@ Ornot | Nov 3 2025 0:31 utc | 99
 
i haven’t heard of the medium foxsound… are you celtic, or is it that you just like that type of music?? thanks for sharing… its a nice track..
 
doesn’t say who is behind it – https://www.foxsound.com/about.html

Posted by: james | Nov 3 2025 1:32 utc | 103

c1ue | Nov 3 2025 1:31 utc | 102
 
I think you are right though a few caveats.  The culture of America is such that it is the only way to do it.
 
The cons. 
To being manufacturing back to the US is the problems of education and workforce. then there is supply chains and infrastructure. Because of what the US is, its political culture and so forth, it is not possible to set up a long term goal and start recreating the education, the workforce, infrastructure and supply chains over several decades.
 
Evolution being ruled out, revolution is the only option. Revolution though will cause the destruction of everything likely including the western financial system. US, the west will likely have to plumb the very depths before it can again re-emerge in a somewhat different form, or perhaps I should say normal form.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 1:44 utc | 105

Peter AU1 @100, arby@101
 
Had to do a little frantic back-pedalling there didn’t he?
 
It could also be pointed out that the transfer of British jet technology that he used to denigrate Soviet/Russian technical development also happened a few years earlier, only this time the recipient was the US, which had virtually no jet propulsion expertise due to the NACA (precursor to NASA) putting all its eggs in the piston engine basket.

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Nov 3 2025 2:16 utc | 107

I really can’t see the West going anywhere but downhill. The only question is how far and how fast.
 
It has been eaten from the inside by the financial parasites and lost what used to be the purpose of the state, that is the betterment of the lives of its citizens. In no area is this improving. The profit motive has corrupted everything.  Time was that there was a balance between a service provided and monetary gain to the service provider. This no longer happens as the service provider expects to make  more and more money by providing less and less service so  things no longer seem to  work.
 
I put this down to a few things: 
The deindustrialisation of manufacturing, which was sent to the cheaper bidder in China, who didn’t waste this opportunity on yachts and bling but built better lives for its people even as the West made the lives of its own citizens more difficult.
 
The dumbing down of education and the ethos of everyone’s a winner means that people don’t want to get their hands dirty and would much prefer to be pop stars than actually do anything useful. Marketeers and lawyers have taken over so  rather than have a problem fixed, you have a change in semantics and define the problem away. Hence the constant kicking  of the can down the road, and the problems still remain. You’re just not allowed to talk about them anymore because you aren’t with the program, or you’re a negative naysayer, or criticism is made illegal through libel laws, etc etc.
 
The advent of computing ushered in the release of unfinished products that would be repaired as time went by patch updates and this has flowed through to every aspect of our modern lives as half-backed products proliferate.
 
The “just in time” production process has also  destroyed the resilience of Western economies  as there is no spare capacity anywhere to ride out the bumps so when something goes wrong everything grinds to a halt. Because everything is made by by the lowest bidder, things break down more so there are more grinding halts.
 
This could go on to a book but I’ll stop here, yet there’s a lot more to add.  Henry Ford was smart enough to realise that his workers were his customers so it made sense to pay them well. The current lot don’t have this level of insight, as they don’t make anything themselves, just leech on the passing cash flow and try to make sure that they aren’t holding the bag when the music stops, then off to their castles where they can count their money, take their drugs and sexually abuse minors. 
 
It will get worse before it gets better. The only good thing that I can see is that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are at least sane and patient.
 

Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 3 2025 2:44 utc | 109

@ Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 1:44 utc | 105 pondering the future of America….thx
 
If humanity is able to rid itself of the God Of Mammon cult approach to social organization I posit that a period of Economic Geography focus will resurge that causes some wars about water and such before a new mosaic of nations/cultures emerges, hopefully in peace with each other.
 
A data point of the path from The Cradle
Iraq, Turkiye finalize ‘first of its kind’ agreement to regulate shared water resources

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 3 2025 3:09 utc | 111

Is Nigeria The Next Libya? Explainer – Simplifier [Thread]
 
https://x.com/thee_alfa_house/status/1984860337808490535
 
“A firestorm erupts as Trump threatens military action in Nigeria, accusing it of religious killings, while its government furiously denies the explosive claims. 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 3 2025 4:16 utc | 113

From the US govt.list of results of China trade negotiation
 

China will issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers around the world.

 
From a request asking what rare earths are used in US military equipment
 

Rare earths like neodymium, samarium, dysprosium, and praseodymium are used in U.S. military equipment, particularly in high-performance rare-earth magnets that are critical for everything from fighter jet and submarine systems to precision-guided munitions and laser technologies. These magnets are used in electric motors, actuators, radar, sonar, and guidance systems due to their superior strength and heat resistance.

 
Notice that none from the first list are on the 2nd.
 
Rare earths for military use are still under restriction from China it seems to me…….any other takes?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 3 2025 5:18 utc | 115

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 2 2025 18:08 utc | 28
 
Quite surprised at this substance-free reply from you, one of the resident self-styled leftists (of the old school variety). Are you joking? Yes of course it’s about the oil. As in a moderately successful socialist revolution (the Bolivarian one in this case) in a country rich in resources like oil (See: Iran in the 1953 Mosaddegh coup on behalf of BP under the guise of preventing the spread of communism or Venezuela after Chavez)  – especially in the Monroe Doctrine “backyard” of the USA, will be attacked relentlessly in whatever manner needed [or deemed PR-acceptable] to 1) End the good example (also see: Cuba – with no oil) and b) Steal the resources for the western financial puppet masters of the US government. 
 
My bro. Please correct me if I’m wrong at all. But you’re glowing brighter right now than Nick Fuentes. 
 
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 2 2025 21:31 utc | 57
 
LOL. You seriously must be joking. And they say Americans are clueless about the Europeans/EU. Comparing fucking Venezuelan post-colonial ‘brown person country’ socialism to Canadian US vassal status? LMFAO. No wonder you kept your reply so short and without any material facts – just a bizarre claim. 
Have you never heard of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”? Have you no idea what it means when any country – socialist or not – refuses to bend to the whims of the US FIRE and energy sector BORG (see: Star Trek)? 
 
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/6748/

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 3 2025 5:28 utc | 117

https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-domination-latin-america-coming-end/5720713
 
The veiled defenses of Trump as though he’s only interested in Venezuela’s oil are entertaining, if not a little bit disappointing. 
The “threat of a good example” is not some New Left master’s thesis. It’s a genuine policy directive and the desire of the business/banking/energy elite who run the USA and UK, among others. 
I sincerely miss Bevin and I know that Karl is too busy with his own pursuits to quickly shut bullshit like what is referenced above down here at MoA, but good grief. We’re in deep shit if some of the more “astute” commentators here don’t recognize the situation for what it is. 
 
https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-wants-nicaragua-to-fall-as-it-poses-the-threat-of-a-good-example/246973/
 
In fact, VVP’s RF is also a different type of “threat of a good example” at least inasmuch as he has evaded continual US attempts to completely subjugate the Russian people, its commodities, its markets, its resources, etc. to the Borg’s assimilation program in which all borders and populist national interests are secondary to those whims on Wall Street, the City and DC, Brussels and London. 

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 3 2025 5:39 utc | 119

It is interesting that the MAGApedos have stopped talking about (worshipping ) Musk and (celebrating) tariffs.
 
It’s still only year 1 of term 2.
 
What are we going to talk about on the rest of this trip?
 
They don’t want to talk about Yemen or Israel. They don’t want to talk about Iran or Bitcoin. We never talk about Trump’s penchant for introducing young women to Epstein.
 
We don’t talk about the Swamp or the Deep State. The election industrial complex. We don’t even talk about 💉 Warp Speed. 🚀 Mars is off the table.
 
At this rate, it will be a forgotten Presidency because talking about it is filled with taboos and uncomfortable topics.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 3 2025 5:47 utc | 121

I got a young bloke in to knock down the scrubery and cart crap to the tip. I knew who he worked so thought it likely he was a good worker. Moonlighting job on his part, just hooked in and got the job done. Zero supervision required, just checked with me on a few things. He will go out on his own in the not too distant future. Young blokes like that are now hard to come by. But the same as myself and those I have associated with through the better part of my life.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 7:50 utc | 123

As far as I know the last was Korea, when the Soviet Union fielded it first good fighter jet.Mig 15? I forget the number but it ran rings around the American fighter of the day in Korea.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 2 2025 22:25 utc | 72
Yes, the mig15 was a nice first draft but the mig21 (particularly later versions) was maybe the first to hit the sweet spot I mentioned.
Mig15, sabre, etc, kudos to all pilots that straapped themselseves to barely there to still shoot at each others with machinne guns and cannons . (BTW as soon as the us had the F-86F it was an even match)
——————————-
Faster and more manoeuvrable than any of the propeller-driven aircraft available to the West at the time, it caused a flurry of ‘catch-up’ activity, leading to a new ladder of escalatory capabilities between the antagonists.
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 2 2025 22:47 utc | 76
Yes, but catch up they did.
———————————-
Posted by: public_service | Nov 2 2025 22:56 utc | 78..Pretty much this. Sov jet and all aviation technology was deficient, but the bongs gave them their jet engine technology, and they reverse engineered the US B-29 heavy bomber, so they scabbled along until their own own houses could finally produce quality eqpt.
Posted by: seer | Nov 2 2025 23:15 utc | 83
Everybody got headstarts from nazi jets, everybody used whatever they got their hands on.
———————–
Interesting topic. If we think about the history of air power, we see that it isn’t very long and tremendous advances have been made. From barely airworthy stringbag biplanes circa 1910 to all metal monoplanes and the early jet age in 1950. From 1950 to circa 1990 with supersonic flight.
All of the easy/obvious advances that were there to be made have been made.Since then each incremental improvement comes at exponentionally higher cost, increasing complexity of the airframe (and corresponding cost per unit, servicing times and extra pilot training) I think the days of massed aerial dogfights are long gone. The last time that happened was Korea and maybe Vietnam.
 
Things seem to be moving on, rather like the way armoured battleships were once the leading edge of naval warfare, they were rendered obsolete by aircraft carriers.These days, drones, stand-off weapons and advanced missilery look like being far more important forms of airpower than those old style flying machines.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 2 2025 23:16 utc | 84
Yes, most low hanging fruits were (on the planes themselves) ended by mid 1980’s (but avionics and missiles still advancing)
 
Don’t agree completely, electronics and composite materials might get ikea cheaper planes.
Maybe not. There are things as saturation, and that with cheap planes and cheaper companion drones…
That is one of the reasons for my bringing up this theme.
—————————–
A clip showing the evolution of Soviet then Russian MiG fighters from 1940 to today.https://x.com/juan_moment/status/1985128391876772345
Posted by: Juan Moment | Nov 2 2025 23:39 utc | 89
Nice!
Speaking of “old iron” any favourites? Fighters I have a weak spot for the saab draken, and (wonder if they ever did the interceptor version) the SR-71 blackbird (also the concorde, people just don’t see that that civilian bird could litterally outrun almost anything)
——————
Yeah, my understanding was that the Sabre was a jet and that’s the one the Migs flew rings around. My understanding was the Americans had to quickly develop a new aircraft, I assume the F-86 you mention.My understanding is it still did not match up to the Mig but it put the Americans closer to an equal footing.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 0:13 utc | 95
it was the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star that was sub-par
 
————
Seems like it was a fun prompt but only ChatNPC went to the central point, will they be usable/used in a return to massive aerial exchanges?
P.S. on a different issue, DD geopolitics is again on open mode, normally it happens when something will/might happen
https://t.me/s/DDGeopolitics

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 3 2025 8:03 utc | 125

Newbie | Nov 3 2025 8:03 utc | 125
 
yeah. Though I guess to me is kudus to those very early pilots. If you have every strapped yourself to a fuel tank, siting in front of the motor so you would cushion it when it bit the dust, you develop a resect for the early pilots.
 
A mate, with a few more hours than me whacked a power line just on dawn one morning on dawn. Tried to fly the machine off but got hung up. He bit the dust. A face plant with that sort of flying is not good. After he went off the air, one of his mates working on the ground found him. Not good.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 8:24 utc | 127

Was taking a look at this “wish list” for venezuela
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/five-russian-arms-venezuela-counter
And noticed this
 
“A Russian Il-76TD military transport aircraft operated by Aviacon Zitotrans has landed in Venezuela.
Aviacon Zitotrans was sanctioned by the U.S. in January 2023 for providing cargo services allegedly linked to the Wagner Group and Russia’s defense industry.
This is not the first such flight to Caracas. On October 26, another Il-76 arrived in Venezuela on an undisclosed mission.”
 
Maybe, just maybe, each IL-76 carried 8 Kh-32 cruise missiles.
Or just 12 Kh-32 cruise missiles and 120 geraniums
 
Could do a pretty salvo or two to drive away (or drive underwaves) much of the strike force
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 3 2025 8:52 utc | 129

@Peter AU1 #105
Education is important but way overrated. I have noted before how India has churned out more STEM graduates a year than the US, due to its immensely higher population and non-predatory higher education system but which led India nowhere.
The reality is that the offshoring of US manufacturing is still within living memory. Yes, some – even many – of the workshop, manufacturing line and other skilled people have died of old age, but not all by a long shot.
But you don’t need STEM for workshop, manufacturing line and other vocational trades, you need jobs that pay enough for people to want to do them.
Secondly, I repeat that we have an ongoing example of a nation reindustrializing without a top down approach: Russia. The Russian government has applied some money to a handful of specific sectors, but has not printed the tens of trillions that China did. Rather, private investment has surged given the opportunity to fill in the huge economic ecosystem holes left by Western sanctions.
A few examples:
1) office paper – as in the paper used in printers – used to be exclusively imported from Europe even though significant amounts of the wood used to make said paper, were Russian soft woods. A cardboard company decided it wanted to fill in this niche: it built 2 new factories to make office paper. The first few months – the paper was kind of reddish but now it is fine.
2) shipping insurance. While everyone talks about the Western insurers especially out of London, in reality there is a Russian company that provided a lot of specialty information and expertise to these Western insurers. With the sanctions forcing said Western insurers out of Russian shipping, this company started offering actual insurance instead of just the data and expertise from which Western shipping insurance is based.
3) Geely-rus: in Belarus, a belarussian company bought the rights to at least a couple of Geely car models, took a former Western auto plant (not clear if it was abandoned or already owned by belarussian companies ie this one) and started churning out Geely cars. Now they are ubiquitous in Minsk, at least when I was there last year.
I am 100% certain there are thousands of other examples going on – it is this type of thing which was driving 4% growth rates in Russia and leading to inflation.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 9:16 utc | 131

Contemporary journalism is all about deciding which facts the public shouldn’t know because they might reflect badly on Democrats…
 
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Nov 3 2025 8:08 utc | 126
 
—
 
Democrats are obviously trash, but, c’mon.
 
Media doesn’t want to reflect badly on the Rich.  Or the Jews.  Or the Christians.  Or Technology.  Or Business.
 
Just look at “The Papers” and see.

• Arch Zionist Billionaire Larry Ellison bought Paramount and its subsidiaries including CBS, MTV, and Comedy Center.  He made Arch Zionist Bari Weiss editor and chief of CBS News.
• Arch Zionist Billionaire Micheal Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to visit Israel during the first Intifada when he was mayor of NYC.
• Squillionaire Bezo’s Washington Post loves the Professional Managerial Class and never has anything critical to say about members of the Chamber of Commerce or the Business Roundtable.
• Elon “Apartheid Clyde” Musk destroyed Twitter for the LoLz.
• The WSJ is owned by Arch Zionist and righty-whitey-tighty Murdoch, along with National Geographic, Scientific American and the trash English Press.  
• The NYTimes never ever criticises Israel or the Jews.
• The Telegraph is a parody of Toff Twats owned by Toff Twats.
• The Guardian is run by MI6.  Likewise Wikipedia.
• Macron’s wife’s family has controlling interest across the French Press.

Those are just the biggest ghouls off the top of my head, without mentioning Page-Brin-Google, Gates-Altman-OpenAI, Thiel-Palintir and the digital information space.
 
The violence you are reporting and encouraging others to fear is broader than your prejudice.  Stop spreading it.
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 3 2025 9:53 utc | 133

Education is important but way overrated. 
 
Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 9:16 utc | 131
 
—
 
Your epitaph.
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 3 2025 10:02 utc | 135

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 1:31 utc | 102
Why Neoliberalism Destroyed Western Manufacturing
AA has some apposite things to say. Bad news – you can’t have your cake and eat it, there could be pain for some years as the US weans itself off the FIRE based economy and , perhaps more importantly imported expertise.
Perhaps the current hokey-cokey with Trump’s on again, off again tariffs is merely a discovery process where he works out where the real pain points are (e.g. rare earth imports vs soy bean exports).

Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 3 2025 10:09 utc | 137

but there also needs to be a recognition of practical skills and experience. 
Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 3 2025 11:00 utc | 138
Ya hear that Peter AU1? Don’t go anywhere!

Posted by: waynorinorway | Nov 3 2025 11:08 utc | 139

[…] Speaking of “old iron” any favourites? […]
 
Posted by: Newbie | Nov 3 2025 8:03 utc | 125

I always liked the shark looking silhouette of this Messerschmitt: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196266/messerschmitt-me-262a-schwalbe/
 

[…] Yous is a new name based on a comedy. […]
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 8:59 utc | 130

 
I’ve used this moniker since my first day here at MoA, going back close to 20 years now, not long after Bernhard created this site as a comment section to Billmon’s blog. Found this place to be an incredible source of alternative news, gathered, assessed and discussed by some of the most intelligent minds I have come across in my life time. A real gem. Not many of the old-timers left. Noirette, annie, dan of steele. Sad Debs cracked the shits, always enjoyed his perspective. Anyhow, these days I mostly just read, for lack of time more so than anything else. Every so often I do chime in still, but obviously not frequently enough for you and others to notice my comments.
 

[…] So you can treat me with respect even while disagreeing, or treat me with disrespect in which case I will kick you in the nuts. […]

 
I tend to reciprocate in kind. Falsely label someone a sock puppet, don’t be surprised if they call you a “wacky hall monitor with a penchant for making unsubstantiated accusations”. That’s how nature works. Re your “kick in the nuts”, if ever you feel like it, let it all out amigo. Whatever makes you feel better. Water of a ducks back. Best wishes to you, cobber.

Posted by: Juan Moment | Nov 3 2025 11:19 utc | 141

Cant… can’t —-  I… I’m —– bloody hell. No wonder I was considered the dumb kid in class. Typos drive me nuts.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 11:25 utc | 143

Posted by: Juan Moment | Nov 2 2025 15:24 utc | 7
He is spending too much money on food/day. Homelessness is nothing to be laughed at. But he can get a portable butane/lng/cng burner if such a thing is available in USA, boil cereal, lentils, meat, eggs, veg together, it will come to less than $3/day. Similarly self-made coffee would cost less than $1/day.

Posted by: rqa | Nov 3 2025 11:36 utc | 145

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 8:33 utc | 128
 
About 10 years ago my friend and associate Larry ,whom has his own small one engine plane, took a 100- km flight .  We were staking a gold property so we landed on a small lake and then began staking the ground.
 
However, while we were working the wind changed direction.  So we couldn’t fly out as we planned.  What did we do?
 
We got out the chainsaws and cut down about a dozen trees to give some room for the small plane to get altitude.
 
When we flew out we just missed the trees by about 10-15 feet.
 
As Larry guided the plane off the lake I was terrified and I swore that if we made it out I would never fly in a small shitty plane ever again!!
 
And I have not.

Posted by: canuk | Nov 3 2025 11:42 utc | 147

Education is important but way overrated. …
Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 9:16 utc | 131
 
******************
 
The first matter of importance would be to define what is meant by ‘education’.
 
No doubt you are educated? Otherwise, this could be mistaken for an ignorant comment.

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 3 2025 11:51 utc | 149

Iran… petrol. Venezuela… petrol. Nigeria… petrol. It looks like Trump has on his desk a report describing the production cliff for US shale oil.
 
In the meantime, the USA has petrol. America should invade the USA and win hearts and minds of the local population by building schools, roads and hospitals!
Now wait until DJT checks Grokipedia and finds where is this “the USA” country located.

Posted by: Asian Frog | Nov 3 2025 12:08 utc | 151

Lentils – and a banana…
 
Hello Persiflo – I happened to belatedly notice a very gracious post from you – mixed up with lentils. 
 
I like lentils, especially red lentils, cooked with onions, and home-made tomato puree. But lentils are far surpassed by dry beans – Borlotti, Cannaloni, and best of all by my favorite, the old ‘Brown Beauty’. We were very poor, and grew most of our own food. Pick the beans when the husks are yellow and leathery. The bean seeds are fully formed and very fat, not shrunken and dry; but they won’t keep. They cook quick, with a bit of carrot and fried onions – and are big, fat, and very tasty. Topped with clotted cream.
 
We had luxuries that the rich kids could never buy!

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 3 2025 12:10 utc | 153

Exile | Nov 3 2025 12:09 utc | 152
 
I think he is, Exile. I think he also misspells his name. He always leaves out an ‘n’.

Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 3 2025 12:22 utc | 155

Did no preflights
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 12:13 utc | 154
 
—
 
That is insane!  I’ve flown some broken shit but I was always relatively sure I could walk away from a crash.
 
Little unexpected things add up to consequences that can be fatal.  Losing cabin heat doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal, except when you are in the mountains and the OAT is -30°C.
 
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 3 2025 12:29 utc | 157

That is insane! 
Posted by: too scents | Nov 3 2025 12:29 utc | 158
 
 
I guess you have never been to the point you wished to die. At that point I tied a roll of tie wire on the side of the machine so if I went down, I could get back in the air. It is one of those things in life that absolutely stumps me. So many who whished to live died, and I wqho wished to die lived.
 
I guess to amuse myself, I start playing with some of the toy boys that come on here but b gives me stern warnings.
 
Bloody hell, I can’t even go back to childhood and play with some tonka toys. Whatever, so many good people here. I abide by b’s stern warnings when I go outside his rules of engagement.. 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 12:54 utc | 159

I guess you have never been to the point you wished to die. 
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 12:54 utc | 160
 
—
 
My near death experiences cured me of my misconceptions and fears of death.  I’m good with life.
 
When I was young I fell off a mountain.  About 400 meters down an ice couloir.  I had plenty of time to reflect as I struggled for a grip on the ice.  Peace came over me.  As I was about to go over the waterfall  droping several hundred meters more at the coulior’s end my ice axe caught on a rocky outcropping, miraculously arresting my fall and dislocating my shoulder.
 
They say the out of body feeling is caused by adrenaline and other hormones that your body produces in a last gasp effort to survive.  I don’t know about that.  I’ve made my experiences with psychoparmecutica and the acceptance of death I experienced during that fall was like nothing else.  Cleansing and peaceful.
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 3 2025 13:17 utc | 161

Getting onto north Atlantic time when I can crank the monkey If there are monkeys about. But my body clock at the moment seems to be getting back on track. 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 3 2025 13:59 utc | 163

I’m not saying engineers are useless and we don’t need them, we do, but there also needs to be a recognition of practical skills and experience.
 
Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 3 2025 11:00 utc | 138

 
This gives me the chance to share an anecdote I recently missed out on. When I had a traffic accident with my bike and a car ended up with one wheel on my ankle, the wound had the doctors worried. The skin was gone over a few cm just over the bone, this apparently being prone to nasty infections. However, the hospital team was excellent and saved the day. It started when the surgeon came up to say hi, I’m going to operate on you (which was not always the case in a couple other minor surgeries I underwent for various accidents I’ve had). Turns out he was a young Turkish-German who already was head of the ward. Later I learned that during the operation his assistant, a female MD still in formal training, had asked him to let her sew it up using  a certain technique with the string; this was the decisive factor in closing the wound for good. Then, when the team visited me two days later, jubilant because it had worked out, the young nurse who was with them spoke up with her suggestion to use another specific technique for bandage, to which the MDs agreed. I thought it was a great example of working in a team to the best of all sides, but I also feel that such is rather an exception. Fun note aside: as soon as I could move again on crutches I made my way to the library and picked the memoirs of Yehudi Menuhin, the famous violinist. He recounted his ritual of having garlic soup before playing in concert – no, I thought, and brought it back to fetch the memoirs of Henry Kissinger instead. The most interesting passage I came upon was when he had visited China a few times and contrasted the experience with meeting the Soviet diplomats on their turf – he said that while the Soviets were generally quite upfront, the feeling with the Chinese was different; as if they’d ended up in a sophisticated world beyond their understanding.

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 3 2025 14:19 utc | 165

It’s duh privy council stoopids ..
 
https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/the-accession-council/
 
‘A new Sovereign succeeds to the throne as soon as his or her predecessor dies; and is proclaimed as soon as possible (usually within 48 hours) at an Accession Council held at St James’s Palace.
 
The purpose of an Accession Council is to make formal Proclamation of the death of the Monarch and the accession of the successor to the throne. It should be held before Parliament meets, and Parliament should meet as soon as practicable after the death.
 
The Privy Council Office is responsible for the planning and delivery of an Accession Council.
 
Accession Councils, which are presided over by the Lord President of the Council, are divided into two parts:
Part I
Formed of certain Privy Counsellors, Great Officers of State, the Lord Mayor and senior representatives of the City of London, Realm High Commissioners, some senior civil servants and certain others invited to attend, and is held (without the Sovereign) to formally announce the death of the Monarch and proclaim the succession of the new Sovereign and to make certain consequential Orders of Council mainly relating to the Accession Proclamation.
Part II
The holding by The Sovereign of his or her first Council, which is attended by Privy Counsellors only.’
 
NOTE THAT : “ senior representatives of the City of London,” !!!

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 3 2025 14:21 utc | 167

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 3 2025 7:58 utc | 124
 
#######
 
Ideologues often retreat to favoring the perfect over the good. That is a cope, like “true Communism hasn’t been tried yet”.
 
I have long believed that such people solve nothing, create nothing, and ultimately accomplish nothing.
 
Do they cast a shadow or are they figments of our imagination?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 3 2025 14:28 utc | 169

Posted by: LoveDumbass | Nov 3 2025 14:28 utc | 170
 
Communism has never worked and never will because it is antithetical to human nature.
 
China, since 1978,  has modeled a socialist, capitalist hybrid which is working well for their country

Posted by: canuk | Nov 3 2025 14:33 utc | 171

Couple more references before delving deeper 
The 2022 Act did not remove anyone from the pool of Counsellors – an amendment in the House of Lords to remove Prince Harry and Andrew was debated but was then withdrawn. 
 
Eligibility for Counsellor under the Regency Act is taken from the line of succession. Removing the title of Prince has no direct effect on Andrew’s entitlement. However a commitment was made, in the passage of the Counsellors of State 2022 Act, that only working royals would be called upon, which in practice means he can’t be called on to carry out these duties. In any case, once Prince George turns 21 he will become a Counsellor of State replacing Princess Beatrice. Similarly, when she turns 21, Princess Charlotte replaces Andrew, and Prince Louis will eventually replace Prince Harry.
 
( so it is not clear that Randy has actually lost all his entitlement – nor has he lost it for his offspring (they should not benefit from his legacy) – is he just the same as any ‘subject’ now? Can be sent to prison alongside any other nonces?
Why do his kids retain any titles? Why would his grandkids still benefit from his ‘royal blood’? 
The gobbledygook goes back to WW1 and when the saxe gotheberg roths were further anglicised to ‘Windsor’ and later married back to a Battenberg who was a nince pederast all his life – finally being blown up in his yacht that he used to have Irish boys for his pleasure. 
‘
Titles Deprivation Act 1917
1917 CHAPTER 47 7 and 8 Geo 5
An Act to deprive Enemy Peers and Princes of British Dignities and Titles.
[8th November 1917]
1
Forfeiture of title of peer or prince held by enemy.
(1)
His Majesty may appoint a committee of His Privy Council, of which two members at least shall be members of the Judicial Committee, to enquire into and report the names of any persons enjoying any dignity or title as a peer or British prince who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty’s enemies.
(2)
The Committee shall have power to take evidence on oath and to administer an oath for the purpose, and may, if they think fit, act upon any evidence given either orally or by affidavit based on information and belief, the grounds of which are stated.
(3)
Such report shall be laid upon the table of both Houses of Parliament for the space of forty days, and, if by that time there has not been passed in either House a motion disapproving of the report, it shall be taken as final and presented to His Majesty.
(4)
Where the name of any peer or prince is included in the report, then from and after the date of the presentation of the report to His Majesty—
(a)
The name of such person, if he be a peer, shall be struck out of the Peerage Roll, and all rights of such peer to receive a writ of summons and to sit in the House of Lords or to take part in the election of representative peers shall cease and determine:
(b)
All privileges and all rights to any dignity or title, whether in respect of a peerage or under any Royal Warrant or Letters Patent, shall cease and determine.
2
Power of successor to petition for restoration of peerage.
It shall be lawful for the successor of any peer whose name has been so removed, to present a petition to His Majesty praying to have the peerage restored and his name placed on the Peerage Roll; and His Majesty may refer such petition to a committee of the Privy Council constituted as aforesaid; and should the committee be satisfied that such person has incurred no disability under this Act, and is well affected to His Majesty’s Person and Government, His Majesty may thereupon direct that the peerage be restored and the name of the petitioner be placed on the Peerage Roll; whereupon all rights and privileges of the holder of the peerage shall revive and be in force as if the name of the peer had never been removed from the Roll.
3
Savings.
(1)
Nothing in this Act shall affect the title or succession of any person to any estates or other property.
(2)
The powers conferred upon His Majesty by this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other powers of His Majesty.’
So is the public pillory of Randy Andy anything more than a pantomime?
 
Why will his daughters retain the privileges of his Princely and their birth? Why will the grand children? 
 
There is actually no guarantee that in day or a decade or so the next king or queen won’t restore everything to the fool and knave and likely thief and pyromaniac that set the castle afire to cover thefts from the Royal collections!
 
 
Of course this doesn’t start or finish with the ‘Windsors’ or having the cake AND eating it Battenbergs ! 
It goes back a long way a millenia ago – as I will never tire of telling people here. 

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 3 2025 14:37 utc | 173

There was recent news that Russia has cancelled their ‘compensatory electricity agreement’ with Finland, related to the Svetogorsk dam in the Vuoksi river, between Russia and Finland. The dam reduces flow and efficiency of the Finnish hydroelectric power plant (largest btw) in the border town of Imatra.
Running an analysis with Grok, it turns that the compensatory electricity from Russia to Finland was 100-200MW. If that applies for the entire year, it means 1-2 TWh. The average annual replacement cost for Finland for losing compensatory electricity from Russia can run between 30 – 70 million Euros, and the effect from most likely efficiency reductions in Imatra hydroelectric plant can run between 4 – 14 million Euros. 
Some claim it’s not a big deal, however, with thousands of paper cuts like this the economy slowly but surely bleeds out. Especially since the region is already hit with economic decline from border shutting.
https://x.com/PeteLiquid/status/1985072978158031296

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 3 2025 14:46 utc | 175

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 3 2025 14:46 utc | 176
 
######
 
IMO, everyone should get what they want. Finland wants to decouple and isolate Russia, and, in the words of HL Mencken, “they should get it good and hard”.
 
Trump wants to decouple from China, I wish him luck. Same in Germany with Russia.
 
The world only has room for those looking to cooperate with one another. The days of bullying are at an end.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 3 2025 14:59 utc | 177

Maybe, just maybe, each IL-76 carried 8 Kh-32 cruise missiles.Or just 12 Kh-32 cruise missiles and 120 geraniums Could do a pretty salvo or two to drive away (or drive underwaves) much of the strike force     
Posted by: Newbie | Nov 3 2025 8:52 utc | 129

 
Venezuelan fighter aircraft have been reported as now being armed and patrolling with Kh-32 supersonic cruise missiles. They can more than put a dent in any US fleet up to 1000km off the coast of Venezuela.
 
That means effectively to the coast of Cuba, beyond Puerto Rico and the Dutch, British and French colony islands in the eastern Caribbean.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 3 2025 15:02 utc | 179

Of course anything goes, Dun Groanin, but I can’t  help but say that if they really want him back they will possibly traipse this tired old law out as you say.
”…dignity or title as a peer or British prince who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty’s enemies.”
 
Some Slick Willy lawyer for the Crown will say he never could have been validly excluded , as he fought with no enemy forces , so it was all just an abuse of process , against poor old pervy Andy.

Posted by: Recently updated | Nov 3 2025 15:19 utc | 181

No.  It’s just about the oil.  Poor Venezuela is “Socialist” in name only.  In reality, it’s a a resource rich Capitalist country with very mild reforms to aid the most poor.  It’s no “good example” in the region at all with huge numbers of poor and disempowered workers.  I hope Imperialism is defeated in Venezuela, but pretending Venezuela is some workers paradise is ridiculous.  
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 2 2025 18:08 utc |
 
 I’m assuming you haven’t been to Venezuela before, so where are you getting this info that the country isn’t really Socialist?  You seem to suggest that because there is many unemployed and poor people than the country cannot be socialist, as socialism (even under sanctions) must be a “worker’s paradise”. I read as much as I can about Venezuela and talk to some friends that are from there, but I’ve never heard anyone say that it’s a fake socialist country. Do you have any sources for that assertion other than people being poor and unemployed there? 

Posted by: James C | Nov 3 2025 15:37 utc | 183

Thanks for another great week, b.–
On breathing: ph, and james
You are correct that it is not something that humans do consciously. Concentrating on breathing, and remembering that one is actually alive.
There is an old Persian expression that says: for every breath you take, you give thanks twice. For once you breath IN, and for once you breath OUT.
It is also one of the core tenets of Zen Buddhism. Bring you concentrate on the NOW, and in the moment thing.

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Nov 3 2025 15:08 utc | 181
 
Thanks for this, Sakineh Bagoom!  I just had to depart from DialogueWorks just now,  because of Larry trashing Scripture.   He’s an honorable person in many respects, shirts and all.  But he should not badmouth Scripture.    Sorry, Larry — you do not know whereof you speak on this issue.   I suggest, dear Larry, that you take up Martin Buber’s I and Thou.   
 
It is a poem.
 
 
Biblical texts are easily mocked.  Spirit is breath.  Not the Michelangelo painting of the hand of God –  breath.    Martin Buber quotes Goethe thusly:  So, waiting, I have won from you the end:  God’s presence in each element.
 
Do not mock Scripture,  please.  Do not do that!
 
 

Posted by: juliania | Nov 3 2025 16:13 utc | 185

For decades, Bill Gates warned of climate disaster…until now
Gates wrong and backtracking yet again…

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 16:51 utc | 187

@Peter AU1 #132
Do you call SpaceX “a small engineering workshop”?
Read the NASA link above, if you have not already.
The problem in the US in general, the MIC and NASA in particular, is large corps who work with government, committing fuckery combined with government incompetence (paid or otherwise).
I have seen this first hand with Intel: Intel beat our asses at AMD, admittedly using monopoly financial tactics but their processes and CPUs were top notch back in the 1990s.
Fast forward: TSMC surpassed Intel is market cap in 2017 and in revenue in 2023.
On the process node/technology side: it was 2017 to 2019 that TSMC first passed Intel in smallest geometry although overall performance certainly did not come until later. TSMC certainly has passed Intel now in both financial and technology areas – and Intel faces a long, ugly and possibly impossible road back to dominance even just in its own CPU space.
Some of this is certainly due to monopoly: Boeing, Intel and other similar companies enjoyed dominant monopoly or oligopoly positions in their spaces.
But there’s no question that overall: the breadth and depth of manufacturing in the West in general and the US in particular, has dramatically declined even as China’s breadth and depth of manufacturing has skyrocketed.
You don’t fix this overnight, and you don’t fix this by replicating the same approaches as China used – among other things, China is nowhere remotely so shortsighted and stupid as to allow the same practices to be used on them.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 17:01 utc | 189

@too scents #135
No, it is the epitaph of the West: a class of “highly educated” morons who have driven their societies into the ground.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 17:02 utc | 191

@ChatNPC #137
Of course I agree in general that reshoring is not going to be without pain or quick.
But it won’t happen without changing the background economic environment. Tariffs are a critical part of this – there are many others.
As for the video: in the context of analyzing Marxist economist Cockshott, nothing wrong with it but drawing economic truth out of this video is highly risky.
I will pass on the incorrect definition of “unproductive labor” and go straight to his first concrete example: fossil fuel energy UK vs Iran.
The UK is declining in fossil fuel energy production, not due to lack of resources or engineers, but because the UK is actively legislating against fossil fuels. This anti-fossil fuel direction of UK society and government is directly an outcome of higher education; the level of fervor against fossil fuels is very closely aligned with level of education.
So is education to blame? lol

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 17:14 utc | 193

@General Factotum #149
Agreed – you can be unschooled but educated; the West is in the process of demonstrating highly schooled, uneducated morons.
Still – there is very much such a thing as excess education.
The way I think of it is drawn from Benjamin Studebaker’s “excess Song Dynasty bureaucrats” and Turpin’s “overproduced elites” theses. Both of these theses are based on the idea that there is a fixed need for educated people; producing more does not create more need, but creates angry, disillusioned and/or unproductive/destructive future revolutionaries.
Studebaker’s “excess Song Dynasty” retreated into a fantasy world of made up merit badges by which these losers could give meaning to their existence, while Turpin’s excess elites are the breeding ground for future revolutionaries against/corrupters of the existing order.
That’s why I constantly deride the chorus of “STEM”.
Sheer numbers of STEM don’t mean jack diddly if they don’t have jobs.
And you don’t need millions of STEM to industrialize, unless you deliberately want to have millions of STEM working in non-STEM jobs in order to winnow out the best/brightest into the actual STEM jobs. Which amounts to deliberately producing excess elites.
What actually matters, IMO, is finding those who are the best at something and putting them in positions where their superior capabilities produce something of value. Having 10000 mediocre but well educated engineers does not equal 1 brilliant one.
In the West today – between woke bullshit and financialized management and focus on nonsense like LLMs/AI, it should surprise no one that we aren’t producing jack diddly of value any more.

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2025 17:24 utc | 195

I see Trump has erupted over Nigeria supposedly aiding the slaughter of Christians and threatened it with military intervention. Why isn’t the same fury directed at the Zionist Genocidalists whose many victims include Christians in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria? RT has a good report in this issue today. 

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 3 2025 18:08 utc | 197

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Nov 3 2025 0:04 utc | 92  Trivial point first: When discussing a Supreme Court decision, you really do have to read the fine print and pay attention to the legalisms. Not so trivial: What counts as the US system keeps changing, blathering about how that’s the real system mistreats a partisan version of now as a unified whole implicitly unchanging and unchangeable.  
 

I get it that they, the Dems & the media & other Permanent Washington types, don’t like it, chiefly because DJT is helming the current initiative.    They were mum, however, when favored executives like shrub-Bush and Obama helmed quite similar efforts.

 
Trump did not declare that the Republican Party was a gang of traitors destroying the country and should never be allowed to hold office again, which he has said of Democrats. His criticisms of Bush were about losing. He was viciously critical of Obama (mostly about his birth certificate—yes, Trump was/is a birther) but not, not, not about the things you claim. As for the media not having any issues with what the junior Bush and Obama did? Bush was not and is not a Democrat, for God’s sake. For another thing, some elements of the media did in fact have criticisms, even if it was mostly seemed to be a case of deflecting radical criticisms with moderate, safely limited criticisms. And the notion that there is some uniquely furious uniformly vicious media campaign against Trump at all is, I repeat, simply false. You can arbitrarily conflate Dems and media and so-called Permanent Washington types. But there is Republican media. And the phrase Permanent Washington (standing in for similar non-concepts like Deep State and PMC) is merely an epithet hurled at, well, nobody. You might as well say that tin God Trump is being vilified by demons. 
 
As to the notion that you are merely addressing hypocrisies? Finding hypocrisy is like complaining about the mote in someone’s eye. Even worse, critiquing a policy or whatever is one thing, but at some point you are not pointing at a Bad Person: You are standing in front of the person you never criticize. And here’s a case in point. Further below you tell a story about how there’s a news report about how the Feds are saving LA from sex traffickers that deliberately omits a major recent bust of exactly the same traffickers. Yes, yes, media outrage that is for sure. But you misrepresented the facts: Trump’s DOJ claims to be saving the innocents civilians of LA from evil sex traffickers who are inexplicably or even sinisterly beyond the power of the local Democrats (not that I think LA is a Democratic Party monolith by the way,) which dovetails very nicely with the current policy of claiming a catastrophic war in Democratic Party run cities (or maybe just minority run?)  Still an outrage. But in this case it is obvious that Trumpery is part of the problem, not the divinely ordained solution. 

Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 3 2025 18:32 utc | 199