Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2024-150
News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) ...
Posted by b on June 27, 2024 at 13:18 UTC | Permalink
next page »A double will show up to play Joe at the debate, observe very closely
Posted by: stale face | Jun 27 2024 13:29 utc | 2
Bolivia coup failed. Apparently irate civilians found out & surrounded the rebels. The coup leader is now in jail.
Posted by: Mary | Jun 27 2024 13:25 utc | 1
In Latin America, there are frequent coup attempts by scum-like military men to destroy leftist governments.
If we can assume,It's always a US buy-in anyway.
Posted by: Nokaz | Jun 27 2024 13:57 utc | 3
> A double will show up to play Joe at the debate, observe very closely
Pardon me, but is there no law against double Joepardy?!
Posted by: despondent | Jun 27 2024 14:13 utc | 4
I was gratified to see the clownish coup in Bolivia failed. I'm sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with President Arce recently giving an interview to Sputnik concerning Bolivian views on NATO warmongering, or some of the world's largest lithium deposits which are almost exclusively going to China...just a coinkydink amirite kids?
As an aside, the odds on Biden shitting his pants live on stage running about 12 to 1 according to professional bookies.
Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Jun 27 2024 14:19 utc | 5
Be prepared: the Empire of Delusion’s failed coup in Bolivia has been mentioned, so expect State Department bots to be on the way trying to spread FUD about the coup. They will try to insert doubts about this coup attempt being the Empire’s doing and suggest that it is just a performance by the Bolivian government to improve their already overwhelming support.
This is to say that everyone who tries to push the meme that the President Arce himself is behind the coup attempt is a cynical US State Department troll trying to confuse and deceive you. They are just paid scum blowing smoke in your face. Treat them appropriately.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 14:19 utc | 6
Just this morning I saw a person wearing a tee shirt with the following
"J. Sacks and T. Carlson for President and VP" of the USA.
what kind of support would they get?
Posted by: snake | Jun 27 2024 14:36 utc | 7
Old Grandpa with another reminder of how to get through these troubled times. I love all my fellow barflies and would share what I know to help all of y'all. Time is getting short and if we get to the place where you realize what I'm saying was right, it'll be too late. Look into God's Word for help: https://folkpotpourri.com/our-promise-of-glory-to-be-revealed/
Posted by: Ozark Grandpa | Jun 27 2024 15:01 utc | 8
William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 14:19 utc | 6
...everyone who tries to push the meme that the President Arce himself is behind the coup attempt is a cynical US State Department troll trying to confuse and deceive you.
Very astute observation; I just saw that very allegation in the al Jazeera (Muslim Brotherhood Media) write up on the coup attempt. The empire is that one turd that refuses to be flushed.
Posted by: robjira | Jun 27 2024 15:32 utc | 9
I tried to access this site and Sonar 21 from the public library in Monroe County New York and was censored. A page called "FortiGuard Intrusion Prevention" came up in large block letters and "read Acess Blocked, denied in accordance with internet usage policy". I spoke to the librarian and she said this was implemented from the top for all 21 branches of the library. They had a place where you could submitk request for review. I did that and no response. So 760,000 people in the County are blocked at the library. Try your local library. This FortiGuard had the feel of big brother.
Posted by: John daniel | Jun 27 2024 15:55 utc | 10
Very astute observation; I just saw that very allegation in the al Jazeera (Muslim Brotherhood Media) write up on the coup attempt. The empire is that one turd that refuses to be flushed.
Posted by: robjira | Jun 27 2024 15:32 utc | 9
______
Pretty sure I saw that obnoxious claim somewhere on RT yesterday — but then, a lot of RT’s non-Russia-related stories are cribbed from AP and Reuters almost to the point of plagiarism.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 27 2024 16:26 utc | 11
Re: Bolivian Coup attempt
Cue that 1980s song from The Clash with the Refrain:
Washington Bullets Again
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nylAzVqnfrI&pp=ygUYV2FzaGluZ3RvbiBidWxsZXRzIGNsYXNo
Posted by: Exile | Jun 27 2024 16:41 utc | 12
Posted by: stale face | Jun 27 2024 13:29 utc | 2
A double will show up to play Joe at the debate, observe very closely
The sad part is that stale face probably believes this for real.
Posted by: Inka | Jun 27 2024 16:49 utc | 13
Posted by: Mary | Jun 27 2024 13:25 utc | 1
Bolivia coup failed. Apparently irate civilians found out & surrounded the rebels. The coup leader is now in jail.
I was amazed and overjoyed at how quickly the people shut the coup down. The crowd that showed up to chase coup members out of the central plaza was inspiring. By the 1990's I believe Bolivia had amassed something like 150 coups, almost the same number as its age. I'm glad to see Bolivia now resisting and defying coup attempts.
Posted by: Inka | Jun 27 2024 16:55 utc | 14
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 14:19 utc | 6
This is to say that everyone who tries to push the meme that the President Arce himself is behind the coup attempt is a cynical US State Department troll trying to confuse and deceive you. They are just paid scum blowing smoke in your face. Treat them appropriately.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I definitely don't think this coup was some fraud staged by Arce to boost himself in the next election; that sounds really paranoid to believe that.
But it does seem unusual for people on this board to be skeptical about a false flag accusation for a change.
Posted by: Inka | Jun 27 2024 17:03 utc | 15
Posted by: despondent | Jun 27 2024 14:13 utc | 4
############
At the next executive meeting of the MoA Politburo, I will propose that we discuss revoking your "Dad Joke" license permanently.
Prepare yourself for a struggle session conducted by the most fanatical revolutionaries on the site.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jun 27 2024 17:05 utc | 16
15 <— There you go folks. The poor troll was assigned to spread the FUD, but was preempted.
They are so predictable.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 17:08 utc | 17
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 17:08 utc | 17
They are so predictable.
Actually, this means you did not actually read the post, where I explicitly said I didn't believe the contrived scenario that Arce staged this. Sounds like you were on auto pilot.
Posted by: Inka | Jun 27 2024 17:17 utc | 18
Two weeks ago Bolivia improved relations with Russia. And … COUP
...Bolivia also expressed interest in joining BRICS. Bolivia was one of the first nations to end diplomatic relations with Israel after its war with Palestine started. Coincidence?
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 27 2024 17:25 utc | 21
good news from mexico
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/transforming-mexico
Posted by: JAB | Jun 27 2024 17:45 utc | 22
More questions over Starmer about Julian Assange: https://skwawkbox.org/2024/06/25/video-starmer-met-us-agencies-about-assange-extradition-cps-destroyed-all-records/
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jun 27 2024 17:58 utc | 23
malenkov | Jun 27 2024 16:26 utc | 11
a lot of RT’s non-Russia-related stories are cribbed from AP and Reuters
Very true; it seems most major news sites pull their reports from Reuters and the AP wire (both of which are likely Mockingbirds).
It was rather heartening (to me) to learn that Morales is going to try for reelection next year.
Posted by: robjira | Jun 27 2024 18:01 utc | 24
Posted by: Mary | Jun 27 2024 13:25 utc | 1
Good for the Bolivians! I remember when, way back when, they were protesting the corporate theft of their water.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 18:02 utc | 25
@18:
Wrong StInka. You are just posting the best FUD your little mind can come up with after the forum was prepared in advance for the FUD you intended to spew.
You’re not so clever as you think.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 18:11 utc | 26
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jun 27 2024 17:05 utc | 16
Do not attack other posters, LoveDonbass. This is b's site - he makes the rules.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 18:12 utc | 27
Extending my advice to William Guff. This is b's place, not ours. And he is recuperating. Have a care.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 18:48 utc | 28
JAB @22:
good news from mexico
Just to put Morena's win in perspective, this is despite the CIA/US State Department's best efforts to do election fraud like Biden's 81 million votes. This worked in the first AMLO-Calderon match-up because the margins were too close, but since then Morena has been smoking the Empire's picks for president.
But Morena has to run with their mandate or the voters will become disillusioned and punish them. Most important is that they must get a handle on the CIA death squads in Mexico. They should start with officially outlawing the CIA on Mexican territory. Make it clear that all Mexican authorities are not just cleared to use lethal force to suppress CIA activity, but encouraged to do so. Shoot first and arrest the survivors.
Next Mexico needs to follow the example of other wise national leaderships and ban all NGOs that take even a penny from the US State Department or oligarchs based in the Empire.
Mexico should also withdraw diplomatic visas for all American nationals except for the ambassador himself. Treat all American nationals travelling directly to the American embassy or consulates as potential covert agents and detain them for interrogation. Restrict the "diplomatic pouch" exemption from customs inspection to only what the ambassador can literally carry in a shoulder satchel by himself. No more cargo container sized diplomatic pouches.
That sounds harsh, but the villainy of the CIA is no joke.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 18:48 utc | 29
I believe LoveDonbass was trying to save us from "dad jokes" in attempted self-defense, juliana, so please don't attack him for this before the MoA Politburo has congregated. They will have the last word on this.
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 18:53 utc | 30
One would like to see Bolivian courage spread to the rest of South America and remove Yankee influence.
On another note, "Crooke: The European Mutiny: The Consequences are Just Beginning", provides an update on the EU's political scene along with some commentary by yours truly. Crooke cites a NY Times op/ed by Christopher Caldwell that looks rather interesting that I'm unable to access having used all my free access tokens.
For those interested in Russian Orthodoxy and its iconography, I suggest clicking through the photos of Putin's visit to the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
Re: Putin’s visit to holy Trinity
It’s difficult for someone immersed in the secular cynical west to fathom the deep faith of many orthodox. In addition, it’s also difficult to fathom how the wisdom of church fathers is taken seriously by a politician such a Putin.
Juilianna can better explain the church-state relationship in Orthodox tradition which originated in Byzantium.
Posted by: Exile | Jun 27 2024 19:04 utc | 32
That sounds harsh, but the villainy of the CIA is no joke.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 18:48 utc | 29
Sounds very rational to me. Really a good template for the entire ROW. I'd take the same measures with all NATO members, as well, with some case by case adjustments depending on their foreign policy.
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jun 27 2024 19:10 utc | 33
There are no drugs that can temporarily cure advanced dementia, much less permanently. Not even Adderall. Even potent antipsychotics rarely affect dementia, which is not so much a dysfunction in the working of a brain as damage to the structure of the brain leaving only parts of the brain working at all. It's vaguely analogous to the difference between a software problem vs a hardware problem.
And again, there are no drugs than can temporarily cure dementia.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jun 27 2024 19:12 utc | 34
That sounds harsh, but the villainy of the CIA is no joke.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 18:48 utc | 29
But, Mexico is still run by a bourgeois. Ultimately, Morena is going to be ultra cautious about injuring their interests. Morena (lame idpol name) is better that all existing alternatives, but it is not a revolutionary party and will maintain the system of wage slavery.
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jun 27 2024 19:14 utc | 35
Crooke cites a NY Times op/ed by Christopher Caldwell that looks rather interesting that I'm unable to access having used all my free access tokens.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 18:55 utc | 31
---
https://github.com/bpc-clone/bpc_updates/releases/tag/latest
"Bypass paywalls clean" allows one to read most paywalled web content.
Posted by: too scents | Jun 27 2024 19:14 utc | 36
Just some fun with figures that I’ll post here rather than derail the Ukraine thread.
Dividing the figure for US M2 money supply by the total reported US gold holdings (in troy oz) generates a figure of ~US$73 million per troy ounce...
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jun 27 2024 19:21 utc | 37
your local library. This FortiGuard had the feel of big brother.
Posted by: John daniel | Jun 27 2024 15:55 utc | 10
This is not new, a lot of public places with internet access have those kinds of filters, originally because of child protection. We also have them in Europe.
The interesting thing is, that they’ve begun adding sites like MoA to those filters. We had a recent example of a site about e-money vs cash being added to child protection filters here in Germany. It’s now too dangerous to have bloggers calling for unrestricted access to cash, go figure…
Posted by: Multipolar Panda | Jun 27 2024 19:30 utc | 38
There are no drugs that can temporarily cure advanced dementia, much less permanently.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jun 27 2024 19:12 utc | 34
Yea but a bowl of meth and a little blue pill will put him right in the same headspace as Trump.
If I was running things both debaters would have to smoke a bowl of meth just to make it watchable.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Jun 27 2024 19:35 utc | 39
For those interested in Russian Orthodoxy and its iconography, I suggest clicking through the photos of Putin's visit to the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 18:55 utc | 31
Oh, I would love to, karlof1, thank you so much! Unfortunately, I am being told this page cannot be translated, and apparently icons are dangerous as well, since when I attempted to see them, only blanks! This historic lavra is the home of Rublev's Trinity icon -- which he painted depicting the visit of the three angels to Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament. (Rublev rendered only the angelic beings, as representing the three Persons of the Trinity.)
Most definitely a dangerous icon that one, gentleness and beauty are dangerous concepts!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 19:53 utc | 40
@John Daniel & Multipolar Panda re: Forti-whatever
Yes. FortiNet is one of the many 'replacements of Cisco' in the firewall space. WatchGuard, Juniper are others, for example. This is standard outbound proxy behavior, with levels of 'protection' more strict. Also, can be custom configured, very easy to add new rules. These all have very polished web interfaces, so config can be done by a minion. With Cisco, one had to be careful, very easy to break the whole shebang with a simple syntax error.
VPN will usually circumvent this, but if you've hit this block, it's likely the stuff needed to use a VPN is also being blocked.
Posted by: Dr Wellington Yueh | Jun 27 2024 19:55 utc | 41
too scents | Jun 27 2024 19:14 utc | 36--
Thanks for that!
Exile | Jun 27 2024 19:04 utc | 32--
Yes, advances in science are such that the Genisis creation myth is no longer tenable. Russia's history makes its destiny as God's tool believable for those so inclined. Manifest Destiny was also created in a similar vein but was always Imperialistic. Hopefully, more Global South creation stories will rise and become popular. And now that China's top dog again, perhaps more will study the Tao and Confucianism and learn something new.
@Dr myself #41:
Further comment: WatchGuard, with which I have a good chunk of experience, has what is termed 'Reputation-Based Defense' and is based on curated naughty/nice lists in a centralized repository. That last bit is the key fact...top-down, as tempting to hijack as root- or high-level DNS, a big fat juicy target.
Even if the local minions in the library did nothing, and even if the county IT left the filters bone-stock, there is still a channel for easy censorship.
Posted by: Dr Wellington Yueh | Jun 27 2024 20:05 utc | 43
Today is the presidential debate. And their can be no better expression of the capitalist superstructure than this event.
On one side you have Joe Biden, a willing servant of capital, of imperialism, who has vacuumed up a few million, here and there, for his family ... nothing like KGB Colonel Putin's $200 billion take; yet Lunch Bucket Joe's honorariums have 'made' him an even more trusted lapdog of the ruling class.
On the other side of the ring, we have reality TV star, real estate developer, playboy Donald Trump; yet unfortunately for Trump, he clung blindly to a Robinson Crusoe image of capitalism and free markets. The Donald was once perfect for the capitalist ruling class, offering bread and circus to the masses, donations to pols, until he went off script and set his sights too high. Now Trump is forced to reconcile his fantastic faith in capitalism, with the wrath of its unbending superstructure and their primitive accumulation of his assets.
Nothing has really changed since Marx's essays on the revolutions in Europe. Like the Catholic Church supporting feudal society, liberals want give alms to the poor (voting blocks), while conservatives dream of a Robinson Crusoe free market that has no historical basis in reality.
Posted by: Napoleon | Jun 27 2024 20:09 utc | 44
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 27 2024 17:25 utc | 21
Bolivia has been a socialist stronghold during the 13 years of Evo Morales' presidency, and until today (after an interruption following the US-instigated coup of 2019). The country is special in many ways - it is the only Latin-American country in which more than half of the population are indigenes. Its multiethnic constitution has been crafted during the Morales presidency, while US agencies were systematically kicked out of the country (just imagine if we dared to do this in Germany...). And then there is this vast amount of lithium. I think, China has the foot in the door concerning the lithium, while US access has been lost completely. So the target is attractive - you can be sure Bolivia is way up on Uncle Sam's list of desired changes, and will remain so in the years to come.
Posted by: grunzt | Jun 27 2024 20:09 utc | 45
Here are some photos of the dangerous Trinity Lavra:
Scrolling down, there is a lovely overview of the monastery bottom left.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 20:14 utc | 47
Dembot sez: "There are no drugs that can temporarily cure advanced dementia"
Nobody said there is a cure. A cocktail of large doses of amphetamines and anti-psychotics can briefly mitigate symptoms of dementia, giving dementia sufferers brief periods of lucidity. This comes at the cost of accelerating the decline of dementia patients.
Dementia patients can often be made to appear almost normal for short periods, as in under an hour or two, max. The large doses of dopamine agonists and anti-psychotics necessary to achieve the effect cause significant damage to the patient, though, so it can never be considered as a treatment for dementia.
They are not trying to cure or even treat Biden. They are burning out what remains of his brain for a couple last appearances of normalcy before the elections.
”To the last Ukrainian brain cell!”
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 20:16 utc | 48
And here is a good explanation about Rublev's icon of the Trinity:
https://www.rbth.com/arts/335643-trinity-icon-andrei-rublev
So, I would imagine after reading its history that Putin's visit might have been to commemorate the restoration of the icon to the Lavra?
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 20:24 utc | 49
VVP:
It is a large family with many children that should become the norm, the philosophy of society, and the guideline of the entire state strategy. The problem is that those with many children face poverty more often than others – almost every third family. Therefore, it is important to develop programs to support such families. The task is to increase life expectancy and increase fertility.
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 27 2024 20:40 utc | 50
If anyone watches the Trump-Biden debate this evening, watch for and report here if you see Biden clenching his fists on the podium, clenching his jaw, and grimacing. This will be a sign that the balance between the dopamine agonists and antipsychotics is off in favor of the stimulants. Biden’s handlers may go this route because the stims wear off more quickly than the antipsychotics, and the debate is supposed to be rather long. They have to give him enough stims to keep him going for the show.
Don’t worry, he won’t actually be feeling any pain.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 20:42 utc | 51
12-1 odds Jouoey poops his pants? No way, they are going to give him a liquid diet and then an enema before hand. They will have a peepee cup running down his leg so there is no wet spot. The customary Depends will be removed to make room.
And the week prep time for standing? It's really the time needed to measure and custom create a carbon fiber standing scarecrow scaffolding that fits under his clothes and props him up without any effort on his part. That is why no audience, they would see his stiff robot walk. Probably has servos, hydraulics, gyro stabilizers to prevent him from falling flat on his face - which would not be a good look. Radio drone control back up, just in case. Pumps in fresh Adrenachrome directly into his veins at key moments.
Allegedly.
Make for a good meme.
Posted by: jopalolive | Jun 27 2024 20:46 utc | 52
juliania | Jun 27 2024 19:53 utc | 40--
Oh the horror of it all!! My word!! "For Juliania & Others with Blocked Access to the Kremlin Website", Photos from Putin's visit to the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
I'm beyond tired of the attempts to control what we see, hear and say.
The US presidential debate: two tramps arguing over whose shoes leak the least.
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jun 27 2024 20:55 utc | 54
Alternatively, they are videoing and recording his voice and inputting it into a LLM data base supercomputer so they can recreate his digital video AI Joepeldangger
Posted by: jopalolive | Jun 27 2024 20:57 utc | 55
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 18:53 utc | 30
#############
I am pleased that you "got it". I have been reading about Mao lately and was incensed by the Capitalist Dad jokes undermining our glorious Revolution in its earliest phases.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jun 27 2024 21:03 utc | 56
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 18:55 utc | 31
Thanks also, karlof1, for providing Crooke's essay here as well, describing as he does the European elections and rightly attributing the disarray to US influence gradually becoming yesterday's madness.
I have an improbable but emergently possible outcome to all of this -- howabout we outlaw nuclear weapons in the new best of all possible worlds? It wouldn't leave countries defenseless, since what Russia has been inventing and using in Ukraine are huge leaps forward as far as intensity when one considers the heft of the first nuclear weapons.
I would also suggest the new world order think seriously about also outlawing drones. Who needs them? But to my mind, what would give a best case scenario going forward from what we have all been tortured by for how long it has been would be the first suggestion - ban nuclear weapons!
Good on Europe: they don't want to fight Russia; they are sick of war in Ukraine.
Me too!!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:22 utc | 57
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 20:51 utc | 53
Thank you, thank you, karlof1!!! Yes, the icon is there in all its majesty, all its gentleness. At the site I posted earlier the latest news was last year, that it needed special atmospheric conditioning so couldn't yet return, but it was painted for that location originally, on the left side of the royal doors.
And I would also say that as this icon 'stands for' the Trinity, so the Genesis creation story 'stands for' what happened as our world began and life came thereto. It was never a substitute for scientific understanding; it was its companion. For instance, learning about what happened in 2022 when the undersea volcano erupted in Tonga gave me a new understanding of 'the waters above the firmament'. I always wondered what that meant. The ancients saw volcanoes doing that - placing water above the upper reaches of the atmosphere, and even today it happens!
That icon came about in a time of the subjugation of Russia by the Mongol hordes. We are in such a time now - different actors, same basic need for gentleness and beauty.
Thank you again, karlof1 -- that was most kind of you!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:47 utc | 58
juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:22 utc | 57--
Thanks for your reply. As you allude, technology will always provide newer more destructive weapons that will make nukes obsolete. I suggest that Humanity evolve to a point where it sees all weapons as useless and a drain on scarce resources, which could actually happen during this century provided the Four Freedoms can finally be obtained by all.
juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:47 utc | 58--
You're most welcome my friend. A dozen viewers also liked what they saw as I thought the audience would be wide.
Posted by: John daniel | Jun 27 2024 15:55 utc | 10
Interesting. Whaddaya wanna bet that porn sites aren't blocked?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 27 2024 22:00 utc | 61
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 27 2024 20:42 utc | 51
LOL. The stim cocktail also brought out "Angry Joe" in his last SOTU address. Is that the preferred personality for a debate with Orange Man Bad? I can't fathom what personality a haloperidol (Haldol) injection would be. But I refuse to watch that shit anyway.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 27 2024 22:03 utc | 62
I loved the Tao de Ching when I read it during my college days. It wasn't part of the curriculum, but to me now it is another way of viewing creation. The parts about water in particular. That water is a gentle, flowing medium but can be also a strong force as demonstrated by its use under pressure. That's just from memory; here's some bits I wrote down:
"The highest goodness is like water. Water is the symbol of humility. It always seeks the lowest place, it dwells in regions which people detest, and yet it is good and necessary to all living things: it benefits all things and does not compete with them. Further, water best illustrates the principle of 'wu-wei', or effective inactivity, because it is soft and yeilding but can wear away rock..."
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 22:12 utc | 63
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 21:53 utc | 59juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:22 utc | 57--
Thanks for your reply. As you allude, technology will always provide newer more destructive weapons that will make nukes obsolete. I suggest that Humanity evolve to a point where it sees all weapons as useless and a drain on scarce resources, which could actually happen during this century provided the Four Freedoms can finally be obtained by all.
I don't believe we will ever 'evolve' beyond evil. Any stable, good polity immediately becomes a plump target for those driven to take from others what they do not make for themselves. This realm features both supportive and restrictive dynamics, predator and prey, on all levels, even microbial. In sociopolitical or moral terms we can shorthand this dynamic into 'Good' and 'Evil' though both sides have positive aspects.
As soon as Good is established Evil will work to undermine it; similarly, when Evil triumphs the Good in human nature will resist it. Evil thrives by Good letting its guard down, which is why the core test for any political system is the degree to which it manages Evil; because Evil is always in the mix it cannot be ignored or banished, rather must be engaged.
I believe those who promulgate high level Evil, who tend to end up as powerful oligarchs and war leaders, can be co-opted to channel their considerable talents into benefiting Society when given incentives to do so within parameters affording them high wealth and status without their being able to harm others or society in general nor sieze the reins of power. This governance, or limiting, power was once held by monarchs now we have more opaque systems perhaps but we still see the most stable, strong polities are led by the most stable, strong leadership.
Either way, Evil has to be worked with well otherwise it will ruin all.
Very interesting material compositions coming from the Chinese Lunar Lander.
Studies show new materials, new formation processes, new chemical interactions, and combined point to new formation theories.
Very odd.
All of the NASA Apollo lunar rocks and soil are suggestive of the same processes as the Earth; Terrestrial. While the Chinese samples suggest that different process exist for different planets.
Could it be that the "dark side" is fundamentally different from the "Earth side" of the moon, or that NASA substituted terrestrial rocks, and claimed that they were something else.
Posted by: Rufus Arrr | Jun 27 2024 22:52 utc | 65
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/moon-rock-at-dutch-museum-is-just-petrified-wood-1.788375
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 23:35 utc | 67
@Scorpion | Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:31:00 GMT | 64
This governance, or limiting, power was once held by monarchs now we have more opaque systems
I've only begun to dig into the history of european kingship, but it is my understanding that usually the kings were not so much representatives of a formal power structure akin to modern states which derive their legitimacy from a constitution or Grundgesetz, but rather were much like alpha sharks in an extremely hostile pond. Fathers and sons went at each throats over the throne with shocking regularity. Usurpation was a normal method of conducting stately affairs. Loyalty by dealing out gifts, especially during the middle ages. During more unstable times, each and all realms would fracture, making way for effective rule by various warlords, who were in constant battle with each other, all the while being hyped to high even with the roman catholic church mindbuzz. 'By the grace of God I am King Dumbfred' while wearing full battle gear.
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 23:47 utc | 68
Sorry for bad editing in my 68 above. Not one for the high heavens I guess.
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 23:59 utc | 69
For fun I took out a one-month subscription to Celente's Trends Journal and have been enjoying it much more than I expected. His last major trend being monitored is AI. This week's journal has a few articles on it. The first three are about AI development (safety concerns, mergers with Apple etc.), but the next one is about product development in engineering:
AI DESIGNS EV MAGNET THAT NEEDS NO RARE EARTH MINERALS Lithium isn’t the only metal in short supply holding up the transition to cheaper electric vehicles (EVs). EVs’ motors are powered by magnets that need rare earth minerals, mostly neodymium or samarium but also may require terbium and dysprosium.Rare earths aren’t so much rare as they are hard to collect. They’re usually found in deposits of other minerals and the process of sifting them out can take a lot of time and trouble, making them particularly expensive. There are a few magnets out there that don’t require rare earths. The technology took a decade or more of trial-and-error to develop and then more time to scale to commercial practicality. However, automakers and their customers aren’t interested in waiting another ten years for the next breakthrough. Neither was British firm Materials Nexus. It enlisted AI, which helped the company design a new rare earth-free magnet that could then be built, tested, and validated in three months, the company announced. The result, which the company has named MagNex, slashes 80 percent from the cost of making rare earth magnets, which yields a 70-percent reduction in carbon emissions during the manufacturing process, it added.
TRENDPOST: AI’s most productive use so far has been developing new materials—battery formulations, drugs, and proteins among them. By the mid-20th century, scientists had made about 20,000 useful materials through trial-and-error bench chemistry and other kinds of hands-on engineering. The computer age more than doubled that number to 48,000. Late last year, Google’s AI skunkworks called DeepMind said its Graph Networks for Material Exploration AI cooked up another 2.2 million compounds that could work and are now waiting for experiments to test. What AI has done for battery chemistries it also could do for electronic components, Materials Nexus said, hinting that it might be at work on next-gen transistors and capacitors.
This makes me think that when AI is trained on clearly definable knowledge sets / databases, then it will prove truly gamechanging. Personally I think it should stay within the material world where it righly belongs as a materialist machine, but Unz's look at AI answering question in the voice of several of his stable of author's was an eye-opener. Perhaps how AI is used and/or what source material it is fed is perhaps as important as how it is programmed.
The previous section is about Hi-Tech Development:
FEATHER-LIGHT CARBON FABRIC STORES ENERGY AND BECOMES A BATTERYSweden’s Chalmers University of Technology has spun off Sinonus, a startup to commercialize research that has evolved a rigid, lightweight carbon fabric that can function as a battery.
This means, for example, that the car body can be the battery rather than the heavy batteries currently used.
At present, the battery in a notebook computer, electric vehicle, or other device “is considered a separate unit with no other function than energy storage,” Sinonus’s website says. “The single usage comes at a cost of system volume, weight and overall performance.”By using the rigid carbon fiber material as a battery, “we can utilize the mass that is already there to store energy, creating an opportunity to reduce weight, volume, and improve overall system performance.”
Cool.
Celente on Youtube is outrageously upfront about his disgust for both Presidential Candidates and US policies viz Ukraine and Israel (where he is forecasting a wider war with a high possibility of going nuclear).
Holy Shit!
From Reuters
Oklahoma's Department of Education ordered every teacher in the state to have a Bible in their classroom and to teach from it, in an announcement on Thursday that challenges U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have found state sponsorship of religion to be unconstitutional.
The original motto of America was Out Of Many, One and that got changed in the 1950's to fight godless communism to In God We Trust. What is left out is that God of trust is the God of Mammon, benefitting a few and not the Gods of the masses.
Oklahoma is conducting agnotology of the youth by manufacturing their ignorance.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 28 2024 0:22 utc | 72
@63 juliania
May I suggest purchasing a copy of Ursula K. Leguin's translation of the Tao Te Ching?
It is a wonderful and elegant version as she is an exemplary writer.
My only beef is her contention that liturgy and ritual are antithetical to what Lao Tzu was going for. I disagree and think there is room for both. But then again, I am Catholic who has always gotten more from Lao Tzu than the New Testament (until I began reading Rene Girard and his thought on the Gospels).
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 28 2024 0:22 utc | 73
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 23:47 utc | 68
I keep meaning to study the period of the Roman Kings before the Republic, esp. since Hudson wrote about them recently. One selection requirement was that they not come from the immediate jurisdiction (aka local ruling families) but from abroad.
Joseph Campbell describes one tribe whose King had absolute power for four years after which he had to ritually suicide himself on stage, cutting off pieces of himself until bleeding out. (Effective check, but bloody!)
In the Arthurian legends, which reflect perceptions of King, Nation and Warriorship in medieval Christian Europe, the King is 'primus inter pares', pares being equals or peers. Senates or Houses of Lords reflect this principle being almost equal to Kings who just edges them out because there has to be a Final Decider or Authority (and why a President can only be tried in the Senate where can be found a ‘jury of his peers’, a principle this cowardly SCOTUS is probably about to undermine).
Decisions by Committee always feature factions which can fester into long-term fracture unless such ‘soviets’ have a 100% consensus rule, which can result in no less pernicious stagnation.
So there is a fundamental challenge for all systems concerned with balancing Authority, which makes thing happen in timely fashion, and Checks on that Authority, which prevent abuse of Power.
This doesn't deal with the seminal sacredness aspect affecting the absolute level source of Authority at the core of all Royal forms of monarchy, but that's another topic (which enrages many barflies!).
I'd buy rounds and ply the bar with liquor but all I have is my two cents. I delicately lay the first coin on humanity's right eye for the blindness of what totally fucked prizes pissing contests with nuclear penises wins. Here's to hoping the button pushing bastages live long enough to fully appreciate their kingdom of ashes.
The last coin fails to reach it's resting place whisked by tempests alternately hotter and wetter, uncontrollably intensifying into THE Perfect Storm. I hold out for yet another Last Call.
It's been fun, see y'all on the other side, if there is one.
aka_Casandra's burden
Posted by: aka_ | Jun 28 2024 0:52 utc | 75
Many practising Taoists, most of whom are underground because of CCP prohibitions, are deep into ritual including some forms going back over 2,000 years.
Chinese are highly socialized, naturally doing things in groups; Tai Chi is watered down politically correct Qigong / Chikung (Chi discipline), but clearly contains stripped down, desacralized ritual elements: beginning, standing in rows, bowing, respecting the teacher and tradition, hierarchy of students from beginner to advanced, teacher training up to becoming a Master oneself promulgating the lineage and so forth. These same elements (and more) I believe exist in most Taoist communities though because of contemporary secrecy cannot be sure.
Am personally envious of your Roman Catholic tradition’s weekly Mass. Was recently honoured to be a village wedding Padron-Godfather. The priest, a dark-skinned local native like everyone else except myself, conducted a lovely service with calls and responses, Latin prayers, many different roles for individual participants, singing; felt both home-grown and part of a larger, deeply rooted sacred civilization. Have not witnessed a formal Mass there, not being Catholic, but have no doubt it would be similarly simple, wholesome and deep.
Because I got into a tradition outside our own culture - which don't personally recommend - I cannot have such regular communal experiences without forming an alternative spiritual community which have been encouraged to but will not attempt since it creates more problems than it alleviates for societal, not spiritual, reasons, which cannot of course be separated.
perhaps more will study the Tao and Confucianism and learn something new.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 27 2024 20:00 utc | 42
You have a novel definition of 'new,' I see. Nevertheless, while Lao Tzu and Confucius are both old news, there is certainly plenty to be learned from both (the more so as they are two faces of one more ancient guide to rulership). I would suggest that there is an element of Confucianism, and also one of Taoism, that most westerners don't pay attention to, with the result that their understanding of both ideas is distorted. For Confucianism, this 'Junzi' or the Superior Man vs xiaoren, the 'small man.' Most westerners seem to regard this division of humanity as simple elitism, but it is not, and understanding this effects understanding of everything else Confucius offers. For Taoism, it is that the whole Tao Te Ching is a poem, absolutely not one word of which is intended to be taken literally.
With that in mind, I do my best to practice the Confucian Virtues, to see, if not to be, the unhewn log, and to embrace my contradictions.
Posted by: Honzo | Jun 28 2024 0:59 utc | 77
Many practising Taoists, most of whom are underground because of CCP prohibitions, are deep into ritual including some forms going back over 2,000 years.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 28 2024 0:55 utc | 76
The CCP suppressed the Taoist priests because a huge fraction of them were charlatans, preying on the peasantry. Confucians were suppressed because organized Confucianism had become a prop to the Imperial structure, dominated if not entirely populated by the offspring of wealthy elites. In the modern west, we see their equivalents in mega-churches and Academia. It's important to remember that bush-Taoism bears no resemblance to philosophical Taoism as seen in the Tao Te Ching, and that, whatever their feelings toward the then-prevalent politics and practices of 'adherents' of these philosophies, both Mao and Xi demonstrate a deep understanding of the underlying principles of both.
Posted by: Honzo | Jun 28 2024 1:08 utc | 78
Biden looks dreadful in the debate with Trump ...
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 1:40 utc | 79
I remember Eisenhower, Nixon, LBJ, heck, even Clinton. They did some bad stuff but they weren't elderly and diminished. I cannot imagine how the world doesn't perceive this election as a horror story that emphasizes the decay of the US empire.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jun 28 2024 1:57 utc | 80
On the Tao Te Ching
I find the translation by Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay v. good
[useful 33 page introduction as well]
Element, 1993 [Emement Classic Editions]
Snippet for certain commenters:
"The kind of person who always insists
on his way of seeing things
can never learn anything from anyone." #24
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 2:04 utc | 81
Posted by: Honzo | Jun 28 2024 1:08 utc | 78Many practising Taoists, most of whom are underground because of CCP prohibitions, are deep into ritual including some forms going back over 2,000 years.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 28 2024 0:55 utc | 76The CCP suppressed the Taoist priests because a huge fraction of them were charlatans,
Possibly true, but a large number were not and have been and still are being suppressed to this day. Perhaps you are not aware of this given they are nearly all hidden now; but if you are aware then you shouldn't offer such partial arguments.
Am no great expert, but have met a few underground daoist lineage holders in the West who have explained what is going on there. This is similar to the arguments - endless - about Tibet. CCP supporters insist on one favourable version whilst Tibetans I have known and lived with clearly have a different one. Put very simply: the Tibetans are not Han people; they speak (or spoke, since it is being systematically eradicated like the Whites did with the Natives in the Americas) a different language, write many different scripts, and practice their own form of religion which combines ancient (over 20,000 years) shamanics (Bon) with tantric Buddhism imported about 1,000 years ago.
All this is being systematically purged no matter what Communist Dynasty apologists and propagandists say. It is the same within China with traditional Daoism. It is now 90% underground and I very much doubt you (just like most Chinese) know anything about it.
BTW, am not personally angry or outraged about this; it is what it is. I just don't like the gaslighting and one-sided propaganda.
I loved the Tao de Ching when I read it during my college days. It wasn't part of the curriculum, but to me now it is another way of viewing creation. The parts about water in particular. That water is a gentle, flowing medium but can be also a strong force as demonstrated by its use under pressure. That's just from memory; here's some bits I wrote down:
"The highest goodness is like water. Water is the symbol of humility. It always seeks the lowest place, it dwells in regions which people detest, and yet it is good and necessary to all living things: it benefits all things and does not compete with them. Further, water best illustrates the principle of 'wu-wei', or effective inactivity, because it is soft and yeilding but can wear away rock..."
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 22:12 utc | 63
Barf!
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jun 28 2024 2:14 utc | 83
@81 Don
Here is Ursula's translation of #24:
Proportion
You can't keep standing on tiptoe
or walk in leaps and bounds.
You can't shine by showing off
or get ahead by pushing.
Self-satisifed people do no good,
self-promoters never grow up.
Such stuff is to the Tao
as garbage is to food
or a tumor to the body,
hateful.
The follower of the Way
avoids it.
...
It does come down to preference. I also like the Penguin (D.C. Lau).
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 28 2024 2:14 utc | 84
Good on Europe: they don't want to fight Russia; they are sick of war in Ukraine.
Me too!!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 21:22 utc | 57
Agreed.
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jun 28 2024 2:17 utc | 85
@ NemesisCalling | Jun 28 2024 2:14 utc | 84
Kwok et al version below:
A man on tiptoe
… can’t walk easily.
The man who strides on ahead is bound to tire.
The kind of person who always insists
on his way of seeing things
can never learn anything from anyone.
Those who always want to be seen
will never help others to be.
The showman is never
secretly respected by anyone.
People like these, say the Wise Ones
are as useless as the left-over food at a feast:
No true follower can relate to them.
Tao Te Ching #24
@Honzo
What do you think?
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 2:27 utc | 86
Re: corrupt clergy
Certainly we can all agree that selling and dispensing indulgences for money or to the elite is what makes organized religion poisonous. This phenomenon can be present in any religion or central political party.
There does exist the need in organized religion to lift up the intellectually impoverished (the superstitious), the "little-ones" Jesus mentions who, for those who would take advantage of them would be better if a millstone was hung around their neck and pushed overboard a sea vessel.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 28 2024 2:29 utc | 87
I believe LoveDonbass was trying to save us from "dad jokes" in attempted self-defense, juliana, so please don't attack him for this before the MoA Politburo has congregated. They will have the last word on this.
Posted by: persiflo | Jun 27 2024 18:53 utc | 30
=============
I thought LoveDonbass was making a joke---even though I don't get what "Dad Joke" refers to . . .
Does the Politburo allow jokes about concern trolls?
Posted by: Jane | Jun 28 2024 2:33 utc | 88
@ ... the principle of 'wu-wei', or effective inactivity ...
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2024 22:12 utc | 63
Kwok et al translate 'wu-wei' as 'active nothingness'
And yes, water is central such as in the final lines of #38 ...
"Blow away the dust now:
Come to the living water."
[but one needs to know the underlying story ... got your interest now (-;
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 2:39 utc | 89
Back to The Debate ...
Poor President not only looked dreadful - his performance was dreadful ...
.. he is Toast. Period.
Trump lied, and lied, and lied to the Nth degree ....
CNN panel [all 9] in unison ...
Obama will be paying a visit to the White House .... so who will step in????
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 2:49 utc | 90
Trump lied and lied?
I'm always amazed how ppl on this board, who have a generally clear-eyed view of world events, still somehow believe every bs claim out of the mainstream media abt Trump
Posted by: Ezzie | Jun 28 2024 2:55 utc | 91
@ Ezzie | Jun 28 2024 2:55 utc | 91 who seems to be a red team supporter.
Some of us MoA barflies with a generally clear-eyed view of world events see both the red and blue US political teams as parts of the God Of Mammon cult team.
I tried to watch a bit of the Biden/Trump show but had to turn it off. Ezzie and others don't seem to understand that the empire of lies has room for a whole Hollywood world of lies that bear little connection with reality in the rest of the world. The shit show of empire is losing control of the global narrative and event escalation in both Ukraine and Occupied Palestine......empire is going to be handed its ass in both theaters before the November (s)election and was that discussed in the "debate"?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 28 2024 3:11 utc | 92
@Ezzie | Jun 28 2024 2:55 utc | 91
I watched the debate. Did you?
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 3:21 utc | 93
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 28 2024 3:11 utc | 92
+1
I couldn't care less about that trainwreck of a "debate" between two competing Empire figureheads. Maybe if they asked about important things like what you mentioned it would have been at least checking out. But one need not have watched it to know that Trump, Biden and the moderator all lied more than they told the truth. It's a prerequisite for participation in the kabuki theater of American Empire Politics TM.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 28 2024 3:23 utc | 94
What do you think?
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 28 2024 2:27 utc | 86
It underscores my point- translating Chinese words into English is challenging, translating Chinese ideas into western terms is orders of magnitude more difficult. Perhaps the best understanding of the Tao Te Ching is to be had by reading as many translations as possible side-by-side, while drunk. I think you end up with the Chuang Tzu that way, so I consider it an approved methodology.
Posted by: Honzo | Jun 28 2024 3:23 utc | 95
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 28 2024 2:09 utc | 82
Do you get your understanding of Ukraine from 'ex-pats' living in the west?
Posted by: Honzo | Jun 28 2024 3:25 utc | 96
I was a "Russian bot" in 2016, knowingly spred "fake news" against Hillary, was active during #FreeAssange after Seth Rich murder, watched the whole J6 event until the CIA shut down every cell tower in D.C. so yes, I know a thing or two abt the empire of lies.
Yet somehow when it comes to Trump, Psychohistorian clear eye seems to become not so clear I see.
Thank you for proving my point
Posted by: Ezzie | Jun 28 2024 3:31 utc | 97
Btw - my original cement was not on the debate, but the fact that Don wanted to claim that a CNN panel was somehow the arbiter of all truth
Posted by: Ezzie | Jun 28 2024 3:35 utc | 98
The comments to this entry are closed.
Bolivia coup failed. Apparently irate civilians found out & surrounded the rebels. The coup leader is now in jail.
Posted by: Mary | Jun 27 2024 13:25 utc | 1