Chaos and the Anti-Thread

[Aragorn]

My understanding is that the Trump statue was made by an artist who used his own funds. He hopes to sell it.

To a heavy-caliber shooting range? :ttr:

[Dreamtimer]

He apparently used all his savings and wants to sell it for 100K.

Perhaps there would be a taker who would pay that to shoot it up.

Someone pointed out it looks like a cousin to the Bob's Big Boy statue. They both have short pants on.

[Dreamtimer]

Well dang. Who knew? Folks on a witch hunt have been justifying driving over people with cars for much longer than the incident which killed Heather Heyer.

https://images.dailykos.com/images/920399/story_image/Robeson2021-6.jpg?1614056987

[Dreamtimer]

Did anyone know this? I don't recall hearing about this before. I might have to look into it.


March 1sts have been Good and Goofy (such as Ohio becoming a state in 1803---a Good, and then Congress finding out they never actually accepted them until 1953----A Goofy, then passed a resolution admitting them as a state, retroactive to 1803---another Good)

Conspiracy!

[Wind]

nHfxkRVPOfc

[Wind]

Can things ever improve in Mexico and why is it so bad there with the cartels? The war on drugs is such a terrible thing.


The end of 2021 will mark 15 years since the start of Mexico's “guerra contra el narcotráfico,” a war against drug trafficking that officially began in December 2006, when thousands of soldiers were deployed to topple the cartel terrorizing the state of Michoacán. The war soon spread and plunged the entire country into a downward spiral of violence that continues today.

The current war in Michoacán is between the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel or CJNG, led by a notorious kingpin known as El Mencho, and an alliance of groups known as the United Cartels. Some communities also rely on citizen-led militias to battle the cartels.

VICE News reporter Keegan Hamilton and producer Miguel Fernández Flores traveled to the epicenter of the conflict in Michoacán, meeting cartel members on both sides and seeking to understand if anything will or can change for the better.
rqIVjYTJE5E

[Emil El Zapato]

The law of supply and demand always wins ... (Hey Michoacan, that's where my ancestors came from and probably plenty of them still living there) ... Also the home of the Power to the Peons President (He's in my bio-paternal line).

Military style arms come from the United States. And the country has a long history of corruption, post the legalized through war land grab of the Americanos. In parts of the Americas, Colonial descendants are still earning millions merely for being there in the beginning. Sort of like cryto-currency.

[Octopus Garden]

Yeah, the whole check fiasco. Again, the dems shoot themselves in the foot. You haul those 2 hold out dems into a room with a big gorilla in camo, sit 'em down and threaten them. You get pics of them in compromising positions. You do everything the repugs do to keep people in line.

Weakness described as big tent compromise. Yuk. The neo-liberal old fuddy duddies are beyond spineless. Useless as slime mold.

[Dreamtimer]

The dynamic is changing. The old Democratic party is transforming.

Biden, obviously, is old school. The trend for the party will be more and more progressive. The writing is on the wall in terms of social change. The demographics are leaning heavily towards the Democratic party as it transforms and moves forward. Most people are progressive (with a small 'p')

The Republicans are scared sh*tless about it and are working their asses off to gerrymander, restrict access to voting, throw away registrations and ballots, bring cases to the Supreme Court. (because they can't win at the ballot box, they try to legislate from the bench)

They literally argued before the Supreme Court that they have to restrict voting or they'll lose. They've gotten quite blatant about it.

But people can now see through their BS because it's not behind closed doors anymore.

What's happening right now will be a vague memory in four years. Normally, after Dems clean things up, Repubs can then capitalize on their various propaganda tropes to win the next round.

I don't think they'll be able to do that now because they're no longer united in lockstep. Trump has broken that. And Qanon has helped to expose the underbelly.

The dynamic is changed and the direction is new.

I don't think people are going to be able to distract with military and economic shenanigans like they have in the past.

The big question, imo, is what crazy things will happen between now and 2024? What kinds of climate, geological, economical, and technological changes will roil everything up?


:unsure::hmm::tea::pc::belief::nails::ok::hiding:: bolt:

[Wind]

I didn't realize that mental illness and racism is this bad in some parts of USA, black lives don't matter?

ltmlvk9GAto

[Emil El Zapato]

Well I've told you, folks, quite a bit about myself and this is what I've heard more than a few times while crossing a street in my small hometown in Kansas and no, it wasn't 150 years ago.

Hey, you m*therf*ckers go back to Iran. Hey, you beaner why don't you go back to where you came from ... hmmm, Sioux City, Iowa, I presume, I was born there, lived there for a couple of months, and then was kidnapped by my adoptive parents (my dad, who was a WWII veteran that served in the South Pacific) and transported to my quaint little hometown. So many memories that I have always cherished about that 'friendly' little place.

What was always amazing to me is that my dad served as President of a local chapter of the "American" GI Forum and was always fiercely patriotic. I mean this to the fiber of my being, I never understood it.

[Dreamtimer]

I never did either. I don't get that kind of treatment. But I'm grossed out and offended by it. Who the hell do people think they are? If this is the best country in the world of course people from all over are going to come here. Why wouldn't they? That's how we formed in the first place. The search for a new and better home.

It's just selfish and not patriotic at all.

[Aragorn]

If this is the best country in the world [...]

But you do know that it isn't, right? What is, and what something is presented as (or is even believed to be), are two very different things.

[Octopus Garden]

The law of supply and demand always wins ... (Hey Michoacan, that's where my ancestors came from and probably plenty of them still living there) ... Also the home of the Power to the Peons President (He's in my bio-paternal line).

Military style arms come from the United States. And the country has a long history of corruption, post the legalized through war land grab of the Americanos. In parts of the Americas, Colonial descendants are still earning millions merely for being there in the beginning. Sort of like cryto-currency.

Very interesting NAP. I wish I had crypto ancestry. Wouldn't it be cool, in some ways, to be "old money?" Like, never have to worry about finances. Wow. The drawback is life loses edge and luster then, I guess. And you don't know what you have and how lucky you are, because you have never known any different. But...that's a whole other topic, Amigo.

All the points you made are correct but missing a key one. In the last couple of decades the focal point of the drug trade moved from Colombia to Mexico. It became too hot for gangsters to operate in Columbia as the U.S was involved in rooting out and jailing as many of them as possible. So, they managed to clean up Columbia, to a degree, but that left a vacuum that Mexico was happy to fill.

The drug wars are about establishing turf, carving out drug distribution niches, buying politicians and judiciary, expanding networks and the inevitable mergers and acquisitions etc.. It's like any corporate activity except hostile takeovers in this area take on a whole new meaning!

Mexico used to be mainly marijuana. But now its hard drugs. And whenever hard drugs, in particular, enter the scene, there's a problem.

I had a friend who was involved in the marijuana trade, peripherally in Florida, many decades ago. She said the entire judiciary and all the cops were in on it and it was just one big lazy, kind of happy, peace love dove operation....until hard drugs arrived. She left at that point. Talk about harshing your buzz! All of that drug money built out Florida's legal economy, laundered through real estate and legal businesses. Then the state went more or less legit.

I can remember looking at a map and wondering where that trade would go next and thinking. Hmmm...I think Louisiana. New Orleans most likely and yes this is what happened. It was kind of obvious that would happen.

[Emil El Zapato]

Interesting perspective, OG. It seems even the Mafia had issues with hard drugs. Murder yes, hard drugs no. I remember while living in Miami for about 3-4 months (once upon a time) there being talk that the mob owned the 5 biggest banks in the Miami area. I had no trouble believing it.

[Wind]

USA has been real busy spreading that democracy!

3H1GWNVBw0U

[Dreamtimer]

But you do know that it isn't, right? What is, and what something is presented as (or is even believed to be), are two very different things.

It isn't, obviously. But it is a thing that I hear a lot here. Folks think the US is the best. Opinion isn't reality.

And if they're going to say that it's the best country, they should acknowledge the real reason immigrants come here. Not the bogus gas lighting crap about drug dealers and rapists.

The history of drug-dealing is way more interesting than I knew. But it's so depressing to me.

[Emil El Zapato]

I was debating whether or not to do this post ... but since you found the thread for me DT ... here it is. :)

I've been reading a sci-fi book written in 1979 by Barbara Paul, It's about time-traveling 'consciousness'. In the book they visit several notable personages and the 1st or last person that guesses who it might be wins today's 'Beastly' Award.

Hint: It's not the Beast of Bologna OR Machete.

[Dreamtimer]

I just heard a great phrase that I don't know the origin of:

"You can't learn from history if you make history up."

I love it.

[Wind]

Wh_n7U_y3Hw

[Dreamtimer]

This is what losers do.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EvhHWAhXUAQGfMq?format=jpg&name=small

And they're still losers.

They complained about rigging, failed in their rigging, and now want to rig even more.

[Wind]

Hillary would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddlin' kids!

TL3jnJnm3_s

[Elen]

Hillary would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddlin' kids!

TL3jnJnm3_s

So NOW I know why it happened, :ha:

[Dreamtimer]

Ruh-Roh.


There are real children in real peril. And this evil that calls itself Qanon wants to take eyes away from that to chase ghosts. :facepalm::ireful::cracky::nono:

[Emil El Zapato]

Ruh-Roh.


There are real children in real peril. And this evil that calls itself Qanon wants to take eyes away from that to chase ghosts. :facepalm::ireful::cracky::nono:

It's a fetish, by definition misplaced sexual desire. It's hard to determine the true root problem, but I would throw out my conjecture. Racial fetish. That might be no more than another conspiracy theory but it all fits and the pattern always repeats itself. And the context ... plenty of contexts... Civil War, an existentially driven racial animus. It is an underlying racial fetish engendered at times of sexual discovery which had in its incipience festered since toddlerhood. Once imprinted the racial fetish morphs into its various manifestations specific to the individual's psyche.

Something is seriously jacked up. Surprise! Surprise!

[Aragorn]

It's a fetish, by definition misplaced sexual desire. It's hard to determine the true root problem, but I would throw out my conjecture. Racial fetish. That might be no more than another conspiracy theory but it all fits and the pattern always repeats itself. And the context ... plenty of contexts... Civil War, an existentially driven racial animus. It is an underlying racial fetish engendered at times of sexual discovery which had in its incipience festered since toddlerhood. Once imprinted the racial fetish morphs into its various manifestations specific to the individual's psyche.

Something is seriously jacked up. Surprise! Surprise!

Come on, man; that's bullshit and you know it.

There is nothing that angers people more than crimes ─ and especially sexual crimes ─ against children, and Q knows that. So paint your political adversaries with the colors of the most hideous crimes against children, and you're guaranteed to attract a major following from the two-digit-IQ crowd, which in the USA appears to be represented in alarmingly great numbers.

That's all there is to it.

[Emil El Zapato]

Had to redo ... :)


Come on, man; that's bullshit and you know it.

There is nothing that angers people more than crimes ─ and especially sexual crimes ─ against children, and Q knows that. So paint your political adversaries with the colors of the most hideous crimes against children, and you're guaranteed to attract a major following from the two-digit-IQ crowd, which in the USA appears to be represented in alarmingly great numbers.

That's all there is to it.

Why Hillary? She's a purported lefty ... an evocative symbol of racial equanimity. Her husband ... the 1st black President. The Q followers are all suffering from racial fetish and its manifestations are myriad. Yes, crimes against children as Jesus said condemn one to hell. AND the circumscriptions of sexual behavior are genetically driven. It is a primeval behavior ruled by subconscious archetypes because in the framework of archetypes incest produces monsters. And the next best thing to incest to the unclear of mind is child molestation. Those are real social questions that would require a whole lot more of my b.s. and I don't have time for all that. :)

So all taken together, it produces a choice that is different for the psychologically healthy and those with malformed personalities. The healthy will see crimes against children within the confines of reality. Sadly, it does occur all too often and is the most egregious of offenses. The disturbed, suffering from their own existential fear and compartmentalized sexual repression will burst out with the most bizarre interpretations of the problem. They cannot compose a real framework of the real problem because much of the reality is hidden away in the deep dark recesses of their subconscious.

[Aragorn]

Why Hillary? She's a purported lefty ... an evocative symbol of racial equanimity.

It doesn't have anything to do with race, nor with anything Freudian. It's simply a rehashing of the old Pizzagate™ conspiracy theory. Hillary was supposedly running a child trafficking operation, remember? That is what it's all about.

By the way, I stumbled upon the precursor of Qanon yesterday or the day before that. I knew I had seen it posted here at the forum, and it was indeed on a thread started by our friend Vern. The screenshots of the drop(ping)s were taken offline, so they are no longer visible on the thread, but here's the link (https://jandeane81.com/showthread.php/9608-Legit-or-not-FB-post)...

[Emil El Zapato]

It doesn't have anything to do with race, nor with anything Freudian. It's simply a rehashing of the old Pizzagate™ conspiracy theory. Hillary was supposedly running a child trafficking operation, remember? That is what it's all about.

By the way, I stumbled upon the precursor of Qanon yesterday or the day before that. I knew I had seen it posted here at the forum, and it was indeed on a thread started by our friend Vern. The screenshots of the drtop(ping)s were taken offline, so they are no longer visible on the thread, but here's the link (https://jandeane81.com/showthread.php/9608-Legit-or-not-FB-post)...

:) Interesting.

[Dreamtimer]

I have to agree with Aragorn. Allegations of child abuse are a perfect tool to use to rile people up. Qanon is an extension of pizza gate and an amalgam of numerous conspiracy theories. The blue avians even made it into the Qanon stuff. The secret space program, super soldiers are mixed up in it too. Trump played right into Qanon with his new Space Force.

And of course the religious fundamentalism, which is even worse than what my father warned me about.

If you want to look for the manifestation of racism look to the history of the filibuster and current voter suppression of mostly brown-skinned people. And the Jim Crow laws, and on and on.

The greatest sin of Qanon, imo, is the false accusations which will allow the real abuse to continue unhindered due to the very convenient and widespread net of lies.

The real pedophiles are probably having a field day right now.

It's disgusting.

[Dreamtimer]

USA has been real busy spreading that democracy!



Beau talks about why it takes the US so long to get out of a country/why it takes so long for the local system to take power.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhMegh67pU8

Hint: US keeps changing the parameters of leaving

[Emil El Zapato]

I have to agree with Aragorn. Allegations of child abuse are a perfect tool to use to rile people up. Qanon is an extension of pizza gate and an amalgam of numerous conspiracy theories. The blue avians even made it into the Qanon stuff. The secret space program, super soldiers are mixed up in it too. Trump played right into Qanon with his new Space Force.

And of course the religious fundamentalism, which is even worse than what my father warned me about.

If you want to look for the manifestation of racism look to the history of the filibuster and current voter suppression of mostly brown-skinned people. And the Jim Crow laws, and on and on.

The greatest sin of Qanon, imo, is the false accusations which will allow the real abuse to continue unhindered due to the very convenient and widespread net of lies.

The real pedophiles are probably having a field day right now.

It's disgusting.

Well, you certainly can but the motivation is much deeper for the conspiracy theorists. The draw is like to a serial killer asked to analyze photographs of serial murders.

I think what I didn't make clear enough in my first post is that even the outraged pedophile hunting conspiracists most likely would have no clue that racism was anything but a distraction for them. What they don't realize is that it is driving them to stupidity and self-destructive behavior. It is that very dynamic that fractured their personalities in the first place. I'm not referring to the casual racist, we all fall into that category, I'm talking about the racists that grow up with that part of their psyche deeply embedded and never questioned, but it is always there.

[Emil El Zapato]

Beau talks about why it takes the US so long to get out of a country/why it takes so long for the local system to take power.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhMegh67pU8

Hint: US keeps changing the parameters of leaving

Beau Beau gave a good answer ... my reply below does not really apply. :)

since I'm on an anti roll ... I've stated before that the 'oppressed' keep changing the parameters. The victim countries activists want the inflow of foreign money ... it is good for their cause.

It's the March Madness getting to me ... :)

[Wind]

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/clipimage-6061914e7fa20__700.jpg

[Dreamtimer]

Great illustrations, Wind.

[Elen]

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/clipimage-6061914e7fa20__700.jpg

Awesome...:love:

[Emil El Zapato]

https://scontent-hel3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/14925789_1135049003283222_5767042874371508949_n.jp g?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=PI7dIg-ivm8AX8c9OQv&_nc_ht=scontent-hel3-1.xx&oh=f06eab8aec3f5b7e79ae835a802e166e&oe=608D4EC1

The guy on the right is the author of the book and his facebook page has this photo as his 'updated' home photo.

To prove I'm mexicano, I grabbed this photo. :) The guy on the left is my bio uncle, he was a homocide detective. It's no surprise to anyone that I have a great interest in psychology and aberrant murderous behavior. I have to wonder about genetic drives when I discover on the parental side, I have a homicide detective uncle and on the maternal side I have a psychologist half-sister.

And, of course, there's the rocket scientist 1st cousin. :)

Truth beyond all that ... I hate software engineering ... :(

Thanks Wind, I forgot how to do it ... if you have time you could post here the steps again ... oy very!

[Elen]

<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script async defer crossorigin="anonymous" src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v10.0&appId=1936529906567365&autoLogAppEvents=1" nonce="Cxnzhled"></script>

<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrisLeGrow/photos/a.1007145949406862/1135049003283222/" data-width="500" data-show-text="false"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrisLeGrow/photos/a.1007145949406862/1135049003283222/?type=3" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrisLeGrow/">Chris LeGrow</a> on*<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrisLeGrow/photos/a.1007145949406862/1135049003283222/?type=3">Saturday, November 5, 2016</a></blockquote></div>

That didn't work, hey? A photo from facebook...:blink:

[Wind]

Care to expand more, BOB?

[Dreamtimer]

The Geezers have gone rogue, Eh?

Retired cops in a home for retired cops going undercover to help active duty. Did I get the summary right? (I looked up the author, a retired cop from Omaha and father of a lot of kids)

[Emil El Zapato]

The Geezers have gone rogue, Eh?

Retired cops in a home for retired cops going undercover to help active duty. Did I get the summary right? (I looked up the author, a retired cop from Omaha and father of a lot of kids)

:) yeah it's a family trademark apparently ...


https://scontent-hel3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/14925789_1135049003283222_5767042874371508949_n.jp g?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=PI7dIg-ivm8AX8c9OQv&_nc_ht=scontent-hel3-1.xx&oh=f06eab8aec3f5b7e79ae835a802e166e&oe=608D4EC1

The guy on the right is the author of the book and his facebook page has this photo as his 'updated' home photo.

To prove I'm mexicano, I grabbed this photo. :) The guy on the left is my bio uncle, he was a homocide detective. It's no surprise to anyone that I have a great interest in psychology and aberrant murderous behavior. I have to wonder about genetic drives when I discover on the parental side, I have a homicide detective uncle and on the maternal side I have a psychologist half-sister.

And, of course, there's the rocket scientist 1st cousin. :)

Truth beyond all that ... I hate software engineering ... :(

Thanks Wind, I forgot how to do it ... if you have time you could post here the steps again ... oy very!

:)

[Wind]

The guy on the left is my bio uncle, he was a homocide detective.

Homocide or homicide? :ttr:


Thanks Wind, I forgot how to do it ... if you have time you could post here the steps again ... oy very!

Right click on the image on Facebook and then copy the link (https://scontent-hel3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/14925789_1135049003283222_5767042874371508949_n.jp g?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=PI7dIg-ivm8AX8c9OQv&_nc_ht=scontent-hel3-1.xx&oh=f06eab8aec3f5b7e79ae835a802e166e&oe=608D4EC1) and use the insert image-button here.

[Emil El Zapato]

Homocide or homicide? :ttr:



Right click on the image on Facebook and then copy the link (https://scontent-hel3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/14925789_1135049003283222_5767042874371508949_n.jp g?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=PI7dIg-ivm8AX8c9OQv&_nc_ht=scontent-hel3-1.xx&oh=f06eab8aec3f5b7e79ae835a802e166e&oe=608D4EC1) and use the insert image-button here.

Homocide or homicide? You're asking a guy that can't even post a photo. :)

[Wind]

Weren't you supposed to be a genius? :rolleyes:

[Dreamtimer]

Lol.

Your genetic relatives don't know you're stalking them, do they BOB?

[Emil El Zapato]

I'll hand it to you folks. That's hilarious. Sure, I always said I was a genius but the only one I've ever convinced is myself. That's a good start though.

hmm, the stalking thing ... actually, I think they do ... so they should be afraid, very afraid. We all know cops, especially cop families ain't none too bright. :)

Not really, I only stock women. lolololololol.


I tried 50 ways to Sunday to get that damn photo posted and failed miserably. Except entering it as an image. I thought it had to be between the FB tags? That was the way Aragorn explained it before. What was different about this guy? It had the 'global share' icon. I grabbed the URL at least 5 different ways. Chopped it up, diced it, spun it, did everything.

[Dreamtimer]

Did you fold, spindle, or mutilate?

[Aragorn]

I tried 50 ways to Sunday to get that damn photo posted and failed miserably. Except entering it as an image. I thought it had to be between the FB tags? That was the way Aragorn explained it before.

No, the [FB] tags are for videos hosted on Facebook. For images you must always use the [IMG] tags.

[Emil El Zapato]

No, the [FB] tags are for videos hosted on Facebook. For images you must always use the [IMG] tags.

lol, I guess that's why it kept saying 'video unavailable' ... my gawd!


Did you fold, spindle, or mutilate?

I forgot to mention those.

[Wind]

En9JhgZcvj8

[Wind]

You'll like this one, BOB.

BsGlbCIgB94

[Emil El Zapato]

This guy is a dick....

Our ruling: Missing context
The claim that President Joe Biden signed an executive order to tear down the border wall built during the Trump administration is MISSING CONTEXT. Biden signed an executive order to stop all projects and redirect funding away from border wall construction. He has said he would not tear down the existing wall along the nation's southern border.

[Wind]

This guy is a dick....

If you mean Biden, I might agree. ;)

[Emil El Zapato]

If you mean Biden, I might agree. ;)

Uncharacteristic hostility from such a cool guy ... :)

[Dreamtimer]

I don't see Wind's response as hostile. He doesn't like Biden or what he's done so far. He hasn't started any chanting or calls for vigilante justice. Clearly, Wind is more advanced than the average bear around my neck of the woods...;)

[Wind]

I have really nothing against Biden himself, but I already have found his policies more than dissappointing. Yet that is not surprising.

[Wind]

Jeff Bozo (http://www.miltonmeasure.org/site/is-jeff-bezos-too-rich/) is the world's richest person with a net worth of nearly 200 billion dollars. It's an incomprehensible amount of money...

Elon Musk is not too far behind. I suppose I am a part of the problem by using the services of Amazon. When is too much too much?

Person Counts What Could Be Done With Billionaires’ Money And It Gives You A Perspective On The Economy (https://www.boredpanda.com/how-much-billionaires-earn-wealth-inequality/)

I'd just like to understand how free capitalism has not failed? Why are some individuals just allowed to hoard so much money without even giving a crap about their employees? Homelessness and poverty could easily be eradicated in the US, let alone in the world. The system allows this to go on, but for how long? It is sociopathic in it's nature and it's not going to last.

From what I've read, Elon is somewhat of a douchebag in his private life, but at least his inventions have been somewhat contributing to the progress of humanity. Electric cars will be good for the environment and I'm excited about Mars. Yet these issues on planet Earth are staggering and only growing.

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1379803857853820934-png__700.jpg
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https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1379810379015012353-png__700.jpg

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lZ_DyimkS54
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0678a65a-6271-41b1-a8d6-fab33876114b/dcza5vb-2f00eb1c-6b8f-4890-8e73-769771c64b8f.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_1137,q_80,strp/jeff_bezos_is_dr__evil_by_davinci41_dcza5vb-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI 1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6 Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xMTM3IiwicGF0aCI6Il wvZlwvMDY3OGE2NWEtNjI3MS00MWIxLWE4ZDYtZmFiMzM4NzYx MTRiXC9kY3phNXZiLTJmMDBlYjFjLTZiOGYtNDg5MC04ZTczLT c2OTc3MWM2NGI4Zi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTAyNCJ9XV0s ImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl 19.CMllu3K5-ASPnjacMUzCdpLa33AWhhOCWc5ma6fx_WE

[Aragorn]

Electric cars will be good for the environment [...]

Even though this is off-topic, the notion that electric cars would be better for the environment is actually debatable. While electric cars themselves do not emit any carbon dioxide, the production of a battery-electric car ─ as opposed to an electric car running off a hydrogen fuel cell ─ actually releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than a comparable car with an internal combustion engine does over its entire lifetime. And in addition to that, those batteries also have a limited lifetime ─ as all batteries do ─ which creates an additional problem with regard to waste disposal and recycling.

From the practicality vantage, there are also quite a few arguments against battery-powered electric cars and plug-in hybrids, namely that the range is never quite what the manufacturer claims. In fact, it is usually significantly lower, and this is highly dependent on two things. First of all, batteries don't perform well when it's cold, and especially so when it's freezing. Secondly, electric cars and plug-in hybrids have a special braking system that employs a generator to recover electricity when the driver backs off on the accelerator. The generator then uses the forward momentum and inertia of the car to recharge the batteries, which as a result also slows down the car.

So far, so good, except that this is only really useful in city traffic with lots of stop-and-go, and that you will generally see no usefulness in it when driving at a constant speed on the highway, with as a result that the autonomy of your electric vehicle may easily end up being 100 to 200 km less than advertised. And while it takes about five minutes at a gas station to fill up the fuel tank of a car with an internal combustion engine, even Tesla's speed loader network still needs about 50 minutes to restore the charge in your depleted batteries to the recommended 80%.

Not all electric cars can make use of those speed loaders. If you're not driving a Tesla, then you might need to look for another network. Some manufacturers of electric cars have their own recharging stations, and there are also independent recharging stations ─ i.e. independent from the manufacturer of the car ─ but they are all far less widespread than those of the Tesla network, and their plugs may not be compatible with your vehicle. Furthermore, not all of them are speed loaders, and so it may actually take anywhere between three to six hours to recharge your vehicle.

And all of that is of course also on the condition that you actually find one that is not in use, because given how long it takes to recharge an electric vehicle's batteries from a charging station ─ with the quoted-higher-up minimum time of 50 minutes if you find an available speed loader ─ once an electric car is hooked up to the charger, it's going to be sitting there for a while, and its owner might decide to go for a walk in the meantime. And if you're going to recharge the vehicle from your wall power socket at home, then it'll take anywhere from 12 hours to 24 hours, depending on the type of vehicle.

So in the end ─ and again, this is off-topic for the current discussion, even though one could posit that electrically powered vehicles are a hype nowadays due to the political pressure on manufacturers with regard to the carbon dioxide emissions debate, and that capitalism is very susceptible to and driven by hypes such as these (such as for instance the cryptocurrency bubble) ─ the deceptively limited autonomy coupled to the long recharging time and the linked-to-that limited availability of electric speed chargers (and the different standards for the connectors), as well as the fact that the production and recycling of electric vehicles is a lot more harmful to the environment than is commonly known among the public, all are compelling arguments in favor of the internal combustion engine. Or at least, at the moment still.

And just as an environmental side note, internal combustion engines don't necessarily require fossil fuels. Otto-cycle engines ─ i.e. engines running on petrol/gasoline, LPG or natural gas ─ can be adapted to run on ethanol or on hydrogen, and Diesel-cycle engines can run on any variety of mineral oils. And the objections to such conversions are mainly legal and intrinsically connected to capitalism, rather than that there would be technical objections.

See what I did there? :p

[Wind]

I'd say it's still a developing technology, but those are good observations. Electric cars don't pollute the environment with gas though and they're silent. Don't get me wrong though, I do like some nice old classic cars too even if I'm not a huge car enthusiast. :)

[Wind]

Biden will show his true colors or not. The military industrial complex surely wouldn't want to leave.

GDW2nLIxJ1U
n5eCrVM_Q1g

[Malisa]

Biden will show his true colors or not. The military industrial complex surely wouldn't want to leave.

GDW2nLIxJ1U
n5eCrVM_Q1g

Something "will happen", just by having to mention the 9/11 date, it already shows lol, they could not resist putting that image back into people's mind, so now it's just a matter of saying "we were so close!!!! But.Why.This.Had.To.Happen!!! Oh.Nooooo!" and then they stay 20 more years and the money keeps flowing around

As a separate, but related thing, did you heard that the US was planning on moving two warships into Russia's borders, but Putin sent around 15 ships out there and now the US plan got suddenly 'cancelled' and it was called "Russian Aggression"

What would people think of Russian war ships sitting out there right at the international borders of California? Would that be also "Russian Aggression"? Xi xi, what dumb games

But the US has displayed to the entire world, just last day, that they were just bluffing. Who knows how they're going to come out of that lol, except for the usual diplomacy thing, but who could even begin to believe that anymore..

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/08/politics/ukraine-us-black-sea/index.html


The United States is considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the next few weeks in a show of support for Ukraine amid Russia's increased military presence on Ukraine's eastern border, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.

The US Navy routinely operates in the Black Sea, but a deployment of warships now would send a specific message to Moscow that the US is closely watching, the official said


And then

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14647263/russia-sends-15-warships-ukraine-us-destroyers-turn-back/


RUSSIA has announced another 15 of its warships will sail into the Black Sea amid rising tensions with the US over Ukraine.


And then...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-defence-idUSKBN2BV14M


Russia moves warships to Black Sea for drills: Interfax


https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-04-14/us-cancels-warships-deployment-to-black-sea-turkish-diplomatic-sources



U.S. Cancels Warships Deployment to Black Sea -Turkish Diplomatic Sources

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara had notified Turkey's foreign ministry of the move, the sources said, but did not provide a reason. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency later reported that no new notices had been conveyed to Ankara for potential deployments at later dates.

U.S. officials said that Turkey may have misunderstood the initial notification and the deployment was never confirmed.

For sure, escalating things is just not the way to go, good thing someone back on the US had the necessary brain to figure it out before things went wrong

I wonder if you guys have seen any news about this, or as mostly usual, the second one is just not good enough and is replaced by a dog having some fun at the backyard of someone's house :P

:unsure:

[Wind]

Something "will happen", just by having to mention the 9/11 date, it already shows lol, they could not resist putting that image back into people's mind, so now it's just a matter of saying "we were so close!!!! But.Why.This.Had.To.Happen!!! Oh.Nooooo!" and then they stay 20 more years and the money keeps flowing around

Of course, that's such a symbolic day for many and not chosen without a reason. I don't think they will have to blow up more buildings anymore, but I'm sure there will be enough bs scares to "justify" the endless war and nothing will have to change.


For sure, escalating things is just not the way to go, good thing someone back on the US had the necessary brain to figure it out before things went wrong

I wonder if you guys have seen any news about this, or as mostly usual, the second one is just not good enough and is replaced by a dog having some fun at the backyard of someone's house :P

It's like a return to "normal" cold war times, war games being played everywhere. I don't know what Putin is planning, but obviously there is something happening in Ukraine. Maybe he just wants to show his might to Biden or he actually is serious about escalating things in Ukraine again. Then on the other hand Xi Jinping is seemingly wanting to invade Taiwan with the help of his CCP cronies sometime soon.

This is how humanity handles things even amidst this insane (possibly self-created and unleashed) pandemic. :facepalm:

Do I want to be associated with this species called human? Not really and I'm only pretending to be one.

pZ6mCI3wpEk

[Malisa]

Of course, that's such a symbolic day for many and not chosen without a reason. I don't think they will have to blow up more buildings anymore, but I'm sure there will be enough bs scares to "justify" the endless war and nothing will have to change.



It's like a return to "normal" cold war times, war games being played everywhere. I don't know what Putin is planning, but obviously there is something happening in Ukraine. Maybe he just wants to show his might to Biden or he actually is serious about escalating things in Ukraine again. Then on the other hand Xi Jinping is seemingly wanting to invade Taiwan with the help of his CCP cronies sometime soon.

This is how humanity handles things even amidst this insane (possibly self-created and unleashed) pandemic. :facepalm:

Both Russia and the US will benefit from this game. The Ukraine unfortunately, messed up at the end of 1992 or so, when they gave up all their power and position in the world in the name of fake promises both by my country and by the US... lol

How Bamboozled they got indeed, they went from being the third nuclear power in the world to not being able to afford a new war ship and having to ask for hand downs from the US, lamentable..

The real reason this may be happening i think, is that both the US and Russia + China, want to move to exploring and extracting whatever is on the north pole, and for that, they need money, tons and tons of it. But that money won't come easy, they need support from the people, and the best way to do that is the traditional way, "we need money because this other country is treating us, so we need to build up our army dudes!" And then the money goes into the resource fund needed to build up on the arctic.. "For the benefit of human kind"

Same game v2.0 indeed :)

[Wind]

Here in Finland Russia is always seen as the big bad wolf (or should I say bear) at least among some people, as you might know the history. Anyways, there's always a push towards NATO from certain parties and I think that would be a huge mistake to provoke Russia. I don't get that anyways, why is something like that needed. Finland has always tried to do things in a way which wouldn't upset Russia and be "buddies" with them. That only changed slightly more when SU fell. Only then Finland started to rely more on the West, USA and EU more. Now it's a balance act between pleasing EU, Russia and USA.

If China and Russia join forces then I think USA will have a big adversary to face and God only knows what that might lead to... So far there has been only one real empire ruling the world and that has been the American one with superior military strength. History shows that empires always eventually will fall and the aftermath of that will be quite something. "History never repeats itself but it rhymes."

[Malisa]

Here in Finland Russia is always seen as the big bad wolf (or should I say bear) at least among some people, as you might know the history. Anyways, there's always a push towards NATO from certain parties and I think that would be a huge mistake to provoke Russia. I don't get that anyways, why is something like that needed. Finland has always tried to do things in a way which wouldn't upset Russia and be "buddies" with them. That only changed slightly more when SU fell. Only then Finland started to rely more on the West, USA and EU more. Now it's a balance act between pleasing EU, Russia and USA.

If China and Russia join forces then I think USA will have a big adversary to face and God only knows what that might lead to...

So far there has been only one real empire ruling the world and that has been the American one with superior military strength.

History shows that empires always eventually will fall and the aftermath of that will be quite something.

I've seen this same thing through some friends point of view. Why do countries have to chose a side? So it never really ended, then? Why can the countries just be "them" and get done with business and move on, no no they have to chose a side, and if not, then problem comes around (like Lybia)

World governments: You either fall with the "Communists" or with the "Capitalists"..
Some small country: But wait, i don't care for either side, i have Capitamunist!...
World governments: You dead

[Wind]

The players with the bigger toys get to make all the rules. Small players won't have much say in that.

It's like bullies in a schoolyard dominating the smaller and weaker ones. "Either you're with us or you're against us."

[Emil El Zapato]

I haven't had a chance to read the above posts but 2 things about Biden's move stand out to me.

I think he believes that entities such as ISIS, Taliban, etc believe their worst nightmare is for the U.S. to pull out their forces. At this point they don't care if they win or not, they just want the steady flow of income. Some of the 'bad guys' might even have themselves still believing that they are in this for philosophical reasons.

If the U.S. can weather gracefully the inevitable bad guy surge when they leave initially, things will resolve themselves internally, they will likely need outside intervention of some kind though to avoid the bad guy's revenge gone wild against their own people for letting the U.S. get away.

Russia is not bad, Putin is just another Golden One, a narcissist in it for all the narcissistic reasons, glory, money, power, having a statue ... pffft.

Biden's move is a dramatic swing away from the last 20 years of military philosophy and for good reason, the pendulum of risk has flopped from guerrilla warfare threats to the threat of open warfare among those vying for superpower. In honesty my feeling is that China is the greatest economic threat and Russia is the greatest military threat, if only because Putin is willing to use it to satisfy his distorted ego. He has been a strutting peacock for quite some time.

[Emil El Zapato]

Gio is gone?

[Wind]

For now.

[Wind]

I'm speechless really.

Iq7mmyKWXUs

[Dreamtimer]

I'm speechless really.



Myself, as well. And I'm here where nazi AND confederate flags were brought into our nation's Capitol. By insurrectionists who just want to burn their own beds.

Speechless is right. What can a person even say?



BOB, here's a little snippet of Showercap (http://showercapblog.com/lies-damned-lies-and-lies-about-beer-being-made-from-meat/) for ya.


Like, that idiot lawmaker up in Alaska who just got her batty ass banned from the only airline that flies to her hometown...how are you STILL throwing this tantrum? It’s like being in the last act of an Alien movie and demanding the waiter bring you a fresh plate of facehuggers. What, at long last, is f&cking wrong with you?

And more...


Tucker Carlson went a step further, of course.... Fish Stix Hitler actually encouraged his viewers to initiate conflict with mask-wearing strangers, part of his slow, steady campaign to normalize street violence, and radicalize his viewers into white supremacist terrorists. Which we just...allow, as a culture, it seems. Say, maybe that’s not the best idea.

This one,


Comrades, I never in my wildest, communistest fantasies dreamed that Operation: Jade Helm III: The Bidening would go so well!

It's nice to start the day with a laugh. I'm a few seconds younger already!

[Emil El Zapato]

Myself, as well. And I'm here where nazi AND confederate flags were brought into our nation's Capitol. By insurrectionists who just want to burn their own beds.

Speechless is right. What can a person even say?



BOB, here's a little snippet of Showercap (http://showercapblog.com/lies-damned-lies-and-lies-about-beer-being-made-from-meat/) for ya.



And more...



This one,



It's nice to start the day with a laugh. I'm a few seconds younger already!

Speaking of face huggers, I watched Alien Covenant for the 1st time last night. Good movie but I wanted to see more of the big guy progenitors.

[Dreamtimer]

Fassbender was so creepy in that Alien movie. He really pulled it off.

[Dreamtimer]

Tuckums. Lol.



(see Joy Reid)

[Dreamtimer]

Dinesh D'Dbag needs to go sit in a corner and think on what he's done...

https://twitter.com/rothschildmd/status/1389301788080107521

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0dxXgBWYAEIYS0?format=jpg&name=small

(I made the picture small on purpose)

[Dreamtimer]

So, is Santorum a complete moron?


"...but candidly...there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture. It was born of the people who came here, pursuing religious liberty to practice their faith.”

Our fecking Constitution was modeled after the Great Peace Treaty of Deganawida of the Six Nations. The Founding fathers themselves noted the revolutionary nature of what they were doing which had no parallel in Europe.

Europeans did not settle here to create a Christian Nation. The folks saying that need to sit down and read some history and have some respect.

[Wind]

A civilized nation?

08GSVZPkaJw

[Emil El Zapato]

A civilized nation?

08GSVZPkaJw

They're actually building standardized housing units for the homeless ... finally. Social consciousness flows down from the top, and things are getting more humane, at least in some quarters. The you-know-who party fights anything that would have the benefit of raising some 'undeserving' people from the dust and muck. Thanks for the 'dust' word DT ... :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nokJL3VC2SQ

[Dreamtimer]

Did you ever see School Daze, BOB? A Spike Lee movie.

I had no idea about the light-skinned versus dark-skinned dynamic until I saw that movie. I had no idea about the 'good hair' thing until I saw that movie. I never heard about the 'brown paper bag test' until at least my college years.

It's really easy to pretend there's no such thing as racism when you have absolutely no exposure to knowledge of folks' experience.

Nowadays, people are trying to pretend there aren't really any white supremacists.

I guess that's what you call 'normalization'.

[Dreamtimer]

In order not to derail Kryon, I'll say here that Candace Owens is just like Ben Shapiro. She's been paid bucks to flip-flop and become a talking head for the right. We can see now how many folks are willing to sell out for money or power.

Most notably, the folks who called Trump a loon, and unfit, and all the other assessments, and then bent over and said, "Please sir, may I have another?"

Some folks just don't have any dignity, imo.

[Emil El Zapato]

Did you ever see School Daze, BOB? A Spike Lee movie.

I had no idea about the light-skinned versus dark-skinned dynamic until I saw that movie. I had no idea about the 'good hair' thing until I saw that movie. I never heard about the 'brown paper bag test' until at least my college years.

It's really easy to pretend there's no such thing as racism when you have absolutely no exposure to knowledge of folks' experience.

Nowadays, people are trying to pretend there aren't really any white supremacists.

I guess that's what you call 'normalization'.

I never saw the movie but I worked with a white guy with a black wife that talked about his kids having 'good hair' ... it represents the need for most black and brown people to be white or at least look it. I've never seen anything different. I think I'm the only one I know that has ever been proud of their dark skin and I tried to implant that same pride in my daughter. But I secretly harbor a 'confidence' in being 70% European, 50% of that being Northern European. :)

[Dreamtimer]

Lolol. The Derby Winner is a 'junky'.

Looks like Baffert's the junky.

Oh, and did he really try to hide behind 'cancel culture'?

"Poor me! I drugged dozens of horses and now they want to cancel me! BooHooHoo!" :facepalm:

[Dreamtimer]

Meanwhile, over in cuckoo for coco puffs land:




The private company conducting the GOP 2020 election recount in Arizona is now demanding access to government internet routers and passwords, which the Maricopa County sheriff blasted as “mind-numbingly reckless and irresponsible” and a threat to law enforcement.

Sheriff Paul Penzone (D) said in a statement that providing router information to a shadowy private company led by a conspiracy-embracing CEO would compromise sensitive and highly classified law enforcement data and equipment.



Republicans have lost the plot!

[Dreamtimer]

In our continuing saga...


Another concern? Voters’ private information—including Social Security numbers—could be placed in the hands of a bunch of partisan deludenoids who can’t fathom [the election's outcome]...

The folks who scream about being owned by the state now want folks SSNs? They should all be arrested for reckless endangerment of the public.

[Dreamtimer]

I'd like to chuckle just for a moment about Sean Hannity getting mad at Jimmy Kimmel and saying on air that Kimmel better stop talking about him or he's going to hit back "50 times harder". Lolol.

Did Hannity forget about "The Man Show"? I bet Hannity thought it was the bees knees back in the day. Maybe he things he can trawl the show for 'evidence!' of something...

I'd love to see Hannity try to match wits with Kimmel. That would be so entertaining. Of course, betting odds wouldn't be too profitable as it's pretty obvious who would win that cage fight.

[Wind]

Uh-oh.

4kYs5AW5l10

[Dreamtimer]

Who needs experts? Who needs scientists? I can do things my way!

https://images.dailykos.com/images/946793/story_image/32CCE6F9-1F0B-4667-8FDD-DD408ACEF766.jpeg?1621044466

(for those who don't know, that's gasoline that someone has pumped into plastic garbage bags)

Darwin awards, here come your next contestants!

[Dreamtimer]

This is hilarious and yet not a joke at all. My husband's cousin went to visit family. She had gotten her vaccine. They would not let her in the house, not even to pee. She was 'shedding viral particles'.

She had to go pee in the woods. She's 69 years old for God's sake. And now for an epic, maniacal :facepalm::fpalm::facepalm::fpalm::facepalm:


From ShowerCap on the subject:



Kudos to whoever dreamed this one up, though, because the Children of the Candy Corn are so worried about the sinister, shedding-prone proteins manufactured by Bill Gates’ Deep State Vaccination Cabal that they’re...god, I can’t even type it...they’re SOCIAL DISTANCING in terror.


Some are even talking about, I kid you not, wearing masks to protect themselves. I think this makes it fairly clear that A) there is indeed a higher power and B) it enjoys f@cking with us.

[Wind]

What was your personality assessment on Tucker again, BOB? His laugh is very hilarious though.

cCL7hiL0qbY

Meanwhile Biden is being... Well, Biden. Meaning disappointing.

LgJtJ9dZB00

[Dreamtimer]

Where has the US been for the last few decades as Isreal slowly swallowed the Palestinians like a massive amoeba? I know bsbray used to write about it. He was no vanguard. It was already a huge problem then.

I don't want to watch Tucker do anything. Not laugh or cry or dance or speak or squinch his face. Nothing. At all.

[Dreamtimer]

Here's a random person's thoughts on wearing a mask,


It's been a year since some random stranger told me to smile. I love that! And I'm not ready to give it up. Maybe I never will be.

I can relate. I don't always want to be some stranger's target of attention where I'm told to smile or be pretty or whatever. I can choose to bring joy into peoples' lives on my own. It's no sort of fun being commanded to do so. Being 'asked' in public is certainly a form of pressure. And if you don't smile then you might get yelled at or scolded in public.

When you're going out to get milk for the kids, that's not really what you need.

[Dreamtimer]

It's refreshing to read non-paranoid comments about masks.


I have asthma. I found if I wear a mask while I’m mowing my lawn I don’t need a snort of albuterol when I’m done. Besides, I can get away without my dentures when I go to town.


I'd totally be giving 'toothless grins' to all I see. Because they can't.

[Wind]

Cj_Pr38vj8k
u6aPgA5549g

[Wind]

I am disgusted by this.

LPYBY3St_4g
_EScZ7xgzfQ

[Dreamtimer]

My birthplace, Arizona, seems to have lost it's sh!t. They were checking for bamboo fibers in ballots, and now the idea is that ballots were fed to chickens and then the chickens had to be incinerated in order to destroy the evidence.

If folks really want to overturn an election to put a loser 'back in office', what other nutso, destructive plans do they have?

Besides executing millions of folks for unproven crimes, I mean.

[Dreamtimer]

Did you know that being 33 means you've been in parts of five decades? Andrew Giuliani does.

He's 35, actually. He seems to be making the case that he's been 'in politics' since he was five.

Lol.

[Fred Steeves]

Did you know that being 33 means you've been in parts of five decades? Andrew Giuliani does.

He's 35, actually. He seems to be making the case that he's been 'in politics' since he was five.

Lol.

I'm telling you, can't trust a gosh dern Republican goon far as you can spit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvOjlfRpXHQ

[Emil El Zapato]

the right finds people like this deluded a-hole to make their case. You will find many honest, intelligent, articulate, "SANE", and decent human beings make theirs FOR Biden. And the two are so different that one really has to question if the right goes to Earth-II to find material, and if that Fox world is busy, they'll go to Fox Bizarro world to find someone low enough to hold their bucket of sh*t.

[Fred Steeves]

the right finds people like this deluded a-hole to make their case.

Yep...

Can't trust those far Right lunatics over at "The Intercept" either. You know, those same goons like Glenn Greenwald?

And to boot, "this deluded a-hole" has the computer wizardry capabilities to take old Biden clips, and actually make it appear as if a US Democrat is capable of deceit.

[sourcetruth]

What was your personality assessment on Tucker again, BOB? His laugh is very hilarious though.

cCL7hiL0qbY

There are some things that I like about Tucker, although I don't consider myself a republican or democrat. He has been taking the ideas of UFOs seriously on his show for years and covered the topic more then a few times over the years.

[Emil El Zapato]

There are some things that I like about Tucker, although I don't consider myself a republican or democrat. He has been taking the ideas of UFOs seriously on his show for years and covered the topic more then a few times over the years.

Hi ST, I went to a UFO conference a couple of years ago mainly to see Nick Pope speak and Pope said the same thing. I whispered to my daughter that when an individual or news agency has zero credibility they have nothing to lose when dealing with the outre subject matter.

Russia traditionally has been a very good source for edge science information. Same deal.

[Emil El Zapato]

Yep...

Can't trust those far Right lunatics over at "The Intercept" either. You know, those same goons like Glenn Greenwald?

And to boot, "this deluded a-hole" has the computer wizardry capabilities to take old Biden clips, and actually make it appear as if a US Democrat is capable of deceit.

Fred, even if there was substantial truth to the claim of deliberate lying, which there isn't, it is senseless to conflate Mandela thanking him for getting arrested to the lying of Gaetz, Trump, January 6th, Nixon, McCarthy (both of them), and all the rest of 'them'. There is just no comparison. Give it up and face the reality that your 'old' party is seriously ill. I've calculated that 1 in 2 rightist person is a psychopath, sociopath, paranoid, schizotypal, antisocial, narcissist, or whatever dissociated personality one can think of.

[Dreamtimer]

Greenwald left the Intercept last year.

Someone can look at left leaning sources like Daily Kos or TYT and right leaning sources like the Bulwark and myriad sources which aren't left or right. If someone actually wants full fledged info, that is.

Trade magazines are a good thing to peruse because they don't have time to feck around with spin. They have work to do. They keep much more to facts.

I've never been interested in being spoon-fed or profiled or funneled. So I avoid it constantly. I don't want 'suggested' or 'you may like'. Not interested. I can look for myself, thank you very much.

It's also helpful to listen to my brother. I can count on him to have the latest talking points and spin (from the right) and I can see quickly how things are being twisted without having to slog through a bunch of nasty stuff.

Bright side, you know.

[Fred Steeves]

Fred, even if there was substantial truth to the claim of deliberate lying, which there isn't, it is senseless to conflate Mandela thanking him for getting arrested to the lying of Gaetz, Trump, January 6th, Nixon, McCarthy (both of them), and all the rest of 'them'. There is just no comparison. Give it up and face the reality that your 'old' party is seriously ill. I've calculated that 1 in 2 rightist person is a psychopath, sociopath, paranoid, schizotypal, antisocial, narcissist, or whatever dissociated personality one can think of.

Well first off, questioning/challenging one side of the great divide, does not necessitate loyalty to the other side. I walked away from the Republican party 12 years ago and never looked back, after being a lifetime partisan hack like you two my whole life before then, so I know exactly what black and white thinking looks like. "My side good, other side bad, and nothing can happen that will ever change that".

The good news is, I give you credit for at least being open about your loyalty to the Democrat establishment at all cost, just as I was back in the day to the party of Limbaugh. Your other half looks like a partisan hack, walks like a partisan hack and quacks like a partisan hack, all while claiming to be completely neutral. It's obvious, it's ridiculous, and it's not a good look for the forum especially from a moderator who should be able to display more well rounded thinking than that.

Overall you two are the mirror image of the Alt Right circle jerk going on over at The Project, but I'm going to award you one of those much celebrated TYT badges anyway, just for your straightforwardness on the matter. :cool:

[Emil El Zapato]

Well first off, questioning/challenging one side of the great divide, does not necessitate loyalty to the other side. I walked away from the Republican party 12 years ago and never looked back, after being a lifetime partisan hack like you two my whole life before then, so I know exactly what black and white thinking looks like. "My side good, other side bad, and nothing can happen that will ever change that".

The good news is, I give you credit for at least being open about your loyalty to the Democrat establishment at all cost, just as I was back in the day to the party of Limbaugh. Your other half looks like a partisan hack, walks like a partisan hack and quacks like a partisan hack, all while claiming to be completely neutral. It's obvious, it's ridiculous, and it's not a good look for the forum especially from a moderator who should be able to display more well rounded thinking than that.

Overall you two are the mirror image of the Alt Right circle jerk going on over at The Project, but I'm going to award you one of those much celebrated TYT badges anyway, just for your straightforwardness on the matter. :cool:

Why, thank you Fred ... we are on the way to rapprochement. :)

[sourcetruth]

Hi ST, I went to a UFO conference a couple of years ago mainly to see Nick Pope speak and Pope said the same thing. I whispered to my daughter that when an individual or news agency has zero credibility they have nothing to lose when dealing with the outre subject matter.

Russia traditionally has been a very good source for edge science information. Same deal.

Hi BeastOfBologna,
Do you know if there any source of information on UFOs that you would recommend to me? I am curious.

[Emil El Zapato]

I'm having my usual Saturday out synchronicities:
About 9 or 10 months ago, I let a 'ware' object into my system and i have been fighting daily barrages of scam phone calls, emails, and texts since. I posted earlier about confiding my paranoid stories to my neighbor and here it is in an attempted short form.

A month ago I received a job offer for the best opportunity of my life. Best pay, stock options, the chance to work with people like myself, a group of let's have some fun with this damn engineering thing and oh by the way make bushels of money while we're at it. It was a startup company with the CEO having a history of turning 3 former startups into fortune 500 companies. I spoke with him and we negotiated a salary that 'he' thought was fair. The interview process was completely unorthodox and it set my spidey sense to high gear tingling having already been scammed by another company this year. Anyway, I told my recruiter as great as this job was and as great as the credentials of the company was I was a little leery of the too good to be true 'feeling' of the opportunity.

I explained to her that I wasn't going to sign up for 'Direct Deposit' of paychecks until I got a least one paycheck in the mail. The recruiter alerted me to the fact that I would get paid only every two weeks because they had to be mail delivered. I said that's fine with me. So anyway, on my 1st day of work the technical manager informed me that to complete an upcoming task I would have to do some research. I was totally cool with that, I love doing research and I am very good at it due to my natural ability to read and absorb new information at an exceptionally high rate (I've never worked with anybody that I felt was better and faster at it than me). In fact, I had to take a knowledge assessment to get the gig. I scored at a 92% percentile of all the people that have taken that assessment given to me by a very large and successful software engineering recruiting company.

As you may or may not suspect, that was my first tipoff that this whole thing was a scam ... I never ever score that well on engineering knowledge-based tests. I've just never cared enough to learn in-depth knowledge, I'm always doing on-the-job training but I have been doing it for a good while now, so that helps.

So the 1st week I got acclimated and told the tech manager rather than just reading documentation and finding my way around I would prefer that he just assign me some tasks to complete because I learn much better when actually doing something. He said he thought that was an excellent idea all the while complimenting me that level of knowledge was higher than what he had expected (I'd call that a left-handed compliment.) Anyway, things are going swimmingly, I did several not insignificant tasks and went back for more work. (This is all remote work with their fairly obscure online meeting software which was pretty sophisticated in truth). So, here comes my big moment ... research time. I did the research and completed a 1st version by the next day. The single and only time the tech manager showed any indication at all that I wasn't perfect was now. He said that my solution wouldn't work because the code I had written was not 'obfuscated' enough to meet the needs of the required security protocols going into place for their project. The project was a method of spreading 'information' all over the cloud spectrum to maintain an indestructible level of privacy. So, I say yes, I had considered that and then asked the techie if he had any suggestions. He said, well you'll have to research. I said ok and started beating the bushes for a good solution and I found it. Not exactly as elegant as I would have liked but I put together several conceptual approaches to get it done. It was a fine piece of work and parts of it were indeed elegant in face of the less than pretty proposed solutions that I had investigated.

All is good, I asked for more work and once again accomplished the tasks by the next day implementing things they weren't sure could even be done ... frankly, my specialty. On the following Monday, I was remotely invited to a team meeting to discuss future project directions and I continued to have the weird feeling that I was the center of attention, or rather being made to feel that way, I didn't for a second think it was sincere. My tech manager said in the meeting that he had the next 3 or 4 months of tasks for me to work on and to plan for that. I responded, 'I understand'. I saw the female project manager twitch when he said that and I immediately started thinking, "F*CK, here we go".

So Tuesday comes and the place is very uncharacteristically silent, Wednesday comes and things are still weirdly quiet. Thursday comes and the day is half over and it is still quiet. I'm getting the ringing of alarm bells so I call my recruiter and she says well let me talk to my boss and see if he can contact them and see what is going on. Bear in mind this is the following week AFTER I completed my research project. The Monday of the meeting is the day I received my 1st paycheck in the mail. As a side note, I was introduced to the HR manager - the one that processes Direct Deposit and she was a strikingly attractive older lady ... younger than me, no doubt.

I later find out the tech manager is out on Tuesday for personal business. I think his business was to put money in an account to cover the expense of my paycheck ... just my opinion.
So bottom line I hear later the day of my call to the recruiter that they decided I took too long to complete the research task. The only task I did in my time with the company that actually had a time frame associated was the one that was used as an excuse to end employment. I had been told that the reason I was hired under a contract when it was meant to be a full-time position was that they were anxious for me to start immediately and it was logistically impossible to get the equipment that I needed to me so quickly. Oddities about the entire process proliferated. The CEO said my work was not "A try and buy contract", it was just a contingency brought on by the desire to get me there and working.

Ok, enough of that:
I went to my credit union that I have been doing business with for over 20 years, I've only put money in credit unions for over 40 years, I don't do banks, I despise them. I have spoken with them and visited for business several times at least in the last two weeks. The teller asks me if I have a 'password' on the account and I tell him yes and then give the password. This is the only time I have been asked that question in the past few weeks and it surprised me a bit, but what was synchronistic about it was that I was listening to the radio playing a 'story' about a guy and his boyfriend, the guy not liking to form true commitments and asking or receiving help, and the friend volunteering to donate a kidney to the guy. In the story, they name the kidney the same as my password. The name was chosen because it was 'renal' transplant and for 'can't remember the word' meaning rebirth.

Viola', vindication, I'm not slipping into paranoia. :)

Oh, and when I drove into my driveway, I noticed that after being harassed by my homeowner's association to trim dead leaves from a palm tree that it now looks like a humongous wee wee. I hope they are mortified. We've been going rounds for about 8 years now and it is a load of fun and frustration.

[Emil El Zapato]

I actually got a letter in the mail yesterday with a name on it that had nothing to do with a phone call I got from another company that resolved a major hurdle i had been trying to jump?

So, that was either another synchronicity or group work between the Dark Web and the CIA ... possibly the NSA or the DoD(I had been working a project for them in the last month), maybe the FBI or worst of all the Deep State! Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My. :)

[Emil El Zapato]

Hi BeastOfBologna,
Do you know if there any source of information on UFOs that you would recommend to me? I am curious.

Good question, I think the best going right now is Corbin or is it Corbell, the Jeremy dude. He's according to some very sensible sources getting leaked information. Nick Pope is pretty much unassailable. Most everybody else is questionable. Luis Elizondo I believe can be considered credible, but he's high on the list of 'suspicious dudes' in the conspiracy community. Dr. Jacques Vallee is tops also but he favors a non-physical solution to the old questions. Sources that have a line of connection to Harry Reid could be trusted I'm sure. Richard Dolan at one time was good but I think he sold out or went stupid, one or the other.

There are numerous histories of the phenomena, some better than others. The list of 'claimers' is long, too but I think the best stories belong to Travis Walton, Betty and Barney Hill, most of the military personnel that don't have an obvious agenda are very interesting. I would discount anyone that claims a military background that isn't immediately verifiable, those folks have just jumped on the money wagon and are full of it. Charles Holt, military dude at Rendlesham Forest is highly believable. Former Governor of Arizona, Fife Symington is another highly credible witness. There are stories from much older history that are also highly credible ... Seargeant Lonnie Zamora of of Socorro, New Mexico is another credible witness. Have fun reading, researching, and learning. I've been doing it for close to 60 years, since i was knee-high to a grasshopper and I have never lost faith in the phenomena but got doubtful due to questionable behavior by the likes of Dr. Stephen Greer.

[Emil El Zapato]

Well first off, questioning/challenging one side of the great divide, does not necessitate loyalty to the other side. I walked away from the Republican party 12 years ago and never looked back, after being a lifetime partisan hack like you two my whole life before then, so I know exactly what black and white thinking looks like. "My side good, other side bad, and nothing can happen that will ever change that".

The good news is, I give you credit for at least being open about your loyalty to the Democrat establishment at all cost, just as I was back in the day to the party of Limbaugh. Your other half looks like a partisan hack, walks like a partisan hack and quacks like a partisan hack, all while claiming to be completely neutral. It's obvious, it's ridiculous, and it's not a good look for the forum especially from a moderator who should be able to display more well rounded thinking than that.

Overall you two are the mirror image of the Alt Right circle jerk going on over at The Project, but I'm going to award you one of those much celebrated TYT badges anyway, just for your straightforwardness on the matter. :cool:

they are mirrors Fred, one mirrors constant lies, the other mirrors the truth. I am total partisan hack for the simple truth. If you could point out, one, just one Republican that mirrors honesty and compassion for the underclasses and not for the corporatocracy, that mirrors loyalty or even a desire for such for those values I would be on their side in a flash. It's not political parties, it's human values, Fred and the right has none in sight. I have no other motivation. It is deep and it is unfailing.

[Dreamtimer]

Oh, Fred, you're sweet. But as you already know, I've already earned several badges of honor directly from you.

I don't need no stinkin' you tube channel.

;) :thup:

[Fred Steeves]

Oh, Fred, you're sweet. But as you already know, I've already earned several badges of honor directly from you.

I don't need no stinkin' you tube channel.

;) :thup:

But you awarded those to yourself. Self awarding feel good Anna badges is like nicknaming yourself, it’s one of those things needs to be decided by others.

I awarded your partner a feel good badge because he earned it, he owns his hyper partisan positions like a trooper without wavering, so far as I’m concerned the tally stands at 1-0. :cool:

[Dreamtimer]

It's not existing in a void, my friend. You open the door each time you come here. You can't seem to help yourself, judging and labelling.

It's a victory for me because if the various real Americans whose voices I posted were really insipid, as you claimed, you wouldn't have even bothered.

But you did. Because that truth that can't be quieted is triggering.

Not only did I get a badge...

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/thumb/2/21/SoBSymbol.jpg/300px-SoBSymbol.jpg

I leveled up.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fih1.redbubble.net%2Fimage.6869340 33.9721%2Fflat%2C750x%2C075%2Cf-pad%2C750x1000%2Cf8f8f8.u3.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Thanks, man.

[Fred Steeves]

Congratulations on the latest self awarded badge, you must be very proud of yet another accomplishment on that order of magnitude.

Go Team D no questions asked, and fuck the republicans in every conceivable thought word and deed :thup:

[Dreamtimer]

Good Lord. The last thing America needs is another Contract On America...(my preposition)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0-FeH1Otk0

[Dreamtimer]

Sam Seder, of The Majority Report, just said that he has no idea what 'cultural Marxism' is. He's never heard of it. He's been around the block a few times when it comes to politics.

Clearly, he hasn't been spending any time in 'alternative' media/communities.

I got accused of 'cultural Marxism' years ago. Right here.

It's another bogeyman, of course.

Just like the suddenly popular replacement theory. Folks have been glomming onto fear over 'critical race theory' in schools.

It's not taught in schools.

It's studied in Law School.

Where grown-ups go.

Of course, when you use vague words like 'school' you can steer folks into being angry about something that's not even happening.

And do more grift, or get more votes. Or both.

[Wind]

H46eprnYcuY

[Dreamtimer]

"There's a storm coming."

How long has Stormfront been around?

The 'Storm' is a theme and a meme for the right wing.


I don't understand how so many folks who should know better can get drawn in so easily.

31 million think violent solution is good.

Wow. 31 million folks who have no excuse for not knowing better.


Which nations will benefit from this?

Which nations would push propaganda to promote this?

It ain't just the church leaders.


The religious aspect is easily understood. There's no need for logic or rational thinking when you can just point to God and look at your own special salvation.

It really appears that many American Christians see Satan as having more power than God or Christ.

Another thing turned on its head.


"Recipe for disaster."

True that.

[Emil El Zapato]

The crazies are gaming the system to make 'poll takers' think they believe this stuff. I believe in the existence of Satan, but he doesn't visit often and he certainly doesn't do organizing work. The only way on that road is to fully believe that we are in the end-times. This belief itself is predicated on a biblical fantasy. It has always cracked me up that fundamentalists believe that the great swooshing will take all good people to Heaven and the New Agers believe that the great swoosh will take all bad people away. Well, that leaves nobody ... hmm, now that I think about it, it could happen that way.

When entertaining fantasies, I think that the AntiChrist and the False Profit will come from the fundamentalists ... well, if we are entertaining fantasies, let's just say we have plenty of empirical evidence for that one.

[Emil El Zapato]

https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1214234683p4/22782.jpg

“Boy, these conservatives are really something, aren't they? They're all in favor of the unborn. They will do anything for the unborn. But once you're born, you're on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don't want to know about you. They don't want to hear from you. No nothing. No neonatal care, no daycare, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you're preborn, you're fine; if you're preschool, you're fucked.”

Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day

Your daily dose of GOP conservatives showing how their party has lost their collective minds.

(This all started when a forum I frequent had a political discussion, and whenever a news story popped up where a Republican politician talked about rape, insane conspiracy theories about birth certificates, fluoridated water, Benghazi (etc.), was found to have ties to some sort of hate group, denied climate change exists, or generally said something without any logic or comprehension... they would respond, "Whatever. You know both sides are just as bad."

Well, I threw down a gauntlet. I didn't believe that was the case, so I challenged the individuals who threw this argument out to go ahead and match me, crazy moron for crazy moron from either party, one a day, to prove their point. The only rules were that they had to only include people who had held or run for public office within the past 5 years, or at the very least, helped write the party platform within that time. This ruled out most media pundits and celebrities, and let us focus simply on the actual members of the party.

And lo and behold, day one, two, three came and went, and they just whined about how it was still just as bad... but never would name a single insane person from the left. Meanwhile, as I kept profiling members of the modern GOP, and "ran up the score" into double digits, I became distressed. Because... it really was easier than I would have wanted to spot kooky conservatives than I wanted it to be. I thought it was bad... but WOW, has the party I once respected with Reagan, Dole, and the like has lost their collective minds.

With the encouragement of others who thought that "Both sides are just as bad" argument was ridiculous, the final tabulations ended up putting it at a ratio of almost 35-1, leaning to crazy/stupid Republicans being far worse. Of the handful of Democrats we looked at, the severity of "crazy" was not as staggering as for Republicans (and with the exception of two, I was the one who profiled what Democrats were discussed, as well).

They encouraged me, though, to share the profiles of these politicians as much as I can. Because... frankly, it's shocking how overwhelming how pervasive the problem in the modern GOP is, and there really are psychos you probably haven't heard of, because they're not in your state, or not representing your district. I can only hope you read this, and reconsider your vote in elections when you see an "R" next to someone's name.)

This is just one but there are many ... posting them up would be a full-time job, so anyone that cares to help is welcome. There is a site for it that can easily be found.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/44bd6c159a39415e740dbf3ecee73354/9e77f78ab2e5c200-62/s1280x1920/100af102562a92c2a10af04bf894298fa5f4bbe0.jpg
It was on this date in 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of Mike Moon, a member of the Missouri House of Representatives since 2013, and the only person we’ve profiled whose name can be spelled by Tom Cullen. Moon first took office in 2013 after a special election and spent eight years in the lower chamber making himself a polarizing figure in Missouri politics. That was probably because of his tendency to have made some of the most embarrassing remarks from a Republican anywhere in the country regarding abortion over the past few years, and that truly is saying something.

In January of 2016, he sponsored legislation called the “All Lives Matter” act (uh oh). But don’t worry, it didn’t have anything to do with police violence, it was just a slap in the face to folks in Ferguson, Missouri added on to a Personhood bill he filed. It was even more of a bit of an eyebrow-raiser back in March of 2016 when during debate on a bill that would ban abortion at any stage of development, Moon was laughed out of the room when he compared abortion to the enslavement of African Americans for a moment before he claimed to be a “reproductive expert” based on his qualifications of being a “former embryo”.

Alas, Mike Moon did not learn his lesson about looking like a boob for trying to get high and mighty about fetal development without knowing what the hell he was talking about. In February of 2017, Missouri Republicans were again looking to pass some form of Personhood legislation, even though it would obviously be overturned. And this time, Mike Moon didn’t just compare abortion to slavery. We mean, he did that, mentioning the Dred Scott ruling during the debate, but this time, he also compared legalized abortion to “Jews being slaughtered by Nazis”, because why not add Godwin’s Law while we’re at it? But he STILL wasn’t done. He then began to argue that life begins farther than people think, comparing sperm to tadpoles, rhetorically asking, “Is a sperm alive?” Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, asked during a hearing Tuesday night on a bill that would enshrine in the Missouri Constitution the statement that life begins at conception. “Have you ever seen a tadpole? Is a tadpole alive?”

So, since Mike Moon cares so much about life at all stages, you would think he would care a lot about saving the lives of refugee children fleeing war, right? HA HA! Trick question! Are those kids Muslims? Because if so, Mike Moon wrote a nice letter in November of 2015 where he explained he would like those kids placed in camps, and sent back home at the first opportunity, especially because you can’t trust ‘em because they lie so danged much.


”I do realize that the refugees we should be scrutinizing most are ones who profess the Muslim faith. Unless I’m mistaken, a practicing Muslim can do whatever is necessary for the ‘good’ of the faith - telling ‘fibs’ is a small part of what they might do. Our preference, as a nation, should be to place the refugees in camps so that they can be properly cared for and returned safely home when the time is right.”


Mike Moon doesn’t like the idea of special protections in schools for transgender youth, and in his arguments against them, he cites the work of Dr. Paul McHugh, who classifies being transgendered as a “mental disorder”, even though the American Psychiatric Association stopped classifying “gender dysphoria” as a mental disorder years ago. He also introduced a resolution that he and his fellow legislators should appeal to Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act with “manly firmness” as if they would be able to pull it off if they just took an extra-large dose of Viagra or something? As you’d expect, Mike Moon’s whole voting record is pretty “out there”, including a vote to try and block the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty, votes to attempt to nullify federal firearms laws, and a vote for the unconstitutional HB 499, which would have forced schoolchildren to recite the pledge of allegiance… specifically in English.

In June of 2017, how he decided to put up a video on his Facebook page to announce he was introducing new anti-choice legislation in Missouri, and he did so by discussing it as he decapitated a chicken. That is not a typo, Mike Moon cut off a chicken’s head and started to pull its innards out while discussing abortion.

Now, if that isn’t crazy enough, there’s also the matter of former Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens, who resigned in disgrace after he was accused of taking nude photos of his mistress without her consent, assaulting her during rough sex, and threatening to release the nude photos of her if she ever exposed him as an adulterer. After Mike Moon spent four years trying to impeach Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon without any real cause when a governor comes along who isn’t just a sexual predator but is caught breaking the law in multiple campaign finance violations and abusing charitable organizations to further his own political career, can you guess what Moon wants to do? NOTHING. Mike Moon thought it would be unfair to impeach Gov. Greitens for ANY of his moral, or legal failings.

In 2019, Moon’s focus turned to a direct theocratic bent, as he voted for legislation to have public schools teach Bible courses, and voted for a bill that prohibits all abortion in Missouri “if Roe v. Wade is overturned”.

In 2020, Mike Moon was term-limited in the Missouri House of Representatives and took on the former Chairman of the Missouri GOP, David Cole in a primary that he narrowly won with 52% of the vote. It seems that Cole struck a nerve in that primary, as Moon has currently been throwing a strop in the Missouri State Senate and is feuding with Gov. Mike Parson after he named Cole to a position as a circuit judge in Southwest Missouri.

We don’t know at what point Mike Moon’s sheer lunacy and personal crusade end up with people within his party trying to force him out, but he’s targeting some pretty big fish within his own party.

[Dreamtimer]

Mo Brooks has finally been served.


Mo Brooks has been hiding everywhere to avoid being served. He even went to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to hide. But Swalwell sent his process server there and told him, “Git Mo!” lol

So a guy who thinks he did nothing wrong and has been hiding from authorities and failing to show up to do his job in Congress finally got served.
But they had to serve his wife.

And now he's whining and moaning and calling the authorities, after running from them for weeks.

But the true extent of his ineptitude is demonstrated by his own hand on twitter.



"Dude, is that your gmail account and password in that picture? Asking for a friend," one user tweeted. Another noted, "You tape your passwords to your laptop? And then take a picture and tweet it to the world? And, wait - hang on! - you’re on the Armed Services subcommittee for Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems? Surely not! Even Gohmert’s not this dumb."

One user dryly noted Brooks was "Not a criminal mastermind for sure." Another jokingly replied, "Sir, can you post your bank account number, that pin is just dying to be put to use." One person commented, "Real top notch IT security practices you've got going there, putting your passwords on a sticker right on your laptop."

One user tweeted, "Republicans: these cyber attacks are getting out of control!! We must stop them! Also republicans: a republican sitting member of congress tweets a photo of his Gmail password." Another said, "While ranting like a lunatic and claiming to be a victim because his wife was handed a piece of paper, Mo Brooks accidentally tweeted his Gmail password and pin numbers. He's Mr. Underhill from Fletch." One said, "Thanks for sharing your passwords with all of Twitter, dumbass." One more said, "What. An. Idiot. Thanks for sharing your password with the world. Glad to know you are on the committee responsible for our nation’s cyber security. I feel much safer knowing you are on the case."


Lol and Yikes! All at once.

Stable Geniuses are everywhere!

[Dreamtimer]

I finally got it! I can't believe it took so long.

Problem, Reaction, Solution.

It's the Republicans, David Eike! Not the Reptilians!

[Emil El Zapato]

I finally got it! I can't believe it took so long.

Problem, Reaction, Solution.

It's the Republicans, David Eike! Not the Reptilians!

Amen, and we said it before David Elke did ... :)

[Aragorn]

I finally got it! I can't believe it took so long.

Problem, Reaction, Solution.

It's the Republicans, David Eike! Not the Reptilians!

Amen, and we said it before David Elke did ... :)

Just for the record, it's David Icke ─ I C K E. ;)

[Dreamtimer]

Have you ever read any of Steve Schmidt's twitter tirades, BOB? I don't post them and I'm not on twitter but I run across them now and again. He does not mince words. He used to campaign for Republicans and has been disgusted with both Trump and the party he helped to gain power for so many years.

You may enjoy the frank passion, and he's no slouch. He knows his (now former) party inside and out.

It's weird for me, observing these people, because so many different feelings emerge. A little schadenfreude watching how angry they are at the beast they helped create, a little gratified that one or two seem to have learned maybe a couple lessons, a little baffled by their apparent blindness to the direction the party was going in. When you spend years saying it's just fear-mongering and not looking into the actual problem, it tends to come bite you in the butt.

The longer you hide behind claims of fear-mongering, the worse it'll be.

And now we have an uncontrolled beast with politicians kowtowing to a one-term loser who's not even the president anymore and a rabid base who's been deluded into believing that he is.

**Note the timing of the new August claim. That's about when the court proceedings will reach the point of indictments and more. Looks like somebody needs an insurrection or revolution to start so that he doesn't have to be held to accounts for his crimes.

What in the world did they think would come out of courting the Christian right, bolstering voices like Limbaugh, and not standing up for actual truth?




Thank you, Aragorn. I suspected I spelled Icke wrong and I definitely did not double check.

[Dreamtimer]

I would like to take the opportunity of savoring the reality of having been accused of 1984 style double-plus-good speak, and now witnessing my own countrymen/women embrace full-throated, obvious lies regarding stolen elections, voter fraud, audits, and pedo conspiracies.

It's a really empty and sucky victory.

[Emil El Zapato]

I'm going chaotic ... this is a picture of my adoptive father after WWII and before getting married (I think) ... We never had guns around when was little chillens ...

I've been trying to upload as attachment a photo ... the add files button is not getting the picture ... Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

[Dreamtimer]

You really kinda make me maybe but not really want to send off my DNA to find family members.

But not in this moment...

[Emil El Zapato]

You really kinda make me maybe but not really want to send off my DNA to find family members.

But not in this moment...

I can guarantee some interesting times and that's for sure ... :)

[Emil El Zapato]

Have a question for the Mod Squad:

Is there a graceful way to post a podcast?

thanks the BOB

[Dreamtimer]

If your podcast is on You Tube, BOB, that makes it easy. Post the video. Same with Facebook videos.

Some podcasts are MP3's, and you could embed them that way. There's an MP3 tool in the toolbar.

I'm unsure about other options, but we shall discuss.

[Emil El Zapato]

If your podcast is on You Tube, BOB, that makes it easy. Post the video. Same with Facebook videos.

Some podcasts are MP3's, and you could embed them that way. There's an MP3 tool in the toolbar.

I'm unsure about other options, but we shall discuss.

cool, I'll try it later DT ... right now i'm setting up my firestick for TV ... thanks

[Dreamtimer]

This is funny to me but not really for the humor thread. I'll put it here as it relates to spawn of captain chaos.


Word has just reached us that McNinny is polishing her lying chops to prepare for her role in a reboot of Rawhide to be retitled Raw Lies. In it, she’ll wander around the branding pen telling anyone who’ll listen about how the branding iron does not hurt and that the cows are really just crisis actors. The series will also star Alex Jones as a branding iron and Devin Nunes as a cow.

[Wind]

4xqouhMCJBI
-oVVITVE_n4

[Dreamtimer]

After the first 53 seconds of the first vid my reaction is that it's not counterintuitive at all.

In America I constantly hear, "we can't afford to pay a decent minimum wage." Why not? We have cash out the wazzoo. Oh, wait, that's only the top .01%

If workers are kept living paycheck to paycheck, worried about any emergency which will clean out the paltry savings that they have, they're wage slaves.

I've heard Americans use that phrase many times.

Wage slave.

[Dreamtimer]

Just stumbled across this one, synchronistically.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7dfPL7Kho&t=33s

[Emil El Zapato]

Just stumbled across this one, synchronistically.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7dfPL7Kho&t=33s

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... Evil selfish bast*rds. It has long been debated about cutting taxes for the rich because it is good for the economy ... that's total blather ... historical records prove just the opposite is the reality ... they really do want that 7th house even it means they have to work a little harder. How long has the right tried and succeeded in shoveling that sh*t down our throats? The rich love it and the poor don't care as long as they don't do anything that jeopardizes their inherited sense of white superiority. They can be multi-multi-generational losers with ancestors from the Mayflower and it doesn't bother them one whit cause they got an exalted history, as long as you don't consider slavery because that was their ancestors not them, we all know they don't own slaves now, and in many cases because now it is illegal.

[Dreamtimer]

The crash at the tour de France was bad news. This footage shows how close crowds can be and how fast the cyclists go downhill. Yikes!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zbwwLUs1Og&t=70s

[Emil El Zapato]

The crash at the tour de France was bad news. This footage shows how close crowds can be and how fast the cyclists go downhill. Yikes!

I didn't get to see much of it, but without a doubt it can be very dangerous. I had a dream awhile back that I entered a race like that but chickened out when it came to the mountain climbs. It was too high, going up was scary. I started the race late but I was determined to catch up ... didn't happen.

I actually used to bike about 175 miles a week. I would have been pretty competitive if I could have been on the women's Olympic team. Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

[Wind]

Good riddance, I say. Next in line should be his crony buddy Dick Cheney.

Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88 (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/us/politics/donald-rumsfeld-dead.html)

[Dreamtimer]

I have mixed feelings. Don is meeting his maker now.

I'd like to see Cheney hang around a bit longer to see how far his party has fallen and how easily to a man like Trump. He's already seen his daughter suffer politically. He should get some more of this medicine, imo.

[Dreamtimer]

Have you seen this story (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/a-bronx-tale-one-sperm-donor-19-siblings-and-six-decades-of-secrets/), BOB?

A Bronx Tale: One Sperm Donor, 19 Siblings, and Six Decades of Secrets
How DNA home test kits can lead to family joy—and anguish.

A man made sperm donations over more than a decade. A group of Bronx doctors worked on fertility issues and helped several women. People are now finding out that they have many siblings never known about and some wonder whether they were part of an experiment.


There are now 19 identified half-siblings, though several have not acknowledged their connection to the family. A private Facebook group called “Too Full of Tufels” contains about 50 members, including husbands, wives, children, and grandchildren of the half-siblings. Most of the new brothers and sisters have compared birth records. Each was born to Jewish families; almost all were delivered in Bronx hospitals. Their births were largely handled by different obstetricians, though two of the doctors each delivered two of the Tufel offspring. The sperm of Sam Tufel, who began having children with his wife in 1939, was used by Bronx OB-GYNs stretching from at least 1944 to 1958.

It's quite a read. And it lends many new dimensions to my own thoughts about pursuing my genetic origins. (which I'm not doing currently)

[Wind]

'Heartbreaking' conditions in US migrant child camp (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57561760)

[Dreamtimer]

BOB, I didn't want to start a thread on this topic and since it's about Captain Chaos, I'll put it here. Thanks in advance. :thup:


From Kurt Eichenwald:

As someone who has written for decades about corporate crime, I was reading the Trump O/Weisselberg indictment going, "Yah, ok..hmm..yah..ok..Wait..HOLY SHIT!" The Trump Org is in deep, deep trouble. And not because of the criminal charges. Because of its bank loan covenants.

In fact, if even the smallest bit of this case is true, I think the Trump Org could be dead. It's complicated, but it primarily pertains to the 12th count of the indictment.

Taking this a step at a time: Like most real estate companies, the Trump Org is horribly illiquid, this means it cannot readily convert its assets into cash as needed. Worse, because of the incredible incompetence and business idiocy of Trump, cash on hand (and access rapid loans through what is known as the commercial paper market) is small. So, the company survives on loans against assets.

Trump originally depended on bank loans, then jumped into high-yield (junk) bond market, which is why so many of his businesses went bankrupt: Junk bonds gave him lots of cash to spend, but he was too stupid to apply an analysis beyond "I'm great"to figure out how he was going to generate enough cash to pay interest on bonds. He couldn't.

With his dad, he tried laundering money through Trump Castle to get past a requirement with his bank loans brought on by his junk debt, but got caught. Everything crashed down so, the bottom line: Trump knows how to borrow money, he doesn't know how to manage it. Then came The Apprentice, which gave him lots of cash. Of course, he spent it all, then used assets he purchased as security to borrow from banks on apparent assumption that "I'm great" would fix any cash flow problems.

He now has huge amounts of debt against assets that are plummeting in value because of January 6 and his toxic brand name. He *needed* the presidency to survive financially. I have always believed, that is why he is so desperate to keep it because if he was president, he could hit up the Russians, Saudis, etc to bail him out. Now, with him toxic and a threat to the country, those nations know that any secret payments they make to him run a huge risk of being discovered.

Which brings us to today's charges. All bank loans with a business come with "lending covenants." These are basically a series of requirements, some of which include "you'll behave" in minor character. But *the most important part* of any loan covenant is the "books and records" portion. It is included in every covenant for a bank loan to a business. The terms are simple: You maintain truthful books and records, you attest to us that they are truthful, and we are allowed to review them at any time. There is no "You can lie *just a little bit* on your books and records" it's all or nothing, like pregnancy: You either are or you arent. The books and records either are truthful or they aren't. Which brings us to count 12, which I think you can now understand the significance of:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5PAYw-WQAUm5M6?format=png&name=medium

Forget Weisselberg. That is every every corporate defendant, every entity that could have a loan covenant in its name. Every Trump Org bank lender in the world, right now, is looking at this indictment, looking at their covenants, and calling the Trump Org demanding they turn over every relevant book and record pertaining to these issues. If they refuse...BOOM. Loans pulled. If they do and the banks don't like what they see...BOOM. Loans pulled. If the loans come due (which 100s of millions do next year) no way they get refinanced.

There may be something I am missing here, but I do not see how the Trump Org survives this without some sort of corrupt deal overseas. But even that seems far-fetched. Instead, it may be the biggest real estate corp bankruptcy in history and given that those of us who covered his business for decades - back when he was a democrat/reform party/whoever would have him - and always knew he was a crook, all I can say is, what the hell took so long?

[Dreamtimer]

"Born in South LA, I was born in South LA..." (Cheech and Chong) They were doing a different kind of lighting up.

Someone made homemade fireworks. They were reported. The police found 5,000 pounds of improvised explosives. They removed most but decided to conduct a controlled explosion of about 10 pounds determined to be too dangerous to transport.

It did not go as planned.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_A4Dn0b41c

https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/10855194_070221-kabc-6p-fireworks-bust-vid.jpg?w=1600


https://images.foxtv.com/static.foxla.com/www.foxla.com/content/uploads/2021/06/932/524/a6e33cee-GENERIC-WEB-MAIN-5.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

17 people were injured including firefighters, police officers and residents of the neighborhood.

[Wind]

About polarization.

w2DU52k6GFA
SV_HI4I1Gmo

[Dreamtimer]

From Just Security (https://www.justsecurity.org/77331/the-weisselberg-indictment-is-not-a-fringe-benefits-case/), author Danial Shaviro breaks down the indictments of Weisselberg and the Trump Org.

Dan points out, among other things, how the mainstream media is getting it wrong. These are highlights. (the article gives details for each point)

1. This is no mere fringe benefits case. It is a straight-out fraud case, claiming that the defendants kept double books: phony ones to show the tax authorities, and accurate ones to be hidden from view.

2. It is not just a state and local income tax fraud case. It is also – via New York State fraud, conspiracy, and grand larceny statutes – a federal income tax fraud case. The indictment’s first three and longest counts detail a “scheme to defraud” the federal Internal Revenue Service, including through a “conspiracy” with multiple “overt acts,” and the commission of “grand larceny.”

3. If the Manhattan DA can prove the facts asserted, this is not a trivial case, or one that ordinarily would not be brought, or one that bespeaks political bias, or is just about pressuring a witness whom the DA wants to “turn.” It is unimaginable to me that any prosecutor would not bring these or similar charges under the asserted facts.

4. The true economic deal alleged by the indictment – Weisselberg had a fixed economic deal with the Trump Corporation. He was to be paid a fixed amount – which, for the years 2011 through 2018, equaled $940,000 annually, comprised of $540,000 denominated as base salary and $400,000 denominated as an end-of-year bonus. Nothing else in the employment agreement and arrangements between the parties that the indictment discusses would change this fixed bottom line. Any supposed “fringe benefit” – and, as we will see, the term really does not fit well here – that the Trump Organization (through any of its entities) furnished to Weisselberg would be treated as compensation in the company’s internal records, and charged against his $940,000 receipt.

5. Fraudulent double bookkeeping – Implementing this scheme required having two inconsistent sets of records: (a) the fake ones for tax reporting that excluded a part of his compensation (under the parties’ financial deal and the company’s secret bookkeeping), and (b) the true accounting records that the company maintained privately.

6. Additional overt acts to conceal the fraud – Even in the company’s own ledgers, as distinct from those that were disclosed to relevant tax authorities, Weisselberg took steps to conceal his receipt of benefits.

7. A large number of the items that the company funded (and then subtracted from Weisselberg’s reported compensation) had no relationship whatsoever to the sort of items that, under appropriate circumstances, might potentially constitute tax-free employee fringe benefits.

8. Fraudulent mischaracterization of employee compensation, supported by deceptive bookkeeping

9. Evasion of New York City income tax by falsely denying local residence status

10. What was Donald Trump’s role in all this? The indictment notes that “tuition expenses for Weisselberg’s family members [were]… paid by personal checks drawn on the account of and signed by Donald J. Trump.” It also states that, in 2005, “the Trump Corporation, acting through its president,” entered into the New York City apartment lease on Weisselberg’s behalf” – listed as an overt act in furtherance of the claimed conspiracy to evade federal income tax (Second Count; Overt Act #1).

[Dreamtimer]

More explosions. I mean, who really needs experts or knowledge? Just light 'em off next to the truck. What could go wrong?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy-5Bwq7sxM&t=1s

The Illuminator's guild is most displeased.

You can see a closer, longer video here (https://abc7news.com/fireworks-toledo-accident-accidents-2021-injuries/10864839/).

[Wind]

A reality check from Chris Hedges.

VXYsGuBdzM4

[Wind]

War, what is it good for?

R_Pa8kf5da0

[Dreamtimer]

ShowerCap's (http://showercapblog.com/et-tu-brady/) at it again...


Tom Barrack got arrested for operating illegally as an unregistered agent of a foreign power, and at some point, the nation’s evangelical “Christians” will explain to the rest of us why the object of their adulation surrounds himself exclusively with felons and traitors. Surely. Any day now. Two weeks. (Maybe we should also ask ‘em to clarify just how these “populists” manage to scrounge up $250 million in bail money on a moment’s notice.)

[Dreamtimer]

Here in backwards world it's horrible and awful for an athlete to turn their back to the flag, and A-OK for an ex-Pres to tell his supporters to clap at the failures of a US Olympic team.

Cheer their loss. Go team! Go USA!

Wait, what?

It's hard to be 'number one' when we're being turned against our own selves.

Gee, I wonder who's super happy that's happening, especially when his athletes will be taking many gold medals back to his own country?

Hmmmmmm.....

[Dreamtimer]

Fox News is suddenly angry about ambushing. But they weren't when it was their own guys doing it. (O'Reilly, Watter, Carlson and more)

Do they have a Steven Crowder problem? They like to ambush but don't do it to them!!!

[Dreamtimer]

How low does a person have to be to call Simone Biles weak? She has four moves in three events named after her and has won multiple gold medals during her career. This isn't even the first time she's dealt with this issue.

Anyone ever hear of the 'twisties'? How about the 'yips'? They're a thing that professionals have to deal with.

Simone was sexually abused by Larry Nasser, her organization did not protect her, and yet she did not give up. She went on to be a winner.

Charlie Kirk is a weakling and an embarrassment.

[PurpleLama]

so, BoB used to be NaP?

just trying to catch up....

[modwiz]

Yes, that is correct. I prefer blob but, BoB it is.:p

The Beast of Baloney, quite appropriate, IMO.

[Emil El Zapato]

lol ... Beast of Bologna ... my Purple friend ... Like most things the name hit me like a bolt out of the Blue ... Who is that misanthrope that dares enter my domain? A mouse that roared? He'll get no favors from me until he joins the human race ... which in truth may not be possible for the poor benighted soul.

[Dreamtimer]

Vanilla Isis. Y'all Qaeda.

If only I could laugh.

[Aragorn]

so, BoB used to be NaP?

just trying to catch up....

Yes, that is correct. I prefer blob but, BoB it is.:p

The Beast of Baloney, quite appropriate, IMO.

Cut it out, Rad. I won't allow him to insult you, but I'm also not going to allow you to insult him. No need to throw more fuel onto that fire. You're both ─ i.e. you and BoB ─ only preventing the fire from burning itself out.

BoB, do not respond. I'll delete your post if you do.

[Dreamtimer]

War, what is it good for?

R_Pa8kf5da0

"Absolutely nothing!" Because enriching a few at the expense of people and societies is worthless.

I don't know about the conflict between vegan and paleo. Seems silly, but I've seen people get really worked up. Idealism mixed with the most basic activity, eating, is a volatile brew.

So how do you change the system without chaos?

It's possible to hold people and systems accountable without resorting to vengeance and conflict.

[Dreamtimer]

For your pleasure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZYtSuNzzw), BOB. Check out 'dim bulb' at 13 min. (note that the characterizations come after the substance, not before)

And the link below the video to the debate five years ago may be of interest as well.

[Dreamtimer]

I just noticed Sam's 40 second nugget which is precious indeed.

"What is the through line that we're seeing here, huh?"

[Emil El Zapato]

For your pleasure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZYtSuNzzw), BOB. Check out 'dim bulb' at 13 min. (note that the characterizations come after the substance, not before)

And the link below the video to the debate five years ago may be of interest as well.

That's actually the 1st time I've been somewhat impressed by his presentation DT, (Sam Seder)

[Dreamtimer]

Ah, the good ole days. I remember well researching Nibiru in depth. It was fun. A giant planetoid entering the solar system and a massive government cover-up. Not that such a thing could actually be covered up, but hey, it was fun.

I found a dude who had created the most detailed and professional presentation boards filled with images and analysis. They looked expensive. Not something you print out at home.

I can't have any fun anymore because the sore losers here want to take their ball, go home, and burn it all down since they can't win hearts and minds anymore.

I'd rather chase giant spheres feeding off energy from the sun.

Where are those persian physicists when you need them?


:flame:

[Dreamtimer]

I heard Alan Weisselman was a member of a unique church.

The Church of the Holy Second Ledger.

:ttr::lol::ttr:

[Wind]

https://i.imgur.com/H3CM3BJ.png

c9PdM4OKqz0

[Emil El Zapato]

https://i.imgur.com/H3CM3BJ.png

c9PdM4OKqz0

lol ... oops! Let's see what happens now. It is sad for the Afghanis, But another 20 years and it would have been just as sad. Biden did what he always has done, delivers to the home team, aka, The New York Yankees. It's breaking a 50-year stalemate. The Afghan people will be held back from generations of forwarding progress by the 'rural' freedom fighters, aka, Taliban, ISIS, Al Qaida, who will also now remain dirt poor given that the progressive people will not have the resources necessary to appease the hunger of the poor farmers after their rape by the same. It's a mad cycle and the nature of the ignorant to think in double-bind fashion. And really, why shouldn't they, they were born into a double-bound world not endowed with the instincts to escape it.

They will lose but the natural process can take hundreds if not thousands of years.

[Aragorn]

https://i.imgur.com/H3CM3BJ.png

I'm having very mixed feelings about this situation. :unsure:

The thing is that the USA is historically directly responsible for the mess in Afghanistan. First of all, under the Jimmy Carter administration, Machiavellian Grand Master Zbigniew Brzezinsky orchestrated the Soviet Russian invasion of Afghanistan while at the same time funding, training and logistically supporting the Mujaheddin, all with the intent of bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, so that the USA would come out of it all as the world's only major military superpower, with as a convenient side-effect that this would also geopolitically break the power of communism in Western Asia.

The USA knew all too well that the Mujaheddin was primarily driven by religious fanaticism, but they considered this of a far lesser concern than (what they perceived as) the threat of communism. The Russians then did indeed get their asses handed to them in Afghanistan, and a few years later, the Soviet Union collapsed ─ as was the American intent ─ while the Mujaheddin evolved into the Taliban regime. Never even mind the casualties on both sides.

Secondly, the war in Vietnam essentially began as a civil war between communists and anti-communists and had its roots in earlier and similarly themed armed conflicts in Indochina ─ mainly Cambodia and Laos ─ but it quickly became a real-life proxy for the Cold War. North Vietnam was logistically being supported by the Soviet Union and Communist China, and South Vietnam was being supported by France and (among others) the USA. Kennedy wanted to pull out, but the CIA wanted to escalate the American presence and involvement. And we all know what happened next; Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson carried forward with the CIA's plan before JFK's blood was even cold, resulting in approximately 1.4 million deaths, of whom about half were innocent civilians.

The now ended US American presence in Afghanistan was the result of the invasion of said country by the George W. Bush administration, and just as with the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, the USA had no business being there in the first place ─ the USA was the invader, not the other way around. But just as in Vietnam, the Americans created such a mess that they were left with the immense responsibility toward cleaning up ─ a responsibility they never assumed, because their reasons for invading both Afghanistan and Iraq were based upon false premises meant to hide a deeper underlying agenda, in both countries.

It was only because of that agenda that the USA maintained its military presence in those countries ─ Vietnam as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. They were never interested in helping either country rebuild itself and regain its sovereignty, because that sovereignty was exactly what the USA did not want them to regain. The USA invades other countries in order to make them into fiefdoms and expendable military sock puppets.

And so now they are pulling out. Part of me wants to shout "Finally!", but at the same time, I've got a wry feeling about how they've created a mess and are now turning their backs on the Afghani people. Not that I would ever have expected the US Empire to really start cleaning up that mess ─ that's just not The American Way™ ─ but now that they're pulling out, it would appear that the fate of Afghanistan is sealed, and that said country's civilians are now looking at a long and dark future under an Islamic tyranny.

:noidea:

[Chris]

This was always bound to happen eventually, for reasons highlighted by Dmitry Orlov below:

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-case-study-in-national-shame.html

Monday, July 12, 2021

A Case Study in National Shame

The American occupation of Afghanistan is, thankfully, over, and the way it ended was remarkably fitting to an effort that was thoroughly misguided. The US pulled out in the middle of the night, not warning its allies and leaving behind a rapidly collapsing puppet state which they established and propped up for two decades at the cost of $2.26 trillion. To give you an idea of these numbers, Afghanistan's population is 38 million; its per capita annual income is $581. By multiplying the two together and the whole by 20 years, and we get $441.56 billion. Thus, the US spending on Afghanistan exceeded the country's GDP by a factor of five!

And what is there to show for it? Well, while under the control of the US (which was in many cases more notional than real) Afghanistan became responsible for 90% of the world's opium supply, valued at around $58.5 billion a year. Even as a corrupt scheme to use government funds to get at some dirty drug money, the Afghanistan venture has been a pitifully, pathetically ineffectual one, and that is probably why the topic hardly ever comes up. Being ruled by a mafia government may not be particularly shameful for people who have no shame, but being ruled by a mafia government that can't even come up with the ink is, among thieves, the ultimate dishonor.

Perhaps an even greater dishonor is in leaving behind scores of people whom the Taliban consider American collaborators: translators and other service personnel recruited and employed by the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan over the past two decades. An honorable thing to do would be to fly them out to the US and to give them places to live and pensions. A dishonorable thing to do is what the US usually does under such circumstances: abandon its allies as soon as they become unnecessary. The whole world is watching and the lesson they are learning is this: the US is in rapid, chaotic retreat, and it is manifestly unsafe to be an American ally or, worse yet, an American collaborator.

But such important topics are being studiously ignored. What is talked about instead is... cue the sound of silence. Joe Biden recently let us catch a glimpse of his internal mental void, saying, "We went [into Afghanistan] for two reasons: to... to..." Then he froze with a blank stare and eventually came up with two expedient explanations: getting Osama Bin Laden (who was in Pakistan, a US ally at the time, enjoying his quiet CIA retirement living next to a military college) and fighting terrorism (which is now a worse problem than ever).

From this we might conclude that US blundering into Afghanistan and staying there for two decades was a horrendous mistake and, surely, it was, but this does not explain why the mistake was made. Why are empires, especially dying ones, drawn to Afghanistan like moths to a flame? The case study below is from my book The Five Stages of Collapse. It is about the Pashtuns, but to simply just a little, the Taliban, who will, by all indications, soon will once again be in charge of the whole of Afghanistan, are ethnic Pashtuns (they have recruited a great many ethnic Tajiks in recent times, but this does not change their basic nature).

Beyond satisfying an interest in US foreign policy, the story of Afghanistan, and of Taliban in it, offers a valuable opportunity for attitude adjustment. You may not think highly of them; in turn, what they think of you is that you should shut up, get out and stay out. You may be tempted to expound to them your tender feelings about freedom, democracy, human rights, social and technological progress, environmentalism, gender equality and the reproductive rights of women. They will simply ignore all of that as idiotic, childish noise.

Chances are, your entire civilization will crumble into dust and nothing will be left of it except some rusty rebar sticking out of cracked concrete and they will still be there, same as ever. Your challenge is to learn to respect them, knowing full well that they will never, ever have any respect for you.

Case Study: The Pashtuns

Among the world’s many ungoverned spaces, there are few as long lasting and as able to withstand the relentless onslaught of empires as the Pashtun tribal areas, which straddle the porous and largely notional border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan. To invaders, this is an invisible yet impregnable fortress that has withstood all attempts by centralized government authorities to impose their will. The term “ungoverned” is, as usual, misapplied here: the Pashtuns have an alternative system of governance whose rules preclude the establishment of any centralized authority. At over forty million strong, they are one of the largest ethnic groups on the planet. Their ability to resist the British, the Pakistanis, the Soviets and now the Americans/NATO makes them one of the greatest anti-imperialist success stories on our planet. What makes up the shell of such an uncrackable nut? This is an interesting question, which is why I have decided to include an exposition on the Pashtuns, the toughest nut in the whole tribal nutsack.

An equally interesting question to ask is, What compelled a succession of empires to continue to make futile attempts to crack it, throwing life and treasure at the task of conquering a rugged, fiercely independent, inaccessible and mostly worthless piece of land? Wouldn’t it be much easier to just leave the Pashtuns alone and continue using rifles against Pygmies armed with ripe fruit? The compulsion to conquer and to subjugate is by no means new, and tribes have continuously conquered and subjugated other tribes since prehistoric times, but with the emergence of global empires a new element seems to have been introduced: complete intolerance of complete independence. Every pocket of the planet, no matter how small, has to be assigned to an internationally recognized state that has been bound to other states through treaties and state-legal relations. The global political order can no longer tolerate a single white spot on the political map. Its imperative seems to be to force every single group of humans to at least sit down at the negotiating table, at which the most powerful (or so they think) always have the upper hand, and to sign legally-binding documents. The existence of any such white spot poses an existential threat to the entire system, which is why the efforts to eliminate it are often disproportionate to either its value or its threat. Like space aliens, great big empires swoop in and say, “ Take me to your leader!” And if there is no leader, and the only bit of foreign policy this particular tribe ever happens to have developed is exhaustively described by the words “go away and leave us alone,” then a misunderstanding inevitably results and things end badly for both sides. Appointing a local stooge to sign legally-binding documents on behalf of the ungoverned territory that is supposed to behave like a nation-state does not work.

It would appear that the state cannot impose its authority on an area if its underlying, local system of governance is non-hierarchical, self-enforcing and decentralized, and has a strong tradition of uniting solely for the purpose of ganging up on outside threats and an equally strong tradition of attempting to avenge all wrongful deaths (such as a family member who has been killed by an American Predator drone). This happens to be the case with the Pashtuns. Their ancient and eternal code of conduct is Pashtunwali, or “The Pashtun Way.” The reason for following Pashtunwali is to be a good Pashtun. In turn, what a good Pashtun does is follow Pashtunwali. It is self-reinforcing because any Pashtun who does not follow Pashtunwali is unable to secure the cooperation of other Pashtuns, and has very low life expectancy, because ostracism is generally equivalent to a death sentence. Among the Pashtuns, there is no such thing as the right to life; there is only the reason for not killing someone right there and then. If this seems unnecessarily harsh to you, then what did you expect? A trip to Disneyland? Needless to say, the Pashtuns cannot be seduced with offers of social progress and economic development, because that is not the purpose of Pashtunwali. The purpose of Pashtunwali is to perpetuate Pashtunwali, and at this it is apparently very, very good.

Pashtun society is classified as segmentary, a subtype of acephalous (leaderless). The main figures of authority are the elders (maliks) who serve a local tribal chief (khan), but their leadership positions remain at all times contingent on putting the tribe’s interests first. All decisionmaking is consensus-based, severely restricting the scope of united action. However, when faced with an external threat, the Pashtuns are able to appoint a dictator, and to serve that dictator with absolute obedience until the threat is extinguished.

Pashtunwali defines the following key concepts: honor (nang) demands action regardless of consequences whenever Pashtunwali is violated. It is permissible to lie and kill to protect one’s nang. Revenge (badal) demands “an eye for an eye” in case of injury or damage, but crucially allows payment of restitution to avoid bloodshed. Incarceration is considered unacceptable and unjust under any circumstances. It is seen as interfering with justice, since it complicates the process of exacting revenge and precludes the payment of restitution. This is why Afghanistan has been the scene of spectacular prison escapes, where hundreds of inmates are freed in a single military-style attack; the attackers’ goal is not just to free prisoners but also to later kill them or collect restitution from them. The law of hospitality (nanawatai) demands that any Pashtun must welcome and provide sanctuary to anyone who asks for it. As a matter of nang, the guest must be kept perfectly secure and safe from all harm while a guest. Once over the threshold and no longer a guest, he can be sniped at one’s leisure should such an action be called for. Laws against harboring fugitives, serving as accessory after the fact, impeding official investigations and so forth are meaningless and attempts to enforce them automatically result in badal.

The local Pashtun governing body is the jirga, which is convened only on special occasions. It takes its roots from Athenian democracy, although some scholars argue that it predates it. The participants arrange themselves in a circle, and everyone has the right to speak. There is no one presiding, in accordance with the principle that no one is superior in the eyes of Pashtunwali. The decision is based on a majority consensus. Those who defy the decision of the jirga open themselves up to officially sanctioned arson and murder. It is significant that the jirga does not allow representation: it is a direct rather than a representative democracy. It is also crucial that the jirga reserves the right to abnegate any agreement previously entered into, making treaty-based state-legal relations with the Pashtuns impossible. Lastly, only those who follow Pashtunwali can participate in a jirga; all outsiders are automatically excluded.

This should give you some idea of why Pashtunwali presents an intractable problem for any empire that wants to dominate the Pashtuns. Now let us briefly glance at the long and tangled historical record of such attempts.

Empires break their teeth

The first modern empire to tangle with the Pashtuns was the British, who optimistically tried to impose the Indian Penal Code on them. When the Pashtuns refused to recognize this code as just, the result was a considerable amount of carnage. The British then abandoned attempts at imposing a system of justice and resorted to administrative means instead: their Closed Border Policy attempted to segregate the plains tribes from the hill tribes. This policy failed to stop the carnage and was abandoned after thirty years. Eventually the British were compelled to resort to accommodation by recognizing Pashtun tribal law. Then they bled profusely and departed in unseemly haste, leaving the Pashtuns to the Pakistanis, who mostly practiced accommodation as well. The Taliban movement, which is predominantly Pashtun-led, was recognized by Pakistan. Pakistan was content to allow Pashtun self-governance until September 11, 2001. Since then they have been compelled to at least make a show of imposing authority on the Pashtuns, in order to at least appear to cooperate with their American allies, although little remains of this cooperation today.

The Soviets blundered into Afghanistan in a misguided effort to defend socialism against regressive counterrevolutionary tendencies in accordance with the Brezhnev Doctrine. They made a futile attempt to eradicate ethnic and religious identities through a strategy of suppression, and succeeded, for a time, in consolidating control of urban areas while the predominantly Pashtun resistance established footholds in the hills surrounding the capital Kabul. They also relentlessly bombed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to create a no-man’s land. In doing so, they failed on a grand scale, creating a very large refugee crisis and thus ensuring that their enemies had plenty of international support. Once, thanks to the efforts of the CIA (working closely with Osama bin Laden) the Pashtuns acquired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, the Soviets gradually lost the ability to continue the air campaign.

The Soviets’ effort to win the Pashtun hearts and minds was likewise a spectacular failure. Pashtunwali demanded revenge for the Soviets’ military actions from even the most ambivalent Pashtuns. The few elders the Soviets were able to co-opt through intimidation or bribery swiftly lost the support of their followers. The Soviets withdrew in 1988, having made zero headway, and having lost the political will to succeed. It was a costly conflict with no benefits.

The Americans (and a few NATO troops) are currently in the process of repeating the Soviet experiment, with very similar results. Here is a nice little fact to illustrate this point: on March 18, 2012, Hamid Karzai, the American-imposed President of Afghanistan and an ethnic Pashtun (but an obvious apostate from Pashtunwali) denounced the Americans as “demons” engaged in “Satanic acts.” The Americans swiftly reacted... by saying nothing and doing even less. Then they trotted out some well-spoken media robopundits who said that Afghanistan is still, potentially, “a good war.” Thus, the result of the American invasion of Afghanistan is predictable: the Americans will pretend it never happened. When forced to discuss it, they will remain delusional. But mostly it won’t be in the news, and Americans will no longer know, or care, what happens there. The US initially blundered into Afghanistan under the delusion that they would find Osama bin Laden there (while, if you believe the news, Osama was in Pakistan, living quietly next to an army college). If jet airliners start crashing into skyscrapers again, odds are some other tribe will get “bombed back to the Stone Age.”

An approach that works

It is difficult but not impossible to constructively engage the Pashtuns: during better times, the Pakistanis came closest to doing so. They freely offered the few important gifts the Pashtuns were willing to accept and appreciate. They offered the Pashtuns a sense of participation by giving them a big audience and a voice. They provided an unlimited time horizon for engaging the Pashtuns as permanent neighbors, building traditional ties and long-term relationships. These activities were informed by an understanding that attempts to impose order without legitimate authority are bound to fail, coupled with the realization that with the Pashtuns any such legitimate authority must of necessity come from within and remain autonomous and decentralized.

Part of what made such accommodation succeed is the fact that Pakistan is a weak state with limited resources. But as long as there are mighty military empires stalking the planet (not for much longer, we should hope) we should expect that one of them will periodically come along and, just like the ones that came before it, break its teeth on Pashtunwali. You might think that they’d learn from each others’ mistakes, but then here is a simple rule for you to remember: the intelligence of a hierarchically organized group of people is inversely proportional to its size, and mighty military empires are so big, and consequently so dumb, that they never, ever learn anything.

[Emil El Zapato]

I wouldn't have put it quite that way but I think it is essentially true ... oh, woe is us!

[Chris]

I've been thinking about the Afghan situation these past few days.

I cannot say what the right course of action is or would have been. Like Aragorn, I'm conflicted.

On the one hand, it is always a reason for celebration, when a country gains independence and kicks out the occupiers. In that sense, I'm happy for the Afghans.

On the other hand, is it really freedom, when a relatively benign foreign occupation is replaced my much harsher, tyrannical domestic rule? E.g. aren't the South Koreans, still under US occupation for all practical purposes, much better off than their "independent" cousins to the North?

I might be biased, but if I had to choose between Taliban rule and a puppet government under US occupation (Hello, Germany!), I'd probably choose the latter.

Looking at it from the outside, I can certainly understand where the Taliban are coming from.

To them, they have just defeated Satan.

Satan's chief army on earth, the US army and his minions, have been occupying their country for two decades and attempted to force the same sort of satanic society upon Afghans, that they have back home. A society where women are equal to men, sexuality is unregulated, abortion is rampant, religion constantly disrespected and disregarded, a society, that from their view is rotting away at the core from moral decay and is doomed for collapse.

They did not want that, what they want is an Islamic Emirate that follows Sharia law to the letter. If you think that view is extreme, consider that the US has its own "American Taliban" that views the world in a very similar way.

I do check in and read what the likes of Mike Adams and Alex Jones have to say about current events from time to time. They talk exactly in those terms, they see the current US government as evil and Satanic and the society they live in as morally corrupt and doomed for failure. They think we live in the end times. If they were to come into power, we'd probably see a less extreme version of what is going on in Afghanistan today, but there would be many parallels.

[Wind]

USA is almost exactly the reincarnation of Rome. It has done what sinking empires do on their last days...

Then there will be a huge power vacuum, there are takers for that. If anything is left after Rome has burned, that is.

[Chris]

USA is almost exactly the reincarnation of Rome. It has done what sinking empires do on their last days...

Then there will be a huge power vacuum, there are takers for that. If anything is left after Rome has burned, that is.

I don't know if comparisons with Rome are all that accurate, although it is often made.

The US is a very young country, comparatively it is still in the Roman Republic phase and hasn't really progressed to an Imperial phase. An empire needs an emperor after all.

The US is still a republic, even if a barely functioning one. It does have a lot of parallels with the late-stage Soviet Union though, especially now, with its ignominious defeat and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Russia and China are already moving into the power Vacuum created by the US withdrawal from the middle east.

Geopolitically, it's no great loss as the US doesn't really need to control middle eastern oil any more, but China most certainly does. In reality the US could easily cut even the likes of Taiwan and Japan loose and let them fight it out with China and Russia, without suffering any serious negative consequences to its own security and well-being.

So, it seems the US will retrench, become more isolationist and focus on keeping order in its own Hemisphere, whilst ignoring the chaos that will inevitably erupt on the Eurasian-African World Island as a result.

If the US does this, cuts back significantly on its military spending and brings troops home, drawing up its drawbridges, by sealing the Southern border, it may yet survive as a nation and a country.

In such a scenario it would fare much better than most other parts of the world.

However, that just seems very unlikely right now, so I guess the US military-industrial complex will continue shooting itself in the foot until the whole edifice collapses.

[Aragorn]

I don't know if comparisons with Rome are all that accurate, although it is often made.

The US is a very young country, comparatively it is still in the Roman Republic phase and hasn't really progressed to an Imperial phase. An empire needs an emperor after all.

The nomenclature is insignificant. The US president has the power to declare a national state of emergency, thereby indefinitely suspending the constitution and halting all electoral cycles, which effectively means that the president has the legal right to become a dictator, and for life if he or she wishes. Furthermore, everyone who has ever been president of the USA or has been a US governor retains their title for life after leaving office.

The USA is an empire, but in disguise. And for that matter, it is also a fascist empire in disguise ─ the word "fascist" in the true political sense of the word as defined by Benito Mussolini, not in the sense of how people usually utilize the word, i.e. Nazism. A truly fascist nation has a regime that is chiefly controlled by private corporations.

[Chris]

The nomenclature is insignificant. The US president has the power to declare a national state of emergency, thereby indefinitely suspending the constitution and halting all electoral cycles, which effectively means that the president has the legal right to become a dictator, and for life if he or she wishes.

They might have that right, but none have actually done it. Therefore, no US president has ever been a dictator, which is a crucial difference when compared to actual totalitarian regimes.


The USA is an empire, but in disguise. And for that matter, it is also a fascist empire in disguise ─ the word "fascist" in the true political sense of the word as defined by Benito Mussolini, not in the sense of how people usually utilize the word, i.e. Nazism. A truly fascist nation has a regime that is chiefly controlled by private corporations.


It's an empire, in that it has an Imperium, but it has no emperor. In that sense, it could be compared to that phase in the Roman Republic's life, when it had already expanded geographically, but still had a functioning republican form of government back home. Greek city states were often in a similar situation, as was Venice and Genoa in the middle ages.

I do not agree, that the US is fascist overall, though certainly, there are fascist elements within its government and the Military Industrial-Complex. The latter, in the way it operates, is more comparable to the VOC and British East India companies, in my view. They are basically imperial projects that are largely independent of government power, but also benefit from it and influence it. They also have their own private armies in the form of military contactors and have hijacked US foreign policy for their own enrichment.

I do not think that is fascist, but it certainly is Imperialist. However, we are quibbling over very minor differences in definition here...

Overall, same-same.

[Dreamtimer]

Folks in America who think it's the End Times are actively trying to bring it about. It doesn't matter whether it was Clinton or any of the Presidents who followed. They're trying to make it happen. Many would have been happy if Trump had started war with Iran, it helps bring about the End Times.

This goes way beyond just thinking that we're in it. They try to bring it. Actively.


Sealing the Southern Border won't do much. Most of the immigrants who are lost track of in the US come in legally for work and then just don't leave. The border is an issue that has been blown out of proportion. It's a real challenge, but not the source of most immigrants who just disappear into the fabric of the country.

And the factors leading those migrants to come here are largely about the environmental issues driving them from their homes, i.e. coffee farms devastated by disease.

The characterizations of the child-man were of no help whatsoever in terms of dealing with the problem.

And those immigrants are doing the farm labor that Americans don't want to do.


The corporations are in control, no doubt about that. Americans need to smarten up and stop allowing themselves to be divided and manipulated.

[Dreamtimer]

What was the stage being set for when Mullah Baradar was released from prison? Why did Pompeo meet with him?

Why did Trump want to meet with the Taliban at Camp David? (I still cringe to think he wanted to bring them here, to our home soil)

What was the plan? What did Trump want with/from the Taliban?

[Dreamtimer]

This isn't an Afghanistan thread...but since it's the current topic of conversation I'll just put this here.

The following isn't a blank stare, it's well considered words. People can make of those words what they will.




We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001, and make sure Al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that. We severely degraded Al Qaeda and Afghanistan. We never gave up the hunt for Osama bin Laden and we got him.

...Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on American homeland.

I’ve argued for many years that our mission should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism, not counterinsurgency or nation-building. That’s why I opposed the surge when it was proposed in 2009 when I was vice president. And that’s why as president I’m adamant we focus on the threats we face today, in 2021, not yesterday’s threats.

...We conduct effective counterterrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don’t have permanent military presence. If necessary, we’ll do the same in Afghanistan. ...

When I came into office, I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Under his agreement, U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just a little over three months after I took office. U.S. forces had already drawn down during the Trump administration from roughly 15,500 American forces to 2,500 troops in country. And the Taliban was at its strongest militarily since 2001.

The choice I had to make as your president was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season. There would have been no cease-fire after May 1. There was no agreement protecting our forces after May 1. There was no status quo of stability without American casualties after May 1. There was only the cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan, and lurching into the third decade of conflict. ✂️

The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.

American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong. Incredibly well equipped. A force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies. We gave them every tool they could need. ...We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future.

There are some very brave and capable Afghan special forces units and soldiers. But if Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now, there is no chance that one year — one more year, five more years or 20 more years — that U.S. military boots on the ground would have made any difference.

Here’s what I believe to my core: It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not. ✂️

So I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? ...I’m clear on my answer: I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past. ✂️

I also want to acknowledge how painful this is to so many of us. The scenes that we’re seeing in Afghanistan, they’re gut-wrenching, particularly for our veterans, our diplomats, humanitarian workers — for anyone who has spent time on the ground working to support the Afghan people. For those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan, and for Americans who have fought and served our country in Afghanistan, this is deeply, deeply personal. It is for me as well.✂️

We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence and our humanitarian aid. We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability. We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the Afghan people, of women and girls, just as we speak out all over the world.

I’ve been clear, the human rights must be the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery. But the way to do it is not through endless military deployments. It’s with our diplomacy, our economic tools and rallying the world to join us. ✂️

I will not mislead the American people by claiming that just a little more time in Afghanistan will make all the difference. Nor will I shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here. I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me. ✂️

I know my decision will be criticized. But I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision on to another president of the United States, yet another one, a fifth one. Because it’s the right one, it’s the right decision for our people. The right one for our brave service members who risked their lives serving our nation. And it’s the right one for America.

Thank you. May God protect our troops, our diplomats and all brave Americans serving in harm’s way.

[modwiz]

This was always bound to happen eventually, for reasons highlighted by Dmitry Orlov below:

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-case-study-in-national-shame.html

Monday, July 12, 2021

A Case Study in National Shame

The American occupation of Afghanistan is, thankfully, over, and the way it ended was remarkably fitting to an effort that was thoroughly misguided. The US pulled out in the middle of the night, not warning its allies and leaving behind a rapidly collapsing puppet state which they established and propped up for two decades at the cost of $2.26 trillion. To give you an idea of these numbers, Afghanistan's population is 38 million; its per capita annual income is $581. By multiplying the two together and the whole by 20 years, and we get $441.56 billion. Thus, the US spending on Afghanistan exceeded the country's GDP by a factor of five!

And what is there to show for it? Well, while under the control of the US (which was in many cases more notional than real) Afghanistan became responsible for 90% of the world's opium supply, valued at around $58.5 billion a year. Even as a corrupt scheme to use government funds to get at some dirty drug money, the Afghanistan venture has been a pitifully, pathetically ineffectual one, and that is probably why the topic hardly ever comes up. Being ruled by a mafia government may not be particularly shameful for people who have no shame, but being ruled by a mafia government that can't even come up with the ink is, among thieves, the ultimate dishonor.

Perhaps an even greater dishonor is in leaving behind scores of people whom the Taliban consider American collaborators: translators and other service personnel recruited and employed by the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan over the past two decades. An honorable thing to do would be to fly them out to the US and to give them places to live and pensions. A dishonorable thing to do is what the US usually does under such circumstances: abandon its allies as soon as they become unnecessary. The whole world is watching and the lesson they are learning is this: the US is in rapid, chaotic retreat, and it is manifestly unsafe to be an American ally or, worse yet, an American collaborator.

But such important topics are being studiously ignored. What is talked about instead is... cue the sound of silence. Joe Biden recently let us catch a glimpse of his internal mental void, saying, "We went [into Afghanistan] for two reasons: to... to..." Then he froze with a blank stare and eventually came up with two expedient explanations: getting Osama Bin Laden (who was in Pakistan, a US ally at the time, enjoying his quiet CIA retirement living next to a military college) and fighting terrorism (which is now a worse problem than ever).

From this we might conclude that US blundering into Afghanistan and staying there for two decades was a horrendous mistake and, surely, it was, but this does not explain why the mistake was made. Why are empires, especially dying ones, drawn to Afghanistan like moths to a flame? The case study below is from my book The Five Stages of Collapse. It is about the Pashtuns, but to simply just a little, the Taliban, who will, by all indications, soon will once again be in charge of the whole of Afghanistan, are ethnic Pashtuns (they have recruited a great many ethnic Tajiks in recent times, but this does not change their basic nature).

Beyond satisfying an interest in US foreign policy, the story of Afghanistan, and of Taliban in it, offers a valuable opportunity for attitude adjustment. You may not think highly of them; in turn, what they think of you is that you should shut up, get out and stay out. You may be tempted to expound to them your tender feelings about freedom, democracy, human rights, social and technological progress, environmentalism, gender equality and the reproductive rights of women. They will simply ignore all of that as idiotic, childish noise.

Chances are, your entire civilization will crumble into dust and nothing will be left of it except some rusty rebar sticking out of cracked concrete and they will still be there, same as ever. Your challenge is to learn to respect them, knowing full well that they will never, ever have any respect for you.

Case Study: The Pashtuns

Among the world’s many ungoverned spaces, there are few as long lasting and as able to withstand the relentless onslaught of empires as the Pashtun tribal areas, which straddle the porous and largely notional border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan. To invaders, this is an invisible yet impregnable fortress that has withstood all attempts by centralized government authorities to impose their will. The term “ungoverned” is, as usual, misapplied here: the Pashtuns have an alternative system of governance whose rules preclude the establishment of any centralized authority. At over forty million strong, they are one of the largest ethnic groups on the planet. Their ability to resist the British, the Pakistanis, the Soviets and now the Americans/NATO makes them one of the greatest anti-imperialist success stories on our planet. What makes up the shell of such an uncrackable nut? This is an interesting question, which is why I have decided to include an exposition on the Pashtuns, the toughest nut in the whole tribal nutsack.

An equally interesting question to ask is, What compelled a succession of empires to continue to make futile attempts to crack it, throwing life and treasure at the task of conquering a rugged, fiercely independent, inaccessible and mostly worthless piece of land? Wouldn’t it be much easier to just leave the Pashtuns alone and continue using rifles against Pygmies armed with ripe fruit? The compulsion to conquer and to subjugate is by no means new, and tribes have continuously conquered and subjugated other tribes since prehistoric times, but with the emergence of global empires a new element seems to have been introduced: complete intolerance of complete independence. Every pocket of the planet, no matter how small, has to be assigned to an internationally recognized state that has been bound to other states through treaties and state-legal relations. The global political order can no longer tolerate a single white spot on the political map. Its imperative seems to be to force every single group of humans to at least sit down at the negotiating table, at which the most powerful (or so they think) always have the upper hand, and to sign legally-binding documents. The existence of any such white spot poses an existential threat to the entire system, which is why the efforts to eliminate it are often disproportionate to either its value or its threat. Like space aliens, great big empires swoop in and say, “ Take me to your leader!” And if there is no leader, and the only bit of foreign policy this particular tribe ever happens to have developed is exhaustively described by the words “go away and leave us alone,” then a misunderstanding inevitably results and things end badly for both sides. Appointing a local stooge to sign legally-binding documents on behalf of the ungoverned territory that is supposed to behave like a nation-state does not work.

It would appear that the state cannot impose its authority on an area if its underlying, local system of governance is non-hierarchical, self-enforcing and decentralized, and has a strong tradition of uniting solely for the purpose of ganging up on outside threats and an equally strong tradition of attempting to avenge all wrongful deaths (such as a family member who has been killed by an American Predator drone). This happens to be the case with the Pashtuns. Their ancient and eternal code of conduct is Pashtunwali, or “The Pashtun Way.” The reason for following Pashtunwali is to be a good Pashtun. In turn, what a good Pashtun does is follow Pashtunwali. It is self-reinforcing because any Pashtun who does not follow Pashtunwali is unable to secure the cooperation of other Pashtuns, and has very low life expectancy, because ostracism is generally equivalent to a death sentence. Among the Pashtuns, there is no such thing as the right to life; there is only the reason for not killing someone right there and then. If this seems unnecessarily harsh to you, then what did you expect? A trip to Disneyland? Needless to say, the Pashtuns cannot be seduced with offers of social progress and economic development, because that is not the purpose of Pashtunwali. The purpose of Pashtunwali is to perpetuate Pashtunwali, and at this it is apparently very, very good.

Pashtun society is classified as segmentary, a subtype of acephalous (leaderless). The main figures of authority are the elders (maliks) who serve a local tribal chief (khan), but their leadership positions remain at all times contingent on putting the tribe’s interests first. All decisionmaking is consensus-based, severely restricting the scope of united action. However, when faced with an external threat, the Pashtuns are able to appoint a dictator, and to serve that dictator with absolute obedience until the threat is extinguished.

Pashtunwali defines the following key concepts: honor (nang) demands action regardless of consequences whenever Pashtunwali is violated. It is permissible to lie and kill to protect one’s nang. Revenge (badal) demands “an eye for an eye” in case of injury or damage, but crucially allows payment of restitution to avoid bloodshed. Incarceration is considered unacceptable and unjust under any circumstances. It is seen as interfering with justice, since it complicates the process of exacting revenge and precludes the payment of restitution. This is why Afghanistan has been the scene of spectacular prison escapes, where hundreds of inmates are freed in a single military-style attack; the attackers’ goal is not just to free prisoners but also to later kill them or collect restitution from them. The law of hospitality (nanawatai) demands that any Pashtun must welcome and provide sanctuary to anyone who asks for it. As a matter of nang, the guest must be kept perfectly secure and safe from all harm while a guest. Once over the threshold and no longer a guest, he can be sniped at one’s leisure should such an action be called for. Laws against harboring fugitives, serving as accessory after the fact, impeding official investigations and so forth are meaningless and attempts to enforce them automatically result in badal.

The local Pashtun governing body is the jirga, which is convened only on special occasions. It takes its roots from Athenian democracy, although some scholars argue that it predates it. The participants arrange themselves in a circle, and everyone has the right to speak. There is no one presiding, in accordance with the principle that no one is superior in the eyes of Pashtunwali. The decision is based on a majority consensus. Those who defy the decision of the jirga open themselves up to officially sanctioned arson and murder. It is significant that the jirga does not allow representation: it is a direct rather than a representative democracy. It is also crucial that the jirga reserves the right to abnegate any agreement previously entered into, making treaty-based state-legal relations with the Pashtuns impossible. Lastly, only those who follow Pashtunwali can participate in a jirga; all outsiders are automatically excluded.

This should give you some idea of why Pashtunwali presents an intractable problem for any empire that wants to dominate the Pashtuns. Now let us briefly glance at the long and tangled historical record of such attempts.

Empires break their teeth

The first modern empire to tangle with the Pashtuns was the British, who optimistically tried to impose the Indian Penal Code on them. When the Pashtuns refused to recognize this code as just, the result was a considerable amount of carnage. The British then abandoned attempts at imposing a system of justice and resorted to administrative means instead: their Closed Border Policy attempted to segregate the plains tribes from the hill tribes. This policy failed to stop the carnage and was abandoned after thirty years. Eventually the British were compelled to resort to accommodation by recognizing Pashtun tribal law. Then they bled profusely and departed in unseemly haste, leaving the Pashtuns to the Pakistanis, who mostly practiced accommodation as well. The Taliban movement, which is predominantly Pashtun-led, was recognized by Pakistan. Pakistan was content to allow Pashtun self-governance until September 11, 2001. Since then they have been compelled to at least make a show of imposing authority on the Pashtuns, in order to at least appear to cooperate with their American allies, although little remains of this cooperation today.

The Soviets blundered into Afghanistan in a misguided effort to defend socialism against regressive counterrevolutionary tendencies in accordance with the Brezhnev Doctrine. They made a futile attempt to eradicate ethnic and religious identities through a strategy of suppression, and succeeded, for a time, in consolidating control of urban areas while the predominantly Pashtun resistance established footholds in the hills surrounding the capital Kabul. They also relentlessly bombed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to create a no-man’s land. In doing so, they failed on a grand scale, creating a very large refugee crisis and thus ensuring that their enemies had plenty of international support. Once, thanks to the efforts of the CIA (working closely with Osama bin Laden) the Pashtuns acquired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, the Soviets gradually lost the ability to continue the air campaign.

The Soviets’ effort to win the Pashtun hearts and minds was likewise a spectacular failure. Pashtunwali demanded revenge for the Soviets’ military actions from even the most ambivalent Pashtuns. The few elders the Soviets were able to co-opt through intimidation or bribery swiftly lost the support of their followers. The Soviets withdrew in 1988, having made zero headway, and having lost the political will to succeed. It was a costly conflict with no benefits.

The Americans (and a few NATO troops) are currently in the process of repeating the Soviet experiment, with very similar results. Here is a nice little fact to illustrate this point: on March 18, 2012, Hamid Karzai, the American-imposed President of Afghanistan and an ethnic Pashtun (but an obvious apostate from Pashtunwali) denounced the Americans as “demons” engaged in “Satanic acts.” The Americans swiftly reacted... by saying nothing and doing even less. Then they trotted out some well-spoken media robopundits who said that Afghanistan is still, potentially, “a good war.” Thus, the result of the American invasion of Afghanistan is predictable: the Americans will pretend it never happened. When forced to discuss it, they will remain delusional. But mostly it won’t be in the news, and Americans will no longer know, or care, what happens there. The US initially blundered into Afghanistan under the delusion that they would find Osama bin Laden there (while, if you believe the news, Osama was in Pakistan, living quietly next to an army college). If jet airliners start crashing into skyscrapers again, odds are some other tribe will get “bombed back to the Stone Age.”

An approach that works

It is difficult but not impossible to constructively engage the Pashtuns: during better times, the Pakistanis came closest to doing so. They freely offered the few important gifts the Pashtuns were willing to accept and appreciate. They offered the Pashtuns a sense of participation by giving them a big audience and a voice. They provided an unlimited time horizon for engaging the Pashtuns as permanent neighbors, building traditional ties and long-term relationships. These activities were informed by an understanding that attempts to impose order without legitimate authority are bound to fail, coupled with the realization that with the Pashtuns any such legitimate authority must of necessity come from within and remain autonomous and decentralized.

Part of what made such accommodation succeed is the fact that Pakistan is a weak state with limited resources. But as long as there are mighty military empires stalking the planet (not for much longer, we should hope) we should expect that one of them will periodically come along and, just like the ones that came before it, break its teeth on Pashtunwali. You might think that they’d learn from each others’ mistakes, but then here is a simple rule for you to remember: the intelligence of a hierarchically organized group of people is inversely proportional to its size, and mighty military empires are so big, and consequently so dumb, that they never, ever learn anything.

This was brilliant in the compassion shown by the author for a culture, Pashtunwali. I would not care to be born into such a culture, and did not. However, compared to the modern concept of 'culture', I respect it. Pashtun culture was probably patriarchal before the arrival of Islam to their part of the world. Olde patriarchal cultures were an abberation/deviation from a former matriarchal society. The Mongols and Huns represented such a break/breech. It would be my guess that Islam was a form of civilizing patriarchy for them.

The Creator gave them that part of the Earth, their will was stronger and they have prevailed.

I say, let them be. My views of reincarnation comfort me that those born there have their 'karmic' reasons for being there.

Perhaps, treating the Taliban as a legitimate gooberment, will allow for some diplomatic inroads, or outroads, regarding the treatment of the women who find themselves in a country they wish to leave.

[Chris]

This was brilliant in the compassion shown by the author for a culture, Pashtunwali. I would not care to be born into such a culture, and did not. However, compared to the modern concept of 'culture', I respect it. Pashtun culture was probably patriarchal before the arrival of Islam to their part of the world. Olde patriarchal cultures were an abberation/deviation from a former matriarchal society. The Mongols and Huns represented such a break/breech. It would be my guess that Islam was a form of civilizing patriarchy for them.

The Creator gave them that part of the Earth, their will was stronger and they have prevailed.

I say, let them be. My views of reincarnation comfort me that those born there have their 'karmic' reasons for being there.

Perhaps, treating the Taliban as a legitimate gooberment, will allow for some diplomatic inroads, or outroads, regarding the treatment of the women who find themselves in a country they wish to leave.

To be frank, all tribal cultures are like that to some extent. They tend to have social mores and customs that are alien and bizarre to us. The trick is to just leave them be, no amount of Social Justice Warrioring is going to change the cultures and customs of tribal societies, no matter how disagreeable we may find them.

I have witnessed quite an interesting disconnect these past few days.

Hungary, a functioning democracy with the rule of law is regularly compared to Nazi Germany or other fascist regimes in the English-language media, for having the gall to stick to its own national culture, maintaining control over who can come in and who can't and restricting the teaching of LGBT material to children.

Then you compare and contrast it to genuine fascist regimes, like most countries in the Middle East, or now, Afghanistan and you have to wonder about the double standards.

[modwiz]

To be frank, all tribal cultures are like that to some extent. They tend to have social mores and customs that are alien and bizarre to us. The trick is to just leave them be, no amount of Social Justice Warrioring is going to change the cultures and customs of tribal societies, no matter how disagreeable we may find them.

I have witnessed quite an interesting disconnect these past few days.

Hungary, a functioning democracy with the rule of law is regularly compared to Nazi Germany or other fascist regimes in the English-language media, for having the gall to stick to its own national culture, maintaining control over who can come in and who can't and restricting the teaching of LGBT material to children.

Then you compare and contrast it to genuine fascist regimes, like most countries in the Middle East, or now, Afghanistan and you have to wonder about the double standards.

Being called a Nazi is the SJW insult du jour. And the days are growing long.:ttr:

Cultures are just that, a culture like yogurt. However, milk can also make a variety of cheeses, depending on the culture used.
Milk, a common medium, like the human species, is good showcase for how culture defines the medium. Preserving culture is like preserving a cheese or grape species for wine.

Let us celebrate culture and the different flavors of humanity it provides.
Love will always produce hybrids and that is a good thing.

Current immigration poilicies of some countries looks like 'rape' to me because the love is not there. On either side.
It is a forced marriage managed by media/gooberment complicity.

I appreciate the stance of Hungary to be sovereign within the E.U. Especially a country without an Indo-European linguistic connection.
A language rich in nuance and metaphor, based on my limited research.:D

[Chris]

Being called a Nazi is the SJW insult du jour. And the days are growing long.:ttr:

Cultures are just that, a culture like yogurt. However, milk can also make a variety of cheeses, depending on the culture used.
Milk, a common medium, like the human species, is good showcase for how culture define the medium. Preserving culture is like preserving a cheese or grape species for wine.

Let us celebrate culture and the different flavors of humanity it provides.
Love will always produce hybrids and that is a good thing.

Current immigration poilicies of some countries looks like 'rape' to me because the love is not there. On either side.
It is a forced marriage managed by media/gooberment complicity.

I appreciate the stance of Hungary to be sovereign within the E.U. Especially a country without an Indo-European linguistic connection.
A language rich in nuance and metaphor, based on my limited research.:D

Thanks,

We appreciate your kind consideration :)

Actually, being swallowed up by the Indo-European sea has always been the main concern of Finno-Ugric speakers, whether it is us, the Finns or the Estonians. We are sandwiched between hundreds of millions of Slavic and Germanic speakers, situated right on the faultline of these two linguistic and cultural tectonic plates, that are constantly shifting and rubbing up against each other, with frequent outbreaks of conflict.

Our closest linguistic relatives, the Hanti and Mansi people in Western Siberia, inhabit a vast autonomous province, the size of Texas, but number only about 50.000 and are increasingly being swallowed up by the Russian sea, due to sheer numbers and cultural dominance.

We are always acutely aware that our fate can be similar if we fail to sail the always rough geopolitical waters in these parts. The sort of isolationism that comes naturally to the Americans, Brits or Australians is just not possible in such a neighbourhood.

[Chris]

Here's the speech given by the new leader or Afghanistan, so you can understand, where he's coming from. Notice how his world-view fits in perfectly with the conspiracy circuit in the West. I wonder if he will become their new hero? I just listened to a podcast by Mike Adams last night, being interested in end-time predictions and minus the reference to Zionism it had the same basic message.

"For the last 40 years, we have struggled to establish peace in Afghanistan. We have defeated the forces of the atheistic Communists and the Zionist West, and we have liberated our country.

We invite all Afghans to participate in our Islamic Emirate and we promise we will work for the betterment of our people. Our priorities are to bring peace to all regions of Afghanistan and to ensure the fairness of law. We will punish those who have done evil, and we will pardon those who fought against us, but have now submitted themselves. Allah is the most merciful and we can only thank Allah for our victory. Islam will be upheld in Afghanistan.

We have but a few things to say to the world. If you want peace with us, end your hatred for our government of Afghanistan and recognise our rule. We are the rulers of this land graced by Allah, and no matter how hard you have tried, you have never defeated us.

To the people of this world, especially the Palestinians, we hope that our victory over the superpowers of mankind will inspire you, as our faith in Allah has been confirmed for all to see. How can you deny Allah and his will, when he has delivered such a great victory to the believers?

We dream of a world in which there is peace between all and we ask all world governments to recognise our government.

Our message to the American people and people of the Western powers who fought us, who we know are hurt by this defeat, is simple: we do not have any hatred for you. Your governments, ran by Zionists and atheists, who want to spread their anti-Islamic views here, were our enemies, not you. We will pray for the day when you liberate yourselves from their grip, and there can be peace upon this planet.

One day, in the future, we hope the whole world will see the truth of Islam. Allah is the most merciful."

-Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar

[Emil El Zapato]

What I find sort of silly, in general, is the talk of defeat and victory ... If one side walks away out of boredom does that really count as either?

[Dreamtimer]

I think it's hilarious that Trump hired extras for his Presidential announcement and for his inauguration. He hired them from Extra Mile. It was reported by Hollywood Reporter and others.

It's also a beautiful example of why he accuses so many folks of being fake or "straight out of central casting".

Because that's how he works. Fake from start to finish.

[Emil El Zapato]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgBalQFj1To

[Dreamtimer]

Couple this one with the history of police in this country (slave hunting origins) and much more clarity emerges.

[Dreamtimer]

I just came across this. It's been a long time since I looked at Veterans Today. I found it suspect for a variety of reasons which don't all immediately come to mind anymore.

Here's a new, sad event as well as a bit of insight.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-BFsvBWUAQ6Tyk?format=jpg&name=large


The Russian front outlet where Steele worked which is used for disinformation operations and to collect info on veterans confirms the death


Another front for Russia. They're just pushing all kinds of buttons with Americans. Why are folks so prone to following the propaganda? Hearing what they want to hear?

[Wind]

It seems that he died of covid too.

https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2021-08-30/conspiracy-theorist-who-spoke-at-far-right-rally-in-maine-dies-of-covid-19

[Dreamtimer]

This is a good image for the GOP now.

https://images.dailykos.com/images/834572/large/dog-and-car-2.jpg?1595339809

They've succeeded with laws that most of the country doesn't want. They've created monsters they now cannot control.

[Dreamtimer]

Did Texas or the Supreme Court consider precedence? (the Originalists don't give a shit about precedence)

Charles Pierce observed,


My astonished rage cleared for a second and I realized that, according to this decision, states can pass all kinds of unconstitutional laws as long as they leave the enforcement to bounty hunters.
Jesus, we're back at the Kansas-Nebraska Act again.

All those years of hearing the phrase "Liberal Fear Mongering!" and now it's real. It's the same parallel with "Trump derangement syndrome". The shit keeps turning out to be real.

I left bounty hunters off my list of warlords, NDEs, and toll roads to 'get through town'.

[Emil El Zapato]

I remember when I first came on board here, "Nothing", use to give those 'not insults' surreptitious jabs about me thinking my 'own' was special, alluding to my daughter. Well, yeah, a father's pride for sure. My daughter started a medical training track this year after deciding her dream to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design despite having received a scholarship was not going to materialize.

Yesterday, she was chosen to receive an all expense paid trip to a 3-day CDC conference in Chicago Illinois regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and she's just getting started. Yeah, my baby is special. :)

[Dreamtimer]

Don't let the bastards get you down. They never tire of trying.

I'm doing a textile arts project and one of the tasks is to make yourself a badge or medal. ;)

[Wind]

In a deeply prophetic conversation, Terence McKenna and Anne Armstrong discuss how it is necessary for humans to encounter difficulties in order to evolve spiritually and collectively. "This seems to me like a recurring theme, it's the idea that things are going to get worse before they get better because there needs to be some kind of shock of awakening."
WPDF7lQVGRI

[Emil El Zapato]

WPDF7lQVGRI

I like her use of the word of 'responsibility' ... The connotation is kind (benign). Very unlike the dick (Jordan Peterson). :)

[Dreamtimer]

Oh BOB, you're so BOB. ;)

[Dreamtimer]

It is a beautiful, and sad, irony that so many of the folks calling others 'sheep' end up taking meds intended for herd animals including sheep. Exquisite irony.

Another irony is the folks saying they'll be the goats, not the sheep at judgement.

The sheep were the ones who followed God's commandment to help the least amongst us. The goats were the ones who were all about themselves. The goats were not the ones who gained entree into heaven.

The saddest, most tragic irony of all is this very community's reaction to the pandemic. An event like this is exactly what this self-motivated, ingenious, inventive, survival-oriented community was supposed to be prepared for.

Back in the day, folks would be getting hold of vaccines if they could just to share them so their communities don't suffer the very suspicious disease.

Instead, it has become oppositional/defiant and won't take anything recommended by the mainstream. So instead it's off-label uses and animal meds. I don't think this community would have been OK back in the day with letting others suffer without their meds for the sake of its own survival, i.e. malaria prevention.

I never thought the community was so selfish. I thought it was about being informed and prepared.

This current response is not 'being prepared'.

This is being alt-sheeple.

[Dreamtimer]

I have posted, on the Lounge Thread, songs from Patrick O'Hearn's recording Mix Up. My husband and I just loved it.

Many of the songs have voices saying odd phrases. One is a ditsy, high-pitched voice saying, "The last book I read was People Magazine". It was kinda funny.

And just the other day I saw a clip of Jimmy Kimmel's show where they ask people on the street questions. This one was about the last book they read.

One woman literally answered 'People Magazine'



You can hear it at 3:55


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P8bItkmckg

A little chaotic groove for you BOB.

[Emil El Zapato]

I have posted, on the Lounge Thread, songs from Patrick O'Hearn's recording Mix Up. My husband and I just loved it.

Many of the songs have voices saying odd phrases. One is a ditsy, high-pitched voice saying, "The last book I read was People Magazine". It was kinda funny.

And just the other day I saw a clip of Jimmy Kimmel's show where they ask people on the street questions. This one was about the last book they read.

One woman literally answered 'People Magazine'



You can hear it at 3:55


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P8bItkmckg

A little chaotic groove for you BOB.

:) yeah I like it ...

The last book I read was "Bloody Genius" by John Sandford. I think you might like his style. Entertaining top 10 books ... :) I'm reading "Chosen Prey" right now and on Amazon bought "Masked Prey" but for some reason it came up "Undeliverable" and was sent back. Damn USPS, they are useless. :)

I keep getting this urge to say, "I don't care" :)

[Emil El Zapato]

I should be able to scare the neighborhood with my new garms: :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqyVnJ5cW2M


https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQa5k8HiMtE11KyQ_0t0gozBQPRuKURe 7wCJA&usqp=CAU

[Wind]

Sherlock Holmes?

[Emil El Zapato]

That's over the top, man ... I would have scared myself ... :)

[Wind]

m2m9EeIk_E0

[Emil El Zapato]

m2m9EeIk_E0

Is that a series Wind?

[Wind]

Yes and a great one it is! You should watch it.

[Emil El Zapato]

Yes and a great one it is! You should watch it.

I'll start tonight ... :)

[Wind]

"Coincidence" was that my brother mentioned to me tonight how he liked the actor for Moriarty in that series. Wait until you see it.

[Emil El Zapato]

:) ok ...

[Wind]

"Shit happens".

LWNmfOb4s0E

[Emil El Zapato]

I'm learning some very interesting things in my current book about the neuroanatomy of the noggin'. One thing grabbed my attention and that is the fact that 'Consciousness' is a synthesis of many balancing competing drives. In short, a Duality. Hormones, for example, like serotonin and dopamine are in balance to mediate between the 'urge to act' and the need to modulate 'impulsive actions', Oxytocin, more abundant in females but present in males modulates the drive for independence and the need for security (oversimplified), Vasopressin, more abundant in males but also present in females, balances the urge for 'going it alone' and 'pair bonding' (oversimplified). There is a cold zone, so called because the 'dorsal' brain portions indulge in cold cognition and perhaps surprisingly sympathy. The hot zone forms part of the emotional system which is situated closer to the front-lower portion of the brain, this area is what provides a sense of empathy (it is also part of a larger network which is termed, the mirroring complex). They by design work together in the normal fully mature brain. One, perhaps surprising characteristic of this brain aspect is that one can draw a distinction between 'cognitive empathy' and 'emotional empathy'. Emotional empathy would likely more commonly referred to as 'sympathy'. As Rodney Dangerfield would say to one of his client families during a family portrait op, Mother: "He has my eyes", Father: "He has my hair", Rodney: "He has my sympathy".

So here is where it gets more relevant in my estimation. "Theory of Mind" in zeitgeist fashion concerns consciousness, but a purely psycho-anatomical view denotes "Theory of Mind" and the maturation process of the human child. It is in progressing phases that a child comes to recognize that he/she has feelings, desires, drives, and goals, but in typical brain dichotomous fashion, he/she comes to recognize that others do as well, and they are not of necessity the same.

Here comes my latest hypothesis, actually it is more than a hypothesis because for all intents and purposes it is self-evident. These brain processes are what engender the mystical projection that is so ubiquitous. The area that is at the juncture in the non-dominant hemisphere called the 'temporo-parietal junction', another node in the mirror complex, processes how one perceives the intentions, morals, and ethics of others. This area works in conjunction with the 'orbital cortex' in the frontal lobe which processes one's own intentions, ethics, and morality (the first part located in the posterior and the second in the anterior of the brain). In a 'balanced' brain things work for the most part ok, but one would expect some serious problems in the 'mutated' psychopathic brain. All things being non-equal but more of a matter of gradations one would expect projective behavior across from the extremes of the spectrum of brain/psychological health.

There is a distinction between what is considered a mutation and what is called a 'Single nucleotide polymorphism'. There is a cutoff point around 2% frequency in the population when a gene is considered a mutation to when it is considered a SNP. As aberrant behavior is seemingly so common that it is possible to recognize a pattern of failure in the brain 'balancing' characteristics that resulted in the "Golden Rule", it is not hard to fathom that 'something' has changed. Personally, I think that enough SNP's in a genome could ultimately result in a 'different brain'. Science traditionally has viewed an accumulation of genes and brain anatomy as motivation to designate a new subspecies. Aha! I wonder if 30% of a population evidencing aberrant behavior is good enough for a new designation?

[Dreamtimer]

Are we mutating? Is the next in the line of homo- ready to appear soon? Will we be more telepathic? Will we recognize our ability to see ahead of events?

[Aragorn]

The following article is from a website called politico.com, and it's an excerpt from the book "Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy", written by Andrew Yang, a former US Democratic presidential candidate.

However, this article itself is not about politics; it's about neuropsychiatry, and specifically, it explains how it's not only the psychopaths and sociopaths who seek (and end up in) positions of power, but also how being in a position of power desensitizes people and basically turns them into something resembling a psychopath. It's a very interesting read. ;)




Source: POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/03/andrew-yang-book-excerpt-campaigning-514967)




When I Ran for President, It Messed With My Head

We should worry about what the modern campaign process is doing to all of our leaders.


https://static.politico.com/dims4/default/f8ca603/2147483647/resize/1920x/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F7c%2F84%2 Fdc8d6322494b9b5e008908d6d172%2Fvoss-yang15.jpg


It’s your birthday. Imagine going into a room and finding dozens of people have gathered together to see you. They toast your arrival. There is much excitement. They ask you to give a speech. You are very flattered. You give a speech that speaks to how touched you are that they are there for you. You talk about the occasion that has brought you all together. You want it to be genuine. Not so short that it seems perfunctory, but not so long that it seems self-indulgent.

Your birthday speech goes great. People want to talk to you and congratulate you. You are happy to see them. You shake hands and greet the people you know. There are many people you don’t know, perhaps because your friends brought their friends. It’s that kind of party.

Now imagine if that happened to you every night. Not just every night but several times during the day as well. And in addition to it being your birthday every day, you periodically visit television sets to talk to a TV personality. The host greets you in the greenroom, and you find yourself studying a face that you have seen many times before. You are surrounded by people at all times. They theoretically work for you, but most of the time they are directing you, saying, “You have to be on the road in ten minutes” or “You have a call with this person in five.” And you are on the road four days a week away from your family. You get back to the hotel room, and your face is tired from smiling or making expressions.

That’s a bit of what it feels like, running for president. And it should worry us that all of our leaders are subject to it.



***


In early 2019, still in the thick of the presidential campaign, Zach Graumann, my campaign manager, said to me, “We need to give you a different haircut. And update your wardrobe.”

I said, “No one cares what I look like. Bernie looks like the scientist from ‘Back to the Future.’ The point is just to stand for something. People know what I stand for and don’t care about my hair.”

Zach shook his head and said, “That’s not true. Bernie’s old. You’re young. People care that you’re wearing a weird button or a suit that doesn’t look quite right. I’m going to set you up with a hairdresser and tailor.”

I went along with it. I already had to get used to wearing makeup for television appearances that I often kept on for the rest of the day. The most irritating thing was using hair product again after taking a 20-year break from it. Apparently, “hair gel” was upgraded to “hair wax” at some point, which seemed like an improvement from my old Studio Line gel from L’Oreal.

Imagine relearning how to groom yourself in your mid-40s. People talk about running for office or running for president as an act of leadership. I’m not so sure about that. I actually think that in many respects running for president requires qualities that would make you a terrible leader.

When I was the CEO of Manhattan Prep, a test prep company, I would often teach classes or conduct events without identifying myself as the CEO. In that case, it was better for the company if people didn’t think of me as anything other than a random instructor. The more it was about me, the less it was about the company.

In my experience, if you see a CEO chasing press, that person’s company is probably headed for trouble. The energy spent burnishing your image could almost always be better spent managing your people, ferreting out problems, clearing obstacles, honing processes, talking to customers, selecting vendors, recruiting team members and working on new initiatives. With Manhattan Prep, the most important thing was to do a good job for each student. The most powerful growth driver would be a satisfied student telling his or her friend, “Hey, this company did a great job, you should give them a try.” That is the way most businesses operate: If you do a good job and make people happy, then the business grows.

In the context of presidential politics it was the opposite. The job was simply the seeking of attention. You would seek press virtually all of the time. Interviews and press — or an in-person event that hopefully would attract press — were the job. When I wasn’t on the road, I would wake up on a typical day and head to a television studio first thing in the morning, go to the office to film some digital ads, do several interviews and then head to a grassroots fundraising event that night.

On a presidential campaign you make the big initial hires. But then as the campaign grows, it adds people quickly, often people who played a similar role for another campaign. It was jarring for me to show up to the office in New York or an event in New Hampshire and meet someone, only to be told, “This person is now working for you as a field organizer/digital outreach specialist/advance team/new role.” I would thank the person and be genuinely grateful, but it felt strangely impersonal. When I ran my own company, I made sure to interview anyone we hired at any level, because hiring seemed like one of the most important aspects of leadership.

In national politics, it turns out, you’re not as much the CEO as you are yourself the product.

The first time I was noticed in public I was taken aback. I was in a convenience store with one of my sons in March 2019. A hipster-looking guy in his twenties said to me, “Hey, are you Andrew Yang?”

“Yes, yes, I am.”

“I’m a big supporter of yours. Keep it up.”

“Thank you.”

This was particularly surprising to me because I was wearing jeans and a hoodie. The fact that people recognized me out of my campaign uniform of a blazer and dress shirt was shocking to me. My favorite was when a young woman came up to me and said, “Are you Andrew Yang? No, no, you’re not,” and then walked away.

Things began to change over the course of 2019 as my public profile grew. After raising only $642,081 through all of 2018, our campaign raised $1.7 million in the first quarter, $2.8 million in the second quarter, $10 million in the third quarter, and a whopping $16.5 million in the fourth quarter. I remember in the fourth quarter we raised half of what Bernie raised, and I ran around yelling, “We’re half a Bernie!” We had come a long way since the previous year. On New Year’s Eve 2018 we had held a fundraiser party in New York that had actually lost money. Someone asked for their money back. That’s not a good party.

Our media exposure had grown in tandem with our fundraising. We had graduated from podcasts to television. At first it was political comedy shows like “The Daily Show” or “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” or “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Then it was “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The View” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Then eventually it was Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy and I compared notes on playing Ted Cruz in basketball, because Ted had recently accepted a challenge from me before thinking better of it, and Kimmel had scrimmaged with him, too. Stephen Colbert joked that I went from “regular guy Andrew Yang” to “famous guy Andrew Yang.” In many cases I went on a show more than once—like “The View”—and the first time I was on, the interviewers were a bit dubious. There was an undercurrent of “Who the heck are you?” But the second time around there was much more openness and even warmth.

We started spending money to increase my support in Iowa and New Hampshire, bombarding the airwaves in both states for weeks. We spent $6.6 million on television ads in Iowa and $3.9 million in New Hampshire alone. The TV ads were something else. The first ad had a lot of imagery of planet Earth. I joked with my wife Evelyn that the voice-over for the ad should go something like this: “He arrived on this planet from a land far, far away. Andrew Yang—EARTH PRESIDENT 2040.”

Recording political ads required hours. There’s a lot of line reading and looking at a camera. The words have to be precisely measured to be exactly thirty seconds or sixty seconds. After you’re done with a take, a producer will say something like “Hey, that was 28 seconds; can you drag it out a little further?” or “Great, give it a more somber downbeat take.” Recording those ads would typically take half a day because they would record multiple ads at a time with a full film crew. And it meant more time in makeup.

The fact that there were hundreds of campaign workers spending millions of dollars all in an effort to make you look good is a positively bizarre feeling. I joked with the digital team that they must have pictures of me emblazoned in their brain when they go to sleep at night.

It was enough to go to one’s head. I’d been a CEO and founder of a company, but running for office was a different animal. The people around me treated me as either a celebrity or a product that hundreds of staffers were focused on selling, and everyone in my orbit started treating me like I might be a presidential contender. I was getting a crash course in how we treat the very powerful — and it was weird.

But it was more than just a head rush. There are psychological consequences to being treated this way for months on end.

The historian Henry Adams described power as “a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim’s sympathies.” This may sound like hyperbole, but it has been borne out by years of lab and field experiments. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley, has been studying the influence of power on individuals. He puts people in positions of power relative to each other in different settings. He has consistently found that power, over time, makes one more impulsive, more reckless and less able to see things from others’ points of view. It also leads one to be rude, more likely to cheat on one’s spouse, less attentive to other people, and less interested in the experiences of others.

Does that sound familiar? It turns out that power actually gives you brain damage.

This even shows up in brain scans. Sukhvinder Obhi, a neuroscientist at McMaster University in Ontario, recently examined the brain patterns of the powerful and the not so powerful in a transcranial-magnetic-stimulation machine. He found that those with power are impaired in a specific neural process — mirroring — that leads to empathy.

I’m a parent, and one thing you find very consistently with kids is that they reciprocate what you do. You smile, they smile. You laugh, they laugh. Among the powerful in various settings, their impulse to reflect what they are being shown emotionally has been numbed. They similarly lose the ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes.

Lord David Owen and Jonathan Davidson called it the “hubris syndrome” — a disorder of the possession of power held over years and with minimal constraint on the leader. Its clinical features include contempt for others, loss of reality, recklessness and displays of incompetence. Lack of empathy is part of the package.

Perhaps most distressing is that in lab settings the powerful can’t address this shortcoming even if told to try. Subjects in one study were told that their mirroring impulse was the issue and to make a conscious effort to relate to the experiences of others. They still couldn’t do it. Effort and awareness made no difference in their abilities.

Susan Fiske, a Princeton psychology professor, has argued that this change in attitude is adaptive and meant to aid efficiency. If you become powerful, you have less need to read other people because you have command of resources. The need to demonstrate empathy is behind you.

One behavior that did help some people relate to others was to recall a time when they felt powerless. Perhaps this is why so many of our leaders seem to recount their humble beginnings, because we sense that if those experiences are deeply ingrained enough, they can counteract their becoming progressively out of touch. It also may be why leaders — for example, women — who were perpetually marginalized in some way may be perceived to be more sensitive even after rising to positions of power.

On the campaign trail, I could clearly see how politicians become susceptible to growing so out of touch. You spend time with dozens of people whose schedules and actions revolve around you. Everyone asks you what you think. You function on appearance; appearance becomes your role. Empathy becomes optional or even unhelpful. Leadership becomes the appearance of leadership.

The process through which we choose leaders neutralizes and reduces the capacities we want most in them. It’s cumulative as well; the longer you are in it, the more extreme the effects are likely to be over time.


Source: POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/03/andrew-yang-book-excerpt-campaigning-514967)

[Dreamtimer]

I haven't read this yet but one can look at Senator Kirsten Synema. She's done complete backflips and essentially left her initial following in the dirt as she has become beholden to the Golden God of corporate moolah.

She, like Candace Owens, just couldn't resist the siren song. And both have turned their back on their origins and people in economic plights.

Golden handcuffs are very hard to get out of. Money seems to make psychopaths.

What did Bush say after 9/11? Go Shopping!

The money mantra.

Tough spell to break.

[Emil El Zapato]

Are we mutating? Is the next in the line of homo- ready to appear soon? Will we be more telepathic? Will we recognize our ability to see ahead of events?

According to one neuro-anatomist, believing one is telepathic is a brain chemical mix that makes one believe such. Personally, I'd say what the f*ck does a functioning psychopath know. :) I think it is completely possible.

[Dreamtimer]

We will go crazy, batshit insane, if we have telepathy now. We're way too spiritually and emotionally immature. Humanity is.

Maybe in a few more centuries.

[Wind]

If we still have a civilization then.

https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-hitler-and-mussolini-were-only-the-primary-spokesmen-for-the-attitude-of-domination-jiddu-krishnamurti-16-34-83.jpg

[Wind]

Now who would have thought that, companies only think about money instead of ethics and integrity?

_Lx5VmAdZSI

[Dreamtimer]

Tik Tok is next in line for 'sludge rising to the top'.

I don't use Tik Tok, but I like this description.



“For You” is the front page of Tik Tok. Because it is not based on personal relationships like Facebook, you are not opening the page to your Aunt’s latest bundt cake recipe, then scrolling, then seeing the part where “patriots” complain about President Biden’s choice of tie. You don’t have to open notifications of groups you interact with to see what they are up to. No. The front page of TikTok is content based on your history. The algorithm does not just feed you access to everything based on your history, it shoves it in your face. It is like mainlining bias. It is like snorting all of your social vices.

[Emil El Zapato]

Tik Tok is next in line for 'sludge rising to the top'.

I don't use Tik Tok, but I like this description.

When my bio-sister visited me in June, during conversation I found out that both she and my daughter pay attention to that. When I first heard them say that, I was a little worried for my daughter but I don't really know anything about it.

[Dreamtimer]

I was just reading about a 'challenge' that was allowed to remain for some time before being taken down where children in school are slapping their teachers, ambush style.

It's out of hand.

I've been quite shocked at how easily parents let their kids use so much social media.

[Dreamtimer]

Quote of the day.

"Moscow Mitch playing Russian Roulette with the economy. Interesting."

[Wind]

PLITXTXBS1s

[Dreamtimer]

That's very good. He does have some colorful language to draw from, eh?

[Dreamtimer]

Shame on Fox News for trying to capitalize on Colin Powell's death from Covid complications and spread more disinformation. He was fully vaccinated. He was also 84 and we have no idea of his underlying conditions.

Shame! Shame! Shame!

[Emil El Zapato]

Shame on Fox News for trying to capitalize on Colin Powell's death from Covid complications and spread more disinformation. He was fully vaccinated. He was also 84 and we have no idea of his underlying conditions.

Shame! Shame! Shame!

Colin Powell died? When did that happen, DT?

[Wind]

Donald Rumsfeld must have been waiting for him.

_Yu6ZuIBXng

[Dreamtimer]

The grave underlying myeloma which General Powell suffered from is a major factor in his death. It may not have killed him but for Covid. Covid finished the job.

[Emil El Zapato]

Donald Rumsfeld must have been waiting for him.

_Yu6ZuIBXng

Mainstream media interviewing Colin Powell, Powell says his biggest mistake and shame was the 'lying' he did for Iraq. He accepted responsibility for grave errors. His friends say he never in public admitted that he was conned by the intelligence community and felt betrayed.

In essence, Kulinski has no idea what he is talking about. Not an unusual state. He might actually do a little research and then contradict himself in his next video. This is as stupid as stupid gets.

[Dreamtimer]

If General Powell was conned, and I've no doubt, he should feel betrayed.

Because he was. Gravely. And so were we. Perhaps he should have said more for the sake of the Anerican People? I don't see how the lying has helped. Now folks simply won't trust the government. And those who want to fix things just get lambasted.

Because Civil War will be so much fun. And not being able to shop. And surprise toll roads. And one man being the law of the town.

Good Times!

(sometimes Kyle is good, I've also seen him be stupid. he's young)

[Wind]

I think he was very aware of what he was doing. He put his career ahead of many lives.

nBHcxZHacfM

[Dreamtimer]

What is the identity of this mysterious coach who magically trains folks in NLP and Qanon-speak and Double-plus-good phrasing?

Where did this individual come from?

How is it that they're invisible, nameless, never eat or sleep or apparently breathe since they're not really there?


Oh yeah, it's a figment of some folks imagination because they cannot handle the simple, bare meaning of a person's words.

They must read into them, reformulate, make wild guesses about emotions and mental states, and then lay down judgement.

What a wonder to have such an invisible coach teaching things no-one can perceive.

Except of course for those who choose to see what they want.

[Wind]

America is like a powder keg now and also Trump will run for the office in 2024 for sure.

The ideological tribalism (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti1Tob5Ceh8) is a very dangerous thing. I am amazed that people just can't see that...

Pushing election lies, TPUSA audience member asks Charlie Kirk when they can “use the guns” and “kill these people” (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/pushing-election-lies-tpusa-audience-member-asks-charlie-kirk-when-they-can-use-guns)

[Wind]

https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-the-longer-i-live-the-more-convinced-am-i-that-this-planet-is-used-by-other-planets-george-bernard-shaw-140-53-88.jpg

[Wind]

This isn't about just one man either, it could be anyone.

7hQvBIyOC6Y
FMLWXsV0E-M

[Emil El Zapato]

This isn't about just one man either, it could be anyone.

FMLWXsV0E-M

I remember that one ... not Burgess Meredith ... "I"M NOT OBSOLETE!"

Rod Serling was ahead of his time. It's why he is an icon of American TV.

it was Burgess Meredith ... :)

Quiz question for today ... Topical:
Who said: "Oh, God!, I'm engaged! I'm engaged!, Oh, shit!"

Relevant information: 208, 000 mph. That speed would get you to the moon in a hour (a short commute, by large city standards). That speed generates the equivalent of over 12,000 g forces. Man has difficulty with 9 g's.

:)

[Dreamtimer]

Watch out folks. If you work for Jimmy Dore and he screws up on his video by presenting mocked up and misleading content you'll get thrown under the bus and fired.

Because, after all, how could he have the time to have a basic understanding? It's not his job to know wether what he's saying online to thousands of subscribers is on the up-and-up.

He's just a dumb comedian, as he says.

So be ready. If he screws up, you'll pay the price.

Because the buck does not stop with that leader. That's for sure.

[Wind]

Moved post elsewhere.

[Dreamtimer]

It's sad and a little funny hearing about Candace Owens trying to explain away Trump's vaccine support.

He's old and his generation trusts vaccines.

He's old and doesn't know how to do 'research' on the internet. He doesn't go to small and obscure websites.

"Like they came from a time before the TV..."

Lolol. What a maroon. What an embezzle. (quoth the bugs of the bunny)


But Ali Alexander, Ben Garrison, and Alex Jones are furious.

And being such grand exemplars of society...they spew. :vom:

[Fred Steeves]

It's sad and a little funny hearing about Candace Owens trying to explain away Trump's vaccine support.

He's old and his generation trusts vaccines.

He's old and doesn't know how to do 'research' on the internet. He doesn't go to small and obscure websites.

"Like they came from a time before the TV..."

Lolol. What a maroon. What an embezzle. (quoth the bugs of the bunny)


But Ali Alexander, Ben Garrison, and Alex Jones are furious.

And being such grand exemplars of society...they spew. :vom:

I thought that was sad as well, pathetic really. But no more sad and pathetic than someone getting our current dipshit President to essentially repeat the phrase "Fuck Joe Biden".

OMG he really did that! :ha:

Contrary to popular belief it's not just people on the Right that can entertain us with their stupidity. This one's tough to top:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y-3Fz5w8zs

[Dreamtimer]

My brother was tying to defend it Saying Trump had been called names.

I guess we're still collectively adolescents on the playground.

[Dreamtimer]

Trump was being interviewed on Fox and was asked about cryptocurrency. He says he's not really into it and that he likes the dollar. I think what he meant to say was that he likes the petro-dollar.

[Dreamtimer]

Poor Justin Schmeck. He's whining about the comments he's getting on twitter. What did he expect, acting like a twit? In front of his child no less.

He writhes and squirms and tries to change his story about his motives. But he told Bannon that Trump is really his president. And he wears the Trump badge of honor, the MAGA hat.

Biden reacted with grace. And seeing what folks are willing to say about a President, the low and base commentary, is just embarrassing.

I wish my fellow Americans would just grow up.

[Emil El Zapato]

The night before Fred's post I had a dream that he was refusing to communicate with me again. Passive-aggressive behavior is what the dream was telling me. Everyone should be a sore loser, so I hold no grudges. :)

[Dreamtimer]

I find it funny and telling that Fox News has seen the need to run hit pieces on the women of MSNBC. First it was Joy Reid, then Rachel Maddow, now Nicole Wallace. She must really make them seethe. She was White House Press Secretary for W Bush, briefly on The View (she was too nice and agreed with the other panelists' stances when they made sense. they needed a reactionary like Megan McCain), and now has two hours on MSNBC.

I guess they have to do something to keep eyes off the fact that their own hosts were directly and deeply involved in the planning of the January 6 coup.

Deeply involved.

Particularly Hannity and Ingraham who immediately were running interference and giving out all the excuses when the coup failed.

Murdoch and Trump really like to kiss each others' asses. They're a team made in hell.

[Wind]

Florida seems like a nice place:
https://apnews.com/article/florida-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-veterans-ku-klux-klan-fa0ec4120b1457f56c527108074795b5

Florida man, gators, guns, KKK and the Disney World. Did I miss something?

[Dreamtimer]

Not just Florida...


On another note of chaos,


If you wrote this all as fiction, it would be rejected. “Look, you have a worldwide pandemic that is killing millions, and a political party says it’s a hoax? Then there’s a vaccine that saves makes it less likely to contract the disease, less likely to pass it on, less likely to require hospitalization and less likely to die and this political party refuses it and says it’s a hoax? Rewrite this.”

Or maybe we’re just characters in a movie. Is it a good movie, or are we on MST3K?


Just don't look up. ;)

[Emil El Zapato]

Not just Florida...


On another note of chaos,




Just don't look up. ;)

Something occurred to me: The Dems should make the strong point that Manchin and Sinema are afraid to change the filibuster rules because the Republican party can't be trusted with that much power as they are seriously ethically challenged.

[Dreamtimer]

There are many strong points the Dems should and do make. And they fall on empty ears. The Republicans already broke their own rules and made their own carve-outs and basically have decided to be openly hypocritical and blame the Dems for whatever they do.

The people need to stop letting them get away with it. But they keep being told their vote doesn't matter. While Republicans work overtime to prevent most folks from voting. Because they understand where the power still is and they want their permanent minority rule.

They slather over it.

My brother blamed the Dems for 'Lets go Brandon'. John Bolton said the Dems should have been more nice and maybe the Repubs would've helped with impeachment. Bolton admitted grave national security concerns and then whined about the meany-meany Dems.

The Dems hurt their feelings so they hurt America.

When Clinton failed to be removed from office my brother announced that the Republicans weren't going to do ANYTHING with the Dems for the next twenty years. They're gonna pay for this!!!!!

The one thing he got wrong was that it was way more than twenty years.

The Republicans are a bunch of vengeful f*^%s who don't give a shit about Americans.

They prove it again and again.

[Wind]

What is Biden doing though? The answer is pretty much nothing unless sleeping counts.

OW9QsB0ERk8

[Emil El Zapato]

The Big Jew is orating a powerful speech as I type. How any American can overlook what happened on January 6th is beyond me. Actually, it isn't. The Civil War lives on in the minds and hearts of the emasculated males and the hapless females.


What is Biden doing though? The answer is pretty much nothing unless sleeping counts.

OW9QsB0ERk8

Hello my compadre Wind, ain't listening to this guy today ... It's January 6th ... :)

I hope the holidays were good, mine was typical, my sister-in-law and my daughter's uncle both died around January 1st.