Jun 162022
 


Caravaggio The calling of St. Matthew 1599-1600

 

Severe COVID-19 ‘Rare’ In Unvaccinated People (MD)
FDA Advisors Unanimously Endorse COVID Shots for Infants and Young Kids (CHD)
The World Is Looking At You (Batiushka)
First American Mercenary Contractors Captured in Ukraine (CTH)
The ‘New G8’ Meets China’s ‘Three Rings’ (Escobar)
Schiff: Evidence That Trump “Engaged in Likely Multiple Criminal Acts (Turley)
ECB Holds Emergency Meeting To Discuss Market Turmoil (ZH)
PPI: Smoking -AGAIN- (Denninger)
Today’s The Day…. (Denninger)
“Red Flag” Laws Put a Target on the Back of Every American (Whitehead)
Erdogan Issues Fresh Threats Against Greece (K.)
A Whistleblower’s Agony (Kiriakou)
Patel Responsible For Assange’s ‘Slow-Motion Execution’ If Extradited (DIss.)

 

 

 

 

Consumer feelings

 

 

 

 

Blink

 

 

 

 

DeSantis Musk

 

 

 

 

We’ve known for a while that the vaccines don’t protect against infection or transmission. The last thing they had left was protection against severe disease. That is now gone too. It’s over.

Severe COVID-19 ‘Rare’ In Unvaccinated People (MD)

A survey has found that people who did not get the vaccine had a lower rate of suffering severe COVID-19 amid the pandemic. The survey uploaded to the preprint server ResearchGate presented data from more than 18,500 respondents from the “Control Group” project with more than 300,000 overall participants. An analysis revealed that compared to those who got jabbed, unvaccinated people reported fewer hospitalizations. The international survey also found that the unvaccinated people from more than 175 countries were more likely to self-care to prevent and manage COVID-19 infection. They used natural products like vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, quercetin, and drugs, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

Many participants experienced discrimination for refusing the administration of “genetic vaccines” and struggled with mental health burdens due to the stigma in the mostly “vaccinated” society. Since the participants were self-selected and self-reported, the survey findings had to be interpreted with care compared to statistics or studies based on randomly selected populations, according to the Alliance for Natural Health International. The participants admitted to avoiding vaccines due to their preference for natural medicine interventions and skepticism of pharmaceutical interventions. They also voiced distrust of government information and fear of the possible adverse effects of the vaccines in the long run.

The survey was conducted from September 2021 through February 2022. During the period, participants experienced mild to moderate COVID-19 infection and were infrequently hospitalized. A number of female participants suffered menstrual and bleeding abnormalities, prompting the researchers who analyzed the data to surmise that the issues might have been caused by spike protein exposure and shedding, as per The Epoch Times.


Well, no

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Read the article above and then explain this.

FDA Advisors Unanimously Endorse COVID Shots for Infants and Young Kids (CHD)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory panel today unanimously voted 21-0 to recommend Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for infants and young children, stating the totality of the evidence available shows the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks of use. Pfizer’s three-dose vaccine would cover children 6 months to 5 years old, while Moderna’s two-dose vaccine covers children 6 months to 6 years old. States have already ordered millions of doses made available prior to FDA authorization by the Biden administration. Depending on whether the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accept the recommendations of their advisory panels, White House officials have said the administration of vaccines for these age groups could start as early as June 21.


The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) ignored pleas from experts, the vaccine injured and a congressman representing 17 other lawmakers to halt authorization until questions about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for the nation’s youngest children could be properly addressed. Many of the committee members, including pediatrician Dr. Ofer Levy, said the decision to authorize the shots was about providing a choice to parents who wanted access to COVID-19 vaccines, despite concerns by public commenters the panel was not adhering to the requirements for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and that authorization would eventually lead to mandates — as it did with adult vaccines.

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“..the eyes of the freedom-loving world are turned to the Russian Federation..”

The World Is Looking At You (Batiushka)

As a result of this first War atheist Bolsheviks seized power in the former Russian Empire. Although well over 600,000 Russian troops had died in the two and half years up until February 1917, as they, unlike the Allies on the Western Front, had faced the vast majority of the forces of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey, far worse was to come. Foreign-sponsored foreigners, like the brain-fevered Blank-Lenin and the evil genius Bronstein-Trotsky, killed millions in a civil war, including the Imperial Family, and through deliberate starvation. Many more would later die in concentration camps. And unlike in the First War when the enemy never even entered Russia, in the Second War the enemy reached the very gates of Moscow, Leningrad and the banks of the Volga, slaughtering 27 million, mainly civilians.

But then there was the American flu (called for propaganda reasons ‘Spanish flu’). Beginning in Kansas, it was brought to Europe in 1917 by American troops, who had entered the First War, as arranged, as soon as the treacherous ‘Allies’ (not Germany) had succeeded in overthrowing Imperial Russia. The Americans had come to conquer Europe. After the Great European Suicide of the First War, this flu may have killed another 50 million, though some say far more. But above all, exactly as the French Marshal Foch foretold at Versailles, the ‘Peace’ of 1919 led directly to the Second Great War that broke out twenty years later. And that murdered tens of millions and in 1945 made Western Europe into a conquered and occupied province of the USA, which then set about creating a USE (United States of Europe) in its own image.

And so came the Cold War, with its MAD (mutually assured destruction) phobia, bunker-building, wasteful spending on arms, and the new generation’s social revolution of the 1960s. In turn came the next generation of 1989, 75 years after 1914 and 50 years after 1939, and the occupation of Eastern Europe by the same US colonists, sending out their proconsul-ambassadors to the client states of the ‘New Europe’. In 1991, 50 years after Operation Barbarossa of Nazi Imperialism ravaged the USSR but was defeated, the latter fell to Nato Imperialism. And in turn, 100 years after the Great European Suicide began, the Evil Empire began its occupation of the Ukraine in 2014, turning it into a dependent vassal. The whole pattern of the hundred years, 1914-2014, had the same source.

Until 2022 there had never been any hope of justice and restitution for any of this. Then on 24 February began the Special Operation to liberate the Ukraine and denazify the world. This is the last throw of the dice and the eyes of the freedom-loving world are turned to the Russian Federation. Even with all its troubles, imperfections and treacheries, we have no other hope. The world is looking at you.

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“The traditional end result for captured mercenaries is execution; however, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to hang these two State Dept. conscripts.”

First American Mercenary Contractors Captured in Ukraine (CTH)

A contracted mercenary has no legal recognition or protection as a prisoner of war. Two American mercenary soldiers have been captured by Russian forces and now present a rather unique issue for the Biden administration. The traditional end result for captured mercenaries is execution; however, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to hang these two State Dept. conscripts. (Via Telegraph) – “Two former US servicemen have been captured during fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, The Telegraph has been told. The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the north-east city of Kharkiv last week, according to comrades who were fighting alongside them.


Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, had been serving as volunteers with a regular Ukrainian army unit. They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war. They join a growing number of Western military volunteers captured by Russian forces, including at least two Britons. Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner have already been told they face the death penalty as “mercenaries”. The capture of the two Americans will be diplomatically sensitive as the Kremlin may seek to use it as proof that America is becoming directly involved in the war. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is likely to demand significant concessions to release them.”

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“The new G8, instead, “does not impose anything on anyone, but tries to find common solutions.”

The ‘New G8’ Meets China’s ‘Three Rings’ (Escobar)

The speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, may have created the defining acronym for the emerging multipolar world: “the new G8”. As Volodin noted, “the United States has created conditions with its own hands so that countries wishing to build an equal dialogue and mutually beneficial relations will actually form a ‘new G8’ together with Russia.” This non Russia-sanctioning G8, he added, is 24.4% ahead of the old one, which is in fact the G7, in terms of GDP in purchasing power parity (PPP), as G7 economies are on the verge of collapsing and the U.S. registers record inflation.

The power of the acronym was confirmed by one of the researchers on Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sergei Fedorov: three BRICS members (Brazil, China and India) alongside Russia, plus Indonesia, Iran, Turkey and Mexico, all non adherents to the all-out Western economic war against Russia, will soon dominate global markets. Fedorov stressed the power of the new G8 in population as well as economically: “If the West, which restricted all international organizations, follows its own policies, and pressures everyone, then why are these organizations necessary? Russia does not follow these rules.” The new G8, instead, “does not impose anything on anyone, but tries to find common solutions.”

The coming of the new G8 points to the inevitable advent of BRICS +, one of the key themes to be discussed in the upcoming BRICS summit in China. Argentina is very much interested in becoming part of the extended BRICS and those (informal) members of the new G8 – Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Mexico – are all likely candidates. The intersection of the new G8 and BRICS + will lead Beijing to turbo-charge what has already been conceptualized as the Three Rings strategy by Cheng Yawen, from the Institute of International Relations and Public Affairs at the Shanghai International Studies University.

Cheng argues that since the beginning of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war the Empire of Lies and its vassals have aimed to “decouple”; thus the Middle Kingdom should strategically downgrade its relations with the West and promote a new international system based on South-South cooperation. Looks like if it walks and talks like the new G8, that’s because it’s the real deal.

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Schiff himself “Engaged in Likely Multiple Criminal Acts”.

Schiff: Evidence That Trump “Engaged in Likely Multiple Criminal Acts (Turley)

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) went on CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” to tout the work of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6th riot. In that interview, Schiff declared that the Committee has enough evidence showing former President Donald Trump “engaged in likely multiple criminal acts.” While vague on the specific crimes, Schiff emphasized that the Justice Department did not have to wait any further to launch a criminal investigation based on what has already been disclosed. While the Committee has disclosed new evidence in the form of videotapes and testimony, it has not presented new material evidence of criminal acts in my view. That could still come but the first two hearings largely focused on a “conspiracy” to challenge the election certification and allegations that Trump knew the there was no compelling evidence of widespread election fraud.

If there is evidence of criminal conduct by former president Trump or others, most of us would support the calls for prosecution. It is also possible that the Justice Department is investigating such crimes or has undisclosed evidence. The hearings, however, have not established such a foundation. That can still come but these crimes have elements that have not been addressed in hearings that have lacked any opposing views or adversarial elements. The decision of Speaker Nancy Pelosi to abandon the long tradition of bipartisan members on such selection committee has robbed the investigation of credibility and legitimacy for many Americans.

Indeed, Schiff’s reference to evidence held by the Committee is likely to bring up memories of his highly controversial public statements that the House Intelligence Committee, which he chairs, had direct evidence of Russian collusion despite the countervailing findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He never produced the evidence and later it was revealed that Justice officials and FBI agents had told his Committee that they did not find such evidence. Now, Schiff is maintaining that:

“I certainly believe there’s enough evidence for them to open an investigation of several people, and so did Judge David Carter of California believes the former president and others were engaged in likely multiple criminal acts. So if the Justice Department concurs with Judge Carter, let alone my own view or others, they should be pursuing that. So, yes, I think there is sufficient evidence to open an investigation. It would be of you up to the Justice Department ultimately to decide does that evidence rise to proof beyond a reasonable doubt such that they’re comfortable indicting someone. But there’s certainly, in my view, enough evidence to open up investigations.”

The reference to the Carter opinion has become a mainstay on cable news. I was critical of Judge Carter’s opinion when it was released. Much of the Jan. 6th hearings seem to be structured along the same lines as the Carter decision which was, in my view, strikingly conclusory and unsupported in critical parts of the analysis. Judge Carter simply declares that Trump knew that the election was not stolen and thus “the illegality of the plan was obvious.” Putting aside the court’s assumption of what Trump secretly concluded on the election, a sizable number of Americans still do not view Biden as legitimately elected. The court is not simply saying that they are wrong in that view but, because they are wrong, legislative challenges amounted to criminal obstruction of Congress.

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First Japan, then Europe, then the US. Russia and China will remain standing.

ECB Holds Emergency Meeting To Discuss Market Turmoil (ZH)

Last week, shortly after the ECB’s latest meeting disappointed markets and concluded without a discussion of Europe’s growing bond market fragmentation which has since sent Italian bond yields soaring above 4%, we joked that “at this rate the ECB would make an emergency rate cut” just hours after announcing an end to QT and guiding to a July rate hike. Once again, our jokes was not too far from the truth because on Wednesday morning, just hours before the Fed’s first 75bps rate hike sine 1994, and with Italian bonds in freefall, European Central Bank unexpectedly announced it would hold an emergency , ad hoc meeting of its rate-setters starting 11am CET in which it would “discuss current market conditions.”

The meeting, which comes less than a week after the rate-setting governing council’s last vote, raised investor expectations that the central bank is preparing to announce a policy instrument to stave-off another debt crisis in the region, which can only come in the form of more QE… which is ironic at a time when the ECB just announced it was phasing out all QE! Italian government bonds rallied in price following news of the planned meeting, reversing some of the recent sell-off that analysts said brought the country’s borrowing costs towards the “danger zone”. Gilles Moec, chief economist at Axa, an insurer, said the “stakes are high” for the ECB “now that everyone is dusting off their debt sustainability spreadsheets for Italy, they probably need to go up an extra notch”.

[..] ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel indicated in a speech on Tuesday evening that the central bank was getting closer to the point where it would intervene in bond markets, saying “some borrowers have seen significantly larger changes in financing conditions than others since the start of the year”. She added: “Such changes in financing conditions may constitute an impairment in the transmission of monetary policy that requires close monitoring.” Schnabel, the ECB executive who oversees its market operations and one of the most influential voices on its board, said the central bank’s commitment to the euro had no limits. “And our track record of stepping in when needed backs up this commitment,” she added. But wait, this means… more QE at a time when the ECB just vowed… less QE!!??

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”Choose one and only one: Feel good or be able to afford food and basically everything else.”

PPI: Smoking -AGAIN- (Denninger)

Oh my look what we have here! “The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.8 percent in May, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This rise followed advances of 0.4 percent in April and 1.6 percent in March. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices moved up 10.8 percent for the 12 months ended in May.” So…. two points, more or less, higher than CPI. PPI leads, I remind you, so the consumer inflation level has not peaked. Let’s look inside. “Final demand goods: The index for final demand goods moved up 1.4 percent in May, the fifth consecutive rise. Over 70 percent of the increase in May can be traced to a 5.0-percent advance in prices for final demand energy. The index for final demand goods less foods and energy moved up 0.7 percent, while prices for final demand foods were unchanged.”

Oh really? Only 5% eh? Well, don’t look at June, because gasoline, for example, has risen by more than 10% in the last two weeks which is all in June. Oops. “Product detail: Nearly 30 percent of the May increase in the index for final demand services can be attributed to prices for truck transportation of freight, which rose 2.9 percent.” No kidding? You mean $6+ diesel fuel turns directly into higher shipping prices? I just got back from a cross-country trip and saw lots of dead dinosaurs coming out of the stack of 18 wheelers and every one of them had better keep moving or you’re not eating, never mind being able to buy and consume anything else. The current Administration’s war on fossil fuels might make you feel good but it is also directly responsible for this insanity. Choose one and only one: Feel good or be able to afford food and basically everything else.

The really nasty is that the 12 month trend is unbroken and, as I noted, it all started right after Biden was inaugurated. He said he was going to do this during the campaign and he has. It takes time for the PPI to reflect down into the final shelf price and it has. But the 12 month final demand number, less food, energy and trade from 12 months prior stands at 6% which it has run at or above since August of last year. Shut it off now and it will be next summer before that has all worked its way through and there’s nothing you can do about the time requirement.

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“At the core what The Fed does is not the question. It’s what Congress does.”

Today’s The Day…. (Denninger)

….. we “celebrate” The Fed decision on rates. Well, yeah, ok. The 13 week bill says the FFR should be 1.5% now. As has almost-always been the case historically (go look at FRED if you don’t believe me) the market leads and The Fed is not actually in charge of rates. Of course this runs counter to the “all-powerful Fed” which suits everyone on all sides. The politicians and conspiracy nuts get to blame someone else for an agency that follows what the market demands because if it doesn’t it is proved impotent and takes a huge loss on top of it. Unfortunately 50 bips will do nothing to cool inflation; to do that short-term rates must be higher than the inflation rate so that the real cost of borrowing is positive. That would mean putting about 700bips on the FFR right here and now – which we know won’t happen.

Then again this has been the problem for the last 30ish years. The slope of the interest rate curve has gone from the upper left to the lower right and thus serial refinancing at the corporate and government level, say much less at the personal level, has looked “free.” That’s the sneaky part of inflation which I explained back when I wrote Leverage with a nice graph. When you run a deliberate inflationary policy over decades the first years look like a free lunch because the apparent “wealth” initially goes up faster than the debt service (which is on a smaller base) and thus produces a “belly” (an area of expansion of the space between the two lines of available spending power and debt service.) This is a chimera and to intentionally run such a policy as a business or government is fraud because all exponential expansions eventually go vertical, and the debt service will eventually cross available funds at which point you’re screwed since you cannot spend 110% of what you have — ever — no matter what you do.

It’s happening now. At the core what The Fed does is not the question. It’s what Congress does. The Fed is constrained to use only Federal Government backed securities for its monetary operations and policy. Yes, it has shaved that repeatedly, most-egregiously with Fannie and Freddie paper during the housing crash which at the time was wildly illegal yet not one person in Congress called them on it nor did anyone from the Executive (e.g. DOJ) stop it despite its blatant illegality. Then Congress went even further and, for all intents and purposes, explicitly backstopped said paper on a retroactive basis which is also illegal, but heh, nobody cared because it was “too big to fail.”

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Total control is the goal.

“Red Flag” Laws Put a Target on the Back of Every American (Whitehead)

What we do not need is yet another pretext by which government officials can violate the Fourth Amendment at will under the guise of public health and safety. Indeed, at a time when red flag gun laws (which authorize government officials to seize guns from individuals viewed as a danger to themselves or others) are gaining traction as a legislative means by which to allow police to remove guns from people suspected of being threats, it wouldn’t take much for police to be given the green light to enter a home without a warrant in order to seize lawfully-possessed firearms based on concerns that the guns might pose a danger. Frankly, a person wouldn’t even need to own a gun to be subjected to such a home invasion.

SWAT teams have crashed through doors on lesser pretexts based on false information, mistaken identities and wrong addresses. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted laws allowing the police to remove guns from people suspected of being threats. If Congress succeeds in passing the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order, which would nationalize red flag laws, that number will grow. As The Washington Post reports, these red flag gun laws…”allow a family member, roommate, beau, law enforcement officer or any type of medical professional to file a petition [with a court] asking that a person’s home be temporarily cleared of firearms. It doesn’t require a mental-health diagnosis or an arrest.”

In the wake of yet another round of mass shootings, these gun confiscation laws—extreme risk protection order (ERPO) laws—may appease the fears of those who believe that fewer guns in the hands of the general populace will make our society safer. Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. Anything—knives, vehicles, planes, pressure cookers—can become a weapon when wielded with deadly intentions. With these red flag gun laws, the stated intention is to disarm individuals who are potential threats… to “stop dangerous people before they act.”

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I think he has elections coming up.

Erdogan Issues Fresh Threats Against Greece (K.)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued fresh threats against Greece, this time accusing the country of supporting an international campaign directed against his country. “We have sent a clear message to everyone concerned about developments in the Aegean,” Erdogan told MPs of his AK Party in the wake of the EFES-2022 military exercise near the Aegean port city of Izmir. “We have seen through the game being played at the expense of our country. They are allowing Greece to behave like a spoiled child as they have done in the past,” he said. “The problem is that Greece is not aware of this game, or it has voluntarily adopted a supporting role,” he said, adding that the country would pay a hefty price for “making the same mistake.”

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Joshua Schulte. Treated like an animal.

A Whistleblower’s Agony (Kiriakou)

A C.I.A. whistleblower languishes awaiting trial in a federal prison under inhumane conditions and almost nobody is paying attention. Joshua Schulte is a former C.I.A. hacker, one of those computer geniuses whose job it is to work his way into the computer systems of our country’s enemies in support of some of the most highly-classified operations the C.I.A. carries out. The government believes that Schulte was a malcontent who released to WikiLeaks in 2017 the equivalent of 2 billion pages of top secret C.I.A. data with code names like Brutal Kangaroo, AngerQuake and McNugget. These programs, collectively known as Vault 7, were custom-made techniques used to compromise Wifi networks, hack into Skype, defeat anti-virus software and even hack into smart TVs and the guidance systems in cars.

They were the C.I.A.’s modern-day crown jewels. One senior C.I.A. officer likened the revelations to “a modern-day Pearl Harbor.” The C.I.A. accused Schulte of stealing the data in 2016 and of sending it to WikiLeaks in 2017. He was eventually charged with 13 felonies, mostly related to the Espionage Act. He was later charged with a number of additional felonies related to child pornography, accusations that he has adamantly denied. Schulte went to trial in New York in early 2020 with the Justice Department accusing him of “the single biggest leak of classified national defense information in the history of the C.I.A.”

After four weeks of testimony and six days of jury deliberation, he was found guilty of contempt of court and making a false statement, both minor charges for which federal sentencing guidelines call for imprisonment of zero-to-six months. The jury deadlocked on all other counts, and the judge declared a mistrial. Schulte remains in prison awaiting retrial. He has been incarcerated since October 2018.

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“This dramatic deterioration of Mr Assange’s health has not yet been considered in his extradition proceedings.”

Patel Responsible For Assange’s ‘Slow-Motion Execution’ If Extradited (DIss.)

A coalition of over 300 doctors warned UK Home Secretary Priti Patel that she may be responsible for the “slow-motion execution” of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if her office approves the United States government’s extradition request. Patel has until June 19, which is ten years after Assange entered Ecuador’s embassy in London and sought political asylum, to decide whether to approve the extradition. Assange faces 18 charges brought against him by the US Justice Department, 17 of which are under the Espionage Act. All the charges relate to documents WikiLeaks released in 2010 and 2011, which were provided by US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

Doctors for Assange” is an international coalition of medical doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists who have spoken up for Assange because of the toll the US government’s prosecution has taken on his health. Many of the doctors are from the UK and Australia, which is Assange’s home country. The doctors sent a letter to Patel on June 10, 2022, ahead of the Home Office’s extradition decision. “Should [Assange] come to harm in the US,” the group contends Patel “will be left holding the responsibility for that negligent outcome.” They add, “The extradition of a person with such compromised health, moreover, is medically and ethically unacceptable.” As the doctors recall, Assange’s health has deteriorated in UK custody at Belmarsh prison, where he’s been detained since April 11, 2019.

“In October 2021, Mr. Assange suffered a ‘mini-stroke.’” “This dangerous deterioration of Mr Assange’s health underscores the medical concern that the chronic stress caused by his harsh prison conditions, as well as his justified fear of the conditions that he would face in the case of extradition, leaves Mr. Assange vulnerable to cardiovascular events,” the doctors add. “This dramatic deterioration of Mr Assange’s health has not yet been considered in his extradition proceedings.” The doctors argue the basis for accepting US “assurances” was based upon “outdated medical information,” which should render the assurances “obsolete.” “Under conditions in which the UK legal system has failed to take Mr Assange’s current health status into account, no valid decision to approve his extradition may be made, by you, or anyone else.”

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Home Forums Debt Rattle June 16 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 51 total)
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  • #109783

    Caravaggio The calling of St. Matthew 1599-1600   • Severe COVID-19 ‘Rare’ In Unvaccinated People (MD) • FDA Advisors Unanimously Endorse COVID S
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle June 16 2022]

    #109784
    Red
    Participant

    Costs of living, think insurance premiums. IIRC this industry’s business model is based on a 7% y/y gains in investments and sales profits. I wonder, when was the last year that that target was hit?

    https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2022/06/14/671813.htm

    #109785
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    DeSantis is a ‘very dangerous individual’ because he has ‘already absorbed all the lessons of Trump’ but doesn’t have any of the baggage, an expert on fascism argues

    https://www.businessinsider.com/desantis-is-very-dangerous-individual-without-trumps-drama-expert-2022-6

    #109786
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Twilight of Empire”, Ecosophia:

    “Until this year, the shape of land warfare had been effectively defined by the blitzkrieg concept, which was devised by Heinz Guderian in the 1930s and brilliantly executed by his panzer divisions in the conquest of France in 1940. Massed tanks with motorized infantry and ground-attack air cover dominated the battlefields of Europe in the Second World War and around the world thereafter. That concept became the backbone of the Airland Battle doctrine, the core concept of US land warfare, and most other nations adopted variations on the same theme if they had the resources.

    The opening rounds of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year followed the standard blitzkrieg template: invasion forces blasting their way across the frontiers on multiple lines of advance in an attempt to overwhelm the defenders and force a quick capitulation. This time, however, it failed. The Ukrainian forces retreated into built-up areas where massed tanks can’t function well, and relied on shoulder-launched antitank and antiaircraft weapons to target the assets of the attackers, costing the Russians more than they could afford. Those technologies didn’t exist in 1940, and this is the first time they’ve been used to deal with a full-scale assault by a major power. The result is a significant revolution in military affairs.
    Ironically, pundits have been proclaiming the imminence of such a revolution for quite a few years now, but they got it almost entirely backwards. What has happened, as a result of new technologies and new strategies, is that the blitzkrieg revolution of 1940 has been reversed. The Russians, to give them credit, figured that out in a matter of weeks, regrouped, and proceeded to relaunch their invasion as though eighty years of military history had been rolled up and tossed into the trash. That’s why the Donbas right now is a fine imitation of the Western Front in the First World War, with the Russians using massive artillery barrages followed by infantry assaults to gain territory a slice at a time and cost the Ukrainian side more than it can keep paying.

    Russia’s tolerably well prepared for this kind of warfare. So is China, so is India, and so are most of the other rising powers in today’s world; for that matter, though they’re losing, the Ukrainians have done an impressive job of holding the line so far. The United States is not prepared for this. Our military learned the lessons of blitzkrieg too well; nobody imagined that American forces might someday have to engage in an old-fashioned slugging match of massed infantry and artillery in which tanks and aircraft play only a supporting role. We don’t have the huge corps of trained infantry needed to take on that sort of fighting, we don’t have an officer corps that knows how to fight that way, and, er, we don’t have the resources we would need to make the necessary changes any time soon.”

    Actually we * don’t * have to do that. We can just stay on our own continent. And also since they killed all the young, both in and out of the military, it will be effectively impossible for a generation, maybe more.

    “Russia is deploying only a modest number of second- and third-string units in the war; most of its forces, including all its best units, are being held in reserve to deal with an expected NATO intervention. The horrifying realization creeping through the corridors of power in Washington right now is that the US no longer has the power to enforce its will in eastern Europe—or, potentially, much of anywhere else.”

    “…The age of American global hegemony is over, and the only people in the world who don’t seem to have noticed it are the self-proclaimed masters of the world in Washington DC.”

    The rest of us knew that on 9-12, and told them not to do it. Starting a new 100-year war, which is WWIII, against the entire planet. Well, there’s stupid, and then there’s “Land war in Asia” stupid, and then there’s George Bush. Or technically the NeoCon/NeoLib Uniparty, headlined by Kagan, Cheney, and Nuland, who have lost everything everywhere they’ve ever poked their noses. Liz Cheney is about to lose her seat by 30 points.

    Other points: when the U.S. called for sanctions and WE fell apart, no conclusion could be more obvious than this: the U.S./West is a useless parasite, and the vassal nations could be rich overnight by not shipping all their goods to us. Then too, when the West is collapsed itself because it no longer has any production and/or coherent thought, the vassal states will be effectively unchallenged when they all ignore us and leave, keeping their wealth for themselves.

    “As the American empire implodes and takes the imperial tribute economy with it, Americans will have to produce most of their own goods and services again. To say that we’re very poorly prepared to do this is to understate things considerably.”

    Actually, this won’t be all that hard. Only government, tribute, and the too-high US$ keep industry down. We make a lot of things, but converted to high-value goods (medical, tech) and still have a tremendous work ethic and incredible resources. In all the things they say we don’t have: rare earth, copper, silver, coal, oil… That said, yes, rebuilding workshops to make tractors again takes +10 years. It just does. But if everyone is employed in the meantime, it shouldn’t matter that much.

    Just like RoW, the American PEOPLE have been ruthlessly colonized with the wealth pump, and if you shut off Bezos’ and Lloyd Austin’s DoD contracts, there are suddenly several hundred billion dollars to go around to the people. Medicine probably wastes 2/3rds of their resources on shams and cons, overpricing, and billing. So it’s the work of a minute to cut costs in half, followed by cutting them to 20% of the original number with clinic care and other medical SERVICE, even if later we can’t blow 80% of our money uselessly stretching out the last 6 months of life.

    As we’ve noticed, it takes Biden a ferocious level of repression to keep oil and gas production down, and therefore the profits and BTUs we would gain there. It takes 100 years of bureaucracy to pay farmers not to plant, to turn it into engine-destroying ethanol when they do, and to pave all remaining farmland with housing/mortgage tax credits.

    All comments are appreciated, but we can Victory Garden an unfathomable amount of food practically overnight, maybe the whole production of France. The suburb system is poor, but it leaves ¼ acre/house with complete electric and water hookup to support it. The general run is 1 acre/person excluding commodity foods like wheat. And suburbs have more than houses in them, they have parks, margins, malls, schools, golf, all open areas.

    We could have food for 50-100 million people by 2025 if we bothered? It’s really a motivation and skills problem, especially as all young people were both incapable of work and chronically sick even before 2020. That and the need for 5 nations-worth of shovels, harvesters, hay carts, fencing, is the other real problem, but relatively easily solved. It’s just a thing you list out and work through. Generally everybody could be much happier for it.

    “the United States shed many of the things that Americans once took pride in. We gave up a decentralized federal system of government for a near-dictatorship of the executive branch; we gave up our regional cultures for a mass-produced pseudoculture wholly subservient to a corporate elite; we surrendered a galaxy of individual liberties in exchange for various scraps from the tables of power; we forgot about the culture of resilience that made “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” a matter of common sense in most American households, in order to fixate on the frantic quest to claim some of the goodies from the feed trough of empire. We’ve got a lot of work to do to recover some of what we lost, but it’s not as though we have many other options…”

    Since those are all the things that make us unhappy, poor, and alienated from who we are and want to be, their crushing destruction would lead to happiness, unity, and stable prosperity under a United States that has weaker central government, regionalism, and individuality. As the injustice is now run from the top, removing the top should foster a return to justice. And so on.

    #109788
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    https://www.rt.com/russia/557231-ivan-timofeev-its-about-more/

    It’s about more than Ukraine, Russia is staging a rebellion against the West and its liberal world order

    #109789
    EoinW
    Participant

    I never realized that Calvin is the reason we have digital cameras. I thought it was simply because they’re Idiot Proof.

    Tech any 5 year old could use, because we’re a society of 5 years olds.

    I wonder what this society does to people’s souls? Do they look like one of Calvin’s photographs?

    #109790
    Michael Reid
    Participant


    Until 2022 there had never been any hope of justice and restitution for any of this. Then on 24 February began the Special Operation to liberate the Ukraine and denazify the world. This is the last throw of the dice and the eyes of the freedom-loving world are turned to the Russian Federation. Even with all its troubles, imperfections and treacheries, we have no other hope. The world is looking at you.

    #109791
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Master Powell raised rates! So high!! Only 20% behind the curve. He’s the new Volcker, I hear. …Except in a position half as bad as Powell’s Volcker raised rates +5% at a go – 500 basis points. 7 times Powell. So not Jerry is not Volcker material.

    He will, however, succeed in crashing the entire western monetary system. They need it to go so they can try to install their newest, latest plan that will be even MORE extractive and controlling. A CBDC. But no vax passports to make it required.

    “The best support that the European Union can give to Ukraine is to keep its unity.”

    United in doing nothing to help Ukraine. And their universal lie and narcissistic self-deceit kills all Ukrainians by “helping”.

    “Severodonetsk Chemical Plant: “They have two options: Either follow the example of their colleagues and surrender, or die. They have no other option,”

    It might shock some people, but this is a war. ? Don’t start them. Amazing to give them a chance to surrender, since it’d be 5,000x easier to level the place from 10 miles back. Don’t waste your chance, you might get back to Lviv someday.

    “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory panel today unanimously voted 21-0 to recommend Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for infants and young children, stating the totality of the evidence available shows the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks of use.”

    I can say that’s false without even looking at the evidence. The RISK to young children is…zero. Therefore the vaccine by all known evidence cannot possibly a benefit. That is, below zero. Unless it makes you super-human, there is no possible argument for it.

    “Here: I’m going to protect you against ManBearPig, a thing that can literally never harm you, because it doesn’t actually exist.” “Righty-o then, proceed with the strokes and nerve damage. I want to be Justin Beiber.”

    This is the FDA. Which is no surprise, since this is “fascism” executed by the companies who have paid the largest felony for mass murder fines in the history of the solar system. For decades.

    “As a result of this first War atheist Bolsheviks seized power in the former Russian Empire.”

    “killed millions in a civil war, including the Imperial Family, and through deliberate starvation. Many more would later die in concentration camps.”

    Sound familiar? This is the plan. These limp-wristed pierced and hair-dyed weirdos are supposed to be our overlords. A “concentration camp” is just a prison you go to without due process, like D.C. and Belmarsh. You’re Next, so do something about it.

    The White Hat plan is to avoid jumping into a narrative created by the enemy. I mean: duh. Since they want, work, and are desperate for a civil war and racism, we need to – NOT – have that. Even if it’s really hard to take. We were supposed to BE in a war already, the one that creates the conditions for the Russian Revolution plan. It was “Her Turn” and she promised on national TV to start WWIII with Russia the day after taking office. That was avoided like so many things.

    They don’t give the Americans any credit. We are actually really GOOD at the Art of War, at deception, at making the enemy think we’re something we’re not, at not walking into his plans and his ambushes for us. Not only that, to fight wars and to use Kentucky rifles and not muskets is second-nature to us, being essentially a practical people. So we’ve already dodged like 10 bullets they set up for us, fought back and held the line on 100 others, and aren’t tired out at all, but generally getting far more energized and motivated every day. Our holding the line is also holding the world to some extent.

    Since except for Dick Cheney, no one in DC has ever held a gun or shot anyone, they can’t understand that – not that different from the boar-tits Continental Congress bloviating decrees into space through all eight years of the Revolution, while the real fighting was done by guys on the ground with a blanket and two horns of powder.

    But we’re NOT in a World War – as such – and losing this one catastrophically like we just did is NOT going to get us nuked, it seems. We’re NOT in a race war, despite everything they’ve working on and paid for tirelessly since 1963. We’re NOT in a Civil War, despite every possible affront and cause for one. They haven’t got the guns. They haven’t got medical control. They don’t own the food. People keep escaping the Amazon/WalMart ranch faster than they can put them down. They keep having Master Plans, and we keep atomizing them, taking them apart, harassing them to a standstill, exposing and having their efforts come mostly to nothing. I can’t say we’re WINNING yet, but if you harass an enemy and don’t LOSE, then it’s merely a matter of time for them to run out of resources and energy. As above, the only point to Control, to an Empire, to a Police State, is that obedience returns more profit than it wastes. We make their attempts at control net-zero, barely a breakeven and a constant headache for them. In short: it’s not worth it.

    Now that their money-pump, the US$ system has gone Vertical-compounding and run out of time, if that near-single source of power stalls, we will overrun them entirely. Which is just about to happen, like between now and October. Uh, if you hadn’t noticed, the Dow has fallen +20%, and these billionaires have lost TRILLIONS. “The Fed won’t let that happen!” Yeah, sure they won’t. Just like they didn’t let it happen in ‘99 and ‘08. Their control is an illusion, because you obey them. Little tin babies in little tin-pot hats playing Mr. Dress Up with little tin soldiers.

    You see what they do to useless posers like Some Random Guido? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ICwzyZOVs Can’t walk down the street. Can’t be seen in public. The people will tear him apart, limb from limb and chuck him off a bridge. And we obey war criminals 1,000x worse? Why?

    “Sentencing guidelines call for imprisonment of zero-to-six months. The jury deadlocked on all other counts, and the judge declared a mistrial. Schulte remains in prison awaiting retrial. He has been incarcerated since October 2018.”

    Hey, have you heard of this Right called “A speedy trial”? New thing. All the rage these days. It’s only the 6th Federal Law ever written. It won’t take too long to read down to it, less than reading some afternoon Tweets.

    Also not in there but implied: the U.S. has ZERO jurisdiction over foreign citizens in foreign territories. In case you never heard of “governments” or “nation states” for some reason.

    “Hunter Laments” that we have a whole diary and other evidence that shows he was aggressively cruising on his own niece. You know, after being warmed up sleeping with his sister-in-law on top of his dead brother. Everyone loves it. They defend Hunter, Joe, and the whole family after hearing the whole thing for years. That’s who we are now. I’m sure nothing bad will happen because of it or anything. Like our leaders are so besotted with their own depravity and mental illnesses that they can’t help us while the whole country collapses from patently obvious, easily-fixed problems? Gas runs to $10 and there’s no food? Nah. Plenty of food and gas in the 10 zip codes of D.C. ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about. Just go have a margarita and buy a new Tesla like Psaki says.

    #109793
    WES
    Participant

    Here is how Canada’s trudeau is handling the captured Canadian General in the Ukraine. They are simply throwing him under the bus by only now deciding to charge him with sex crimes. Since he isn’t here to defend himself, coward trudeau is feeling real brave.

    I am sorry to have to report that the supply chain for “Quick Start” has been broken for over 6 months now. If you know anything about starting small motors, then you know what I am talking about! Per joe, it is all Putin’s fault!

    Have you noticed this year that there is very little sweet corn on the cob available? And what little is available is rather pricey.

    Been driving around the rural countryside lately? Noticed anything unusual about the farm fields?

    So Dr fauci and friends are giving Pfizer unlimited legal protection from being sued by approving the clot shot to kill kids. Sick sick sick.

    #109794
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    A Michigan attorney general is facing criticism after she suggested that there should be “a drag queen for every school.”

    Attorney General Dana Nessel made the comments during a civil rights summit in Lansing, Michigan, on Wednesday.

    Nessel is the first openly gay person voted into statewide office in Michigan.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/michigan-ag-drag-queen-school

    #109795
    Dr. D
    Participant

    I guess my point in America and “The Art of War” is that, like Russia, America looks Western but isn’t. I know that seems strange. We have this weird, hidden, formless, intangible foundation like the Natives have, or like they describe in Asia. Unlike the clockwork planners best represented by Europe, we really have no form to capture, just a blank underneath while we keep our eyes on the goal. Because it’s formless, it cannot be described but also cannot be predicted. 100 years after the official empire, we are still fighting it and still aren’t tired. We still haven’t forgotten and haven’t taken our eyes off the goal. Can you understand what I’m saying? because I’m having a hard time describing it. What would happen if we DID forget and take our eyes off? What IF we were merely the forms, the structures of power that have been captured: government, school, church, corporation, medicine, media? Since being an atheistic clockwerk-people they believe the power is in the THINGS, the structures, they have captured all of them. All. I don’t think there’s a West Point War Textbook structure that billionaire oligarchs don’t own completely.

    YET WE DON’T STOP. They’re not winning. They control everything: energy, media, government, courts, police, everything? Yes. So where is the resistance popping up from everywhere? What is the “thing” they can’t seem to capture that makes “the resistance” go? It’s that Tao. It’s that hidden intangible like “the mandate of heaven” no one can define. Just keeps popping up everywhere, all the time, despite every 1984/Brave New World factor they can find.

    Just because it’s nameless doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Like the wind you can know it by its actions and effects on other things. Think about it.

    #109796
    WES
    Participant

    Let’s do a little math OK?

    Russia lobbies 50,000 152 mm artillery shells every day at the Ukrainians.
    The Ukrainians lobby back 5,000 artillery shells back at the Russians every day.
    The Ukrainians can’t throw artillery shells as far as the Russians can.

    Prez Z says they are losing 100 killed a day.
    The pentagon admits 200 Ukrainians killed a day.

    Per Prez Z, it takes the Russians 500 shells to kill 1 Ukrainian!
    The US says it is taking the Russians 250 shells to kill 1 Ukrainian.

    Based upon WW1 & 2 experiences, big artillery is far deadlier than that!

    If it takes the Russians 100 shells a day to kill 1 Ukrainian, then 500 Ukrainians are dying every day.
    What if the Russians only need 50 shells a day to kill 1 Ukrainian? That is 1,000 dead Ukrainians a day.
    This old math is awful.

    #109797
    WES
    Participant

    V.P.:

    The word “Bigot” was introduced into the English language by a certain Frenchman Mr. Bigot located in Quebec City when it fell to the British. His behavior ensured New France fell.

    #109798
    zerosum
    Participant

    The 50 + 1 rule is also the 50 – 1 rule
    Blame the internet for spreading knowledge and reducing ignorance.
    Give credit to the bloggers

    ————
    lack of knowledge or information:

    synonyms:
    incomprehension · unawareness · unconsciousness · inexperience · innocence · unfamiliarity with · lack of enlightenment about · lack of knowledge about · lack of information about · nescience · lack of knowledge
    ———–

    Democracy

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
    a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

    50 + 1 is majority
    ————–
    Why would anyone want to be the decision maker/influencer/leader, in a democracy, when there is the potential of having 50 – 1 of the people opposing and/or being dissatisfied with the rule of majority.
    ————–
    Liberty:
    the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views:
    ———

    The World Is Looking At You


    The World Is Looking At You
    24170 Views June 14, 2022
    By Batiushka
    ———
    The majority says, “Fake News” is generated by the minority.

    #109799
    zerosum
    Participant

    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/turkey-russia-say-3-ukrainian-ports-can-now-be-accessed-grain-ships
    Turkey & Russia Say 3 Ukrainian Ports Can Now Be Accessed By Grain Ships

    Turkey & Russia Suggest Path for Grain Ships to Access Ukrainian Ports


    by Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter | Jun 16, 2022

    “Since the location of the mines is known, certain safe lines would be established at three ports,” the FM said earlier on Wednesday, adding that ships could “come and go safely to ports without a need to clear the mines.”
    Kiev, however, has signaled that it will not accept the Russian or Turkish proposals. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, David Arakhamia, a lawmaker and the head of Ukraine’s negotiation team, said “Our military people are against [de-mining the ports], so that’s why we have very, very limited optimism for this model.”

    The UN has warned that the disruption of grain exports from Ukraine could have a massive impact on global food supplies. Together, Moscow and Kiev provide up to 40% of Eastern Europe’s grain purchases, and make up an even greater part of some countries’ total imports.

    While Ukrainian and American officials have repeatedly blamed Russia for the shortages, Moscow has rejected the charge, instead pinning the scarcities on US sanctions and the explosives still deployed at key Ukrainian seaports. The Kremlin previously offered to help establish a safe route for shipping vessels in exchange for sanctions relief, but Washington refused to take up the deal.

    #109800
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Guess who’s making a come back appearance in Eurotardistan.

    #109801
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Oroboros – that Furer wine freaked me ouT!!!!

    Dr D. Yes, in the end we are nature. We are the world. The sky my feel like it falls but above the world it remains while below the web of life spins.

    #109802
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Nothing says I Support Ukraine and the Next Shiny Object more than a selection of Der Führer wines!

    .

    #109803
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Salute!

    .

    #109804
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Ukraine

    The only Democracy in Eurotardistan to outlaw ALL opposition Parties!

    Hurrah!

    #109805
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Had to send this to dad. Maybe he will watch it and wake up. Thanks

    Jimmy Dore nails it…

    #109806
    chooch
    Participant

    Looks like Dr. Offit doesn’t have the courage. He was questioning the need for a booster for his university aged son at one point.

    https://popularrationalism.substack.com/p/what-vrbpac-got-wrong-who-will-hold?s=r

    Dr. Meryl Nass was denied an opportunity to speak in the public comment period, yet the same pro-vaccine mother was able to speak two days in a row. Thus, the public may have been denied the opportunity to contribute their comments. This is being looked at by lawyers; if it true the FDA broke the rules of open meetings, then any ethical judge would rule that this vote to recommend is null and void ab initio.

    #109807
    chooch
    Participant

    Pre-war article on Putin. Check out comment section. Some good points made by Chris Hedges.

    https://unherd.com/2022/01/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-putin/

    “In Russia,” he continued, “disputes are usually resolved by common sense. If a dispute is about very significant money or property, then the two sides would typically send representatives to a dinner. Everyone attending arriving would be armed. Facing the possibility of a bloody, fatal outcome both sides always find a mutually agreeable solution. Fear provides the catalyst for common sense.”

    #109808
    zerosum
    Participant

    “The only Democracy in Eurotardistan to outlaw ALL opposition Parties!”

    That what it means to have a majority/democracy.
    Get rid of the opposition/trouble makers.
    Liberty is only for supporters of the majority.

    #109809
    zerosum
    Participant

    Stop doing it if it hurts you.
    Western sanctions on Russia preventing key equipment from being installed on Nord Stream,

    #109810
    zerosum
    Participant

    Democracy/democrats/majority ….
    Still trying to get rid of Trump.

    #109811
    Fattigmann
    Participant

    @Dr. D Excellent posts today. “They don’t give the Americans any credit. …Our holding the line is also holding the world to some extent.” Totally agree. I live in Flyover Country, grew up here, know the people and culture, yes, a practical people. This was frustrating when I was younger; now I appreciate the culture as truly sensible and sustainable. Who cares what the world thinks of us? They’re probably wrong anyway. I disagree with only one of your points: the US IS the last bastion of Western values. During the Cold War an Italian journalist came to cover Kruschev in my home state of Iowa. The Italian said, “Look, it’s like original Americans preserved in amber.”

    #109812
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    @Dr D: “It’s that Tao. It’s that hidden intangible like “the mandate of heaven” no one can define. Just keeps popping up everywhere, all the time, despite every 1984/Brave New World factor they can find. Just because it’s nameless doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Like the wind you can know it by its actions and effects on other things. Think about it.”

    Yes. Always thinking about it. Always engaging, taking intentional actions that create direct experiences – to gain understanding of it. Always reflecting/translating the result, the value/meaning into tangibility for daily living in/with/through/by it.

    It is built in. They can not own or control it. They can not take it away – unless we surrender or give it up or die.

    Again I refer to the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl as a source for what’s possible in even the most extreme conditions. The answer is in the title – it is an unending desire that makes the difference.

    Quotes from Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning:

    “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

    “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

    “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”

    “But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”

    “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”

    “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”

    “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

    “For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

    LOVE to All.
    Susan

    #109813
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Assange
    “Mini stroke”
    He is young enough that even under great stress is stroke is not probable. It was probably more directly from the mRNA injections.
    *sigh*
    The person who was supposed to be the featured act after the hourlong open mic last night had to cancel due to hospitalization due to complications from a “mini stroke.” That individual was past retirement age, so likely no one but me attributed the vax as probable cause.
    And a singing student that started several weeks ago has now missed the last two lessons due to not feeling well directly after a booster…and after a week was admitted to the hospital. I didn’t know her well enough to have ever broached the subject of the mRNA injections.

    #109814
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Dr D shared from ecosophia:
    “ Americans will have to produce most of their own goods and services again. To say that we’re very poorly prepared to do this is to understate things considerably”

    True, we are poorly prepared. But we have also squashed much of our brilliance for a couple generations by preferring low-paid foreign engineers and bought up patents to prevent the inventions from being made. I think about my 16 year old son, designing machines with Minecraft…inventing machines and building machines he learns about, and then refining, improving, and expanding their functions. He taught himself to do this. I believe that some day he will do this “in the real world.” We can have a resurgence out of this train wreck — but the US does not need to be a dominant world power, does not need an empire. We can get back to the ideals that knitted the nation together.

    #109815
    Armenio Pereira
    Participant

    19
    Banish learning, discard knowledge: People will gain a hundredfold.
    Banish benevolence, discard righteousness: People will return to duty and compassion.
    Banish skill, discard profit: There will be no more thieves.
    These three statements are not enough. One more step is necessary.
    Look at plain silk; hold uncarved wood. The self dwindles; desires fade.

    Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombardo – English version, 1993)

    Prisoners of the Body/needs
    Prisoners of the Mind/delusions
    Prisoners of the Future/expectations
    Prisoners of the Past/regrets
    Freedom?
    Dream on/if that offers some relief

    #109816
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    Gary often speaks of destructive EGO dominance, and that freedom lives by breaking free/going beyond the identity known as the small self (the EGO). It can be done if ….”Thy Will Be Done”. In Yoga philosophy they speak of Self-realization, the discovery/realization of true Self (GOD) within, which is freedom, peace, unity in all. The Path of Yoga (the system/philosophy which includes the postures) is powerful, and most effective with the guidance of a teacher/Guru. Going beyond the beyond and into the beyond is possible! Viktor Frankl introduces a third Way. I always appreciate direct insight in simple language with practical applications. You don’t have to “travel” far to explore this Path…one more quote to ponder:

    “The meaning of life is to give life meaning”…
    “Being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself—be it meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself. … What is called self-actualization is not an attainable aim at all, for the simple reason that the more one would strive for it, the more he would miss it. In other words, self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence”. – Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

    LOVE to All.

    #109817
    Armenio Pereira
    Participant

    A Sisyphean apothegm

    Why do humans long for God?
    Because humans are perfect questions (questions to which there isn’t a definite answer) and God is the perfect answer (an answer that doesn’t require any question.)

    (Question/answer pairs are neither answers nor questions – they form a conclusion, and conclusions are unnatural because with their beginnings and endings they don’t respect the cyclical nature of the Universe.)

    #109818
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The Great Western Empire Of Lies has decided (based on the finest calculations of its expertly designed bureaucratic rules-based policy calculations) that the best thing to do at this time is to commit Murder-Suicide against the human race (which rather unavoidably includes themselves.) Now that might look like a bad idea to some folks, but it only looks that way only to people who think that the best thing to do at this time is to LOOK before they leap. Looking before leaping makes no sense to people who are completely sure that they already know that it’s okay to just leap.

    The elites of the Great Western Empire do NOT think this is a good time for looking (or reporting on what is seen), because their policies, beliefs and computer algorithms all say that they’ve gotten it just right and there is therefore no need for questions about whether Murder-Suicide is a good idea or not. Of COURSE it is ! Drastic population reduction is vitally necessary! All of the approved experts say so. People who question that are obviously crazy and must not be allowed to mess things up by actually examining the idea to determine if it’s actually a good one . . . or possibly not.

    The death trap of all death traps is to trust artificial rules-based calculated idea so utterly and completely that there is literally NO NEED to question whether or not the derived idea is a good one. Such a path always and only leads, eventually, to a conclusion that killing something that is necessary for life itself is somehow “good” , and is accepted without question . . . . . because there is no need.

    Eventually, however, even the most powerful of the elites will be required by circumstances to question whether their next step is a good idea (for them, personally, as an individual) , , , at which time they, too, will be required to look, and see that maybe keeping their eyes squinched shut isn’t such a great idea.

    #109819
    zerosum
    Participant

    I’m looking for a word that describe: eating something that was alive. (veg. or animal)

    #109820
    TAE Summary
    Participant

    * The Daily Covid
    – Doctors don’t kill people, people kill people; I will give up my doctor when you pry him from my cold, dead hand
    – Getting vaccinated offers the best protection against Covid 19 [sic]
    – Unanimous support for jabbing toddlers; Can Pfizer get sued by people who got the jab before approval or is approval retroactive?
    – FDA approves massive Botox injections for people with Bell’s Palsy who want a symmetric face

    * Dj’oh! Biden is toast
    He don’t need no education
    He’s got perfect thought control
    Don’t you threaten you’ll impeach him
    Hey! People, leave old Joe alone

    * Salvokrieg is the new Blitzkrieg

    * Mexico refuses to attend Submit to the Americans 2022

    * Putin is the New Hope. Biden Administration is the Death Star.
    -Unnamed Staffer: We’ve analyzed his attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have Air Force One standing by?
    – Joe Biden: Evacuate? In my moment of triumph? I think you overestimate his chances.

    * Red Flag Catch 22: Because they like guns would-be gun owners are by definition a danger to themselves and others and shouldn’t own guns; Only people who hate guns should own them
    – Make everyone happy: A cohort of armed drag-queens defending every school

    * Jimmie Dore and Tucker Carlson: Politics makes strange bedfellows.

    * Fascist Holy of Holies: DeSantis/Santorum 2024

    * Pro-tip for Calvin’s Dad: Take the photo on “two”

    * That rooster is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not half an hour
    ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein’ tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.

    * Fear is the mother of common sense but cowardice self identifies as fear

    * Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
    A knight without armor in a savage land.
    His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.
    A soldier of fortune is the man called Andy Huynh.

    #109821
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @zerosum

    Let’s make one up from off the shelf parts. Vitavore (noun) , vitavorate (verb)

    #109822
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Enough of this sidling up to the main event gradually. Let’s cut to the chase. Grasp for the Brass Ring. Let’s answer the three biggest biggies of all time :
    Is there a God? Is there life after death? And what is the difference between Good and Bad.

    The answers are yes, yes, and: Good is what leads to the first two answers, and “Bad” is that which does not.

    It should be additionally noted that to satisfactory answers require daunting work. Religion is a great way to get started (maybe the only way to actually start) . . . but to take it all of the way home requires more than that.

    Also this : awareness is not something gifted to you by some externality or material process. Awareness is what you ARE.

    #109823
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Calm arrogance of re-posting the same content that is single wheel of the mouse turn to scroll-up to the host’s offer bar is beyond me.

    #109824
    zerosum
    Participant

    Freeland – Affordability Plan – Its already in past budget – No new spending (Lie – budget are planned future spending )

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