Bidens’ Summit for Democracy will be coming up next week, Dec 9-10.
from Politico
Taiwan’s President TSAI ING-WEN won’t attend the summit. Instead, Taiwan will be represented by Digital Minister AUDREY TANG and its Washington, D.C.,-based envoy, HSIAO BI-KHIM. And Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made clear that it anticipates a prominent role for the self-governing island and its representatives. . . .The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., attacked Taiwan’s invitation as “bolstering and emboldening” its pro-independence forces. “China firmly opposes the invitation by the U.S. to the Taiwan authorities to the so-called ‘Summit for Democracy’ … [because] Taiwan has no other status in international law than being part of China.” //
Actually, the government in Taipei goes under the moniker: “Republic of China (Taiwan)” which clearly indicates an alternative China government, not just the island of Taiwan. What’s democratic about that?

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 3 2021 15:22 utc | 204

@BM | Dec 3 2021 14:59 utc | 203
From Poland
The MP’s of the Polish Parliament
Nuremberg trials 2.0 has begun – Start at 2m10 for English
https://odysee.com/@FlowerPower:b/Nuremberg-Trials-2.0-Has-Begun:24

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 3 2021 15:57 utc | 206

this was then
Lithuania, which trades largely with European Union countries, exported 300 million euros worth of goods to China in 2020, making it 22nd largest destination for exports, according to government statistics.
this is now
China has imposed a customs block on Lithuanian exports, a Lithuanian trade body said on Friday, amid a deepening spat between Beijing and Vilnius. China downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic state and suspended consular services there.
why?
Taiwan has opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania in a diplomatic breakthrough for the island, brushing aside Beijing’s strong opposition to the move which again expressed its anger and warned of consequences.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 3 2021 16:24 utc | 208

@tucenz,
No, that I am aware, otherwise I would had published it, but it could weel be the case that you can find them in german telegram channels of those collectives fighting the current tyranny, like asasociations were the German expert who intervenes is inviolved, or those where Dolores Cahill who also intervenes do.
@Grieved,
I am very sorry but I have just not the time to involve myself here in the discussion of Vighi´s essay, as I would had been so willing to do at other times, we are here in full battle for our very lives, and that ocuppies my whole time now, I can only take some time away from the fight to post interesting news and events which could serve you in other countries to encourage joyourselves in joining this fight which is of all of us around the globe.
I do it because the remaining time during which we will be able to connect with each other internationally through the net closes, read above how Twitter and YouTube are tighting the grip…
Go forming community defense groups for to meet in person, the internet blackout will be a reality at certain time.
Keep yourselves fit and healthy, try to determine anyone´s abilities and go taking responsabilities, gather food and water, wood and warm clothes and…other things you may need…Train….
God Bless you all, good luck.
This is definitely the battle of our lives and of all generations, of all times…..

Posted by: Black bread | Dec 3 2021 16:34 utc | 210

@Black bread: it goes right down the chain to a sparsely populated state of australia, the conflicts of interest are ludicrous – i only found out this week that the queensland premier’s father is chairman of a gene sequencing company
and we are rounding up the aboriginals. again. i wasn’t too sure how bad it was (who to believe?) till it was officially denied (easier to know who not to believe?!).
something is going to happen or needs to happen by february – it is important to the script. it might be that they need to see how something goes before dropping the other foot – or perhaps just distract till then because the other foot is already on the way down.

Posted by: Rae | Dec 3 2021 16:45 utc | 212

One of the BRI projects attacked by BigLie Media is the China-Laos Railway which is now complete. Those interested in outstanding engineering will want to view this infographic that highlights its two main accomplishments. The railway isn’t as highspeed as most Chinese lines with its maximum speed listed at 160KPH. But it does qualify as bringing “Laos into modern transport era:
“The opening of the China-Laos Railway will make Laos’ dream of becoming a land-linked hub come true. China will ensure the maintenance and security of the railway and build high-quality, sustainable and people-friendly economic belts along the route, President Xi told [Lao President] Thongloun via video link.”
The line is also designed to carry freight and is but one of many segments planned for Laos which prior to the completion of BRI-related rail projects only had a 3.5KM rail line “connecting Laos’ capital Vientiane and Lao’s border with Thailand.”
Many barflies are old enough to recall the massive genocidal bombardment Laos and its people suffered at the hand of the Outlaw US Empire during its genocidal war against Southeast Asians where not one cent in reparations were made to Laos and the Empire’s War Criminals escaped being held accountable for their crimes. That Laos is now being given an opportunity to finally interconnect with its neighbors after all its been through ought to be seen as an outstanding accomplishment.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 3 2021 17:15 utc | 214

@ Posted by: pogohere | Dec 3 2021 3:35 utc | 172
Fascinating. Thanks hope to do it better justice in few days because Covid does exist and I’m fighting off my second infection in two years. It’s left me needing plenty of rest.

Posted by: D.G. | Dec 3 2021 17:35 utc | 216

@jinn #198
Your guesses are totally wrong.
Furthermore, as someone who works extensively with law enforcement (but is not law enforcement), as well as a privacy and cybersecurity consultant, I have a very detailed understanding of how laws function and what privacy rights people have in reality vs theory.
Your assertion that access to voter lists is to allow private individuals to check vote results is 100% incorrect.
Most states do not allow detailed voting history access to any but accredited researchers, political parties (and not just members, apparatchiks), and relevant government agencies such as the FEC.
It is precisely for the reason I outlined above: access to any individual’s or group’s voting history by anyone enables all manner of misdeeds ranging from intimidation to discrimination.
After the link you posted for Pennsylvania uncovered the revelation of Pennsylvania’s potential voter history access for $20, I looked up what the overall access situation is:
NCSL overview on 50 state access to voter lists
Of the 50 states, a brief review shows that maybe 10 allow online voting history access by anyone (some including only registered voters) with perhaps 2 or 3 more which allow in-person inspection.
As such, it is clear that access to voting history *is not* the rule.
Secondly, your assertion that 1000 random checks would yield anything of use is false.
Let’s take the “average” US state = 6.6 million people, of which say 4.5M are eligible voters. Let’s then just assume 50% turnout.
This gives a voting pool of 2.25M voters.
1% voter fraud = 22,500 fraudulent votes. The likelihood of said 1000 random checks finding one of those 22500 fraudulent votes is negligible because 1000/2.25M = 0.04% coverage. Said check would, at best, give a 4% chance of detection.
In reality, voting fraud isn’t randomly spread out all over the voting population. When it occurs, it is far more likely to occur in 1 or a few specific locations.
This makes it even less likely that a random check will find a fraudulent vote.
It could be a pro-Republican county that jacks up its turnout.
It could be a pro-Democrat county that includes a few thousand illegal immigrants.
It could be a cluster of seniors in a retirement community where all of the non-voters vote one way.
So thank you for the voting history revelation, but your other conclusions are anything but credible.

Posted by: c1ue | Dec 3 2021 17:53 utc | 218

215 Cont’d–
Yes, it’s indeed very twisted, “‘The country that bombed you is your friend. The one that built your new railway is your enemy’”:
“This is the Western media’s bizarre messaging to the people of Laos, a nation that was carpet bombed by America, and which is now being vilified for accepting a new $9 billion railway line paid for by China.”
Tom Fowdy does an excellent job in his article of expanding upon my final paragraph @215. I’ll let his prose speak for me:
“To nobody’s surprise, the mainstream media have responded to the railway with the usual anti-China negativity. A plethora of articles sought to paint the project as a ‘debt trap’, promoting the accusation that Beijing loans countries money for projects they cannot afford and then exerts political leverage over it.
“The Financial Times, for one, ran with a cynical article headlined ‘Laos to open Chinese-built railway amid fears of Beijing’s influence’. It implied that somehow Laos feels threatened or fears the construction of this very pioneering railway project (which the country’s own leader made sure he was the first to travel on). This suggestion of ‘fears of Chinese influence’ has become a common feature on such stories, which seek to cast doubt over anything positive China may be achieving or doing.
“A common Twitter meme among pro-China users which has followed from stories like this asks: ‘but at what cost?’ highlighting the frequency of such negative coverage.
“And if you Google ‘China, but at what cost?’ you can find a great many examples of articles published in major outlets. In producing such pieces, the broader intention is to depict Beijing’s actions as unwanted, threatening and constantly facing opposition. In the case of the Laos railway project, the ‘problem’ is it was financed by debt, and therefore it is not a positive step.
“Yet this argument is as insulting as it is outright insensitive to Laos’ contemporary history. Anyone who knows anything about Laos’ relatively recent past will be well aware that China is not the country to fear, but the United States – the nation that dropped over 260 million cluster bombs on Laos and completely devastated the country as an extension of the Vietnam War, making it the most single bombed nation in history and claiming over 50,000 lives.
“Many of these bombs remain unexploded and litter the countryside of Laos, continuing to kill civilians. In constructing the new railway, workers first had to clear the unexploded ordnance. How is it that the world and the mainstream media remain indifferent to this atrocity? And how, by any stretch of the imagination, can they claim that China is the true threat to Laos, and that the US and its allies act in the true interests of the country?
“Herein lies the problem. Such a mindset symbolizes the elitism, chauvinism and self-righteousness of the countries of the West, which are ideologically inclined to believe that they stand for the ‘true interests’ of the ordinary people in the countries they profess to liberate.” [My Emphasis]
Tom has a lot more to say about that mindset. When we look at the Big Picture, it’s imperative to remain mindful of that Colonial mindset–Masters over slaves–when dealing with contemporary events, like the upcoming democracy propaganda show as well as how the “Vaccine War” on the public is being waged. Global Oligarchs only care about the interests of one group–theirs–and don’t give a damn about the rest of humanity. We’ve now seen that happening for several centuries, and it’s time it came to a halt. Ya Basta!! is the global cry.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 3 2021 17:59 utc | 220

@ juliania 216
Gratulerer stolt bestemor(congratulations proud grandmother)
Enjoyed that. It is a beautiful world despite all we are experiencing.
gud bedring (get well) D.G. & psychohistorian

Posted by: waynorinorway | Dec 3 2021 18:03 utc | 222

@jinn #206
You said

Of course we have national organizations called the DOJ and FBI that was under the control of the Trump administration that are supposed to investigate vote fraud of all kinds. I’m just pointing out how easy it is to find out if such fraud exists.

You mean the FBI and DOJ that were investigating Trump and his people for 4 years based on a complete lie – which these organizations themselves acknowledged internally?
Thank you for a good laugh.

Posted by: c1ue | Dec 3 2021 18:09 utc | 224

@karlof1 | Dec 3 2021 17:59 utc | 221
Thank you very much for your tireless and continuous contribution to the bar on various topics. Really appreciate it.
One day before China-Laos Railway officially starts its operation, the west hit pieces appear at AP and Bloomberg with the old meme “debt-trap”.
The west don’t want to share but also can’t see others prosper on their own.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Dec 3 2021 18:56 utc | 226

The “Jab” is population control in every sense of the term. It has two functions – to reduce the subject population and to tag every member of that subject population. With the first injection, the subject is permanently sterilized – so no more children for the “vaccinated”. With the first injection and with every subsequent booster (of a never ending series), the subject’s immune system is eventually degraded to the point that even minor illnesses become fatal. With the first injection, a microchip is inserted into the subject that, with the use of 5G technology, the subject’s identity, location, and vital signs are tracked in real time. In other words, people are digitally tagged like cattle.
Thus, the ultimate purpose of the “vaccination” in Western countries is genocide. Those members of the subject population who refuse “vaccination” are to be blamed for the rapidly increasing mortality of the “vaccinated” population and shall be forcibly put into “quarantine” camps where, at best, they’ll be “reeducated” until they voluntarily accept the “jab”. At worse, they’ll be forcibly injected with the “vaccine”. Genocide is nothing new to our cultural Marxist/Globalist (rebranded Communist) elite. Indeed, they would make their heroes Lenin, Stalin, Mao, et al (who together, murdered an estimated 120 million people during the 20th Century) very proud!

Posted by: Karl Schulze | Dec 3 2021 19:44 utc | 228

@ Hornswaggler | Dec 3 2021 19:52 utc | 230… i agree with you!

Posted by: james | Dec 3 2021 19:57 utc | 230

C1ue wrote:
Your assertion that access to voter lists is to allow private individuals to check vote results is 100% incorrect.
____________________________________________________________
Why are you making up lies about my assertion?
____________________________________________________________
In reality, voting fraud isn’t randomly spread out all over the voting population. When it occurs, it is far more likely to occur in 1 or a few specific locations.
_____________________________________________________________
You keep making up new stories of how voter fraud takes place. But anyway, if this new story were accurate it would make detection even easier than your previous made up stories.

Posted by: jinn | Dec 3 2021 20:35 utc | 232

A precedent:
“The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has found a decision by mining giant BHP to make COVID-19 vaccinations at a Hunter Valley mine mandatory was not lawful or reasonable….”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-03/bhps-vaccine-mandate-unlawful-fair-work-commission-finds/100673390

Posted by: Paul | Dec 3 2021 21:17 utc | 234

C1ue wrote:
You mean the FBI and DOJ that were investigating Trump and his people for 4 years based on a complete lie
___________________________________________________________________
yes I’m talking about that same Trump. The same Trump that had Mueller secretly brought to the oval office so that Trump could personally interview him the day before he was appointed special counsel. It was not the FBI that was investigating Trump for 4 years, it was not angry democrats investigating Trump, it was Trump appointees that were running that sham investigation. The FBI was ordered to stand down and to turn all the Russia/election investigation over to the Trump appointees who were running the show. The FBI agents involved in crossfire hurricane had reached the conclusion there was nothing to investigate, but Trump would not let it die.
As I said in my first post on this subject in this thread, I do believe there is election fraud in US elections, but it is clearly not in the places where Trump and his minions are directing our attention. This leads me to believe that the intent is all about misdirection.

Posted by: jinn | Dec 3 2021 21:25 utc | 236

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 3 2021 14:39 utc | 201
If one believes the story that this voter fraud (consisting of fake votes using some other voters identity) is real, it would not be hard to randomly select say 1000 voters and send a mailing to their address querying them if they actually did vote and if they did not contact law enforcement.
if I dishonestly want to organize “voting fraud scandal”, I could make sure that, say, 10 of my co-conspirators would be “randomly selected” and claim that they did not vote.
_______________________________________________________________
Well sure if you know 10 people who would like to be fined and spend a few years in jail, you could do that.

Posted by: jinn | Dec 3 2021 21:36 utc | 238

@ Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 3 2021 17:15 utc | 215
Had a proustian moment reading your post or maybe it’s the Covid. 🙂
I travelled up to Laos in 2005/6 from Southern Thailand on the sleeper Trains 30 hours! Crossed the bridge and a bike taxi into Vientiane on the banks of the mighty Mekong as it was beginning to loose its flood waters and sand banks were appearing in the middle. Kids would wade through it late afternoon from various villages along its meandering length to get into these sand banks and play football in that hot humid evening. I think also some came from the Thai side too. It was quite a site sitting in a terrace bar high above watching the Humanity of it!
As the sun sets and the various teams wade back in the dark with little torches. At night the Thai side had many lights , the Laos side hardly any.
The currency was insane $100 got a pile of notes a foot high!
From there upto Luanprabang via the hedonistic VangVien it was a rickety bus ride through multiple mountains hairpins and very worrying at times. Would have liked to get upto China but didn’t fancy the discomfort.
I will hope to use that new rail line ! Maybe start in China and work down. Maybe even the reverse Silk Road from the U.K., maybe cut through Russia even and Mongolia. The new rail system should be reaching the South China Sea – what an epic journey!
High speed at these altitudes is probably not the best way to use that asset and most people (tourists) would fly except train geeks. I’ll be taking a month or so one way.

Posted by: D.G. | Dec 3 2021 22:03 utc | 240

It’s called PILLAGE, it is a war crime, and it is explicitly prohibited by the Hague Conventions. Now Canada joins the obsequious six pack of UN sheep dogs.
Australia’s abstention from a United Nations vote on protection of natural resources in Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights from Israeli exploitation has been condemned.
Australia was one of 14 UN members to abstain from the vote, which passed 157 to seven. The negative votes were cast by Canada, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and, of course, Israel and the US.
All European Union members voted in favour of the Palestinian resolution
https://johnmenadue.com/not-in-our-name-australias-tacit-support-for-palestinian-apartheid/

Posted by: Paul | Dec 3 2021 22:44 utc | 242

Speaking of Epstein and Maxwell: A brief history of the ‘fixers’ by Whitney Webb that she wrote in 2019. “Government by Blackmail: Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s Mentor and the Dark Secrets of the Reagan Era”.
I did see Chuck Schumers name in there.
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2019/07/investigative-series/government-by-blackmail-jeffrey-epstein-trumps-mentor-and-the-dark-secrets-of-the-reagan-era/

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 3 2021 22:51 utc | 244

@ DG | Dec 3 2021 22:50 utc | 244… i agree with you… i am disappointed in trudeau and never voted for him either… thanks.

Posted by: james | Dec 3 2021 23:25 utc | 246

John Cleary @246–
Reminds me of Trial by Jury and a few others by G&S.
D.G. @241–
I’d very much like to take a year to travel. If I’m thrifty, I might be able to do that by the time I reach 75 in 9 years. But much depends upon the state of the world since I’m in the totalitarian zone.
LuRenJia @227 has it exact: The west don’t want to share but also can’t see others prosper on their own..
juloiania @228–
Yes, Today’s oligarchs have been vaccinated to be devoid of any humanitarian emotion. They’re very much like the fictional Mars mine owner in Total Recall and other notorious villains. One sees just how plausible it is for a President Snow to emerge. Dystopian novels are the rage today for the excellent reason that they best reflect reality.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 3 2021 23:46 utc | 248

#48
“In BOTH cases, Russia loses. It’s simple. And beautiful.. USA got Putin by the balls, no matter what he does.”
In your dreams, only in your dreams. You forgot what happened in Syria, you forgot what happened with Crimea, you forgot what happened with Georgia. And so on. Every time Russia won. Sanctions? ROTFL! Gaz, oil, who holds who by the balls? It is not Russia who is in a need for war, but the West, because its economy is collapsing. See the Vighi article.
Indeed, it is simple. Simple from a simple mind.

Posted by: Olivier | Dec 4 2021 0:08 utc | 250

It’s moving on toward Friday Night here and it’s time for some humor to lighten things up. I saw this at Escobar’s VK then found the original here. I suggest clicking the link to view the pic before reading further.
Okay. Here’s how Pepe explains what is obvious to Russians:
“In Russian, the word ‘ARCTIC FOX’ (in one word) resembles the expression ‘FUCKED UP’, ‘The END’ (the ugly, bad one). Therefore, in cases when one do not want to express themselves vulgarly, they use the word ARCTIC FOX.
As well as a ‘full ARCTIC FOX’, an ‘absolute ARCTIC FOX’ and a ‘Fat ARCTIC FOX’, as well as ‘ARCTIC FOX approaches’.
The ARCTIC FOX that hangs over Lavrov is obviously addressed to his American colleagues, with whom Lavrov had conversations today.”
The question begged is Who supplied the picture? Russian embassy; Lavrov himself?
Martyanov found it massively funny. But then what comes after the laughter ends? The FUBAR still remains, and that’s no laughing matter.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2021 0:34 utc | 252

@253 karlof1 – that is super funny abot the “arctic fox.” I am going to ask my native Russian speakers about that.
я лублю Лавров
Спасибо!

Posted by: lex talionis | Dec 4 2021 5:01 utc | 254

@ Grieved | Dec 3 2021 4:44 utc | 175 who wrote:
“And it seems we must fight. Someone asked in a recent Dark Horse, where is there to flee to, in the world. Bret said that, for the first time ever in history, there seems nowhere to go. Essentially, we have to stay, and fight.”
Agreed, as Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen ably pointed out.
Just for fun, my farmer friend from Central Western New South Wales sent me an interesting remote location today:
“Tallabung Mountain
Has tin mining history.”
https://goo.gl/maps/b1dQQgE9q3WRSkrUA
A handful have already fled there, that is remote historic bushranger country.
Get well soon psychohistorian

Posted by: Paul | Dec 4 2021 8:26 utc | 256

“Best to just keep humming or singing and lavaging when leaving exposure sites.”
uncle tungsten #238
Hum coming and going…It also works for exercise-induced asthma.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6v-nTRLEXFk

Posted by: Gulo | Dec 4 2021 9:25 utc | 258

Exit Merkel
Trying as hard as they can to keep up with German traditions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqma6fjrDts&t=553s
When did we see this kind of thing before?

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 4 2021 13:25 utc | 260

@Posted by: MagdaTam | Dec 4 2021 12:23 utc | 260
Well, it was not that final part of his odyssey what is occupying my thoughts, precisely. Unless someon suicides me, you know, your typical Novichok, Petrov and Bosirov, and a British military chief nurse that just happens to pass strolling over there where I lay, and all that…
It will not be so easy with me for those pushing the masses to mass suicide. I am more of the kind “dying with boots on” or, in case of no way out than to take a kamikaze decission, at least, bring the higuest number of conspirators with me in our last travel…to very different destinations….
What I was thinking of, and fully understanding of that man´s final solution, was how he clearly saw the necessity to leave Austria, firt for France, then for Brazil, to then, that prophetic view that the culturaly thrilling, and openly intelectual Europe he once lived through, will never return, that clear understanding on that there was nowhere to go further…and that destiny of Europe was not but making a regression to obscurancy, brutality and the spirit of the horde…
It was this state of mind, and the dissapointment on seeing my nationals comply, submit, become a deshumanized horde, what had me looking for rentals in Mexico….since Europe, as a whole, is completely lost, at the hands of the nazis´accolites and the alumni of the College of Europe….
Our Gorbachovs, the oligarchies and the camarilla serving them of the autonomic regions, will not mind dinamitizing the countries, like it happoened to the USSR and Yugoslavia, if the money continues flooding theri pockets, while they enjoy the golf fields….even under full lockdown for the rest of population….as some were caught….
The entering German governmet will push the Soros´ project on Federal Europe of the United States of Europe fruther than the Merkel executive, people at the age of Annalena Baerbock does not arrive at the cuspid of politics and government out of own merit, but on promises of a comfortable life without “dando un palo al agua” under payement of the WEF´s oligarchs…
Have you seen the video on the round table with Russian especialists?
Why do we have not news about these people through the Russian international media, and only get news and voice of Dimitriev, Ginsburg and the continuous fearmongering of imminent war, energy pricesand supply willingly provoked escarcity?
We are being submitted by the same “shock doctrine” by the same actors….This time at globla level…

Posted by: Black bread | Dec 4 2021 15:49 utc | 262

@ Black bread | Dec 4 2021 15:49 utc | 263 who write about Shock Doctrine happening in West
Yes, but of course there is no planning going on behind the curtain. It is all just happening because of incompetence…../snark

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2021 16:37 utc | 264

@Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2021 16:37 utc | 265
Well, no, the planning seems to have gone at least fro 20 years on…
Have you seen last interviwe with Robert.F Kennedy by Tucker Carlson? You should…
I strongl yrecommend you watching it, by the difficult to articukate vocie of this man which counts with insider information coming from family links on how Fauci by neglecting his duty on improving health and life expectancy of the US citizens, by lobbying anad allying with Big Pharma and corrupted health regulator institutions, achieved just the opposite goal, which is a continuum with this whole pandemic issue..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXbuoaXbJSU
Related to this, and taking into account one of the factors which wasted US citzens health capital, along withe their rus hto the cities and lose of contact with nature, and with it their capacity to think rationaly and criticaly and conserve their human dignity, it has just been created a Telegram chat on hostelery businesses which will be open to everybody and will refuse to ask for the nazi pass.
Well, just one atribulated father entered telling they have just been banned from entering Burguer King with his 17 years old daughter, the daughter, he tells, got quite impressed….
I took the aopportunity to tell him that her daughter at already 17 years, age at which others, at other times, were defending the front or helping at, defending the siege of Leningrad, is in for a rude awakening, that we should stop entering all these waste food franchises who collaborate with the apartheid system in mass, so that they have not but to turn to serve that kind of food at the tables of the oligarchs who own them and those organizing this neofeudal nazi system along with them.
That we must return to cook at home and eat all together and after that reunite to watch good historical films on events which led to the nazi scourge, which is not but in a continuum to these days through the rescue of its higuest echelons and ideologues which then went to form the engender which is now showing its real face, the EU, as we witness how those at the higuest positions allied with the Big Pharma and our servile governments to not only ruin our business on behalf of US and German franchises and corporations, but also ruined our industry to enter such “elitist club” which ruined us and brought us here, and continue to enslave us through increasing estratospheric debt this time adding the effect of lockdowns and spending in unending doses of already proved useless mandatory vaccines.
I fear that in a not so long term, MacDonalds, Burguer King, Walmart, Amazon, and the like will be closing their franchises in Europe and any part of the world where a bit of human dignity and decency remains, number of people who think thay way are increasing at good pace, along the incongruency and tirannical stance by our authorities…All that only could go in our benefit, as we will live healthier, fitter, and in a better state of mind.
Waste food and waste everything is not but part of the plan here…quite time ago….

Posted by: Black bread | Dec 4 2021 17:10 utc | 266

@ Black bread | Dec 4 2021 17:10 utc | 267 who suggested I watch the Tucker Carlson interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
I am humbled by the guts shown by this interview and all of what Kennedy is tying to do. As you have maybe read about me before, I am 73 and have been watching this shit show evolve since the early 1970’s
I hope we are seeing signs of a public rising in the right direction. I continue to see the public/private finance issue as key to our situation and am a strong advocate of eliminating private finance from our social systems to better control anti-humanistic behavior like we are experiencing by the current set up.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2021 20:57 utc | 268

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 4 2021 1:43 utc | 254
And then, I suppose, must come the study of revolution.
Right on. And the materials for this study have already been prepared by Marx. But I’m guessing it will get a lot worse before it gets better. The revolutionary impulse (1848-1917) that was produced by the consequences of first wave liberalism generated a huge reactionary movement (fascism, as you rightly suggest). Very mild socialism (New Deal) teamed up with real socialism to defeat it. Enter Neoliberalism (liberalism 2.0) around 1970. This is the beast we must reckon with. But we no longer have the relations of production that existed between 1850-1950; instead we have exotic and plural relations (gig economies, digital economies, financial complexity, asset speculation, mass automation, disappearance of the middle wage-earning class, multi-polar globalization, etc etc). I simply don’t know how revolution takes place in such a fragmented and dispersed society. And now that a pandemic state of emergency is normalized the possibility of collective action has been delegitimized and criminalized
But even more frightening are the implications of Vighi’s article. The capacity of the global oligarchy to combat revolutionary impulse through manipulation at every level (monetary, pandemic, popular opinion, etc) seems almost impossible to combat. My only hope is that the internal contradictions of capitalism itself will prove too insurmountable and history will crank up once more. Otherwise I tend toward despair.

Posted by: Patroklos | Dec 4 2021 22:24 utc | 270

USA $1Bn fortress embassies reveal that the USAi global terrorists are here to stay.
The London embassy job 2017:

“It’s … unlike any American embassy building in the world.”
The new U.S. embassy in London, England aims to be two things that are usually mutually exclusive: heavily fortified and attractive.
The US$1 billion project, the most expensive U.S. embassy ever built, delivers all the not-necessarily-appealing security requirements. It’s equipped with blast-resistant glass windows, is set back 100 feet (33 meters) from the street and has anti-ram barriers. But security is also achieved through aesthetic means: A large pond and low garden walls create discreet barriers.
“It attempts, against the odds, to create humane public spaces, in a context that’s highly private,” architect James Timberlake of the firm Kieran Timberlake, which won a design competition for the embassy in 2010, told the RIBA Journal in 2014.

Now that shows a lot of trust for the UK police and security establishment.
Lebanese follies as only the USA can do 2019:

Like US diplomatic buildings worldwide, this facility currently under construction in Beirut is subject to increased fortification, following two bombings of the previous embassy
The new 43-acre complex 10 miles outside the city is due to complete in 2023. Costing over US$1 billion dollars, the investment is being touted as a sign of US commitment to the future of the country. The client’s demand for intense security measures has necessitated a long, high perimeter wall; the architects have opted to partially sink the buildings, with their trademark undulating and kinked surfaces, into the landscape. The US Department of State chose the design, it said, because it ‘didn’t look like a fortress’; this reveals an awareness of the problem – but you can only do so much to disguise a massive concrete wall. As the architects put it: ‘Embassy architecture serves as a powerful symbol that provides an instantaneous and indelible impression of a country … A US embassy’s design expresses to the world the ideals of American democracy – the optimism, hope and promise of our time.’ For the majority of Lebanese, the most they will ever see of the embassy will be that wall.

Architects have a way with words :/
Methinks the designers developed their multi dimensional context by looking at the lessons of history rather than the missiles of today. maybe next time they will employ an Iranian or Yemeni student to advise.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 5 2021 1:13 utc | 272

Interesting that we’ve been discussing courage.
Dr. Chris Martenson has an interview with Professor Mattias Desmet, who formulated the model of mass-formation that we have been discussing for the last few weeks.
Mattias Desmet on Mass Formation – It’s time to take a courageous stand…by Chris Martenson [Thursday, December 2, 2021]
Evidently the concept is taking hold. It seems to be a model that works to explain the situation we are all in – and what more can we ask of a model than to do this?
I haven’t watched the interview yet, but I was struck by that word “courage”.
~~
I’ve already today talked with two friends about the fear that prevails, and the natural antidote, which is courage. I shared this Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen video with a friend this afternoon:
a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH-oZcD11Ro”>Have courage. Do not obey the tyrants
We sat and watched him talk about the Nazi occupation of Norway, and how courageous were those ordinary people who joined the resistance.
And I talked about how this pandemic required no invasion by storm troopers, but simply a massive appearance of Quislings in all societies of the west.
I send much love and solidarity to those Norwegian friends here who brought these brave words to us, in such a terrible time for themselves.
~~
I tried to convey to my friend how dire is the situation of those in Europe and Australia right now. He sits in Texas, with the Bill of Rights at his back, and his guns in the front of him, and reminds me that no police officer or National Guard soldier will ever come for our guns, or force a vaccine mandate on us. And IO believe he’s correct.
Mao said that political power proceeds out of the barrel of a gun. So, in the United States, the people hold much political power, although not lately used.
I suppose in a way, the United States, the belly of the beast, may yet prove to be the most resistant of all places to the tyranny of the west (outside Asia). And this will be ironic and interesting chit-chat but won’t solve the problems of those who are under the jack boot even as we speak.
I somewhat feel ashamed to be living in such a safe place – where we can simply fight and cite our own Constitution, and have people of all stripes agree with us – when those in other countries have to step up to such great matters as personal courage, and resistance to tyranny.
~~
Anyway. The answer is courage. We were fed such a dose of fear in the beginning – one writer once recalled that in the early days of 2020, she had to remind herself that the coronavirus wasn’t dripping down from the branches of the trees she walked under. We didn’t know.
But we know now. The real virus, the true disease, is fear.
The antidote is courage. It’s available everywhere we find ourselves, and it costs nothing.
And yet it has a price.
All that is required of us is the willingness to pay that price.

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 5 2021 4:08 utc | 274

@Grieved | Dec 5 2021 4:08 utc | 275

I send much love and solidarity to those Norwegian friends here who brought these brave words to us, in such a terrible time for themselves.

Thank you so much. I feel the love and solidarity and suggest people share the words of Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen because it projects courage, hope and sanity in an insane situation.
It should be said that a lot of people suffer more than us, but at least we have the memory of occupation to share. What is going on today is a new form of Quisling occupation that we must learn to defeat, and we must do it together with good people everywhere.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 5 2021 8:51 utc | 276

Democracy in the USA is of limited value. I couldn’t link to the report in the San Francisco Chronicle as they do firewalls and barriers etc. But here is a great story about the ongoing struggle against racism in the land of the free.
Assembled from reddit snips:

A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did – by nearly $500,000 — San Francisco Chronicle. Close. 0. Posted by 10 hours ago. A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did – by nearly $500,000 — San Francisco Chronicle … The couple, who is Black, got a second opinion last February. This time, they asked a white friend named Jan to sit at the kitchen island and pretend to be the homeowner. They also “white-washed” their home by hiding art and family photos. That appraiser said their house was worth $1,482,500.

Perhaps the Xerxes Biden Democracy Summit could discuss why, after centuries of ethics development and new laws and positive discrimination, and corporate social responsibility, western democracies are rotten with racism and prejudice in the financial sector.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 5 2021 10:21 utc | 278

Posted by uncle tungsten @ 280
Thank you for your valuable and stimulating contribution. I wish I could have articulated that so well.
I could add, ignored, marginalised, dismissed, regulated, talked down to, lied to and regimented.
I need to discover more gems from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

Posted by: Paul | Dec 5 2021 11:15 utc | 280

Paul #281

I need to discover more gems from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

The anarchist tradition and philosophy are timeless and well worth the inquiry.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 5 2021 11:58 utc | 282

Posted by: uncle tungsten @ 283
“The anarchist tradition and philosophy are timeless and well worth the inquiry”
Following your advice I immediately searched for “Jura Books” the anarchist bookshop who were in Parramatta Road, Leichhardt, the computer knew exactly who they are and here is the message:
“403
Forbidden
Access to this resource on the server is denied!”

Posted by: Paul | Dec 5 2021 19:06 utc | 284

It looks like the trigger point is between 60-70% vaccinated — a very comfortable majority. Deep down people desire agency, the ability to act and to do, the essence of life. The inverse, helplessness only breeds malcontent, anger, and a hellish life of missed opportunity. Social pressure and good faith may override these for a time, but the resentment remains. Oh inability! What a burden are these regrets…
It is a dam of bad energy festering. A gun cocked, waiting for a target.
‘We ought to be rewarded for our sacrifice. We did what you asked. You promised we’d go back.’
‘What good little children you have been, but your brothers and sisters…’
‘We are tired of this! We wanna go back!’
‘We can’t go back. Not until everyone does as they are told.’
Alas, alas, alas. No good can come of this.

Posted by: Justin | Dec 5 2021 20:56 utc | 286