News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …
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March 20, 2025
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-056
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Posted by: too scents | Mar 23 2025 6:19 utc | 300
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According to Trump, all of that technology was stolen under Obama. 😂😂😂
Americans invented everything. LOL
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 23 2025 6:33 utc | 301
Americans invented everything. LOL
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 23 2025 6:33 utc | 301
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Prometheus weeps.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 23 2025 6:40 utc | 302
Re: Chinese Wages
20 years ago, I worked for a manufacturing company with a factory in Ohio and a factory outside of Shanghai. shop floor total hourly costs at the Shanghai factory were slightly higher than in Ohio. Note, these are total costs including all benefits and various Gov’t obligations.
Perhaps outside of Shanghai were factory wages much higher versus the hinterlands but still…
also note South Korean factory wages have been higher than their US counterparts for maybe 30 years.
Posted by: Exile | Mar 23 2025 7:52 utc | 303
They are rounding up people in Germany and jailing them for insulting people. We can expect the same
Caitlin Johnstone
“It’s been so intensely creepy watching all of western society mobilize around a complete and utter fiction in order to stomp out all criticism of a foreign state. It’s about as dystopian a thing as you can possibly imagine, all these pundits and politicians pretending to believe that Jewish safety is seriously being threatened by an epidemic of antisemitism which must be aggressively silenced by any means necessary. All to shut down opposition to the worst inclinations of a genocidal apartheid state and the complicity of our own western governments with its crimes.
And we’re all expected to treat this scam seriously. Anyone who says the emperor has no clothes and calls this mass deception what it is gets tarred with the “antisemite” label and treated as further evidence that we’re all a hair’s breadth from seeing Jews rounded up onto trains again if we don’t all hurry up and shut down anti-genocide protests on university campuses. They’re not just acting out a fraudulent melodrama staged to rob us of our rights, they’re demanding that we participate in it by pretending it’s not what it plainly is.
It’s not just tyranny, it’s tyranny that orders people to clap along with it. It’s such a disgusting, evil thing to do to people. Such psychologically dominating abusive behavior. The more you look at it, the creepier it gets.
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The anti-imperialist left is what MAGA and right wing “populism” pretend to be. We ACTUALLY oppose the empire’s warmongering — not only when Democrats are in power. We ACTUALLY want to defeat the deep state — we don’t applaud billionaire Pentagon contractors like Elon Musk taking power. We ACTUALLY oppose the establishment order — because the establishment order is capitalist. We ACTUALLY stand up to the powerful — we don’t offload half the blame onto immigrants and marginalized groups.
The anti-imperialist left is also what liberals pretend to be. We ACTUALLY support the working class. We ACTUALLY stand up for the little guy. We ACTUALLY want justice and equality. We ACTUALLY support civil rights. We ACTUALLY oppose tyranny.
Everything the human heart longs for lies in the death of capitalism, militarism and empire, and yet both of the dominant western political factions of our day support continuing all of these things. This is because westerners spend their entire lives marinating in power-serving propaganda which herds them into these two mainstream political factions to ensure that they will pose no meaningful challenges to our rulers. All political energy is funneled into movements and parties which are set up to maintain the status quo while pretending to support the people, with the illusion of political freedom sustained by a false two-party dichotomy in which both factions serve the same ruling power structure.
Of course, what mainstream liberalism and right wing “populism” have to offer that anti-imperialist socialism does not is the ability to win major elections with successful candidates. This is because generations of imperial psyops have gone into stomping out the anti-imperialist left in the western world, and because only candidates which uphold the status quo are ever allowed to get close to winning an election. This doesn’t mean mainstream liberalism or right wing “populism” are the answer, it just means our prison warden isn’t going to hand us the keys to the exit door.
At some point we’re going to have to rise up and use the power of our numbers to force the urgently needed changes we long to see in our world. Everything in our society is set up to prevent this from ever happening. That’s all the two mainstream political factions are designed to do. That’s why they both have phony “populist” elements within them which purport to be leading a brave revolutionary charge against the establishment, while herding everyone into support for the two status quo political parties. And that’s why the anti-imperialist left is everything they pretend to be.”
Posted by: ld | Mar 23 2025 8:12 utc | 304
the days are getting longer
colors stronger
squirrel digging holes in the yawning grass
remembering last autumn’s treasure
friendlier winds
blows the dust in your mind
tickles like a feather
Posted by: Middle-man | Mar 23 2025 8:15 utc | 305
Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 22 2025 15:44 utc | 240
Perhaps the following little story gives a bit of insight in life in todays’ Germany. I’m using computer fonts made by a German. The fonts are free, “free” as in “free beer”. He explains why:
I’ve gone from unemployed to basic old-age pension. When receiving old-age pension, any money received has to be declared and deducted from my old age pension. Any donation to support the website only means extra work and additional postage costs for me, and in the end the money goes to the state social budget. So I’ve removed the donation buttons.
Posted by: Passerby | Mar 23 2025 8:18 utc | 306
“In the Seattle area, there was a new station, called 107.7 “The End”, which played “Alternative /Grunge” music, which I loathed, and still do, (except somehow Alice in Chains I liked).”
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 23 2025 0:05 utc | 284
You don’t like the music of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarten or Nirvana?
WTF?
You are a musical Philistine.
There was a German book I read once in college called “The Piano Player”, I think, can no longer find it, but anyways, it was about a school teacher who was interrogated by the stasi in east germany, and also ostracized for anti-party beliefs, so he just quit, dropped out, and occasionally played piano at parties to eak out an existence.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 22 2025 20:31 utc | 272
I have read the book-it’s not German, it’s not bad as a first book . It was written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1952 (1); he is an American- his best book will always be ,”Slaughterhouse Five”, set in Germany.
1. “Player Piano is the debut novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr., published in 1952. The novel depicts a dystopia of automation partly inspired by the author’s time working at General Electric, describing the negative impact technology can have on quality of life. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized, eliminating the need for human laborers. The widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class, the engineers and managers, who keep society running, and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines. The book uses irony and sentimentality, which were to become hallmarks developed further in Vonnegut’s later works.”
1
India powering its way into economic relevance through the use of coal – meanwhile billions in taxpayers cash is given to windfarm owners – NOT – to produce electricity when there’s a surplus of it.
“Coal production in India has hit a record high of 1 billion tons in the fiscal year ending March 31, according to Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy. With its rapidly growing economy, the country largely relies on coal for domestic power generation.
The world’s second biggest consumer of coal after China, India generates some 74% of its electricity from coal-based generation. Meanwhile, the share of coal in the nation’s energy mix amounts to approximately 55%.
India, which extracted 997.83 million tons of coal in the fiscal year of 2023-24, has now joined China as the only nations whose annual coal output exceeds 1 billion tons.
“This achievement will fuel our increasing power demands, drive economic growth, and ensure a brighter future for every Indian,” the minister said on Friday in a post on X, highlighting that coal producers in the country have “not only increased production but also ensured sustainable and responsible mining.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed India’s historic achievement, calling it a “proud moment for India” and highlighting the government’s commitment to energy security, economic growth and self-reliance.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 11:50 utc | 309
@canuck – for me – and probably MANY others – it was always obvious that the God in the Old Testament is NOT the same god as the one in the New Testament, unless he underwent a RADICAL TRANSFORMATION.
IMO that changes the equation importantly.
Posted by: Featherless | Mar 22 2025 19:18 utc | 260
The Old Testament God (I am no expert on the topic) – didn’t forgive any human excepting Enoch and Elijah; after Jesus death everyone was forgiven if they but believed in the New God.
I believe that the Romans who ‘put together’ the Bible took the God of the Old Testament straight from the Aramaic writings and, in the fourth century supplied their own idea of the New Nice God whom visage, ideas they stole from the Gnostics.
Sadly, to say all Gods, pagan or otherwise, are but creatures of tradition, literature, and contemporary social mores, nothing more
Scotland took in over 28,000 of them – and the corrupt self-serving SNP even appointed a minister for them to make sure they got what they needed – many lived on cruise ships – which had a doctor and a dentist stationed their full-time, whilst Scots found it difficult to get a doctors appointment or a NHS dentists appointment – its cost the taxpayer millions to take these people – no other refugee/asylum seeker groups has ever been treated as well, by the Scottish administration – the sooner they go home the better.
“Thousands of Ukrainian migrants are at risk of losing their jobs and housing in the UK amid uncertainties over visa renewals, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing a new survey by the University of Birmingham.
Around 270,000 Ukrainian citizens currently live in the UK under special schemes such as ‘Homes for Ukraine’, which offered three-year visas to those fleeing the conflict with Russia. This scheme, however, has been closed to new applicants, and existing visas are now beginning to expire. While a new ‘Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme’ allows 18-month visa renewals, applications were not accepted until February 4, creating a backlog and leaving many in legal limbo.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 11:58 utc | 311
Interesting stuff, the rights of the child (protection) must come first – in all societies.
“The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has sounded the alarm over Hungary’s recent law banning pride events, urging the government to repeal it. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has argued that the legislation seeks to protect minors from harmful influences.
On Tuesday, Hungary’s parliament passed a law prohibiting pride events and authorizing the authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants and give them fines of $500. The legislation, backed by Orban’s Fidesz party and its junior partner, the Christian Democrats, passed 136-27 under an expedited procedure.
The measure amends the country’s assembly regulations to ban events that violate Hungary’s child protection laws, which prohibit the portrayal of homosexuality to minors. All profits from the fines will also be diverted to child protection policies. The law has sparked protests in Budapest, with opposition lawmakers using smoke bombs in the parliament chamber.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 12:13 utc | 312
We all knew that the IAEA, is biased against Russia with the (ZNPP) in mind – it was just too convenient – that IAEA staff managed to leave the (ZNPP) just as the Neo-Nazi’s began shelling it.
“A group of international journalists that recently toured Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have accused Ukraine of being behind repeated bombing of the facility. They also questioned the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) persistent refusal to identify the source of the attacks.
The ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian control since March 2022 and is located in a region that later voted to join Russia following a public referendum. The plant’s operations are now overseen by Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the facility and nearby city of Energodar have come under frequent attacks by Ukrainian drones and artillery. Despite this, the IAEA, which has maintained a permanent monitoring mission at the site since September 2022, has consistently declined to name the party responsible for the shelling.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 12:21 utc | 313
Here is but a few of the folks – who travelled on the Lolita Express.
https://www.wikispooks.com/wiki/Lolita_Express/Passengers
“The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is “frantically” trying to complete the redactions of the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation before their public release, CNN reported on Saturday.
Agents are “working around the clock” and have even suspended ongoing investigations in order to process the files, it claimed, citing sources familiar with the efforts.
Every FBI division was ordered to provide agents for the task, including those working on criminal and national security issues, the US broadcaster said. Agents were told to put aside ongoing probes, including into threats allegedly posed by China and Iran, to assist the redacting work, according to CNN’s sources.
The redactions have been ongoing for “much of the week” in the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, as well as in offices in New York and Chantilly, Virginia, the report said. Agents have reportedly spent hours making redactions to both text files and videos.
According to the report, the redactions were required under federal law. The US Justice Department (DOJ) still vowed to “deliver unprecedented transparency for the American people” in a statement to CNN.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 12:25 utc | 314
At some point we’re going to have to rise up and use the power of our numbers
Posted by: ld | Mar 23 2025 8:12 utc | 304
______
Well, that’s the problem right there. The “anti-imperialist left” referred to elsewhere in the comment is vanishingly small.
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 23 2025 12:42 utc | 315
Getting Away With Murder
Hillary Helps US Mercenary Escape Justice
Posted by: denk | Mar 23 2025 2:56 utc | 292
——————————————–
Law of the jungle garden !
Bill Clinton to Sg
gimme me our ruffian…or else !
——————-
Do Not Mess with Singapore – Top 10 Innocents Abroad
Time Magazine
https://content.time.com › specials › packages › article
In 1994, Fay confessed to spray-painting several cars and defacing property during a 10-day vandalism spree. Fay, who later said his confession was coerced, …[sic]
Posted by: denk | Mar 23 2025 13:18 utc | 316
harmonic drives seem to have been invented by Clarence Walton Musser ( USA ) around 1955 in a line of his inventions that use elastic deformation.
i.e. any patents are long expired
A major/early producer is from Germany:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_Drive_SE#Geschichte
Posted by: MAKK | Mar 23 2025 13:57 utc | 317
@ MAKK | Mar 23 2025 13:57 utc | 317
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If you find harmonic drives interesting you’ll also like planetary roller screws. They are the linear motion brethren of strain wave gearing’s radial motion.
Ultra precise, extremely “stiff” and difficult to manufacture because of materials and tolerances ==> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_screw
https://u-screws.com/
This type of screw is used in avionic actuators because of its high speed and stiffness.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 23 2025 14:46 utc | 318
Republic of Scotland @ 314
The recently released names, decried by one and all as garbage, are much more extensive and revealing than what is at wikispooks.
Sometimes you just have to read instead of relying on someone else to read it for you.
Epstein’s circle was mainly aristocrats. It was not a blackmail ring. You do not blackmail Evelyn de Rothschild or Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby. You do not blackmail Ehud Barak or Bill and Hillary. Epstein was simply servicing the pleasure of sick freaks.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 23 2025 14:53 utc | 319
servicing the pleasure of sick freaks.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 23 2025 14:53 utc | 319
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Luxury is weird.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 23 2025 14:57 utc | 320
too scents @ 320
Assume you are born with all the money in the world and all the power in the world. What do you do for entertainment?
Never assume the rich have the same sort of petty greed and petty needs the little people do.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 23 2025 15:04 utc | 321
Assume you are born with all the money in the world and all the power in the world.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 23 2025 15:04 utc | 321
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Assume you are a talentless idiot with no ability to entertain yourself.
I’m rich and stoopid! Entertain me!
And Western culture idolizes their elites so most people choose to be passivated.
The MAGAs are so jealous of people who actually do things that they want them deported.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 23 2025 15:16 utc | 322
Posted by: canuck | Mar 23 2025 11:41 utc | 308
Nope, thats not it, but thanks for the effort. I may have to get my course folder out to figure it out.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 23 2025 15:38 utc | 323
You don’t like the music of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarten or Nirvana?
WTF?
You are a musical Philistine.
Posted by: canuck | Mar 23 2025 11:34 utc | 307
hate them as much as country western.
O went to a STP concert once because my friends had an extra ticket.
Worst concert ever.
And Pearl Jam? Overrated soft rock.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 23 2025 15:43 utc | 324
I just checked my college papers, I have nothing left from that course, (Modern German History), and Ill probably never find the book again.
The book has gained more meaning with me over time, as its actual story was about soft power.
But, it kind of missed an important aspect that I have observed and ow it all makes much more sense, and that os people political and personal passions can make them more than willing to “turn on their neighbor”.
The book really did not get into personal squabbles or politics, it was more just about a guy wandering through life after being asked to resign from his teaching job.
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 23 2025 16:00 utc | 325
oldhippie (319).
Yip – I’m aware that there are prominent names missing from the list.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 23 2025 16:52 utc | 326
“The Song Remains The Same”(1)
Crimean War
“France takes Turkey and almost every year, England annexes another Indian principality…but when Russia occupied Moldova and Wallachia, albeit temporarily, that disturbs the balance of power…we can expect nothing from the West but blind hatred and malice, which does not understand and does not want to understand” (2)
Mikhail Pogodin 1854 (3)
1. Led Zeppelin, 1973
2. 180 years later not much has changed!
3. “Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (Russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; 23 November [O.S. 11 November] 1800 – 20 December [O.S. 8 December] 1875) was a Russian historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death of Nikolay Karamzin in 1826 and the rise of Sergey Solovyov in the 1850s. He is best remembered as a staunch proponent of the Normanist theory of Russian statehood.”
Posted by: UWDude | Mar 23 2025 16:00 utc | 325
There are many excellent C and W songs-if you don’t treasure Johnny Cash’s, “Hurt’, you are tone and theme deaf; such that you are, undeniably, a musical Philistine regardless of your amateur protestations.
However, if you enjoy the music of, “Lou Reed” or “the Velvet Underground”, I can give you a pass as maybe not a complete ‘Philistine”!
canuck@328…..it’s actually a Trent Reznor Nine Inch Nail song, nice cover by Johnny and a tip of the hat to Rick Rubin though, their take on Rusty Cage was brilliant also, well, Cornell was is and always will be in a league of his own….
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 24 2025 1:16 utc | 329
“Anyone who watches cable TV in the US knows there are a lot of pharmaceutical ads full of actors living their best lives, thanks to chemical compounds their insurance won’t cover. The ads make up 75% of cable TV ad revenues. Secretary of Health, RFK, Jr., is threatening to pull the plug on this revenue stream—expect a mighty resistance from the pharmaceutical lobby and the cable TV industry.”
Fun fact: New Zealand is the only other country that even allows pharmaceutical advertising.”
Susan Singer
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 24 2025 1:16 utc | 329
One of the few covers that are better than the original.
Others?
Bob Dylan’s , “All Along the Watchtower”-John Wesley Harding-and yet Jimi Hendrix cover wasn’t bad wither.
Marianne Faithful’s, “As Tears Go By”, a Rolling Stone tune.
Tina Turner’s rendition of “Proud Mary” is better than CCR’s.
“Moulin Rouge” by Lady Marmalade I forget whom wrote the original.
Any other nominees?
Romania just started extracting oil or gas from the Black Sea and it will feed the EU, it’s like Russia is doing everything to help Europe to rearm and let America shift to China
Posted by: pixel | Mar 25 2025 15:47 utc | 332
Regardless of what people in the West say, Putin is a timid coward who would rather have good than bad relations with the US. He isn’t and will never be some kind of revolutionary anti-globalist who want to eradicate the New World Order.
Posted by: Ivan Darius | Mar 26 2025 19:56 utc | 333