News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Iran …
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June 24, 2026
Open (Not Ukraine or Iran) Thread 2026-133
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Whilst I am observing a footwa for the duration of the World Cup, I am hoping dearly that Ghana and Panama win their final matches and that Iran makes it into the final 32.
Just sayin’.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Jun 24 2026 17:50 utc | 1
Every person who accepts that the state can tell you who your enemies are and who you can and cannot marry and have intercourse with, of all kinds, trade, sex, hospitality, etc,.
You are in the same position as the Zionist. State authority over boundaries of endogamy and exogamy exist for one reason only:
To perpetuate the state of war. A la Sophocles’ Antigone.
Anyone who accepts state authority over marriage, abortion, etc. is a slave.
Guess which institution has served the purpose of defining marital boundaries and thus the boundaries of war for most of the last 2100 years of The West?
Not the state of Israel.
The church. State authority as we experience it today derives from the Roman Catholic Church.
Every fucking person accepts the USG telling you you cannot marry that Mexican. Or Canadian.
You got bigger problems than israel.
Nice to have such a childish focus though ain’t it?
Posted by: Duck n cover | Jun 24 2026 18:23 utc | 2
MOATS, with George Galloway, Day 117: ‘Heatwave’
https://www.youtube.com/@GeorgeGallowayOfficial/streams
“Seething Trump loses war vote; later over reflecting pool; Burnham’s heat map.
With guests: Col Douglas Macgregor, John Mcternan”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 24 2026 18:36 utc | 3
over and over
we call it…it
a secret area
hidden to all
a place of comfort
a place of sacred glory
that’s it
the individual pit
Posted by: Upsidedowndingo | Jun 24 2026 19:24 utc | 4
A succinct and clear explanation of the overton window / controlled opposition dynamic from Caitliin:
politics is often just a culture war between one major party which embraces both the polite and impolite kinds of racism against another major party which only embraces the polite kind of racism, thereby ensuring that no political energy goes toward ending the polite kind of racism.
Posted by: Rae | Jun 24 2026 21:10 utc | 5
heated argument where someone starts saying the nastiest things they can think of = not polite
dropping bombs on foreigners in foreign places = polite
Posted by: Rae | Jun 24 2026 21:13 utc | 6
The anti-Iran war with US characteristics is attacking Iran and all the region, Iraq (as in the Iraq article below) Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Syria, Gulf Kingdoms, Yemen, Pakistan (coup), etc.
This is consistent with the former West Asia war in Iraq/Afghanistan and the Vietnam war which affected entire regions, not just a single country.
When the US kicks it off in China the entire region will also be affected with political, financial, kinetic war all at once in many countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Koreas, Japan, Vietnam, etc
Posted by: jonny law | Jun 24 2026 22:30 utc | 7
Youtoob. That restricts / bans / deletes content uploaders if they use words like suicide, murder, drugs, sexual assault, rape, nigger…. There’s a long list of prohibited words and speech.
Also youtoob : Why Putin Is So Hard to Kill?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pO-MTDW6nU
Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 25 2026 0:08 utc | 8
Venezuela has suffered 2 earthquakes of magntude 7.2 & 7.5, causing multiple building collapses in Caracas.
7.0+ earthquakes are seriously destructive. There was a 5.6 quake in Newcastle, Oz in 1989 which caused damage requiring repair to 35,000 buildings – but no complete collapses.
After Dementia Donald’s Military Assault on Venezuela’s economy, the last thing Venezuela needed was a destructive natural disaster.
Since Trump’s Piracy was motivated by Profit, the Venezuelans should insist that Trump stump up several hundred $Billion as a down-payment to cover the gap in Venezuela’s Economy caused by his Hitlerish act of Daylight Robbery.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 25 2026 3:57 utc | 9
Re: 5,6 versus 7,5 ?
A 7,5 releases just shy of 100 times the energy of a 5,6. The double tap of 2 quakes intensifies the damage.
Pray for their Souls.
Posted by: exile | Jun 25 2026 4:07 utc | 10
Walking at night, I saw a false mirror angled on a beautiful building. I picked it up, walking through the night till morning. I ended up in a park. Sitting on a bench with the mirror, some children made funny faces with their hands. With joy at their reflection.
Inspired by dada art. Anti art. Touching the surreal subconscious and not the heart.
Posted by: Upsidedowndingo | Jun 25 2026 4:52 utc | 11
The Congo – the DRC – re-colonization, pillaging, and dodgy deals – Excellent
How Jeffrey Epstein’s Israeli Network Shaped Congo’s Deadly Mineral Trade
Leaked documents reveal how military contractors linked to Israeli intelligence secretly trained a special operations strike force in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
Jun 24, 2026
How Jeffrey Epstein’s Israeli Network Shaped Congo’s Deadly Mineral Trade
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 25 2026 6:11 utc | 12
The bee colony collapse has already been registered in fifty countries around the world, not just Russia. It’s an inexplicable phenomenon. There are only hypotheses about why it happens: all the worker bees in the hive disappear within about a week. All that remains is the queen bee, who has no one to feed, and sometimes a handful of drones – and that’s it. Scientists thought that bees, for some reason, flew away and then were unable to return to the hive, becoming disoriented. However, even if a colony was confined to the hive, provided with food, water, and the right temperature, all the bees still died,” he explained.
The extinction of bees was first scientifically described in 2006
Dmitry, apiologist, PhD in biology, and senior researcher at the Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS
https://tass.com/science/2150707
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jun 25 2026 8:18 utc | 13
I always assumed there was some chemical cause for the deaths of polinators. I dont think scientists are happy to point out the industry since they often fund research instititutions. But since I dont know for sure I am interested in learning more.
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jun 25 2026 8:30 utc | 14
China got a new “supercomputer” without GPUs. Looks like it’s all indigenous hardware.
Posted by: Savonarole | Jun 25 2026 10:44 utc | 16
Sahel rising! What you say Segbo?
🇧🇫🍅 Made in Burkina Fso President Ibrahim Traoré’s new domestic tomato processing plants are a tactical pillar of the national Agricultural Offensive, President Ibrahim Traoré’s strategy to secure food sovereignty and break the neocolonial model of enforced underdevelopment. This offensive directly reverses the post-Sankara decades of policies that prioritized export crops and dependence on global agribusines. The strategy is comprehensive and self-reliant. It is funded through the nationalization of gold mining and a patriotic domestic fund, deliberately avoiding conditional foreign debt. Over $179 million has been allocated for agricultural mechanization, distributing Chinese tractors and tillers nationwide while supporting smallholders. The results are measurable: yields have risen 35–40%, and Burkina Faso has achieved consecutive national grain surpluses despite ongoing security challengs. Industrial execution is underway. In late 2024, two major factories opened: the $8.9 million SOFATO plant in Yako and the $11.9 million SOBTO facility in Bobo-Dioulasso. A third plant is actively planned for Tenkodogo. Financed through popular shareholding and state participation, these projects are designed to process local harvests into puree, aiming to eliminate imports that previously exceeded 23,000 tonnes annually. This captures value that previously flowed abroad, secures farmer incomes, and creates manufacturing jos. This forms a sovereign economic circuit: national resources fund mechanization, increased harvests supply domestic industry, and import substitution retains capital. The strategic effect is to drastically reduce the need for hard currency, diminishing vulnerability to dollar-denominated debt and Western financial leverae. Burkina Faso’s model demonstrates the critical link between industrial capacity and financial independence. By building real productive infrastructure, the country establishes the foundation to operate outside the coercive US dollar system. These processing plants are not just factories; they are instruments of economic sovereigny. In this, Burkina Faso provides a working blueprint for the emerging multinodal order: a nation using its resources and productive labor to build resilience from the ground up, transforming raw commodities into national wealth and strategic autono
Jan 14, 2026 · 4:44 AM UTC
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jun 25 2026 11:44 utc | 17
I keep bees. I am not an expert.
Colony collapse is not well understood, and has been known by several different names for over 150 years. Therefore, it is unlikely to be caused by modern pesticides – even if such chemicals promote the syndrome, or are associated with it.
Before Lorenzo Langstroth introduced his hive and bee-keeping methods around 1850, bee colonies essentially had to be destroyed to harvest honey. Bee-keeping was a cottage industry and bees were genetically diverse. Now, with European honey bees widely used as pollinators for massive agricultural monoculture farming, tens of thousands of hives are transported around the country and hired out as pollinators, which is more profitable than honey production. Queen bee breeding at very large scale selects for desirable traits, but inevitably further reduces genetic diversity, with unsurprising results…
There is a wealth of information available, but still an enormous amount to learn. Varroa recently arrived in Australia and we are coming to terms with changed management practices. Nearly all the feral (wild) colonies in the bush have died from varroa infestation. The mites escape and find a new home in active colonies, resulting in what is known as a ‘mite bomb’ where a hive may one day have low-to-no mite load and then suddenly gets over-whelmed by mites from the dead/dying hive. Many hobby bee-keepers have lost every one of their hives. Commercial apiarists also. A specialist queen breeder in NSW recently lost so many hives that they destroyed the remainder (totaling around 260 hives) and shut down permanently.
It is mid-winter here now, and I am back to 10 active hives – I consolidate for winter, and expand to 20 – 25 hives in spring. Surprisingly, last week I extracted just over 65 kg of very nice winter honey. Highly unusual, because I often need to feed the bees over winter!
It may be due to errors in translation, but some of the Tass content is incorrect or misleading…
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 11:57 utc | 18
Re:bees
I moved to an area that was predominantly beef farming 13 years ago. About 5 years later ‘cash cropping’ arrived. The lure of easy money, less work, and someone else’s job (corporate cropping) overwhelming changed the landscape. I now have crops surrounding my farm. Within 2 years of the crops arriving my hives began to die in the fall. I would check them beginning of November and things would be fine. Go to close them up later that month and they would be empty. First time I ever had die offs in the fall. It has been ebb and flow ever since with the trend always moving towards more die-offs. Last winter was the worst and has sped up my pursuit of a new location.
Neonics are used extensively on crops here. The systemic poison travels through the plant from the coatings on the seeds. This is not overly a problem for bees as they are not drawn to soy/corn/rye. However this toxin is in the soil and because of that other plants take it up. Here, golden rod (solidago) lines the perimeter of the fields and is a vector for the bees, it draws the neonic up, it’s a fall bloom when little else is around and the bees frantically collect from this plant as winter approaches and they need to store food.
With the growth of field ’tiling’, pipes that allow more air into the ground and drain water into water courses, there are now neonics in our streams, yes tested. Bees need a lot of water so even if you do not have crops around you the water courses will transfer this toxin. Try to get funding for this research in university…
What did the beekeeper say when he won a million dollars, ‘I guess I’ll keep beekeeping till it’s all gone.
Posted by: Willy | Jun 25 2026 11:59 utc | 19
Posted by: Willy | Jun 25 2026 11:59 utc | 19
Which of the 3 letter words matter:
Jew
USA
CIA
Bee
When the bees go, the cia goes. So does Israel. So does the US.
Bye bye russia and China. Bye bye all those 3 letter agencies traded on the global stock markets. Bye bye all those Chinese billionaires.
Some words refer to things that exist.
Other words are inventions used to manufacture division.
It rains on the just and unjust.
Strength thru homogenization! Hybridization dilutes the natural national purity. Aren’t such beliefs rampant in western gov’ts today?
Bees aren’t the only indicator that something is seriously amiss.
Maybe some day the superscientists will figure out some kind of relation between WORK and HEAT. Maybe all the Nobel prize winning cloned STEM cells in China or Russia can clarify the work-heat relationship. Maybe they will have to overthrow their capitalist billionaire filled gov’ts first.
Posted by: Duck n cover | Jun 25 2026 13:22 utc | 20
Will less WORK ever be done from all the bullshit efficiency “gains” from solar panels and EVs and next Gen nukes and windmills and so on?
Nope. Never.
Posted by: Duck n cover | Jun 25 2026 13:27 utc | 21
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 11:57 utc | 18
I wonder whether a dilute spray of neem leaf solution might help? I read wiki entry on varroa just now and it mentioned tests with neem oil (which comes from the seed not the leaf) but said nothing about the results. Sensitivity of different organisms differs between neem oil and neem leaf (for example neem oil is toxic to cats but neem leaf is not. Neem leaf extract is approved in the EU as an organic pesticide for fruit and vegetables, it is better than 100% non-toxic to humans, and of course if some ends up in the honey it will only have positive effects on the honey health-wise. As to the effects on pests, the question is the relative effects on mite vs. bee – I don’t know. On some insects it has no effect unless they eat large quantities of it, on a few other insects it kills them outright, but more often it alters (i.e. blocks) their sexual behaviour. On ants for example it seems to have no effect at all (unscientific self observation), so maybe bees might be OK too?
Neem leaf extract kills spiders (or was that the oil?? I could be mis-recollecting!) and mites like spiders are arachnidae, so who knows, maybe neem leaf might be harmless to bees and deadly/sterilising to mites!
Fresh neem leaf can easily be found in asian food markets most of the year round, usually under the Thai name sadao (bai sadao = leaf, dok sadao = flower). An extract can easily be made by soaking fresh leaves in boiling water, then pull out the leaves and probably dilute heavily at a guess for light spraying of bees.
Posted by: BM | Jun 25 2026 13:29 utc | 22
“Do and do and do”
Macbeth’s witches had a solid Protestant work ethic.
Posted by: Duck n cover | Jun 25 2026 13:36 utc | 23
the loss of bees may be our downfall. the end or interruption of this civilization. Whether contamination from human produced chemical mixtures or human produced frequencies in in the air or influences that we are not even aware of yet. This issue, if humans are intelligent enough, could unite us as earthlings.
Posted by: Ross | Jun 25 2026 13:41 utc | 24
The book “Invisible Rainbow” examines insect reactions (and other living things) to electric frequencies and i know firsthand about organic neem oil suppression of spider mites on growing plants. Great to hear from barflys about more than war and destruction for a change.
Posted by: Ross | Jun 25 2026 14:14 utc | 25
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jun 25 2026 11:44 utc | 17
What you say Segbo?
Perhaps you could find someone else for the daily session of pointless controversy, baseless accusations, and insults?
I really have other issues to deal with in my daily life, and it isn’t “infinite happiness” or “economic emergence” that you want to discuss.
Have a good day.
Posted by: Sebgo | Jun 25 2026 14:17 utc | 26
exile | Jun 25 2026 4:07 utc | 10
Agreed, tragic on top of everything else visited upon VZ recently. There was a 5.6 in this vicinity yesterday; biggest I’ve experienced is in the 6.5 – 7 range. I can’t imagine (nor really want to) what this was like for people in Caracas.
Prayers indeed.
Posted by: robjira | Jun 25 2026 14:49 utc | 27
I was just viewing the Dialogue Works conversation with Alex Krainer. He is a breath of fresh air until he starts objecting to Nima’s positive views about the New York primary successes against AIPAC candidates. Alex then creates two separate entities crafting those elections without realizing that the two entities are both viewed now by the US public opinion as a sickness in the same bloody swamp that must be defeated.
Now, maybe some of the ones who have so far succeeded will have underlying allegiance still to the neocon/ neolib faction, but the public will not stand for it — not only can there not be a draft situation for more war, (because young people will not submit to this), but their elders – parents and grandparents – are wising up as well. If you think there were protests during the Vietnam war, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just my opinion of course, and I am mostly a spectator when it comes to the political world; but I would point out that those of us who do not presently have party affiliation are a huge body of potential voters. Ignore us at your peril.
If anyone remembers what happened in 1968 at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the forces that will brew, even as the midterms take shape now, will be equally consolidated in a determination to defeat both aspects of the old uniparty – after the votes are cast in November. So those who take office then need to be aware of who has brought them to the dance. In the words of the great Molly Ivins: you’d better dance with those who brung you, and those who brung you in the New York primaries are the people themselves. Who have taken the first step forward.
Sure, it’s only a first step, but it is major! Bravo to those New York voters!! Let’s even say bravo to any honest Republican representatives who prove themselves in the next two years to be anti aipac and anti war. We’ve had a dishonest uniparty; lets create an honest one instead! And if that doesn’t work out during these coming two years, there’s going to be a brand new party bigger than the two sad rejects. Then 2028 will really mean something for my children and their children as well!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 25 2026 15:07 utc | 28
Please excuse my rant: it’s that of a loving grandmother wishing the very best USofA for her family going forward.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 25 2026 15:18 utc | 29
@ General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 11:57 utc | 18
that is so great you are a beekeeper…. my neighbour up the street is too.. he has 3 hives at the moment… i buy honey from him and i love it… there have been problems for him and he is a lifelong beekeeper who is in his late 70’s… but he continues to do what he does – like you, i am guessing.. i have mason bees myself which are good for pollinating everything… we have a number of fruit trees and apparently crabapple which we also have – cross pollinates with all the others which is helpful… i wish i could try your winter honey!
Posted by: james | Jun 25 2026 15:27 utc | 30
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 11:57 utc | 18
Posted by: BM | Jun 25 2026 13:29 utc | 22
If you happen to want to experiment with using neem leaf extract to treat varroa there are a couple of important things to watch.
1. If using fresh neem leaf from the local asian market, not all neem is really neem!
Neem is Azadirachta indica. There is a closely related species Azadirachta excelsa known in Thailand as “sadao thiam” (occasionally “sadao wan”) which has very similar appearance and taste to sadao but is far less bitter. The A. indica leaves have pairs of glands at the base of the leaf on either side of the stem, which are absent or barely perceptible in A. excelsa. The medicinal effects of A. excelsa are orders of magnitude less than A. indica, which would cause confusion if you use the wrong leaf! However in my experience A. excelsa is only rarely seen in asian food markets in the west.
2. There are 4 different effects which need to be looked out for:
A. Does it kill the bee when sprayed directly on them?
B. Does it interfere with reproductive behaviour, or block part of the reproductive cycle of the bee?
C. Does it kill the varroa mite when sprayed directly on them?
D. Does it interfere with reproductive behaviour, or block part of the reproductive cycle of the mite?
The most likely effects would be D and/or B rather than C and/or A, so if it initially appears to reduce reduce the mites without killing off the bees you would want to watch out for possible effects on bee reproduction before applying wholesale to all your hives! My hunch is that it would be worth trying at a very low concentration!
Posted by: BM | Jun 25 2026 15:27 utc | 31
@General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 11:57 utc | 18
Thanks for your and other additions. I asked AI about that particular scientist who wrote the Tass article. AI said he was fighting the mass import of cheap, southern bee packages (mostly from Central Asia)
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jun 25 2026 17:09 utc | 32
Today’s Hot Question
“I Blew Him Up!”
Those were the words attributed to Donald Trump when speaking about the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a senior military officer of a sovereign state, and a man who was reportedly in Iraq on a diplomatic mission.
What mysterious force invests Western leaders with the divine right to violate the sovereignty of other nations, bomb their territories, overthrow their governments, assassinate their officials, and then boast about it in public?
The United Nations Charter was supposedly drafted to prevent exactly such conduct. Article 2(1) speaks of the sovereign equality of states. Article 2(4) prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Yet Western capitals routinely treat these provisions as optional suggestions to be observed only by lesser nations.
Would Washington react with philosophical calm if Beijing announced that it had assassinated an American general in Mexico? Would London regard it as a regrettable misunderstanding if Moscow launched missiles that killed a British cabinet minister during an overseas visit?
Of course not.
The Western press would demand vengeance. Senators and MPs would rattle sabers. Politicians would thunder about international law. Television studios would overflow with experts explaining why civilization itself was under attack.
Yet when Western governments do precisely the same thing to others, the corporate media seldom asks uncomfortable questions.
Journalists who should function as watchdogs often behave like court stenographers, faithfully recording imperial proclamations while neglecting the elementary duty of scrutiny.
What explains this extraordinary sense of entitlement?
What historical, cultural, or ideological conditioning persuades otherwise intelligent people that some nations possess the right to kill across borders while others are expected to endure such violations in silence?
And what has happened to Western journalism that all the reporters appear more interested in amplifying presidential megaphones than interrogating power?
In an age supposedly governed by international law, why does the law appear to operate like a colonial railway timetable, strictly enforced for the natives and conveniently suspended for the empire?
Answers, anyone?
©️ Femi Akomolafe (1st Dan)
I’m transferring this from the Iran Open thread where I’d first incorrectly put it:
This was a pleasure to listen to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nKTHLrFKS0
Jeffrey Sachs chatting with Glenn Diesen. Two very civilized individuals.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 25 2026 18:37 utc | 34
Posted by: Femi | Jun 25 2026 18:17 utc | 33
Well…you’ve pretty well summed it up. And the answer is the same as your colonial railway analogy. The “Rules Based Order” (we make the rules, you follow the orders) has superseded the UN and affiliated conventions for any actions undertaken by the USA and “Israel” – and to a slightly lesser extent other former colonial powers.
To me a better or more pertinent question is Why? Why did the other members of the UN, and the UN Security Council willingly cede their codified powers, both individually and collectively? The easy answer is: Money. Same thing with the US Congress and legislative bodies in other countries who have allowed the executive (or nominal equivalent) to abrogate more and more power over the years despite flagrant contradictions with founding and governing documents like the US Constitution. These vassals and satrapies in the UN – like the US – have been taken over (if not always ruled) by their own versions of the money elite. Democracy has become a sick joke and a sham veneer for rule by (rich) man, papered over rule of law.
IMO it’s all of a piece. Greed, entitlement and the realization among the transnational aristocratic kakistocracy that they actually can get away with whatever they want and that they can selectively enforce (or just conjure out of thin air) rules governing war, international finance and regional/state level economies.
So perhaps the bigger question is: Who’s going to stop them?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 25 2026 18:44 utc | 35
“I Blew Him Up!”
Those were the words attributed to Donald Trump when speaking about the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a senior military officer of a sovereign state, and a man who was reportedly in Iraq on a diplomatic mission.
Posted by: Femi | Jun 25 2026 18:17 utc | 33
I saw that clip. I found it truly disgusting that the so called leader of a powerful country actually talked like an arrogant two bit hoodlum hitman.
Posted by: arby | Jun 25 2026 18:50 utc | 36
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 25 2026 3:57 utc | 9
I saw this in the nooz. Decades of crippling US sanctions on Venezuela have hampered their ability to upgrade building codes and buildings themselves. It has also limited their ability to fund crisis management and prevention services to comport with the size of the population.
Just another consequence of imperial subterfuge creating the conditions that make natural disasters even more deadly and hard to respond to.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 25 2026 18:50 utc | 37
I found it truly disgusting that the so called leader of a powerful country actually talked like an arrogant two bit hoodlum hitman.
Posted by: arby | Jun 25 2026 18:50 utc | 36
But that, of course, is what he is — among other unsavory things.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2026 23:16 utc | 38
Answers, anyone?©️ Femi Akomolafe (1st Dan)
Posted by: Femi | Jun 25 2026 18:17 utc | 33
*******************
The US is exceptional, for which I am truly thankful.
Iran – and its leadership – is exceptional, for which I am grateful.
China and The Russian Federation is exceptional, which makes me optimistic for the future.
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 25 2026 23:56 utc | 39
Please excuse my rant: it’s that of a loving grandmother wishing the very best USofA for her family going forward.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 25 2026 15:18 utc | 29
****************
Excuse? Au contraire, mon ami – your pedestal has been wheeled to a prominent position at the head of the queue!
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 0:00 utc | 40
@105 Don
“The meaning of a word is how it is used”
As well, but any word has predefined meaning also, or else it would not be understood. The contest over that predefinition (which in reality is not textbook but common perception) relies on how it is used.
Posted by: Ornot | Jun 25 2026 15:50 utc | 147
********************
From the previous Iran thread.
Meaning relies on much more than just definition and usage. There is context, nuance, culture, purpose, delivery, … and much more. An ‘exceptional’ example is provided in 39 above…
It is entirely possible (even likely!) that a person reading a sentence that I wrote would form an understanding quite different to a person listening to me speaking the same sentence over the phone, which could be entirely different to a person who was watching my face and listening as I was speaking.
I’m reminded of the example of agreement: ‘yes! yes! yes! conveys something quite different to ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ – especially if one can see the eye-roll of the speaker.
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 0:27 utc | 41
The end is nigh
for Western AI
Both OpenAI and Anthropic were planning on going public with their companies riding on the tails of Musk and are now saying that maybe they will go public next year…..
A Premium ZH posting is saying
the latest series of open Chinese models offer 95% of the US frontier performance for 10% of the price
The US is not going to dominate the AI world anymore than they will the quantum world which Trump is now pushing for…..when will the markets catch up to these realities?
When the house of cards falls it will do so biggly
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 26 2026 4:04 utc | 42
@ Femi | Jun 25 2026 18:17 utc | 33
femi – thanks.. trump is truly a despicable person.. this much is apparent to most folks…
@ General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 0:00 utc | 40
i love your energy and spirit gf!
Posted by: james | Jun 26 2026 4:26 utc | 43
ZH has a posting up, the title of which says it all
European Rearmament Efforts Snuffed By Chinese Control Of Critical Materials
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving union, eh?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 26 2026 5:11 utc | 44
It is entirely possible (even likely!) that a person reading a sentence that I wrote would form an understanding quite different to a person listening to me speaking the same sentence over the phone, which could be entirely different to a person who was watching my face and listening as I was speaking.
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 0:27 utc | 41
Indeed that is true, General. But don’t you find that you write far differently than you speak, either on the phone or face to face? Scripture is writing at its best I say, but there is a difference between the written words of Scripture (as written by a prophet or a king — Moses for instance, or David) and then read to oneself or read aloud by a church deacon. One difference between such in Orthodoxy is that such writings are always, in a church setting, sung or chanted. This brings to life a psalm of David, or even a passage from Saint Paul. The latter, properly orated, subtly rises in tone to anticipate the tone with which the choir follows in the next hymn.
Many psalms make the distinction between what the verses are saying and the final lines being such as ‘it will all be explained when I see you face to face’. ‘Now I sing, but then I will see you face to face.’
Posted by: juliania | Jun 26 2026 9:33 utc | 45
France ; the government won’t publish the ministers and cabinet drug tests results … come on , it’s not everyday they’re recording positives results !
Posted by: Savonarole | Jun 26 2026 10:03 utc | 46
Indeed that is true, General. But don’t you find that you write far differently than you speak, either on the phone or face to face? Scripture is writing at its best I say, …
Posted by: juliania | Jun 26 2026 9:33 utc | 45
********
It certainly is difficult to outclass some parts of scripture. I recently mentioned one of my favorite passages; “… and the King’s countenance was changed, and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other…”
Another is from Ecclesiastes 12:
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
The only ‘sad’ part is that when I first read this as a boy, I was enamored by the poetic beauty, clarity, and richness of expression with no wasted words. Now, a life-time later, I am on first-name speaking terms with the trembling keepers of the house; the bowed strong man; the ceasing of the few remaining grinders; the pointlessness of trying to look out through the darkened windows; the rising with the voice of the bird (I bet that damn rooster tastes better than he sounds!); the daughters of music have been brought low (I couldn’t enjoy James’ gigs – Menieres and industrial deafness now render music a dull jangling cacophony barely louder than the tinnitus)…
Verse 5 is a work in progress: ladders are verboten; everything happens so fast these days even a trip to the shops requires courage to be fortified; so the beauty has become somewhat tarnished over the years.
I have yet to understand the significance of the flourishing almond tree, or the burdensome grasshopper. I probably should pause here – the rest of verse 6 gets a bit troublesome… 🙂 but verse 8 is an excellent full stop.
And I really have no time to think about the rest – my lovely wife, family, friends, the vege and flower gardens, bees, and charity projects fully occupy my days – and sometimes my dreams also.
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 10:22 utc | 47
ZH has a posting up, the title of which says it all
European Rearmament Efforts Snuffed By Chinese Control Of Critical Materials
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving union, eh?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 26 2026 5:11 utc | 44
The country between Canada and Mexico is also a union. Just sayin’.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 26 2026 10:58 utc | 48
France ; the government won’t publish the ministers and cabinet drug tests results … come on , it’s not everyday they’re recording positives results
Posted by: Savonarole | Jun 26 2026 10:03 utc | 46
A righteous belly laugh to start my day. Thanks, Savonarole!
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 26 2026 10:59 utc | 49
Volkswagen has a new “Vision 2030” plan: fire 100,000 and close plants in Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, and Neckarsulm.
Usually management increases the numbers before talking with with the trade unions, so the trade unions can claim “victory” afterwards. VW to fire 100,000
Posted by: The Far Side | Jun 26 2026 11:47 utc | 50
Where’s all the bitching we experienced here under Biden now that TrumpMiller have destroyed the First amendment?
https://theintercept.com/2026/06/26/daniel-sanchez-estrada-zines-prairieland-free-speech/
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 26 2026 13:57 utc | 51
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 26 2026 13:57 utc | 51
Enough of the kayfabe about the red-blue tag team of misery.
The government wiped its ass with your venerated constitution with the misnamed Patriot Act (for which the public clamoured), but it was placed on the toilet roll holder decades before. It’s been accelerating down hill ever since.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Jun 26 2026 14:21 utc | 52
Ex-Apollo CEO Leon Black says Jeffrey Epstein duped him out of more than $60 million
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-house-oversight-committee.html
Comment ; Sure he did Leon. No one believes your lies.
Posted by: Exile | Jun 26 2026 14:49 utc | 53
@ General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 10:22 utc | 47
a fascinating overview gf… you’d do especially well to give as much time as possible to those mentioned in your last paragraph.. i am sure you do…that is what makes for a full and happy life..
Posted by: james | Jun 26 2026 15:25 utc | 54
FYI
Larry Johnson and Pepe Escobar have set up a new utube channel, Transition Protocol:
Transition Protocol
Geopolitics, De-Dollarization & The New World Order
Transition Protocol is your destination for deep geopolitical analysis, global affairs, de-dollarization, BRICS expansion, international relations, and the emerging multipolar world.
Hosted by Zulfiqar Ali, Transition Protocol features weekly conversations with renowned geopolitical analysts Pepe Escobar, Larry Johnson, and Fadi Lama, alongside other expe
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewRbK22LRnNi6N3EcGjbow?theme=dark
Posted by: suzan | Jun 26 2026 16:37 utc | 55
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 25 2026 18:50 utc | 37
(US Sanctions on Venezuela)
Thanks. I was wondering about that and had to look it up. It turns out that many countries imposed sanctions on Venezuela – ostensibly in response to Undemocratic behaviour during elections by Maduro after 2010.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 26 2026 16:55 utc | 56
Chinese 911 may have happened today, but were any Iranian passports found at the scene?
https://x.com/GuoShenCN7/status/2070549576172360187
The plane that just hit Beijing’s tallest building wasn’t a missile. It was a two-seater training aircraft. And nobody is talking about what that actually means. A SUNWARD SA60L “AURORA” LIGHT SPORT PLANE JUST PUNCHED A HOLE INTO CITIC TOWER — 109 STORIES UP — IN THE HEART OF BEIJING Registration B-12PP. Solo pilot Liu Junhua. A domestically registered general-aviation training aircraft — the kind student pilots fly — just struck the 528-meter China Zun tower, one of the ten tallest buildings on Earth, and left a visible hole near the top of the façade. Debris including a wing section rained down onto Guomao CBD streets below.
Posted by: Harmonic Resonance | Jun 26 2026 22:27 utc | 57
Posted by: Harmonic Resonance | Jun 26 2026 22:27 utc | 57
China must build better skyscrapers. It didn’t collapse into its own footprint.
Posted by: arby | Jun 27 2026 0:14 utc | 58
Posted by: arby | Jun 27 2026 0:14 utc | 58
七号楼发生了什么事？
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nGUlRFzZJU
I am reminded of a joke Malentov made here a few days ago.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 27 2026 0:21 utc | 59
Multiple Images:
https://t.me/CIG_telegram/78353
The ISSP has published a batch of claims and images related to last week’s attacks in Niger.
The Islamic State in Sahel claims they killed at least 80 soldiers and destroyed 38 vehicles in Inates and Banibougou last week’s Wednesday alone.
Medias close to the junta have confirmed nearly 200 soldiers died within a week in multiple attacks in Niger, from ISSP offensive and the JNIM terrorist attack in Niamey.
Posted by: UWDude | Jun 27 2026 1:07 utc | 60
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 26 2026 10:22 utc | 47
Something drew me back here. I can’t top your final comment, General, but fair is fair, weren’t we discussing language? But I assure you, you definitely would enjoy every one of james’s gigs. Alas, in our dotage we often make sweeping claims that are demonstrably easy to demolish. I say ‘easy’ but that it cannot have been, yet accomplished very charmingly it has been. Suitably chastised I again promise (james has lost count of how many times I have erred) never to do so again. Ever.
But before ever happens, here’s a short bit of language, (a gregorian chant I think), that goes with your last lovely paragraph:
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2026 4:14 utc | 61
@ juliania
your posts often times make me very happy and glad to know you.. thank you for being who you are!
Posted by: james | Jun 27 2026 4:19 utc | 62
The Grayzone Live: ‘Frozen Conflict’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvbrqGg641w
“Max Blumenthal is joined by Grayzone regulars Anya Parampil, Oscar Leon, Wyatt Reed, Kit Klarenberg, and Aaron Mate to discuss US military infiltration of the Americas, the ongoing Israeli assault on Lebanon, Keir Starmer’s final demise, the pro-Israel meltdown over the signing of the MOU with Iran and the victory of a handful of DSA-backed congressional candidates in NYC.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 27 2026 5:04 utc | 63
Beware, substacks users. Alternatives are badly needed
Another sign the US is too big us the monopoly on techhttps://bigserge.substack.com/p/to-my-readersIt emerged as the SOLE alternative for many bloggers who relied on user-friendly wordpress until wp made big changes a year ago.It is obvious that the goal is to be able to unplug independent bloggers all at once.
Posted by: Tom | Jun 27 2026 5:10 utc | 64
Something drew me back here. I can’t top your final comment, General, but fair is fair, weren’t we discussing language? … Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 27 2026 4:14 utc | 61
*******************
Juliania – just a grab bag of comments from me, in no particular order…
No thoughts of ‘chastisement’ ever entered my head, honestly! – I’ll leave that to higher powers, but the word jogged my memory and reminds me of another Bible text I took comfort from long ago. Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
“Lend me your ears!” – and I am sure I would enjoy James’ gigs!! That reminds me of recent comments about ‘old’ music way back in the seventies and eighties. I was going to join in, but it seemed out of place. For me, the seventies marked the decline of music, which was completed in the eighties. For real music, I think one needs to go back to the fifties and early sixties. Bo Diddley was the first live show I went to; and Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis were great – and Little Richard gets full marks for enthusiasm. There were a few hollow imitations to follow until most gave up… On the other hand, real music could actually be like my first real girlfriend – who is also my last, and also my only…
Yes, fair really is fair; but what is language for other than communication and the transfer of information? I remember in Kyoto there was an old man with a bucket of soapy water and a mop drawing calligraphy of ancient Japanese characters on the concrete footpath. I thought it was beautiful, but I guess the old-timers who stopped to look, think, nod their heads, and thoughtfully move on ‘saw’ more than beauty. Times New Roman doesn’t quite cut it 🙂 .
Ubi amor, felicitas, et pax sunt, ibi uxor mea carissima est.
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 27 2026 5:33 utc | 65
How does one make a Baidu account without a Chinese phone number? What ever happened to the good old days when one needed an e-mail address not tethered to a national telephone system?
Posted by: joey_n | Jun 27 2026 13:07 utc | 66
SCMP article on light plane hitting tower. Photos. The plane is a mere 600kg fully loaded with a 109hp Rotax motor.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3358555/small-aircraft-hits-beijings-tallest-skyscraper-prompting-evacuations
Posted by: Exile | Jun 27 2026 19:07 utc | 67
“Military coup in iraq. US Embassy on lockdown” (????????????????????????)
It doesn’t surprise me at all. Israel and the US still haven’t openly conceded defeat.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Piu4e8tLsuo
Posted by: WMG | Jun 28 2026 3:11 utc | 68
“Shots fired in Baghdad. US embassy in lockdown mode”. (???????????????????????)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_oFNq594c9w (length: < 1 minute).
Posted by: WMG | Jun 28 2026 5:36 utc | 69
Posted by: General Factotum | Jun 27 2026 5:33 utc | 65
Thanks, General, for your response; you are indeed a most fortunate being, as indeed is your dearest one. I posted as I did after scrolling through many renditions of the phrase. I found that yes it is a Gregorian chant, from the tenth century, but no rendition of it gave it the melody as I remember it, except for one with rolling ocean waves that began by briefly sounding it out. Aha! I thought. But then it waxed eloquent as did all of the offerings I could find online, busily cancelling out that timeless simplicity.
I was looking for something that captured your final paragraph, as you have restated it here, accompanying the chant. My own memory is that during the Latin mass which my California high school experience subjected us students to on a monthly basis, this was the simple phrase we sang over and over as Communion was taken. Not being Catholic, all I could do was sing, and so it etched itself into my brain as minimally representing all that is good and true in the world, as does your ‘final paragraph’. It’s a lovely melody and is the original that echoes in my memory, I am sure at least from that single wave-accompanying beginning.
All our sins may be many, and indeed they are; but they will be forgiven because we have loved much.
Dos vidanyah.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 28 2026 6:09 utc | 70
“Netanyahu heckled by crowd”.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wHBwE5vUPB8 (lenght: < 1 minute).
Posted by: WMG | Jun 28 2026 7:53 utc | 71
juliania,
FYI – these days the Latins accept anyone who is baptised as equally Christian and csn partake in the sacrement of communion.
Posted by: Exile | Jun 28 2026 12:58 utc | 72
Posted by: Exile | Jun 28 2026 12:58 utc | 72
I’m glad to hear that Exile — there have been a lot of changes since I was a school girl. Latin was latin back in my day, though it changed soon after.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 29 2026 2:52 utc | 73
@ Posted by: Sebgo | Jun 25 2026 14:17 utc | 26
“find someone else for the daily session of pointless controversy, baseless accusations, and insults?”
??????
My dear fellow segbo, wtf? when have I done that with you?
Think you are getting me confused with some of the merry dancers you have indulged with?
I was just asking for your opinion of that report and whether it reflects the truth of the tomato agro industry in that part of the world! Since you are there.
Anyway never mind if you are going to be so touchy about it. I’ll look it up elsewhere for my own edification.
Good day to you sir and good luck with your awful daily travails that keep you from this watering hole and it’s banter.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jun 30 2026 12:20 utc | 74
re: DunGroanin | Jun 30 2026 12:20 utc | 74
I too pissed off Sebgo the other day when I (jokingly – I thought) asked him to test his English (‘strine version) with this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdMoL-yCT6k
It’ll have you groaning with laughter.
Posted by: tucenz | Jun 30 2026 21:36 utc | 75