Sep 172022
 
 September 17, 2022  Posted by at 8:50 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso Portrait of Maya 1939

 

Rope-a-Dope (Jim Kunstler)
Who Will Run Out Of Resources First? (Saker)
Zelensky Names Terms For Transport Of Russian Ammonia (RT)
Russia Ready To Give Fertilizers To Poor Nations For Free – Putin (RT)
The EUthanized EUropean Nat-gas “Reserves” (Vilches)
France Makes Grim Prediction About European Energy Prices (RT)
‘Selfish’ Norway Must Share Wealth With Ukraine – Lawmaker (RT)
Zelensky: Burial Site Contains Torture Victims (AP)
Apocalypse Later? (Batiushka)
Germany Faces Wave Of Bankruptcies, MP Warns (RT)
‘Samarkand Spirit’ Driven By ‘Responsible Powers’ Russia And China (Escobar)
NATO Chief Calls For Arms Production Boost (RT)
Ukraine Conflict, Energy Crisis And Colonial West: Putin Press Conference (RT)
Women in Cabinets and Boardrooms (Vogel)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dies suddenly

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s preparing you for loss

 

 

 

 

“Game, set… Mr. Trump. Match to-be-determined.”

Rope-a-Dope (Jim Kunstler)

What “JB” fears, Mr. Philip says, is that his nemesis, Mr. Trump, following a decisive Red win in the 2022 midyears, will manage to get a few key states to de-certify their 2020 electoral college votes — based on proven ballot fraud — thus triggering a “contingency election” in the US House of Representatives, with one vote for each state, which Mr. Trump would likely win. Far out as it sounds, the machinery for all this is embedded deep in the constitution and federal statutory law. The so-called Deep State — yes, that one… the administrative Moloch that ate Washington — fears for its existence in such a seemingly far-out case. As it should. Because Mr. Trump would replace the sniveling tool Merrick Garland with an Attorney General interested in restoring the rule of law, which will necessarily require the imposition of said law on a large cast of sinister characters in the federal bureaucracy, plus not a few elected officials, who have engaged in systematic seditious treachery lo these many years.

Among these are the upper ranks of the FBI, whose multi-year illegal antics have climaxed in the August raid on Mar-a-Lago, and the September blitz of late-night, SWAT-team subpoena servings and phone-grabbings on Mr. Trump’s associates and lawyers. Seems the FBI might have been rope-a-doped on the Mar-a-Lago caper. What the FBI confiscated were reams of evidence of the agency’s own misconduct dating back through the RussiaGate op. Then they attempted to hide the list of all that material by redacting the affidavit that accompanied the search warrant. Their aim: to designate all that evidence inadmissible in future proceedings against them due to it being tagged to an “ongoing investigation” that will never end. This has been FBI Chief Chris Wray’s ploy every time he’s been faced serious questioning in Congress. I can’t speak about ongoing investigations….

Late Thursday, however, federal Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the FBI’s use of the seized material in any criminal probe against Mr. Trump, and, at his request, appointed a “Special Master” to sort out the true ownership and privilege status of the docs. The Special Master is one retired federal judge Raymond J. Dearie. Mr. Dearie has until November 30 to complete his review of the material. By then, of course, the midterm election will be over; the FBI and its parent agency, the DOJ, will be making plans to do some ‘splainin’ to the new Congress come January. Game, set… Mr. Trump. Match to-be-determined.

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“..the political chaos in the EU and the US this fall and winter means that now is the time to try has hard as possible to conceal the magnitude of the disaster for the Ukronazi+NATO.”

Who Will Run Out Of Resources First? (Saker)

By most credible accounts, the recent Ukronazi+NATO attack in the Kharkov area was even more costly in KIA/MIA, wounded and lost hardware than the attack towards Kherson. The combined losses from these attacks are staggering. Yet there are all the signs that the Ukronazi+NATO forces are preparing for even more such attacks. The Ukronazi+NATO seem happy to trade human lives for territorial gains, no matter how small or how irrelevant that territory is. The Russians seem happy to trade space and time to protect the lives of their soldiers and equipment. We could say that the Ukronazi+NATO are trading bodies for shells. Let’s remember the two goals set by Putin for the SMO: denazify and demilitarize. Both of these goals are human-focused, not terrain-focused.

In other words, if a tactical-level withdrawal allows the Russian to kill scores of Ukronazi+NATO personnel and destroy their equipment, they will gladly accept the trade. The other goal was to protect the LDNR. Kherson is not part of the LDNR. Territory can be reconquered, equipment is hard to replace, especially complex weapon-systems. And soldiers cannot be resurrected. It is absolutely clear that Ukronazi+NATO are “betting the farm” into these offensives. Not only is the coming winter a major threat for them, but the political chaos in the EU and the US this fall and winter means that now is the time to try has hard as possible to conceal the magnitude of the disaster for the Ukronazi+NATO.

So, most of what is taking place now can be summed up in this simple question: who will run out of resources first: the Ukronazi+NATO in terms of manpower and equipment or the Russians in terms of firepower (mostly artillery, missiles and airpower)? I think that the answer is obvious.

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Ze is keeping hungry people hostage. aBut we’ll keep blaming Putin, right?

Peter Dynes @PGDynes: “A huge percentage of the global food supply relies heavily on just one pipeline carrying ammonia gas from Russia to Odessa. This Artificial fertilizer indirectly feeds billions of people. The pipeline is currently shut.”

Zelensky Names Terms For Transport Of Russian Ammonia (RT)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will allow Russia to resume sending ammonia exports through his country, thus easing a global fertilizer shortage, only if Moscow releases Ukrainian prisoners of war, he told Reuters on Friday. “I am against supplying ammonia from the Russian Federation through our territory. I would only do it in exchange for our prisoners,” Zelensky told the outlet. “This is what I offered the UN.” The Kremlin quickly dismissed the offer. “Are people and ammonia the same thing?” spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, as reported by the news agency TASS. While Zelensky has claimed Ukraine took hundreds of Russian troops as prisoners during its recent counter-offensive in Kharkov, he has acknowledged Russia holds more Ukrainian POWs.

The UN had suggested Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem pump ammonia gas by pipeline to the Ukrainian border, where it could be purchased by Trammo, a US-based commodities trader. The pipeline can pump as many as 2.5 million tons of ammonia per year from the Volga region to the port of Yuzhny on the Black Sea. However, the port has been closed since the start of Russia’s military offensive in February. Ammonia is a vital ingredient in nitrate fertilizer, and a shortage in supply threatens to compound the global food crisis, itself already exacerbated by the conflict as much of the world’s wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia. As many as 70% of European ammonia plants have reduced or halted production in recent months due to record-high energy prices, according to the Russian fertilizer industry.

Russia, Ukraine and Turkey signed a UN-brokered deal in July to resume grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to alleviate the shortage. However, Russia’s representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, recently blamed Western sanctions for holding up shipments of both grain and fertilizer. He accused EU officials of hypocrisy for blocking Russian shipments to Africa, Asia and Latin America while allowing the critical resources to reach the bloc’s own shores. Of the 136 ships that have left Ukrainian ports carrying grain, just six went to the poorest countries suffering food crises.

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But sanctions….

Russia Ready To Give Fertilizers To Poor Nations For Free – Putin (RT)

Russia is prepared to provide 300,000 tons of fertilizers currently amassed at EU ports due to Western sanctions to developing nations free of charge, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Speaking at a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan, the Russian leader said he had discussed agricultural export issues with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “The day before yesterday I informed Mr. Guterres that 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizers had piled up in the European Union’s seaports,” Putin said, adding that Moscow is “ready to give them to developing countries for free,” and that such deliveries would be instrumental in alleviating the global food crisis.

In late July, Moscow and Kiev signed a deal unblocking Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea at UN-brokered talks in Istanbul. The agreement is also supposed to allow Russia to deliver fertilizers and food goods to global markets. However, Russian officials have repeatedly criticized the West for not honoring the deal. While Putin welcomed the decision to allow Russian fertilizers into the EU, he criticized Brussels for only allowing the bloc’s member states to buy them. “It turns out that only they could purchase our fertilizers. What about the developing countries, the poorest countries of the world?” he asked.

Putin asked the UN Secretariat to leverage the EU Commission so that “not in words, but in deeds, [it] demands the removal of these discriminatory restrictions against developing countries” by allowing Russian fertilizers to reach emerging markets. On Thursday, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said that the “illegal unilateral sanctions” the West has imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict are still blocking the export of Russian food products and fertilizers to global markets despite earlier agreements. He also accused EU officials of “selfishness, cynicism and hypocrisy” for prohibiting European carriers from transporting Russian fertilizers to Africa, Asia or Latin America, while allowing deliveries to EU countries.

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“..in the event that the Russian pipeline were completely shut-off, Newtonian physics ( how ironic ) would not allow, for example, to suction nat-gas out of its current storage as a vacuum would be drawn making outflow impossible.”

The EUthanized EUropean Nat-gas “Reserves” (Vilches)

The problem starts when ignorant fools dream up the idea that nat-gas reserves can be used as a 100% substitute for nat-gas flowing feedstocks. They simply cannot, period. Actually, God invented nat-gas reserves as a supplement to – not a substitute of – flowing nat-gas feedstocks so that in high demand season (European winter) the cheaper nat-gas reserves piled up during low consumption season (European summer) could be added to help satisfying winter´s high demand. Nat-gas reserves are good for nothing more than that and definetly not a substitute of flowing feedstocks.

Obviously, it´s very hard to know exactly what type and practical-use nat-gas “storage” capabilities different European countries have available today. For sure, such nat-gas European storage facilities are heterogenous and also varying from country to country. And we also know that in this case high-school physics still do matter much. Accordingly, many / most above-ground atmospheric pressure nat-gas reserve tanks or highly pressurized subsurface caverns by themselves will not work as expected unless a backflow – even at very low flow rates and inflow pressures — is constantly maintained from the Russian pipeline source… thus pushing the stored nat-gas out. Otherwise, in the event that the Russian pipeline were completely shut-off, Newtonian physics ( how ironic ) would not allow, for example, to suction nat-gas out of its current storage as a vacuum would be drawn making outflow impossible.

So, as suction is impossible, once Russian pipeline nat-gas inflow stops dead (which Russia intends to do…) such European stored gas would not be naturally displaced or “moved along” to elsewhere it may be needed, be it for power generation or anything else. And if the Russian nat-gas backflow / push pressure were substituted by any other gas or mixtures thereof (air or otherwise) the Russian pure nat-gas already stored would soon inter-mix and dilute beyond possible practical use as European installations and equipment are contractually fine-tuned for pure Russian nat-gas, not anything else…

The proven “possible” partial solutions for this huge problem are 3 and only 3 but for which no need has ever existed to actually attempt full European daily supply. All three have serious problems, including the low volume of nat-gas that can be extracted daily does not anywhere meet current European consumption needs. So one possible solution is having a “piston-like” storage tank system whereby the nat-gas already stored is “pushed out” by a huge piston-like surface within a special “variable geometry” storage tank. We can’t know if these very special “syringe” facilities are already installed in the right places and working as needed, but most probably they are not. Usually such tanks are tiny small in comparison to what Europe now needs and only practical for occasional use in very specific industrial feedstocks. They are very rare, very small, expensive, unreliable… and difficult to operate.

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They’re closing nuclear reactors for maintenance.

France Makes Grim Prediction About European Energy Prices (RT)

Energy prices are expected to spike at the start of 2023, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warned on Wednesday, noting that the costs of electricity on the European market could be ten times higher than they were last year. “Energy prices are rising. As for gas, the market has set the price for 2023 at five times the price of 2021,” the PM told a press conference. Earlier, French media reported that the wholesale price of electricity in France will hit record highs next year, exceeding €1,000 per megawatt-hour, which is ten times higher than a year ago.


On Wednesday, Borne announced new government steps to combat rising gas and electricity prices in France. The government has pledged to keep gas and electricity price increases at 15% in 2023, a move that is expected to cost the French budget €16 billion. Governments across Europe have already plowed hundreds of billions of euros into tax cuts, handouts and subsidies to tackle the energy crisis that is driving up inflation, forcing industries to shut production and hiking utility bills ahead of winter.

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The oligarchs already don’t know where to stuff the loot anymore.

‘Selfish’ Norway Must Share Wealth With Ukraine – Lawmaker (RT)

A Norwegian lawmaker has urged officials to share the country’s soaring gas profits with Ukraine, saying it would be “morally wrong” to gain from the military conflict raging in Eastern Europe. The government, however, insists its top priority is to boost output as other EU states look to curtail Russian energy imports. Former Green Party spokesperson and current MP Rasmus Hansson has floated a profit-sharing scheme to convert gas revenues into foreign aid for Ukraine, telling Politico that “Norway is being short-sighted and too selfish.” “We are getting a windfall profit which is very big, but the question is: does that money belong to us as long as the most obvious reason for that price increase and that extra income is the disaster that has befallen the Ukrainian people?” he added, referring to the ongoing conflict with Russia.

Hansson said experts with Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages state energy profits, must determine a “normal” gas price, and that all earnings above that level should be donated to a “solidarity fund” for post-war rebuilding efforts in Ukraine. Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt pushed back against the wealth-sharing idea, however, saying the country’s main goal is to increase energy outputs to meet a growing supply crisis in Europe. “Norway has been asked by the EU and our European partners to step up its production to cover as much of the shortfall from Russia as we can and we have done our utmost to do so,” Huitfeldt told Politico. The FM went on to accuse Moscow of manipulating gas prices and reducing exports, despite a slew of EU states demanding outright embargoes on Russian energy and imposing rafts of economic sanctions on Russian oil and gas companies.

Still, as some regions face sevenfold price increases, Huitfeldt said “many suggestions” are now being considered to meet shortages, though refused to elaborate on any particular plans. “I’m hesitant to go into specific proposals at this time. One should carefully evaluate the implications of different measures so that the result is not a reduction of supply or less focus on energy savings,” she said. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store claimed that it is “not in Norway’s interest that we have these extraordinary gas price spikes,” following a meeting with gas companies on Thursday. The meeting was “useful” but brought no concrete results, according to Reuters, as Norwegian gas companies are hesitant to commit to any long-term deals with the collapsing European energy providers. Though the EU has floated a potential price cap for energy to limit the rising costs, Oslo was skeptical about the idea, arguing it would not solve supply shortages.

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We’ve been presented with his nonsense for 6 months. And people still believe it.

Zelensky: Burial Site Contains Torture Victims (AP)

Investigators searching through a mass burial site in Ukraine have found evidence that some of the dead were tortured, including bodies with broken limbs and ropes around their necks, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said Friday. The site near Izium, which was recently recaptured from Russian forces, appears to be one of the largest of its kind discovered in Ukraine. Zelenskyy spoke in a video he rushed out just hours after the exhumations began, apparently to underscore the gravity of the discovery. He said more than 400 graves have been found at the site but that the number of victims isn’t yet known.


Digging in the rain, workers hauled body after body out of the sandy soil in a misty pine forest near Izium. Protected by head-to-toe suits and rubber gloves, they gently felt through the decomposing remains of the victims’ clothing, seemingly looking for identifying items. Associated Press journalists who visited the site saw graves marked with simple wooden crosses. Flowers hung from the markers on some of the graves, and some bore people’s names. Before exhumation, investigators with metal detectors scanned the site for explosives. Soldiers strung red and white plastic tape between the trees.

Cemetery
https://twitter.com/Angelo4justice3/status/1570727940501172227

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“Making Western countries totally dependent, forcing them to continue to give such large-scale aid to the Kiev regime, is to burn them up with fire…”

Apocalypse Later? (Batiushka)

Clearly, the only certain thing in the Ukraine is that Western aggression is being ‘monsterminded’ centrally from the Pentagon and Brussels. The current counterattacks by NATO-guided, Western mercenary-led and Western-armed Kiev forces around Kharkov, Kherson and elsewhere in Eastern Ukraine against the Allies, the new attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia, the new Special Forces exercises in southern Moldova, the new threat of war against Russia from Georgia ‘by referendum’, the new disloyalty to Russia by the Kazakh leader, the new friction on the Tadzhik-Kirghiz border on 14 September, the constant attacks on Russia and Russians in the Baltic States and all the ultra-aggressive word and actions of the US/UK/EU towards Russia, are not coincidental. They have led some to predict an imminent World War III and a nuclear holocaust.

Inside the Ukraine the war has been escalated by the West. Everyone since March has clearly seen that this is not a war between Russia and the Ukraine, but a proxy war between Russia and the West. The Ukraine is simply the battlefield and the excuse for Western aggression. Indeed, now that most of the elite of the Kiev Army are dead, disabled or captured, it is Western mercenaries and NATO Special Forces in Ukrainian uniforms who are doing the fighting. Every time the West escalates, so does Russia. The threat of the US to supply ATACMS ballistic missiles with a range of 300 km, will only escalate the conflict further. Russia, which has been remarkably restrained up till now, has been obliged for the first time to attack some general infrastructure, power stations, rail lines, roads. Soon Central and Western Ukraine, mainly untouched and peaceful so far, apart from the destruction of a few military installations, may be targeted. Maybe US spy satellites over the Ukraine will be targeted too. The US will have brought it on itself.

Is this what the West wants? The fact is that most of the world supports Russia, not least China. Did the West really think when it forced Russia into liberating Russian Ukraine from genocide on 24 February that the Russian government had not foreseen all the Western attack scenarios? They had eight years to prepare and expected all this. On 14 September the spokeswoman for the Russian government, Maria Zakharova, pointed out on Radio Sputnik that : “Making Western countries totally dependent, forcing them to continue to give such large-scale aid to the Kiev regime, is to burn them up with fire…Imagine, it is proposed to do this to States that are now thinking about how they can survive the winter… because… Washington teachers told the European Union how to live and what to do. And now, developed countries have at the same time fallen to the level of underdeveloped countries that do not know how to heat themselves”.

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The sanctions were supposed to hurt Russia?!

Germany Faces Wave Of Bankruptcies, MP Warns (RT)

Germany is facing a wave of bankruptcies as a result of its sanctions policy regarding Russia, the chairman of the Bundestag committee on energy, Klaus Ernst, warned on Thursday. In a post on Twitter, the left-wing politician brought up previous statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the sanctions should not hit Europe harder than the Russian leadership. “We have now imposed seven packages of sanctions and Gazprom is making record profits. At the same time, we are threatened with a wave of bankruptcies. Therefore: negotiate with Russia with an open mind,” Ernst urged. With gas and electricity prices soaring, Germany, the largest EU economy, is projected to contract in 2023.


According to the Munich-based think tank Ifo Institute for Economic Research, the energy crisis is “wreaking havoc”on the German economy and could lead to a 0.3% drop in GDP next year. Earlier this month, another left-wing German politician, Sahra Wagenknecht, slammed the government for managing to embroil the country in a full-blown “economic war” with its top energy supplier, Russia. She said while addressing the Bundestag that the sanctions on Russia are “fatal” for Germany itself. With energy prices out of control, the country’s economy will soon “just be a reminder of the good old days,” the MP warned, as she called for the restrictions to be canceled while engaging in talks with Moscow.

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“..to set an example of a responsible world power and play a leading role in order to put such a rapidly changing world on the trajectory of sustainable and positive development.”

‘Samarkand Spirit’ Driven By ‘Responsible Powers’ Russia And China (Escobar)

Amidst serious tremors in the world of geopolitics, it is so fitting that this year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit should have taken place in Samarkand – the ultimate Silk Road crossroads for 2,500 years. When in 329 BC Alexander the Great reached the then Sogdian city of Marakanda, part of the Achaemenid empire, he was stunned: “Everything I have heard about Samarkand it’s true, except it is even more beautiful than I had imagined.” Fast forward to an Op-Ed by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev published ahead of the SCO summit, where he stresses how Samarkand now “can become a platform that is able to unite and reconcile states with various foreign policy priorities.”

After all, historically, the world from the point of view of the Silk Road landmark has always been “perceived as one and indivisible, not divided. This is the essence of a unique phenomenon – the ‘Samarkand spirit’.” And here Mirziyoyev ties the “Samarkand Spirit” to the original SCO “Shanghai Spirit” established in early 2001, a few months before the events of September 11, when the world was forced into strife and endless war, almost overnight. All these years, the culture of the SCO has been evolving in a distinctive Chinese way. Initially, the Shanghai Five were focused on fighting terrorism – months before the US war of terror (italics mine) metastasized from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond.

Over the years, the initial “three no’s” – no alliance, no confrontation, no targeting any third party – ended up equipping a fast, hybrid vehicle whose ‘four wheels’ are ‘politics, security, economy, and humanities,’ complete with a Global Development Initiative, all of which contrast sharply with the priorities of a hegemonic, confrontational west. Arguably the biggest takeaway of this week’s Samarkand summit is that Chinese President Xi Jinping presented China and Russia, together, as “responsible global powers” bent on securing the emergence of multipolarity, and refusing the arbitrary “order” imposed by the United States and its unipolar worldview.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pronounced Xi’s bilateral conversation with President Vladimir Putin as “excellent.” Xi Jinping, previous to their meeting, and addressing Putin directly, had already stressed the common Russia-China objectives: “In the face of the colossal changes of our time on a global scale, unprecedented in history, we are ready with our Russian colleagues to set an example of a responsible world power and play a leading role in order to put such a rapidly changing world on the trajectory of sustainable and positive development.”

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Time to kick him out and make NATO a defensive body.

NATO Chief Calls For Arms Production Boost (RT)

Most NATO member states have significantly depleted their own weapons stockpiles by supplying arms to Ukraine, the military bloc’s secretary general has acknowledged. Jens Stoltenberg urged the defense industry to help replenish the thinned-out armories. In an interview with CNN on Thursday, the official lauded the “unprecedented unity in the support to Ukraine” on the part of member states. However, this kind of defense aid for Kiev has until now been “taken from our existing stocks, so they are now running low,” Stoltenberg warned. He added that one of the alliance’s priorities was to “replenish those stocks.” “Therefore, one of the main focuses in NATO is to work with the defense industry to ramp up production,” the organization’s chief explained.

Stoltenberg said that additional ammunition and weapons would help maintain the current level of support to Ukraine while ensuring that states still have “deterrence and defense” tools at their disposal. According to the official, the issue will be high on the agenda of the alliance’s defense ministers meeting in October. Most NATO member states have been providing Kiev with weapons and ammunition since Russia launched its offensive in late February. Among the most generous donors are the US, the UK and Poland. Earlier this month, Germany’s defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, claimed that Berlin has already “handed over an unbelievable amount from the reserves of the Bundeswehr” to Ukraine.

She added though that they have now “reached the limit” in terms of what they can provide. Top Ukrainian officials, including the country’s acting ambassador in Berlin, Andrey Melnik, have repeatedly criticized the German government for its perceived inaction. Kiev insists that Berlin should supply yet more heavy weaponry, including modern battle tanks.

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What if the west had people like Putin and Lavrov?

Ukraine Conflict, Energy Crisis And Colonial West: Putin Press Conference (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the media on Friday following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Earlier, he met with the leaders of China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia. In his first press conference since July, the president was asked about the conflict with the West, the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, and the energy crisis in the European Union, among other things. Here are some of the key moments from Putin’s press conference.

The West always strived to destroy Russia Destroying Russia and “disintegrating” it into a number of petty states has always been a top priority for the collective West, the Russian president said. Ukraine, in its modern state, has been selected to become an “anti-Russian enclave” and the main tool to achieve such goals, Putin believes. “The fact that they’ve always strived for the disintegration of our country is certain. It is only regrettable that at some point they decided to use Ukraine to achieve such goals,” Putin said. “In order to prevent such developments, we have launched the special military operation.”

Attitude towards Ukraine may change So far, Moscow has demonstrated a very reserved reaction to such actions by the Ukrainian authorities as attempts to target vital infrastructure on Russian soil or stage “terror attacks,” Putin said. “The special military operation is not a warning of some sort, but a special military operation. We’re witnessing attempts to stage terror attacks, attempts to damage our civilian infrastructure. We respond to this with restraint, but only for the time being,” Putin stated, warning that the approach may change in the future. “Quite recently, the Russian armed forces delivered a couple of sensitive strikes, let’s say they were a warning. If the situation continues to develop in such fashion, the response will be more serious,” he added.

No change in Ukraine conflict goals There will be no changes in the goals Russia is striving to achieve with its special military operation in Ukraine, Putin said. “There are no adjustments to the plan. The General Staff makes operational decisions in the course of the campaign as to what is considered a key objective,” the president stated. “The main goal is the liberation of the entire territory of Donbass. This work continues, despite the attempted counterattacks by the Ukrainian army,” Putin said, adding that it was too early to draw any conclusions from the ongoing counteroffensive by Kiev’s forces, and one should wait to see “how it ends.”

Prospects of peace talks with Ukraine are uncertain Russia was ready to agree to security guarantees for Ukraine proposal during Istanbul talks back in March, Russian president revealed. However, the negotiations were scuppered by Kiev. “The troops were withdrawn from Kiev in order to create conditions for the reaching of this deal. Instead of inking it, the Kiev authorities immediately abandoned all agreements. They announced that they would not seek any deals with Russia, but would seek victory on the battlefield. Well, let them,” Putin said. The prospects of further negotiations or personal talks between him and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky remain uncertain, Putin admitted. “First of all, they should agree [to hold the talks]. But they refuse. Zelensky declared that… he was not ready and not willing to talk with Russia. Well, if he’s not ready – there’s no need [for that],” Putin said.

Putin dismantle

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Instead of Putin and Lavrov, we have Truss and Von der Leyen. Whose only purpose seems to be to make Thatcher look good.

Women in Cabinets and Boardrooms (Vogel)

Do you remember Margaret Thatcher? And Indira Gandhi? Have you ever heard of Golda Meir? All three were “Iron Ladies” who as leaders of their countries and staunch defenders of national interests, truly made a difference. One may or may not agree with their political philosophies and opinions, but there is no denying these women were truly great politicians, outshining even most of their male contemporaries. Today there are seventeen countries where women lead governments. These include France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Iceland, New Zealand, Bangla Desh and Nepal. The president of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, also belongs in this list. In addition, there are fifteen countries where a woman is president.

Of today’s female politicians, perhaps only Cristina Fernandez of Argentina is made of the same stuff as her illustrious predecessors Thatcher, Meir and Mrs. Gandhi. Her actual stature might have been comparable if her country carried more weight in the world political arena. An influence comparable to that of Germany, until its imposition of suicidal economic policies earlier this year. Angela Merkel, the woman who presided over Germany’s fate for over sixteen years, had already done her best to destroy the social fabric of her country by opening the gates to millions of young single male foreigners who nurtured not an ounce of respect or sympathy for the nation that welcomed them with open arms.

In other words, although “das Merkel” (as her many detractors liked to call her) might, on account of her long reign and her grip on German politics be considered a peer to Thatcher, Gandhi and Meir, she has gloriously forsaken her duties. Even if she is not Germany’s actual butcher, Merkel has prepared her country for slaughter. The master butcher currently presiding over the killing of Germany is the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, a man. But rest assured, half of his cabinet are women. Some of the most pernicious, moronic and incompetent of these women have been put in charge of key ministries. Annalena Baerbock is Minister of Foreign Affairs and as such has been making public utterances that in terms of ignorance and sheer stupidity rival those of her British counterpart Liz Truss, who just a few days ago was anointed Prime Minister.

Ursula game show

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Assange monarchy

 

 

 

 

 

Red-tailed hawk
https://twitter.com/i/status/1570809747041026049

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle September 17 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 64 total)
  • Author
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  • #116079

    Pablo Picasso Portrait of Maya 1939   • Rope-a-Dope (Jim Kunstler) • Who Will Run Out Of Resources First? (Saker) • Zelensky Names Terms For Tran
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle September 17 2022]

    #116083
    Armenio Pereira
    Participant

    Inflated expectations, diminishing returns.

    Devotees beware, lest you’ll end up burning at the diminishing returns stake.

    #116084
    Armenio Pereira
    Participant

    The Sacred builds with one hand, destroys with the other.
    Left? Right? Which one?
    It really doesn’t matter.
    The key to a peaceful (inner) journey: to be aloof from the details.

    At their best, humans are The Sacred’s middle ground (it’s called having a coherent, unified take on things.)

    #116085
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “New $600M Arms Package for Ukraine Marks 21st Time US Draws from Own Stockpiles”

    At this point, any rebels from Harper’s Ferry will be able to beat the United States Army, that is unarmed and without fuel. Since they’ve lost to every goat herder with a .38 pistol for 50 years, this shouldn’t be a problem.

    “US, EU Will Force Turkey to Implement Sanctions on Russia”

    Hahahaha. Really? How? Isn’t Turkey the place that refused to stop settling in gold with Iran and Pakistan? The one the EU won’t let in and where the U.S. just tried a coup?

    “Massachusetts Gov. Activates National Guard, Sends Martha’s Vineyard Illegal Immigrants to Military Base”

    Ah, how much blue states hate immigrants and brown people. The National Guard. For fifty people. Tourists, really. Fifty. “Send in the Marines!” Where are they going? To be caged in the U.S. Army base in Cape Cod. Threat to Democracy, I guess. Actually, I’m heartened. Much as they hate brown people, they hate rural people more.

    “Martha’s Vineyard Lovingly Welcomes Immigrants to Any Other Part of America” –BBee

    “New York City ‘Nearing Its Breaking Point’ With Influx Of Illegal Immigrants From Texas: Mayor”

    “Send me your tired, your poor, yearning to be free…unless they’re brown. Not kidding even. Besides Hispanics, we stuffed like 70k Afghans in certain death to give 100K Ukrainians first go at legal residency. Ukraines are white! Go DNC! You rock! Now tell me all about how racist we are. Gooooooo onnnnnn. Also this week, they banned gays. Yup. “Gays Against Grooming.” Because…um…something… Every day I’m at a loss.

    Okay, anyway, what’s NY’s answer? They want the border open, and legally FL can’t deport them. In fact, FL’s not really a border state, a lot were shipped into Florida by Biden. NY is a proud, official, sanctuary city! Well, naturally NY loves immigrants, foreigners, hardworking brown people so much…that Eric is shipping them right back to Florida. Who will ship them right back to NY. But it’s only political and only “kidnapping” when one side does it.

    Actually it’s not kidnapping at all. Abbot says, “Who wants a free trip to Martha’s Vineyard, richest place in the U.S.?” “F—k yeah!” I’d take one too! Your odds are much better there than a dump like Brownsville. But…reporters: “We just make s—t up!” Ask no questions, tell all lies.

    “Kamala Harris Declares Crisis at the Border around Her Property” –BBee

    But trying to express my disappointment at these matters, that’s about enough. Refocus on predictions and what I can do.

    You know what we haven’t heard of lately? Korea reunifying.

    Document on the RAND corporation planning to put Europe in the present energy crisis:
    https://nyadagbladet.se/utrikes/shocking-document-how-the-us-planned-the-war-and-energy-crisis-in-europe/

    “A document signed RAND, under the opening heading of “Weakening Germany, strengthening the U.S.”, suggests that there is an “urgent need” for an influx of resources from outside to maintain the overall American economy, but “especially the banking system”.

    “The green parties in Europe are described as being particularly easy to manipulate into running the errands of American imperialism.”

    In other news, water is wet.

    “its authors rejoice in the fact that, among other things, resources of up to $9 billion will flow back to the United States, and well-educated young people in Europe will be forced to emigrate. …The key objective described in the document is to divide Europe – especially Germany and Russia – and destroy the European economy” “RAND Corporation issued a press release on Wednesday denying the report”

    When, oh when will Europe stop falling for it?

    They deny it when “Wave of German Insolvencies Picks Up Speed…”Tenfold Increase in Gas, Electricity Prices” So I don’t care what you MEANT; I care what you DID. And what you DID, was follow the RAND corporation plan to destroy Europe.

    One thing that isn’t mentioned in short form here: if this plan is followed, Russia becomes the new master. That is, Davos goes down, the nationalists win, in the U.S. AND in Russia. So who is RAND again? Trumpers? One wouldn’t think so, but I don’t care what they meant; I care what they DID.

    “Former Green Party spokesperson and current MP Rasmus Hansson has floated a profit-sharing scheme to convert gas revenues into foreign aid for Ukraine,”

    As above, Green are the biggest dummies, handmaidens for Raytheon and the RAND corporation. Green is also clearly the war party now. Why? Is this what they dreamed of when they grew up to save the earth?

    Other things not said: any and all U.S. long range weapons, jets (that can’t fly), etc., are all specifically being added to attack Crimea. This is more or less their coded message: “They will be used in Ukraine” (and not Russia.) Unlike the other 200 countries, they don’t recognize Crimea as Russian, which is no doubt why they left this open. So…what do you think Russia will do if they seriously and directly attack a Russian military base with high-level, long-range weapons?

    And assassinating Putin directly. Knock it off while you still can.

    “what is taking place now can be summed up in this simple question: who will run out of resources first”?

    Well that’s easy: NATO cannot produce ANY munitions, much less the amount they are using each week.

    Fed is still removing money, raising rates this week. But I’m sure when the entire market follows only the Fed in chart correlation, the loss of $95B/mo won’t have any effect on Stocks.

    And, since Powell is 1000bp behind the curve, inflation isn’t slowing at all. Yet. It won’t until something breaks and we have a panic, recession/depression, where everyone’s so broke, everything stops.

    #116087
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Pablo Picasso Portrait of Maya 1939

    …and then we have this magnificent portrait of Maya…
    …to make the world beautiful in these trying times……
    Chill and appreciate the beauty…life is so bloody short…

    #116088
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Riding down the highway in Peng Hu, Taiwan, today and my wife and I notice a lot of police on the road side. Then, out of nowhere, a bunch of police motorcylists and other police cars appear escorting a number of black sedans, the police are stopping traffic, letting the sedans go though red lights, everything. All the plebs have to move out of the way for the local cretin in a sedan.

    Democracy is such bullshit, these Taiwanese cretin politicians are just as bent as their western equivalents, like Pelosi, this corruption IS democracy.

    They enjoy the pleasure of feeling important because the police clear the road for them. For me, this is just another reason to hate the police and politicians. Why the fuck should politicians of all people, the plebs who make our lives a misery, be able to override the rules of the road, their rules? Why can’t they travel at the legal speed limit, their speed limit, why can’t they stop for others at the lights, as mandated by their laws? They are so full of themselves, one rule for us, another for everybody else, I am looking forward to Xi hanging them by their bollocks.

    #116089
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Dr D said

    “The green parties in Europe are described as being particularly easy to manipulate into running the errands of American imperialism.”

    As I have said before, on many an occasion, this whole Great Reset thingy is a collaboration of the looney left green wankers and the oligarchs. The oligarchs spotted the simpleton looney leftist and put together a plan, which involved taking the looney leftists seriously, something oligarchs, in fact any normal people, had never done before, so the looney left green veggies fell in love with the oligarchs and believed that the oligarchs were in love with them, so they set their fat, red/green/yellow/orange/etc haired lesbians off to war to fight for green. And here we are.

    #116090
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Dr D said

    And assassinating Putin directly. Knock it off while you still can.

    I would be amazed if all-out nuclear war is not programmed into the system incase this were to happen in times of military engagement. Not because Russia could not function without Putin, but because this would be classified as a maximum severity strike on Russia. There may be a few hours break to check the source of the strike, but even a 10% chance of it being the USA, maybe Israel, and it would end the USA.

    The USA will have been informed that this is the automatic response to assassination – history is full of massive wars being started by assassinations – so they will know that they are taking a gamble that they are very unlikely to win, unless they have managed to corrupt the military high command.

    #116091
    Red
    Participant

    “Now, as Vladimir Putin has severely restricted energy exports to Europe,”

    Who sanctioned who?

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/15/gas-rationing-germany-basf-plant-europe-crisis

    Everyone knows the energy appears out of thin air so just by acquiring the company you also get the energy.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-15/germany-working-on-historic-takeover-of-three-gas-companies?

    Coming soon to a bank near you?

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/16/bank-holdups-snowball-in-lebanon-as-depositors-demand-own-money

    #116092
    Red
    Participant

    Trading safety
    Within the inner sanctum of one of the world’s oldest and most esteemed universities, an ageing professor sits in a battered leather armchair. Oblivious to the day-to-day sensations within the room – the slow tick and tock of an antique grandfather clock, the shimmering particles of dust caught in the beam of sunlight making its way through the sash window, or the odour of the worn, dusty and tea-stained carpet – our professor meditates upon the deeper mysteries of the universe. In the adjacent reception sits a dragon secretary, whose main role in life is to guard the inner sanctum and to ensure that none of the mundane workings of a modern university be allowed to disturb the professor’s haven of tranquillity.

    After three decades of neoliberal governments turning universities from bastions of knowledge and inquiry into the individual units of a cargo cult-based Ponzi scheme, this vision of a university may be but a reflection of a lost past. It is, however, a metaphor for the way in which the human brain works – just like the dragon secretary – to prevent any of the millions of pieces of data that flood in through the senses from disturbing peace of mind.

    When the mechanism – which psychologists call the “Affective Signalling System,” which causes us to seek pleasure and avoid danger – works properly, any sudden change in the environment will be allowed to enter the conscious mind. This is a safety mechanism wired in by ancestors who needed to know if that rustle in the grass or snapping of a twig might indicate the presence of a predator hungry for a hominid meal. And even within that tranquil inner sanctum, the odds are that our professor will notice immediately if the old grandfather clock stops ticking.

    Such behaviour is a relic of a simpler and more self-contained existence. A time when people lived within the environment rather than working to shape it to their own needs. Problems begin to arise when those inherited instincts come up against the growing complexity that advancing civilisations generate. A fight or flight response, for example, may make absolute sense in the presence of a hungry leopard but it is less useful when the boss is giving you a hard time at work. And so, with complexity comes an unconscious tendency to dismiss changes in the surrounding environment rather than consciously acting upon them… even when our lives depend on it.

    Psychologist Norman Dixon identified multiple means by which we short circuit the process in the modern world:

    “Repression, denial, rationalisation, isolation and projection are well-documented mechanisms of defence, but there is another more widespread, insidious and probably more dangerous device for preserving peace of mind – optimism and its close cousin, positive thinking…

    “Unfortunately, this agreeable strategy has a darker side due to an alarming relationship that has been found between affective and cognitive processes, namely that positive feelings activate positive memories and vice versa. The trouble is that if… the induction of a happy state of mind brings back happy memories and evokes positive expectations of future events, then it is fair to assume that these enjoyable thoughts would quite naturally increase feelings of happiness, which would in turn evoke even more pleasurable memories and so on – a runaway system.”

    More@:

    In Brief: Trading safety, An inflection point, The crisis of under-consumption, A reign of decline

    #116094
    zerosum
    Participant

    Todays, collection by TAE demonstrates
    Threat to Democracy,

    MICRO EXAMPLE
    @ aspnaz
    “If I was navigating your trails I would destroy your cameras as well.”

    Your position would require you to make your own social/economic system, isolated from other systems.
    What happened to “live & let live”?
    You replaced it with “My way or the Highway”

    Freedom and democracy allowed you to twist and change good for evil.

    A micro view of Russia/Ukraine conflict.
    Impunity, retribution, make war, not peace.
    Fighting over the last fish in the ocean.
    A society of Survival of me and my servants
    ———
    Wake up!
    Missiles work well at creating destruction, death and graveyards

    #116095
    zerosum
    Participant

    Just because the people vote, it’s not democracy unless the controlled majority, votes the “right way

    #116096
    chooch
    Participant

    Dr. D,

    RAND document. I remember the fluff up early on regarding Poland getting their MIGs to the Ukraine. So if NATO countries are still using MIGs is there a separate or overlapping supply chain that feeds the Russian war machine too? They need to be maintained somehow. There were some articles recently highlighting links to German manufacturing/tech.

    This was an interesting take too.

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1570499462447112194.html

    Bankers an war profiteering. What is that saying?

    “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”

    I read farmland in Iowa goes for $14K/acre. In Ukraine it is now $15/acre.

    I guess that could be taken literally.

    #116097
    Oroboros
    Participant

    #116098
    zerosum
    Participant

    WHO ‘advises against’ 2 COVID treatments that may not work on Omicron variants


    WHO ‘advises against’ 2 COVID treatments that may not work on Omicron variants
    By Natalie Grover Reuters
    Posted September 15, 2022 3:55 pm

    Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant’s latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete.

    The two therapies – which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralize the virus’ ability to infect cells – were some of the first medicines developed early in the pandemic.

    The virus has since evolved, and mounting evidence from lab tests suggests the two therapies – sotrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab – have limited clinical activity against the latest iterations of the virus. As a result, they have also fallen out of favor with the U.S. health regulator.
    ————
    https://covid19.onedaymd.com/2021/11/ivermectin-i-mask-protocol-and-covid-19.html
    FLCCC Protocol for Omicron: Best Treatment for COVID-19 Omicron Variant?
    – September 12, 2022
    This version of the virus is believed to spread particularly easily, fueled in part by its ability to evade immunity built up from vaccines and prior infections.
    Experimental antiviral pills – such as Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) Paxlovid and Merck & Co Inc’s (MRK.N) molnupiravir – target parts of the virus that are not changed in Omicron. They will work as effectively against the new variant because these drugs do not target the spike protein – they work by stopping the virus from replicating. However, there is a bigger risk that monoclonal antibodies, such as Regeneron’s treatment, could fail or partially fail because they target parts of the virus that will have mutated.

    The FLCCC protocol and Omicron variant
    Are the FLCCC protocols effective for the BA.5 Omicron subvariant? Based on recent clinical experience treating Omicron patients, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) modified its early treatment protocol to include hydroxychloroquine as “preferred for Omicron”.

    The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus apparently enters human cells differently than do other variants. Analysis of biological mechanisms for hydroxychloroquine indicate that it has enhanced efficacy for the early treatment of Omicron, especially when coupled with zinc.

    The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Working Group (FLCCC) recommends hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as part of their I-CARE protocol for early outpatient treatment of COVID-19 (June 29, 2022 version).

    Specifically, they recommend hydroxychloroquine (preferred for Omicron) and ivermectin as first line anti-viral agents:
    Ivermectin: 0.4–0.6 mg/kg per dose (take with or after meals) — one dose daily, take for 5 days or until recovered. (Find a Doctor). Use upper dose range if:  1) in regions with more aggressive variants (e.g. Delta); 2) treatment started on or after day 5 of symptoms or in pulmonary phase; or 3) multiple comorbidities/risk factors. (Ref)
    Hydroxychloroquine (preferred for Omicron): 200mg PO twice daily; take for 5 days or until recovered.
    COVID-19 Omicron Variant Treatment?

    #116099
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    [WARNING!/ACHTUNG!/AVISIO!: severe mixed metaphor and deepish thinking ahead. Proceed with caution!]

    The topic is INTELLIGENCE, both as a word and as an activity, so unavoidably it’s going to take a few extra swings just to clarify which of that word’s many meanings we’re even talking about before we can hope to smack it back up onto the fairway and proceed.

    Now I don’t want to get TOO far into the weeds in this allegorical approach to the subject, but alas, in order to play the ball we have no other choice than to go into the rough and play it because we are already fully committed up to our eyeballs in the game which REQUIRES directly and explicitly addressing the subject of “intelligence” in all of its myriad forms and definitions.

    I recommend thinking about that for a few more moments.

    We’ve already made our choice. We ARE “in the game.” We are alive and therefore we are in the game of staying alive, which depends upon mastery of this hard to pin down hyper-faceted subject known as “intelligence.” The only other way out of the “being alive” game is to stop doing it. Any takers?

    Okay, enough miniature golf. Let’s get serious.

    Staying alive is all about very little else than “intelligence” (in one or more of that word’s many, many, MANY definitions.)

    So first off, it would probably be a good idea to specify which definition of the word we’re talking about. There are many choices.

    Indeed there are numerous and entire Institutions, each one of which is devoted exclusively to just ONE single aspect of this enormously multi-faceted subject. There is intelligence as it relates to cognitive ability, and there is intelligence as it relates to the data and information of doing business to acquire goods, services and money, or the closely related field of spying and statecraft . . . each one of which is in turn a huge field of human endeavor.

    Other definitions of the word include the idea of intelligence as an attribute or ability, in the sense of “Intelligence the Quotient” or IQ. Used in that sense the word intelligence refers to some hypothetical measure of “smarts”, hopefully, but that route is an endless circle going nowhere except back to itself, because the very word, “intelligence”, is used in the damned definition and we are still left not knowing what “intelligence” is. Lexicographically (and logically) speaking that circular self-referential evasive ploy is a no no. Sticky wicket. But at least we have some idea of the general notion, so let’s move on.

    Some very bright boys have done some very heavy thinking on this subject, and what they say about it is quite interesting BUT when last seen those good ol’ boys were going in ever tightening circles at ever increasing speeds (due to the self-referential circularity of their approach) until they melted into a ring of butter under Little Black Sambo’s tree at the core of something like Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole theory at the Big Bangy Beginning of primal time. Good luck to you if you choose that route. Pack for a long trip. And don’t forget to send a postcard back to us when you get to infinity.

    And there is one other general type of “intelligence”, and that is the data itself as sort of itemized commodity of bits and pieces of information that can be used like building blocks to assemble useful goods, services and predictions of the future. That is the kind of intelligence that can be sliced, diced, packaged and sold in volume as both raw materials and processed product.

    So there, above, are at least three ways that one can consider the nature of what “intelligence” is. And each of those generalized approaches to the subject could easily consume an entire lifetime of diligent pursuit and still not get to the bottom of it.

    So what does the bloody word mean?

    To get started on answering that let’s turn to the experts. From, Concept of Intelligence – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics at science direct.com

    “The direct antecedents of the word ‘intelligence’ lie in the Latin intelligentia or intellegentia meaning “the action or faculty of understanding,” itself derived from the Latin intellegere meaning ‘to understand.”

    Well that certainly seems simple enough. Intelligence is about understanding. Great.

    Not to be nit picky or anything, but what, might I ask is “understanding”? In other words, what does it even mean? It’s not one of those damned self-referential circular definitions, is it?

    Welllllllll . . . . . almost but not quite. It is self-referential. But it is NOT circular. It is spiral. Whoa! Whadaya mean, “spiral”?

    What I mean is that understanding does not go round and round in an endless loop, depositing you back to where you started from in the first place. Understanding is a thing which can increases and decrease. One can have more understanding, or less. One can “spiral” upward, building new understanding atop earlier gained wisdom. Or (as is too often the case) one can “spiral” downward through the process of drawing wrong conclusions from false information and using the wrong answers as the basis for new wrong conclusions. You see where that leads of course. A downward “spiral” of deriving ever crazier answers from ever dumber information.

    So, to recap. We are all in the “intelligence” business (in each, every and ALL of its many definitions), by default, just by being alive.

    We are all tacks in the same box, Some tacks are sharper than others. You and I are not the sharpest tacks in the box. The sharper tacks are using us. The question is : which tacks do you want to be used by? The one’s who are spiraling upward toward greater understanding? Or the one’s spiraling down into stupidity (in all of the many ways to take THAT slippery word as well) ?

    Post Script
    In all modesty (and we ARE all humble and self effacing around here, right?) TAE is a box of sharper than average tacks which has, quite naturally and predictably, drawn the attention of sharper tacks (both wise and stupid). Be aware. Think and do your deepest bestest, because you’re in the deep end of the pool now, and you ain’t alone in that murky water.

    Post Post Script
    IMHO (and you all know how humble I am) TAE has drawn the attention of the top tier of Trolls. Inc.
    And by that I mean really sophisticated AI augmented shit, wherein even the agent is only partially informed or aware of their role.

    No need to do anything about it except continue cleaving to the truth as you see fit. Since most of you are doing that perfectly well already, there’s no need to say more.

    #116100
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    From a couple days ago: “Gibson Guitars just Insta’d their new “We stand with 404!” t-shirt.”

    I did a brief web search and couldn’t find anything specific about “404” so stupid question: what does this mean??

    #116101
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @upstateNYer

    “404” is the numbered error code of HTTP software which signifies that the item that the user asked for (such as a website or other data possibly stored on the network) could not be found. For example, the files on Hunter Biden’s laptop, or Fauci’s e-mails to various and sundry bad actors.

    #116102
    zerosum
    Participant

    This web site gives pictures, and military action
    https://avia-pro.net/news/do-dvuhsot-ukrainskih-voennyh-popali-v-okruzhenie-soyuznyh-voysk-pri-popytke-proryva-v
    “In the Ingulets River, the water level rose, violating the crossings erected by Ukrainian troops from the right to the left bank near the borders of the Kherson region. Now they are actually left without supplies and found themselves in a tactical environment, pressed to the water. They’re in trouble there.”- said the deputy head of the regional administration Kirill Stremousov.
    ———

    #116103
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    DBS: ““404” is the numbered error code of HTTP software which signifies that the item that the user asked for ..”

    Thank you. I am aware of what 404 means on my personal computer [who isn’t? lol] … was having trouble making the leap between my computer’s 404 error and the significance of this marketing message. Appreciate the clarification. I’m a non-user of any social media. Sometimes we luddites “just don’t get it.”

    #116104
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    #116105
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @upstateNYer about those Luddites

    My view is that the Luddites get it better than everyone else. That’s why they’re Luddites.

    #116106
    willem
    Participant

    Dr. D: Saw a blogger item about that purported RAND paper a few days ago. Some readers think it is probably fake, and I agree with that reasoning.

    https://2ndsmartestguyintheworld.substack.com/p/bombshell-classified-rand-corporation

    #116107
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    #116108
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    #116109
    willem
    Participant

    @upstateNYer: “404” in the Gibson promotion probably refers to Ukraine. I have Andrei Martyanov refer to Ukraine as “404” (which I guess is suggestive of its web-related meaning of “missing”).

    #116110

    RIM- you have been making me laugh a lot lately- that BBC/NPRK overlay the other day was hilarious. Thanks!

    You showed a cheetah clip a while back that showed the same astonishing focus as the hawk.

    I never really got why John Young of cryptome fell out with Assange and Wikileaks, but Assange was such a compelling personality, I didn’t care. I love to hear him speak. I wish he would record bedtime stories for children- his voice is so calm and tranquil. Such a line of recordings may keep him in the minds of people for a long time to come.

    #116111
    thomasjkenney
    Participant

    RE: 404 – Nearly universal slang for Ukraine in non-Western circles, a non-existent ‘country’, cannot be found, any attempt to communicate results in error, etc etc etc

    I was being derisive using it. The t-shirt actually says ‘Ukraine’…and f#(< them for doing it. My guess is the ‘sugar daddy’ who fixed their reputation is pushing this. Starts with ‘B’ and ends with ‘k’ and rhymes with ‘cock’ maybe?

    #116112
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Empire of Lies

    A Mighty Juggernaut that spent 20 years and was defeated by goat herders.

    Awesome, Im shaking in my combat boots:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FcxdkN4XoAAvct5?format=jpg&name=large

    #116113
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #116114
    Oroboros
    Participant
    #116115
    Oroboros
    Participant
    #116116
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Thanks to all who provided their feedback on gibson’s 404 message. 🙂 I hesitated for a couple days to even ask. Now I’m glad I did. Had no idea that, per thomasjkenney, “Nearly universal slang for Ukraine in non-Western circles, a non-existent ‘country’, cannot be found …”

    Fascinating.

    #116117
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #116118
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    oroboros: 🙂

    #116119
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @willem and @ustateNYer re: Gibson , Ukraine and 404

    Yeah, I think Wllem’s take on it makes the most sense, by far.

    #116120
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Situational awareness of your surroundings is still an important skill set

    The Empire of Lies and the Collective West don’t know it’s ass from it’s elbow.

    Pay attention to the feedback outside the Matrix.

    It’s Real.

    .

    #116121
    chooch
    Participant

    “Let me sweeten the pill” (3:57 mark). The aid bridges are up the end of September. Lend/lease begins 10/1. Wonder if that one hit Lloyd Austin’s twitter feed?

    #116122
    chooch
    Participant

    #116123
    Bill7
    Participant

    Is there news that can be taken at face value? I am not seeing any, myself.
    Lots of absurdities being pushed, though-
    “Zelensky” being a good example.

    Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez meet for the third time in a prizefight, at 168 pounds this time. Golovkin is eight years older (40), and I’m rooting for him. Go, old guy with the nice jab!

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