Excellent article! Whether it's incompetence or intentional, the results are still the same. I think most of us can agree that it's intentional, and has been from the get go. Covid was planned and is being used to usher in "The Great Reset" "Build Back Better", whatever ridiculous bullshit phrase you wish to label it.
The laptop is real. Everybody knows it. It proves that Joe Biden is bought and paid for. Now it’s time to ask the hard questions: What would a bought president be doing? Cutting our energy independence? Hurting Americans by cutting off trade via sanctions? Pushing us into a war we can’t possibly win that would likely lead to the rise of China as the world’s superpower? Devaluing the dollar and gutting the middle class?
Maybe the better question is: If Biden’s goal was to wreck the economy and enable the rise of China, would he be doing anything at all differently?
We are fortunate that an election will happen. Rumors of replacement of Harris spell a future impeachment to gain a competent chance for 2024. But with so many moving parts and a house of fools none of those schemes is likely.
We will see if corruption can conquer a nation. I think not as our lifestyles are being really challenged. This will not be a pretty recession coming up.
These are all very valid questions. Well said. We'll never hear them addressed by the corporate media shills, because they're all obviously bought off. The entire system has been corrupted and is rotten to the core.
I love your Substack. Just your writing makes me smile, even if the subject is frustrating.
The one thing people forget about is that if fossil fuels go, natural gas goes. So with the electrical grid we have now, we are supposed to *deep breath* run our appliances, run our computerized everything, charge our electronics, cook our food, heat our homes, heat our water, cook our food in restaurants (which *all* use large gas grills for cooking), heat our businesses, aaaannd charge our batteries for our cars aaannnd our mass transit for when we can't afford to buy and/or charge those cars.
This is why anybody who's ignoring nuclear to 'save the climate' isn't serious about actually powering the world. I'm pretty sure they want to ensure that you can't run your stuff or charge your car wherever you want. Control the energy, control the world.
The more people save on electricity, the more the companies must raise the prices and the governement increase taxes and add fees, otherwise profits drop.
That's one nice little equation showing why neo-liberal or libertarian economics are complete bupkiss when it comes to infrastructural necessities; they are all-right for stuff like which kind of 200 bubblegums are you going to buy, not so much when it's investing $46 000 000 000 in water & sewage systems. Due to Sweden adopting neoliberal economics in the nineties, we now have a backlog of maintenance to the tune of the quoted sum - ain't no profit in proper maintenance, and the easist way to increase profits quarter by quarter until you sell your shares is to continously cut down on staff, locales and equipment.
Because the root essence of neoliberalism and libertarianism always was and remains to this day: "F*ck you, Ive got mine and I can afford to move elswhere". As an ideology, it's a cuckoo.
Russian military doctrine states that the enemy is to be destroyed, not simply beaten. Also, losses matters not as long as you win.
How much will the EU be willing to pay to Ukraine to rebuild infrastructure while at the same time fighting a growing moslem insurgency in Germany, France, Sweden and other places and simultaneously ostacising those nations with the greatest real-life experience of moslem invasions - Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary?
Remember, Russia's goal re: the EU is not destroying the union but making it ever more corrupt, ineffecient and chaotically authoritarian. As for the US - lots of europeans have not forgotten what the US did to Serbia, nor how the US turned a blind eye to tens of thousands of mujahedin being brought to the Balkans by US allies Egypt and Saudi. In all politically oppositional circles all over the EU, there is a very real fear that any nation moving away from being subservient to US global capitalism will be attacked by the US with french/german support, covertly or overtly.
Do what we want and we'll make money off of you, and give some back to the generalissimo we allowed to you to elect, you mean.
I can't really blame US business and politicos playing the Great Game if I'm honest, but I can certainly get my hackles up over rampant hypocrisy on that end, but mostly about the sycophantic moronic stupidity on hours.
It's like it wasn't european peoples and powers what invented that Game, so what's our excuse for neither playing it properly nor even acknowledging it?
Russia wants Ukraine because it has lots and lots of what Russia makes its money from - fossil fuels, uranium, and rare earth metals. Trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and huge deposits of coal in Eastern Ukraine, and big oil formations in the Black Sea south of Crimea - these would be a gold mine for Russia. Ukraine also has a near lock on potash for fertilizer, so in lots of ways, this is a war over resources. And Russia can influence policy - and rule - in other countries which have become dependent on it for energy. Over and above that, Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, his goal for his legacy is to re-establish the old Soviet Union - as the Greater Eurasian Empire. He's got Belarus, South Ossetia, and Georgia, and he wants Ukraine, the Baltic States and about half of Poland - which are NATO members. The situation is a bit like 1938, where Hitler grabbed up the Sudetenland and had his eyes on Austria. The answer, in order to prevent a broader war between Russia, NATO, and inevitably the US, is to stop Putin in Ukraine. I don't like Biden's domestic policy, but he's spot on in his foreign policy, if anything we need to do more. In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...
Excellent analysis, but I rather think the situation is devolving into Cold War II.
Putin has pushed a rump Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden (both of these after kicking out Turkey, possibly) into NATO's no-longer-archaic arms, creating in one fell idiotic swoop a new Iron Curtain. After all, he only attacks NON-NATO countries.
Way to go, Putin, you idiot. (Please don't read this, get pissed, and let fly the nukes in a dying convulsion.)
Turkey will not leave or be ousted from NATO, that would force it to turn fully to Russia and China and its neighbours instead. Sweden is fun right now. There's a vote of no confidence against our minister of justice (Morgan Johansson, nicknamed "the Evil Dwarf" by some) due to his actions leading to unprecedented incompetence and politicisation of police - we have had 30 gangland shootings with lethal results this so far, with zero arrests being made.
This has made PM mrs Andersson (same party as Johansson) threaten to resign if Johansson loses the vote of no confidence. The whole vote now hinges on a kurdish defector from the swedish communist party (real, Stalin did nothing wrong communists sitting in parliament), and she has openly stated that she demands a public promise from mrs Andersson that Sweden will not comply with Turkey's demands that we (correctly) label kurdish terrorist/mafia clans as such (she herself is part of an influential such clan well-established in Sweden).
Interesting times indeed. The most likely scenarion presently is that if we become members of NATO, in a few years NATO/US will have to station troops on active duty here combating moslem insurgents (1 200 000 moslems in Sweden approx. and 1 is 1 too many). The swedish police and the swedish armed forces can't even handle twelve-year olds trying to burn police officers alive in their squad cars, as happened during the Easter riots this year.
"Look at Sweden!" as the man said. Failed state. Europe's sick man. Pray for us because we have by letting negroes and arabs and gypsies and such races settle here committed suicide.
I agree that Turkey will probably stay in NATO, but only because the Authoritarian (dictator)-for-life Erdogan will give in. But he might not. And I disagree that he will ever turn fully to Russia and/or China, whether in NATO or not. Mr. Erdogan is very safely an independent force of his own (and so are his peeps).
As for your Sweden, M. Rickard, I know not. You are obviously knowledgeable about its problems, but I have always admired Sweden for its historic place in, and contributions to, Western Civilization. I think Swedes have a natural affinity for true Capitalism, and I think you will handle your own problems in the long run in an appropriate (i.e. individual-freedom-preserving) way.
I could be wrong, of course, but I'm not really worried about Sweden or Turkey, and for completely different reasons. I hope I don't offend with my dismissal here.
We had laissez faire capitalism before the 20th century. It was an utter disaster, mainly. Abject poverty and starvation due to the capitalist system doing what it always does: strive to create monopolies to remove competition and then buy laws to cement this system, leaving the people in abject poverty and under authoritarian state measures.
It was so bad 1 500 000 swedes left for the US.
When starvation hit Northland, the governement dithered while children starved and the rich spent many a crown on handwringing articles but not an öre on actual aid. When the state finally bought food from the 'robber barons' it then re-sold it a loss to local big business in Northland, allowing these men (who of course were connected politically and royally) to sell it to the starving families in exchange for placing liens on their land.
Here's another example of capitalism: private debt used to be inherited. We used to have a system of indentured servitude and serfdom called "statare" until 1948, within which children were auctioned to the lowest bidder.
That my friend is the essence and soul of capitalism, and no True Scotsman fallacy will ever change that. The communists do the exact same thing as liberatarians when they say "It wasn't real communism" in Kambodja.
Some things free enterprise does best, some things not. And these aren't always the same over space and time and race and culture.
What you describe is a history corrupted by crime, not Capitalism.
Communists are correct to say it has never been tried, because in Marx's stages of societal development, Marx was simply wrong: true Communism can never be reached. It will always get hijacked along the way by human nature. To wit, someone, or a few must be "in charge" all along the way, and it will never be long before an Authoritarian Socialist and his posse exert control.
Capitalists are correct to say we have never really gotten to its perfect balance point (where the public sector, the part of Capitalism that is supposed to ensure the rights of life, liberty, and most especially individual property accumulation (capital), is only 10-15% the size of the private sector, that it doesn't distort the 85% free markets that are responsible for ALL wealth creation), but not for the same reason as the Marxian Communists. Their "notrueScotsman" is false. Mine is true.
Today's public sector is 50-60% the size of the private, and in some sectors (education, healthcare' healthcare insurance to name the biggies) is pushing 100% (rather Communistic, wouldn't you say?)
You blame Capitalism for things that are not Capitalism, and then stop me from correcting you. And on that it looks like we will have to agree to disagree.
There is only the capitalism that has existed throughout modern history, no other exists. Same with communism. Therefore, claiming it not to be "true" whatever is fallacious, period.
The theoretical working-as-intended-according-to-hypothesis version does not exist in reality, only as an ideal form. And the ideal put into practice can only be judged and evaluated by studying empirical reality.
I do not stop you from anything - how could I? (And why would I?)
Capitalism, as did democracy, worked only as long as there was a check on it to balance it - the Soviet system. With that around, we could all point out how much worse that was and how much better ours was, and therefore check both state and capital by pointing out where they moved in the direction of the soviet system.
As our political and business leadership purposefully made sure not to make China or the islamic world our new opponent, we are now completely lost with regards to what is beyond the pale.
Disagree with nearly all this. Putin has stated his goals repeatedly. Getting ourselves in the war doesn't prevent a broader war, it makes it FAR FAR FAR more likely.
Aleksandr Dugin has been Putin's mentor for years, and he's the one behind the Greater Eurasia thing - "It should be noted that Dugin does not focus primarily on military means as a way of achieving Russian dominance over Eurasia; rather, he advocates a fairly sophisticated program of subversion, destabilization, and disinformation spearheaded by the Russian special services, supported by a tough, hard-headed use of Russia's gas, oil, and natural resource riches to pressure and bully other countries into bending to Russia's will. Dugin apparently does not fear war in the least, but he would prefer to achieve his geopolitical goals without resorting to it.
Drawing on the extensive twentieth-century literature on geopolitics--and especially on the interwar German school of Karl Haushofer--Dugin posits a primordial, dualistic conflict between "Atlanticism" (seafaring states and civilizations, such as the United States and Britain) and "Eurasianism" (land- based states and civilizations, such as Eurasia-Russia). 43 As Wayne Allensworth noted, once one penetrates below the surface of Dugin's seemingly rational and scholarly language in Foundations of Geopolitics, one realizes that "Dugin's geopolitics are mystical and occult in nature, the shape of world civilizations and the clashing vectors of historical development being portrayed as shaped by unseen spiritual forces beyond man's comprehension." 44 In Dugin's treatise, as Allensworth underscores, the author has appropriated almost wholesale "the idea" of Belgian geopolitician Jean Thiriart, who "recognized the Russified Soviet Union as the final bastion of civilization in a Europe overrun by rootless American consumerism." Thiriart earlier had advocated the formation of a new "Holy Alliance" of the USSR and Europe aimed at constructing a "Euro-Soviet Empire," which would stretch from Vladivostok to Dublin and would also need to expand to the south, "since it required a port on the Indian Ocean." https://tec.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/aleksandr-dugins-foundations-geopolitics
Excellent expose, and little known in general, making it all the more worrisome, but...
As things stand now (imo, of course), this nefarious plan to spread a Russian Fascist hegemony is still well within the realm of fantasy. It has so many hurdles, and so many ways to fail, that it is not the danger you portray it to be. The greater danger remains an over-reaction by the West that risks the world (and therefore the U.S.) economy and the desperate use of nukes (not in Ukraine, of course: the radioactive fallout blows East to (real) Russian soil).
"Something else the president has been very clear about from day one, including directly with President Putin, and that is exactly what we would do in the event that Russia pursued the aggression that it was threatening and that we saw coming many, many months ago. And he had conversations with President Putin well before the aggression began, to just be very clear with him about what to do expect—what to expect in terms of our support for Ukraine, including with security assistance, as well as economic and humanitarian assistance if that proved necessary, what to expect in terms of the massive consequences that would befall Russia if it pursued the aggression, what to expect in terms of NATO strengthening its own defenses.
So we have not been hiding the ball on that. There, in a sense, have been no surprises. All of this was made clear to President Putin well in advance in an effort to deter him from proceeding with the aggression. Tragically, he went ahead anyway.
And then, Dan, all along we have tried to make sure that what we are providing to the Ukrainians, as well as what others are providing, meet the moment, and that is the equipment we provide is what they need to deal with what Russia is actually doing. So, for example, what was provided to the Ukrainians in the initial stages of the aggression, particularly in defense of Kyiv, with things like Stingers and Javelins really answered the moment. And by the way, that’s not something that started on February 24th or February 25th; it actually goes back to last Labor Day when the president did an initial drawdown package. Another very significant drawdown package, as we call them—this is the release of articles that our Defense Department has at hand—another very significant one at Christmas, so well before February 24th, and then, of course, since February 24th we’re now on our eleventh package. But each of these is tailored to meet the moment."
Thank you, M. stream. I actually have read that article.
Like I said, I actually think we have done a reasonable job of responding. I just don't think we need to spend so much treasure, not when we are so lame in responding to our own people's needs.
It is way past time for Europe to check Russian empiring in Europe. Ever since WWI, we have been suffering the moral hazard of paying, in blood and treasure, the defense of Capitalism the world over.
Second, Russian leadership thinks Russians will fight as hard as those it tries to conquer, and the opposite has been shown to be a very decisive factor.
In any case, Putin will get his Eastern Ukraine provinces, NATO has found new mission, and a new Iron Curtain is forming. May it be short-lived, as the Russian people, finally after all these decades and decades of inflicting the world with their belligerence, rise up and shed their Authoritarian Socialism. I thought it would happen in the '90s, but who knows, maybe in the coming years, they can actually take their place in the community of Western Civilization nations.
"maybe in the coming years, they can actually take their place in the community of Western Civilization nations."
They did that and got backstabbed the USA. Why in the world would they be interested in being part of our club? Hell, I don't even want to be part of this club.
A Cold War "containment" strategy is better. (And no more Vietnams this time. Just economic isolation until his backers decide they want yachts again.)
They don't need us. Our 'economic isolation' means jack shit when the rest of the world is happy to buy up Russian oil. We're hurting Americans and spending their money in the hopes that.............what? Russia gets involved in a quagmire and we fund the defense of Ukraine for years?
We're throwing ourselves at the tar baby, and only result is that we'll continue to get more entangled as the situation develops. We will never care as much about Ukraine as Russia does, just like Russia will never care as much about Cuba as we do. And it's only a matter of time before an American gets killed over there and the warmongers start frothing at the mouth, with an obedient media cheering them on.
I know, I know. My *realpolitik* (pardon my conceit) on this issue pisses off every fellow libertarian who hears it (did you read the vitriol I endured on GG in late Feb?), and it even is at odds with Mr. Realpolitik himself, Henry Kissinger (my, how international relations causes strange bedfellows: you and Henry, on the one hand, and me and Mr. Soros on the other).
But please don't be angry at this disagreement of ours, M. Sim. Consider:
1) I never, nor do I now, nor will I ever, be for U.S. boots on the ground, EVEN in a rump Ukraine that is squarely in Europe's Western Civ.
2) I am adamantly against throwing ANY U.S treasure at the conflict, let alone the equivalent of over half the entire Russian military budget. This immediately became my conviction early on when Russia turned out to the proverbial paper tiger.
3) We NEVER invaded Cuba, nor would we have (we might have bombed some missile silos if Khrushchev hadn't put his shoes back on and calmed down). Putin, like another famous Fascist, let loose the dogs, NOT us.
4) Americans HAVE been killed in Ukraine. They are anti-Fascist mercenaries, of the same mettle as those who volunteered to fight the proto-Fascist Francisco Franco before the REAL anti-Fascism fighting began (ask Poland, and thank you U.K. and France for honoring Western Civilization by declaring war on Germany on September 2, 1939, the day after Poland was divvied up by Putin's Fascist antecedents). As you no doubt know, a famous movie was made after Fascism was defeated that time, and the main character, Rick Blaine, was one of those Spain-defending freedom fighting mercenaries. Good men hate the Fascism that today still infects Russia. Good on the ones who do something about it.
5) Yes, the warmongers (The neo twins) among us are always a danger. I say we can check them AND isolate today's empiring Fascist. I think we're doing a pretty good job of it, considering the "leadership" we are currently saddled with. Putin must be made the pariah, lest he in any way think he can continue threatening the free world. And we have learned, having been egregiously fooled into a "patriot" act, not to be led by the nose by those damn neo twins.
6)"...when the rest of the world is happy to buy up Russian oil." Sorry, not true. Europe is painfully, and to their credit doing so in a responsibly slow manner, curtailing their dependence on Russian carbon. And, even more importantly, Xi, not the Putin-like idiot he, has seen the writing on the wall, and is quietly going neutral. He may buy Putin some time by buying SOME Russian carbon, but he won't come to Putin's aid otherwise. Their will be no Molotov-Ribbentrop equivalent between Russia and China.
Finally, to be clear, if you ever think I advocate spending even one dollar, or one drop of our precious blood, on Putin's shithole doorstep (the Kievan Rus), then I have egregiously been misunderstood.
The world, or at least that part of it still willing to oppose International Fascism, must isolate today's Fascist. You are absolutely correct that we must NOT isolate ourselves, nor fight in any way other than economically. We are still strong enough to do that without hurting Americans or the American economy.
But we can also disagree agreeably. We agree so well in every other way I can think of. The issue IS important, but our friendship is, to me, even more so, and I honor your opinion, even when we do disagree. Indeed, you are among the very few who could change this stubborn old man's mind, and you will always have my ear.
I never take anything personally and love debate, so you don't have to worry about me getting upset.
Your post is good, but we 100% would have invaded Cuba (again) if the Russians didn't pull the missiles out. Technically it might have just been nuking the island instead of an invasion, but we WERE NOT going to allow those missiles to remain, ever.
China is ALREADY buying Russian oil, ramping up from their already record-setting purchases of 2020.
China is buying a record 1.6 million tonnes of Russian oil for loading at sea over the next four weeks, taking advantage of rock bottom prices for Russia’s flagship Urals grade combined with a collapse in demand in Europe, traders said on Wednesday.
The US and its European allies are cranking up sanctions on Russian oil, gas and coal following the war in Ukraine, but the measures will not stop China from buying the federation’s fossil fuels.
A loophole within the framework of these sanctions allows China, the largest guzzler of energy in the world, to purchase oil and gas from Russia.
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Not only are the sanctions hurting Americans, they are driving Russian into the arms of China and India. Even if the WW3 teams are "The world vs Russia/China", we're not looking at a rout where the good guys wafflestomp the bad guys.
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Finally, to be clear, if you ever think I advocate spending even one dollar, or one drop of our precious blood, on Putin's shithole doorstep (the Kievan Rus), then I have egregiously been misunderstood.
How are we going to fight economically without spending any money?
The United States and its European allies have launched a devastating campaign of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, cutting Moscow off from critical energy markets at a time when it needs capital to fuel the ongoing conflict.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has been thrown a lifeline from Asian economic titans China and India, which have refused to join the sanctions, but have yet to be targeted for their dealings with Moscow, and have moved to buy more Russian oil than ever before.
The premise is simple: China and India buy what the European Union has largely banned, and at a lower rate
"How are we going to fight economically without spending any money?"
By severely restricting trade, a necessarily long process for which we have done a reasonably (considering the complicated nature of the endeavor) good start. And by continuing to help (and prod) Europe in ending its dependence on Russian carbon, and the extreme moral hazard such a dependence causes.
Yes, China (by strategic opportunism) and India (by necessity) will bankroll Putin and his oligarchs by purchasing his carbon, but the West puts pressure on all parties by 1) removing our (huge) market demand, and 2) re-developing an energy independence which is completely within our ability to do (just one example: drill,baby,drill).
And emerging India should be offered not only olive branches, but constant welcome into the Western Civilization fold. they should not ever be considered the West's enemy.
So...we disagree about the energy/carbon equations and future.
I will grant your comments on Cuba (yes, we sent the bully Teddy, or he sent himself, up that Cuban hill, and JFK yanked the rug out from under some Cuban freedom fighters in an unnecessary Cold War fiasco, but those were SO once-upon-a-time), but we would not have nuked Khrushchev's nukes; we would have conventionally bombed them if they had not been removed. And, yes, we should NOT station nukes in Eastern Europe (or in Europe for that matter, of course).
"I never take anything personally and love debate, so you don't have to worry about me getting upset."
Thank you for that. I have come to expect as much from you, but I guess I am someone who needs to be assured of it from time to time! I have often wondered at people's inability to debate without hurting feelings, something I never intend to do, but am always expecting to be done to me. Does that make sense?
Oh, and thanks for the links, something I lazily neglect to provide (usually) in support of my own opinions.
I see where we could bring down the price of gasoline: not too many months ago, we were not only self-sufficient in it, we were making money exporting it! And pipelines cost less than tank cars and tank trucks.
And California ($6.00/"special-blend"-because-we're-special) could stop being so special, and stop requiring its own blends.
We know how to do all this in environmentally sound ways.
As much as their are reports that the US isn’t tracking how the money is being used for Ukraine, I assume they do know how much is going to the MIC. In fact, I assume the vast majority of the donated money coming straight back to the US as payments for arms.
What I find funny (and un-observed as yet) is, we are, in essence, borrowing the $40,000,000,000.00 (I like to write it out; all those zeros clear my mind) from...
China!
So...I wonder if Putin has realized that his new bestie Xi is funding the Ukrainian military by, in essence, laundering the funds through Xi's patsy, IceCreamJoe!!
Ok. So only about a 1/4 of the funds go directly to US arm manufacturers. The majority is going to unspecified (at least in csis summary) aid programs. I’m guessing that a lot of well connected NGO’s just got incorporated.
I used to petition my state representative to institute a Windmill Profits Tax, but he never responded. Perhaps now, by including wind turbines, its time has come!
Mandate always online smart-filter breathing masks, both for counting your breaths while away from home ("Is this trip really necessary citizen?") and to measure how much CO2 you emit ("Control your breathing citizen, you too must do your part for the Planet").
That way, you can tax all breathing that is deemed non-essential, and also tax CO2-emissions. With a nice progressive scaling for deductibles of course, so only the people not earning enough to buy carbon credits have to wear the silly things.
Don't be! Through all these chaos we've formed networks that can get things done quickly -- and we will, as soon as the 'old guard' are out the door and we can start the trials.
Drawing Russia into a quagmire. Just the redux Zbigniew Brzezinski would have wanted. Pray there is a hell because if there is he has a special place in it.
Meanwhile, the EU (you know, the countries that are actually IMPACTED by the war in Ukraine cause they're like neighbors or something) have given about $1b collectively.
So--in paraphrase of a certain ironic button I had on my HS bookbag (lo this more than half-century ago) that a schoolmate who didn't get it made reproving faces at: Libertarians Unite!
Quick poll: Who amongst ye is ready to give up your and yourn family's smartphones and all-inclusive data plan and get thyselves the bare-bones models for emergency use only? In that first step towards lettin' 'em know how we feel? Because don't you all have other devices too for that web browsing and movie streaming and game-playing?
We were so creeped out by the ads on our TV almost following our conversations, even when off, that we turned off wireless. Living fine wo ever streaming anything. We have a cellphone with Hotspot for necessities like banking, paying bills, etc. It is almost impossible to accomplish many things over the phone now in an actual conversation. We have been corralled into the internet.
What bemuses me is looking at the movie offerings on Xfinity's TV listings or Netflix or HBO Max, and going to Google them and having the movie name show up in the search box after typing something like "th..). Heck of a mindreader, that interwebs thingy...
Several years ago, my husband looked up something random on his phone at a restaurant (like congoleum flooring or something like that), so he was on Verizon data, and later that day ads for the same product showed up on my computer running through the house internet. So the information from his phone had to download to some server some where when he went on the house internet, and then that info was fed to Facebook based on the IP address of the house system.
But they can't catch crazy people before they shoot up stores or schools. Why do I find that hard to believe?
At a softball tournament with a bunch of buddies. My phone is at home because you don't need a phone to play softball. After the tournament we're sitting around drinking a few beers, and some of the guys are talking about going to a strip club over in Portland. I opt to go home instead, and when I log onto my Facebook account later, THERE'S AN AD FOR THE STRIP CLUB. Never seen it before, never seen it since (though now I'm not on FB).
I was not tagged in any photos. I was not 'mentioned' as being at the tournament. Yet the ads still found their way onto my computer.
We unplugged Alexa in our house because at random moments she would ask, "I'm sorry. I didn't understand the question." My guess is Siri or Android's version of Siri was listening on your friends' phones. If you're with them often enough, you're a "known associate," either because of location information or because your phone attaches to your IP address at home, and there you go.
Not to beat a dead horse, but we know businesses are spying on us, and we know the government is spying on us, so while I am not a wild conspiracy theorist, I don't judge people who suggest the government is in some way behind the mass shootings lately, even if their "involvement" is knowing these crazies are out there and not stopping them. I've even started to wonder myself.
Just one of those impenetrable mysteries of the universe, right?
Before I started using AdBlocker, I was searching on Amazon for the sneakers I like, and they were about $69 at the time which was too much for me. Thenceforward ads for those sneakers showed up everywhere. Finally one day the ad listed a price of $19 and I was sure it was evil malware ransomware aliens from space trying to steal my brains--you know what I mean.
But I was curious so went directly to Amazon and searched for those sneakers and lo. They were, indeed, from Amazon, that brand, being sold for $19 so of course I got 'em. The one time our overlords did me a favor...
Now, now. Let's not throw the baby (substack, SCA's sweet-smelling posts, pop122's Pandora stations, duckduckgo, RealClearPolitics, etc.) out with the bathwater (Twitter if Elon fails, the MSM, the woke, et cetera ad nauseum).
See, this is the issue. Some things are proof the advance of civilization has worthwhile purpose, like laptops over clay tablets. Some things are just abominations, like electric cooktops replacing gas stoves.
Think of all those equines with the leisure to play polo now instead of laboring for the Pony Express.
And you--you want to ruin the days of pigeons having such a great time crapping on statues by making them do an honest day's work.
Excellent article! Whether it's incompetence or intentional, the results are still the same. I think most of us can agree that it's intentional, and has been from the get go. Covid was planned and is being used to usher in "The Great Reset" "Build Back Better", whatever ridiculous bullshit phrase you wish to label it.
Exactly the case. I lean toward intentional as well.
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/now-that-were-done-pretending-hunters
The laptop is real. Everybody knows it. It proves that Joe Biden is bought and paid for. Now it’s time to ask the hard questions: What would a bought president be doing? Cutting our energy independence? Hurting Americans by cutting off trade via sanctions? Pushing us into a war we can’t possibly win that would likely lead to the rise of China as the world’s superpower? Devaluing the dollar and gutting the middle class?
Maybe the better question is: If Biden’s goal was to wreck the economy and enable the rise of China, would he be doing anything at all differently?
We are fortunate that an election will happen. Rumors of replacement of Harris spell a future impeachment to gain a competent chance for 2024. But with so many moving parts and a house of fools none of those schemes is likely.
We will see if corruption can conquer a nation. I think not as our lifestyles are being really challenged. This will not be a pretty recession coming up.
When people complain about high gas prices, I say "Enjoy them while they're still low."
They'll understand in a few months.
These are all very valid questions. Well said. We'll never hear them addressed by the corporate media shills, because they're all obviously bought off. The entire system has been corrupted and is rotten to the core.
I love your Substack. Just your writing makes me smile, even if the subject is frustrating.
The one thing people forget about is that if fossil fuels go, natural gas goes. So with the electrical grid we have now, we are supposed to *deep breath* run our appliances, run our computerized everything, charge our electronics, cook our food, heat our homes, heat our water, cook our food in restaurants (which *all* use large gas grills for cooking), heat our businesses, aaaannd charge our batteries for our cars aaannnd our mass transit for when we can't afford to buy and/or charge those cars.
Call me crazy, but I don't see this ending well.
This is why anybody who's ignoring nuclear to 'save the climate' isn't serious about actually powering the world. I'm pretty sure they want to ensure that you can't run your stuff or charge your car wherever you want. Control the energy, control the world.
The more people save on electricity, the more the companies must raise the prices and the governement increase taxes and add fees, otherwise profits drop.
That's one nice little equation showing why neo-liberal or libertarian economics are complete bupkiss when it comes to infrastructural necessities; they are all-right for stuff like which kind of 200 bubblegums are you going to buy, not so much when it's investing $46 000 000 000 in water & sewage systems. Due to Sweden adopting neoliberal economics in the nineties, we now have a backlog of maintenance to the tune of the quoted sum - ain't no profit in proper maintenance, and the easist way to increase profits quarter by quarter until you sell your shares is to continously cut down on staff, locales and equipment.
Because the root essence of neoliberalism and libertarianism always was and remains to this day: "F*ck you, Ive got mine and I can afford to move elswhere". As an ideology, it's a cuckoo.
Russian military doctrine states that the enemy is to be destroyed, not simply beaten. Also, losses matters not as long as you win.
How much will the EU be willing to pay to Ukraine to rebuild infrastructure while at the same time fighting a growing moslem insurgency in Germany, France, Sweden and other places and simultaneously ostacising those nations with the greatest real-life experience of moslem invasions - Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary?
Remember, Russia's goal re: the EU is not destroying the union but making it ever more corrupt, ineffecient and chaotically authoritarian. As for the US - lots of europeans have not forgotten what the US did to Serbia, nor how the US turned a blind eye to tens of thousands of mujahedin being brought to the Balkans by US allies Egypt and Saudi. In all politically oppositional circles all over the EU, there is a very real fear that any nation moving away from being subservient to US global capitalism will be attacked by the US with french/german support, covertly or overtly.
Do what we want, we give you money.
Don't do what we want, we bomb you.
Do what we want and we'll make money off of you, and give some back to the generalissimo we allowed to you to elect, you mean.
I can't really blame US business and politicos playing the Great Game if I'm honest, but I can certainly get my hackles up over rampant hypocrisy on that end, but mostly about the sycophantic moronic stupidity on hours.
It's like it wasn't european peoples and powers what invented that Game, so what's our excuse for neither playing it properly nor even acknowledging it?
Russia wants Ukraine because it has lots and lots of what Russia makes its money from - fossil fuels, uranium, and rare earth metals. Trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and huge deposits of coal in Eastern Ukraine, and big oil formations in the Black Sea south of Crimea - these would be a gold mine for Russia. Ukraine also has a near lock on potash for fertilizer, so in lots of ways, this is a war over resources. And Russia can influence policy - and rule - in other countries which have become dependent on it for energy. Over and above that, Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, his goal for his legacy is to re-establish the old Soviet Union - as the Greater Eurasian Empire. He's got Belarus, South Ossetia, and Georgia, and he wants Ukraine, the Baltic States and about half of Poland - which are NATO members. The situation is a bit like 1938, where Hitler grabbed up the Sudetenland and had his eyes on Austria. The answer, in order to prevent a broader war between Russia, NATO, and inevitably the US, is to stop Putin in Ukraine. I don't like Biden's domestic policy, but he's spot on in his foreign policy, if anything we need to do more. In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...
Excellent analysis, but I rather think the situation is devolving into Cold War II.
Putin has pushed a rump Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden (both of these after kicking out Turkey, possibly) into NATO's no-longer-archaic arms, creating in one fell idiotic swoop a new Iron Curtain. After all, he only attacks NON-NATO countries.
Way to go, Putin, you idiot. (Please don't read this, get pissed, and let fly the nukes in a dying convulsion.)
Turkey will not leave or be ousted from NATO, that would force it to turn fully to Russia and China and its neighbours instead. Sweden is fun right now. There's a vote of no confidence against our minister of justice (Morgan Johansson, nicknamed "the Evil Dwarf" by some) due to his actions leading to unprecedented incompetence and politicisation of police - we have had 30 gangland shootings with lethal results this so far, with zero arrests being made.
This has made PM mrs Andersson (same party as Johansson) threaten to resign if Johansson loses the vote of no confidence. The whole vote now hinges on a kurdish defector from the swedish communist party (real, Stalin did nothing wrong communists sitting in parliament), and she has openly stated that she demands a public promise from mrs Andersson that Sweden will not comply with Turkey's demands that we (correctly) label kurdish terrorist/mafia clans as such (she herself is part of an influential such clan well-established in Sweden).
Interesting times indeed. The most likely scenarion presently is that if we become members of NATO, in a few years NATO/US will have to station troops on active duty here combating moslem insurgents (1 200 000 moslems in Sweden approx. and 1 is 1 too many). The swedish police and the swedish armed forces can't even handle twelve-year olds trying to burn police officers alive in their squad cars, as happened during the Easter riots this year.
"Look at Sweden!" as the man said. Failed state. Europe's sick man. Pray for us because we have by letting negroes and arabs and gypsies and such races settle here committed suicide.
I agree that Turkey will probably stay in NATO, but only because the Authoritarian (dictator)-for-life Erdogan will give in. But he might not. And I disagree that he will ever turn fully to Russia and/or China, whether in NATO or not. Mr. Erdogan is very safely an independent force of his own (and so are his peeps).
As for your Sweden, M. Rickard, I know not. You are obviously knowledgeable about its problems, but I have always admired Sweden for its historic place in, and contributions to, Western Civilization. I think Swedes have a natural affinity for true Capitalism, and I think you will handle your own problems in the long run in an appropriate (i.e. individual-freedom-preserving) way.
I could be wrong, of course, but I'm not really worried about Sweden or Turkey, and for completely different reasons. I hope I don't offend with my dismissal here.
We had laissez faire capitalism before the 20th century. It was an utter disaster, mainly. Abject poverty and starvation due to the capitalist system doing what it always does: strive to create monopolies to remove competition and then buy laws to cement this system, leaving the people in abject poverty and under authoritarian state measures.
It was so bad 1 500 000 swedes left for the US.
When starvation hit Northland, the governement dithered while children starved and the rich spent many a crown on handwringing articles but not an öre on actual aid. When the state finally bought food from the 'robber barons' it then re-sold it a loss to local big business in Northland, allowing these men (who of course were connected politically and royally) to sell it to the starving families in exchange for placing liens on their land.
Here's another example of capitalism: private debt used to be inherited. We used to have a system of indentured servitude and serfdom called "statare" until 1948, within which children were auctioned to the lowest bidder.
That my friend is the essence and soul of capitalism, and no True Scotsman fallacy will ever change that. The communists do the exact same thing as liberatarians when they say "It wasn't real communism" in Kambodja.
Some things free enterprise does best, some things not. And these aren't always the same over space and time and race and culture.
The "no true Scotsman" can be true or false.
What you describe is a history corrupted by crime, not Capitalism.
Communists are correct to say it has never been tried, because in Marx's stages of societal development, Marx was simply wrong: true Communism can never be reached. It will always get hijacked along the way by human nature. To wit, someone, or a few must be "in charge" all along the way, and it will never be long before an Authoritarian Socialist and his posse exert control.
Capitalists are correct to say we have never really gotten to its perfect balance point (where the public sector, the part of Capitalism that is supposed to ensure the rights of life, liberty, and most especially individual property accumulation (capital), is only 10-15% the size of the private sector, that it doesn't distort the 85% free markets that are responsible for ALL wealth creation), but not for the same reason as the Marxian Communists. Their "notrueScotsman" is false. Mine is true.
Today's public sector is 50-60% the size of the private, and in some sectors (education, healthcare' healthcare insurance to name the biggies) is pushing 100% (rather Communistic, wouldn't you say?)
You blame Capitalism for things that are not Capitalism, and then stop me from correcting you. And on that it looks like we will have to agree to disagree.
There is only the capitalism that has existed throughout modern history, no other exists. Same with communism. Therefore, claiming it not to be "true" whatever is fallacious, period.
The theoretical working-as-intended-according-to-hypothesis version does not exist in reality, only as an ideal form. And the ideal put into practice can only be judged and evaluated by studying empirical reality.
I do not stop you from anything - how could I? (And why would I?)
Capitalism, as did democracy, worked only as long as there was a check on it to balance it - the Soviet system. With that around, we could all point out how much worse that was and how much better ours was, and therefore check both state and capital by pointing out where they moved in the direction of the soviet system.
As our political and business leadership purposefully made sure not to make China or the islamic world our new opponent, we are now completely lost with regards to what is beyond the pale.
Disagree with nearly all this. Putin has stated his goals repeatedly. Getting ourselves in the war doesn't prevent a broader war, it makes it FAR FAR FAR more likely.
Aleksandr Dugin has been Putin's mentor for years, and he's the one behind the Greater Eurasia thing - "It should be noted that Dugin does not focus primarily on military means as a way of achieving Russian dominance over Eurasia; rather, he advocates a fairly sophisticated program of subversion, destabilization, and disinformation spearheaded by the Russian special services, supported by a tough, hard-headed use of Russia's gas, oil, and natural resource riches to pressure and bully other countries into bending to Russia's will. Dugin apparently does not fear war in the least, but he would prefer to achieve his geopolitical goals without resorting to it.
Drawing on the extensive twentieth-century literature on geopolitics--and especially on the interwar German school of Karl Haushofer--Dugin posits a primordial, dualistic conflict between "Atlanticism" (seafaring states and civilizations, such as the United States and Britain) and "Eurasianism" (land- based states and civilizations, such as Eurasia-Russia). 43 As Wayne Allensworth noted, once one penetrates below the surface of Dugin's seemingly rational and scholarly language in Foundations of Geopolitics, one realizes that "Dugin's geopolitics are mystical and occult in nature, the shape of world civilizations and the clashing vectors of historical development being portrayed as shaped by unseen spiritual forces beyond man's comprehension." 44 In Dugin's treatise, as Allensworth underscores, the author has appropriated almost wholesale "the idea" of Belgian geopolitician Jean Thiriart, who "recognized the Russified Soviet Union as the final bastion of civilization in a Europe overrun by rootless American consumerism." Thiriart earlier had advocated the formation of a new "Holy Alliance" of the USSR and Europe aimed at constructing a "Euro-Soviet Empire," which would stretch from Vladivostok to Dublin and would also need to expand to the south, "since it required a port on the Indian Ocean." https://tec.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/aleksandr-dugins-foundations-geopolitics
LOL that sounds like something every country does and we do lots more than others.
Excellent expose, and little known in general, making it all the more worrisome, but...
As things stand now (imo, of course), this nefarious plan to spread a Russian Fascist hegemony is still well within the realm of fantasy. It has so many hurdles, and so many ways to fail, that it is not the danger you portray it to be. The greater danger remains an over-reaction by the West that risks the world (and therefore the U.S.) economy and the desperate use of nukes (not in Ukraine, of course: the radioactive fallout blows East to (real) Russian soil).
See this piece by SecState Anthony Blinken - I'll post an excerpt in case it's paywalled (although I highly recommend Foreign Affairs if you're interested in US policy, I've subscribed for over 20 years, actually) - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/2022-06-01/antony-blinken-conversation-us-secretary-of-state
"Something else the president has been very clear about from day one, including directly with President Putin, and that is exactly what we would do in the event that Russia pursued the aggression that it was threatening and that we saw coming many, many months ago. And he had conversations with President Putin well before the aggression began, to just be very clear with him about what to do expect—what to expect in terms of our support for Ukraine, including with security assistance, as well as economic and humanitarian assistance if that proved necessary, what to expect in terms of the massive consequences that would befall Russia if it pursued the aggression, what to expect in terms of NATO strengthening its own defenses.
So we have not been hiding the ball on that. There, in a sense, have been no surprises. All of this was made clear to President Putin well in advance in an effort to deter him from proceeding with the aggression. Tragically, he went ahead anyway.
And then, Dan, all along we have tried to make sure that what we are providing to the Ukrainians, as well as what others are providing, meet the moment, and that is the equipment we provide is what they need to deal with what Russia is actually doing. So, for example, what was provided to the Ukrainians in the initial stages of the aggression, particularly in defense of Kyiv, with things like Stingers and Javelins really answered the moment. And by the way, that’s not something that started on February 24th or February 25th; it actually goes back to last Labor Day when the president did an initial drawdown package. Another very significant drawdown package, as we call them—this is the release of articles that our Defense Department has at hand—another very significant one at Christmas, so well before February 24th, and then, of course, since February 24th we’re now on our eleventh package. But each of these is tailored to meet the moment."
Thank you, M. stream. I actually have read that article.
Like I said, I actually think we have done a reasonable job of responding. I just don't think we need to spend so much treasure, not when we are so lame in responding to our own people's needs.
It is way past time for Europe to check Russian empiring in Europe. Ever since WWI, we have been suffering the moral hazard of paying, in blood and treasure, the defense of Capitalism the world over.
Second, Russian leadership thinks Russians will fight as hard as those it tries to conquer, and the opposite has been shown to be a very decisive factor.
In any case, Putin will get his Eastern Ukraine provinces, NATO has found new mission, and a new Iron Curtain is forming. May it be short-lived, as the Russian people, finally after all these decades and decades of inflicting the world with their belligerence, rise up and shed their Authoritarian Socialism. I thought it would happen in the '90s, but who knows, maybe in the coming years, they can actually take their place in the community of Western Civilization nations.
"maybe in the coming years, they can actually take their place in the community of Western Civilization nations."
They did that and got backstabbed the USA. Why in the world would they be interested in being part of our club? Hell, I don't even want to be part of this club.
A Cold War "containment" strategy is better. (And no more Vietnams this time. Just economic isolation until his backers decide they want yachts again.)
They don't need us. Our 'economic isolation' means jack shit when the rest of the world is happy to buy up Russian oil. We're hurting Americans and spending their money in the hopes that.............what? Russia gets involved in a quagmire and we fund the defense of Ukraine for years?
We're throwing ourselves at the tar baby, and only result is that we'll continue to get more entangled as the situation develops. We will never care as much about Ukraine as Russia does, just like Russia will never care as much about Cuba as we do. And it's only a matter of time before an American gets killed over there and the warmongers start frothing at the mouth, with an obedient media cheering them on.
I know, I know. My *realpolitik* (pardon my conceit) on this issue pisses off every fellow libertarian who hears it (did you read the vitriol I endured on GG in late Feb?), and it even is at odds with Mr. Realpolitik himself, Henry Kissinger (my, how international relations causes strange bedfellows: you and Henry, on the one hand, and me and Mr. Soros on the other).
But please don't be angry at this disagreement of ours, M. Sim. Consider:
1) I never, nor do I now, nor will I ever, be for U.S. boots on the ground, EVEN in a rump Ukraine that is squarely in Europe's Western Civ.
2) I am adamantly against throwing ANY U.S treasure at the conflict, let alone the equivalent of over half the entire Russian military budget. This immediately became my conviction early on when Russia turned out to the proverbial paper tiger.
3) We NEVER invaded Cuba, nor would we have (we might have bombed some missile silos if Khrushchev hadn't put his shoes back on and calmed down). Putin, like another famous Fascist, let loose the dogs, NOT us.
4) Americans HAVE been killed in Ukraine. They are anti-Fascist mercenaries, of the same mettle as those who volunteered to fight the proto-Fascist Francisco Franco before the REAL anti-Fascism fighting began (ask Poland, and thank you U.K. and France for honoring Western Civilization by declaring war on Germany on September 2, 1939, the day after Poland was divvied up by Putin's Fascist antecedents). As you no doubt know, a famous movie was made after Fascism was defeated that time, and the main character, Rick Blaine, was one of those Spain-defending freedom fighting mercenaries. Good men hate the Fascism that today still infects Russia. Good on the ones who do something about it.
5) Yes, the warmongers (The neo twins) among us are always a danger. I say we can check them AND isolate today's empiring Fascist. I think we're doing a pretty good job of it, considering the "leadership" we are currently saddled with. Putin must be made the pariah, lest he in any way think he can continue threatening the free world. And we have learned, having been egregiously fooled into a "patriot" act, not to be led by the nose by those damn neo twins.
6)"...when the rest of the world is happy to buy up Russian oil." Sorry, not true. Europe is painfully, and to their credit doing so in a responsibly slow manner, curtailing their dependence on Russian carbon. And, even more importantly, Xi, not the Putin-like idiot he, has seen the writing on the wall, and is quietly going neutral. He may buy Putin some time by buying SOME Russian carbon, but he won't come to Putin's aid otherwise. Their will be no Molotov-Ribbentrop equivalent between Russia and China.
Finally, to be clear, if you ever think I advocate spending even one dollar, or one drop of our precious blood, on Putin's shithole doorstep (the Kievan Rus), then I have egregiously been misunderstood.
The world, or at least that part of it still willing to oppose International Fascism, must isolate today's Fascist. You are absolutely correct that we must NOT isolate ourselves, nor fight in any way other than economically. We are still strong enough to do that without hurting Americans or the American economy.
But we can also disagree agreeably. We agree so well in every other way I can think of. The issue IS important, but our friendship is, to me, even more so, and I honor your opinion, even when we do disagree. Indeed, you are among the very few who could change this stubborn old man's mind, and you will always have my ear.
I never take anything personally and love debate, so you don't have to worry about me getting upset.
Your post is good, but we 100% would have invaded Cuba (again) if the Russians didn't pull the missiles out. Technically it might have just been nuking the island instead of an invasion, but we WERE NOT going to allow those missiles to remain, ever.
China is ALREADY buying Russian oil, ramping up from their already record-setting purchases of 2020.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-oil-china-idUSKBN21C2BA
China is buying a record 1.6 million tonnes of Russian oil for loading at sea over the next four weeks, taking advantage of rock bottom prices for Russia’s flagship Urals grade combined with a collapse in demand in Europe, traders said on Wednesday.
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https://capital.com/loophole-allows-china-to-keep-buying-russian-oil
The US and its European allies are cranking up sanctions on Russian oil, gas and coal following the war in Ukraine, but the measures will not stop China from buying the federation’s fossil fuels.
A loophole within the framework of these sanctions allows China, the largest guzzler of energy in the world, to purchase oil and gas from Russia.
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Not only are the sanctions hurting Americans, they are driving Russian into the arms of China and India. Even if the WW3 teams are "The world vs Russia/China", we're not looking at a rout where the good guys wafflestomp the bad guys.
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Finally, to be clear, if you ever think I advocate spending even one dollar, or one drop of our precious blood, on Putin's shithole doorstep (the Kievan Rus), then I have egregiously been misunderstood.
How are we going to fight economically without spending any money?
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Edit: One more article
https://www.newsweek.com/buying-cheap-russian-oil-china-india-help-putin-blunt-wests-sanctions-1712493
The United States and its European allies have launched a devastating campaign of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, cutting Moscow off from critical energy markets at a time when it needs capital to fuel the ongoing conflict.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has been thrown a lifeline from Asian economic titans China and India, which have refused to join the sanctions, but have yet to be targeted for their dealings with Moscow, and have moved to buy more Russian oil than ever before.
The premise is simple: China and India buy what the European Union has largely banned, and at a lower rate
"How are we going to fight economically without spending any money?"
By severely restricting trade, a necessarily long process for which we have done a reasonably (considering the complicated nature of the endeavor) good start. And by continuing to help (and prod) Europe in ending its dependence on Russian carbon, and the extreme moral hazard such a dependence causes.
Yes, China (by strategic opportunism) and India (by necessity) will bankroll Putin and his oligarchs by purchasing his carbon, but the West puts pressure on all parties by 1) removing our (huge) market demand, and 2) re-developing an energy independence which is completely within our ability to do (just one example: drill,baby,drill).
And emerging India should be offered not only olive branches, but constant welcome into the Western Civilization fold. they should not ever be considered the West's enemy.
So...we disagree about the energy/carbon equations and future.
I will grant your comments on Cuba (yes, we sent the bully Teddy, or he sent himself, up that Cuban hill, and JFK yanked the rug out from under some Cuban freedom fighters in an unnecessary Cold War fiasco, but those were SO once-upon-a-time), but we would not have nuked Khrushchev's nukes; we would have conventionally bombed them if they had not been removed. And, yes, we should NOT station nukes in Eastern Europe (or in Europe for that matter, of course).
"I never take anything personally and love debate, so you don't have to worry about me getting upset."
Thank you for that. I have come to expect as much from you, but I guess I am someone who needs to be assured of it from time to time! I have often wondered at people's inability to debate without hurting feelings, something I never intend to do, but am always expecting to be done to me. Does that make sense?
Oh, and thanks for the links, something I lazily neglect to provide (usually) in support of my own opinions.
Well, Eastern Ukraine is now Western Russia. (And, it's a lot FLATTER than it used to be.)
Masterful.
I see where we could bring down the price of gasoline: not too many months ago, we were not only self-sufficient in it, we were making money exporting it! And pipelines cost less than tank cars and tank trucks.
And California ($6.00/"special-blend"-because-we're-special) could stop being so special, and stop requiring its own blends.
We know how to do all this in environmentally sound ways.
Who is stopping us? (we all know who.)
As much as their are reports that the US isn’t tracking how the money is being used for Ukraine, I assume they do know how much is going to the MIC. In fact, I assume the vast majority of the donated money coming straight back to the US as payments for arms.
What I find funny (and un-observed as yet) is, we are, in essence, borrowing the $40,000,000,000.00 (I like to write it out; all those zeros clear my mind) from...
China!
So...I wonder if Putin has realized that his new bestie Xi is funding the Ukrainian military by, in essence, laundering the funds through Xi's patsy, IceCreamJoe!!
That is one higher level of irony, no?
I put a link in there with a pretty good breakdown of where the money actually goes:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-does-40-billion-aid-ukraine-buy
Ok. So only about a 1/4 of the funds go directly to US arm manufacturers. The majority is going to unspecified (at least in csis summary) aid programs. I’m guessing that a lot of well connected NGO’s just got incorporated.
Exactly.
I used to petition my state representative to institute a Windmill Profits Tax, but he never responded. Perhaps now, by including wind turbines, its time has come!
Why should air be tax-free?!??!?!?
But whose air is it? You can't get fingerprints off it. So who pays?
Mandate always online smart-filter breathing masks, both for counting your breaths while away from home ("Is this trip really necessary citizen?") and to measure how much CO2 you emit ("Control your breathing citizen, you too must do your part for the Planet").
That way, you can tax all breathing that is deemed non-essential, and also tax CO2-emissions. With a nice progressive scaling for deductibles of course, so only the people not earning enough to buy carbon credits have to wear the silly things.
Everybody but elected representatives?
Well. they ARE producers of hot air. (And if we would tax that, maybe we would have less of it. Capitalism 101.)
Is it possible to enjoy reading a post that makes you furious?
I'm glad I found your stack! But, sadly I feel "defeated".
You are asking the right existential questions, and you obviously see both sides of a story.
Looking forward to your posts!
Don't be! Through all these chaos we've formed networks that can get things done quickly -- and we will, as soon as the 'old guard' are out the door and we can start the trials.
Yeah, we're all fighters. You just did a great job putting it all together.
Excellent work product! To some extent, I think a lot of the stuff you address, is the reason why Trump voters feel cheated.
Have a great weekend!
Yea, that….plus all the cheating!
Lol, then nodding my head, ernestly.
Drawing Russia into a quagmire. Just the redux Zbigniew Brzezinski would have wanted. Pray there is a hell because if there is he has a special place in it.
Ziggy! (Bush never learned how to spell that name, let alone pronounce it!)
(How is it pronounced, anyway?)
Meanwhile, the EU (you know, the countries that are actually IMPACTED by the war in Ukraine cause they're like neighbors or something) have given about $1b collectively.
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/04/19/which-country-has-given-the-most-money-to-ukraine
I thought Europe was the "Old World." Turns out they're our spoiled dependent child!
(Time to turn them loose.)
Wait! We need the baby formula back first!!
So--in paraphrase of a certain ironic button I had on my HS bookbag (lo this more than half-century ago) that a schoolmate who didn't get it made reproving faces at: Libertarians Unite!
Quick poll: Who amongst ye is ready to give up your and yourn family's smartphones and all-inclusive data plan and get thyselves the bare-bones models for emergency use only? In that first step towards lettin' 'em know how we feel? Because don't you all have other devices too for that web browsing and movie streaming and game-playing?
We were so creeped out by the ads on our TV almost following our conversations, even when off, that we turned off wireless. Living fine wo ever streaming anything. We have a cellphone with Hotspot for necessities like banking, paying bills, etc. It is almost impossible to accomplish many things over the phone now in an actual conversation. We have been corralled into the internet.
What bemuses me is looking at the movie offerings on Xfinity's TV listings or Netflix or HBO Max, and going to Google them and having the movie name show up in the search box after typing something like "th..). Heck of a mindreader, that interwebs thingy...
Several years ago, my husband looked up something random on his phone at a restaurant (like congoleum flooring or something like that), so he was on Verizon data, and later that day ads for the same product showed up on my computer running through the house internet. So the information from his phone had to download to some server some where when he went on the house internet, and then that info was fed to Facebook based on the IP address of the house system.
But they can't catch crazy people before they shoot up stores or schools. Why do I find that hard to believe?
I've told this story before, but here goes:
At a softball tournament with a bunch of buddies. My phone is at home because you don't need a phone to play softball. After the tournament we're sitting around drinking a few beers, and some of the guys are talking about going to a strip club over in Portland. I opt to go home instead, and when I log onto my Facebook account later, THERE'S AN AD FOR THE STRIP CLUB. Never seen it before, never seen it since (though now I'm not on FB).
I was not tagged in any photos. I was not 'mentioned' as being at the tournament. Yet the ads still found their way onto my computer.
We unplugged Alexa in our house because at random moments she would ask, "I'm sorry. I didn't understand the question." My guess is Siri or Android's version of Siri was listening on your friends' phones. If you're with them often enough, you're a "known associate," either because of location information or because your phone attaches to your IP address at home, and there you go.
Not to beat a dead horse, but we know businesses are spying on us, and we know the government is spying on us, so while I am not a wild conspiracy theorist, I don't judge people who suggest the government is in some way behind the mass shootings lately, even if their "involvement" is knowing these crazies are out there and not stopping them. I've even started to wonder myself.
And they laugh at phone psychics...
Just one of those impenetrable mysteries of the universe, right?
Before I started using AdBlocker, I was searching on Amazon for the sneakers I like, and they were about $69 at the time which was too much for me. Thenceforward ads for those sneakers showed up everywhere. Finally one day the ad listed a price of $19 and I was sure it was evil malware ransomware aliens from space trying to steal my brains--you know what I mean.
But I was curious so went directly to Amazon and searched for those sneakers and lo. They were, indeed, from Amazon, that brand, being sold for $19 so of course I got 'em. The one time our overlords did me a favor...
Imagine the trouble we had way back. The intra-net for teachers in the city we used to live in years back was called:
Pednet.
Oh my God, some things are just perfect. Proof for the skeptics that MAD Magazine was divinely inspired.
id be happy to see the whole damn internet burn
Now, now. Let's not throw the baby (substack, SCA's sweet-smelling posts, pop122's Pandora stations, duckduckgo, RealClearPolitics, etc.) out with the bathwater (Twitter if Elon fails, the MSM, the woke, et cetera ad nauseum).
And miss my pungent posts?
you will have to send a carrier pigeon or start a newspaper or something
See, this is the issue. Some things are proof the advance of civilization has worthwhile purpose, like laptops over clay tablets. Some things are just abominations, like electric cooktops replacing gas stoves.
Think of all those equines with the leisure to play polo now instead of laboring for the Pony Express.
And you--you want to ruin the days of pigeons having such a great time crapping on statues by making them do an honest day's work.
Would give the dastardly hackers and muttley scammers a hard time too - having to catch the pigeon using whacky flying machines.
i spend a lot feeding them.
they bully each other quite a lot, i'll give them no time for such shenanigans!
I'm sincerely close. The worse the surveillance state gets, the more attractive it becomes.
I'm already on the $15/mo 1G data plan. It sees very very little use.