Taking A Few Days Off
Your host feels somewhat drained. Several posts I started to write over the last few days turned out to be rubbish and got trashed.
That is sure sign that I need a few days off. I'll leave an open thread on top and will check in once a day to release blocked comments. Aside from that I will be mostly offline.
See y all next week.
b.
----
Use as open thread ...
Posted by b on March 26, 2021 at 16:11 UTC | Permalink
next page »Smart is the man that knows his limits and when to take a break.....could you give me a couple of pointers b.........
Rest well
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 26 2021 16:21 utc | 2
good idea b... enjoy a break! you are pretty relentless in churning out many fascinating articles.. thanks for your all your work..
Posted by: james | Mar 26 2021 16:33 utc | 3
b,
Go for a hike/walk/stroll.
We have a particularly good outdoors day
where I am.
At this time of the year the trees and gardens
change day to day. A walk becomes a discovery.
Ever hear of the book:
The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs
by Tristan Gooley
Check it out.
Posted by: librul | Mar 26 2021 16:35 utc | 4
Taliban to Target Foreign Troops If US Fails to Pull Forces Out of Afghanistan By 1 May
Posted by: arby | Mar 26 2021 16:43 utc | 5
Be well and refresh yourself! We need you and your “ A” game ❗️
Posted by: Bill Ziebell | Mar 26 2021 16:54 utc | 6
Good thinking b.
There's a variation on an old proverb which says...
"A change is as good as a holiday."
...and it's true.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 26 2021 17:03 utc | 7
Take a good rest.
You deserve it.
You do a good job.
Posted by: Mike from Jersey | Mar 26 2021 17:06 utc | 8
I have also reached my mental blockage/threshold point. I just want to hibernate until this shit show is over. Seems like will be resigning from my job as well.
If some one like me, who is only 30 yrs old is feeling like this wondering what others might be going through.
Posted by: AB17 | Mar 26 2021 17:15 utc | 9
Happy returns! And avoid "haverim yoffim " -- false friends, by cry thus now and then: "The thief's hat is on fire!".
Posted by: Tollef Ås/秋涛乐 | Mar 26 2021 17:17 utc | 10
Rest up, B !
Try to soak up a little nice Nature !
—
@AB17, I burnt out about ten years ago, I was in my early 40’s. Trying to do too much, and ultimately not getting to enjoy life and satisfy my girlfriends. My energy only partially returned. I consider myself retired now, living on welfare, minimalistically. Don’t burn out.
Posted by: Featherless | Mar 26 2021 17:22 utc | 11
I'll be doing the same for the entire month of April to visit family on the East Coast that's now been delayed for over two years. It'll be a road trip, so we'll get to view the devastation done by Neoliberalism and the pandemic up close instead of flying over it all. We'll also visit some geologic splendor that will uplift our spirits.
Have a good rest, b!! You've earned lots of time away from the keyboard.
@Posted by: AB17 | Mar 26 2021 17:15 utc | 9
Bet most everyone everywhere has felt the same
at one (or many) time or other in their life.
Life is good, but it is also
a rose - sometimes you touch the thorns.
I can say from experience that some times you just have to hang in there.
---
A friend once gave me great advice. (Great advice is worthless if you don't follow through and take it.)
List on a piece of paper all the problems you currently have and then put that list on the top of your
refrigerator. Tomorrow look at that list, and you will likely say, "this is it? that's all? I can handle this"
---
ps I am not 30
on the outside.
Posted by: librul | Mar 26 2021 17:43 utc | 13
Please watch this video Global Medical & Scientific Experts Call Upon World Governments to Act Now to Save Lives
From the comments:
"The problem is that when it's going to be widely known that Ivermectin (and preferably in a protocol depending on the disease stage, e.g. with methylprednisolone) is safe, efficacious, works in against variants as well, is very easy to distribute and to administer, and is very cheap (as it's out-off-patent you can ask India to produce a couple of billion of tablets for a fraction of the cost what we are spending now) ... ?
As a result:
1) the largest and most powerful pharmaceutical companies of the world are going to lose billions on lost vaccine sales and missed sales on new expensive drugs
2) their bigger shareholders might lose millions
3) medical authorities (WHO, EMA, MHRA, FDA, NIH ...) are going to be in the spotlight and will be questioned
4) many world leaders and politicians are going to lose face and may be held accountable for not looking into it sooner
5) many experts that have been rejecting the suggestions to use IVM and denied that there is a valid reason for the adoption will lose face and may be replaced by other experts
6) the objectivity and independence of medical journals is going to be questioned
7) lots of people are going to start questioning the whole system of how new medical treatments come to being (it's not about the patient, it's about the profit)
8) it might lead to a tremendous change in the health sector, and politicsPlenty of reasons to never officially endorse Ivermectin or even sabotage it. Too many interests are threatened by it. And the problem is that this is just one example of a much bigger problem that's preventing faster, cheaper and more effective medical treatment development. This is costing us many lives.
It's time to explore other ways to bring change.
Does anyone else here have ideas?"
The Virus and the Parasite
"If you have a flaw, it's that you demand perfection....that is IF you have a flaw"
-----Milhaus VanHouten
Posted by: Chevrus | Mar 26 2021 18:21 utc | 16
You've earned a lot of unused vacation time. As in a few weeks or months, not just days. Don't be a workaholic!!
@16 Chevrus lol, nice Simpsons quote!
Posted by: Hippo Dave | Mar 26 2021 18:36 utc | 17
Hemiola@15
“Does anyone else here have ideas?”
Yes, the longer this drags on the more PTB will resist and sanction anyone who claims a cheap simple solution.
India is having a bit of a resurgence in new cases and a noticeable increase in deaths. By Western standards they are still outperforming anyone (except the few places that succeeded in closing borders to covid). They are distributing vast numbers of doses of ivermectin/zinc/doxycycline for free. It is all exceptionally safe, no reason not to pass it out. The ivermectin is prophylactic as well as an early/late/post treatment. So why the resurgence? Because in Mumbai/Maharashtra the brainwashed will not have poor mans medicine. They want remdesivir. With over one billion neighbors who have moved on, reopened, put covid in the past, the Western brainwash is powerful. The narrative is more powerful than a billion examples.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 26 2021 18:38 utc | 18
b:
You are a resource for the world. Take care, re-energize, enjoy life's simple pleasures and clear your thoughts.
Be well, Bernhard
Posted by: Red Ryder | Mar 26 2021 18:39 utc | 20
Spring Break
As our Great Master said
"What would I tell him? I would say “stay healthy.” I wish him good health. I am saying this without irony or tongue in cheek."
This is my first point.
Second point, Bernhard, we have been locked up for too long. We probably don't share the same opinion on Covid-19 but we are so determined to make this world change...
We certainly don't change the world with our keyboards, but YOU do help us each day to focus on a particular change and to collectively understand the global change.
In 2004, I also had my burnout episode. Fortunately, my psychiatrist convinced me right away that my body needed to balance the mental load with physical fatigue. So I walked. It was also the end of March.
May I suggest to trek from Lübeck to Rügen. And a little extension to Greifswald in order to tell us where NS2 is at?
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 26 2021 19:15 utc | 21
It's unrelated to the topic, but my favorite Simpsons quote:
"Principal Skinner: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
Principal Skinner: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?
Principal Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
Lisa: Then we're stuck with gorillas!
Principal Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death."
I don't know why I like that sequence so much!
Posted by: Hippo Dave | Mar 26 2021 19:21 utc | 22
Well, since Bernhard is feeling drained and perhaps experiencing some writer's block, maybe we should help out some.
What if we gave b. some ideas for topics we would like to see him cover with his usual in-depth analysis and opinions.
A quick few suggestions from myself:
1. What do we make of China and Russia's recent diplomatic statements going on the offensive against the US? These relatively aggressive statements are highly unusual for those countries. Does this portend future degradations of relations or even military conflict?
2. Will any other country help the Taliban with military gear or advisors if they escalate and go highly offensive against occupying US forces when they refuse to leave after the May 1st deadline?
3. Will extreme hardliners in both Israel and Iran gain more power with the new elections in both countries this year? Iran seems no longer willing to tolerate the usual US shenanigans and betrayals and Israel is always willing to escalate any situation. Is that simmering conflict coming to a boil this year? If not, when? That situation is unstable and must resolved. Both sides seem resigned that armed conflict is inevitable.
Posted by: Mar man | Mar 26 2021 19:27 utc | 23
Get away from all the hate & poison - stay safe, happy and healthy :)
Posted by: Erast Fandorin | Mar 26 2021 19:35 utc | 24
My daughter drops her dog off at my house sometime in the morning and in the late afternoon her and I go for a walk near my house. There is a nice empty field which goes into a small bushed area that opens out onto a grassed area that fronts on the lake. Lolli and I enjoy very much that hour and a half walk rain, snow or shine every day. Then I return her to my daughter's house muddy or whatever. Definitely a good way to unwind.
Posted by: arby | Mar 26 2021 19:43 utc | 25
Thanks for the platform b, and have a good hiatus..
In the interim, there's this;
Yemeni forces, allies shoot down US MQ-9 Reaper drone in Ma’rib
…from PressTV, Tehran
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 26 2021 19:58 utc | 26
vetinLA
How much does a Reaper drone cost?
In 2008 they were $14 million apiece, but the Air Force's latest budget figures shows each new Reaper costs $32 million.Jun. 10, 2020
Posted by: arby | Mar 26 2021 20:05 utc | 27
arby @ 27; This should do it, with regards to cost;
https://nation.time.com/2012/02/28/2-the-mq-9s-cost-and-performance/
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 26 2021 20:14 utc | 28
Dear B,
You may be suffering from burnout. So much news to cover and so little time to do it all!
Perhaps it would be a good idea also to highlight some significant comments at this Open Thread and make them independent posts with their own comments forums.
Richard Galstaun's news on Libya used to be posted here occasionally. Canthama and the Plato's Guns blog may have news on Syria worth knowing now that the US govt under Creepy Joe Biden is committed to resuming war there. Many of us barflies would be happy to see reposts here at MoA from those bloggers and others we could suggest and recommend.
Posted by: Jen | Mar 26 2021 20:16 utc | 29
Hippo Dave @ 22:
We did those experiments here in Australia decades ago and ended up with cane toads.
Posted by: Jen | Mar 26 2021 20:19 utc | 30
On Blinken's Parisian pose of oblivious nonchalance
The United States, the European Union and Israel – the triumvirate which dominates half the world and thinks it has the moral and intellectual right to rule the other half [...] So what is it which unifies this Asian triumvirat [Russia, China, Iran] ?It’s a group whose essential demand is something which resonates universally, and which was the only logical and inevitable retort to those (the US, EU & Israel) who insist on a unipolar world: it’s an “alliance of sovereignty”, i.e. the right to resist a unipolar world where domestic affairs cannot be decided locally. The fundamental basis of this stance is anti-imperialism.
Sovereignty is what France denies to Africa, what the Monroe Doctrine still denies to Latin America, what Israel denies to the Middle East and what – it’s often poorly understood – Brussels denies to the southern and eastern members of its own bloc.
Sovereignty is an essential demand in a world full of nations but it’s an illegitimate demand and even seditious blasphemy to assert, as Yang did, that, “Neither the United States itself nor the Western world represent international public opinion.”
By Ramin Mazaheri, chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV
No comment / must read
https://thesaker.is/us-israel-eu-election-farces-or-the-allies-of-sovereignty-iran-china-russia/
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 26 2021 20:24 utc | 31
Yeah Hippo Dave!
Why ...? Mebe because it exemplefies the utter stupidity and lack of foresight and planning our species seems to be afflicted with?
Posted by: Chevrus | Mar 26 2021 20:35 utc | 32
Mr. Bernard F.
No surprises there.
Leave it to a Shia Muslim Iranian to articulate an intelligent position.
I wonder where the other Muslims - not-Iranian, non-Shia - are?
Still talking of UN or of International Community, I guess.
Posted by: fyi | Mar 26 2021 20:46 utc | 34
Have a good break, B. As commenters above have said, your blog is always worth checking out. Thanks for it.
Posted by: Jeem | Mar 26 2021 20:46 utc | 35
Old Hippie @ 18
Same Western brainwash in South Africa it seems but it's being challenged by The People's Medicine Campaign grassroots activists:
Shabnam Palesa Mohamed, discusses state of Ivermectin in South Africa
Also an extensive ivermectin review in the Japanese Journal of Antibiotics co-authored by the Nobel Prize winner Japanese scientist Dr Satoshi Omura who discovered the molecule is worth a read:
For those that feel burnt out, one of the things to do is walk away from all things Internet. Don't listen to the news especially from MSM. Pick up a hobby. Hopefully one that doesn't require deep pockets. :)
Posted by: Ian2 | Mar 26 2021 21:32 utc | 37
You are the best, b. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Hope you enjoy your break.
Posted by: oglalla | Mar 26 2021 21:38 utc | 38
AB17 have I got great news!
(and for you too, b)
@Posted by: AB17 | Mar 26 2021 17:15 utc | 9
I took a wonderful walk this afternoon and as tends to happen an idea popped in.
I recalled a close associate that had SAD (or so he claimed) and he raved about the solution he had found.
First, what is SAD? Per the Mayo Clinic it is:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you're like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer.Treatment for SAD may include light therapy (phototherapy), medications and psychotherapy.
My friend used a device that looks like a Walkman with Earphones.
The device sends yellow light into receptors...here...read about it.
http://www.beatthewinterblues.info/light-therapy-through-ears/
Photosensitive Proteins in The BrainRecent studies emphasize that not only the eyes are photosensitive, but also the brain. The researchers got the idea to start the investigation by examining some animals in which the skull is transparent so the light reaches the brain. Namely, the brain tissue contains photoreceptors in the form of photosensitive proteins such as melanopsin and panopsin. There are so far 18 places in the brain where these proteins were marked. It is scientifically proven that light administration via ear channels improves the integration and functional connectivity of the neural network in the brain.
Wish I had remembered it earlier for you.
Posted by: librul | Mar 26 2021 22:02 utc | 40
It's what I currently too.
Reading MSM bull news and reacting to them is what they want, been focusing on work and video games more lately and I feel much better.
Posted by: Smith | Mar 26 2021 22:06 utc | 41
Karlof1 @ 12 --
Visiting family? Think about what you can bring up and all the divisive subjects to avoid talking about. Unfortunately, I find there's not much remaining that doesn't elicit strong reactions and potential animosity. There's a tendency these days for people to 'label' you based on preconceived categories as encapsulated in MSM's definitions of deviation from the norm -- "extremist" "anti-vaxxer" "conspiracy theorist" "left-wing" "right-wing" "racist" "hater" "bigot" "greenie" "doomer" "pinko" "wingnut" etc. I see it here too occasionally: "You've cast your lot with the Trumper camp" or such. There is no room for reasoned discussion because anything one expresses that violates the taboos of official narratives, regardless of the facts that support it, smears one into one of those categories. This is what the MSM have fostered in their orchestrated program to channel thought and shame dissent.
So we're pretty much down to chit-chat about mundanities in our relations with most others who are steeped in their everyday mainstream news and convinced they know all they need to know.
Hopefully, you will have Internet access and will be able to come here for relief.
Posted by: norecovery | Mar 26 2021 22:10 utc | 42
norecovery @42--
Thanks for your reply! I haven't much family remaining thanks to a few of those reasons you mentioned. I'll be seeing my daughter and in-laws. This is actually far more important for my wife who is very family-centric and hasn't seen anyone in person for 3 years--the grandkids are twice as big now and capable of holding a conversation. I intend to try and read a few books and perhaps write some, but I do look forward to getting away from the computer. I haven't had a vacation worthy of that word since my mom passed three years ago. I also look forward to melting in the hot weather we'll encounter since we'll be in Georgia then will spend some time in Florida before driving back to Oregon. And it'll be therapeutic since I really enjoy driving cross-country. And with luck, I'll learn a few things!
Misery loves company. My latest software delivery project has burned me out too. Glad to see I'm not alone.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 26 2021 22:57 utc | 46
Have a good rest b. So much seems to be happening all at once. I fear we are in one of those periods in history that will be memorable.
Posted by: bill baly | Mar 26 2021 23:02 utc | 47
On post#31, I titled on "Blinken's Parisian pose of oblivious nonchalance", a caracterisation by Ramin Mazaheri. But
Is Sergeï Lavrov talking with oblivious nonchalance?
Lavrov met Wang Yi, on March 23, 2021. At the end of the meeting was the traditional press conference, available on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
You will find more clearly stated, in Russian and in one of the languages of your choice,how Lavrov calmy pointed out once again that Russia and China continue their close and fruitful cooperation in virtually all spheres on the international stage.
But the most amazing thing is Lavrov’s last closing sentence, which only appeared to me in the German version.
In Russian, he said “Нока задноте беремен”, which is translated into English as "all has been quiet on the Western front".
Polite nonchalance?
BUT into German as " Im Westen nichts Neues"
Bingo! Not anymore nonchalance! That is the title of a book of world importance!
And it turns out that “На садном фронте беремен” is indeed the Russian title of the book of Erich Maria Remarque.
https://www.livelib.ru/book/1000194395-na-zapadnom-fronte-bez-peremen-erih-mariya-remark
And I googled it "all quiet on Western front" is the English title too.
This book, profoundly pacifist, the consciousness of a 19-year-old German youth subjected to a patriotic cranial stuffing who voluntarily enlisted in the German army. The brutality of life at the front will make Paul and his friends discover that their ideals of patriotism and nationalism are no more than clichés not fit to the real world.
Looks like an HEAVY message to german partners.
For french nonchalance, no solution.
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 26 2021 23:43 utc | 48
"Several posts I started to write over the last few days turned out to be rubbish and got trashed."
Much better than what I do with my posts, which I only realize are rubbish after being posted :)
Posted by: red1chief | Mar 27 2021 0:13 utc | 49
Enjoy your well earned rest. I and so many others value and appreciate all that you do.
Thank you.
Also: I would like to contribute some more $ but my addled brain (early stages of Biden’s syndrome?) doesn’t remember how to go about it, please let me know when you have a chance.
Posted by: 4 corners Bill | Mar 27 2021 0:27 utc | 50
Check out red light therapy/rejuvenation. This is talked about by Dr. Mercola and Ben Greenfield, here and there. In fact, check out Ben Greenfield's "boundless", for lots of bio-hacks.
@ NemesisCalling about your post| Mar 25 2021 16:08 utc | 146
Thanks for the question, interesting.... Why do we think our politician are prostituted?
It's late in Europe, must sleep. But I'm preparing an antwort.
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 27 2021 1:11 utc | 52
Thanks B
Here's a thought-- What if Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela and the growing list of countries who are against the U.S. and Euro lackie, what if they started fighting the sanctions by:
1) making sure that each of them are finding a way around the sanctions
2) figure out ways to hurt the hedgemon economically and bake that into their operational mechanisms.
My prediction... it's going to happen. It's happening now. Lavrov is starting to propose more coordination, he's not talking about hurting the U.S. yet but I think that will come this year.
https://orinocotribune.com/russia-supports-idea-of-wide-coalition-to-combat-unilateral-sanctions-says-lavrov/
The Chinese dragon is breathing fire:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/hm-nike-xinjiang-cotton-boycott-intl-hnk/index.html
Want to keep smearing China on the Uighur issue? Now it will cost you.
https://apnews.com/article/china-boycott-hm-over-xinjiang-9e9a27b7179bd7a34330b8325ac37cdb
I don't know much about Germany but my guess is they will keep Nordstream which will cause a big rupture with U.S.
Biden and Blinken, meanwhile, got nuthin.
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 27 2021 1:20 utc | 53
relax and enjoy b ~ then come back to us safe and sound.
Posted by: annie | Mar 27 2021 1:24 utc | 54
4 corners Bill #50 if you'd like to donate go to MoA paypal
Posted by: annie | Mar 27 2021 1:35 utc | 55
Different barflies are writing about light therapy so let me add my $0.02
I have a book titled Light Therapies by Anadi Martel and it was translated from French in 2018, originally out in 2016. In the first half of the book he updates ones knowledge of the science to date about light including 2 significant findings in the past 20 years.
The one out at the turn of the new century was about our non-visual optic pathway input to the superachiasmatic nucleus which controls circadian rhythm, internal organs, blood pressure, release of glucose by the liver, production of urine in bladder, etc. The science is ongoing and while the circadian rhythm disruptions can be linked to the spikes of blue spectrum light from CFL and LED lights, how the other bodily functions are effected by light is still a mystery. One part of that mystery is the discovery of a new type of glia cells called Muller cells and they are the living fiber optic cells that transport light to the superachiasmatic nucleus photoreceptor cells that are behind the rods/cones of our vision.
The 2nd significant finding is that, like plants with photosynthesis, humans are powered by certain frequencies of light. A Russian scientist, named Tiina Karu spent over 20 years proving the existence of a concept she calls photobiomodulation. She discovered that light frequencies peaking in the 400nm, 620nm, 680nm, 760nm and 820nm ranges caused the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase to absorb photos from the light at those frequencies previously mentioned. This photobiomodulation event produces ATP, increases motility and cell divisions; and it regenerates DNA....YES, it heals mitochondria in cells.
I have a Medlight 630PRO that utilizes this technology to help me with pain management
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 27 2021 1:35 utc | 56
Hey B
Sounds like you need a break for sure. Enjoy your time to recharge.
Posted by: Kiffie | Mar 27 2021 1:54 utc | 57
Bernard F, that is fascinating about the famous anti war novel Lavrov cited in his last closing sentence "Im Westen nichts Neues". I am reading about it now (english translation of German wiki), the brutality of war. thank you so much.
Posted by: annie | Mar 27 2021 1:56 utc | 58
@b - A break is well deserved! Sometimes one needs to just get away from it all for a bit.
This year just wasn't any good, no two ways about it. Your efforts over the years are highly appreciated!! Rest up, best wishes with whatever ails you. I'll try to refrain from "helpful advice"
Posted by: ptb | Mar 27 2021 2:20 utc | 59
Check out Hunter Biden’s text message on the ‘gun’…
https://thenationalpulse.com/news/exc-hunter-bidens-texts-confirm-gun-was-taken-left-in-dumpster-police-fbi-secret-service-came-on-scene/
Posted by: Dogon Priest | Mar 27 2021 3:25 utc | 61
Biden urges Supreme Court to allow cops to seize guns without warrant
The PTB has realized the masses had enough of their domestic propaganda, and is pushing to deny whatever little real power the latter still possess.
Posted by: J W | Mar 27 2021 3:34 utc | 62
IS in Africa...cui bono?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/26/mozambique-180-workers-trapped-in-hotel-amid-insurgent-attack
Posted by: Mina | Mar 27 2021 3:40 utc | 63
Below is a short Reuters quote with implications like cotton
"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday said she was maintaining the threat of U.S. tariffs on goods from Austria, Britain, India, Italy, Spain and Turkey in retaliation for their digital services taxes.
"
Digital services, unless locked into Central Banking Mafia, should be able to produced for each country and its the in-between that needs to be taken out of the hands of the BIS and turned into a public clearing house.
The whole intertube thing needs to be discussed in public. Is it a public service and to what degree? What interchange rules are negotiated core to international communication? Tough nuts to crack even without the current dying empire bullying
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 27 2021 5:03 utc | 64
Below is another short Reuters posting that I couldn't resist sharing
"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a virtual summit on climate change he will host on April 22-23, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
"
What if empire threw a party and nobody came?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 27 2021 5:07 utc | 65
@48 Bernard F
He said in Russian «Но пока на западном фронте без перемен» Which in English is "But so far there has been no change on the western front" but was translated as "But so far, all has been quiet on the Western front". A pointed comment.
Posted by: Peter Williams | Mar 27 2021 5:32 utc | 66
Good for you, B! I'm very glad you're taking the break you need - I hope it has plenty of freshness and natural beauty in it - parks, gardens, wilderness - whatever makes most sense for where you are.
With all good wishes and prayers, and gratitude for the info and analysis you give so much of.
Posted by: Hope | Mar 27 2021 7:12 utc | 68
just relax and recharge your battery b
we'll be minding the store for you.
--------------------
None of the 260 Canuck MP voted YES on 'UIghurs genocide' dare to talk to Grayzone.
WHAT ARE THEY trying to hide...
their ignorance, their stupidity, their conspiracy theory ?'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwTr_eljYqM
Posted by: denk | Mar 27 2021 8:29 utc | 69
Jacobin's Bhasakar Sunkara has a very good interview with Ecuador's Andrés Arauz probably a month, maybe 6 weeks ago, covers lots of concepts and dynamics playing out in Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. Arauz is good at giving snapshots of how these actions have played out in Ecuador, helped me and could help all of us, I think. I believe he will win the election April 11 and will strongly support Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua,Cuba. If they don't kill him he will emerge as a leader in the Latin American belt and road initiative. Mexico and Argentina have very rich, embedded right wing elites and the left is not nearly as strong as in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and even Ecuador but the left appears to be ascending in Mexico and Argentina for now-- Arauz's victory and re-consolidation--and deepening-- of Correa's power will strengthen all anti-imperial movements in Latin America.
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/andres-arauz-ecuador-elections/
a few topics covered in the interview:
High praise for Bolivia's MAS- "In Bolivia, however, there was the prosperous melding of the objectives of a progressive left and indigenous movements — that’s what allowed for the MAS’s consolidation."
Lasso vs Yaku Perez- the interview was before Lasso was determined as the 2nd candidate (I was surprised) and Arauz said he would be able to defeat Lasso more easily-- refreshingly candid and blunt "If it’s Yaku Pérez, it’ll be a much more contested fight."
IMF- again, candid, "It’s no secret that the IMF represents financial capital above all and that will be a head-on confrontation on both practical and ideological grounds."
Bottom line, Arauz appears humble, courageous, astute, strongly tied to Correa's network, working to adapt Bolivia's melding of the left and the indigenous. U.S. knows Correa and they don't like him. Arauz will be a seamless continuation, bad news for the empire. I see a landslide victory on April 11 similar to Bolivia, too big to steal.
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 27 2021 9:24 utc | 70
Hemiola @ 15 Does anyone else here have ideas?"
The Virus and the Parasite <= about GIGs, PLCs and GIMPs => a proper scientific community <=one not constrained by government issued grants [GIGs] of monopoly powers designed to make wealthy one at the expense of all others; <=grants that make it against the law either to outproduce the products made by the existing private party that owns the GIMP or by incremental improvement of technology implicit in the government issued monopoly power [GIMP]. (Monopoly power (patent, license or copyrights (PLCs), transfer public resources and public access to knowledge from public to private hands. These transfers occur by GIGs.
GIGs make it illegal for a competitor either to produce more efficient products because GIMP belongs to a single owner, or to engage in improving the technology implicit in the privately owned GIMP. The GIMP denies competition. Neither better or more efficient product can be competitively produced nor can the existing technology be improved because it is illegal to compete with the GIMP. Monopoly protection in private hands defeats the essence of competitive capitalism and when it occurs, it is a blatant example of Oligarch abuse of a government to extort or extract the resources of the governed into private oligarch hands.
Not only must a would be competitor[WBC], if any, be forced to avoid developing a product that resembles the govt protected patented, licensed or copyrighted (PLC) product but also the would-be-competitor (WBC) must avoid using any of the component knowledge in the GIMP. When public government issues a monopoly power to a private or Non governmental organization, the government is using the power granted to it by the constitution, to convert public property into private single person owned property. In other words PTB are chopping up the government and giving the pieces to themselves. Public resources are being converted to privately owned property( GIMP, GIG, and PLCs).
the process by which a corona virus infects a human is well known. The health of no one <=would be challenged by a corona virus infection, if there were a way to block the infection. Infection prevent is a far better alternative than to bio engineer a post infection human response to the infection. Preventive measures (like wearing effective masks, social distancing and using technology capable to warn viral threats exist in this place<=causes an alarm to go off <=avoid contact with the virus. Enter the room with a virus particle or socially interact with an infected person present only with adequate protection. The alarm sounds and the target victim of the virus is warned.
We cannot cure the disease malaria but we can eradicate the vector [carrier] that infects victims with the pathogen that causes the disease. <=Mosquitoes.
What is needed is to prevent the infection from happening. Infect the virus before it can infect mankind.
There would be no big pharma if there were no GIGs and PLC laws.
Congress protects GIMP by use of force and rule of law. These laws eliminate competition. If patent, license and copyright (PLC) laws were repealed the big guys will fall and smart little guys will rise.
Old hippie @ `18 says The narrative is more powerful than a billion examples.<== Remember guys, the
powers pushing monopoly ownership of the world is not the government, (government is just the enforcement arm which guarantees what the private oligarch demand ) The pushing behind the scene power is to be found in the private corporate ivory towers and in the home offices of their Oligarch private owners.
Want to fix things,look not to the government but to the privately owned corporations and their oligarch owners.
To be a crime a government must <=by law=> outlaw a human behavior(behaviors which transgress the outlawed behavior). To be an infringement on human rights, a government must invade by its acts the space reserved to human rights.
In the case of the Constitution of the United States. the Bill or Rights promises that the government it authorizes will always allow those it governs to "keep and bear arms" and that it specifically denies the government the constitution creates, to infringe on that promise the right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" But requiring permits, limiting the kinds of guns, and selecting who can and who cannot own guns are themselves serious infringements; which violate the promises, warranties and guarantees the founders placed in the constitution; among those promises was that "the right to keep and to bear arms shall not be infringed".
Ratification of the Oligarch invented constitution would never have happened if the founders who wrote and promoted the constitution had not promised everyone the constitution government will not infringe the bill of rights. .. if the bill of rights had not been added to the Constitution, there would not have been a constitution because the people to be governed would not stand for it.. The bill of rights restrains the acts of those who are to be the governors. The constitution promises that those who govern will not infringe the right to free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, but both promises have been broken by the laws the governors have written. No one seems to have done anything about it?
What should the governed do, when the government infringes on and violates a human right or ignores one or more of the conditions that allowed the constitution [<=from which all power to govern arises] to be ratified?
Infringements are not criminal acts. To be criminal requires that some law exist, which has been be violated. . Broken Constitutional promises are not crimes; they are infringements into space the constitution specifically prohibited the constitutionally authorized government to invade.
Infringements and invasion into constitutionally prohibited territory by government or by those who serve it have become common. How long must they be allowed? Infringement is an act which is a lot worse than the crime of say murder, IMO; infringement violates the space that protects human rights from those who have the power to govern. Has anyone seen an infringer arrested, charged with a crime, or punished for the infringement?
But the officers of the government and their privately owned support team ( the MSM) are working diligently to take most guns away from most of the governed people. This effort, and all that is accomplished by it, is an infringement on the promise made in the 2nd amendment (Bill of Right #2)? I think whether or not the people are going to let the government infringe on the right of humanity to keep and bear arms is going to come to a head soon.
The 2nd amendment (Bill of Rights #2) says "..The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. .."When laws or presidential orders quash a promise made to the people in the constitution, the law or order infringes both the human right protected space and the space protected to human rights by the constitution. Hence as long as there is a constitution every governed person will have the right to keep and bear arms. If a government infringes on that right, it has dissolved the constitution IMO.
That right to keep and bear arms will always exist as long as the constitution remains ratified. There would not have been a constitution without the bill of rights (BoRs). The BoRs were conditions required of the founders by those who were to ratify the Constitution. That which is government is legal, that which is constitutional demarks and defines the interface between the rights of all men <=who are to be the governed, and the rights of a few men who are to be the governors. The constitution when ratified, is an expression of agreement confirming the rights of two classes of people: those who are to be the governed, and those who are to be the governors.
IANAL.
Posted by: snake | Mar 27 2021 9:28 utc | 71
Take a holiday and enjoy it. You deserve it.
Fresh air and sun is what we all need.
*
While you can! The French overlord (Macron) has ordered that in the town in which I live, masks must be worn at all times. We are not allowed to leave the house and walk round the local "lake" (big pond), or go into town without a mask. I'll be polite as I have several words which describe my feelings - but they are not for "sensitive ears".
****
I'm with Caitlin, we do have at least two weapons to use, Truth and Ridicule.
****
All's quiet on the western front; I once became interested in WWI. (Student days). The "reality" offered to the public was not complete even then, and is very similar to the regular media "turbowashing" of violence today. So younger generations become accustomed to seeing "cleaned" versions of the results.
1) (From "unofficial" reports) The first thing that "you noticed" when arriving at the front was the overwhelming stench. Rotting bodies, s**t, and anything else .........
People lived in that for years. Think about it.
2) I came across a pamphlet with photos made after the war about certain survivors. Ones hit with dum-dum bullets, jaws ripped off, horrible wounds, you don't even know how some survived. BUT, the point being that those poor bastards were then kept alive in special homes/clinics, as there was no esthetic surgery in those days. Never to be let out, as too horrible for others eyes to see.
They would have lived quite a long time too, as most would have been in their early twenties.
I became anti-war at about the same time.
Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 27 2021 9:32 utc | 72
@Posted by: denk | Mar 27 2021 8:29 utc | 69
thanks denk. very good video
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 27 2021 9:54 utc | 73
I just realized that both Bolivia's Arce and Ecuador's Arauz understand finance and were top level finance ministers in the previous leftist administrations. That's a big deal, IMO.
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 27 2021 9:59 utc | 74
ZOOM to pay $0 in taxes on $660 million in profits…. https://www.dailywire.com/news/zoom-profits-in-2020-660-million-zoom-tax-payment-in-2021-0
USA Today: Christian Values Are “Archaic”; Oral Roberts U. Should be Banned
https://thenewamerican.com/usa-today-christian-values-are-archaic-oral-roberts-u-should-be-banned/
The Denial of Evil
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/denial-evil-dennis-prager/
What if Hunter Biden was Black?
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/what-if-hunter-biden-was-black
Study: Chemical That Causes Penises to Shrink Found in Face Masks
https://news.sky.com/story/human-penises-are-shrinking-because-of-pollution-warns-scientist-12255106
Posted by: Dogon Priest | Mar 27 2021 11:25 utc | 76
Apologies, wrong link on penis and mask
https://nationalfile.com/study-chemical-that-causes-penile-shrinkage-found-in-face-masks/
Posted by: Dogon Priest | Mar 27 2021 11:38 utc | 77
snake@71 thinks "IANAL" is a valid excuse. No, it is not. There is no excuse for leaving out words that change the meaning. It is a dishonest lawyer who does that sort of thing. The second amendment reads "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." A militia is the people in arms, as opposed to a professional military. The key phrase here is "well-regulated" which means, organized by a government body. In context it means the state, which today means the militia is the National Guard. The days when the local town had elections for officers and trained on the village green are long gone. Further, the part about the security of the free state means that the *states* should have their own military, not that any random person can designate themselves a soldier. (Or is it "warrior," in the deranged ideology of today?)
The proviso about well-regulated are almost certainly about reserving the right to the government to disarm bands of irregulars committing crimes under guise of pretending to be outraged citizens. In 1763 there were the notorious Paxton Boys, a party of seventeenth century snakes who got drunk then massacred a group of Conestoga Indians, a peaceful farming group, heavily Christian (if not wholly as I recall,) for, well, basically, shits and giggles. Local authorities tried to prosecute the murderers for murder, but the fellow snakes on the ground jury nullified the cases. Unsatisfied with getting away with murder, the Paxton Boys and their fellow snakes tried to intimidate the Pennsylvania assembly by marching in armed. The shame and humiliation earned for their supposed cause, draining the swamp of politics in the capital who looked down on the frontier deplorables. It was the swamp creatures who won the next election. The modern conservative is far more to the right of the patriots of the epoch of the American Revolution. Today's conservatives would have been Tories to a man, the loyalists sucking up to Howe in New York City or killing patriots in the South.
Incidentally, also in "IANAL" subterfuge, patents are not a law to be repealed, but a part of the constitution. Article 1 Section 8 Clause "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Also, if "PLC" were truly meaningful it would include trademarks and logos, where the tyrannical government infringes the freedom of the people to insist that no one can slap a Harley Davidson logo on their knockoff motorcycle. Or send out a letter claiming to be from the bank.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Mar 27 2021 12:57 utc | 78
STJ @ 78
Your rhetorical use of “snakes” while addressing a fellow barfly named snake is shameful. Drink up and show yourself out.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 27 2021 13:20 utc | 79
@ Stonebird | Mar 27 2021 9:32 utc | 72
These face-wounded people were called "Les Gueules Cassées". That was affectionate and respectful.
As a child, I still met survivors, 50 years after the war. The National Lottery was created "for them", I knew the last tickets of this lottery,
tickets of this lottery of "Les Gueules Cassées"
we even had to sell them every year as an extracurricular activity.
An Wiki link in english for Les Gueules cassées
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gueules_cass%C3%A9es?wprov=sfla1
Then Hollywood took it upon itself to make the war more attractive. There have been a few deviants, but Starwars, Clooney and Inglorious Bastards have put everything back in order to motivate the next generation.
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 27 2021 13:38 utc | 80
oldhippie@78 thinks falsifying an argument, aka "lying," by selectively editing the second amendment and pretending that patents are laws that can be repealed instead of constitutional provisions that should be amended is perfectly honorable. Says it all about oldhippie's judgment about what's shameful. Yes, modern right-wingers are today's Tories.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Mar 27 2021 13:58 utc | 81
Take care of yourself, Bernhard, been wondering how you managed to keep this up all those years.
Posted by: LeaNder | Mar 27 2021 14:06 utc | 82
@Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 27 2021 9:32 utc | 72
It is sweet and fitting
to die for the homeland.
That is from a Latin saying:
Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
During WWI a poet went off to war full of patriotic feelings
and how war was full of glory and honor.
"Soon after war was declared in 1914, Owen, teaching English in France and still trapped in his cocoon of middle-class establishment views, could blithely write home that "the guns will effect a little useful weeding" of the lesser classes."
He enlisted in 1915 and would soon experience the glory of war first hand.
He died a week before the end of the war, his mother received The Telegram
on Armistice Day with every church bell peeling and filling the air with
Thankfullness and celebration.
His name was Wilfred Owen (stay away from Wikipedia if researching him - duh).
He experienced first hand trench warfare and in particular experienced gas warfare.
And thus wrote poetry to expose the lie about war being glorious.
Here is one of the famous poems he wrote:
(the title is ironic)
Dulce et decorum
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Posted by: librul | Mar 27 2021 14:13 utc | 83
@ Peter Williams | Mar 27 2021 5:32 utc | 66
Yes, translation is not word for word, but in order to point at the message. Could be:
Whatever your langage, just read:
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
" Im Westen nichts Neues"
“На садном фронте беремен”
___of Erich Maria Remarque.
Do you really want Europe back to the Trench warfare?
"Following World War I, "trench warfare" became a byword for stalemate, attrition, sieges, and futility in conflict."
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 27 2021 14:19 utc | 84
China, Iran sign 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership deal
Quick, somebody warn Iran China is committing genocide against Muslims in Xinjiang!
Oh wait, there isn't any genocide. And Iran knows it. Oops.
oldhippie @79
I must protest your dismissal of that poster. It is invaluable to the community to have such a reliable advocate for the empire keeping us abreast of the current establishment narrative du jour and giving us the imperial perspective on issues. Granted the poster would be an even greater value to the community if it were more forthright about its service to the elites, but perhaps another poser providing a disclaimer for it once per discussion thread or so would be sufficient?
Posted by: William Gruff | Mar 27 2021 14:47 utc | 86
In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts flame wars or intentionally upsets people on the Internet (Wikipedia)
One of the best things about this website is that most of the comments are intelligent, potentially informative and polite, I recommend that we try to keep it that way. If one is under the impression that another person has accidentally (or even deliberately) misrepresented some piece of information, the correct procedure is to post the correct or original information for comparison and allow other readers to draw their own conclusions. Name calling and other forms of personal attack ruin the tone of the discourse and usually render the subject matter secondary to their personal antagonism. We are fortunate inasmuch as the two most blatant trolls have disappeared from the site after the removal of Donald Trump (mission accomplished?) I think most people will know who I mean. If the remaining folks could kindly avoid hijacking threads with personal attacks/accusations I am sure that the majority of readers would appreciate it.
Posted by: MarkU | Mar 27 2021 15:08 utc | 87
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 27 2021 14:19 utc | 84
Correct the name in Russian, На западном фронте без перемен, Peter has got it right transliterated. The name of the book translates differently in every language, "Sin Novedad en el Frente" No news from the front in Spanish, "Á l'ouest rien de nouveau" To the West nothing new..
But Lavrov's hint is more than clear, from the West came Sigismund, Napoleon and Hitler, the latter two with a coalition of basically the whole of Europe. Too bad we cannot post images otherwise I'd show you how the French are depicted at the entrance of the Monastery in Borodino where both the French and German armies confronted the Russians. As you know the French got further than the Germans, they made it to Moscow but the retreat was a disaster.
I have a better picture but found this one, watch the French emblem, a one headed eagle on the floor, compared to the two headed eagle of the Russian empire.
Spaso-Borodinsky Monastyr Bas-relief
Posted by: Paco | Mar 27 2021 15:34 utc | 88
Freshmen year in college we were assigned Im Westen Nichts Neues. I was also in ROTC at the time and that book changed my politics and lead me to being kicked out of ROTC for an unmilitary attitude. Also it greatly improved my German and showed me that its better to read a book in its original language than rely on a translation.
Posted by: Chas | Mar 27 2021 15:44 utc | 89
Have a good rest, b. I've been reading Cosmos, and it's a wonderful font of optimism.
I think most in the bar know what the entire text of the US constitution's second amendment is at this point (snake's post included an elipsis before and after the portion of the text he was focusing on; the elipsis indicates that commonly known words are being omitted). I think what most get hung up on (as far as the second amendment is concerned) is the term "people." To just which "people" is this referring? It's the same with "the senate and the people of Rome;" does "people" refer to the commoners, or the landed gentry that make the laws? My personal opinion is this "popular" expression is a fig leaf of camaraderie employed by the gentry to generate popular support for whatever law the gentry is attempting to promulgate. Was the second amendment a genuine "fail safe" measure to prevent the emergence of tyranny? It's entirely possible; there were obviously some amongst the landed gentry of the time who were somewhat more altruistically motivated than others, hence the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the constitution.
At this point though, the argument is rather moot; there are now a lot of people in the US who own a lot of guns, which are far scarier than pitchforks ever were. That the issue of curtailing private gun ownership (full disclosure; I don't own a firearm) is becoming prominent indicates to me that the gentry are increasingly concerned that a "quatorze juillet" moment may be in the offing (along with their effing heads).
Thanks again for keeping the bar open, b. See ya when you get back.
Posted by: robjira | Mar 27 2021 15:57 utc | 90
@Posted by: MarkU | Mar 27 2021 15:08 utc | 87
thanks MarkU
well stated.
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 27 2021 16:07 utc | 91
Hypocrisy illustrated:
If you literally go some centimeters to the left of the NYT home page you can read this:
In other words, "people who have been working for reform" = color revolutionaries in Iran.
Gruff @ 86
Usually I pass over remarks by STJ. In first line it is plain who the author is and that large block of text may be ignored.
While scrolling up I just happened to see a few words and picked up on how personal nasty and vicious STJ was being this time. Snake is someone I usually don’t read either, his prose is turgid to say the least. He does seem to be a real person though. Sitting in same barroom as snake it is common courtesy to hear him out occasionally. And I like him. He doesn’t have to be the most erudite person on thread for me to like him. So when he was attacked I spoke and defended him.
I ain’t the bouncer here. Bernard is. Bernard’s patience is extraordinary.
Another poster here, RSH, threatened to kill me three times, at least, and Bernard did not ban him. That poster is still here, using another name, with slightly better manners. Everyone else on the net bans him quickly when he walks in with his A persona. That poster is a committee, the style comes from a style guide.
I got introduced to the problem of trolls and moles by Joffrey Stewart and Carlos Cortez. That was a long time ago. Their lessons were driven in when my parole officer, a nice young man who should not have been assigned to me, told me the parolee he was looking at was not the parolee he had been reading about. He shoved the two volumes of my FBI file across the desk to me and told me I would not survive if I didn’t understand that I had been a political prisoner. (The marijuana offense was not why I did federal time.) Then he left the room for forty minutes. So I read and I know, not suspect, which of the comrades were FBI. And how very many of them were.
Probably half the commenters here are paid. Doesn’t matter at all if they pose as right or left, civil or crude. Over in UK they freely admit to the operations of Brigade 77. It is like that everywhere. Understand that I already had an FBI file of over a thousand pages when I was eighteen years old. They do deploy manpower on us.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 27 2021 16:28 utc | 93
Great! You're taking a vacation, b. That means I can too––from keeping up with your heavy output on MoA. Now all I have to do is keep up with the inexhaustible commenters. But I'm learning to distinguish between whom to give a slow read or a half-lid glance.
Posted by: Jay-Ottawa | Mar 27 2021 16:55 utc | 94
In case it hasn't been mentioned yet, Pepe and Michael Hudson article up at Consortium News.
Have a rejuvenating break b, you've earned it many times over.
Posted by: spudski | Mar 27 2021 17:51 utc | 95
Interesting comparison of the reactions of the respective UK governments to the HK Flu in 68-70 and the Corona virus today.
"Consider how both men reacted when faced with an epidemic. Wilson's Labour government not only didn't lock the country down in the winters of 1968-9 or 1969-70, it's hard to imagine they even considered it. Life went on as normal. The pubs and nightclubs were full, people attended football matches, race meetings, theatre performances and concerts (where they were still allowed to smoke!), and met up with their friends and family whenever they wanted to.
...
Even this week, when deaths "with Covid" fell to just 17, Johnson was giving dire warnings about the inevitability of a "third wave" washing up on our shores. Now - having got the Coronavirus Act renewed for another six months, Britain's wannabee Roman dictator is threatening us with "vaccine passports" just to go to the pub.
...
When we look back at the Britain of 1968-70 we see a very different country. For a start, our politicians were of a much higher calibre than today's third-raters. Harold Wilson and his Cabinet colleagues were from the "Golden" WW2 generation, people who wouldn't have pressed the "Panic" button when Neil Ferguson - whose ludicrous predictions were used to justify the March 2020 lockdown - came into the room and said, "I've done some modelling".
...
We had a very different media too. There was no breakfast tv, so no hyperventilating "Piers for Fears" Morgan types calling people "Hong Kong Flu idiots" for going to Bournemouth beach on a sunny day in the summer of '69. The press was much less sensationalist than today- and there were no rolling 24-hours news channels either. And there was no Internet.
The net result of the above was that Britain was a much calmer society. Reason and evidence came above emotionalism in public debate. "That generation approached viruses with calm, rationality and intelligence," says Jeffrey Tucker, of the American Institute for Economic Research.
...
But of course, those who seek to cause alarm today do so for a reason. Johnson is clearly attempting to hype Coronavirus fears in order to implement the World Economic Forum's chillingly dystopian "Great Reset" programme.
...
And of course, in the late 1960s, there was no Bill Gates, that strange computer-software multi-billionaire with the squeaky Kermit the Frog-style voice who is able to buy incredible influence in the field of public health due to his extraordinary wealth.
Today, largely because of Gates, "public health" has been reduced to vaccine promotion, but in the post-war era it was much broader and involved things like giving school children cod liver oil (a rich source of important vitamins) and encouraging people to "go to work on an egg".
Posted by: Bluedotterel | Mar 27 2021 18:09 utc | 96
Thank you, Peco. I was about to ask, why is it "Na sadnom fronte" and not "Na zapadnom fronte"?
Posted by: lysias | Mar 27 2021 18:23 utc | 97
Re: steven t johnson | Mar 27 2021 13:58 utc | 81
Well Steven, you appear to be conflating the Constitutional passages of Article 1 Section 8, and the Second Amendment. Actually, Article 1 Section 8 says:
-// U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 8
The Congress shall have Power to...
[...]
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; [...] //-
That's it.
It says Congress has the 'power to'... It does not say that Congress 'must'.
I have the 'power to' dig a hole in the forest and sit in it all day. But it is probably not something I 'shall' do.
I consider the Second Amendment to be the most confusing thing I have almost believed I have understood.
Trademarks are a necessity, but the world would be a significantly better place if all the patent and copyright laws were abolished.
More recent examples of America's vaunted core values in action, which the USA is always pontificating about:
Biden Backs Revival of His Brainchild: Plan Colombia 2.0 Set to Begin Next Month
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2021/03/26/biden-backs-revival-of-his-brainchild-plan-colombia-2-0-set-to-begin-next-month/
‘No to Dictatorship’: Why Haitians are protesting US-backed Moïse
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/17/no-to-dictatorship-why-haitians-are-protesting-us-backed-moise/
Such for the USA's endlessly insincere propagandizing (i.e., weaponizing) of "democracy, freedom, and human rights"
America does not represent any of these political values.
The United States of America represents the Machiavellian manipulation of these hallowed values.
Posted by: ak74 | Mar 27 2021 18:59 utc | 99
New Regis Tremblay/Tex Bentley interview vid is up. Bentley’s account of US/NATO brass and Special Forces at the Donbass LOC sounds believable. His comment that it is when not if is also believable. IMO, which is worth what you paid for it, he is wrong about Russia going to Kiev. No need. When hostilities begin Ukraine will cease to exist, rats will jump ship and head for Polish border. It will be hard to construct a narrative of anything but a massive defeat. I simply have no idea and no opinion how that defeat will be handled in US.
Please anyone who has any idea what is happening in Ukraine post it.
Posted by: Oldhippie | Mar 27 2021 19:11 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
rest up b
Posted by: . | Mar 26 2021 16:18 utc | 1