I hear that the US is telling Maduro that if he and his government will just politely hand over power to the US-chosen-to-be-president person and step down, then the US will not charge them with being "narco-terrorists". The US is also enlisting other Latin American countries to urge Maduro to take this deal. Just when I thought heights of hubris had been reached.
I fear we have not seen the end of Zelensky's desperate Hail Mary moves. How can he NOT be a total liability to the west at this point? Plus - Zelensky can probably have his pick of Miami penthouse condos now, since the increasing insurance, condo fees, and special assessments are driving prices down as condo owners are bailing out. Hell, he can probably own an entire building! And set his own fees!
I think Russia was caught by surprise because the latest Ukrainian move is pretty stupid, even for Zelensky.
Maybe Tapper and Blinken went out for a drink and decided to just throw every hegemonic fantasy they have ever had out there, in case Trump wins the election.
If anyone is looking for the preeminent 'narco' terrorist, they have to look no further than Hunter Biden. I agree with your assessment on the Hail Mary moves by both Zelensky and Netanyahu. And yes as always a great post!
I think the Battle of the Bulge is the better metaphor for this Ukrainian offensive. The Americans were surprised because they'd been advancing for months and they knew the Soviets were grinding their way towards Berlin in the east.
Hitler personally ordered a desperate roll of the dice to try to force the Western Allies to negotiate so he could throw all of his military at the Soviets.
The Financial Times story quotes Ukrainian soldiers invading the Kursk region as saying they had been pulled from the Donbass front and sent there to occupy Russian territory to put Ukraine in a better negotiating position at future peace talks. History rhymes.
What would I do without the groundhog story...The 'real' news is becoming harder and harder to read and Israel/US are both agreement incapable...Anyone really planning negotiation with them is living in fantasy land.....Michael Hudson pointed out the imperialist downfall would take what was it years??? or decades??? I maintain rather sooner than later and it wouldn't have happened w/o the special military operation....I'm looking forward to the next BRICS summit - I think it's planned for this fall.
I have read that BRICS is floating the idea of leaving the UN, because the UN is really just another US tool. Also perhaps Italy wants to join BRICS and rejoin the Belt and Road Initiative. Macron asked a while back, and was told nope. The US, is, of course, against the BRI because it is not in the best interests of the US.
Turkey, IMO and all that, seems quite the wild card in all of this because Erdogan, again IMO, is getting a bit tricksy in playing everybody against each other.
Erdogan. Loki, or the Coyote, is strong in that one. He blustered that Turkey could do to Israel what was done to Libya.
I don't know about that, but the Turks have cut off a lot of their trade with Israel, and it is hurting the Israeli economy.
It's important to remember Erdogan is a Turkish nationalist with a longing for the old Ottoman Caliphate. Of COURSE he's playing everybody against everybody else. It's the easiest way for Turkiye to gain more influence, and independence, in the region.
Hey, I have watched all 400 (more or less) four hours long episodes of Magnificent Century and Magnificent Century Kosem. Probably not in order, hard to tell. But I am all up to date with those ambitions. Main takeaway - watch out for the women.
About 3 years ago at about this time, I researched and gave a presentation on the new cold war and a few points are relevant vis a vis BRICS/US/UN....A point I made earlier about US exceptionalism/hubris is relevant here. Because due to US geographic factors it alone emerged from WWII unscathed (I mean compare WWII military/civilian losses to those of Russia and or other states of Eurasia)...US was not invaded and had the greatest capability to set up the post WWII institutions. (But as an aside, US acts like it won WWII w/o help from USSR) If you look at UN Security Council membership - a fraction of the world's population (France, UK, US) hold veto power-control...It was set up this way...Original UNSC membership wasn't even Communist China - and France was added as a member after the initial composition of UK, US, USSR, Nationalist China....Putin made a couple of pivotal speeches (Munich 2007; op/editorial to NYT - 2013) in which he argued in the former that Russia wouldn't be in lock step with US/NATO because all those countries have done is bring instability, and the latter that every country is exceptional and made him the target of US Russophobia.....Along the way was BRICS...Though I have heard rumblings about the issues with the UN, I've also heard it argued that the UN (to date) was the only source of international law iow they don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water....But along with the BRICS, there were/are a lot of non-aligned initiatives - about 3 years ago, in response to and/or in tandem with the Juan Gaido attempt, Venezuela and other prominent members started a movement 'Friends of the United Nations' - lots of international participation and it's still active. There's also the Shanghai Cooperation Organization....I do think that Russia's smo started the ball rolling was a catalyst/ but I also think it will take time.
One of my favorite reads regarding above is Wertheim's TOMORROW THE WORLD (2021) in which he argues persuasively that plans to set up post WWII world (Anglo-centric) world order began with the fall of Paris in 1940 - references Duncan Bell's DREAMWORLD OF RACE: EMPIRE AND THE UTOPIAN DESTINY OF ANGLO AMERICA. It's a UK-US world order.
I found this around ten years ago. First video I pinned on Pinterest. There are flashier clips out there of groundhogs eating ice cream, but this guy is so serious and matter-of-fact I just love it. He is the OG of groundhogs eating ice cream.
I don't know anything about Ukraine anymore, except Ukraine is still bombing the (fortunately now cold) nuclear power plant a taxi ride from our place, and US Senators are in Kiev again as hundreds of millions are again sent to the Ukraine war effort.
And speaking of war effort, is Austin the acting President as he's sending nuclear armed warships into the middle east? I know that it's been 3/4 of a century since the US declared war, but doesn't the (actual) President have to report military actions to Congress?
We are always sending nuclear-armed warships to the Middle East. We are always rotating the ones that had been stationed there back home. The numbers haven't changed; the Biden Admin is just telling the press to talk about it now to look all big and bad for Israel.
No additional aircraft carrier task forces have been sent. As for attack submarines, there's some sitting off the Arctic coast of Russia right now, and at least a couple of them in the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, just as they have been for decades.
Just as there are Russian subs not too far from Norfolk and San Diego, just as there have been for many years now.
It is important to fear nuclear war, but it's also important to know how the Empire's military normally operates. It's when they change what they normally do that we should start worrying.
The halo law is designed to protect strippers, or exotic dancers, from patrons groping them on the stage. The patrons have to stay so many feet away from them. Jon Stewart once told Ohioans we were "adorable" because we protected our strippers.
A claw machine is a box with a glass front usually partially filled with stuffed animals. You pay a quarter or something to try to move a mechanical claw around to grab one, and if you can grab it and pull it out it's yours. They are normally found at fairs, circuses, amusement parks, things like that.
Just to lay out "opposing facts", Russia say the Kursk incursion has now been halted and rolled back, with very heavy AFU losses, and didn't even get within artillery range of the presumed target, the reactor at Kurchatov (?). I realise this is not the story the British press is saying but I suspect it's accurate. Tomorrow the same British outlets will be telling us AFU recon units have reached Moscow and the residents are greeting them with kisses and flowers.
On YouTube, the alternative news sources like The Duran are reporting what you are saying. The $MSM are saying that Ukraine now controls 400 square miles of Russia. And evidently they don't remember that Russia will sometimes withdraw and let Ukraine occupy a space, so it can annihilate a large number of forces at once.
Yah, I can't really tell what's happening there yet. There's definitely a Ukrainian offensive which met with some initial success. I did notice that the Western press was gushing about the Ukrainians taking 1000 square kilometers of land, now there's Djean just below me saying they're saying 400 square miles, which is considerably less.
There's bound to be some Russian Patton saying let them drive 300 miles, then cut 'em off and wipe 'em out.
The catastrophic collapse of a titanic pile of garbage in Africa cannot help but trigger memories from the film Idiocracy, in which a massive trash pile collapse is a key driver of the crazed plot. The film is darkly funny. There is absolutely nothing amusing about our current reality.
If the UN wants fewer people in the world, my wish is that they start at the very top of the deliberate and coldly intentional social and economic scale.
Just reading that the US told the ousted leader of Bangladesh she could stay in power IF she ceded control of two islands to the US. She said no, she is gone, no one knows where, the US has blocked her passport. I am now assuming that when the day of reckoning comes for the US - and I am an unwilling part of what the US is doing - the payback will be hell.
I think I actually heard this on Youtube - like I have said, though, I am ADHD and Youtube is like crack, I look at a LOT of stuff - but here is a link to Times of India quoting what I heard -
I do not doubt her, given the US propensity for setting up bases throughout the world, plus the US penchant for regime change. I have no doubt the US will get what it wants.
I hear that the US is telling Maduro that if he and his government will just politely hand over power to the US-chosen-to-be-president person and step down, then the US will not charge them with being "narco-terrorists". The US is also enlisting other Latin American countries to urge Maduro to take this deal. Just when I thought heights of hubris had been reached.
I fear we have not seen the end of Zelensky's desperate Hail Mary moves. How can he NOT be a total liability to the west at this point? Plus - Zelensky can probably have his pick of Miami penthouse condos now, since the increasing insurance, condo fees, and special assessments are driving prices down as condo owners are bailing out. Hell, he can probably own an entire building! And set his own fees!
I think Russia was caught by surprise because the latest Ukrainian move is pretty stupid, even for Zelensky.
Maybe Tapper and Blinken went out for a drink and decided to just throw every hegemonic fantasy they have ever had out there, in case Trump wins the election.
Great post, thanks!
If anyone is looking for the preeminent 'narco' terrorist, they have to look no further than Hunter Biden. I agree with your assessment on the Hail Mary moves by both Zelensky and Netanyahu. And yes as always a great post!
I think the Battle of the Bulge is the better metaphor for this Ukrainian offensive. The Americans were surprised because they'd been advancing for months and they knew the Soviets were grinding their way towards Berlin in the east.
Hitler personally ordered a desperate roll of the dice to try to force the Western Allies to negotiate so he could throw all of his military at the Soviets.
The Financial Times story quotes Ukrainian soldiers invading the Kursk region as saying they had been pulled from the Donbass front and sent there to occupy Russian territory to put Ukraine in a better negotiating position at future peace talks. History rhymes.
And desperate Nazis gonna desperately Nazi.
What would I do without the groundhog story...The 'real' news is becoming harder and harder to read and Israel/US are both agreement incapable...Anyone really planning negotiation with them is living in fantasy land.....Michael Hudson pointed out the imperialist downfall would take what was it years??? or decades??? I maintain rather sooner than later and it wouldn't have happened w/o the special military operation....I'm looking forward to the next BRICS summit - I think it's planned for this fall.
I have read that BRICS is floating the idea of leaving the UN, because the UN is really just another US tool. Also perhaps Italy wants to join BRICS and rejoin the Belt and Road Initiative. Macron asked a while back, and was told nope. The US, is, of course, against the BRI because it is not in the best interests of the US.
Turkey, IMO and all that, seems quite the wild card in all of this because Erdogan, again IMO, is getting a bit tricksy in playing everybody against each other.
Erdogan. Loki, or the Coyote, is strong in that one. He blustered that Turkey could do to Israel what was done to Libya.
I don't know about that, but the Turks have cut off a lot of their trade with Israel, and it is hurting the Israeli economy.
It's important to remember Erdogan is a Turkish nationalist with a longing for the old Ottoman Caliphate. Of COURSE he's playing everybody against everybody else. It's the easiest way for Turkiye to gain more influence, and independence, in the region.
Hey, I have watched all 400 (more or less) four hours long episodes of Magnificent Century and Magnificent Century Kosem. Probably not in order, hard to tell. But I am all up to date with those ambitions. Main takeaway - watch out for the women.
About 3 years ago at about this time, I researched and gave a presentation on the new cold war and a few points are relevant vis a vis BRICS/US/UN....A point I made earlier about US exceptionalism/hubris is relevant here. Because due to US geographic factors it alone emerged from WWII unscathed (I mean compare WWII military/civilian losses to those of Russia and or other states of Eurasia)...US was not invaded and had the greatest capability to set up the post WWII institutions. (But as an aside, US acts like it won WWII w/o help from USSR) If you look at UN Security Council membership - a fraction of the world's population (France, UK, US) hold veto power-control...It was set up this way...Original UNSC membership wasn't even Communist China - and France was added as a member after the initial composition of UK, US, USSR, Nationalist China....Putin made a couple of pivotal speeches (Munich 2007; op/editorial to NYT - 2013) in which he argued in the former that Russia wouldn't be in lock step with US/NATO because all those countries have done is bring instability, and the latter that every country is exceptional and made him the target of US Russophobia.....Along the way was BRICS...Though I have heard rumblings about the issues with the UN, I've also heard it argued that the UN (to date) was the only source of international law iow they don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water....But along with the BRICS, there were/are a lot of non-aligned initiatives - about 3 years ago, in response to and/or in tandem with the Juan Gaido attempt, Venezuela and other prominent members started a movement 'Friends of the United Nations' - lots of international participation and it's still active. There's also the Shanghai Cooperation Organization....I do think that Russia's smo started the ball rolling was a catalyst/ but I also think it will take time.
One of my favorite reads regarding above is Wertheim's TOMORROW THE WORLD (2021) in which he argues persuasively that plans to set up post WWII world (Anglo-centric) world order began with the fall of Paris in 1940 - references Duncan Bell's DREAMWORLD OF RACE: EMPIRE AND THE UTOPIAN DESTINY OF ANGLO AMERICA. It's a UK-US world order.
Thanks!
One of my favorite groundhog thingies - I never get tired of it, perhaps there is hope for the world yet....always makes me smile
https://youtu.be/WRu5pQU38K4?si=fss1H7R5tk0bJca-
Thanks! That one went straight to my wife on Facebook. She adores the creatures. There's a whole family living underneath a neighbor's shed.
I found this around ten years ago. First video I pinned on Pinterest. There are flashier clips out there of groundhogs eating ice cream, but this guy is so serious and matter-of-fact I just love it. He is the OG of groundhogs eating ice cream.
I don't know anything about Ukraine anymore, except Ukraine is still bombing the (fortunately now cold) nuclear power plant a taxi ride from our place, and US Senators are in Kiev again as hundreds of millions are again sent to the Ukraine war effort.
And speaking of war effort, is Austin the acting President as he's sending nuclear armed warships into the middle east? I know that it's been 3/4 of a century since the US declared war, but doesn't the (actual) President have to report military actions to Congress?
We are always sending nuclear-armed warships to the Middle East. We are always rotating the ones that had been stationed there back home. The numbers haven't changed; the Biden Admin is just telling the press to talk about it now to look all big and bad for Israel.
No additional aircraft carrier task forces have been sent. As for attack submarines, there's some sitting off the Arctic coast of Russia right now, and at least a couple of them in the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, just as they have been for decades.
Just as there are Russian subs not too far from Norfolk and San Diego, just as there have been for many years now.
It is important to fear nuclear war, but it's also important to know how the Empire's military normally operates. It's when they change what they normally do that we should start worrying.
OK what's the Ohio halo law and what's a claw machine?
The halo law is designed to protect strippers, or exotic dancers, from patrons groping them on the stage. The patrons have to stay so many feet away from them. Jon Stewart once told Ohioans we were "adorable" because we protected our strippers.
A claw machine is a box with a glass front usually partially filled with stuffed animals. You pay a quarter or something to try to move a mechanical claw around to grab one, and if you can grab it and pull it out it's yours. They are normally found at fairs, circuses, amusement parks, things like that.
Thank you Sir for adding to my cherished stock of Ohio knowledge.
Just to lay out "opposing facts", Russia say the Kursk incursion has now been halted and rolled back, with very heavy AFU losses, and didn't even get within artillery range of the presumed target, the reactor at Kurchatov (?). I realise this is not the story the British press is saying but I suspect it's accurate. Tomorrow the same British outlets will be telling us AFU recon units have reached Moscow and the residents are greeting them with kisses and flowers.
On YouTube, the alternative news sources like The Duran are reporting what you are saying. The $MSM are saying that Ukraine now controls 400 square miles of Russia. And evidently they don't remember that Russia will sometimes withdraw and let Ukraine occupy a space, so it can annihilate a large number of forces at once.
Yah, I can't really tell what's happening there yet. There's definitely a Ukrainian offensive which met with some initial success. I did notice that the Western press was gushing about the Ukrainians taking 1000 square kilometers of land, now there's Djean just below me saying they're saying 400 square miles, which is considerably less.
There's bound to be some Russian Patton saying let them drive 300 miles, then cut 'em off and wipe 'em out.
Julian Macfarlane usually compiles a pretty good rundown on the Ukraine War. Here is his latest, posted after my OP.
https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/zelensky-putins-greatest-asset
Thanks, subscribed, pretty much what I was thinking, only with, ya know, facts and such.
Ah News Forensics. Yes I follow him. I rarely remember the names of authors as opposed to the name of Stacks.
The catastrophic collapse of a titanic pile of garbage in Africa cannot help but trigger memories from the film Idiocracy, in which a massive trash pile collapse is a key driver of the crazed plot. The film is darkly funny. There is absolutely nothing amusing about our current reality.
Twenty people "drowned" in trash.
If the UN wants fewer people in the world, my wish is that they start at the very top of the deliberate and coldly intentional social and economic scale.
Just reading that the US told the ousted leader of Bangladesh she could stay in power IF she ceded control of two islands to the US. She said no, she is gone, no one knows where, the US has blocked her passport. I am now assuming that when the day of reckoning comes for the US - and I am an unwilling part of what the US is doing - the payback will be hell.
Do you remember where you read it? If not, that's cool. I can't remember where I read stuff half the time now.
I think I actually heard this on Youtube - like I have said, though, I am ADHD and Youtube is like crack, I look at a LOT of stuff - but here is a link to Times of India quoting what I heard -
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/sheikh-hasina-accuses-the-us-whats-the-significance-of-st-martins-island/articleshow/112446885.cms
I do not doubt her, given the US propensity for setting up bases throughout the world, plus the US penchant for regime change. I have no doubt the US will get what it wants.