News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …
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March 5, 2025
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-044
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Posted by UW Dude/March 8 2025 2:27/utc/198
What goes around comes around. Perfect timing China. Now Canada’s servile and idiotic US-collaborator class wants us all to believe they ‘fight for Canada’. Yeah, right. Here’s ‘a wack’ indeed.
Marsden: A Top Canadian Politician Wants European Nukes
https://www.rt.com/news/613875-canada-eu-nukes-trump/
“…This isn’t an isolated incident, but an illustrative one. Canada’s ruling class has spent decades prioritizing Washington’s policy directives over the interests of actual Canadians, while Mexico, America’s other neighbor – has managed to maintain a strategic independence that Ottawa wouldn’t dream of.
When Washington says ‘Go train fighters in Ukraine!’ Canada asks, ‘How many Nazi tattoos should we ignore?’ as the Ottawa Citizen reported on Canadian forces cozying up to far right Ukrainian battalions.
Regime change in Libya, Syria, Venezuela? Canada’s there cheerleading like it’s a football game – with Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin as its major sponsors.
Trump didn’t need to ‘invade’ Canada. All he has to do is squeeze its economy, leveraging the country’s massive over-dependence on the US market – something no amount of nuclear saber-rattling can fix.
That’s the real national security threat to Canada, and it was manufactured by the very same Canadian elites now panicking over Washington doing what they’ve always done: Looking out for number one…
As former finance and foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland spent nearly a decade turning Canada’s ‘sovereignty’ into a polite fiction, tethering the country’s economic and political future so tightly to Washington…”
brava.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 8 2025 5:00 utc | 201
Brilliant analysis by Alex Krainer reflecting on the incentives, the moving principles, animating the wars, aggression, and conquests of the western liberal system which has at its heart a financial system, a banking system, that is a ponzi scheme which has to endlessly expand, gaining evermore collateral, to survive; and lots more from these two big-hearted intellectuals. Alex warns that historically immiseration has been a seedbed for nazism.
Glenn Diesen and Alex Krainer on “Economic Collapse and the End of Europe”
March 6, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPYoT24B2uc
Posted by: suzan | Mar 8 2025 5:07 utc | 202
10 year treasury ended the week up up upat 4.30%
A wild ride upwards starting from a low of 4.10 on Monday.
Posted by: Exile | Mar 8 2025 5:15 utc | 203
Sign of the times, Canucklheads…
Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s Oldest Retail Chain Nears Bankruptcy
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hudsons-bay-canadas-oldest-retail-chain-nears-bankruptcy/
“Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian department store chain founded in 1670, is preparing for a bankruptcy filing within days, people familiar with the matter said…”
Made the best blankets for spreading smallpox it is said. With a Royal Charter too. Rupertsland. Maybe King Chuck will speak up to save it though he wouldn’t to save Canada from Yanqui annexation. ‘Doesn’t get involved’. Just cashes big cheques now and makes plans for the annexationist’s impending visit amid Sir Keir’s increasingly reckless and desperate steering of the UK clown-car towards the Ukrainian steppe.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 8 2025 5:46 utc | 204
Dont forget Trump 1.0 ‘s brutal, multi pronged trade blitzkrieg !
Tariff war to break China’s supply chain
Bird flu H5N1, H7N9 wiped out chicken stock, China forced to purchase poultry products from US
African swine flu devastated pigs supply, China forced to purchase pork from USA
Army worm [native North America] destroyed food crops, China forced to purchase US agri products
2020
The Big One
China hit by the gawd damned SARS2 !
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 6:25 utc | 205
Saturday morning entertainment.
In an extraordinary confrontation on Thursday, which took place in front of the president, two members of Mr Trump’s administration clashed with the world’s richest man over Doge lay-offs.
Sean Duffy, the department of transport secretary, was enraged by Mr Musk’s attempts to cull air traffic controllers despite the national shortage.
He accused Mr Musk, the government efficiency tsar, of firing personnel that should not have been laid off, which Mr Musk denied.
Mr Duffy is understood to have slid a spreadsheet across a desk in front of the president, to allege Mr Musk was not telling the truth about the scale of his cutbacks, The Telegraph understands.
The exchange ended with the president ordering Mr Duffy to hire staff from MIT as air traffic controllers because the role requires “geniuses”, The New York Times reported.
While the president watched on, Doug Collins, the secretary of veterans affairs, pointedly claimed operations were being cancelled in Veteran Affairs hospitals because of Musk’s Doge cuts.
When Mr Musk denied this, Mr Collins demanded that Doge should be strategic about their cuts and not wield a blunt instrument to cleave off staff in his department, to which the president agreed.
“Trump called the meeting and then he backed his cabinet guys. Collins and Duffy called him (Musk) a liar to his face, in front of the president.”
excerpted from ==> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/03/07/trump-cabinet-confronted-elon-musk-white-house-showdown/
While Musk holds a grenade under Wall Street with his comically overvalued companies.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 8 2025 8:48 utc | 206
Posted by: too scents | Mar 8 2025 8:48 utc | 205
sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me.
like suckers and losers and shithole countries and the thousands of other gossip and rumors.
especially from a Brit rag.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 8 2025 9:42 utc | 207
Government hiding foreclosures. Over 1,000,000 loans in default. ==> https://youtu.be/iKdtyDnGM-o
Posted by: too scents | Mar 8 2025 12:22 utc | 208
Beware of pale faced bearing gift, period !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiyogLpRzXQ
A Frenchie, Adrian Genz, gringo joint production
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 13:20 utc | 209
No they can’t allow the public to choose – if they want more public cash spent on weapons – for the public would probably say no – they’d say, spend the money on schools, housing or hospitals or infrastructure – but then the MIC’s wouldn’t get the money – and the corrupt politicians wouldn’t get their kick-backs from the MIC’s – so the public will never get to vote – on whether or not a country should waste billions of taxpayers cash on weapons.
We’re all being robbed of public services – to keep corrupt politicians and MIC bosses in jobs – with the latter giving the former backhander in cash, to call for more needless weapons.
“French Prime Minister Franсois Bayrou has rejected the idea of consulting the public on critical defense decisions, asserting that such matters fall under government responsibility.
In an interview on CNews and Europe 1, journalist Sonia Mabrouk asked Bayrou whether the French people should have a say in major defense policies, including the financial burden of increased military spending and the shift towards a “war economy.”
“Maybe it’s time to consult the French? It’s really the right of the people to dispose of themselves,” she suggested.
Bayrou dismissed the idea. “Yes, what you suggest is the right of the people not to dispose of themselves, or to no longer dispose of themselves, to give up on their freedom,” he responded. He argued that allowing public votes on defense matters would be akin to France abandoning its responsibility to protect itself.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 14:47 utc | 210
The Chinese authorities should tell the judge where to shove his lawsuit – the US has caused murder and mayhem, across the globe for decades – the US owes a Graham’s Number worth in cash – to a plethora of nations around the world – a debt it can never repay.
A US federal judge has ordered China to pay $24 billion in damages to the state of Missouri over allegations that Beijing misled the world about the Covid-19 outbreak and hoarded protective equipment during the early months of the pandemic.
The lawsuit was initially filed by Missouri’s attorney general in April 2020 during the early months of the pandemic. The state accused China of endangering residents by concealing information about the spread of the virus, which it argued delayed response efforts. The lawsuit also claimed that China deliberately limited exports of protective equipment, causing price hikes and shortages. Covid-19 was the third-leading cause of death in Missouri in 2020 and 2021, the state’s lawyers said, blaming Beijing’s actions for exacerbating the crisis.
The case was dismissed in 2022 under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which limits US courts’ ability to hold foreign governments accountable for non-commercial actions. However, an appeals court later allowed it to proceed on the narrower claim of supply hoarding.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 14:51 utc | 211
The Poles want to have a Half-Million-Man army – and it will be at the expense of citizens – no doubt public services will be slashed, to line the pockets of the MIC and corrupt politicians – who will receive kick-backs from the contracts.
“Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has unveiled plans to more than double the size of the country’s military to 500,000. Speaking in the Polish Parliament on Friday, Tusk said Poland must be prepared for future conflicts and strengthen its defenses.
Tusk reiterated his earlier claims that Russia poses a threat to Europe, saying Moscow could launch a “full-scale operation” against a “larger” target than Ukraine within three to four years – which Russia has repeatedly dismissed as unfounded. He argued that Poland must serve as a “bastion” to protect NATO’s eastern flank and should expand its military capabilities.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:15 utc | 212
Amazon – now owns James Bond, instead of Ah, Miss Moneypenny, it will be Ah, Miss Shekels.
“Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has taken full creative control of the James Bond franchise after longtime producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly called his executives “f**king idiots,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote on Friday.
According to insiders, Bezos reacted immediately, ordering her removal at any cost, which ultimately led to a $1 billion deal. As a result, Amazon now holds full control over the future of James Bond.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, gaining distribution rights to the films, but creative control remained with Eon Productions under Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. The duo resisted Amazon’s proposed spin-offs, including a Moneypenny series and a female-led 007 project, preferring to maintain James Bond’s traditional narrative.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:18 utc | 213
@Peter AU1 – I’m sorry for having to tell you, mate, but you are dead. D-E-A-D. You can’t post here.
Posted by: persiflo | Mar 8 2025 15:19 utc | 214
Is anyone really surprised by this? – I mean the German authorities are currently aiding and abetting in genocide – whilst backing a Neo-Nazi dictator in Ukraine – so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“A German regional lawmaker has said he is “not surprised” by allegations that the state of Bavaria may have concealed Nazi-looted art from the rightful heirs of the works, accusing the German government of a longstanding pattern of withholding compensation for historical injustices.
Martin Dolzer, an independent MP in the Hamburg parliament, addressed a report by the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper last month claiming that the Bavarian State Painting Collections contained at least 200 artworks of dubious origin.
The works of art – including paintings by Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso – were classified as “red” — meaning they were plundered by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s from Jewish owners and other victims of persecution, the report said, adding that this information had been withheld from the public, preventing potential restitution.
“Unfortunately, I’m not very surprised by that. And I think it’s a fact. The German government and the federal state governments always denied they have the common practice if it comes to money. Whenever it comes to compensation payments, the German authorities refused to make these payments.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:22 utc | 215
@ROS
It is all a protection racket.
Historically though, preludes to war are often found represented by military build ups in the respective countries, usually over the space of a few years before a conflict actually starts.
All these moves, increasing troop size, shifts in state of readiness, are taken very seriously by the countries that those preparations are seen to target.
France is going on a police state already, so no surprise at lack of public consultation. In fact I would be surprised if any country in EU looks for a public mandate on increased military spending.
Posted by: Ornot | Mar 8 2025 15:26 utc | 216
The grand-daughter of a known Nazi – she’s also a diehard supporter of the Neo-Nazi dictator in Ukraine, wants French or “British” nukes to protect Canada from the US and Trump. The Brits can’t fire any nukes without the Yankees permission – and Le Petit (Macron) wouldn’t dare, to really upset Trump.
“Now, in a Canadian Liberal Party leadership debate to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – a contest in which she’s trailing behind the globalist banker extraordinaire Mark Carney – Chrystia Freeland, a former finance minister, foreign minister, and deputy prime minister, declared that she wants to “guarantee our security” (Canada’s, that is) by making “sure that France and Britain were there, who possess nuclear weapons.” Because, apparently, the US is now “clearly threatening our sovereignty.”
And what triggered this sudden existential crisis? Trump referring to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau,” a nickname the prime minister totally loves and definitely doesn’t find infuriating at all, which is why Trump keeps repeating it? Oh, and the fact that Trump keeps talking about making Canada the “51st state” of the US, ogling its natural assets like he wants to put it next to Greenland in his geopolitical trophy cabinet.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:31 utc | 217
The Orange Yankee Zionist POTUS, Trump, won’t be happy at this – but then again, Modi is a seasoned sly old fox – who knows how to play both sides – when the EU was destroying itself by sanctioning Russian oil and gas, Modi was buying huge quantities of it – and then selling it on to Europe at a higher cost.
“New Delhi signed a $248 million contract on Friday with Rosoboronexport, the Russian state agency for defense exports, to procure engines for the Indian Army’s T-72 tanks. The deal includes technology transfer to support local production under New Delhi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, which aims to increase self-reliance on domestic defense manufacturing.
The agreement includes the procurement of 1,000 horsepower engines for T-72 tanks, the Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement. It noted that the deal includes transfer of technology from Rosoboronexport to India’s Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited in Avadi, Chennai, which aims to facilitate the integration and licensed production of the engines domestically, in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The T-72 has long been the mainstay of the Indian Army’s armored fleet, currently equipped with 780 HP engines. Upgrading the tanks with 1,000 HP engines is expected to enhance their battlefield mobility and offensive capabilities, providing a boost to the army’s operational effectiveness.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:48 utc | 218
Along with much of the EU, UK, the US and Canada – and Israel, the Ukrainians love their Nazi’s.
“Ukrainian nationalists gathered this week to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the death of Roman Shukhevich, a Nazi collaborator and leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), known for its role in ethnic cleansing during World War II. The events included a torchlit march, a flower-laying ceremony, and the unveiling of a virtual museum dedicated to him.
One of the events included a ceremony on Wednesday near the site of the Museum of Shukhevich in Bilohorshcha outside of Lviv, which was allegedly destroyed by a Russian drone strike last year. It was attended by the acting head of the Lviv Regional Council, regional deputies, veterans, and nationalist organizations, according to local officials.
The Lviv Regional Council also said priests conducted a memorial service commemorating Roman Shukhevich and his followers. A video of the ceremony shared by Suspilne shows a crowd singing the Ukrainian national anthem, with people laying yellow and blue bouquets after the Ukrainian flag.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:52 utc | 219
Here the UN’s SG – shakes hands with the leader of the proscribed terrorist group (HTS) – who has declared himself the leader of Syria – bear in mind that (HTS) has said they’ll be no elections in Syria for at least four years, if at all – meanwhile, (HTS) hunts down and murders as many pro-Assad/ anti-Israeli/Zionist civilians in Syria as possible.
The UN – is a Western tool used to further Western hegemony
https://nitter.poast.org/DD_Geopolitics/status/1898141397448110517#m
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 18:09 utc | 220
As the Western adored proscribed terrorist outfit in Syria (HTS) – butchers its way across Syria, those in its crosshairs (and there are many) – head to the Russian airbase in Syria’s Jableh region, seeking sanctuary.
https://nitter.poast.org/MaxBlumenthal/status/1898126832173502689#m
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 18:18 utc | 221
The Orange Yankee Zionist POTUS, Trump, won’t be happy at this – but then again, Modi is a seasoned sly old fox – who knows how to play both sides – when the EU was destroying itself by sanctioning Russian oil and gas, Modi was buying huge quantities of it – and then selling it on to Europe at a higher cost.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 8 2025 15:48 utc | 218
And apparently they’re going to build su-57 under license
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russian-ambassador-details-terms-su57-deal-considered-india
They could pay by sending half the production to RF… and adding an horde of indians to the Nkorean hordes 😀
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 8 2025 18:25 utc | 222
Army worm [native North America] destroyed food crops, China forced to purchase US agri products
2020
The Big One
China hit by the gawd damned SARS2 !
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 6:25 utc | 205
—————-
Destroying food chain, where did I hear that one before ?
One of the questions I’ve asked both in the west and in Iraq is why are they targeting sheep, and I really can’t come to a conclusion. It seems so irrational, but I wonder, is it just target practice, or is it their intention is to destroy the food chain? For these pastoral people, the sheep, the barley and the wheat they produce are everything. It’s so basic and nothing is wasted. They use the meat and they sell the excess. They use the leather. They use the wool. Every single bit of it is utilised. They boil down the bones for soup, for gelatine and for preserving. This is all they have.
After the Gulf War even the date crop went wrong. Dates are just dates. They sit on top of a palm tree and just grow. You don’t spray them with anything or fertilise them. But there was no date crop for five years. The date harvest in Iraq is a big thing. They have nearly 600 different kinds of dates and they were the world’s biggest exporter. But they killed the date crop.
Since then there has been the screwworm epidemic, foot and mouth disease, which are both non-endemic to that country. There are now reports of locusts—also non-endemic. It’s difficult to know what is going on, but what is certain is that there are diseases happening right across agriculture affecting flora and fauna, in Iraq that have never been seen before.
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 18:32 utc | 223
By last count, India has crashed at least 1600 jet fighters since 1947
Including MIG21, MIG29, SU30 SU30K
JAGUAR, MIRAGE2000, RAFALE, teja ….
Due to indequate training, poor maintenance, shoddy manufacturing.
Thats all folks !
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 19:21 utc | 224
One more for the road…
Trump officials are now looking at ways for allied countries to stop and inspect ships sailing through critical chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait in Asia and other sea lanes, according to six sources who asked not to be named due to the sensitive subject.
Return of the barbarians !
Posted by: denk | Mar 8 2025 19:44 utc | 225
From an email from the “Lincoln Project”:
Did you happen to see Trump’s weird AI Gaza Strip commercial with golden Trump statues and Elon sitting on the beach sipping a piña colada?
Well, we decided that we wanted to join in on the fun with an AI commercial of our own.
And like most of our ads, it’s working.
This is running at the White House right now.
Seriously, we geofenced the White House to make sure every last member of Trump world sees their dear leader on a romantic getaway with Vladdy Putin every time they go online.
Trump must be fuming. Heck, it could be part of the reason he said this:
This is what we do. We get under his skin, and that’s when he starts screwing everything up. Fair to say we’re off to a hot start this time around.
A very nicely made video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlwPOrccww
The email also refered to this article: “Trump says he is weighing big sanctions, tariffs on Russia to end Ukraine war”
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-he-is-considering-putting-banking-sanctions-tariffs-russia-2025-03-07
Such statement won’t help to improve the circumstances for the negotiations between Russia and the US. Is some one deliberately trying to sabotage those negotiations ? And who ?
Posted by: WMG | Mar 8 2025 20:06 utc | 226
Russia claimed to be fabbing their own SPARC CPUs that they used in late model S-300PMU2/S-400 systems but that is 1990s tech in the 2020’s.
AFAIK they have no modern semiconductor industry of the ilk of Asian or US or EU industry.
Likely all Russian weapons use commodity Western COTS products being fraudulently claimed as Russian to claim tax breaks on import substitution. The Putin regime set up a scheme about a decade and a half ago to incentivise domestic production.
Before Crimea’s take over, they would sub a lot of it out to Ukrainian industry who furnished fake Russian paperwork, but this was for parts other than semiconductors.
Punchline is that mostly they seem to be doing system integration and PCB level design using imported semiconductors. And with IR gear importing whole assemblies.
No evidence of a VOx uncooled thermal imager industry like that in the US and Asia. China bulk produces this tech for COTS applications like security cameras and hunting gunsights.
Like everything else in Russia, big chunks of their industrial base appear to be fake, using COTS imports from China and the West.
Posted by: Trent Telenko | Mar 8 2025 23:28 utc | 227
“Trump and Musk on the run”(???????)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E7bghUGeWKQ
Posted by: WMG | Mar 8 2025 23:38 utc | 228
“Israel’s Dangerous Position: A regional crisis looms”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/be8xPcEaf6E (1 minute)
Source: “Dialogues Works”. ( https://www.youtube.com/@dialogueworks01 )
Posted by: WMG | Mar 8 2025 23:43 utc | 229
Like everything else in Russia, big chunks of their industrial base appear to be fake, using COTS imports from China and the West.
Posted by: Trent Telenko | Mar 8 2025 23:28 utc | 227
_____
and yet…Russia is winning. A fact particularly galling to people whose names end in -enko.
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 9 2025 0:20 utc | 230
@ Noise | Mar 8 2025 23:45 utc | 230
Can’t say your username isn’t appropriate.
Cope harder!
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 9 2025 0:21 utc | 231
Posted by: Noise | Mar 8 2025 23:45 utc | 230
##############
That’s funny because I have seen a lot of footage of massive amounts of armor being moved to the front by train for months now.
Talk to your handler and get a better script next time.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 9 2025 0:31 utc | 232
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 9 2025 0:20 utc | 231
############
I love that cope.
“Waah Waah Waah! Russia is winning but they are cheating!!!”
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 9 2025 0:36 utc | 233
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 9 2025 0:20 utc | 231
i dont even know why it matters, when clearly Russia has the edge in washing machine technology and shovelhead metallurgy.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 9 2025 0:42 utc | 234
https://x.com/daily_romania/status/1895891169407877562
Look what’s happening in Romania
Posted by: osi not ossi | Mar 9 2025 1:01 utc | 235
In another thread, juliania invoked a wonderful old saw:
Not everything that counts can be counted.
Not everything that can be counted counts.
… often apocryphally attributed to Uncle Albert. But I’ve read some of his philosophical musings. The dude was a subtle thinker, who could have said such a thing about the relationship of quantification to epistemology.
It brings to mind Walter Kaufmann’s most respectful attitude toward Goethe’s contribution to German philosophy — contrary to the disastrous work of his contemporary Kant (from his magisterial Discovering the Mind):
Goethe’s greatest contribution to the discovery of the mind was that, more than anyone else, he showed how the mind can be understood only in terms of development. In Kant’s conception of the mind, as we shall see, development has no place. He claimed to describe the human mind as it always is, has been, and will be. There is no inkling that it might change in the course of history, not to speak of biological evolution in the course of a person’s life
It’s undoubtedly true that, in many cases, the mind is entirely static — forever impossible to change until the putrefaction of biological recycling sets in. We see lots of examples of that around here.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 9 2025 1:04 utc | 236
A new Russian voice is presented at the Gym, “Vasily Kashin: What Kind of Empire is Trump Building, and What Will Be Its Relations with Russia and China”, which reads very differently from RT’s mangled edited version.
From Sensei George Carlin:
I don’t have to tell you some things are better left unsaid. It goes without saying. The less said about it, the better.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 9 2025 2:12 utc | 239
Fukuoka to Shelter 47,000 Okinawa Residents if Taiwan Conflict Erupts
FUKUOKA, Feb 18 (News On Japan) – Fukuoka Prefecture announced on Monday a plan to accommodate evacuees from Okinawa in the event of a Taiwan-related contingency
Fukuoka to Shelter 47,000 Okinawa Residents if when Taiwan Conflict Erupts ?
Posted by: denk | Mar 9 2025 3:01 utc | 240
U.S. Marine Corps Major General Participating In Taiwan’s …
Naval News
https://www.navalnews.com › naval-news › 2025/02
23 Feb 2025 — U.S. Marine Corps Major General who led escalation management talks with China participates in Taiwan’s largest military exercise to date.
Manage escalation by stoking TW independence !
These guys manage such oxymoron with straight face mind you !
Posted by: denk | Mar 9 2025 3:47 utc | 241
🇺🇸 On March 4, the United States launched the 240-ton, 54.8-meter-long unmanned surface vessel (USV) USX-1 Defiant, which is part of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) NOMARS project aimed at creating a stealthy unmanned fleet. It is assumed that the UAV will be equipped with missile weapons, radar, reconnaissance and jamming (EW) systems. The US ally in Asia, South Korea 🇰🇷 presented two prototypes of combat UAVs Batch-I and Batch-II (100 and 200 tons, respectively), equipped with a 20-mm automatic cannon and 130-mm C-Star missiles. It is significant that the second version will be equipped with an installation for launching a “swarm of drones”.
https://x.com/dana916/status/1898403374367703235
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 9 2025 4:24 utc | 242
I think one of Trump’s not so hidden agenda items is to tank the US/world economy ASAP so he has as long as possible to make changes in his 4 years and counting down.
I went to my weekly county courthouse stand for Palestine rally of normally 20 folks and today, both sides of the street were covered with women supporters mixed with anti-Trump/Musk and Ukraine supporter folks…quite a zoo….maybe 200+
I talked to a couple of the regular Palestine flag wavers like me and they were depressed that so many have such energy that is so easily directed but not necessarily grounded in larger reality. I am one of the barflies that writes about how women have not had agency in our world for 2K+ years and it shows in our unbridled aggression which would not be so manifest if women balanced male energy in our form of social organization.
I keep saying that 150+ million Americans voted for genocide supporting candidates and many were out today feeling righteous and I see them as zombies, sadly…..I sure hope it stops soon and not too many more hurt/killed.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2025 4:25 utc | 243
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2025 4:25 utc | 244
who has agency in the world is less about genitals and more about who wears the pants.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 9 2025 4:48 utc | 244
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2025 4:25 utc | 244
###############
Women in Islam have had agency for 1400+ years now. The Prophet’s wife (SAW) was his boss and a wealthy woman who proposed to him at a time when women were not so forward.
Women did not have to take their husband’s name, they could have their own money, and they were encouraged to educate themselves.
Also, women could pursue divorce if they felt the marriage was not meeting their needs. No woman was to be forced to be married, she had to consent.
When the Prophet (SAW) went to Medina, he had multiple wives, and they started to bicker with him and backbite (gossip maliciously). He told them, if any of you wishes to divorce me, I will not oppose it, and you can all keep your dowries. It’s not often done but there is a precedent of essentially friendly “no fault divorce” in Islam due to the example of the Prophet.
It was never perfect in practice (cultures always subvert the tenets of most religions over time) but the laws and ideals were laid down a long time ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chinese culture also has more rights for women (I think they had one small cultural group that was very sexually liberated) that had not yet appeared in the West, where, until only the last 2 centuries, Western women were unable to own property and had to take their husband’s name.
The whole point of hijab (which is for men and women, obviously differently), is modesty and to keep women safe in public. Many Western sisters try on hijab in public for fun and love it, because they know that people cannot ogle them and the fact their hair is covered automatically conveys deference as many people would for a Nun in full get-up. They claim to feel safer. As a man, I cannot identify with their experiences at all.
My point isn’t about Islam. It’s that different cultures have approached many situations differently than they are done in the West. Maybe better, maybe worse, but differently.
I encourage anyone who has not traveled to get out there and, finances permitting, see the world. Again, maybe it is better, maybe it is worse. It is certainly different culture to culture and region to region. It’s only in the modern West where conformity is so emphasized, while also preaching diversity, where in practice we’re all expected to have the same values and opinions.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 9 2025 5:48 utc | 245
From Xinhuanet
China, Iran and Russia to conduct joint naval exercise in March
Quote
BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) — The Chinese, Iranian and Russian navies will conduct a joint exercise in March, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced on Sunday.
The exercise, codenamed “Security Belt-2025,” is set to take place in areas near the Iranian port of Chabahar, the ministry said. The Chinese fleet includes a destroyer and a supply ship.
The exercise plan includes drills on striking maritime targets, damage control, as well as joint search and rescue. The aim is to strengthen military mutual trust and foster pragmatic cooperation among the naval forces of the participating countries, the ministry added.
HELLO!!!
Are any in the West paying attention?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2025 5:54 utc | 246
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 9 2025 1:04 utc | 237
How happy I am, Aleph_Null, to have occasioned your posting on Kaufmann’s description of Goethe’s philosophy of the mind. I’ll go back further, to the earliest readings in texts compiled under the title “Philokalia”, having been written before the 9th century. Here is how intellect, (nous) is distinguished from mind, (or reason) as described in that first volume’s glossary:
INTELLECT: the highest faculty in man, through which – provided it is purified – he knows God or the inner essences or principles of created things by means of direct apprehension or spiritual perception. Unlike the dianoia or reason, from which it must be carefully distinguished, the intellect does not function by formulating abstract concepts and then arguing on this basis to a conclusion reached by deductive reasoning, but it understands divine truth by means of immediate experience, intuition, or ‘simple cognition’ … the intellect is the organ of contemplation … the ‘eye of the heart’.
Posted by: juliania | Mar 9 2025 5:57 utc | 247
Massacres in Syria
On an insane scale. Mass executions of innocents. Monstrosities.
I hope this doesn’t get unpunished
Posted by: Animal | Mar 9 2025 8:26 utc | 248
Both Goethe’s naturalistic take and Kant’s prerequisites of possibilities approach may have their merits. Kant was a university Professor, beloved by his students, and particularly popular were his lectures on geography. Mind you, the guy has never ventured far beyond the city walls of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). There’s a quip about his style of thought, which sees him inspired by the Prussian Verwaltungsrecht (administrative law); it’s both a little malignant and true.
Posted by: persiflo | Mar 9 2025 11:41 utc | 249
The exercise, codenamed “Security Belt-2025,” is set to take place in areas near the Iranian port of Chabahar, the ministry said. The Chinese fleet includes a destroyer and a supply ship.
HELLO!!!
Are any in the West paying attention?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2025 5:54 utc | 247
So persian/oman gulf
With the houtis on the other side could be fun
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 9 2025 11:52 utc | 250
Russia can’t even make reasonable quantities of high quality ball and roller bearings.
Posted by: Noise | Mar 8 2025 23:45 utc | 230
WWII neither UK nor germany could, the swedes made most of them if memory serves me right (and the brits got them by mosquito flights)
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 9 2025 11:54 utc | 251
@ juliania | Mar 9 2025 5:57 utc | 248
Nice to hear from you. The author of the ancient passage you share has been left ambiguous, but that’s okay. Whether it’s dear old Eriugena’s Periphyseon or nasty old Heidegger’s Being and Time, we’re always obligated to approach such arrangements of abstract nouns as approximations — at best — to anything resembling wisdom. Large-hearted lovers of wisdom, sometimes called philosophers, retain appropriate humility in the face of the ultimately incomprehensible vastness of reality.
This is why it’s credible to me that Einstein could have commented on quantification that way. For Uncle Albert, relativity was never imagined or distributed as a totally precise description of astrophysical reality. It’s only a much closer approximation than the Newtonian mechanics which preceded it, because approximation is the best we can do.
Goethe is another prior source for your quantification maxim. This is Mephistopheles (of Faust) speaking to the Chancellor:
What you can’t calculate, you think, cannot be true;
What you can’t weigh, that has no weight for you.
Haters of poetry — or of Germany — are due my most sincere apologies for quoting (in translation) from the greatest German poet.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 9 2025 15:21 utc | 252
Typo. I meant to offer my most insincere apologies. Heavy-handed irony, falling like a lead balloon.
Walter Kaufmann, as a recent discovery for me, has been exhilarating because he’s finally clearing up something I’ve wondered about for forty years: How come I can’t make any sense of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason no matter how many times I try? An academic friend of mine (more or less in the philosophy biz) told me I need to learn German in order to read Kant. But Kaufmann shows that Kant’s prose is even worse in German. How could such an incomprehensible, poorly-written mess ever come to be regarded as the foundation of modern philosophy?
The answer, according to Kaufmann, is that Kant set a disastrous standard of deliberate obscurity in philosophical writing. The obscurity is to enforce obscurantism; to evoke an impression of scientific rigor, where none exists; essentially to mislead and confuse readers. Philosophical thinkers have wrestled with clarity ever since. Should anyone think out loud comprehensibly, they’re not considered serious philosophers. That’s the case with Neitzsche, whose prose is much too clear to be taken seriously:
Small single questions and experiments have been considered contemptible; one desired a shortcut; one believed that because everything in the world seemed to be designed with a view to mankind, the knowability of things must also be designed for a human span of time. To solve everything with one blow, with one word — that was the secret wish… The boundless ambition and triumph to be the “unriddler of the world” constituted the dreams of the thinker… Thus philosophy was a kind of supreme wrestling for the tyrannical dominion of the spirit. That this had been reserved for some very fortunate, subtle, inventive, and powerful thinker — for just one! — nobody doubted, and several fancied, in the end still Schopenhauer, that they were the lucky one.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 9 2025 16:02 utc | 253
I shall regard Aleph Null’s comment above as never having been written, as he surely himself wishes.
Posted by: persiflo | Mar 9 2025 16:59 utc | 254
If there’s a revolution now in Romania, it can easily spread throughout Europe. 1848 and 1989 all over again.
Posted by: Lysias | Mar 9 2025 21:44 utc | 255
With the autopen news, what actions of the Biden administration could now be nullified?
Posted by: Lysias | Mar 9 2025 21:45 utc | 256
First, the economic environment in 2025 is far less favorable than it was two years ago (2023) or in pre-war years like 2022, when surpluses were more feasible. Back in 2022, Russia posted a surplus of 1.4 trillion rubles (0.8% of GDP), buoyed by high oil prices (averaging $76/barrel for Urals crude) and a lag in sanctions’ full impact. In contrast, 2025 projections assume a more modest $60/barrel, and sanctions have since tightened, capping Russia’s ability to fetch premium prices. Even with redirected exports to China and India, oil and gas revenues—historically 40-50% of the budget—dropped 24% in 2024 to 8.8 trillion rubles, and 2025 forecasts don’t suggest a dramatic rebound. This undermines the revenue catch-up needed for a surplus.Second, spending pressures are structurally higher and less flexible than in previous cycles. Defense spending alone is budgeted at 13.5 trillion rubles (6.3% of GDP) in 2025, up from 10.8 trillion in 2024, driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine. This isn’t just a seasonal spike—it’s a sustained commitment, with costs for munitions, troop payments, and equipment unlikely to taper off mid-year. Add to that social spending (e.g., pensions, subsidies) to maintain domestic stability amid 15% inflation and a weakening ruble (projected at 100-110 to the dollar), and the back-end savings you’d need for a surplus look improbable. In 2023, spending hit 32.6 trillion rubles against revenues of 29.3 trillion, leaving a deficit despite late-year revenue gains. 2025’s budgeted 41.5 trillion rubles in spending suggests an even steeper hill to climb.Third, the counterargument would challenge the idea that early-year deficits are just a timing quirk. While it’s true that government contracts often inflate Q1 spending—January 2025’s 4.4 trillion rubles outlay is a case in point—the revenue side isn’t guaranteed to rebound as it once did. Non-oil revenues (e.g., VAT, corporate taxes) grew 26.6% in 2024, but that’s partly from one-off windfall taxes and a weaker ruble boosting export profits. In 2025, with GDP growth slowing to 1-2% (per IMF estimates) and Western firms largely exited, this growth may plateau. Meanwhile, the National Wealth Fund, used to plug deficits, has shrunk from $186 billion pre-war to $120 billion by late 2024, limiting the buffer for overspending.Finally, global uncertainties—like potential OPEC+ production shifts or a sharper-than-expected drop in Chinese demand—could cap oil prices below the $60/barrel baseline, eroding the late-year revenue surge you’re banking on. In 2023, Russia narrowed its deficit but didn’t erase it (ending at 3.3 trillion rubles), and 2024’s preliminary data points to a 2-3% GDP deficit. With 2025’s official forecast at 1.2 trillion rubles (0.5% of GDP), a surplus would require either slashing expenditures mid-year (politically risky) or a windfall that current trends don’t support.
Posted by: Asleep Writer | Mar 11 2025 16:03 utc | 257