass killings in Gaza.
Will Trump keep his promise and remove all the rainbow flags from the US embassies? Hahaha, who was idiot enough to believe that? No, they’re going to continue this crap because it is an instrument of influence for them, no matter who the president is. They are hypocrites. Reduce the number of State Department officials, take down the rainbow flags, quit with the rainbow outreach – then I will take my words back.
But, of course, I agree with you is that it is better to calm this down, because it will only be used against Lithuania. And this Israel situation will continue to be very complex.
Those numbers are just as absurd as anything in Ukrainian propaganda. MacGregor is the equivalent of Ben Hodges, total charlatan.
Roth is a homosexual himself, it’s a heartfelt concern for him.
I feel there has been a general decline in beauty on every level of fame.
To be the ugly girl on TV, you once had to be the producer’s daughter (ex: Tori Spelling). But now, no longer.
Oh, and he just announced he’s leaving politics due to “differences within his own party”. He must have been an outlier in his party (SocDems) with such a strong pro-Israel position. So the whole fuss in Lithuania was not even worth it, lol.
Take it easy, sudden death, these conflicts will happen, but the West will not bail on us, too much is at stake. (Re)learn German and make some good dishes for their troops instead, a good roast or something, and everything should be fine. 🙂 Find everyone in AfD who is not strictly pro-Russian and talk to them (informally), it may or may not be useful.
Did you ever read the bit about Monica Lewinsky being one of two girls in her high school class who did not get invited to Tori Spelling’s 16th birthday party?
https://www.ekospolitics.com/index.php/2024/11/race-continues-to-tighten/
It’s weird.
Minorities and non Christians vote consistently more RW than the opposite.
Large European Catholic population perhaps?
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In the summer, Sikhs were 55% Conservative while Catholics were like 35-40.
This is despite minorities being younger & more educated too Lmfao
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I think long term Canada joins America because of this.
The Anglo French population is very European in outlook.
They believe in order even if the laws are immoral.
Also in state action v individual liberty.
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It’s discomforting because I understand American racists very well.
Canadians are like old women.
You ride horses, like fast cars & guns?
The Canadian RW is entirely reactionary & has no vision – literally no one gives a fuck.
I look forward to joining your country.
9th birthday party, even though they were in the same brownie troop? Recounted in the Monica biography? Not I.
Feel somewhat naturally skeptical. Are there really cliques at that age? My gut is that it was fake drama inserted to help sell the book. The show was still on at that time. It had been a very popular show, with females of a certain age. At least at peak.
You’re correct that he’s extremely pro-Israel, but it’s more likely he’s leaving because of his stance on Ukraine. He’s not just a professional homo and Israel supporter, he’s also one of the more vocal pro-Ukrainians in German politics, calling for delivery of Taurus missiles etc., which is at odds with Scholz’s stance. I’ve told you before that the most strident support for Ukraine in the West comes from devotees of “liberal democracy”, who on other issues are opposed to the world view of EE right-wingers, and Roth is a good example for that.
I am gratified that your recall on this arcanum surpasses my own. Thank you sir.
I don’t think a moon base needs to be a government project, nor should it be.
LOL ok moonbeam. By all means petition Musk to build a moon base so humans can bounce around in a fish tank at the cost of billions of dollars.
It is OK to acknowledge that you do not understand something.
I fully understand that SpaceX costs around $27,000 per pound and that doesn’t get you close to the moon’s orbit.
https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-cargo-price-by-weight-2016-6
I fully understand there is no system to extract unlimited water or oxygen while on the moon. Only theories.
I’ve also studied the moon landing and it is far more complicated than launching something into orbit. It’s one thing to bounce around and leave but another to actually build a station. Just because it is possible doesn’t mean it is a good idea.
What I don’t understand is why so many White men look to the skies when we have problems on earth. We don’t have the technologies of the movies like light speed travel. Creating a base so a bunch of nerds can go WHEEEEEEE in a moon can with a view of the earth would be a massive waste of resources. Why not simulate the experience with VR? Sure you can have space dreams but I really don’t see the point when the technology isn’t there. No one even has a solid theory on a new propulsion system. It’s all just wishing and hoping that Star Wars somehow happens. Rockets really haven’t changed much since the 1940s. They still use gyroscopes and burn a ton of fuel to deliver a small load.
But while on the subject of rockets…..
Yes, it’s very clear from his appearance (and manner) that he’s a homosexual. So it’s understandable that “personal is political”, in this case. It’s not a German thing, we have such types, too. As times get tougher, more pragmatic and heterosexual types should take over.
Yes, I’m aware of this – although the position of Pistorius is more than acceptable for EEs (and that’s a position that is consistent among all Euro People’s parties). It’s a big change that I would not have believed in even just a couple of years ago.
As to the leftist liberals, their worldview will run into contradictions as the world continues to be more complex than ever. Michael Roth started his career in 1998, a lot has changed since then, especially recently.
It is difficult to know. I think Macgregor believes the casualty figures and I don’t think he is a charlatan. It would be nice to know his basis for these numbers. They were not central to this article. I suspect the Russian numbers are low in the sense that LPR/DPR militia and national guard casualties may not be included.
Considering the one-sided air war the high casualty numbers for Ukraine do not seem impossible. I think most unbiased third parties accept that the Ukrainian press gangs are real and have been for a long time which implies debilitating losses.
I think Hodges is still doing his job in the sense of a retired general supporting the mission he probably helped create by participating on the information/psychological warfare fronts. That may make him bloodthirsty or incompetent, but not a charlatan, at least from a military perspective. In other words, when he was active duty his job included telling lies; things a general says should not be taken at face value. I think he is still unofficially playing that role.
You are absolutely correct that there are more than enough problems on the ground – more than ever (I’ve been seeing more and more older females on the street, more than before it seems, starting to remind me of Russia in the 1990s – who is going to take care of it?). But the ruling ideology of America now is “techie (pseudo) meritocracy” (e.g., extreme libertarian hyper individualism in combination with procurement from the state budget – so essentially, a type of oligarchy, maybe the biggest that the world has ever seen).
They will trample everyone else and those at the bottom (which is a lot now), will suffer the most. That has already started (with things such as rising maternal and infant mortality after the federal and state abortion bans). The weak always suffer, so in America today, do not be weak. And they will suffer needlessly because there is enough money to take care of them (at least the poor Whites). Maybe Musk could just go to Mars and stay there.
The main potential value of a moonbase is to operate mass-driver weapons to attack Earth. Being tied to the government of a vulnerable country Earthside would be a serious political disadvantage in this endeavor.
Otherwise, I suspect the Moon is oversold. It has potential uses. Astronomy and laser arrays to power breakthrough starshot type missions.
Not sure about minerals. Helium-3 is probably overhyped. Fusion still creates radioactive waste.
Hmmm…. His bio indicates that he was part of the prior Grand Coalition.
Alas, I do not see a definitive article indicating if he learned from that mistake. Or, wants to repeat it.
PEACE 😇
Robert Heinlein was a libertarian.
Elon Musk is a welfare queen.
I did end up getting one datum from my fishing expedition in the Unz Chinks comment thread. This guy told me the little Chinese never invest any money in the Chinese stock market. They buy gold. Advantage America if this is true if you ask me. I still want information on a Chinese stock market index fund if any such thing exists. When I ask google they give answers like “China Region ETF” and when I look at them they have Japanese stocks included. Japanese stocks are radioactive garbage unless you have inside information and I am an outsider.
Pistorius has been quite the proponent of “antifascism” domestically. No idea, if or how that would translate into his position on issues abroad. But he isn’t necessarily that far removed from Roth’s world view.
The moon is one part of the solar system exploration puzzle and does not need to be oversold. Early development of the moon is mostly about being a base camp for development of the solar system. The important products will be oxygen and aluminum.
I am a fan of fusion energy and Helium-3 fuel developments but both are oversold. He-3 may be a good fuel for fusion-powered rockets.
Building a nuclear weapon is much easier than building a lunar mass driver weapon. Nuclear weapons are 1940’s technology.
I know, all mainstream parties / politicians are problematic (except for maybe the likes of Sweden Democrats, but that is on a relatively smaller scale and you guys may not be allowed to have that in Germany). The question for Poland and Balts, is how much they will continue to push for “diversity / mass immigration” through the embassies, NGOs and commerce chambers. If this pressure will go down or not.
The “diversity” issue is not somehow unique to the EEs, even if it is worse in W.Europe, for us it’s just a different angle, deciding how to withstand the pressure. It’s possible to push back intelligently and gently. The problem is these more populist parties don’t have the quality politicians needed to do it.
As to Pistorius, I should’ve added “vis a vis Russia”, but that’s a different set of questions. In the big scheme of things, there’s no difference between all of them, just the scale of who is worse.
Do you know if that deportation initiative, where they were planning to deport illegal migrants who are criminals from Germany, after the cop was killed, did it go anywhere?
Humanity’s technological capability is gradually improving, making many things less expensive and often more practical. Space travel is just one example. Don’t forget space exploration was a beloved dream of the world long before we got trapped in our destructive modern ideologies. Space exploration is as natural and good as exploring the oceans (above and below), climbing the highest mountain or venturing into the wildest jungle.
I have not forgotten about our earthly challenges. Most of the big problems are due to greed and the human lust for power.
The saddest earthly problem is genetic degradation. The explosion of third world population, especially in Africa, is a big concern in terms of quality of life for the world. Less is more.
They deported 28 Afghans in August, who had been convicted of serious crimes (some of them rapists), after lengthy preparations (iirc some Gulf state mediated with the Taliban). Just googled it, apparently it later emerged that individual German states had proposed deporting around 200 criminal Afghans, but apparently that was too much… Each of the Afghans got 1000 Euros as a farewell present, for humanitarian reasons or whatever. Journalists from public broadcaster ZDF (financed by a mandatory license fee payable by every household) later tracked down one of the deported Afghans in Afghanistan, so he could tell his sob story, how the deportation had ruined his life and that he wants to come back to Europe.
These announcements about deportations are just for show, to control public anger after some especially outrageous crime that can’t be easily memory-holed. The reality is that the present establishment wants this kind of migration to continue and nothing ever really changes.
There are all sorts of questions if the cost becomes manageable:
How would 1/6 gravity interact with aging and medical conditions? Falls, broken bones, bad joints… These have obvious upsides.
What would multi-year exposure do. Could it make some medical conditions worse?
If the Moon is much more expensive than Earth, what happens if someone dependent on 1/6G can no longer afford to stay?
Heinlein had a short story, The Menace from Earth (1), that included strap on wings for human powered flight as a key plot device.
PEACE 😇
___________
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth
If Kiev makes good on these attacks I wonder if Russia will begin attacking US reconnaissance satellites in retaliation?
That seems like a natural retaliatory attack since satellites are a very high value target obviously being used to aid Ukraine, but posing no risk of Western civilian casualties. On the other hand, this would be the first Russian step taken down the slippery road to strategic nuclear conflict. The West already started down this road long ago, but this could be the first major tit-for-tat response. It would be extremely dangerous since the West may be likely to escalate in response.
There have been some pretty significant changes.
Digital means a huge cost savings as a lot of mechanical parts can be eliminated.
3d printing eliminates more parts and reduces mass.
Satellite mega-constellations mean that it is possible to stay in contact with a vehicle during re-entry, even during plasma buildup.
Actually landing a booster would have been very difficult/impossible before digital.
that was the government contract. Before reuse.
Go to their website: $6000 per kg for rideshare.
https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/
Rideshare isn’t ideal. It probably adds costs, compared to buying the whole rocket. Some people quote $1500 per kg for the falcon heavy. Not sure if that is the internal price. But it is much cheaper than anything that existed before. Starship could be cheaper still.
Though Starship is really designed for LEO. It is not designed to be a great Moon rocket.
Are the Veggie-In-Chief’s public statements linked to actual policy? Despite the media coverage, it seems unlikely that the current White House occupant can deliver on such an unhinged and reckless scheme. They probably will not try. It is merely a legacy sound bite.
In the unlikely event such attacks are attempted, How many will succeed? How many will be intercepted? Non-stealthy munitions versus S-400 is advantage Russia. This is not Israel using stealthily F-35’s to prove that Iranian operated S-200/300 systems are impotent.
Putin wants to repair U.S./Russia relations. Even if a few inbounds leak, the chances of such over reaction are incredibly slim.
PEACE 😇
State-owned enterprises seem a pretty big weakness.
IIRC, that is one of the problems with VW. State of Lower Saxony controls 20% of the vote.
But SOEs probably are probably not a bigger weakness than DIE, or importing foreign CEOs.
it is easier to shoot down a gravity well than up one. Darkside launch would be difficult to detect.
Besides, rocks are the weapons of choice to use against Earth for many aliens in scifi. Like the elephant-like Fithp in Footfall. Or the Goa’uld in Stargate SG1.
Who knows? Both sides have demonstrated the ability to successfully complete saturation attacks against competent air defenses.
This could be a lame ploy to make Biden look slightly better when Ukraine capitulates in the near future: “Hey, we gave you what you asked for!”
How true is the idea that African street food venders in Paris lock up the food at night by hanging it in the sewer?
Rockets have not changed much since 1970. Everything substantial which SpaceX is doing had been envisioned or demonstrated by then. I think digital control technology is overrated (or at least misunderstood) for many functions. A lot of tasks can be done with analog hardware if the engineers are competent enough. Digital makes the work easier to implement and much easier to change, but probably also easier to screw up.
Well, I thought so, no surprise, just wanted to check. Someone needs to take on the role of following up on these, either in the parties or in the media. It may or may not be possible in Germany.
Anyway, don’t want to add to your burden, I know the cup runneth full already, but the other day I heard about these American DACAs who are planning to self-deport from the US in the wake of Trump’s victory. Guess where some of them are heading? That’s right, Germany! 🙂 All the world’s problems are supposed to be solved by Germany now. 🙂 This is purely anecdotal, maybe it won’t be many, but this was on that person’s radar – not to go back to LatAm, but all the way to Europe… well, maybe they’ll make some good tacos.
Shoigu got heckled at the Zhuhai Aerospace Exhibition, “Шойгу! Где сука боеприпасы!？”
Is it understandable or is the accent too heavy?
A lot of Chinese are resentful of Xi’s perceived pandering to Putin. Whilst most CCP elites hold residence in AUKUS and Japan, and have moved their assets there.
That would be a logical response. And yes, might be the first step towards a direct clash with NATO and possibly nuclear war.
What goes on in the heads of whoever’s making decisions in the Biden administration? Do they feel the world isn’t worth living in anymore because of Trump’s victory, so why not burn it down?
What I find especially crazy is that apparently they’re not justifying this decision with Russian advances in Donbass, where it could at least be construed as helping Ukraine defend its own territory, but rather with preempting the projected Russian counter-offensive in the Kursk region, claiming the alleged presence of North Korean troops is an “escalation” that needs to be countered. Sounds more like a pretext and an implicit admission that the Kursk incursion has been an utter failure.
So essentially the US (and presumably soon enough Britain and France as well) is trying to prevent Russia not just from advancing in Ukraine, but from recapturing its own territory…because otherwise the blow to Western prestige would be too great? imo total madness.
Worth posting this here again:
https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-imminent-russia-us-war/
I think I’ll be off again, no point to wasting time in more discussions. If the world still stands, I might be back next year, otherwise bye and good luck to all of you.
How do the western China boosters and U.S. doom sayers (see Ron Unz’s last China article comment thread) factor this in?
At the dawn of humanity, earthly exploration became a necessity. That same instinct applies to space exploration (and other science).
I didn’t mean to downplay the coolness or validity of the nerdy Moon dreams. And of course the recent economic problems are largely due to Bidenomics and Covid. But how much time do you want to give Trump to improve things? 100 days, 6 months, a year, two years? Maybe it’s no longer possible… but one needs to be optimistic. Drilling for oil might help but that is going to take a long time to start up.
Recently saw a cool video about physics, it’s about a little cowboy who goes to space (it’s good for kids):
For earthly challenges there is sacral music… this is by a contemporary American composer, Eric Whitacre.
There is a difference between being diplomatic, and aping what the enemy or rival has to say. Tulsi does the latter (just like those such as Ritter do).
Syria is a close ally/client state of Iran, whose government is clearly an enemy of the USA, the “Great Satan.”
Iranian people are fine. Many (most?) don’t like their government, and many love the USA. Islam is declining there – lots of people are rediscovering Zoroastrianism or converting to Christianity.
I once met and chatted with some Iranian tourists in Moscow in the mid 2000s. They were visiting from Tehran, they were not exiles. They were actually praising Bush, supported the invasion of Iraq, hoping someone would bomb their own leaders. So in our discussion I was condemning what Bush was up to in the Middle East but these Iranians were supporting him.
Russia is also an enemy. Partially, of course, due to the USA’s own actions over the years. But nevertheless, an enemy it is, and it does not want anything good for the USA.
China is more of a rival.
Why do you think I care so much for Syria? I rarely mention it.
The numbers seem too high. Ukraine probably lost 100 to 250k people and three times that many wounded…small fraction of the estimated 5 million men who left for Europe-Russia. Russia could be around 70k including Donbas people – they already lost 10k fighting Kiev before 2022. Plus 10-15k foreigners-advisors on both sides.
So far it is not a catastrophic war and that really bothers Wash-London so they are forever urging more massive bloodletting. It was always their main goal subconsciously – to clear the land of the damn Slavs so it can be better utilized.
The media let’s it out openly – they are giddy about all the potentially dead Russians – that also means dead Ukies. It is like an evil tick in the Anglo-Germanic consciousness and it will not stop. But without the colossal Ukie stupidity it would not be possible. Trump bothers them because he doesn’t share it – they see it as a ‘betrayal’. This is not a new emotion, the same was true in WW2, in Western settler-colonialism, Anglos in Ireland-Scotland, today in Israel-Palestine. If people don’t understand they will kill them if they can’t fully control them they don’t understand much.
SPD has been in tatters for 20 years, Scholz made it official – possibly permanent. How can they rebuilt? The used to stand for peace and social economic guarantees. They abandoned the peace part and their social policies have been destroyed by market-globalism and open borders-migrants. They are infiltrated by social weirdos and misfits who noisily push idiocies. SPD also abandoned their former base among working class and unions.
You are right, CDU has few options. Greens are warmongering maniacs obsessed with destroying German economy and society – political poison pill. FDP libertarianism is not well-suited to German mentality. And the others are ‘not-allowed’ – what happens if 50% of people are pushed outside the normal political process?
Ok, so you lined your ‘enemies and rivals‘, what now? With their allies – BRICS and the neutral-south – they add up to most of the world. They can’t be defeated militarily and they control over half of world’s productive economy and resources. With the ‘brilliant neo-con’ policies of flipping first Russia and then most of the Middle East into active enemies the Western alliance can’t win. They can only escalate to a total disaster, but they have a lot more to lose if the world disintegrates then their ‘enemies’.
If the decisions you made resulted in this no-win cul-de-sac maybe you should revisit those decisions. Not double-down hoping that the same stupidity will miraculously work if tried harder. Your forlorn hope for ‘color revolution’ in Iran, Russia, maybe China is such a long shot that no rational person would base their policies in it.
The best hope for any ‘revolution’ is to let a country stew in its own shortcomings, stay out of it and wait for the natural evolution take place. To attack a large country and threaten its elites with extermination (the West has basically done that) is the single most stupid chess move. But whatever, you made your bed you will have to sleep in it…what are we down to, 25 million Ukies? so what do you want, maybe 10-15 million? What a brilliant strategy…:)
We have got one interesting development – for the first time in Lithuania relatively strict antiimmigrationist Vytautas Sinica got elected, who won election against traditional conservative candidate in capital city. He has got degree of political science too, even had to do some questionable public stunts in order to become better known. Imho he’s way better than rebranded Zemaitaitis who has never did any peep about about illegal and legal immigration from the eastern side, also is not against civil unions at all, so in this case ironically there’s no much disagreement with that German gay socdem lol
At the start of the SMO, Kiev regime forces were put at 750,000-1 million. Now, its said to be at 330,000 In that same time period, Russia’s armed forces have dramatically increased in quality and quantity.
On the latest idiotic move by Brandon and why it ultimately doesn’t change the eventual reality.
So much for arm chair neocons, neolibs and svidomites.
Of the two, Macgregor has been more accurate. Macgregor’s numbers that you reference aren’t absurd.
Stefanik and Rubio have more fitted the role of aping in an undiplomatic way. For this reason, Gabbard would’ve been a much better choice as UN ambassador as well as SoS.
Presumably some of the initial forces were rotated into civilian life. The current strength including territorials and people in the back is around 1 million, I am not sure how many are active fighters, maybe 300-400k. That suggests Kiev managed to draft around 500-750k people. My point was that compared to the 5 million who left Ukraine it is a relatively small fraction. If this is an ‘existential struggle’ for Ukraine it seems 50 to 75% of Ukrainians don’t share that view.
It was approved few months back, the delay was for preparation and the usual war-time lying. It’s ready to go but won’t make much difference. NATO strategy is to bloody Russians into negotiations. In the process they are killing more Ukies and destroying their country. But if the goal is ‘depopulation’ of Ukraine it is working…
With the emphasis on world travel, reminds me a bit of Tintin that Thorfinnsson turned me on to. Isn’t it about time that he makes his yearly comment? I hope that the family man image that he’s been trying to cultivate is worth giving up the frantic lifestyle of your typical UNZ devotee. 🙂
Not everywhere in the West.
Generally speaking, the far left opposes Ukraine, the center left supports Ukraine but in a weak way, the center right is the most pro-Ukraine, and the far and populist right joins the far left in opposing Ukraine.
Except in places that border Russia such as Finland, where opposition to Russia is nearly universal.
What Indian character do you have in mind?
I merely described who is what.
BRICS is somewhat ambivalent and I see your trick of adding “the neutral-south.”
Most of the people now in Ukraine plan to stay, and many who left will return when the war ends and Ukraine avoids Russian occupation. In the extremely unlikely event of Ukraine being forced to accept Russia’s terms then Ukraine might be down to 10 million people.
There are still some leaving – Russia keeps killing Russian-speakers in the East and South (it just hit central Odessa in the middle of the day, killing a bunch of Russian-speakers). You don’t cry for them as much as you did for the ones in the Trade Union building. Why not?
But other than the outgoing trickle of Russian-speakers created by Putin’s strategy of killing Russian-speakers and making Ukraine more Ukrainian, the current population is relatively stable.
Walking home to have lunch was always a special treat form me, as I not only got to watch the “Lunch with Casey Show”, but I got to spend some quality time with my father, who was quite the good cook in his own right. Besides Casey, the Twin Cities had the “Clancy the Cop Show” and my very favorite, “Axel’s Treehouse”. Back in the day, the Twin Cities was a Mecca for kiddie shows. The airways even included and imported the “Bozo the Clown Show” from Chicago. All of these shows included their own lineup of cartoon characters.
The first microprocessor wasn’t released until 1971.
Musk and Bezos made their fortunes through digital tech. Both relied on mass adoption, for amazon and paypal. Similarly, Paul Allen whose Stratolaunch idea fizzled. I think it is very emblematic of the changes in rocket tech itself.
I very much doubt that the tools were there for the kind of accuracy needed to land on a barge or to be caught by the chopsticks. I am sure they use GPS, though other stuff must go into it.
Look at the shape of the engine revisions. IMO, there is obviously heavy 3D printing in it. Impossible with normal machining. I don’t think those early CAD programs were capable of putting something like that together. And the modeling for the belly flop maneuver. I doubt they could have done that on paper.
The turnaround slow as it is now, would have likely taken much longer, without modern inspection equipment.
Implicitly, their economic model relies on digital tech. Starlink, as well as their customers.
They literally wouldn’t even let us outside for lunch, when I was in high school.
Hadji Singh in Johnny Quest. He wore a turban, and so could have been a Sikh, but I think he was more like an amalgamation of different types of Indians.
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hadji_(Jonny_Quest)
Maybe, I am too conspiracy-minded. But it seems to fit neatly into the political situation at the time.
Why wasn’t he Chinese? Because China was under communist control. Why wasn’t he Japanese? Because Japan was under US control.
Now, India is an interesting place with its own attractions. It might be that it just appealed to the imagination of the creator of the show more.
But we already now that the US was engaged in global political outreach through cartoons beginning early with FDR’s Good Neighbor policy, so I am inclined to believe it was political.
https://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue27/HTML/ArticleLenart.html
I saw a clip of Musk where he seemed to be saying they are working to reduce the amount of 3D printing to get the cost even lower.
My original point was that no new technology was needed for SpaceX. If you think 1970 is a bit too early, by 1991 the DC-X had everything. I didn’t know until now that Jerry Pournelle gives himself shared credit for instigating that project.
If the rocket is highly reusable, the cost per launch is driven by fuel and insurance costs.
They will trample everyone else and those at the bottom (which is a lot now), will suffer the most. That has already started (with things such as rising maternal and infant mortality after the federal and state abortion bans). The weak always suffer, so in America today, do not be weak. And they will suffer needlessly because there is enough money to take care of them (at least the poor Whites). Maybe Musk could just go to Mars and stay there.
I’m surprised by how many homeless you see in small towns.
A lot of White men around 18-30 that don’t know what to do.
I assume a lot of them are from poor families and never found their way. Single parent homes where they were never really valued.
They are not all drug addicts as my compassionate Christian neighbors assume. The drug addicts stay closer to urban areas where they can get cheap drugs. We have these homeless Whites that just sort of watch the world go by. They often have timid personalities and live more like Boo Radley. These are Whites that in a healthy society would have someone keeping them on track. Some men cannot function without a family or wife that helps manage them. This is one of many reasons why “bootstrap individualism” is unrealistic. There is a natural hierarchy of men and both conservatives and liberals assume some baseline of ability that simply doesn’t exist.
Tintin is certainly a good one.
I have made a very superficial study of some of these famous Belgian/French comics because I am always interested to see foreign cultural products, and feel the need to cultivate a greater knowledge of European mass appeal media.
Tintin stands out to me as being somewhat anti-American (though only glancingly) which, IMO, is one of things that makes it interesting.
I thought he appeared a few months back.
Anyway, now that GR has gone back on hiatus, we will have to rely on a combination of A123, AP, and LatW to perform our interpretation of the German political situation.
I believe AP said he went on an exhange to a Gymnasium. And LatW has some mysterious connection to Germany (Erasmus program?), and A123 seems to be the expert on Merkel-Schultz, and the next evil German leader to pull the strings of America.
Mentioning it in the same breath as China and Russia as a rival to the US seems to confer it high status, which implies that you think about it a lot.
There have been some pretty significant changes.
Digital means a huge cost savings as a lot of mechanical parts can be eliminated.
Digital control systems do not remove mechanical parts. They add complexity just as they do with auto engines. They are useful but do not simplify the design.
The basic design of rockets hasn’t changed much. You are burning an air fuel mixture and guiding the rocket with gyroscopes. The V-2 used two gyroscopes and was less complex than a combustion engine. One gyroscope to keep it straight when going up and another to keep it aimed at an angle when going down. The Allies in fact assumed they were more complicated and had radio guidance systems. They actually tried jamming them even though they couldn’t find a radio device.
Though Starship is really designed for LEO. It is not designed to be a great Moon rocket.
That is half the point I was making to moonbeam. It’s still extremely expensive just to get to mid orbit for a short trip. In the 60s they thought we would have all kinds of space stations by now. I actually read a good book on space from the 1960s and they expected daily trips into space by 2020.
Well it’s still expensive to launch a rocket and depends on burning a ton of fuel. Modern rockets still use fuels like kerosene and methane. So it’s 2024 and we are burning farts. Sci-Fi writers assumed some “XFuel” would exist by now and it doesn’t. We don’t have a cost effective way to launch a satellite. We have limited satellite services because the cost remains high.
Very true…no more alligator sized tears from Beckow…I too wonder why? 🙂
If Kiev makes good on these attacks I wonder if Russia will begin attacking US reconnaissance satellites in retaliation?
Never.
I’ve seen talk of them hitting GPS sats but that is all wishful thinking from Putin defenders.
The GPS sats run twice the speed of the earth. So even if you took out a few it would only punch a hole in when Ukraine can launch. They probably foresaw this possibility in the event of nuclear war.
Unless you mean taking out a US spy satellite as an FU. Possible but I don’t see it changing the battlefield. They can probably use private sats as adequate backups.
That would be doable but comes with two major risks:
1. A miss would be a national embarrassment
2. It would really piss off Trump
If Putin does anything it will most likely be against the British. The Russians hate the British more than any other Western country and believe they devised the Kursk plan. Or they’ll somehow kick a Baltic state or Poland. Grid terrorist attack would be more likely than something outlanish. They don’t want to piss off Trump as they are hoping he forces an armistice.
Up to half of the West is also ambivalent based on recent elections. There is no ‘trick’ with the south being neutral – they are neutral and in an all-out-confrontation that would matter.
You and I both know the idiotic Israeli public genocide of Palis (2024!) with open Western support is not helping the Atlantic-West – it is undermining everything they stand for and their inner cohesion. There goes the rest of the world – other than Marshall Islands and Paraguay. (Maybe you disagree, but I thought at least on that, and on Montreal, we agree…:)
That’s pretty catastrophic, wouldn’t you agree? It is not unlikely – something between the current 25 million and that will be the final state. If Kiev starts lobbing NATO missiles deep into Russia, what exactly do you think will happen? Will Moscow call to surrender? Or possibly a more drastic response than what Russia has done so far?
Not at all, most people killed in Ukraine (95% or more) are soldiers – the Ukie soldiers based on POWs are mostly Ukrainian by ethnicity. Kiev is killing Ukrainians, you are fooling yourself – there is nothing stable about going from 50 million people to 25 million in 30 years – that has almost never happened. This is already a catastrophe for the Ukrainian nation.
Regarding Odesa, both are sad. But there is a difference between murdering 49 Russians during peacetime because they demonstrate and hitting a civilian target during war.
We are governed by total POSs. They either had the decision taken but didn’t want a war escalation in Ukraine to harm Kamala, as was rumored at the time, or they want to sabotage Trump’s negotiations.
The fact of the matter is that a US president ordering American servicemen to guide American missile strikes inside Russian territory is an act of war not sanctioned by Congress: one more unconstitutional action of the shady cabal ruling Washington since the rise of the neocons. How can an outgoing president who has lost his mandate order that as a final gift to the world?
It’s not going to change the course of the war so Putin will most likely blink and be forced to humiliatingly eat his words… one more time. Or not. As we’ve just seen in Odessa, missiles can easily cause unpredictable massacres and leave a leader with no choice but to respond.
You seem to forget his most valuable attribute, the ability to uncover which of these German leaders are actually plants of the Arab world trying to increase the number of Moslem refugees into Europe, and thus destroy their own cultural heritage. Perhaps, even behind the infiltration of Ukrainian refugees into Ireland with similar goals in mind?…
Trump Rogan group hug. Skip first 55 seconds.
Two man group hug you say? Yes. When one is as fat as Donald the Fat you can call it a group hug.
No. The idea that a 75 year old cripple who is being monitored by the FBI had any chance of getting anywhere near Biden is dumb. What better way of carrying out a presidential assassination than repeatedly announcing it on Facebook?
His neighbors knew him perfectly well, although being law and order Republicans, like most everybody in that county, didn’t like him much but they were devastated and explained how easy it would have been for a couple of undercover agents to neutralize the geezer without killing him.
I was born and raised in a country where no police department would ever send a special operations team to kill an old cripple for anything he had said and participate in his fantasies of suicide by cop. Much less to present such an ignoble operation as a case of “domestic terrorism” by supporters of the opposition party.
Just from memory, the FBI has lately launched dawn armed raids against at least 3 septuagenarian Republicans: this cripple, Roger Stone and Trump himself. Luckily, a majority of Americans have decided that they don’t want to live in a country where Ukrainian-style dawn execution teams can continue to be sent to their neighbors so, coming from a civilized part of Europe, it’s easy for me to agree with that sentiment. If Trump gets his cabinet choices approved, we won’t see much of that stuff happening anymore. Seethe some more:
Do you mean the idiotic Iranian Hamas 10/7 genocide of Palestinian Jews?
And, the non-genocidal Israeli Hostage Rescue SMO?
A few people have said things, but no action has followed. Every serious country mocks the impotent ICC. Justified self defense by Palestinian Jews has minimal impact on inner cohesion. If the greater Islamic community of nations does not care enough to take Gazan refugees, it is clearly not an important issue for Judeo-Christians.
Bigger rifts are where Populists hold strong hands on remigration and ending the unwinnable engagement in Ukraine. As more Populists win, these rifts will heal.
Trade policy is probably the #1 concern right now. Trump is going to defend America from unfair “free trade” and Chinese market manipulation. There will be some tariffs. The number is not known, but 10-15% phased in over time seems likely. It will not be Mikel’s deranged 70% strawman.
PEACE 😇
The fact of the matter is that a US president ordering American servicemen to guide American missile strikes inside Russian territory is an act of war not sanctioned by Congress
American servicemen are not required to guide the missiles. That was stated by Ritter but it is false.
They’re GPS guided and it takes two weeks to train Ukrainians on how to use them. You can watch youtube videos on how they work.
As we’ve just seen in Odessa, missiles can easily cause unpredictable massacres and leave a leader with no choice but to respond.
Why should Putin be allowed to hit any part of Ukraine with a cruise missile but not the reverse?
These arbitrary rules set by Putin don’t make any sense. There never should have been a restriction on weapons given to Ukraine. They use GPS but then so do all kinds of weapons that are sold on the market. It’s a system used globally by all kinds of devices.
Putin is trying to nuke-extort his own rules into a war that he started. Western countries should have told him to f-ck off at the start of the war. They don’t understand how a bully works.
Luckily, a majority of Americans have decided that they don’t want to live in a country where Ukrainian-style dawn execution teams can continue to be sent to their neighbors so, coming from a civilized part of Europe, it’s easy for me to agree with that sentiment.
It’s Russia that has a long list of dissenters that disappeared or were sent off to camps. Another Zed blogger last month was permanently cancelled.
Your own personal idealization of Trump is hilarious and shows that you don’t really understand him.
What do you think is more likely:
1. FBI raids on innocent people happen less due to stricter standards from Trump
2. The FBI raids Trump’s enemies while Trump laughs from the White House
Trump is vindictive and will remember an enemy from years prior. He was a Democrat for most of his life and is not some minimal government conservative. He can’t be reelected which means he can piss off conservatives all he wants.
Trump only switched to being a Republican when he realized that he could win the presidency against Hillary. He actually fundraised for Hillary when she was a Senator.
Sullivan, Blinken and Biden going out with a bang, claiming they did everything possible for the Kiev regime, while trying to make things more difficult for Trump.
First Korean on drone cam:
I await Larry C Bootlicker’s take on if this is still a CIA hoax.
I only listen to Larry, Ritter and MacGregor on Ukraine because they aren’t in the MSM and therefore you can believe 100% of what they say. They are not at all agenda driven.
Small youtube audience = automatic credibility. No need to fact check. Just a couple White guys you can trust.
I was thinking of a spy satellite, not GPS. If the Russians destroy one with a kinetic weapon there is a good chance the attack will be kept secret by all sides. Satellite watchers would eventually notice the debris so it would be blamed on a collision with an old satellite which had been “lost.” The point would be to demonstrate that all sides are vulnerable.
I suspect Russia wants to delay Trump as long as possible in order to reach a decently enforceable military endpoint in Ukraine. This may include Odessa and the land bridge to Transnistria. Militarily Russia is getting gradually stronger over time, while Ukraine is getting weaker. Russian finances may be a different story, but have held up much better than expected. The main incentive for Trump to end the war is to stop pushing Russia and China together. His best strategy to preserve what is left of Ukraine is to immediately give Russia a deal that is too good to refuse. This would be the basic Russian goals plus everything East of the River along with the land bridge. Russia is likely to take all this eventually anyway so it is not really “giving.” Probably needs to include some western guarantees about no Ukraine of other CIS countries in NATO, codified in NATO legal documents. Anything less than all this is not much of a “deal” from a Kremlin perspective. Since the West is not agreement worthy the Kremlin might still refuse.
If the West offers a less painful, weaker and more ambiguous deal, then the only realistic guarantor of the deal is China or BRICS. That is the last thing the West wants to happen in Europe. Trump may have to offer a very juicy deal to avoid this situation. Ukraine has little say in this and the Neocons will be shamed and possibly disgraced for effectively forcing China directly into the heart of Europe.
Where is the token negro? The internet demands to know. WHO IS DONALD THE FAT’S TOKEN NEGRO?
The skeeza condaleeza is not too old to try out for the part. She is a dyke so checks THREE freakin’ boxes for cryin’ out loud.
Maybe he will give Joe a cabinet position responsible for legalized weed and other drugs which are not yet on the schedule 😉
Do you have any insider dope on Huckabee’s red heifers?
Is this a picture of the new Cabal?
RFK strategically decided to become coloured too for sometime in order that Ramaswampy wouldn’t look out of place in the gang;)
I was thinking of a spy satellite, not GPS. If the Russians destroy one with a kinetic weapon there is a good chance the attack will be kept secret by all sides. Satellite watchers would eventually notice the debris so it would be blamed on a collision with an old satellite which had been “lost.” The point would be to demonstrate that all sides are vulnerable.
I don’t see the point when both sides already know that other could take out a satellite.
If Putin strikes a Western target then he won’t want it to be a secret. He most likely wouldn’t leave a direct calling card but would make everyone assume it was Russian. Like I said a grid attack is far more likely. Or some type of hacking. A utility hacking actually would do it.
This may include Odessa and the land bridge to Transnistria.
I don’t see why he would be given Odessa. They never had a separatist movement and voted for Zelensky.
They don’t identify as Russian and don’t want to under the rule of a dictator.
Since the West is not agreement worthy the Kremlin might still refuse.
The Kremlin refusing a US deal could work in the favor of Trump. Then he could use the old “well I tried” and then let the MIC continue to have record profits. In his first term he buckled pretty quickly when both sides were in agreement.
If Russia destroys a satellite it puts US skin in the game without creating a Western public mandate for World War Three.
I don’t think Russia can secure rump Ukraine without controlling Odessa along with the other ports over to Kherson.
I like the part where Gabbard isn’t touching anybody and nobody is touching her. I hoped she liked the fight. I’ve never been to an MMA live event. Are there usually any women spectators?
I don’t know. don’t think they got very far. It didn’t go up very high – planes fly higher. No cold restart, AFAIK. The commercial plan was for 3000 lbs to ISS level orbit – that’s not a lot. Probably not worth doing, when you consider the maintenance. was cancelled in favor of the X-33 and that didn’t seem to pan out, even though it had an aerospike.
We’ve basically seen these airlaunched rockets fail – Stratolaunch and Virgin Orbit. And that is probably a better concept, on paper. Honestly, I don’t think single stage to orbit is a great idea.
Rocketlab’s Neutron may be an interesting compromise. First stage return with the fairing integrated and a one engine second stage not returnable but without any kind of aerodynamic or structural considerations, so with mass saved.
Didn’t know he was involved either.
It’s a great idea for getting money out of the government. As a market/business it is going to be a very very very long time.
I think space tourism is it for a while. There was always hope for some killer product which can only be made in microgravity but apparently nothing major has panned out after 50 years of trying. WTF are those people doing up there, anyway?
I think the best play is to make a zero-gee porn movie showing how amazing sex is in space. Then the rubes will be lining up for the 100 mile high club. Bigelow worked on this (space hotel, same thing). I don’t know where he left off.
This will come back. SpaceX can now boost up a decent hotel. Then the smaller flyback shuttles can ferry paying customers to and fro. The Soviet MAKS spaceplane boosted by the An-225 was a good prospect for the space taxi.
Only Fans Do it in Orbit
Space is for Lovers
etc.
A key first step for investigating the FBI is denying them the capability to interfere: (1)
How many weasels will quit or retire before they can be investigated?
With luck, there will be a significant amount of self purging before Trump is sworn in.
PEACE 😇
___________
(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/18/fbi-whistleblower-says-fbi-intentionally-blocking-security-clearances-for-trump-officials/
Thanks for sharing that – I looked at him and he looks great, exactly what we need. He wrote a good and intricate explanation of the scandal and how to handle it. He’s still young and hopefully will get into Seimas in the future, the municipality is a good start and a good first success.
I like that he is smart but not too cerebral (even though he has a PhD in philosophy, wow!) because he can stay focused on the practical result (and he doesn’t seem like a snob which some of these intellectuals can be). Btw, we have this type, too, and they merged with a long standing nationalist party and thus got into the parliament, and they were accepted into the coalition, but their results are not that great because they have assumed a junior role and can’t really do much against the larger liberal parties. Unfortunately, the number of votes they get is stagnant, and not that large, barely enough to get into the parliament.
So how many would you say are in Seimas right now who could oppose the immigration quotas – or at least keep them at a conservative, low number (the current number is high)? Is it even Seimas that decides this quota or is it purely the government’s decision?
I looked at the program of Dawn of Nemunas – it doesn’t pass as a nationalist party by my standards at all, just some vague “oppositionist” type of statements. But the party members themselves might be somewhat conservative, especially if they have a lot of practicing Catholics.
As opposed to anonymous crank commenters offering nothing to substantively counter them.
Apparently, they just renamed a lake in Australia after one of the Sikh gurus without consulting anyone other than Sikhs, who lobbied for it.
https://www.amren.com/news/2024/11/residents-furious-as-victorian-lake-renamed-after-sikh-founder-guru-nanak/
Yes, there are some young White men, too, this is quite sad. It’s such a waste and their situation could be improved with just a few steps. And it’s not just a family thing – I’ve seen young guys who struggle who are even from rich, intact families sometimes, seldom but it happens. However, they will still have a support system – a mom who will pull them through (unlike for those in poorer families). The pattern in the affluent families is that the parents who have been successful themselves are real hardasses with insane expectations that these boys cannot meet or keep up with (even if parents pour a lot of resources into them).
But to see men especially middle age men in that condition is “normal” or common, veterans, etc – they can go ask help from Trump and Vance now whom themselves might have so admired (even if not all of them).
When you see women, though, that’s not a good sign. I saw three over the last few weeks, which is more than before (although it might be a coincidence). I suspect this might be due to inflation as some more could’ve fallen through the cracks in the past few years. They are victims of the circumstances, and then of course there are Native American women (which is a total disgrace but also not surprising). There are services available for them but it could be that they don’t use those services in a proper way, because one has to show up to their point of contact and follow a routine and there are expectations, but they want to keep their “independence”.
It’s sad to watch since the town itself is wonderful and doing quite well overall. But these problems persist, and our county is not that well funded, although there are rich areas here as well. Population is growing by 1% a year. It might be that some of these incoming people from Cali or from India, have pushed some of these natives out of their homes. 🙁 I’m just guessing.
Agree. The fentanyl bums are a separate category. It is a kind of a lifestyle for them. But they too can be considered victims in the current circumstances because these drugs shouldn’t even be in the country and a lot of drugs now are apparently laced with fentanyl or some other type of really strong opioid (which is stronger than morphine or even more harmful in other ways). Apparently the Biden administration was able to tackle fentanyl at least somewhat, because I heard that they managed to reduce the amount coming from China – I have to check if this is the case. If this is a recent development, the results will be felt a bit later down the road.
These compassionate Christian neighbors… I dunno, lately I’m having doubts as to how “Christian” they really are.. some of them seem too cruel to me. This attitude of blaming the individual may have had some validity a few years back, but probably no longer, when these external pressures on the American society have increased so much. If housing and groceries go up by this much in just a few years, with so many South American migrants coming in simultaneously – that’s no longer the fault of the individual, for not being able to not slip through the cracks. I’m having doubts that Trump and Vance can alleviate this. Even if they deport a couple of million of illegals (the ones who are not in agriculture because if they touch those the food prices will go up even more).
I agree. But American men made their choices. Except for the immigration which they were not asked about and which is not their fault.
Syria is in the news a lot and is a close ally of Iran, but again I hardly ever mention it.
Can’t one make this argument about many hostile regimes, though? For instance, as Goddamn awful as Nazi Germany was in 1939, right before World War II, it absolutely paled in comparison to what Nazi Germany became during World War II, once the West boxed Nazi Germany into a corner by committing to its destruction. Had the West refrained from ever military opposing Nazi Germany, chances are that there would have been no Holocaust, at least not on the scale of real life. Mass expulsions of Jews from Europe, sure, but likely no mass murder on the scale of real life. Even Goebbels explicitly wrote in his diary that the Holocaust would have been impossible during peacetime.
Perhaps you miswrote, when you wrote: “With their allies – BRICS and the neutral-south”
It implied that the non-BRICs neutral countries were also opposed to the West.
It’s certainly not helpful. Provoking the Israelis (and them going all the way as they did) was a smart move by Hamas’s sponsors.
Yes, a Ukrainian surrender would be catastrophic. That’s why most Ukrainians don’t want to surrender.
In order for that to happen, Moscow would have to establish control over Kiev, Zaporizhia, Lviv, etc. etc. That is extremely unlikely, basically impossible.
Once there is a secure peace, the population would become greater than what it has been during the war (25 million?) because many of the 10 million or so people who left would return.
It would further disrupt Moscow’s military plans, further undermining any hopes that Moscow would win.
Neither side will surrender. As I keep saying, the most likely outcome is that Moscow gives up hoping it can conquer Ukraine and establish a demilitarized puppet government (or annex it outright), Ukraine will accept it will not get its 1991 borders back. Western aid to Ukraine can help Moscow come to terms more quickly.
Remember that the UN has not counted the 10,000s dead civilians in Mariupol.
Of the civilians killed, most are Russian-speakers in the East. Some are ethnic Ukrainians, others are ethnic Russians. They are the former Yanukovich electorate. Putin is killing them, or forcing them to leave Ukraine because he is ruining their cities. These people are least likely to return to Ukraine when the war ends because their cities, near the Russian border, are least likely to recover.
You used to whine about me when I suggested that these Russian-speakers should move to Russia voluntarily if they don’t like Ukraine’s language laws so much (they obviously didn’t mind them too much, they chose to stay). But now, when they actually do leave Ukraine – because Putin is bombing their cities and killing them – you mysteriously don’t complain about him. Funny, isn’t it?
The soldiers are probably a mix. Patriotic volunteers probably skew Ukrainian (although Azovites are Russian-speaking Easterners), but if Sean is correct the conscripts who form the bulk of the killed Ukrainian soldiers tend to be from the East – Russian-speakers.
I meant currently. Most people who are in Ukriane now want to stay – those who wanted to leave, have left. Except for people in the East who are leaving as their cities get bombed.
BTW Western Ukrainian cities have seen their populations grow; not all refugees leave the country.
And that’s why they came to his house to arrest him.
One who had said he would kill them, barricaded himself in his house and refused to leave when told to do so, and who was allegedly pointing a revolver at them when they shot him.
You sound like an apologist for the BLM “victims” of police shootings like Michael Brown.
Sorry, where you come from justice and law and order may be selective, but that’s un-American.
Just under 50% of Americans did not vote for Trump because they wanted to protect the lives of armed would-be killers.
Some Democrats may have done so, though. And you, apparently.
Another brilliant slam dunk on the establishment likes of Jack Keane:
“Had the West refrained from ever *militarily* opposing Nazi Germany, …”
(Corrected typo.)
Dance Party.
Spending on SLS is like Hosni Mubarak level stuff, IMO. Cost is totally incomprehensible when you consider they already had the dusty, old shuttle engines sitting in a warehouse.
Trump will cancel it for sure. Or probably for sure. If they catch the booster again tomorrow, definitely for sure.
Saw this in one online source today:
“In the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election, it appears Americans are gearing up for a new wave of family planning. Planned Parenthood reported a dramatic increase in appointments for various birth control methods on November 6, the day after the election.
IUD appointments skyrocketed by 760%, while birth control implant appointments rose by 350% compared to the previous day. Most strikingly, vasectomy appointments saw an unprecedented 1200% increase.”
The ones getting these vasectomies are most likely conscientious (e.g., more intelligent) younger White and Asian guys.
As opposed to anonymous crank commenters offering nothing to substantively counter them.
Well actually before Larry’s blog post I provided a link showing evidence that North Korean soldiers were in Russia.
Larry clearly works from a bubble and didn’t even get the original source correct. The original report was from the South Korean government and not the US or CIA. Larry however went on a rant about how it is clearly a CIA hoax that was put out by the US government.
So you and Larry are both wrong…….again.
That’s all in my history, feel free to verify.
Maybe don’t put so much faith in a bitter boomer who is clearly biased towards Putin and isn’t interested in expanding his sources. He just wants to sit on his “CIA expert” laurels and blog from a comfy chair. He is too lazy to use Google to even get the source correct. That’s too much effort. He just wants to fold his hands and blame the US.
When did alt-right attract so many of these Blame the US First types? That used to be more of a liberal trait.
Oh and over at MOA they still don’t believe it is true. Someone can post the link if they have an account. I don’t post there or any website where they censor in favor of a narrative.
Felix the Cat actually started out as a pickaninny character, but he didn’t go over well in the South, so they turned him into a black cat. Black things being easy to animate, back then.
Very sad that a lot of the early films of him were destroyed. I was watching one and it just cutoff before the ending, which apparently is lost.
How was it smart? Objective facts are 100% the opposite:
• Iranian Hamas has massive casualties and is fully cut off from resupply. Its foreign leadership is being expelled from Qatar.
• Iranian Hezbollah has suffered extreme leadership, command, and control losses from Operation “Grim Beeper”
• Iranian regular forces staged a long range attack that was a near 100% failure
• Palestinian Jews operated F-35I’s freely in Iranian airspace. Severe damage was inflicted on Khamenei’s nuclear weapons & missile programs.
• Iranian UNRWA is being shutdown in Muslim occupied Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. No more dole for Iranian partisans on the ground.
The past 13 months have been an EPIC and humiliating failure for the Iranian theocracy.
PEACE 😇
Where the proof of Norks in Kursk and/or former Ukrainian SSR territory? So what if they’re in other parts of Russia besides Kursk in the hundreds or even thousands.
Hence, you failed to prove him wrong.
Have continued on my Harry Harrison bender and read Deathworld 2.
I enjoyed it, but would only rate it 3/5. The planet itself was not really interesting, which I felt was kind of a letdown, as I was expecting something in that vein.
But it was kind of interesting for how politically incorrect it treated slaves, and also for its discussion about relative morality.
The idea of different clans maintaining a monopoly on different single technologies, by keeping them secret, creating a backward world seemed somewhat unrealistic to me, but a thought-provoking metaphor perhaps.
I feel like a lot of the plot was throwaway or cliched but serviceable.
You could save a lot of money if you just slowly read and re-read the first three dune books until the bindings fall apart. Science fiction fans don’t need anything else.
Also Felix the Cat is ridiculous. Margot Fonteyn videos man.
I fully agree on Dune.
You had mentioned a bit upthread about the Trump opposition biding their time to unleash their fury.
I’ve been wondering how this is going to play out because I’ve been very interested to see how the liberal blowback will materialize. It seems like despair is the dominant theme so far among the faithful though this will likely to change once Trump tries to do concrete things.
It’s been notable to me that NPR has been extremely moderate and doing a lot of soul searching and examination of where things went wrong. It seems that opinion makers on some levels are pulling back on the crazy, but I’m not sure this will fly for the true believer Democrats who now really believe all the propaganda.
It was smart for the Russian sponsor.
https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-visits-its-closest-friend-moscow-questions-surround-russias-knowledge-involvement
Our friend Felix obviously had a long run, and as you point out had a certain evolution of his character over time. The episodes that I watched as a kid were produced in the 196o’s and I really got a kick out of his magic bag. In a way, it was a kind of precursor to the holodeck used on deck of the star trek voyageur, a fan favorite that served as the inspiration for several great episodes. Would you happen to know how and why the magic bag came into existence?
BTW, my comment #907 was written in a sarcastic fashion and I don’t know whether you realized that before you signed on with your “Agree”? 🙂
Adds more depth to the phrase:
ROTFL… Your comment is quite humorous:
• Iranian Hamas does not sponsor Russia.
• Russia has no direct connection to Iranian Hamas.
PEACE 😇
They are both Axis Upheaval. Op to Axis Upchuck.
So what is the deal with Huckabee and the red heifer? Mr. Unz wants to know.
AP blames Russia for everything, including hair loss. It was an obvious troll post.
Everything I know about the Ginger Cow… I learned from South Park.
PEACE 😇
We all know what went wrong. Inbred idiots have the bulk of the money and power. That isn’t going to change and no amount of soul searching will find a fix. Some galaxy brains will have wonderfully bizarre brainstorms about who to blame.
Willie Brown’s skank ho ain’t gonna have any more friends than Diddy is gonna have. She will fade away imagining what could be if she wasn’t burdened by what is here and now.
NPR still has a good deal of crap C/O people like Marie Lousie Kelly doing a puff piece with a Dem establishment Congressman exhibiting nouveau McCarthyism towards Tulsi Gabbard.
Much like this PBS aired shit show:
You don’t appreciate MLK? Try Michael Ramirez on for size:
Here’s one that kremlinstoogeA123 should appreciate. It substantiates his storm troopers for Muslim jihad theories focused on European Christians, all orchestrated by Klaus Schultz. Can you pick out Tulsi in this classroom?
s/b Klaus Schwab above leading the classroom. 🙂
I liked the first one, but felt let down by the sequel. Talha, who was an old commenter here, was a superfan.
So far, I have only watched four of his very early shorts, including one that was incomplete. Uncle Tom’s Crabbin’ I found to be somewhat woke, as it was sympathetic to slaves and against the overseer. (I understand why the South reacted unfavorably to Felix in his original iteration as a pickaninny.) But I enjoyed Japanicky and Eskimotive and No Fuelin, which is sadly lacking the last two minutes or so.
I feel there is something interesting about these films from the 1920s. It is like seeing foreign films. And I also believe that there is something artistic about them, like a special appreciation for the surreal. Georges Méliès but it also shows up in these cartoon shorts.
Maybe, it is just the black and white photo, but I think she is too Brazilian, by which I mean >0%.
I wonder…this latest (lame duck) president’s very dangerous decision on Ukraine must have been approved by the president elect, yet powerless. Why, why are these idiots trying to ruin the good performing Wall Street and enjoyable European holidays?
And for what, for the green midget and the most corrupted country on earth. This unwashed green midget is propped by some hidden power to become a world leader. Just recently he ordered the German Chancellor not to call Kremlin because he wanted it that way, but reminded him to send some more breadcrumbs
I suppose that it would have been more appealing for you if the overseer had been portrayed as a more enlightened sort, spreading the virtues of the higher civilization that he represented and the slaves more appreciative of the benefits of their incarceration, oops, I mean of their enlightened educational experience?
And what was the result of that Scholz call? Nothing, but immediate massive rocket strike on UA by Putin (also severed undersea cables by some yet officially uknown forces), so it was RF that began latest escalation in air at least, despite the contact this time and even before ATACAMS strikes were authorised.
tbf it was bit of damned if do, damned if you don’t stuation for Sholz, because various derers out there would be immediately shedding rivers of crocodile tears due to allegedly “forced” escalation by RF because West didn’t want to talk lol
The President Elect has no authority in the U.S. system. No approval needed or requested.
Presumably “Team Biden” is doing this to help Joe’s legacy and/or make things worse for Trump. The fact that it could accidentally create escalation is an insane risk the outgoing folks are willing to take.
The lengthy period between election and inauguration is locked into the Constitution. Therefore, the lame duck period cannot be readily changed. Perhaps this folly will lead to an Amendment, but I doubt it.
PEACE 😇
How do you know? The green midget dismissed parliament and political opposition and media, there is no real voice of the public, but somehow you know what they want. Die by thousands?
The ambitious Kiev leadership wants to defeat the nuclear power but has absolutely no ability to do anything without outside warmongers help and their deceiving promise of paradise in Ukraine. This is not Kosovo domino.
West, in fact, did not want to talk when not inviting Russia??? to a peace plan concocted by their leader the green midget of Ukraine. You must recall the despicable arrogance.
Have never seen one of these. But it surprises me a bit – I had thought that you liked the surreal – but this version was toned down, I think?
All I know is that Joe Oriolo created it for the TV version in the ’50s. I can imagine prosaic reasons, like merchandising or trademarking, or that it was an easy vehicle for bits. Though, it is also possible he was influenced by childhood fairytales.
The magic bag is an old trope from folklore. Known under the title: type 569. Probably goes back to PIE or before.
https://fairytalez.com/blog/its-in-the-bag-enchanted-bags-sacks-and-knapsacks-in-fairy-tales/
The Irish hero Finn McCool had his own magic bag, made of a crane. I thought it was a funny idea, as a crane seems like and odd and incongruous bag – maybe, like a purse, but if it is magic, then it is powerful, and you would want to carry that purse.
One of my favorite fairy tails is Billy Duffy and the Devil, which involves putting something into a magic bag.
https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Welsh_folktale_20.html#gsc.tab=0
I never figured you for a Captain Janeway fan.
There aren’t many retro video game fans here I fear, but I always did like the old boxart of the Sega Mastersystem, which many deride as cheap. The grid was kind of like the intersection of the imagination with technology.
https://www.psychoandy.com/2021/07/the-complete-insanity-of-sega-master-system-video-game-box-art/
Sometimes, when I feel like I am laughing with the joke, and in a congenial mood, I will hit “agree.”
Mr. Hack, I am no particular fan of slavery, but really you must understand these things are very politically fraught.
In the 1920s, they may not have understood this very well, but this kind of thing led to the current political situation, where the group most responsible for uplifting the material state of everyone is the most heavily villainized, discriminated against, and even targeted for abolition, through historically-unprecended invasion.
Very seldom is an honest picture of American slavery depicted. It was a much gentler sort than that which existed practically anywhere else in the world, and especially Africa, where human sacrifice was not unheard of.
But of course depicting it like it actually was has become too taboo now. Song of the South found slavery too taboo to even depict – it is postwar. Though the blacks in it are depicted sympathetically and even magically, the film has still been banned for being politically incorrect by showing them speaking in dialect in being in a low position economically.
After the SMO wraps up, a notionally independent Ukraine may fit Putin’s view of RusFed pretty well. In other words, Russia may not want to conquer Ukraine, but to integrate it. The Ukies are Slavic and part of the core family. However, they are not too Russian, at least in their own minds. What’s not to like? In other words, they do not have to be fully Russified to return to the fold. The Ukies simply need to calm down and be deprogrammed.
Attempting to marginalize Russian speakers was a huge mistake. Working to drive out and then genocide them, well that was just mean and retarded.
Nonetheless, RusFed may want Ukraine to keep most of its imagined distinctiveness, reframed in a non-militant form.
She was English. The cottage industry of retrofitting Africana into British history might pay you a reward for this hypothetical datum if it panned out. Perhaps you are imagining whisp wils?
Margot Fonteyne was what Miss Poland and Miss Kazakhstan and Miss Romania might aspire to be. A singularity of smoking hot.
It’s cheap slander to lump Gabbard in with Cocksuckerberg and Buttfuck. Trudeau, Newsom, and Macron are a different species.
Solid information on this topic would be valuable. This is hot air. One thing which should be readily accessible is her smell. Have you ever gotten close enough to an Indian woman to get odor disgust? When she spent eight hours in Rogan’s room did he get a good whiff?
Single one so far lol – aforementioned Sinica, who became new parliament official member several days ago. Previous Seimas set an upper boundary of legal immigration, which is roughly 40k a year, but government in theory can set lower yearly quote as well, but somehow have little hope that socdem led new government will do anything to lower the numbers.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-20/russia-says-ukraine-fired-us-made-missiles-at-military-facility/104621878
Two more months of the Biden team throwing their last chips onto the table. Pray for a few thousand Houthi drones stirring up the Tel Aviv?
Her father was English, and she was born there.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margot_Fonteyn
That is a quarter Brazilian. Maybe, her grandfather was of pure Portuguese blood? It is possible, but she seems pretty dark, IMO, for that and 3/4 British and Irish.
I have always considered Iberian women top tier myself. If DNA wasn’t 99% crap science you might find they aren’t any more African than Swedes but perhaps maybe one little epsilon or delta measure.
Where the proof of Norks in Kursk and/or former Ukrainian SSR territory? So what if they’re in other parts of Russia besides Kursk in the hundreds or even thousands.
Hence, you failed to prove him wrong.
I posted a cell video of Koreans in Russian. They were in combat gear and had huge backbacks which suggested deployment. I posted that link in Larry’s thread and you can go see it for yourself. You are the one that is wrong and didn’t have the wisdom to drop the subject.
Putin never denied they were being used in combat. Larry doesn’t seem to know the dictator he admires. Putin will jump at any chance to discredit a CIA claim. He was quiet and the claim was not made by the US. It came from South Korea.
I’ve recently posted a Funker link to one being killed by a drone.
So Larry was wrong, stop trying to do damage control and move on.
Maybe try using multiple sources other than a couple pro-Putin boomers that speculate from comfy chairs and ignore combat videos posted to independent websites like Funker. Just because the MSM lies doesn’t mean it is a good idea to isolate yourself to a smaller scale echo chamber. The fact that you are still trying to claim Larry is still right shows your own inability to verify something that is old news and not denied by the Kremlin.
How do you know? The green midget dismissed parliament and political opposition and media, there is no real voice of the public, but somehow you know what they want. Die by thousands?
Polls have shown support for the war since it started.
Pro-Russian sentiment was never strong outside of DPR/LPR.
Their presidential election started with a pro-Russian party candidate and he was rejected.
Ukrainians don’t want to be Russian and Putin’s invasion did not engender them to the idea.
Putin’s invasion has caused a permanent split between the two countries unless he somehow takes it all. Killing and blowing up buildings doesn’t warm up a people to changing their identity.
A free Ukraine will not only be culturally separate but will take a different genetic path due to all the Western contractors that will enter the country and take Slavic brides. Putin’s war could inadvertently create some new British/German/American business hegemony in the cities. The cities will be crawling with Anglo contractors and the Slavic women are better than what they are used to back home. Well for Britain and America anyways. Americans and Brits will be all over that sweet, sweet Slavic pussy. Fat sweaty Brits spreading their seed in Slavic territories. Kiev could become the next Prague with Anglos from all over the world coming to seek a better life. Uncle Sam will spread those contracts just as Anglo men spread those Slavic girls. Probably not what Putin imagined but that is the gamble of war. Hitler also didn’t imagine blowing his brains out as Soviets shelled Berlin.
Kiev could become the next Danzig or Prague but with English as the default business language. A complete win for not just the MIC but US industry in general.
Take that Jews! – an idiot
Many Spanish women are quite pretty. I appreciate especially the lighter-skinned ones, with blue eyes.
I don’t feel that I have a good idea of what a Portuguese woman looks like. Where I come from some use it synonymously with Brazilian. (While others used Spanish to mean Mexican.)
With Brazilian admixture, I feel like I have a hard time identifying what it is. Is Jordana Brewster part Latino or black? Since she was in the movie Fast and Furious with Vin Diesel, I am inclined to say “yes.”. But it is not necessarily so.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordana_Brewster
?…
The only “solid information” that you’ve provided regarding Tulsi is that she’s the source of some “disgusting odor” that she propels from herself. Apparently, you’ve been in close enough proximity to her and speak from experience? Others, including some very talented political cartoonists, may have other reasons for knocking Tulsi. So far, I find your reasoning to do so to be on a lower and cruder basis. 🙁
Apparently the only Indian women you have ever gotten near enough to deeply inhale their essence is none. They smell terrible.
I once had a Chinese girlfriend who told me at the bitter end (the point when they usually curse you as a loser) that I smelt terrible. She was lactose intolerant in the extreme and I always have eaten much dairy so I figure she was probably right and that was why.
We need a reliable Chinamen to tell us who smells worse, Euros or Indians. I would be very surprised if it’s Euros though obviously that would be possible. The one thing everybody seems to agree on is Africans are the stinkiest. Chinese smell better than the other two but that sure isn’t anything to brag about.
We need a reliable Chinamen to tell us who smells worse, Euros or Indians. I would be very surprised if it’s Euros though obviously that would be possible.
Well some Europeans like the French aren’t into bathing. I think it is even more common now with the eco mentality. It’s also more expensive to shower every day in some areas.
But I bet he would pick Dot Indians.
The main problem isn’t their body smell. It’s when they start cooking. Ugh. I talked to a guy who worked at Microsoft and he said it nearly drove him to quit.
This is one of the main issues I had with Asian girls. Their houses stink from all the cooking. They all have this lingering smell from who knows what. They cook a lot of soup and don’t open the windows when they fry fish.
Asian food can be pretty gross when it isn’t Americanized. They will throw random fish parts in some soup and call it lunch. It is less controlled than Westerners realize.
There is some poster at Sailer’s blog that always goes on rants about how all White guys would marry an Asian if they could. The Japanese girls are pretty nice but…..no. I’d rather take a mean White wench than deal with “random fish part soup” and the smells. In fact I would rather take a White woman that is into S&M over having to sit through another Asian family dinner. Their extremely boring conservations are maddening and the food is awful. I would literally rather be beaten on occasion.
No, the socdems could in fact make things much worse, they should be resisted if they try. That number is already too large.
Philip good luck I will be wishing for your recovery.
The Eastern Orthodoxy (majority in both countries) and Slavic ethnicity will unite them. You are right about the hateful split of the present Kiev leading clique, but that is temporary work of Nuland’s brethren which will not last for much longer. They do not give a damn about the Eastern Orthodoxy.
Rejected by the Washington sinister players meddling. Remember the Yatseniuk (Nuland’s boy) grab in the parliament by the true Ukrainian member.
Israel is more invested for cows’ milk and related products, like cottage cheese. They invested a lot in the technology for cows’ milk farming for state building, as a core part of the diet of the population. Although maybe not top-down, as Tnuva was developed by collective farms.
Feta is a Greek sheep milk product.
Israel uses a kind of informal but very strong import substitution,* so they build local versions of almost every product, which increases the price of groceries.
It’s not just every food they import substitute, but they have even small factories producing plugs and phone chargers.
Israel even produces local every kind of Russian pork sausage, as an import substitution industry, instead of only important sausage from Russia.
Some of the local produced products are kinds of special like chocolate which doesn’t melt in hot weather. There is some kind of chemicals or technology in the local chocolate to prevent melting.
If Israel feta has some kind of technology, which you can’t discover in the Greek feta cheese? I’m not sure.
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The culture is addicted to technology and capital intensive agriculture.
This is a culture from the enlightenment. I guess, it could probably viewed as “settler-colonialist” compared to traditional Ottoman agriculture.
But it’s universally the modern side, in the argument between traditional and modern in agriculture and also food.
This isn’t specifically European vs non-European. There is also a spectrum within Europe between traditional and modern for agriculture and food.
An example is the Israeli caviar. They make it in an industrial kind of factory.
https://karatcaviar.com/en/en/
It’s a modern and industrialized way to make caviar, but it would be also anti-traditional in Russia.
–
*The import substitution policy is created by the import cartels and import regulations and funded by higher prices for consumers.
The Eastern Orthodoxy (majority in both countries) and Slavic ethnicity will unite them.
Boy is that wishful thinking.
The Poles still hate the Russians and they all worship Christ.
The Russians still view Eastern Europe and especially the Baltics as belonging to them. Russian Totalitarian TV speaks as if the Baltics are temporarily disconnected. No regard for what the people of those small nations actually want.
Slavs don’t seem to forgive easily and the Orthodox church is not a uniting force.
Russians were given a chance after the collapse of the USSR and they went right back to being exactly what the British described. A subservient population that has insecurities over Western European wealth which leads them to seek compensation through expansion. The rural areas are filled with suicidal drunks that don’t mind being cannon fodder for the Tsar. They have the highest male suicide rate in Europe. Both Belarus and Russia are leaders in alcoholism.
Rejected by the Washington sinister players meddling. Remember the Yatseniuk (Nuland’s boy) grab in the parliament by the true Ukrainian member.
You are saying the majority would have elected pro-Russian politicians if not for those damn Western kids and their damn dog?
Ukrainians voted for independence in 1991 and never wanted to be part of the USSR or Russia. It’s not a conspiracy that pro-Russian politicians don’t do well in a population that was forced into a Moscow based totalitarian state.
Ukraine wanted their own state in the 1920s and that effort was undermined by the Red Army. They were never given a vote on the matter and the Communists overthrew the state.
Putin has created an eternal wedge between the two countries. Everyone gave the Russians another chance after 1991 and the results have been disappointing to say the least. They went right back to serving the Tsar and cheering violent expansion. No one wants their cars or even their vodka. For a period they had the highest HIV rate in Europe due to drug use. Their only hope is an actual nationalist that builds Russia up and not another globalist psychopath like Putin. But any potential leader faces a “confederacy of the dunces” on his way to the top. They clearly have a government by the mediocre as seen by the fact that their highest level generals are clueless on the basics of war strategy.
Israel is an instantiation of old 19th century liberal nationalism software for the statebuilding but using a multiracial religious group as hardware, instead of more standard nationalism using a single ethnicity or race in the same location like in Ukraine or Poland.
You can imagine liberal nationalist statebuilding using religious groups as the hardware like Catholics or Orthodox, it would create similar countries with diverse mix of different races like in Israel, mainly third world immigrants.
The later waves of progressive movement, become opposed to the old 19th century liberal nationalism which Israel uses as software, but this is a common pattern in the history of political movements. Just like in feminism, the third and fourth wave feminism, become almost more conflict with second wave feminists like JK Rowling, than in relation to non-feminists.
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Is there an ideology connection, between Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan?
The liberal nationalism of Israel and Ukraine, is related historically in the 19th century. Like the wider nationalism movement, a lot of influence is probably quite originally in the German philosophy.
There was historical connection between the Ukrainian and Israeli nationalism, if you look at some of the Israeli ideology founders, like Zhabotinsky writes about Ukraine, I don’t want to translate.
In the local context, Ukrainian nationalism and probably we can guess Zionism are viewed by him like self-determination movements for minorities, partly necessary as response to the in empire rusification.
https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BA_%D1%8E%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%8F_%D0%A8%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE_(%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)
https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9E_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%85_%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BC_(%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)
Well, think this kind of Israeli ideology is attractive more for rightwing or leftwing part of the Western political spectrum?
I would say it depends partly on their generation. For JFK? It would be overlapping a lot with his ideology.
From the baby boom generation liberals like Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton? This ideology is probably still quite compatible. Multi-racial culture, women soldiers, 19th century nationalism.
For Generation X center liberals like, Obama? He already has a little more influence of postcolonial ideology.
For Kennedy, mixed results in his views.
– He criticizes the vaccine industry.
The vaccine industry possibly increases human life expectancy more than any industry, maybe excluding something like sanitation and food production.
This doesn’t say people shouldn’t have bodily autonomy to avoid vaccines, if it doesn’t create danger for other people. Even I avoided vaccination for coronavirus as the risk seems low.
But you don’t want people like this saying to your grandparents to avoid receiving vaccinations because of a conspiracy theory about Bill Gates.
– He criticizes the pharmaceutical industry. Although the industry is not perfect, the products it develops are some of the greatest gifts for the human species.
+/- He criticizes use of pesticides and chemical fertilizer in agriculture. Pesticides are probably bad for the ecology and some animals, so this criticism is more rational.
– He criticizes food produced from the agriculture that uses pesticides and chemical fertilizaer.
If eating pesticides are negative for health, in a free market, organic food will eventually be competitive, as people would accept to pay a higher price for it.
The responsible policy would be to fund research in the area and produce reliable information about the topic.
– He criticizes seed oil. Studies in this area generally claim seed oil is very healthy.* From the cultural view, criticism of sunflower seed oil as xenophobia against Russian cuisine, criticism of sesame oil as xenophobia against Chinese cuisine.
– He promotes raw milk. I thought this is a hipster drink, like Aaron B enjoys. Promoting it at the national level, will probably kill some small children and cause failed pregnancies. Pasteurization is an important food technology.
+ He promotes better ecology and reducing pollution, rhetorically. This could be positive. But success depends if he actually wants to invest in promoting at least relatively cleaner energy like natural gas.
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*Although it could be a proxy for some habits with probably more mixed results for waist size like eating a lot of french fries from MacDonald’s.
The center-right doesn’t have enough support by itself, though, so it needs to rely on the center-left, no?
You may have something like this in countries like Brazil, which were united by Latin Catholicism (esp. when religious activity used Latin as its language of expression) and a Latin or Romanised people. Though most Jews may be more closely related in genetic terms than the groups which originally made up Brazil, and they have more centuries of a shared religious/cultural tradition behind them, also they may be united by more external threats.
This is a very interesting one, because the influence of German political/cultural philosophy on nationalism is pretty clear. I think in turn other links have been identified relating to the influence of the Bible on German nationalist thinking. In material I have read about some of these German thinkers, the Jews keep recurring as a reference point, so this may go back a long way into the origins of nationalist thinking in Europe.
I was getting confused as well, looking into Settler Colonialism, I see that there are certain conflicts between it as a field of study and Postcolonialism and Anti-racism as areas of study. The concepts you can draw from one don’t necessarily fit into the others, and/or sometimes they suggest contradictory interpretations. Nationalism is already a complicated enough category to understand, all of these perspectives being present at once seems to give rise to a kind of interpretive fog, but I suppose it is connected to the challenges of thinking about politics and history on a global scale.
Ramirez caters to the geopolitically retarded along with Mary Louise Kelly.
He promotes raw milk. I thought this is a hipster drink, like Aaron B enjoys. Promoting it at the national level, will probably kill some small children
That already happened
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-06/a-toddler-died-after-drinking-it-now-raw-milk-advocates-want-it/12311668
A bunch of children died directly from RFK’s anti-vaxx campaigning in the American Samoa outbreak
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/global-health-experts-sound-alarm-over-rfk-jr-citing-samoa-outbreak/ar-AA1uaWez
People die from food poisoning of various types all the time in the USA. Some of that may always occur. The question often turns out to be: is the cure worse than the disease? Are we willing to injure everyone with a bad approach or injure a few due to bad luck?
With proper care raw milk can be done as safely as anything. I wonder if the milk controversy is the oldest of these disagreements?
Organic food actually should be cheaper for lower cost…no fertilizer, no herbicides, no growth hormones, etc. How the hell they justify higher prices. It is all big uncontrollable scam. Food in Africa is all organic and that suppose to improve their life expectancy -bs.
The raw milk trend never took off and RFK is showing his vanity and cluelessness by making it an issue. Even hippies seem to have realized that buying milk at a farmer’s market isn’t such a good idea.
RFK’s life seems to be centered around finding new causes for the sake of them.
He isn’t looking at what is harming Americans on a daily basis.
Reminds of liberals that obsess over guns in Black areas while ignoring the smoking, drug use and stabbings.
Organic food actually should be cheaper for lower cost…no fertilizer, no herbicides, no growth hormones, etc. How the hell they justify higher prices.
It isn’t a conspiracy. You can just go talk to a farmer.
It takes more labor to weed than spray round up.
Then there are crops that simply attract bugs. They aren’t using pesticides to be dicks and waste money. This has been a problem for thousands of years. Locus wiping out entire crops and causing famine.
I think the idea is to allow stores to sell raw milk more widely since we have learned a lot since Louis Pasteur. This would allow the broader, more industrialized free market to make sure the milk is safe because they either like their customers or simply do not want to be sued. I don’t know if raw milk is a healthier product or not, but it seems to be something the Feds could let go of. Of course the bureaucrats don’t want to let go of anything, ever. Therefore folks may have to get their raw milk from sketchy Joe and scruffy bessie.
In many cases, organic farming is either much more effort or much less productive than conventional agriculture. Fortunately, it is a good idea and can be made to work with modern technology. It seems to be coming back as more and more organic products are available at semi-affordable prices (though watch out for scams). This growth of the organic market may prompt conventional agribusiness to gradually eliminate farming practices that are known to be unhealthy.
C’mon let’s get this one to 1,ooo, only 3 more to go! Let’s make Ron proud of us again. 🙂
In many cases, organic farming is either much more effort or much less productive than conventional agriculture. Fortunately, it is a good idea and can be made to work with modern technology.
I support organic farming but there is no conspiracy.
The prices of food reflect the cost of organic farming.
This growth of the organic market may prompt conventional agribusiness to gradually eliminate farming practices that are known to be unhealthy.
If we truly prioritized public health then we would limit the types of chemicals they can use instead of waiting for the precious free market to work for us. Yes that is regulation.
I’ve met farmers that don’t give a flying fuck about your health. They’ll spray anything and use the savings of not hiring Mexicans to buy a new RV.
Our doofus conservatives seem to think they are all good ‘ol boys that wouldn’t coat your apple in all kinds of nasty pesticides just to save a buck. They naively don’t understand the concept of the corporate farm.
Even worse are the libertarians that would let them use any chemical and also not report what is in our food.
I agree there is no broad conspiracy related to farming, though heavy lobbying can get pretty close. Organic farmers can screw up as badly as conventional farmers.
The free market mechanism in the food chain might be lawsuits against people for selling food they know to be bad. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. If you buy raw milk from your local hippie with a cow it is caveat emptor.
Regulatory capture is a big challenge for people who think bureaucrats can fix everything with regulations.
The main issue is integrity. People need to stop lying. If everybody lies too much nothing can fix that.
BINGO!!!
I would not eat fruit in the US without washing it.
I cringe when I see liberals buying stuff at farmer’s markets and assuming the seller is telling the truth.
There are assholes that just buy stuff at the grocery store and then put on a whimsy “local farmer” demeanor.