Open Thread 2020-86
News & views ...
Posted by b on October 28, 2020 at 18:39 UTC | Permalink
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"One shouldn't be surprised if Tucker Carlson turns out to be oddly naive about transmitting potentially sensitive materials. I assume he's a basic journalist, rather than an intelligence operative."
Assume at your own risk. You may want to research his daddies career. He's a multi millionaire working for billionaires and has no reason to ever buck the system. Why throw out that much security for yourself and your family or risk getting one of your Kinks exposed by other operatives inside the right wing propaganda megaphone over at fox ?
The covert community just like the police use both the carrot and the stick to maintain obedience.
" Dick Carlson
Richard Warner Carlson is a former American journalist, who was director of the Voice of America during the last six years of the Cold War. At the same time, he led Radio Marti broadcasting to Cuba, and was director of the U.S. Information Agency and the USIA Documentary Film Service. Carlson has also been a newspaper and wire service reporter, a magazine writer, a TV and radio correspondent and a documentary filmmaker."
Anything is possible and there of course is no way of proving one way or the other what the truth is, but I have a feeling the old nut didn't roll too far from the tree.
Anyone that blathers on and on about who your enemies are is always suspect in my book.
Posted by: dave | Oct 29 2020 10:32 utc | 102
Just over a hundred years ago, with the First World War on the horizon, the French army was still dressed in dark blue coats and brilliant red trousers. There were demands to switch to less gaudy uniform, but the generals refused. "Give up red trousers? Jamais!" As a more intelligent French politician said at the time, "this stupid adherence to the most visible of all colours will have tragic consequences later." By late 1914, the French were desperately attempting to change to the much less visible (by the standards of trench warfare) horizon blue.
At the same time, the cavalry was the most glamourous arm of the armies. The aristocracy sent their sons to the cavalry. The cavalry regiments got the fanciest titles. The infantry was a distant second, and as for the artillery, it was the branch shunned by ambitious officers. "Artillery is likely to be effective only against inexperienced troops," a British general said.
And in the seas the battleship was the queen. Countries raced to build bigger and heavier armoured battleships with larger guns.
Meanwhile, right under their noses, a few things happened that wrecked their precious cavalry and their fancy uniforms and their mighty dreadnoughts all at one go.
The first of these was the truly effective machine gun. A cavalry charge against a couple of machine guns dug into the earth? A horse is a pretty big target for something firing a couple of bullets a second.
The second thing was air reconnaissance. (Newfangled) aeroplanes directing the (despised) artillery on to your horse and foot from fifteen to twenty kilometres away? Let's see how your blue blood looks on the mud.
The third thing was the torpedo. Your battleship could be a 50 thousand ton metal monster capable of duelling another battleship at thirty kilometres. Fine! It means less than nothing when the other side deploys a slow cheap two man torpedo bomber or a primitive submarine and sends your famous battleship right to the bottom.
Now all this took time to percolate through the ossified thinking of military brass. By WWII they were still building even larger battleships, they were still using horses, they were still relegating artillery to the fringes of military thinking. And yet the military revolution had already occurred. They just had not acknowledged it, though it was happening right in front of their eyes.
A similar thing is happening now.
Self-important blowhards like Andrei Martyanov keep talking about how hypersonic missiles have made warfare fundamentally different or even impossible. That is like saying the dreadnought made warfare fundamentally different or even impossible. The only utility of hypersonic missiles is in an all out, major nation versus major nation conflict, which is now the least likely kind of conflict.
In this day and age the face of war isn't military, it's propaganda and economic, backed by relatively small scale conflicts in the enemy's periphery, waged by proxy forces like jihadi headchoppers or Ukranazis. Hypersonic missiles aren't of the slightest use in these situations, any more than a nuclear arsenal is. Will, say, Russia launch an all out hypersonic missile attack on an Amerikastani aircraft carrier group that blockades the Black Sea or the Gulf of Finland?
No, the real revolution in military affairs is the advent of drones and artificial intelligence. Sixteen or so years ago I recall that drones were at best a curiosity, mostly treated with indifference or contempt. The contempt was wholly justified by the Amerikastani Empire's use of UAVs to murder civilians in villages in Yemen and Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, Syria and Somalia. But that missed the point that the Amerikastani Empire was not fighting, in fact did not dare to fight, people who could shoot back on equal terms. Once drones became widely available to such people it became a different matter entirely.
Look, for instance, at the way Yemen's Houthis have used drones to strike at Saudi Barbaria. Even if a drone is shot down, it still forces the Barbarian headchopper regime to employ a wildly disproportionate asset in terms of cost and effort to destroy the drone than it costs the Houthis to use it. And if even a few drones get through, they can cause havoc, as seen in the strike on the Barbarian refinery a while ago.
This process seems to be reaching its logical culmination in the Nagorno Karabakh war. It's the first war where drones have been employed as the first line of offence by a regular modern military at war with another. And the cost benefit ratio seems clear: a drone, even if a very sophisticated and expensive one (and most aren't), can be sacrificed in order to take out a tank or an artillery emplacement. It costs no blood for the drone using side and the reward is out of all proportion.
I know that China is already investing very heavily in drone development, including swarm tactics. Iran is too, I'm sure. These are countries that are not blindly wedded to refighting WWII and realise that fundamental changes have taken place. So, apparently, has the Ottoman Empire, which used drones successfully in Syria and is extremely effectively using them in Nagorno Karabakh.
The end of traditional war is here. Further automation and dronification is just the next step.
The military system has been warned.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Oct 29 2020 11:16 utc | 103
@96 Russ_ian
squatter on the West Bank
You're very silly and insult people's intelligence pretending that Trump was going to destroy the Empire when the reverse is true. You just wanted Trump to enforce Ziofascism and make it the law of the land which he was succeeding at.
@99 Debsisdead
Flynn is a rabid Iran hater that Trump hired to prepare the way for war with Iran. Now he has that devious Neocon warmonger, Elliot Abrams, on the job to arrive at same goal. So stop covering for that shit!
I don't give a damn how you spin it! I know corruption exists on both sides! However, the goal is to get rid of the biggest threat to peace, a depraved monster who put his selfish ends before the lives of hundreds of thousands, an absolutist representing Zionism, a con artist and a capitalist thug, who amongst other cruelty has tried from day one to eliminate healthcare for millions! I never liked John McCain but the best thing he did, when he was Cancer-stricken, on this planet was sticking his thumb in Trump's eye and giving him the big thumbs down. đ
Damn Trump to hell where the bastard belongs! If Trump ends up in an orange jumpsuit; I'd spit in his face on his way to the slammer where he belongs!
Posted by: Circe | Oct 29 2020 11:26 utc | 104
i found a good article that give a good insight to trends of lost upward mobility in developed country. Apparently dated back at 2020.
https://apjjf.org/-Yoshio-Sugimoto/3419/article.html
Posted by: Lucci | Oct 29 2020 11:31 utc | 105
Every Kiwi Vote Counts Launch TVC via Special Group NZ
New Zealand sees a rise of 24% in overseas enrolments and 50% rise of upload of votes for its 2020 election, after a Russian meddler fronts a campaign for Every Kiwi Vote Counts, brought to life by Special Group and The Sweetshop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR6KojO1GsI
Posted by: Mao | Oct 29 2020 11:51 utc | 106
Every Kiwi Vote Counts 'Interference' TVC via Special Group NZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SRek7XIg0
Every Kiwi Vote Counts 'Laptops' TVC via Special Group NZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwITg_0HRB4
Posted by: Mao | Oct 29 2020 11:54 utc | 107
It's so amusing to witness radical Ziofascist hasbara, kool-aid imbued Maga cult followers, i.e. Trump bootlickers, Russiabots and spin doctors who pretend they're leftist, but who are really for Trump for some insane ulterior reason, IN THE THROES OF DEFEAT, seething in frustration and churning out the final scummy residue from their leaky, soon depleted, rusty reservoir of propaganda excuses as Trump goes down for the big slam into the dustbin of history.
This is so satisfying...Ha-lle-lu-jah! What a moment.
Posted by: Circe | Oct 29 2020 12:12 utc | 108
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Oct 29 2020 11:16 utc | 102
"Dead battles, like dead generals, hold the military mind in their dead grip."
-- Barbara W. Tuchman "The Guns of August"
I agree about the drones, with emphasis on cheap drones, and swarms of them. Swarms of cheap little flying bombs that hunt. Not quite there yet.
But I disagree a bit about the hypersonics, conventionally armed hypersonics can do many of the jobs of tactical nukes without the nuke, they are kinetic energy weapons, and like the drones very expensive to defend against. And like the ATGM they will make big iron platforms a wasting asset. Ballistic missiles are already hypersonic, and already very expensive to counter, it one can at all.
They are all going to wind up hiding in the cellar all the time to avoid their mutual attempts to assassinate each other.
Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 29 2020 12:12 utc | 109
Regarding Tucker Carlson and the magic Hunter documents, I pose the question:
"Would Tucker lie about something as important as this?"
I vote yes. 100% bullshit seems like the best guess.
Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 29 2020 12:29 utc | 110
Not sure if drones would indeed be the future of land conflict, considering we still have lot to improve over ballistic AAA.
Drones and the missiles are future for naval combat though, these giant ships are gonna be giant coffins.
Posted by: Smith | Oct 29 2020 12:34 utc | 111
I don't remember how I came to this site a few years back but I do remember appreciating the norm of thoughtful and informational comments. How I wish for a return to the civil tone and content I found so refreshing here!
Posted by: Maureen O | Oct 29 2020 12:46 utc | 112
Mark2#
Around 30% of seasonal flu cases are corona-viruses,there are four of them.Now Covid19 is the only one coronavirus found in cases,symptomatic or a-symptomatic.How do you explain that.How come that in France ,the announced vaccin for annual flu is hard to find in 90% of pharmacies.How come we do not here a word from government sources about this.?Is it because all flu is labelled covid19 nowadays?Why is there not a hint of surmortality?
Relabelling is a very totalitarian way to govern,and it it widespread in western countries.
Stop accusing other barflies of fascist tendencies.We are all more or less stumbling in the dark,with a notable exception of RSH.Talk to him if you have questions.
Tomorrow it is general lockdown again in my country,with written ausweiss and laisser-passers.All bars and restaurants closed.Schools and colleges open.I'd keep my children at home,to teach them to read and write,whereas the government is planning to prohibit just that.You call me a fascist for that?
Posted by: willie | Oct 29 2020 13:24 utc | 113
My vote for Howie Hawkins has been submitted!
Or as the hysterical retarded lunatics who are cerebrally laundered by that idiot box they insist upon plugging into every night would say, I voted for Trump in some backhanded fashion.
Anyway, about drones...
The key to drones is if they are cheap. That MQ-4 Triton drone that Iran shot down last year? That wan't a cheap and disposable hunk of metal. Loss of that drone hurt. In that one incident in June of 2019 Iran destroyed a quarter of the US Navy's highest tech unmanned airborne surveillance capacity.
There are those who insist "But America can just print money because of the US$ having Global Reserve Currency status!" While this is true, expensive military hardware still needs to be built. Printed money doesn't magically turn into tangible assets. This reality needs to be viewed from the context of America's gutted industrial capacity and declining skilled human resources.
Keep in mind that there isn't a drone made yet that is cheaper or can outperform a brainwashed meat drone carrying a machine gun or a bomb.
Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 29 2020 13:50 utc | 114
@99 "Well yeah but he's also an active member of the Biden crime and treason family, as has been described here. I think that does make him a bit unusual."
Sounds like par for the course to me. The only thing that seems odd is that he was so careless with his laptop. Either his brain is addled or he feels immune.
Posted by: dh | Oct 29 2020 13:58 utc | 115
Maureen O | Oct 29 2020 12:46 utc | 111
please don't despair. there are a couple of ill-tempered contributors but for the most part we still enjoy a pretty good signal to noise ratio.
but there is noise and it keeps coming from the usual suspects. I wish I knew their motivation.
Posted by: dan of steele | Oct 29 2020 14:14 utc | 116
oldhippie, EoinW, I would just ignore it, as most people here and in previous threads are doing. It shows every sign of a certain kind of provocative trollery in its vacuous comments (shallow generalisations, ignorance, etc.)
Posted by: petra | Oct 29 2020 14:46 utc | 117
The fukken French (and Europeans too) like to poke the Muslims in the face to make them react then cry when the Muslims respond. FUCK YOU FRENCH, you get what you deserve. I'd be pissed off too of somebody made fun of me. I grew up on a lot of French culture, I just spent the last 2 days downloading and reading the old L'Echo des Savanes comic humor magazine created by Gotlib, Bretcher and Mandryka in 1972 and loving it but France back then was totally different. European are really dumb, they now want to make an enemy of the Muslims too, after Russia. FUCK YOU Europe, you are dying off anyway.
Posted by: Hoyeru | Oct 29 2020 14:46 utc | 118
The conversation with or about people with whom we disagree could always be civil. When it isnât, and itâs in a forum like this one, since we are unable to see who is posting, or only know about them through what they âwrite,â itâs impossible to really know precisely 1) Iâd have to say, âage.â And 2) by that measure, âlife experience.â
The subject of âlife experience,â is very complex. But not knowing someoneâs age, or that as bright and knowledgeable, or even wise someone in their 20s can be, nevertheless, itâs generally unproductive to challenge what may very well be a 20 year olds youthful enthusiasm, or rebelliousness, and so on. Perhaps thinking back, some behavior even deserves encouragement or nurturing in some fashion.
I always liked some posters here who relate an anecdote that reveals their age and experience. Chipnik, though vanished, comes to mind.
Nevertheless, many of my friends who are older have been deluded by mainstream media. Too busy to read and examine all that they should anymore to be informed. They rail at Trump when he shows up on the TV. I remember my years living in NYC feeling much the same about Trump, but now itâs more like he and the other so called candidates for this election really represent what and where the USA is in terms of a culture. As an octogenarian once relayed to me, âpoliticians lie.â
But, when or if Biden is elected, and Iâm not saying Trump is better, it seems to me truly horrible. What horrors seem to be on their way for the human race, when a senile old man is âchosenâ to rule over us. I canât see anything good coming out of it at all. The worst of the worst of all possibilities.
Itâs like Chomskyâs lesser of two evils theory which appears to me to lead to this scenario that we are witnessing. Which is how bizarre that there is any possibility that anyone can make a Trump look even remotely good? Iâm surprised someone as philosophically oriented as Chomsky couldnât foresee how his theory would play out. . .
Posted by: Geoff | Oct 29 2020 15:01 utc | 119
RSH #92
Yep sounds like total BS. Not one simple precaution on the most significant pile of paper ever?
Tucker Carlson is BSH!TTER. Laughable.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 29 2020 15:18 utc | 121
Transparent
Tucker Carlson and other CIA media 'assets'.
Circe continued misdirection.
<> <> <> <> <>
Just reinforces my Prediction: Trump wins in a landslide (including the popular vote). Because that's what's best for the Deep State/Empire's strategic anti-Russia/anti-China operations (aka "Cold War").
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 29 2020 15:23 utc | 122
@Circe | Oct 29 2020 12:12 utc | 108
Miss uppercase is at it again.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 15:24 utc | 123
@willie | Oct 29 2020 13:24 utc | 113
Tomorrow it is general lockdown again in my country,with written ausweiss and laisser-passers.All bars and restaurants closed.Schools and colleges open.I'd keep my children at home,to teach them to read and write,whereas the government is planning to prohibit just that.You call me a fascist for that?
I received a message from the local fascists today. I am no longer allowed to go to work. I have gone to work all the time since the craziness started in March, but now when the whole covid lie has been exposed, I am told I cannot go to work the next 4 weeks. The problem was that nobody believed the lies here, so now the fascists are taking their revenge and are waging war against working people.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 15:29 utc | 124
Drones and hypersonic missiles. The former is stoppable. The latter is not.
Hypersonic missiles are suited to demolish any hardened and defended land AND sea target. They cannot be merely dismissed as that is exactly the same folly as was made in WW1.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 29 2020 15:34 utc | 125
what are we going to do about the rich ? by: Mark2 @ 11
<= consider what it means to have a microsoft type of corporation in the market place <=its assets are copyrights and patents? Then consider the plight of the would be competition. say a million small corporations, about 10%, with highly sophisticated, sustaining genius who are developing niche application software in those small corporations.. for example sake, say the millions of small corporations employee about 10 people each.. .. If the example corporation buys only the businesses with the genius, keeps the genius, and either mothballs the products these small competing business were producing or adopts the small business products into the example corporation line of products the number of persons unemployed increases 90x the number of businesses acquired. The copyright and patents in those small acquired businesses suddenly become part of the assets in our example corporation. The unbought businesses go broke within two years of their origination and are replaced by fewer and fewer would be competitors because the genius are no longer available as competition.
The copyright and patent acquired by example corporation stops more and developers in other corporations [small or large] and even the copyright and patents of value in the failed end up in ownership by example corporation and
because the acquired and failed businesses had customers, the customers become the customers of example corporation.
say there are 1,000,000 small businesses with 10 people each employed,. that's 10,000,000 employed as competitors in generally the same software market.
say for sake of example the example corporation has 100,000 employees and
each time it acquires a competitor it adds the one genius taken from that competitor.
example corporation acquires 10% of the 1,000,000 small businesses and keeps the copyrighted and patented products (now example corporation has 200,000 employees, (and example corporation disposes of the acquired business and either adopts the acquired product into its offering or mothballs it).. that acquisition took 1,000,000 people less 10% or 900,000 people in the acquired business and 9,000,000 in the failed businesses out of the market <=they all lost their jobs..
Soon example corporation develops a presentation of software platform. say a browser.. and puts competing browsers and application software out of business because example corporation makes its products run only on the example corporation's line of products, including its proprietary (copyrighted browser).
IF you want to use an application you must use example corporations browser and of course other browsers (are enabled to run that application iff the browser provides a benefit to example corporation).
to answer you question: it would be very easy to fix the problem of the rich..
JUST remove <=from the laws, rules and treaties<= any protection<= to anyone from a patent monopoly or a copyright monopoly. Without those monopoly laws, the millions of unemployed will once again be able to find jobs and the small businesses that really do make America great will once again flourish.
Posted by: snake | Oct 29 2020 15:36 utc | 126
Corbyn and antisemitism
Any stick to beat a dog.
<> <> <> <> <>
The entire left is being rolled back. The people are the enemy.
Cold War politics has returned.
CIA-media clutching pearls for 'Glorious Leader' Trump. It's for the children! (No, not YOUR children).
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 29 2020 15:37 utc | 127
60 more years!
I remember reading those kind of reports during the apex of liberal feminism (end of the 1990s, beginning of the 2000s). They all claimed: 50 more years!
--//--
Trump Killed the Pax Americana
This confirms my suspicion: liberals don't hate Trump because of his policies; they hate him because he's vulgar. He's eroding "trust" in America. If we elect Biden, the liberals say, "trust" will be "restored", and everything will go back to where they were.
The problem is the liberals are wrong: the decline of the American Empire is real (material). The USA is abusing its "allies" not because Trump is vulgar, but because it is having difficulties with its sociometabolical reproduction - which it is only being able to maintain by raising the proverbial taxes on the proverbial provinces. That's why Trump is forcing the NATO members to rise their GDP spending on defense: it's not that he's vulgar - but that the USA simply doesn't have the resources to fund the whole thing anymore.
@Biswapriya Purkayast 103
It's been the evolution of weapons. The universality of the AK-47, handheld rockets, shaped charges, and now dirt cheap guidance. You have periods of time where quantity wins, periods of time where quality wins. Hypersonics have the same relationship vs large ships. I guess you'll see a scramble to focus on submarines in the interim.
In the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, there is also the (probably fortunate and merciful) feature of the conflict being limited to the contested area. Forbidden to attack the attackers' bases. That lasts while it lasts, but is not an assumption that planners of military tech can make...
Posted by: ptb | Oct 29 2020 15:47 utc | 129
@ Maureen O | Oct 29 2020 12:46 utc | 112... ditto dan of steeles comment @ 116...approaching the usa election always brings out the wackos here..
Posted by: james | Oct 29 2020 15:53 utc | 130
Snake @ 126
Thanks for taking the trouble to take my serious question seriously !
Yes to all you say there. Solutions are there to be seen. Problems clear to explain, as you do.
I could just add to your discription ââ
We have become normalised to the disfunctional world we live in, a car could be made to last 50 years, a kettle to boil water ditto but that would be bad for profit. Similarly food is being diluted in quality, why ? Profits ! = capatilism The new normal. We know this, but take that principle to its logical outcome.
Posted by: Mark2 | Oct 29 2020 16:08 utc | 131
Norwegian ,
does that mean you will be working from home,receiving pay?Or being technically out of work and receiving a welfare kind of allowance?
What will you do with your increased spare time?
Thanks for your overall comments,too.
Posted by: willie | Oct 29 2020 16:13 utc | 132
Today Escobar introduces us to those likely to populate a Biden/Harris administration:
"Taking a cue from TIP [Transition Integrity Project], letâs game a Dem return to the White House with the prospect of a President Kamala Harris taking over sooner rather than later. That means, essentially, the Return of the Blob.
"President Trump calls it 'the swamp.' Former Barack Obama Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes â a mediocre hack â at least coined the funkier 'Blob,' applied to the incestuous Washington foreign policy gang, think tanks, academia, newspapers (from the Washington Post to the New York Times), and that unofficial bible Foreign Affairs magazine."
And as one might imagine, they all have a well documented history of bloody imperialism and the primary policy goal of attaining Full Spectrum Dominance of the planet. As usual, the essay will emerge from behind its initial paywall to appear at numerous websites so barflies can freely read it.
I can't argue with Pepe's conclusion:
"In a nutshell, Biden-Harris would mean The Return of the Blob with a vengeance. Biden-Harris would be Obama-Biden 3.0. Remember those seven wars. Remember the surges. Remember the kill lists. Remember Libya. Remember Syria. Remember âsoft coupâ Brazil. Remember Maidan.
"You have all been warned."
At Escobar's FB page, I commented that perhaps the best outcome would be the return of the woefully inept Trump team combined with the Ds regaining the Senate for a completely gridlocked government. I'm finding it extremely difficult to determine which is the Lesser Evil, and I expect more will join me after reading Pepe's article.
@willie | Oct 29 2020 16:13 utc | 132
For now it means I will have to work from home. What I react to (strongly) is that this is happening now without any real justification whatsoever. There never was any justification, but now after 8 months of nonsense with even official "statistics" showing there is no issue. So this is an "in your face" message to us.
There are lies upon lies, so there is obviously other reasons than the "virus" for what is going on. I have lost any trust in the people who did this, and therefore I cannot trust that what they say is true. They started this whole thing by saying we needed 2 weeks to "flatten the curve" (it was a lie), and now 8 months later with all the proof that it was nothing at all they come back and ban us from going to work for 4 weeks this time. Obviously they are lying again, and I fear of losing my livelihood because of these fascist. It has not happened yet, but this is now war.
My take on the local level is that as long as people can meet face to face we can exchange information about what is happening and more importantly what is NOT happening. The people in charge saw that the covid spell was slipping because life was proceeding as normal, so they doubled down now and made sure people can only receive information via a computer screen or mobile phone, where information is totally controlled.
I am grateful for and appreciate your comments to me. It is now time to tell the real truth about what is happening.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 16:45 utc | 135
The present times are a trove of surprises, the local paper of reference, El PaĂs, headlines the kicking out of Corbyn as:
âThe Labour Party suspends Corbynâs membership due to his failure to end with antisemitismâ
Tall order, should be included in the Twelve Labours of Heracles⊠and not the one Labour of Bliar.
Posted by: Paco | Oct 29 2020 16:59 utc | 136
@Norwegian 135
Many thanks for your input, very interesting reading.
Can I ask, in your media, is their any reference to the state of play in Sweden....? Of course, both Scandinavian countries have different approaches. Sweden being the European control in the Covid experiment.
Seven-day moving average of daily Covid deaths in Sweden:
Sept 02: 2
Sept 17: 2
Sept 27: 2
Oct 14: 2
Oct 25: 2
Posted by: MadMax2 | Oct 29 2020 17:06 utc | 137
Thanks to all, and especially karlof1 and Grieved @ 86:
"...One day, as portions of the US populace hit their boiling point - and it's begun already and will get much hotter - they will need examples from other countries of how to live an honest and meaningful life. I personally expect this to come from Latin America..." [Grieved]
From both of you in particular, the essential message takes both a long look back and a message for future events fast approaching, both of which are much appreciated.
My first thought this morning was that should indeed Biden be installed, there will still be opportunity for Trump to make a mark in the months of his term remaining. That is an opportunity he may wish to use, and one would hope, that wisely. It might even be seen as a win-win situation, the chance to leave office well thought of by the majority (in no way the 1 percent is the majority) or if he should win, the second term which in general will show the true character of the sustained leader, be he a bad or good leader.
My second thought was that here we have had now 20 years of an obviously broken electoral process in the US. Can retrospect provide us the will to finally shove the debris aside and focus on returning to the tried and true? Just as we need to return to the tried and true, sustainable agriculture, in fixing our planet, in caring for the health of its suffering biosphere!
There's lots to do, and even if the worst elements supposedly triumph, there are places where both projects are already ongoing, not far from US borders. Not weapons amassed to subjugate, but prospects of peaceful alignment. I agree with Grieved; the vista is promising, and in the south it is springtime.
Posted by: juliania | Oct 29 2020 17:23 utc | 138
@dh. Its more then just drugs & sex. If you scan the available material there is a strong case for criminal conduct. In one of the footjob videos, there is a split second of unpixelised footage where you see the face of a young female and her clothing. Also, an image circulating of Natalie Biden, Hunters niece and daughter of Hallie (with whom Hunter is known to have has an affair with) matches the footage. See here:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0BUKSKqEsi40F6EKYrKnlea6g
Deepfake or depravity?
Posted by: Lozion | Oct 29 2020 17:25 utc | 139
I seem to recall many predicting what the "moderate rebels" would do after being defeated in Syria. France seems to be the current epicenter, but no news reports even mention blowback being the actual culprit.
@110
UPS officially confirm they lost Carlson's package couple hours ago:
UPS says it lost the cache of documents that Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed would damage Biden's campaign
And this is less than hour ago (not verified yet):
UPS Finds Mystery Tucker Carlson Package
Interesting if they found the originally sent documents or some already tampered ... :(
Posted by: Shocky | Oct 29 2020 17:30 utc | 141
@MadMax2 | Oct 29 2020 17:06 utc | 137
I used to be a "news-aholic", listening to state radio news and TV for 30 years. About 10 years ago I noticed that I was getting angry more and more often when listening to the "news". To preserve my sanity, I switched off the TV news and never turned it on again. For the radio that I used to listen to every morning, they shut down all the FM-broadcasters so now there is only digital DAB radio, and I will never buy a DAB receiver.
As for online local "news" it is really depressing with propaganda, so I don't watch that either, propaganda so close to home really gets on your nerve. Instead I follow international developments.
So you may understand I have limited knowledge about what they say here about Sweden, but the local propagandists in various discussion fora are smearing Sweden the best they can. The 3 main newspapers in Norway are Aftenposten.no, VG.no, Dagbladet.no . It is with disgust I visit those pages now to see what the latest propaganda is
Aftenposten: A story about 850 000 "wild viruses" may give new "pandemics", illustrated by a photo of rabid dogs.
VG: Claims of "infection record" in the town near me, they are "considering" to ban indoor assemblies of more than 20 people. Supposed "outbreak" of infection in the north. Sweden: Ask people to avoid shops and "social contact". And many other "stories".
Dagbladet: Folkehelseinstituttet "recommend" face masks *at home*. Another story about "where the infections come from".
This stuff is off the charts, with no relation to reality. You cannot visit those sites and keep your sanity, it is 1984 on steroids. Most people have no defence against such an onslaught, but "luckily" I grew up with a psychopath married to my mother (I have documents to prove it), so I have some training in defending my sanity by looking at actual facts.
I spoke with my department manager at work (online "of course") the other day and mentioned the nonsensical "measures" taken at work for 8 months now making everything difficult, making people stay at home, banning use of the coffee machine and other nonsense. He told me they had received instructions from higher up, for sure that is correct, this is a top down onslaught.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 17:39 utc | 142
Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 16:45 utc | 135
"My take on the local level is that as long as people can meet face to face we can exchange information about what is happening and more importantly what is NOT happening. The people in charge saw that the covid spell was slipping because life was proceeding as normal, so they doubled down now and made sure people can only receive information via a computer screen or mobile phone, where information is totally controlled."
If the spell was slipping, why are people still obeying? It's become more clear than ever before in history that the people have nothing to fear but fear itself. The second they stop fearing nothing and step out into the sun to once again greet one another as human beings the whole covid derangement will pop like a bubble, leaving nothing but whatever reckoning humanity needs to have with the world-historical criminals that committed such Nuremburg-level crimes, perpetrated all this destruction, caused so many deaths, inflicted so much terror and pain.
Yet the people seem to remain terrorized by literal nothingness and have undergone total spiritual collapse to the most abject mass infantilism history ever has seen, by many orders of magnitude.
And no one's been doing it out of panic for many months. On the contrary they now make the basically calm, sober decision to submit, to obey, to Baaa, and will continue to do so the last few steps to the slaughterhouse.
Well, if that's what they want, that's what they'll get and that's what they'll deserve.
In France the gloves have come off.Today's terrorist attack next to the cathedral of Nice,where three people were stabbed to death,is immediately qualified by Macron as an " islamic terrorist attack".For long years such events were the result of "lone wolf" or "deséquilibré" i.e.out of balance persons.They're passing the next gear these days.
https://www.rt.com/news/504933-macron-nice-attack-islamist-terrorism/
Posted by: willie | Oct 29 2020 17:54 utc | 144
@ Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 17:39 utc | 142
I spoke with my department manager at work (online "of course") the other day and mentioned the nonsensical "measures" taken at work for 8 months now making everything difficult, making people stay at home, banning use of the coffee machine and other nonsense. He told me they had received instructions from higher up, for sure that is correct, this is a top down onslaught.
First World problems...
By the way: what's your opinion on Norway's defense spending hikes to appease NATO in order to clash with Russia?
@JackRabbit #66
So basically you're continuing your meme that this is all a show.
Fair enough.
And what do you say if Biden wins?
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 18:04 utc | 146
@139 I did look at the footjob video when it first appeared but I don't recall that detail and I don't feel like having another look.
No doubt Hunter Biden should be pilloried but it's just not happening. A google search doesn't turn up much and the story seems to be fading away. The cover up is the real story.
Posted by: dh | Oct 29 2020 18:06 utc | 147
@147 Agreed.. in other news: Greenwald resigns from the Intercept:
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1321869227226222593?s=21
Posted by: Lozion | Oct 29 2020 18:17 utc | 148
@ willie | Oct 29 2020 17:54 utc | 144.. willie, where do you think france is heading at this point? the yellow vest movement seems to have been shut down effectively... do i have that wrong?? thanks...
Posted by: james | Oct 29 2020 18:18 utc | 149
@ 148 lozion... thanks.. here is a direct link to glens article
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/my-resignation-from-the-intercept
Posted by: james | Oct 29 2020 18:20 utc | 150
thanks lozion... i tried to link to glenns aritlce directly, but it is not showng up..
Posted by: james | Oct 29 2020 18:21 utc | 151
A closer look at the MSM polls:
1) Nate Cohn/NY Times Source
Cohn does a good job in including 2012 as a comparison as well as 2016 - although this is somewhat disingenuous as 2012 was a 2nd term Obama vs. a weak opponent.
Net net: if there is another 2016 reprise - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida and Arizona are really close.
Krystal & Saagar of The Hill/Rusing focused on 2012 - noting there is as much a chance of a Biden blowout as a Trump win.
2) Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight source
Nate Silver warned Dems that, yes, they âshould be nervousâ about Joe Bidenâs chances in Pennsylvania, and hence, the ENTIRE election
So it seems even the MSM is hedging its bets.
Again: *all* polls are biased because all poll groups get compensated: consulting, prestige, news coverage etc. This is problematic because there are so many ways a poll can bias results: selection of target groups, questions, scaling, etc. It is likely impossible for any pollster to cover up both implicit and unconscious biases.
All we can do is look at the methodology and their historical accuracy.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 18:24 utc | 152
@Russ | Oct 29 2020 17:39 utc | 143
Thank you for responding with intelligent views.
If the spell was slipping, why are people still obeying? It's become more clear than ever before in history that the people have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Indeed, I have come to the same conclusion that the only thing in this situation to fear is fear itself. That is why the fear campaign now is turned up to 11 on a scale from 1 to 10.
So why are people obeying? This can be answered on multiple levels. One take is that the approach applied is the boiling frog principle. Turn up the heat one step at the time, at first it feels warm and cozy (work from home), but soon you are cooked (out of work).
Also, people are trained to despise "conspiracy theorists" that are pointing out where this leads to.
Then we have the phenomenon of Cognitive Dissonance
In this important theory, âcognitionsâ embrace âknowledgeâ, attitude, emotion (or âambivalenceâ), belief, and behaviour. Cognitions that contradict each other are termed âdissonant,â while cognitions that agree with each other are âconsonant.â Cognitions which neither agree nor disagree are âirrelevant.â The sudden arrival of a new cognition that is dissonant with a currently-held cognition creates a âstate of dissonance.â The important issue then becomes how can this disruptive dissonance be reduced, or eased, for the believer.Amelioration may be achieved by trying either to eliminate one of the cognitions altogether or to create a new, consonant cognition between the two competing cognitions. We should also note that there can be significant degrees of dissonance. The maximum possible dissonance is equal to the resistance to change of the less âresistant cognitionâ. Thus, once dissonance attains a level that overcomes the resistance of one of the cognitions, that cognition will be amended, or eliminated, and dissonance will be reduced for the believer.
In terms of social behaviour, this will cause people who suffer the pain of dissonance either to seek out actively âknowledgeâ that will reduce the dissonance for them personally, or to avoid/ignore the competing âknowledgeâ completely. If the latter, then people who are involuntarily exposed to such âknowledgeâ will do their level-best to discount that âknowledgeâ, either by deliberately misinterpreting it or by denying it vigorously, at least to themselves.
In this case, most people have been taught that society is good and works for them. The knowledge that those in power in fact are waging a war on people causes sever pain and dissonance, so the supposed easy way out of the pain is to reject objective facts and instead accept lies as being the truth, because then they don't have to revise their world view, at least for a while.
Yet the people seem to remain terrorized by literal nothingness and have undergone total spiritual collapse to the most abject mass infantilism history ever has seen, by many orders of magnitude.
Yes, indeed. Thank you, I cannot agree more. Today, at lunch (my last day at work since I got kicked out), I was greeted by a friendly lady working in the canteen, she asked me how I was doing, looking somewhat nervous. I said I was fine, but I didn't like the nonsense that was going on, because there was no justification for it. "Really, do you think so?" she said. "Yes, there is nothing to be afraid of here" I told her. But she was not convinced, she was truly terrorised. It makes me furious what they are doing to people.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 18:24 utc | 153
@vk | Oct 29 2020 17:55 utc | 145
By the way: what's your opinion on Norway's defense spending hikes to appease NATO in order to clash with Russia?
This is what happens to a small country with good finances when being bullied by an "ally" sucking the life blood out of friends and foes. Then you have the puppet Stoltenberg which they can squeeze as required.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 18:28 utc | 154
@dh | Oct 29 2020 18:06 utc | 147
I did look at the footjob video when it first appeared but I don't recall that detail and I don't feel like having another look.Not a pretty sight, that is for sure. What about the photo of Hunter with 2 young dark ladies and a white poodle, looking much like the dog in this photo?
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 18:34 utc | 155
@154 Hunter would probably say he's supporting BLM.
There's much better porn out there.....or so I'm told.
Posted by: dhdh | Oct 29 2020 18:47 utc | 156
Anybody who wants to see what future border skirmishes btw non-nuclear nations will look like should look no further than the current war btw the Armenians and Azerbaijani.
With the use of Turkish drones w/ pinpoint accuracy, it is rendering trenches obsolete.
Armenia is getting steamrolled in the Nagorno-Karabahk. Warning: this video is not for the faint-of-heart. There is one segment which a line of Armenian soldiers are running for their lives for what seems like an eternity, with the eye of a drone following them, until they rest for a moment underneath the eaves of a building only to be promptly missiled. It is truly heart-wrenching stuff.
Bunkers seem to be the only safe-haven now. Artillery and trenches and antiquated anti-air defenses are allowing huge, obviously demoralizing losses among the Armenians.
It does appear that the ordinance being used during these drone attacks are lighter than before. Perhaps b is right and the difficulty with acquiring of parts and ordinance internationally will hinder the speed of the bloodshed. What a silly-sounding thing to hope for when what you want is the total cessation of young men getting dismembered at such a level.
It would appear the region will fall back into the hands of the Azerbaijanis. I could be wrong. But the Armenians are losing so many young men.
Unbelievably sad. I Pray for mercy and a resolution to this horrific bloodshed.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 29 2020 18:54 utc | 157
Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 18:24 utc | 152
"In this case, most people have been taught that society is good and works for them. The knowledge that those in power in fact are waging a war on people causes sever pain and dissonance, so the supposed easy way out of the pain is to reject objective facts and instead accept lies as being the truth, because then they don't have to revise their world view, at least for a while."
Very true of the housebroken Western masses. But the lowest dregs of all, as I said earlier in this thread, are those who used to have "the knowledge that those in power in fact are waging a war on people" but who either were lying all along about their position or who have become so terrified and infantile in their state of fear-itself that they've thrown away everything they ever claimed to stand for and have run crying to the comfort of government mama, Big Pharma mama, mainstream media mama.
"Greenwald resigns from the Intercept"
One of the whiningest examples I've seen of "first they came for the radicals...and I did nothing." He's channeling Warren Beatty as John Reed in "Reds" - "You don't change what I write!!!!!"
That, along with ratting out whistleblowers, is just for other people. And for the kind of low-life anarchists who regard paid association with a billionaire as automatically discrediting.
Willie 144
The guy is a 21 year old Tunisian who arrived just a month ago through Lampedusa (from Libya?). That was quick indeed.
Posted by: Mina | Oct 29 2020 19:01 utc | 160
@Russ | Oct 29 2020 18:54 utc | 157
Very true of the housebroken Western masses. But the lowest dregs of all, as I said earlier in this thread, are those who used to have "the knowledge that those in power in fact are waging a war on people" but who either were lying all along about their position or who have become so terrified and infantile in their state of fear-itself that they've thrown away everything they ever claimed to stand for and have run crying to the comfort of government mama, Big Pharma mama, mainstream media mama.
I guess there is a very large group of opportunists who in normal times like to present themselves as being in opposition to power when it causes no problems to them and it in fact elevates their self image. But when the fear machine hits them, the opportunists do what opportunists do: They abandon the principles they never had and run for the hills to join the power brokers.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 19:10 utc | 161
@NemesisCalling #156
Armenia's military had its head in the sand.
Furthermore, Armenia's present leader not only fired the head of the military but also a number of other high level people in order to burnish his "anti-Russian" credentials.
All you're seeing is a military that has poor/no leadership, no friends and also which apparently didn't pay attention to what was happening literally a few hundred miles away (Yemen).
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 19:28 utc | 162
@142 Norwegian
Thanks again- your relationship with your local MSM sounds rather similar to mine where I chose to switch off / not read after the GFC where larger European countries say this nation state on the hook for a âŹ35B debt that was arguably not ours to pay for generations to come... although you wouldnât know there was a case for odious debt or otherwise, as every medium from the state broadcaster to the local toilet rag didnât so much lie, but more, âdeceived by omission.â I was forced to look at media outside the state to discover a more total, balanced view than the myopic, Government stenographers were airing/printing.
And the same goes here at this point... if I scour the same Social accounts of the same MSM outlets from a decade ago, we have the same government stenographers generating the same myopic views - however now, the fear is amplified tenfold. There is no room for counter arguments arguments that are contrary to FULL LOCKDOWNâąïž even if those arguments are backed by the science according to the Gold Standard in epidemiology Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford... and a passing question about âwell what about Sweden, they never went anywhere close to full lockdown...?âA: âwell...well... I havenât seen the latest figures in Swedenâ or some other deflection to maintain the authoritative tactic of âEffortless Superiorityâ ... when we also know the great civilisations were built on freedom, freedom of expression, freedom to debate... it is how we find the best way forwards... debate, different views. (On a separate note great to see the left fascist troll mark2 get properly checked upthread for attempting to see people get deplatformed in here, voices cancelled for having alternate opinions/outlooks)
I was interested in your point of view Norwegian, as I have a former colleague living In Norway who will quite happily take 4 weeks of full pay, hit the Netflix and PlayStation and gladly chill... like here, it would appear that the welfare state, which is great to a point, has actually made the population sedate, soft, happy... docile. I donât think... yet... that there is a great conspiracy going on, and is why I enjoy living in Europe, it would be very hard to fool the entire nation states to the same degree... BUT, what I am afraid of are the Opportunists sitting in the shadows who might have the means to take advantage of a mass fear/disorientation... and which is also why the case of Sweden as control nation for Northern Europe is vitally important.
While the death count was high early, the government and health officials in Sweden still enjoy great public support for the way full lockdown was avoided... after all, locking down healthy people as a new respiratory virus entered the population had never been done before, history is on Swedenâs side. Seems the people enjoy/value freedom and long term mental health there...
Posted by: MadMax2 | Oct 29 2020 19:29 utc | 163
Michael Moore continuing to sound alarms in Michigan: Rising source
Trump held his rally in Muskeegan....
Muskeegan is one of only 2 counties that went for Hilary Clinton in 2016. Trump chose to hold his rally there and attracted thousands of people.
...
Why is Pence in Flint? Trump in Lansing and Muskeegan and everywhere?
He then goes on to say "tsunami" against Trump.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 19:32 utc | 164
c1ue | Oct 29 2020 18:04 utc | 146
And what do you say if Biden wins?
I'd be very surprised.
One can argue that a Democratic, "left-leaning" President can quell some of the current discord and avoid some of the harsh criticism resulting from war-like actions. There's no question that Biden is also a Deep Stater and would be 'safe hands' for the Deep State. He'll do whatever they want.
But I see the legitimacy and authority of two-term President that wins a landslide victory as being an important instrument for future Deep State action. I believe that the Deep State is positioning themselves for a major war (WWIII?).
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 29 2020 19:41 utc | 165
@MadMax2 | Oct 29 2020 19:29 utc | 162
I was interested in your point of view Norwegian, as I have a former colleague living In Norway who will quite happily take 4 weeks of full pay, hit the Netflix and PlayStation and gladly chill... like here, it would appear that the welfare state, which is great to a point, has actually made the population sedate, soft, happy... docile.
Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of truth in that, for now. Maybe it will change when people learn what hardship can be like. If your background is an apparently safe social democracy and no personal problems in life, you are an easy victim in this kind of situation. My background is bumpy enough to know not to accept the first free fix from the drug dealer.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 19:42 utc | 166
A docile Norwegian? Can that be?
Brings to mind a nursery rhyme from my childhood that begins something like:
"Ten thousand Swedes
Ran through the weeds
Pursued by one Norwegian..."
Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 29 2020 20:28 utc | 167
Bevin is very funny as he channels the ghost of Hubert Humphrey. HHH demanding absolute allegiance while offering absolute zero in return is the model for all Democrats since. And of course all Dems since must engage in the ritual of hippie-punching. And they never get tired of it, never engage in one moment of introspection. Never consider they attack their potential allies more quickly than they attack their enemy. Half a century now in just one mode.
Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 29 2020 20:35 utc | 168
@William Gruff | Oct 29 2020 20:28 utc | 166
Ha, never heard that one before!
You can win over this Norwegian with logical arguments and testable facts. With coercion you get an ever more determined opponent.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 20:40 utc | 169
Nick | Oct 29 2020 3:28 utc | 81 - That's my unprofessional guess also.
Norwegian | Oct 29 2020 6:46 utc | 94 - It's kinda hard to escape that conclusion, isn't it? It's the ramifications that are mind-numbing.
Paul | Oct 29 2020 7:28 utc | 95 - Which is why the US isn't leaving Afghanistan anytime soon.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Oct 29 2020 21:04 utc | 170
Now that Greenwald has resigned maybe it is a good moment to point out his attitude towards mainstream thinking - at least as I understand it: he respects it and thinks in term of coexistence. Mainstream journalism is legitimate and valuable but needs to be complemented by dissident thinkers. I think that is a reasonable attitude and it differs from the antagonistic attitude where anything mainstream is considered bad. Even on this site Bernhard has made a lot of enemies with positions on Covid which are quite mainstream.
What Greenwald has discovered is that the Intercept has become more and more mainstream and expels dissident thinking. The risk of that happening was high and maybe Greenwald understood that from the start.
My own opinion is that mainstream journalism is defined by whom they consider trustworthy and for noncontroversial subjects that works fine, even excellent. On issues where a lot of power is involved they don't score well now while in the past they had a more mixed record. On the medical aspects of covid mainstream press has a lot of good value to offer.
Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Oct 29 2020 21:13 utc | 171
Carl D
You read that right. They used to run struggle meetings where supposedly we purged our souls of bourgeois consciousness. By beating each other up. Of course not one of the comrades knew how to throw a punch or fight dirty so usually little damage was done. Though beating up comrades ten on one can go wrong and bones were broken, many ER visits. Sort of like happens here at MoA. The physical assault was always preceded by torrents of verbiage. What is happening on this page is so very familiar.
When Beloved Chairman Bob came up with this tale about how he had singlehandedly liberated an entire rail car of guns and ammo from the Badger Ammunition Depot was when I knew. Suddenly people who could not raise the price of a nickel bag had BARs, M-60s, C4, infinite ammo and a farm where they could play with the above. Bob could not lift an ammo box off the floor to save his life but he loaded up two semis in the dead of night and we had toys. The Feebs were busy telling all the neighboring farmers to ignore all that racket, they had it under control. Which of course they did.
Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 29 2020 21:21 utc | 172
@Jackrabbit #164
Interesting. My most hard right (i.e. End of Days Christian) friend told me to leave the US - that it will all be nuked on November 11.
His pronunciations have been uniformly wrong thus far.
As for your statements: I ask the same questions I asked my friend:
1) Who is the US going to fight?
2) How is that beneficial? Given the US doesn't have the manpower/public will or even a border to dispute over? This isn't World War 1 or 2 - where America could make bank selling weapons while someone else beat up another someone else. Nor were Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq etc successful by any stretch of the imagination.
Granted, the idiocy and tunnel vision of many American oligarchs and bureaucrats - both Republican and Democrat - is breathtaking but they can't make a full-on industrial war happen without the 99% supporting them.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 21:48 utc | 173
Los Angeles county checking in here... Lots of unusual drone traffic over city streets. This is, literally, a heads-up.
Posted by: Dr Wellington Yueh | Oct 29 2020 21:58 utc | 174
Mark2 | Oct 28 2020 20:00 utc | 11
And while Iâm about it what are we going to do about the rich ?
Take good care that they are not up to anything sinister, (E.g. plotting with the NED, exporting large amounts of money, sabotaging, corrupting officials, etc.) abolish the central bank and the banks' ability to invent money and allow all money to be invented/printed by the Treasury and then abolish all taxes except a LAND TAX based on area and/or location, i.e. different rates in different areas. Any non-payment to result in forfeiture in lieu. Dismiss/retire almost all Armed Forces officers. (All of them come from rich families and most of them are entirely useless anyway!) Break up monopolies. Nationalize all the "naturally national" activities, roads, rail, airways, prisons, private, armed forces, prisons, water gas, electicity, communications networks, restrict media outlets to one per family and take over national broadcasting to compete with the private broadcasters. (The British ITN was a good idea as originally constituted-No adverts but paid for by adverts on the other channels!)
(I'll describe my 5-year plan next month.)
Posted by: foolisholdman | Oct 29 2020 21:58 utc | 175
@ Tuyzentfloot | Oct 29 2020 21:13 utc | 170.. i always enjoy reading your posts! thanks.. i share your sentiment here too..
Posted by: james | Oct 29 2020 22:01 utc | 176
Important omission in the above, limit housing to two houses per nuclear family. I.e. abolish large landlords. Nationalize big landlord firms.
Posted by: foolisholdman | Oct 29 2020 22:04 utc | 177
c1ue @Oct29 21:48 #172
=
1) Who is the US going to fight?
Kind of a trick question.
- US is an Empire. The whole Empire is/will be engaged against 'upstarts' Russia & China and their allies or compatriots like Iran and Venezuela.
- USA/Empire is already 'fighting' via proxy wars, trade sanctions, etc.
=
2) How is that beneficial?
Isn't it clear what the benefits of world domination would be?
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 29 2020 22:18 utc | 178
Posted by: snake | Oct 29 2020 15:36 utc | 126 JUST remove <=from the laws, rules and treaties<= any protection<= to anyone from a patent monopoly or a copyright monopoly.
Agreed. Intellectual property is an oxymoron. Stephan Kinsella, a Libertarian patent lawyer, wrote a book about that. I've read many of his articles.
All: link to Greenwald's resignation article.
Problem, of course, is that journalists need to be funded. No one can fund real investigative, on-the-ground journalism without significant money. Money is always compromised. So journalism will always be compromised.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:20 utc | 179
How a Key Pentagon Official Turned China Policy Over to Arms Industry and Taiwan Supporters
The âFortress Taiwanâ arms deal overseen by ex-Assistant Secretary of Defense Randall Schriver is one of the most provocative U.S. moves against China in years â and a big win for his think tankâs arms industry and Taiwanese patrons.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:23 utc | 180
@JackRabbit #177
I would ask that you unpack more.
Russia is not a 3rd rate military power. China is a 2nd rate power but with areas of strength.
How could the US Empire fight either/both without crippling losses?
Note the list I posted in the original question: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea. None of these nations were even middling 3rd rate militaries. Iraq and Afghanistan weren't even seriously supported by Russia or China; Iran did interfere some but nothing like the Vietnam era shipments of arms and trainers.
But most importantly: how exactly could a war against a modern foe be successful given the frankly pathetic showing to date?
If the "fight" is just continuation of sanctions and proxy wars, this is meaningless because it doesn't help anyone: no distraction or economic bump back home. Nothing to boast about. No significant assets to steal, commodities to buy cheap or trade to take over.
Benefits of world domination: sounds good in theory - but in reality, the US is lagging in so many ways. Rioting in American cities, record levels of poop in rich cities, record levels of homeless everywhere, etc etc.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 29 2020 22:26 utc | 181
Link to Greenwald's resignation article.
The Intercept's response to Greenwald's resignation:
Glenn Greenwald Resigns From The Intercept
While he accuses us of political bias, it was he who was attempting to recycle the dubious claims of a political campaign â the Trump campaign â and launder them as journalism.
They're casting him as a Trump supporter? WTF?
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:28 utc | 182
The last three posts of mine have vanished, and I'm not on the VPN. I assume I've been banned - or the site is messed up today. Which is it, b?
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:30 utc | 183
OK, one of my posts just surfaced... Site must be messed up today.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:30 utc | 184
LOL My kind of guys...
Wisconsin Republican Party says hackers stole $2.3 million
There have been more than 800 attempted phishing attacks for financial gain targeting the Wisconsin Democratic Party this campaign cycle, but none has been successful, said party spokeswoman Courtney Beyer.
Only problem is, everyone will blame Putin.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:37 utc | 185
Foolishholdman @ 174 & 176
Thanks for those ideas made me laugh, all spot on !
If only. Iâd def vote for that manifesto !
How about freezing any bank account over 3 million and recresitoning the prosedes.
Look forward to next months instalment.
A breath of fresh air in an otherwise flatulent second page of comments.
Those fascists certainly rise to the bait donât they ? Ideal opportunity to list names.
Itâs like lancing a boil. Never read such verble puss.
Posted by: Mark2 | Oct 29 2020 22:53 utc | 186
Mark2 @ 183
Sorry for spelling mistakes ââ- home made blackberry wine !!!
Hic
Posted by: Mark2 | Oct 29 2020 23:04 utc | 187
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 29 2020 22:37 utc | 182
It is easier that in this days there are still outfits that do not adequately train people to resist phishing. Perhaps there should be on-line courses that every employee (with access to company/organization computers) has to pass, or else. It should be simpler than, say, patient privacy course.
Then again, stealing from a major US party almost seems like a noble endeavor.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 29 2020 23:33 utc | 188
Richard Steven Hack@178,
It's all about $.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.$.....
amerikkka is squeezing out the remaining "value" from Taiwan. Once there is no more to get, it's time to find a good sale price from China. However, the time for that may have passed.
Posted by: LuRenJia | Oct 29 2020 23:45 utc | 189
"That's why Trump is forcing the NATO members to rise their GDP spending on defense: it's not that he's vulgar - but that the USA simply doesn't have the resources to fund the whole thing anymore."
Posted by: vk | Oct 29 2020 15:38 utc | 128
That and the fact that NATO members but lots of US military kit that feeds the US MIC.
Posted by: Tom | Oct 29 2020 23:56 utc | 190
Goodevening james, I don't know how to address your question properly.The yellowvest was really grassroots,the people who kept the roundabouts,being supported by many drivers who showed a yellow vest on their windscreens,then weekly on saturdays,they were diabolized or minimized in the media,then the police and services infiltrated violence,unto the saccaging of the Arc de Triomphe some months later,when protestmarchers went to Paris.But a lot of mainly working class,including my bakery,kept the yellow vest in sight,long after all had been stepped down.Me as well,but I never went into any gathering or demo.
I remember in the first weeks the Customsofficers section of the Communist workers syndicat CGT went full retard by condemning in a commniqué the fact that yellowvest on a roundabout who overheard tapping coming from a slowing down empty bulk-trailer did stop the driver and opened the mangate and found some fifteen to twenty illegal immigrants the driver did not know about.This was brought up in press bulletins as yellowvest being extreme right (CGT's enemy)and being heartless.That's France for you.
I've been a driver on bulk myself for two years,and had to clean the inside with a hose,between cargo's,to spare the boss's money from trailerwash stations,and I can assure you that being locked up in the dark,in a perfect cylindric chromeplated slippery surfaced tube with absolutely nothing to cling to that moves at 90km/h and has a lot of roundabouts and corners to take,personally I would be out of my mind after five minutes.Of course nobody ever interviewed the poor immigrants whose uncovering made the CGT irate.They must have been glad to not have their limbs and neck broken,and grateful to the ones that liberated them.But the mainstream narrative does not count its victims,does it?And never anybody was heard of making this reflection that immediately came to my mind.It is as if people are not able to think about such things by themselves.
Those immigrants could have been drowned in cementpowder or chalk or plaster of Paris,or even raw plastic in the form of billions of tiny nuggets in case the driver was heading for a quarry of such materials.It is loaded through the mangate,and with the really-to-loud-to-speak decibels that are the normal in such places,they would have had just the few seconds the driver needs to open it as a chance to escape....
Well there would have been significant difference from the empty truck's normal weight on the bascule,over a ton for fifteen people probably.
There were some demo's a few weeks ago,but again heavy handed police tore it up.Now it has become a folklore story,but it was really grassroots and not some colour revolution.
Mozart when coming to Paris found out to his surprise that the French liked good music,but also bad music,and could not tell the difference.I think it has not changed much since then,and that must have something to do with particularities of their language and how they use it.In what other country you find three different trotskist workers parties whose presidential candidates together make not five percent and that in every election?
Posted by: willie | Oct 30 2020 0:00 utc | 191
c1ue @Oct29 22:26 #179
=
How could the US Empire fight either/both without crippling losses?
They already are, aren't they?
- USA/Empire vs. Russia in Syria, Ukraine, Belarus, NordStream II, etc.
- USA/Empire vs. China in Iran, Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong, etc.
=
... how exactly could a war against a modern foe be successful given the frankly pathetic showing to date?
Fourth-gen warfare is "death by a thousand cuts". The target government is best with difficulties. Their people grow increasingly angry. A major war is not guaranteed, but it is very very possible.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 30 2020 0:05 utc | 192
Far-right nutjobs from Unz Review et al and Center-left woke liberals from the NYT are freaking out about the fate of America on the balance in these elections; meanwhile, Putin, the normal person in the room:
Russia ready to work with any new US administration â Putin
Unless you're willing to use your nukes, you're not that special, Americans. Calm the fuck down and enjoy business-as-usual after November 3rd.
US is mired in Sub Saharan election procedures. Canada, Mexico, OECD and even Russian require a government picture ID to vote.
Posted by: Nick | Oct 30 2020 0:25 utc | 194
I seem to recall many predicting what the "moderate rebels" would do after being defeated in Syria. France seems to be the current epicenter, but no news reports even mention blowback being the actual culprit.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 29 2020 17:26 utc | 140
AND Posted by: willie | Oct 29 2020 17:54 utc | 144
Macron, the west and the tale of the scorpions - a modern day Aesop' Fables, or better still, The Adventures of Tin Tin and the nasty Turkish Scorpion. A cautionary tale on opening in this case a can of scorpions, a Pandora box from hell.
"We learned that lesson very well, especially in the eighties, that terrorists cannot be used as a political card. You cannot put it in your pocket, because it's like a scorpion, because it will bite you someday."
President Bashar Assad.
And remember what happened to Kevork Almassian when he warned Europe of dealing with scorpions. Added to this are the crowds of Turks and Azeri's marching in the streets of France looking for Armenians.
Kevork Almassian
@KevorkAlmassian
·
14h
When I said: #Erdogan's goal is to weaponize the migrants in Europe, the German MSM launched a brutal campaign against me. Now, thousands of pro-Erdogan thugs wandering in the streets of Europe and beheading the "infidels". I'm not fearmongering, this is the reality. #NiceFlag of France
Posted by: Tom | Oct 30 2020 0:32 utc | 195
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 29 2020 23:33 utc | 185 Then again, stealing from a major US party almost seems like a noble endeavor.
Exactly.
Posted by: LuRenJia | Oct 29 2020 23:45 utc | 186 amerikkka is squeezing out the remaining "value" from Taiwan. Once there is no more to get, it's time to find a good sale price from China. However, the time for that may have passed.
Good point. You seem to be saying that the US is using this "maximum pressure campaign" on China to basically extort money from the other Asian countries just as the US uses the "Russia threat" to extort money from the EU, for the purpose of military-industrial complex profits. I'd agree with that. For some people, as I mentioned in earlier threads on the Deep State, there may be other motivations, which, nonetheless, boil down to money and/or power.
One underlying motive - which has always been the case for the state - is simply to generate an "external enemy" to threaten its own citizens with. As I like to say, "The definition of the state is: 'You give us all your money and do everything we tell you, and we'll protect you from your enemies inside and outside our borders. And if there aren't any enemies, we'll make some.'"
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 30 2020 0:40 utc | 196
Anyone feeling sad for the french are idiots.
They literally brought this upon themselves, what they should have done is either being hard on muslims by deporting them or making peace with ME countries to bring the muslims back, now all they do is rapidly making every muslims in France or worldwide hating french, while clamping down on the police state.
This is not mature statesmanship.
Posted by: Smith | Oct 30 2020 0:54 utc | 197
@ Posted by: Tom | Oct 30 2020 0:32 utc | 192; @ Posted by: Smith | Oct 30 2020 0:54 utc | 194
The Nice cathedral terrorist seems to be a legal refugee from Tunisia through Libya (one blowback more from the destruction of Libya...):
Nice attacker is Tunisian, entered France from Italy, had Quran copy on him: Official
This is the funny part:
[Franceâs anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François] Ricard added that the attacker was not on the radar of intelligence agencies as a potential threat.
How about stop worrying/fantasizing about the Yellow Vests and starting doing your jobs?
Or, on a more sinister possibility, the French intelligence was aiming to use him as a future freedom fighter in Syria?
re: Circe #104
Thanks for proving my point, that you are incapable of complex thoughts, you reduce everything to childlike binary stupidities '"A is a dem therefore good, B is a rethug therefore bad."
The issue I raised about Flynn wasn't that he was a wonderful human being, it was that the dems will struggle to prosecute him given that they are every bit as zionist as the rethugs (and demonstrably more war mongering) and the only instance of Flynn seeking assistance from russia was to advance the zionist cause, plus of course russia declined to assist him. biden & co don't want to upset their vast zionist donor base, consequently they won't be going after flynn.
If you are half the concerned leftie peacenik you claim to be, you would be voting against biden. Why? because a biden loss will offer the last chance for the dem party to reform itself, by ditching corrupt dollar dems in favour of decent people devoted to giving all amerikans a fair shake of the stick.
Yes I acknowledge that on previous form the odds of that occurring are not great, but they are not negligible either.
On the other hand if biden wins, it is extremely probable that evidence of his and harris's corruption will get out, and become public knowledge, no matter how much corporate media tries to suppress it.
The net result of that will be the rethugs picking a far more capable fascist politician than trump and they will win big, at least 30% of amerikans think incompetent arsehole trump is the best thing since sliced bread, an articulate fascist will get just about every whitefella in amerika voting for him.
The dems will be so damaged by the biden/harris scams that when an unashamed fascist wins in 2024, they won't have the credibility let alone the legislative power to prevent the new fuhrer from 'adjusting' the electoral process to ensure those expensive, pesky and unwanted (dem corruption will drive voter participation right down), elections nonsense can be circumvented. Even if biden or harris does get a opportunity to fill a spot on the supremes bench we can be sure it will be a right of center pick, just as oblamblam's was gonna be, forcing ginsberg to die on the job.
Anyone who wants real change to the screwed up amerikan political system is committing an act of extreme self harm if they support biden.
Rebut this post or not, I'm well aware that you're incapable of accepting this, however I have no doubt that as much as I wish it wouldn't; time will show this POV to have been correct.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Oct 30 2020 1:35 utc | 199
Hear hear!!
"If you are half the concerned leftie peacenik you claim to be, you would be voting against biden. Why? because a biden loss will offer the last chance for the dem party to reform itself, by ditching corrupt dollar dems in favour of decent people devoted to giving all amerikans a fair shake of the stick." Posted by: Debsisdead | Oct 30 2020 1:35 utc | 196
Posted by: gm | Oct 30 2020 1:49 utc | 200
The comments to this entry are closed.
jared Oct 29 2020 2:00 utc | 71
Can't really speak for the rest of the world, but it seems that here in the UK, they'll accept the servitude as long as someone else isn't getting a meal. Or failing that, seen to be getting a less impressive meal.
Posted by: Some Random Passerby | Oct 29 2020 10:31 utc | 101