Great writeup on the scam of the “Long Tail”
Where Did The Long Tail Go? – substack

It pains me to say this—because the Long Tail was sold to us as an economic law that not only predicted a more inclusive era of prosperity, but would especially help creative people. According to its proponents, the Long Tail would revitalize our culture by expanding the scope of the arts and giving a boost to visionaries on the fringes of society.
Alternative voices would be nurtured and flourish. Music would get cooler and more surprising. Books would become more diverse and interesting. Indie films would reach larger audiences. Etc. etc. etc.
Hey, what’s not to like?
But it never happened. More to the point, it was never going to happen because the story was a fairy tale. I knew it back then because I had been hired on a number of occasions to analyze the Long Tail myself. But the flaws in the reasoning are far more obvious today, even to me.
…
This idea was popularized in the 2006 book by Chris Anderson entitled The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. Anderson was anticipating a world in which more businesses were like Amazon, with huge warehouses filled to the brim with everything from bacon-shaped bandages to jail cells for your teen’s mobile phone.
After all, Amazon is successful—so why shouldn’t everyone follow the same strategy?
Even at first glance, this approach seems bizarre. If you know the history of Amazon, you might remember that its cash flow was awful for many years—many even expected it to go bankrupt. And even now, Amazon gets all of its operating income from its cloud and web services business. If it just relied on retail sales, Amazon would be a bomb.
The other case study at the heart of the Long Tail book is Netflix. And it’s true that when Anderson published his book back in 2006, Netflix made a huge number of movies available to subscribers.
But those days are gone.
Not only has Netflix sharply reduced the number of movies it offers on its streaming platform, but now has a lot of competitors (Disney, Apple, Paramount, etc.) that are also tightly managing the titles they feature.
graph of Netflix offerings 2010 vs 2020
…
What I learned was that a tiny number of customers were responsible for most of the purchases. Without these key users, the business would be dead—and no joke. These heavy users were far more important than any of us had guessed.
They call this the 80/20 rule, and my analysis validated it again and again. When I focused on customers, I found that 20% were responsible for 80% of revenues. And when I looked at products instead, I found the same distribution: 80% of sales came from 20% of the products.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised—after all this is a familiar rule in economics. Even so, it was amazing to see it proven again and again in this project, and almost every similar subsequent study I undertook.

One note: not every sector has the 80/20 rule.
Food-away-from-home is one example: McDonald’s is huge but owns like 1% of the US food-away-from-home revenue.
I feel strongly that information curation (news) is similar.
The question is really why the 80/20 exists. Is it because of fundamental economics: lower costs due to higher scale production, entry barriers, capital requirements or is it an outcome of 20/80 focus in advertising, government subsidies, etc?

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 23 2022 15:17 utc | 3

Interesting read by Engdahl

Since the creation of the US Federal Reserve over a century ago, every major financial market collapse has been deliberately triggered for political motives by the central bank. The situation is no different today, as clearly the US Fed is acting with its interest rate weapon to crash what is the greatest speculative financial bubble in human history, a bubble it created.
Global crash events always begin on the periphery, such as with the 1931 Austrian Creditanstalt or the Lehman Bros. failure in September 2008. The June 15 decision by the Fed to impose the largest single rate hike in almost 30 years as financial markets are already in a meltdown, now guarantees a global depression and worse.

Global Planned Financial Tsunami has Just Begun

Posted by: Down South | Jun 23 2022 15:45 utc | 5

Just as the Covid regulations were dropped yesterday we get this:

eNCA
@eNCA
[BREAKING NEWS] The first case of Monkeypox in South Africa has been confirmed.

The next hysteria is starting.

Posted by: Down South | Jun 23 2022 15:54 utc | 7

The question is really why the 80/20 exists. Is it because of fundamental economics: lower costs due to higher scale production, entry barriers, capital requirements or is it an outcome of 20/80 focus in advertising, government subsidies, etc?
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 23 2022 15:17 utc | 4
Everybody likes a winner. It’s infectious. I suggest it is caused by mimetic behavior. Likea flock of birds all following one bird.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 23 2022 16:07 utc | 9

Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines more dangerous than Covid
The numbers are coming in.
Stanford, UCLA, Louisiana study says that serious adverse effects from Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines
exceed the risk reduction of serious adverse effects from Covid.

The excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest surpassed the risk reduction for COVID-19 hospitalization relative to the placebo group in both Pfizer and Moderna trials (2.3 and 6.4 per 10,000 participants, respectively).

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4125239

Posted by: librul | Jun 23 2022 17:05 utc | 11

BRICS Summit links to Russian transcripts, “Beijing Declaration of the XIV BRICS Summit” and Putin’s BRICS Summit remarks. Here’s a recap of yesterday’s events by Global Times. China’s MFA English BRICS Summit page.
The Declaration is the key document. I suggest reading at least the first third.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 23 2022 17:13 utc | 13

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 23 2022 15:24 utc | 4
more shilling. tell it to Lake Mead.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jun 23 2022 17:53 utc | 15

@pretzelattack #15
The usual Twitter response. But responding to you does let me note that the missing positive feedback loop that is still failing to appear is actually 25 years and counting.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 23 2022 18:19 utc | 17

It is the go to argument of those who wish to shut down debate and brand others as conspiracy theorists.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 23 2022 17:11 utc | 12
wow, am I behind the trend. How is Reductio ad Hitlerum FKA Godwin’s Law polling agaist Sherlock Holmes’ Elimination maxim? yanno, in the 18-35 cohort

Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 23 2022 19:20 utc | 19

wow, am I behind the trend. How is Reductio ad Hitlerum FKA Godwin’s Law polling agaist Sherlock Holmes’ Elimination maxim? yanno, in the 18-35 cohort
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 23 2022 19:20 utc | 19

Apologies, I should have written “It is a go to argument…”.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 23 2022 19:35 utc | 21

librul | Jun 23 2022 17:05 utc | 11
“the risk reduction for COVID-19 hospitalization”
any other metrics worth considering?
do the authors of this research reach the same conclusions you do?

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jun 23 2022 20:18 utc | 23

@ c1ue | Jun 23 2022 15:24 utc | 4 Re: Climate change projections
If you run a computer model repeatedly using the exact same data set and the exact same assumptions, you will obviously get identical results, and what would be the point of that? Yeah the computer models aren’t great, there are just too many variables in play to expect them to be at this point in time. To some extent people are right when they say that the scientists have let us down, just not in the way that most people think.
Most people seem to forget that at the beginning, the establishment at large were opposed to the climate change narrative. Remember ‘The Great Climate Change Swindle’? A lying piece of crap, most of which I was able to debunk in real time off the top of my head. Remember ‘Climategate’ being all over the media? For literally weeks we were bombarded with it but what was it about? Almost nobody has any idea of the actual details (I do because I was an undergraduate at the time and it had some small relevance to some of the modules I was studying)
So what changed? The scientists knew that that the greenhouse effect was undeniable, closely calculable and directly measurable, the positive feedback effects were not so easily quantified however but were deemed potentially dangerous. The climate scientists made a bargain with the devil, they got a huge increase in funding for their climate studies and their computer modelling projects and our corporate overlords got a few years grace to position their snouts into the trough. Mission accomplished.
It doesn’t matter any more what the ‘climate change sceptics’ think, its a done deal. Yeah a lot of the websites are still running, I suspect because they love anything that divides us but the policies are decided now and that isn’t going to change (barring an economic emergency of course)
There is a huge problem when laypersons try to enter a scientific dispute, they have one tool only, the argument from authority. In this internet age when everyone has a degree in google and a masters in cut’n’paste, suddenly everyone is a climatologist, a virologist or whatever. Whatever you want to believe, there will be someone out there, with impressive sounding credentials, who will tell you what you want to hear. The problem is that laypersons are easily deceived, particularly when it come to the lie by omission.
“The greenhouse effect was much higher in the earths distant past yet the earth didn’t fry”
“CO2 only represent a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gases in the earths atmosphere”
“Water contributes more to the greenhouse effect than CO2” (etc)
All of those things are ‘true’ but used in the wrong context they are statements intended to deceive. (One of the definitions of a lie in my dictionary is ‘a statement intended to give a misleading impression’) You can google all you like and you can verify most of what the ‘climate sceptics’ are saying but you won’t spot lies of omission that way.

Posted by: MarkU | Jun 23 2022 20:37 utc | 25

first domino of many to fall? or imf ( wall st ) to the rescue?
Why”>https://apnews.com/article/china-asia-india-united-nations-f29f33977d9089fc0f1b1c99da5ea343/”>Why Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed and what’s next
@ librul | Jun 23 2022 17:05 utc | 11
thanks for the link…

Posted by: james | Jun 23 2022 20:59 utc | 27

@ librul | Jun 23 2022 17:05 utc | 11
I’m not surprised by that tbh, the ‘vaccines’ are far less effective than advertised, the protection is short-lived and they are far more dangerous than the pharmaceutical companies are willing to admit.
At the very beginning when Covid was new, the nastier variants were around and they were just ‘vaccinating’ the old and vulnerable, there was a reasonable risk/benefit case in favour of ‘vaccination’.
Now, when Covid has evolved (as viruses do) to become milder, most people have genuine natural resistance and they are intent on jabbing children, it is time to call shenanigans.
I still don’t understand how people can believe it is somehow normal to have a selection of ‘vaccines’ with no proper long term testing and attempt to use them on the whole human race whether vulnerable or not. It just sounds barking mad to me. As for the mix and match approach to ‘boosters’ it just doesn’t even pass the laugh test…
“Hello Mr Smith I see you are here for your booster. According to my records you were originally ‘vaccinated’ with the AstraZenecca jab, since that doesn’t seem to have caused you any harm I thought we should try another one”

Posted by: MarkU | Jun 23 2022 21:03 utc | 29

Posted by: George | Jun 23 2022 20:40 utc | 26
“The same was being done during previous bout of inflation here it’s all controlled demolition.”
That article is well worth reading. Thank you. Many here seem to resist the idea that the seeming national suicide in America is anything other than stupidity. And yet look what happened only a few decades ago, the effects of which are still playing out:
https://theduran.com/how-the-trilateral-commission-drove-a-bankers-coup-across-america-2/
“The Controlled Disintegration of the West
Two months after being appointed Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker gave a lecture in Warwick University London proclaiming “a controlled disintegration in the world economy is a legitimate object for the 1980s”.
Volcker managed this controlled disintegration by raising interest rates to 20-21.5% beginning in 1979- leaving them there until 1982 while also raising reserve requirements for Commercial banks. The effect forever crippled America’s economy with agricultural production collapsing vastly, metal-cutting machine tools collapsed by 45.5%, automobile production collapsed by 44.3% and steel production collapsed by 49.4%. During this traumatic period, small and medium enterprises were intentionally bankrupted across all sectors of the North American and European economies leaving only multinational corporations in a position to afford such interest rates. Volcker’s program paved the way for the 1981 Kemp-Roth Tax Act that opened up real estate speculation and the 1982 Garn- St. Germaine Act which de-regulated U.S. Banks and advanced the creation of universal/too-big-to-fail banking.
In that same period, third world debtors having to pay 20% interest saw their debts skyrocket by 40-70%. Leaders who resisted this program such as Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, India’s Indira Gandhi, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara, and Mexico’s Lopez Portillo et al. were systematically killed or overthrown.
When it became evident that an incoming President Ronald Reagan was not favorable to the Trilateral Commission/CFR agenda- pushing for bilateral meetings with Gandhi and Mexico’s Portillo in 1981 in order to assist their industrial growth policies and threatening to fire Volcker, his elimination was quickly orchestrated. After CFR/Trilateral Commission member George Bush was placed as Reagan’s VP (ousting Reagan’s friend Sen. Paul Laxalt during a Rockefeller-run media scandal), John Hinckley- an MK Ultra psych job deeply tied into the Bush family, was deployed to carry out an assassination shooting Reagan in the chest on March 30, 1981.
Reagan never recovered from this attempt and the well-intentioned but highly malleable Hollywood star became increasingly moulded by CFR-Trilateral Commission agents in spite of his tendency to allow himself to be influenced by pro-nation state figures exemplified by his endorsement of the Joint US-Soviet plan for the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983 (later corrupted into a unilateral doctrine by Bush Sr.)”

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 23 2022 21:09 utc | 31

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 23 2022 21:09 utc | 31
Before I read this my views of Volcker were commonplace. This man was taking us down, not saving us. Have the same feelings for Arthur Burns, Nixon’s Fed chair.
Matthew Ehret is a treasure who uses history to bring facts forward to shape his essays. Hard arguing with what he writes only because most of this stuff has never been explained satisfactory to start with. So we grasp at these straws and try to make use of them when alas we head down.

Posted by: George | Jun 23 2022 21:49 utc | 33

Lets see if we can spot the ass HOLE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-MmgJ6QIAA

Posted by: Tom_12 | Jun 23 2022 22:30 utc | 35

Excellent article about two different visions for the future: the zero-sum Malthusian-Darwinian-mechanist transhumanist ‘techtronic’ (or techno-fascist) versus more humanistic ‘sovereign’ agency.
Now fighting for dominance on the world stage…
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/yuval-hararis-unipolar-dystopia-vs

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 23 2022 22:42 utc | 37

Lavrov’s report on his Iranian visit is included with the short presser and is very positive. What follows are some selected portions of the transcript I deem most pertinent:

The presidents agree that relations between Russia and Iran have reached their highest point in their history. At the same time, there remains significant potential for further promotion of our partnership. To this end, work is now underway on a new comprehensive, “big” treaty, the initiative of which was put forward by the President of Iran. Some time ago, our proposals and additions to this initiative of the Iranian side were transferred to Tehran. Today we agreed that experts should agree as soon as possible on this important document designed to determine the prospects for our strategic cooperation for the next two decades.
During the talks, special attention was paid to trade and economic issues, investments and the tasks of developing bilateral relations in conditions when illegitimate sanctions of the United States and its “satellites” are designed to impede the dynamic development of our countries and interaction between Russia and Iran with the participation of other countries that reject the dictate and do not want to follow Washington’s demands. Despite this discriminatory line, in 2021 the trade turnover between Russia and Iran showed a record growth of more than 80%, exceeding the mark of $ 4 billion for the first time. This year, the trend continues. We will do everything to maintain it.
A trip to Tehran at the end of May by a delegation of the Russian Federation headed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak was devoted to this. The delegation included representatives of relevant ministries and departments, heads of regions of the Russian Federation cooperating with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and business representatives. Following the talks, during which purely practical issues of developing our cooperation were considered, specific ways of cooperation in such areas as energy, transport, agriculture, finance, banking, and customs were outlined. These ambitious tasks are already being solved at the level of relevant experts at this stage….
A detailed discussion on international issues took place. We are united by the rejection of the concept of “rules-based order” promoted by the United States and its “satellites”. This concept is designed to replace international law, the basic principles of the UN Charter, primarily the principle of the sovereign equality of states. Everything the U.S. and its allies do on the international stage directly undermines this fundamental principle of the United Nations. We and Iran condemn the unacceptable practice of unilateral illegal sanctions imposed in contravention of the UN Charter and requiring opposition from all independent and autonomous members of the international community.
To this end, the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter was established. It includes Iran and Russia. Now its composition exceeds 20 states. I am sure it will expand….
We discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to resolve the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme. Together with other participants who signed this plan, we have been making efforts for a long time aimed at correcting the mistake made by the United States. Washington withdrew from this deal, from the relevant UN Security Council resolution, once again violating its obligations under international law. We will strive to restore the JCPOA exclusively in its original configuration, as it was approved in 2015 by the UN Security Council resolution without exceptions or additions, so that all illegal anti-Iranian sanctions that contradict the JCPOA are lifted. We hope that Washington will make a rational choice, although there is no final certainty about this.
We talked about joint work on the Syrian settlement, primarily within the framework of the Astana format, which includes Russia, Iran and Turkey. We highly appreciated the regular meeting in this format held in the capital of Kazakhstan in early June this year. We agreed to continue coordination in the interests of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2254, resolving humanitarian problems in the Syrian Arab Republic and starting practical work by the international community to restore infrastructure, prepare for the return of refugees and, in general, ensure the country’s return to normal life.
Iran and the Russian Federation are doing a lot in this area, helping to implement relevant projects on the ground in the Syrian Arab Republic. Unfortunately, the majority of other members of the international community in the West are slowing down in every possible way not only their own efforts to fulfill the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, but are also trying to slow down the activities of international organizations, primarily the relevant UN agencies. This is a politicized line that runs counter to the interests of resolving the problems in the Syrian Arab Republic and, more broadly, the problems in the Middle East and North Africa.
Russia and Iran have a common position on the need to resume direct negotiations between palestinians and Israelis in order to implement all the decisions of the international community, on the creation of a Palestinian State, and on the implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative approved by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). We will defend this line at the UN and work closely with the OIC and the League of Arab States….
We are convinced that the overwhelming majority of countries in the world are well aware of the current situation [in Ukraine]. It’s about the “rules-based order” that Americans are trying to impose on everyone else. It is designed to subordinate the security interests of any country to the interests of the Western world and ensure the full,” “eternal” dominance of Washington and its allies. It is clear that this idea contradicts the entire historical process, the objective trend in the formation of a multipolar world order, within the framework of which countries that retain independence, have a sense of self-esteem, will defend their interests in accordance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are among them.

From the Q&A, I found Lavrov’s words here rather interesting as there’s much to read between the lines:
“Sergey Lavrov: If I understand the translation correctly, cooperation between Russia and Iran in the energy sector has a rich history and good prospects.
“As for bilateral cooperation, we have always found a solution to the problems arising in this area due to the illegal actions of the United States and its satellites trying to constrain the development of the energy sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran. At the current stage, they are trying to do the same with regard to the production, transportation of oil and gas in the Russian Federation. Our bilateral plans, which are under consideration today, are largely taking concrete shape and are beginning to be implemented. They are aimed at not depending in any way on unlawful unilateral interference by anyone.
“I dare to assure you: there is a reliable scheme that allows you to work in this way. Together with Iran, we have traditionally cooperated in the context of international efforts to stabilize the oil and gas market. There is full agreement within the OPEC Plus group on the need to ensure Iran’s interests in its future activities. We will be guided by this.” [My Emphasis]
The “scheme” is most certainly oil swapping and the many years of experience gained by Russia in helping Iran and Venezuela evade illegal sanctions. As with the grain issue, the energy issue is 100% contrived by price gouging and policy bungling by the Big Oil and the Collective West. As with grain, there’s plenty of oil and gas to meet market demand provided uninhibited shipping.
Lavrov is now in Azerbaijan.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 23 2022 22:47 utc | 39

Scorpion @37–
I see you’ve discovered Matthew Ehret. When I began reading his essays several years ago, 2018 if I recall correctly, I was initially impressed until he began making some very basic historiographical and factual errors and linked those errors to his ideological sponsors at the Lyndon LaRouche Foundation. You’ll also discover he’s married to historian Cynthia Chung. Both are published by SCF, have Substack accounts, and are also published in Canada. Ms. Chung IMO is the superior historian, as her series on CIA involvement in Ukraine revealed. With Ehret, his ideology colors his writing, which at times isn’t problematic but is on occasion. Caution and careful reading are thus key. His latest at SCF, “Yuval Harari’s Unipolar Dystopia vs the Greater Eurasian Partnership: Two Technological Paradigms Clash” is one of his better efforts, but to understand his POV you must examine his other essays on that topic.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 23 2022 23:03 utc | 41

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 23 2022 22:47 utc | 39
“Lavrov is now in Azerbaijan.”
Am finding the steady consistency and probity of Lavrov and Putin’s pronouncements in so many and varied venues of late is as impressive as their slow, deliberate kinetic grind in Eastern Ukraine. They both denote clarity of purpose and principle along with a confident determination to see things through.
One thing Lavrov said which surprised me of late. Not that he felt it but that he said it: during that BBC interview recently he mentioned how UK and US keep openly stating how they want to weaken and undermine Russia which is why there is really no point any more in talking. As to their desire to cause Russia to no longer exist, ‘try it!’ he said simply. Not his usual non-confrontational uber-polished diplomatic expression but entirely warranted. The sooner the West realize that times have changed and Russia is no longer going to kow-tow to their endless deceitful jaw-boning verbiage, the better.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 23 2022 23:23 utc | 43

There are those who wonder why- given that all politicians are as bad as one another and nothing ever works out so we might as well all do nothing- The Establishment of NATO and the Empire worked so hard to destroy Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party.
This might assist. Believe it or not Corbyn plus a mass movement in support of socialism constituted a real threat to an Empire which, as the world is learning, has feet of clay. The likes of Corbyn, Oskar Lafontaine and Melenchon- provided that they can build on popular support and conjure a mass social movement- are not to be underestimated.
https://skwawkbox.org/2022/06/23/breaking-corbyn-assange-imprisonment-and-extradition-is-an-outrage-beyond-belief/#respond

Posted by: bevin | Jun 23 2022 23:30 utc | 45

Glad to see discussion on Ehret/Chung, and especially to see a link to Ehret’s latest examination, that of Yuval Harari – what a ghoul that man is, and if he’s the star thinker under Klaus Schwab, one shudders. The whole outfit is more ghoulish than I realized. I’m glad that Ehret took on that anti-human mindset with so many affirmations of what makes humans.
That link again: Yuval Harari’s Unipolar Dystopia vs the Greater Eurasian Partnership: Two Technological Paradigms Clash
As to Ehret, I liked the comment here that attests to his retelling of history – it’s a priceless thing that he offers. I find it well worth skimming past parts of his writing that seem wrong to me.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 23 2022 23:53 utc | 47

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 23 2022 23:34 utc | 46
“Many US dollars will be going home to roost. US will be lucky if it does not break into several sections with the economic destruction and resulting political destruction that is heading its way.”
Agreed (though it’s all way over my pay grade!). It seems to me that Eurasia is now in lift-off mode although it hasn’t quite flown free of all the struts which will soon fall away as the rocket finally breaks free of those shackles holding her previously in place.
And it does indeed seem like America, at least, is going to go through an extremely trying time with probable break-ups in the works. I don’t think there is any way the current system will allow the people to ‘get our country back’ though hope am wrong. Barring that unlikely resolution, things will probably break down economically, culturally and quite possibly geographically.
During which period Eurasia has to hold firm and ensure that the Crazies in the DC Deep Swamp Gutters don’t exercise a Samson option just to deflect blame or out of a paroxysm of frustrated peeve at having been thwarted. I have no doubt that Russia-China are well aware of this and have thought it through ever since the beginning of their symbiotic alliance formed roughly twenty years ago.
Interesting times…

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 24 2022 0:06 utc | 49

And while on the subject of the WEF, that force “Now competing for dominance on the world stage” as Scorpion says – I want to recommend this book that lex talionis frequently praised here (Amazon link):
States of Emergency: Keeping the Global Population in Check – Kees van der Pijl
Van der Pijl is a superb writer, able somehow to say things in completely understandable ways, no matter how complex. He details the pandemic and spends time on the “Spanish Flu” but his main thesis is this (my paraphrase):

All societies have a ruling class, and in the US that class was able to control the mass population through the social contract whereby the workers were happy enough with their rewards not to overthrow the rulers. As western capitalism reached its own diminishing returns it could no longer offer that contract. Ever since, the rulership has turned to coercion and violence as its remaining means of control. Various tools have been employed, but nothing has worked as well as the medical emergencies of pandemics. We are in a time where the ruling class must exert increasing control over the increasingly restless populations of the world.

He says it far better than I just did. But this is an indispensable context in which to parse current and recent events, or even those of the last century or so. For example, the ghoul cited above as examined by Ehret is best understood in this vein, or so I find.
I’ll perhaps try to offer more from the book over time. He is an author worth knowing, and I’ll have to look up some of his other work.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 24 2022 0:12 utc | 51

“… Paul Volcker gave a lecture in Warwick University London..”
As you are aware Warwick University is not in London.
“Leaders who resisted this program such as Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, India’s Indira Gandhi, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara, and Mexico’s Lopez Portillo et al. were systematically killed or overthrown…”
It would be extremely difficult to argue that this group had anything in common. Certainly neither Ali Bhutto or Indira Ghandi’s deaths were related to anything to do with Volcker’s programme.
“When it became evident that an incoming President Ronald Reagan was not favorable to the Trilateral Commission/CFR agenda-… his elimination was quickly orchestrated. After CFR/Trilateral Commission member George Bush was placed as Reagan’s VP (ousting Reagan’s friend Sen. Paul Laxalt during a Rockefeller-run media scandal), John Hinckley- an MK Ultra psych job deeply tied into the Bush family, was deployed to carry out an assassination shooting Reagan…”
The “..well-intentioned but highly malleable Hollywood star..” Reagan in this story seems to have been determined to replace Carter for no discernible reasons. In fact Reagan ran on a very right wing nationalistic programme and had been chosen by the Republicans because of his reputation as an anti-union, anti-student, anti-communist, law ‘n’ order, pro business candidate. It was a reputation that he had come upon honestly both as governor of California and as a campaigner across the United States. He narrowly failed to win the 1976 nomination. He was a seasoned and serious political campaigner.
There is no evidence proffered to substantiate the assertions that (a) “his elimination was quickly orchestrated” presumably by the Trilateral Commission and with Bush’s consent. or (b) that “John Hinckley-.. (was)..deeply tied into the Bush family..”
“Reagan never recovered from this attempt and the well-intentioned but highly malleable Hollywood star became increasingly moulded by CFR-Trilateral Commission agents …”
I first ran across the Larouche people in 1975 in Hamilton Ontario. In those days they claimed to be the “North American Labour Party” based in Buffalo NY. They put forward the unusual positions that the Rockefeller family and the British House of Windsor were joint owners of an international drug smuggling operation which financed a vast network of political manipulations.
Personally Scorpion I’d be very wary of taking anything they say on trust. And that includes the suggestions that Hinckley was an agent of the Bush family, that Reagan was manipulated into his political positions, that the political leaders mentioned were the victims of Volcker’s Trilateral Commission or that Warwick University is in London.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 0:22 utc | 53

I have been absent from commenting for a while, though skimming most days (getting a bit intemperate, isn’t it?), been busy, of which more below. Here I would like to pick up on two secondary themes which seem to underlie a lot of comments here.
Many commenters let slip their approximate age and I am getting the impression that a substantial number are at least 60, many in middle to late seventies. Is it because we have more time, or that age brings wisdom (!)
Occasionally we learn of where the writer is based. The readership here is truly a united nations. But what is notable is the increasing desire wistfully expressed to get out of the West and resettle elsewhere. For US citizens the favourite seems to be Mexico. On the basis of a brief visit and its current political direction that seems to be a good choice.
Putting these two themes together, then:
I made my first visit to China in 2007 and over the subsequent 12 years made about 50 return visits on business from the UK, visiting most parts and also neighbouring countries. In 2020 as soon as I was able I bought a one way ticket and left England, probably permanently. With our Shenzhen-based subsidiary I am able to claim a work permit and residence visa, though unfortunately for just one year at a time, so there is always the hazard that I might be refused as I am well over the normal age limit. An additional attraction then was Covid: the lack of it. For 18 glorious months after the defeat of the initial outbreak centred on Wuhan, we lived a normal life while other countries were suffering outbreaks and their consequences.
Then, earlier this year, the more agile versions arrived and the situation changed dramatically. While the daily case numbers were minimal (and probably leaking over from Hong Kong where they really dropped the ball), they peaked in Shenzhen, a city of 18 million, at 101, and fell back to zero within a few weeks. Few local lockdowns were enforced but we all suffered widespread closures and had to undergo daily testing to get the Green Code on our phones, without which we really could not go anywhere. Then for two months there were no cases but still the test requirement remained in place, albeit ultimately scaled back to 72 hours. And now, over the past week, five new cases have turned up and the clamp down is fully back in place with closures and daily tests. I, weary of it, escaped two weeks ago.
A web search will show a substantial number of countries offering retirement permits usually for the over 50s. To cut the story short, I wanted to be near to China but to have a permanent visa and my choice has been the Philippines. For example, for as little as $10,000 deposit with a proven pension of $800 a month a Special Retirement Residence Visa is available. It’s never too late: I am 77. I don’t miss the UK, far from it, but I do have family there. Karlof1 mentioned this as a stopper. Well my family members are welcome to join me from time to time, just 18 hours by Philippine Airlines from Heathrow to Manila plus an hour’s flight down south. Perhaps, given the state of the UK, they too may see the attraction on lingering.
The Philippines is a glorious country, I had spent much time there earlier: over 7,000 islands, warm seas, white sand beaches, all year round summer, English widely spoken; friendly, charming people, etc etc. Perhaps someone reading this is also here?

Posted by: Walt | Jun 24 2022 0:38 utc | 55

Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 0:22 utc | 53
“Personally Scorpion I’d be very wary of taking anything they say on trust. And that includes the suggestions that Hinckley was an agent of the Bush family, that Reagan was manipulated into his political positions, that the political leaders mentioned were the victims of Volcker’s Trilateral Commission or that Warwick University is in London.”
Thanks for the heads up but generally I try not to assume anything I read is the truth, the whole truth etc. (Which includes your versions of Eastern European history, btw, along with all others!). Early POTUS Reagan was quite different from later POTUS Reagan and, similar to Trump, it seems that early promise of a little-r republican agenda soon gave way to same-old same-old stuff. And if some of that was coordinated by ex CIA chief Bush, that would hardly be surprising. Turns out that Pence was running nasty circles around quite a few Trump staff. Such things are the norm in corridors of power rather than the exception.
I find the problem with most so-called conspiracy theories is that the mind, questing for explanation of things that clearly haven’t been properly presented, likes to come up with one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s a general cognitive tendency most of us share since sentences need clear subjects, objects and verbs and narratives need clear beginnings, middles and ends. We use those faculties to chart our course through life, to interpret what we encounter on the journey, indeed through the course of each day. All involves a huge amount of simplification to accommodate the mechanism of language formed of clustered concept.
So pretty much all conspiracy theories – or attempts to explain that which has not been properly explained – fall short.
But that doesn’t mean that what we’ve been told is true, either. What’s that saying: ‘just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get ya!’
Anyway…

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 24 2022 0:49 utc | 57

Talking of paranoia and people out to get you….
“THE military sent Jeremy Corbyn a “warning” during his bid to become prime minister and intelligence services deliberately undermined him, the former Labour leader said in an interview with Declassified UK.
Mr Corbyn spoke to the publication about actions taken by government institutions, senior officials, politicians and parts of the media to damage his chances of becoming PM.
A week after Mr Corbyn was elected Labour leader in 2015, the Sunday Times ran a story quoting a “senior serving general” who said the military would take “direct action” if he was elected.
“When that story came out … we obviously challenged it straight away and they said it was a rogue element and they didn’t speak for anybody else,” Mr Corbyn said.
“But I thought it was a sort of shot across the bows, a warning to me.”
MI5 and MI6 met Mr Corbyn in 2018 during confidential talks where they discussed security and foreign policy.
The existence of the meetings was leaked to the press by the services, Mr Corbyn said, in articles which implied a Corbyn victory could be concerning for security.
In June 2019, CIA director Mike Pompeo was recorded privately saying: “It could be that Mr Corbyn manages to run the gauntlet and get elected.
“It’s possible. You should know, we won’t wait for him to do those things to begin to push back.
“We will do our level best. It’s too risky and too important and too hard once it’s already happened.”
Mr Corbyn said that the lack of British media reporting on the comment is because the platforms are largely “supine” and self-censoring.
“The vast majority of the mainstream media haven’t lifted so much as a little finger in support or defence of Julian Assange,” he said.
The full interview is in Declassified UK
https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-establishment-campaign-to-stop-him-becoming-pm/

Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 1:09 utc | 59

@ : bevin | Jun 24 2022 1:09 utc | 59
thanks here is a quote and statement at the end of your link in the article itself.. obviously usurping the agenda within the guardian is very central to control of the narratives people are encouraged to support or not… these forces successfully kabooshed corbyn.. another example of dumbocracy in action..
“So was I surprised? No. And I’ve had to live with the behaviour of the Guardian ever since. But the Guardian is in a unique position because it is the paper most read by Labour Party members, is the most important in forming opinion on the centre and left in British politics. And they are very well aware of that, which is why I think an analysis of the Guardian’s treatment of the time that I was leader of the party needs to be made because they and the BBC had more unsourced reporting of anti-semitic criticisms surrounding me than any other paper, including the Mail, The Telegraph and the Sun.”

Posted by: james | Jun 24 2022 1:44 utc | 61

Further to my item at 55 there is an extraordinary claim picked up by iEarlGrey that 80% of Britons would move to Russia if they had the chance. This does seem counter-intuitive given the degree of Russophobia in the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlU6cd_tkrA
Even more extraordinary is that it was said it was published in the Daily Express.
. . . . . . .
Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 1:09 utc | 59
The treatment of Corbyn by the press and the bulk of the parliamentary party was certainly an eye-opener for me. I had regarded his election as the leader of the Labour Party as a wonderful opportunity for change, perhaps the last chance to establish a secure society in a decent country, and his smearing and the subsequent course of events was the last straw for me. I resigned from the party and started making plans to leave, though I have to say Russia was not an obvious choice at the time.

Posted by: Walt | Jun 24 2022 5:08 utc | 63

@ 7 down south
“Just take two aspirin and stay away from Turkish bath houses and you’ll be fine.”

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 24 2022 7:17 utc | 65

And that both UAH and Hadley actual temperature records are cooler than all but 2 of the GCMs. One of which is Russian.
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 23 2022 18:17 utc | 16
Ah the old fallacy argument GCM models are unreliable :
Climate models are mathematical representations of the interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, ice and the sun. This is clearly a very complex task, so models are built to estimate trends rather than events.
Where models have been running for sufficient time, they have also been proved to make accurate predictions. For example, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo allowed modellers to test the accuracy of models by feeding in the data about the eruption. The models successfully predicted the climatic response after the eruption. Models also correctly predicted other effects subsequently confirmed by observation, including greater warming in the Arctic and over land, greater warming at night, and stratospheric cooling.
Mainstream climate models have also accurately projected global surface temperature changes. Climate contrarians have not.
Ah, just one of 217 fallacy arguments routinely supplied by paid denial of reality industry. ho hum……..
Skepticism is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jun 24 2022 8:07 utc | 67

Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 0:22 utc | 53
Even Nixon once said that (I think it was already in the late 60s) everything must be done to prevent Reagan from ever becoming president b/c he thought of him as a batshit crazy madman.

Posted by: v | Jun 24 2022 9:46 utc | 69

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jun 24 2022 8:07 utc | 67
Could you kindly provide a link to a good model? I stopped following climate issue a long time ago partly because all the models were useless and yet were the main arguments trotted out again and again.
I did invest some time on the issue though not a huge amount. Came to the conclusion that we lack the means to distinguish between natural and any anthropogenic changes. Put another way: since we cannot tell what changes are part of natural cyclic and other processes we cannot determine what, if anything, might be changing them in ways the naturally self-correcting climate system, so to speak, cannot naturally adjust.
Put more simoky: we don’t know what the baseline is so we cannot know if there has been a departure from it. Have yet to see any new work that definitively moves beyond this stumbling block in the erroneously named climate science.
That said, if there have finally been developments, am interested to learn about them even though I suspect the whole thing is New World Order hogwash in the Empire of Lies.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 24 2022 11:31 utc | 71

“The Great Reset” Already Happened
November 12, 2020.

Posted by: George | Jun 23 2022 21:06 utc | 30
I have to disagree. The Reset still hasn’t happened yet. All they’ve been doing so far is preparing the ground work to set the stage for the Reset.
You can only Reset the system once the current system has collapsed. It seems they’ve lit the fuse though (Engdahl)

Posted by: Down South | Jun 24 2022 11:45 utc | 73

Two demonstrations forbidden in Madrid because of the Nazi-Anglo Treaty Organization.
The demonstrations were obviously against them : )
And I wonder, when the fuck have the anglo nations done anything good for hispanic nations. Never. Not once. Maybe not even by mistake. Theft, piracy, blackmail and setting satrapies up is all they’ve done.
US actively plays Morocco and Spain against each other, and specifically leaves out of any NATO protection spanish-held territory that’s geographically under imminent threat from the Moor. OUT OF PROTECTION, NOT OUT OF THEIR USE, THAT’S DIFFERENT!
It’s literally worse than useless, it’s actively deleterious.
Grrrrrrrrr.

Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 24 2022 12:44 utc | 75

And further…you want a party that will win a US election???
I nominate the party of the poor

Posted by: juliania | Jun 24 2022 12:58 utc | 77

Thanks, Scorpion @37 for the link! That is an amazing read – there is a world spirit, I do believe! And thanks to Grieved also – you sent me back to find the accessible link which I had overlooked, and I agree with your assessment. Here is the Schiller quote from the article, but Benjamin Franklin’s not too shabby either!

“In general, we can establish a rule for judging political institutions, that they are only good and laudable, to the extent that they bring all forces inherent in persons to flourish, to the extent that they promote the progress of culture, or at least not hinder it. This rule applies to religious laws as well as to political ones: both are contemptible if they constrain a power of the human mind, if they impose upon the mind any sort of stagnation. A law, for example, by which at a particular time appeared to it most fitting , such a law were an assault against mankind and laudable intents of whatever kind were then incapable of justifying it. It were immediately directed against the highest Good, against the highest purpose of society.”
[my bolds]

Posted by: juliania | Jun 24 2022 13:20 utc | 79

Blessed are the poor in spirit!!!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 24 2022 12:47 utc | 76
There are the ‘poor’ and also there are the dispossessed, aka out of the loop, which is most of us. However, I believe that we all know it all on some level even if the details are hidden. We know. And either we enable/permit or we push back. If the system is basically working, warts and all, okay. Because all systems have warts. But if it stops working then we begin to wake up.
The elites feel they can always manage things so that the masses will remain content enough to not rock the boat. Or they can put in place mechanisms to contain discontent – disarming, locking down the population, more aggressive police state procedures and/or surveillance, media brainwashing and so forth.
But I think that ultimately we the people tend to know what’s going on even if we are dangerously complacent and willing to be fooled on the surface for years on end. We know, but we choose to ignore.
In terms of your poor: the lower classes (to use more English expression) are usually far more cynical about ‘the system’ than the middle or upper. They know it’s all BS. They also know that there’s almost nothing they can do about it and so choose to make the best of the situation immediately in front of them – family, work, friends, trying to get ahead a little, have fun on the weekends etc. There is much wisdom in this approach, actually. But every once in a while the system gets too extreme in a bad way and then convulsions happen and then rarely do things go well since usually those who pushed things to that painful point are there up ahead showing people the way forward – into yet another trap they have prepared.
It’s like those agitators on Jan 6th. Somebody put scaffolding up, somebody came with bullhorns, somebody got the security guards to open the doors and let people in whilst others were outside scaling the walls making it look like a violent insurrection. The people urging people on with the bullhorns were acting as erstwhile leaders. And they were leading unsuspecting people walking back after the big speech ( a huge let down imo ) to a bad end, some of whom having been in solitary now for more than a year without trial or bail.
Groups don’t self-organize naturally or easily. They need leaders. Unfortunately, all too often those who step forward as such are wicked.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 24 2022 13:24 utc | 81

“The S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI dropped to 52 in June of 2022, from 54.6 in May, the lowest in 22 months and below market expectations of 53.9, flash estimates showed. Output fell for the first time in two years and the rate of decline looks set to accelerate in July given a steepening loss of new orders received during the month. New orders for goods have now fallen for two consecutive months, with June seeing the sharpest decline since May 2020. Jobs growth meanwhile moderated as firms scaled back their future expansion plans due to the harsher demand environment and deteriorating outlook. Looking at prices, rates of selling price inflation cooled while the rate of input cost increase accelerate to the steepest since April, in part reflecting the pass-through of prior raw material and energy cost increases to wages. Manufacturing expectations for the year ahead worsened markedly, down to the lowest since May 2020. ”
The bright side in the picture of Eurozone manufacturing is that early months of COVID-19 provide somewhat favorable background. The zone and appendages like Poland and Denmark experience the top energy cost in the world, so in the conjunction with the fall of Euro, we have “accelerated input cost increase” that cannot be passed to customers. “Interesting times” in Europe.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 24 2022 13:29 utc | 83

@MarkU #25
Meh – you clearly haven’t even done an iota of investigation into a subject you feel strongly about.
The GCM models DO NOT give the same results when run successively. They literally wander all over the map, because the programming is crap and basically a kludged up, heuristic mess.
What you see in the graphs above are human curated.
I am further amused by your attempt to say that “laypersons” are arguing from authority? What?!
This is garbage of the highest order when the most response to questions about climate change orthodoxy are greeted by “where’s your degree” and “so and so, says so”.
I do find it instructive, though, your use of laypersons. It is increasingly clear that climate change doom is a religion; the climate scientists and activists are the priests and no one is allowed to question orthodoxy.
Anyway, I continue to be amused that the so-called settled science is so strong that I have yet to see a coherent, much less credible scientific response to the questions raised.
Not just to myself, here, but to “accredited scientists” like Koonin – whom Andrew Dessler could say nothing but that “no I cannot dispute any of the facts Koonin presented”. Go and listen to their respective podcasts on Rogan to see what I mean; ultimately the last resort is the usual “fossil fuel shill” argument for which there is no trail of money, unlike the literal billions spent for the climate change doom folk every year.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 24 2022 13:45 utc | 85

@Bad Deal Motors On #67
You really are not very competent.
Maybe you are just really young.
I distinctly remember the alarm over Pinatubo when it first erupted. The usual suspects: Sagan and the nuclear winter crowd among others said that between Pinatubo and the Kuwait oil fires, there would be smoke/haze induced global winter then.
The GCMs were wrong then, as was Sagan and what not, and they’re wrong now as clearly evidenced by the model outputs vs the actual temperature record.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 24 2022 13:55 utc | 87

A Roadmap To A More Effective, Stabilizing and Sustainable US Defense Strategy in Asia
This is notable primarily because this Soros founded org is saying:

In view of these trends, the United States needs a more credible, stabilizing, and affordable defense strategy for deterring potential use of military force by China, coupled with a diplomatic strategy to reduce military tensions and improve crisis management.
…
The Navy should emphasize smaller ships, with light carriers replacing half the current large carriers at a ratio of 2 to 1. It should expand its inventory of smaller surface combatants relative to larger ships and maintain submarine and logistical capability.
…
The Army and Marine Corps should cut 26 of their combined 71 brigade combat teams and regiments, including eight from the active force. For the Asia–Pacific theater, these forces should instead focus on capabilities for defending against air and naval aggression, including more mobile long– and medium-range air-defense and anti-ship capabilities.

Reducing the size of the US military?
Replacing phallic symbol fleet aircraft carriers with smaller versions?
Inconceivable!
In the Princess Bride sense…

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 24 2022 14:07 utc | 89

The Nation notes government investigation into Brookings bodes ill for think tanks
This is amusing but ultimately stupid. The government didn’t investigate the Clinton Fund, it didn’t investigate the Israeli funding ecosystem, it didn’t even investigate the Saudis. It is investigating the odd man out in the Israel/Saudi Middle East imbroglio.
The only thing notable about any of this is that a former US general and head of Brookings resigned.
That’s it.
A drop in the ocean of the Swamp.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 24 2022 14:10 utc | 91

Groups don’t self-organize naturally or easily. They need leaders. Unfortunately, all too often those who step forward as such are wicked.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 24 2022 13:24 utc | 81
Ah yes, Scorpion, true. Sometimes we get a Yeltsin. But then…Putin steps in. Or Xi. Or…

Posted by: juliania | Jun 24 2022 14:26 utc | 93

@ Bad Deal Motors On | Jun 24 2022 7:33 utc | 66
I’m no philosopher, so I’m cheerfully prepared to accept some derision from the usual quarters around here for what I’m about to say, but what the hell —
Occam’s Razor and similar formulations are wonderful in theory, but they all suffer from the same problem in practice. Metaphorically put, one could say that the Razor can cut too close if one isn’t careful. To put it another way, “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one” works when one possesses all relevant facts, which in turn entails (1) knowing the facts and (2) an ability to determine which facts are relevant to the matter at hand. The formulation of Newton’s that you cited comes close to acknowledging this. An additional problem can arise when one relies on (usually binary and syllogistic) logic in wielding the Razor, because some things just don’t operate that way . . . the human mind, for starters.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 24 2022 14:40 utc | 95

I am not sure how to cast this event but in the US the Roe vs Wade abortion decision has been overturned and the markets are up about 2%
You may all think you are free but if you have a form of social organization that controls a women’s right to her own body then you are not free.
But we here all know this because in that same social contract is having money owed and operated by a cult of elite humans.
Freedom is faith breathers telling everyone they are responsible for everything in their lives except when their faith tells them something else.
Patriarchy is alive and well in the West.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 24 2022 14:54 utc | 97

@malenkov #95
Occam’s Razor is a heuristic, but all heuristics go out the door when people are actively trying to steer outcomes. [snip]
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 24 2022 14:52 utc | 96

I was assuming objectivity (or, better, an attempt at objectivity, as absolute objectivity is a chimera) on the part of the Razor wielder. Obviously one is misusing the Razor if the wielder prefers the pursuit of an agenda to the dispassionate discernment, evaluation, and application of facts.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 24 2022 15:20 utc | 99