Without gallows being built on the National mall to hang all the treasonous bastards that mostly destroyed our once great country, the blob will just Bide ( Biden) its time and wait until 26/28…. The one thing going for this country is the rest of the world and its governance is more f’d up than us. FJB
Speaking of "gallows" on the Capitol mall, at 0600A hrs on Insurrection Day, 6th Jan 2021, a pickup truck arrived with a very nicely constructed prefab wooden gallows—replete with drop and noose. A well-rehearsed team of a half dozen clean-cut young Dudley Do-Right clones smartly unloaded and re-assembled this supposed infernal device of the Trumpista crazies intended for the righteous public execution of VP Mike Pence for refusing to question the obvious monkey-business entailed in the electoral vote counting.
Then the fine young Dudleys climbed back into their truck and drove away, leaving the gallows in full sight for the whole day: specifically contrary to the laws and regs regarding such things. Presumably, the entire project was multiply videoed by the Blob's surveillence hardware.
Some prog jerk fellow traveller soon published an account, still available from Amazon books, describing the whole thing: not as what it so transparently was —an Op by, e.g., the Fubbies— but as documented evidence of the Far Right's boundless evil and subversion. The Fubbie's infamous DNC pipe bomb drop was small potatoes by comparison; but also no doubt extensively and multiply archived by the local surveillence infrastructure.
Those "gallows" were a complete farce, banged together by someone with limited woodworking skills and zero knotsmanship. That was not a real noose, it was an embarrassment. It looked like someone wrapped the rope around a beer can and glued it in place. Cheap stage prop that would have blown over in a stiff breeze.
Contrast the phony J6 gallows with the real, fully functional guillotine set up by BLM in front of the White House during their multi-day siege with which they lopped the head off of an effigy of Trump while the crowd demanded the heads of the president and his family.
Yes, life imprisonment probably without parole. In the UK the worst murderers and serial killers usually get a 'whole life' sentence. One example was Dr Harold Shipman, who murdered 100s of his elderly patients, mostly by lethal injection .
How strange ... lethal injections. Mmm, sounds familiar to me.
Anyway he killed himself after a few years. Apparently he couldn't bear the thought of decades more confined to his cell.
Trump is betraying his base. But at the victory speech he said, We going to deport a lot of people and bring a lot of people in. Few heard that part. I did though. And here we are.
What Trump might have meant/said and immigrant visas/sociopolitical engineering nuance aside, it's also about economic growth or, in the face of economic/energy decline (and the wars abroad about it), a kind of 'Red Queen' running and progressive increases in the speed, just to stay in one place.
Ron Anselmo mentioned to me in a previous thread the 'classic' 'immigrants living 8 to a one-bedroom apartment/flat', though neither of us mentioned the monied ones who also immigrate. Our bad.
Money's energy; energy's money. The MIC helps ensure that 'Am-a gonna git me some.'. Petrodollar; BRICS+.
Over here, we had a small relatively-run-down district not too many years ago that's now all spit-and-polish and full of cafes and restos and immigrants owning, running and frequenting them. That's taxes and fees, etc., in the governments' eyes/pockets-- who cares about the quasi-original, in part so-called 'White' or 'Black', locals. They proved their 'worth' by in part falling off the wagon and onto the streets to remain for a time.
Tokens aside, the Musk, Trump, Vivek, etc. clique are about maintaining, for as long as possible, the status-quo that they benefit from, being 'elite businessmen/parasites' and all that.
Ultimately, the MAGA crowd may find that they're at odds with that, with the status-quo-- itself now beginning to hit the rocks against the new incoming surf.
Oh ya, one other thing, maybe more: I looked up, maybe 10 or so years ago, what the deal was with Elon and found that he simply lucked-out with Dad giving him about $27 000; Compaq (before disappearing) buying his biz for an insane amount and then government-- you know, The People?-- giving him yet much more for much of what he's now generally known for. (Maybe a similar story with Trump.)
But he has relatively very little skin in the game per se, or boots on the ground. (That's why he can dick around on X.) That belongs to those who work/slave for him...
Which, naturally, feeds back into what I just started with in this comment...
And, too, as you write, here we are.
The People own most everything that Musk is known and takes the credit for, they just don't realize it.
Are the immigrants, Musk et al. and their wage-slaves helping to pay our monthly benefits and/or proto-Universal Basic Incomes? And do we have enough to purchase all their gizmos to boot (never mind a patch of poor land and a humble house)?
I had to look up the Dos Equis reference, since we don't appear to have or have had those cute commercials up here. At the same time, however, I am unsure what you mean by 4-d chess. Then again, if I'm like that guy in the commercials, I suppose I could be playing it and not realize it and chalk any 'wins' up to a kind of Peewee Hermanesque 'I meant to do that.'.
Ron, if we make an internal case to hack/question reality as often as we can, if only intellectually/perceptually, though ideally, practically (so the 'movers-and-shakers' get less leg-ups on our asses), we can be like Neo of The Matrix who finally manages to unplug from the manufactured society whose allegory is/was the Matrix. It's my favourite film because of that.
5:00 pm 2025 and I'm still drinking... but unlike our Dos Equis cherry-poppin' daddy's (apparently of course), it's one of those 'faggy' drinks that our late-teen hood used to call them as friendly jabs. I like to think I balance it out, though, by the fact that I can do my own cider and moonshine-- and wine or mead if I tried. So I like to think I've earned my 'faggy' drinks dammit...
But here's a thought: Where would a Long Island Iced Tea be on the drink-gender-preference spectrum? Harvey Wallbanger? Rusty Nail? Margarita? Salt on her rim or sugar? 'Who/What you be bangin' with that rusty nail?' And therein, too, lies an example of the gist of the reality-hack...
If you think it's a good idea to discuss these kinds of things over a crackling fire beyond a certain latitude, how about if it's just one 'node'-- in that case, the allergorical cafe/teahouse-- of a growing string of nodes all around the world that hoover up increasing and willing participants and slowly eat the State like a beneficial cancer?
Zazzy - I know I told you a while back, some of your stuff is funny AF, some flows for me, and some melts my brain.
The above is funny AF - the drinking at 5:00 (not starting, because "It's 5:00 somewhere!"), but "still drinking" at 5:00, making you a confessed "day drinker", and the "faggy" drinks and the inquiry into drink-gender preference spectrum are classic. But seriously worth deeper discussion at the cafe.
But your post in it's entirety, is my the brain-melt spectrum - low end though - so I think I get your larger thesis.
I'm definitely down with the cafe/teahouse's being nodes to eat the State. More enjoyable and not nearly as kinetic as my usual preference. I'm open to site suggestions.
After being "cancelled" by our local newspaper and being personally set up and attacked by them on what was then Twitter, after having 25+ letters published (the paper took a hard left turn after being bought out by USA Today (Gannett)), my last public forum for exercising my First Amendment rights in written form, is my back windshield.
It currently states, "Free the J6 Political Prisoners". However, my thinking for the next installment is, "Break the State". So, we're on the same page, I'm just defaulting to my more kinetic roots.
We live in a small town here - half the people think I'm crazy - and the other half are certain of it. And yes, The Matrix is instructive - a favorite of mine as well.
We'll see how many of the J6ers still in prison are pardoned by executive order when Trump assumes office on 1-20. It may not be as many as many people think. Will Trump even pardon any before his new AG is confirmed?
One reporter got into their cellblock. Conditions ware appalling. One guy had a black thumb and the rest of hand was a deep purple. He probably ending up losing at least his thumb. Denied medical care. Someone should go down hard for that in and of itself.
Trump beckoned them to "stand back and stand by" - they did. He asked them to "peacefully protest" - they did until fired upon. If he lets them twist, I'm off the Trump Train.
Terrio (head of the Proud Boys) wasn't even there! The judges who gave such unbelievably harsh sentences should be removed from their position and disbarred!
Agreed, it was simply a show trial, gross abuse of due process, and a shot across the bow for anyone else contemplating acting up. I've followed the Proud Boys since their early days in Portland, OR.
There was a group called Patriot Prayer, that used to publicly and peaceably assemble - as is their constitutional right - and hold prayer vigils for certain people or causes.
Invariably, they would be violently set upon by Antifa thugs, preying upon the weak and defenseless, as all cowards do. That is until the Proud Boys started showing up to protect them, because Portland PD was ordered to "stand down", by their Marxist Mayor.
Thus began, the animosity between the two. The Proud Boys were simply bouncers for free speech, and they kicked ass. Every. Single. Time. Check out some old videos - there are plenty of the street skirmishes in Portland.
In one, Ethan Nordean threw about four one-punch knockouts in a 3-minute span. He's a BAMF - a flat-out brawler and he doesn't play. Not for a second.
In the chaotic time after the night of the 2020 election, when it was obvious the election was being stolen, Trump implored people to go to their State Capitols and push back. I dropped everything, and much to my wife's dismay, and drove straight to the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee - a 3-hour drive.
You had people - patriots, every age, race, color and creed, exercising their constitutional right to peaceably assemble and seek a redress of grievances, many holding signs saying, "Stop the Steal".
Antifa/BLM were there but so were the local chapter of the Proud Boys. Here's what I saw - not what I heard, what I saw: The Trump supporters held the Capitol. Across a 4-lane street Antifa/BLM was assembled. Many of the Trump supporters, unfamiliar with the area, had parked beyond and behind Antifa "lines".
As an older couple - maybe in their late 80's - was attempting to cross the street, they were escorted across the street, one Proud Boy on each side - an almost solemn march, as a father gives away his daughter - as Antifa closed in, spitting on them, one of the Proud Boys knocked him the fuck out, and the crowd parted. The couple was safely escorted to their car.
Next up was what appeared to be a single Hispanic mother with two little children in tow, holding a "Latinos for Trump" sign. Another supporter courageous enough to do the right thing and show up. Same thing, they escorted her and her children through the Antifa cowards - with a much wider berth this time as they parted.
So it went, late into the night until everyone was escorted to safety. So, there were the "violent, terrorist, white supremacists". It was a beautiful thing to behold, glad I went. I still get chills thinking about watching them.
I have family from the Left Coast - who suffer from Liberal mental illness, and trash talk the Proud Boys. Them and anyone else who has anything to say about them, I tell them to STFU, they don't know what they are talking about. Typical for liberal Marxists - talk without thinking, because they can't think for themselves.
Whew, sorry folks. Jim, thanks for the outlet, you are invaluable, my friend. Happy New Year to everyone at CFN!
Thanks. Didn't know the original story. I did live in Portland and saw the hatred. And the widespread support the antifa have among the citizens. It's a madhouse. Thirty to forty percent of the people have no representation whatsoever.
Oh very sorry for so wrongfully overstating the fine joinery and knotology skillset of the lean, mean, well-groomed and bodily-fit Dudley contingent; but kindly inform us here as how that undermines ID-ing this as a Blob Op?
It doesn't. It just means it was a fake gallows frame and noose and that the builders had no intention of actually using it, therefore, it supports your contention of being a Blob Op -- at least that element of the day.
When I first came to the conclusion that hangings are absolutely necessary I was a bit disturbed, but now I see that there is no other possible way for the public to ever trust the government again. Any government that does not enforce justice is utterly illegitimate.
I was for the gallows. I still am, and also for the location. Expressing such, (all within the rule of law) cost me one job. I still excercise my right to free speech. Freedom isn't free.
They smack of the French Revolution, so dearly beloved by the Left. In contrast, hanging is our thing. They want to take things apart. We want to keep things together. Hang 'em high! Let the people SEE. What was that horror movie where the Deplorables wanted people to SEE? Like that.
The Truth?? To Democrats and their media sycophants, the truth is Their Truth. Exposing the actual truth will be an exhausting and difficult task for the Trump administration. Many will be hoisted on their own petard and deservedly so. The legacy media will be exposed for the frauds that they’ve openly become and should, by the end of Trump’s term, be formally consigned to the dustbin of history.
More complicated will be the exposure of those people and organizations who actively conspired to overthrow the first Trump administration. These treasonous acts should be prosecuted as such, resulting in the indictment, financial impoverishment and incarceration of all miscreants involved. After that, the country will have a chance to thrive! 💪💪👍👍
"The Truth?? To Democrats and their media sycophants, the truth is Their Truth"
Net,
Sooo, the actual truth will be "our truth"? The Republican Truth?
Take two decent men, both honest, educated, intelligent. Expose them to the same scenario, and get two diametrically opposed statements of fact. Two entirely different versions of "The Truth". I have friends, intelligent, serious men of real accomplishment in life, who believe that Kamala Harris is qualified to be President of the United States.
I must disagree with our host in that there is but one truth (based on "facts" like first person accounts, and after the fact narrative.
OK, label me a nihilist, or an asshole, or a Commie.
You’re correct that two reasonable people may see a set of facts differently. My point is that during the Trump era, the left wing has created their own truth/set of facts rather than dispassionately analyzing existing facts. Examples are many - Joe Biden is sharp as a tack and anyone who disagrees is a fool, even if they’ve observed obvious signs of dementia. The set of “facts” created by the Clinton campaign re the Russia hoax was incredible and anyone who pointed out obvious errors was a denier. The Charlottesville hoax was another obvious lie for anyone with the curiosity to watch the original tape.
These are not two reasonable people differing about a set of facts. These are people who create fraudulent narratives to suit their political agenda. These are the people who need to be exposed, flushed out of the system and introduced to the federal prison facilities. Does that add clarity?
You've lost your way, friendo. People can be accomplished in some ways and areas, and utter fools in others. Not all knowledge is of equal worth or applicability. One could be a expert on say, stamps, and easily be a Democrat weirdo. An engineer would be far less likely to freak out like this, but it is still possible.
A criminal event will be seen from different angles and by different people with different mentalities. Two different people in the same place won't see exactly the same thing - or remember seeing the same thing at least. Is this Fact distorting your understanding? It's up to the legal system to understand it and work to harvest the truth from the differing angles and mentalities.
You're on the downward path. Remember my analogy of the caveman not wanting his son to generalize about saber tooth tigers? The son could have said: But Dad, the fact that you call them all the same thing (saber tooth tigers) is generalizing too, isn't it? Dad would then say: You're right, son. You caught me. There is no knowledge at all. Each moment is brand new and completely unique.
The point is that "Truth" is subjective, as you describe. In your analogy, the caveman's son will die with that generalization on his lips.
"There is no knowledge at all. Each moment is brand new and completely unique." Every human, at birth quantifies this fact.
Do you trust the legal system to provide understanding and truth? The system exists to administer the rule of law, not "truth" as an abstract.
Yes, Jerek, I have, indeed, lost my way.
Oh, and an example of the accomplished in my experience? 70 Yo, Navy Veteran, no college, retired Senior airline pilot, helicopter pilot, owns a 100-ton master's ticket as a ship's master. Something of an inventor, machinist.
Go figure.
The best I can do is to say that "Truth" is subjective.
No, the Truth is objective but discovered by subjects, who are of course very different from each other. A camera records what happened. The eye is a camera, but the mind focuses on the things that interest them and that's what they remember.
You do not either, so why do you disagree with it? On what basis do you disparage Nuremberg? Because war is hell? Because Sherman said so? Because whatever Israel does it right and if they do it, Germans deserve an apology?
Subjectivities or "people" must train themselves to see truth. Give an Abo a microscope and he will hit another Abo over the head with it or use it to grind grain or berries. As with the Eye of Flesh, so with the Eye of Mind, and ditto the Eye of Spirit. What I'm teaching you know is how to use your Eye of Mind. The Three Eyes are the basis of one school of Medieval Philosophy. So just a Catholic thing? No, all the Traditions have their version of this. The Catholic one is simple, clear, and ours, so I used it.
You're deliberately being obtuse, perhaps because you're a postmodernist. Have you ever heard of the empirical method? You know, like real science? Each time an experiment is done, it varies from what is predicted by a mathematical model. Does that make science subjective? No. Instead, an experiment is performed thousands of times, and the resultants are analyzed according to statistics, from which the objective truth is extracted. This is the same process for individuals viewing a situation. All of their subsequent re-creations are put together, from which the objective truth is obtained.
Meanwhile, postmodernism believes that reality is socially constructed, that objective truth is impossible, and that each person's feelings about something are oh so special, oh so 'authentic'. What a load of crap. Does a tree in the forest make a sound, if nobody hears it when it falls? Does a fact exist about something the woke left doesn't like, if nobody states it or writes about it? The wokusts' answer is “No, it doesn't exist. And anybody who tries to talk about it is banned for creating hate." The end result of this nonsense is narcissism and nihilism, which is destroying western society for anyone with eyes to see. And the only objective metanarrative that can possibly tie together all the millions of differing 'authentic' subjective viewpoints is raw power applied top-down by a tyrannical state.
The only hope for western civilization and objective Truth is to completely purge wokusts and their postmodernist insanity from society, in any and every way possible. To hell with woke leftism, to hell with wokusts. And if the same shoe fits you, then wear it and suffer the consequences.
~ Creatures Of Infinity & The Vanishing Horizon Of Truth ~
I am unsure we can ever know the absolute truth, perhaps because we can affect the/its outcomes, so it constantly shifts, like a receding horizon, forever beyond reach.
It's about the Uncertainty Principle and, perhaps ultimately, infinity. Infinity cannot resolve. There are no initial conditions. It's turtles all the way down as they say.
That's why I think that, if infinity goes into what makes us who and what we are, that makes us very special. It may be that consciousness cannot even happen without it. It may even hint at absolute free will. It makes us so special in fact that it seems kind of tragic that it might be missed, so preoccupied in the day-to-day mundane minutiae that we can be.
"It makes us so special in fact that it seems kind of tragic that it might be missed, so preoccupied in the day-to-day mundane minutae (sic) that we can be." ~ Strange Bedfellow
Zazzy - this is why the Coffee Shop needs to be a priority. Deep discussion in the wee hours, before a crackling fire, in an intimate setting, is where revelations, and sometimes epiphanies are made.
"ave you ever heard of the empirical method? You know, like real science? Each time an experiment is done, it varies from what is predicted by a mathematical model. Does that make science subjective? No. Instead, an experiment is performed thousands of times, and the resultants are analyzed according to statistics, from which the objective truth is extracted.
#String theory
#Dark Matter
"The only hope for western civilization and objective Truth is to completely purge wokusts and their postmodernist insanity from society, in any and every way possible. To hell with woke leftism, to hell with wokusts. And if the same shoe fits you, then wear it and suffer the consequences."
Sooo, I am labelled a "Wokust" and should be sanctioned for my heresy. And by what method...boxcar or tumbrel? Your "objective truth extracted"...could that be considered "Settled Science"? You know, like Climate Change and the Holocaust?
Yes, I am deliberately obtuse, or "agnostic", to put it in a less abusive format.
You're being ridiculous. Just as Socrates showed how much an uneducated slave boy knew, I could show you how much you believe in the Truth if I could just get you to answer honestly.
A dog looks for its master. It comes to a triple fork in the road. It sniffs our the first two, nothing. Then it just goes down the third without sniffing. The process of elimination. Elementary reasoning.
If the Abos want to get the straight story in a conflict, they separate the parties involved and torture them. Then they discuss the results to see commonalities. Cops do the same thing sans the torture in most cases.
I want to give you the benefit of the doubt for being as smart as the Abos, but you're fighting me every step of the way.
The problem, at it's core, is misread by yourself as it is with most of the herd. I advise that you review your post and observe the quantity of subjective material. Then challenge yourself with the premise that perhaps 'believing Kamala Harris is qualified to be President of the United States' AND 'friends, intelligent, serious men' are mutually exclusive. This is wonderful for you, if you can grasp it, it is your way forward towards the light, grasping that you like most others do not have the 'GIFT' of judging others.
Though, sadly, the odds are about 10 to 1 that you won't grasp it........
I’m (for one) completely skeptical and dubious about the Trump administration wanting to “expose the actual truth”. Trump’s not above being a narcissistic liar himself.
Indeed, because of such priceless insights as this: "...a surrender to nihilism — the rejection of moral principle, a belief that the human project is meaningless."
Yes. The future of the world my children are in the process of inheriting and the world in which my grandchildren will live is being decided in Ukraine, not DC.
What’s happening behind the closed doors of the media in concert with the blob is a Wargaming preparation for their most concerted effort ever to lie, misinform, and malign all that the new administration will uncover and attempt to prosecute over the next four years.
Without their experiencing some manner of a truly serious comeuppance for all their years of “fake news” and fabrications, they will not just continue apace, but they will perform in exactly the same manner, only now on steroids.
Their egregious malfeasance must suffer the harshest of consequences or they will never stop.
The covid “pandemic” and the “response”– the “public health” measures and the Operation Warp Speed – all of it was theater: lethal falsehoods wrapped into a veneer of on-paper-legal activities designed to fool the public into believing that the usurpation of government by “science experts” and removal of the human rights was justified by the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC, pronounced “fake”), and that the poisonous weaponized bio-chemical injections were “safe and effective vaccines”. The injections marketed as vaccines were bioagents deployed by actors within the US Government and pharmaceutical/bioweapons industry, intended to injure and kill American people as targets, and exported to other countries' governments to injure and kill their people. All while reaping extraordinary profits and power from DOD/USG financial stakes in the MCM industry, and subversion of the Constitutional lawful governance and separation of powers under
If people call me a religious fanatic, a Jesus Freak, or simply an "Old School antiquated thinker" I still harbor the opinion that the wrath of God and the eternal barbecue dance for disobeying the commandments of God (let alone the supposed social contact we Americans call the Constitution) will eventually awaken to the generational truths taught in the Holy Bible. Those who view their neighbors with an evil eye, will not escape the judgment of God. Mischaracterizing known truths with sleight of hand sophistries, cannot change the base elemental truth that they only buried Jesus for three days, and the truth will out the liars.
"There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites."- Thomas Jefferson
"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it"- John Adams
"Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, on which only the strange belief that it is the word of God has stood, and there remains nothing of Genesis but an anonymous book of stories, fables, and traditionary or invented absurdities, or of downright lies."- Thomas Paine
"The Bible is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies." - Mark Twain.
Faith has never filled an empty belly, but filled many empty heads.
“Every religion is false, except the one I believe in” - every religious person I’ve known.
Christianity: The belief that God sacrificed God to God to save God's creations from God.
Dennis, it was recently opined on the internet that there are only two ways a man can be fooled. 1. By refusing to believe what is true and 2. By choosing to believe that which he knows is not true". It has also been asserted that time tells all secrets. Beyond the grave where time no longer exist is where the final arbitration of liars and truth-tellers will be settled.
Some interesting questions indeed. When Jesus's disciples called for "fire from heaven" (Luke 9:52-56), Jesus replied " For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (v56). Our own intrinsic knowledge calls us to desire peace, but the divisiveness of our common enemy Satan, will continue to divide men into warring factions as long as men choose to deceive their own hearts (consciousness), leavening the whole lump in the compromises of the mundane as opposed to a more excellent knowledge.(Luke 1:1-4).
My old book says that Jesus said "For the Son of man is not come to destroy, blah, blah, blah........"
Who wrote this nonsense? Your old book was written centuries after this guy Jeebus was supposed of existed. By unknown authors.
My favorite parts of the Bible are where Jesus is talking to God, himself, and no one else is around ~ and his conversation is quoted in the Bible.
"At what point does all of this stuff just break down and become just a lot of stupid shit that someone made up! They fucking made it up folks! It's make-believe!” – George Carlin
"Beyond the grave where time no longer exist is where the final arbitration of liars and truth-tellers will be settled."
Christins believe that when they get to heaven, they will know why and agree with God about all the people sent to hell. Thus, they will be either happy or indifferent about all their friends and family that get sent to hell. Just another dehumanizing aspect of religion.
When I realized Hell wasn’t true it was the biggest relief of my life. I couldn’t get my head around having friends and family burning in hell while I enjoyed paradise. Also, I now don’t worry that people are in danger of burning in hell if they don’t believe in the Bible. I’ve slept much better since.
Although dissenting opinions are a matter of freedom to chose for oneself, as a matter of principle, those who take issue with "Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, can undoubtedly advance any given argument. To assert that hell, jail, or clouds do not exist hasn't convinced me that your belief's are not founded in centuries of Human experience, but selective bigotry against those who do not share in your delusions It's OK. I can still love my enemies, because I do not look to my own understanding but a little higher. Yes, they can kill my body, they've done it before, but they cannot shake my faith.
One does not have to be religious to hold the values thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Clyde. Those are human values that existed long before your old book was written.
Atheists don't assert that hell, jail, or clouds do not exist.
Atheist assert one and only one thing.....there is no evidence a supernatural God exists. Period. Full stop. What's delusional about that? Nothing. I can also still love my enemies. Don't need an old book to tell me that.
Trust and obey God - The wish to be a slave - a celestial North Korea!
"Faith" is the deliberate refusal to think critically and the glorification of willful ignorance that follows. Religion is the permission slip to set aside truthful thought. "Faith" is the excuse people give when they don't have a good reason to believe something. If they had a good reason, they would offer that as justification for their belief, not "faith".
If religion was kept in their churches and their heads, and that they didn't think they are superior to others, I'd be generally OK with that. If you want to bask in self-imposed victimhood over something happening between your ears, no one can stop you.
"One does not have to be religious to hold the values thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Clyde. Those are human values that existed long before your old book was written" That is a pretty bold assertion, but where is your evidence to make such a claim? The Video did appeal to my sense of humor though, as it implies just the opposite opinions found in John Milton's "Paradise Lost". To be a slave to appetite is not freedom, but as the old maxim goes "To each his own" certainly applies to those warmongering factions whose appetites are insatiable. How does one reconcile the differences between words and actions if there is no such thing as good faith and bad?
"
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities" (2nd Peter 2:10) Where is the dignity found in calling any form of war civil?
True morality is doing what is right without the threat of divine retribution nor the possibility of divine reward.
(2nd Peter 2:10) Well, if you referenced Biblical scriptures – it must be true. LMAFO. It still amazes me that Christians think the Bible is evidence. The Bible is the CLAIM, with no evidence. Why is it so hard for people to understand that "My book is true because my book says it is true" is not a valid form of reasoning?
Scriptures are just the scribbling of ancient ignorant, superstitious, religious cultists. It's always ironic to hear the hundredth different interpretation of the gospels ~ with the complete certainty to say that everyone else got it wrong. And these are the people that consider themselves humble.
No-one would believe these fantastical stories in scripture if they hadn't been born into a world full of people who already believed the same thing. If a Jew, Christian or Muslim woke up tomorrow and found himself in a world where there were no other believers, how soon would it be before they became too embarrassed to admit to believing in such things as flying horses and talking snakes? They'd rightly be thought insane.
The stories in the Bible made the Church rich. While the truth lay outside of that Bible. To be fooled is not an insult, to stay in the foolery is an insult to ones self.
You give me the impression Clyde that you have never read a counter argument to any of your positions. You need folks to just accept that your assumptions are true without evidence. If they won't, then they are not open-minded.
I think I can understand your avoiding my questions Dennis, In the first video you offer is "Situational Ethics and Moral Relativism" In the amorphous shifting sands of "Reason"? If the morals and dogma's of Christopher Hitchen's is your "Proof" than it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise. The second video was truly tragic when he described what happened to that girl in Yemen. Although cults have the same characteristics of "occulting" knowledge away from the masses, (I tend to think of Mormonism for instance) eventually those closely guarded "belief's" do get challenged. Atheism as you've previously mentioned is in and of itself a religion if you wanted to be candid about it.
If the morals and dogmas of Religion is your "Proof" then likewise it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise.
For me at this point pretending to respect people’s religious beliefs is an exercise in futility. I do not respect people who CHOOSE to be gullible and uneducated - and try to foist that nonsense onto me
Telling your young children…. “He’s your God. You shall love him. If you don’t, he will torture you forever”. Demanding kids love somebody they fear. The very essence of sadomasochism. How many kids has that screwed up for life?
Most Christians have devoted most of their life to the religion and are very susceptible to the sunk cost fallacy. They hold on to this belief for so long that even if they see the flaws in it, they feel that they just wasted part of their life, so they hold onto it to feel better. If Christians could just state this fact, these discussions would be much shorter. "I believe this Christian theology simply because I was randomly born into this culture and was told to believe it as a child. I have no shred of verifiable data or empirical science-based evidence for any supernatural events or Gods. I just believe it."
Theist: You cannot see, hear, touch or smell my all-powerful God.
Same Theist: YOU have the burden of proof to show me he doesn't exist.
"God exists outside of time and space".
OK…so never and nowhere. I'll go with that.
Outside of time and space - a way of saying "imaginary".
And on the first day. Man created God.
*
The perennial classic: "Isn't atheism just another religion?"
The question is always posed by these gentle, humble Christians as a sly put-down. Its pejorative. It is meant to put atheists in their place (You think religion is so stupid? Well, your atheism is just another religion, so you are also stupid! Hah!).
Or to expose atheists as hypocrites (You condemn religious people, but you atheists are not so different, so there!).
Or at best, it is meant to be snarkily clever (Bet you didn't think of that Mister Atheist Smarty Pants!).
What makes something a religion? Simple: the supernatural. Religions are social movements that maintain a belief in the supernatural. It's members engage in rituals predicated on shared supernatural beliefs. It is belief in God, or angels, or karma, or heaven, or Allah, or spirits, or past lives, or zombies, or Vishnu, or Satan, or Jesus, etc. And the gatherings, rites, and activities that go on as a result of those beliefs.
Thats what makes religion religion.
Atheism lacks a belief in the supernatural. As such, it is not a religion.
Calling atheism a religion is like calling abstinence a sexual position, or baldness a hair color, or not collecting stamps a hobby.
It's not *what* they believe, as it is with us, with our kind of thinking, it is *that* they believe. Their faith is their central pillar; with us, accurate description is our guiding principle.
JHK, what happened was: first we went from print to electronic. Radio is a medium of propaganda (McLuhan's "tribal drum").
Skipping to another era, the TV era, CNN and then Fox happened. Suddenly there were 24 hours to fill, not fifteen minutes at six o'clock. Then websites were continuously updating and competing with one another and the news cycle went from a few weeks to three days to an hour.
Oh, and my point is, there is not enough "news" to fill 24 hours a day. So you have to pack it with bullshit, screaming, "commentary," "analysis" and crisis actors running toward the nightclub shooting rather than away from it.
Good points. Then record it and play it over and over again all day and night in the best propaganda style. Because we all need to be "informed," of course.
If even half of the things that need investigation get investigated and exposed it will be a huge benefit to the nation. And a genuine signal that it truly is different this time. That the "Truthiness" Era has ended. That Nature is healing. I'm hopeful, but not entirely optimistic. Even with an irrefutable mandate Trump & Co doing so goes against decades of unspoken agreements between Donkey and Elephant. Between the Executive Branch and the Deep State. May the gods bless Donald Trump. May his balls truly be solid brass and that he kicks those lying, sleeping dogs awake to run howling through the streets.
It really does matter what the truth is because we’re all gonna die from bird flu soon! Bird flu was discovered in 1878, we’re all still here. It’s as natural as rain. Nothing infuriates me more than this bird flu bs! The lies will continue.
We used to call F-4 fighter jets pigs (semi-affectionately, of course), as they were the heaviest fighter jet in the world at the time (might still be for all I know) and pretty shitty aerodynamically as well. If you lost both engines you punched out no questions asked, as you were basically flying a brick at that point.
Here's a lesson for libtards: Viruses mutate. Like crazy. In fact, for viruses, mutation is their only means of long-term survival. Viruses that don't mutate well extinct themselves. So, yes, viruses CAN mutate to infect different species or types of animals. Bird to mammal, etc. The natural progression for most viruses is to mutate from being deadly to its host to being much less deadly to its host; and from being less communicable to being more communicable. When, say, a bird flu mutates to infect humans, its first human victims may get very sick and maybe die. But, soon enough, new mutants of the virus that are less deadly will overtake the more deadly ones . . . because viruses spread more readily when their hosts stay living. Understanding that, the whole COVID19 fiasco shows conclusively that the virus was artificially human-engineered to be both fairly lethal AND easily communicated--an unnatural progression. But, once released, it quickly succumbed to natural forces, and, over a relatively short time, became even more communicable but much less lethal. As for bird flu, I've endured talk about it infecting humans for over 40 years. There was a panic about a bird flu pandemic infecting humans back when I was in the livestock business in the 1970's. It's nothing "new."
You are aware that the human genome has bits of virus sequences in it, that viruses have been changing us as long as humans have been around. Viruses are one form of mutation, as well as radiation that allows any species to change, to mutate, to adapt to changing environments. Just think, if Covid might end up being a positive for the human genome in some fashion. Or polio, or Ebola, or Zika, or flu. Or the cold. Remember too that viruses have been proved to cause cancer, another indication of their ability to change DNA.
I call BS: "...human beings will insist on being informed..." Sorry, not sorry.
Most human beings insist on being coddled, especially when scared. The Blob via the MSM has, and will continue to produce fear-porn.
Otherwise, I like your view through that rose-colored shot glass bottom. Hope you enjoy a Happy New Year and we all get to enjoy another year of your posts!
Absolutely. And lied to. I watch in horror as people on NextDoor clamor for MOAR video surveillance because so-and-so's house got egged or someone else got ding dong ditch doorbelled, or whatever they call it. So ridiculous. People have become coddled little wimps who can't take care of themselves.
Yup. It wasn't until the MIL moved in that I had the epiphany. I had always just dismissed it as the "Bread and Circuses" mundanity of the masses [h/t Mel]. Life in fear paradoxically makes people feel secure in their insecurity and that inures them to a manipulative Narrative(TM).
NOTE: Pretty sure that last sentence is on a PPT slide somewhere at Langley.
It reminds me of back in the day, I was hanging out at a blues bar, chatting with my friend who owned it, and he just randomly picked up two of those square amber 70s-era ashtrays, held them up over his eyes, and sang, "B-b-b-Benny and the Jets." ROTFLMAO
You know, for as "flamboyant" as Elton John is, he's an incredible talent, as a singer/songwriter/musician - a triple-threat as the music industry calls such artists - his style so genuine, he's a genre of his own - a legend.
“Most human beings insist on being coddled…” Yep. Give hoi polloi (the dēmos) — Greek — their bread & circuses and they’ll never rebel. America is in decline and failing/falling as surely as the Roman Republic (and later Empire) did.
The news has never been objective, even in the 1970s, even when Mr. Kunstler himself was a reporter. The mainstream media, at least in my lifetime (starting in the mid-1960s) represented a generally establishment view. The mainstream media still does this, just more so.
"The news existed to register WHAT happened day-to-day." The media, then as well as now, decided WHAT was news and reported accordingly. That's why, for example, I was pro-Israeli when I was young. "Little" Israel was covered in positive light: "the only democracy in the Middle East" (which was generally correct, though voters can and did pick leaders in Lebanon and Turkey). Palestinians were portrayed as terrorists (hi-jackings, Munich were real events). Guns were, and are, portrayed as always bad. Almost never, then or now, do we EVER here in the news how the presence or use of a firearm deters or stops a crime, though it happens tens of thousands of times a year in the US. Then, as now, the MSM molded opinions. Several things have happened, completely unmentioned today, that have made even more powerful in molding opinions.
First, and most important, starting the 70s and 80s, and accelerating ever since, the American voter is simply more ignorant and less intelligent. While a higher percentage of Americans have college degrees, Robert Putnam, in Bowling Alone (2005) wrote that studies showed that the average 1948 US high school graduate was more proficient in math, science, history, and English than the average 1998 US COLLEGE graduate. So, the public had more discernment and was smarter.
Next, TV, and then the internet, reduced the attention span of the masses. So sound bites became more popular, to the point that a lot of Americans get their news from Facebook, and consider themselves informed. Which also reflected the dumbing down of Americans mentioned above.
The media itself became more concentrated. As late as the 1980s/90s, there were HUNDREDS of newspapers, even though many of their stories came from wire services. Now four or five companies own like 90% of the print papers. And who reads anyway?
As people stopped reading, and as cable, and later the internt, and smartphones, became more popular, the news media, to stay in business or make more money began catering to "customers", and tailoring the news accordingly, while still peddling the establishment message.
The one good thing is that internet has spawned alternative media. CFN is "mainstream" alternative media. A lot of alternative media is more factually correct (CFN certainly is--though as a reporter, Mr. Kunstler adeptly omits the facts that don't fit HIS world view. He totally omits, or worse, justifies Israeli abuses of the Palestinians on the one hand, but does trumpet the facts about the US role in Ukraine, the effects of mRNA on the other).
If one wants to have some idea of what is going on in the world beyond one's neighborhood or small town, one needs to go to VARIOUS alternative sites, and then try to discern the truth.
And that's why Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton want to set "standards" for the internet--to take that small crack of light away.
I've been meaning to ask you, and given Syria's new situation, what might be your take on Turkey now and in the not too far future, and vis-a-vis its general surrounds and States like Iran, as well as Israel in particular?
Also, do you have a blog or Substack or something like that? If so, where, if not, why not?
Strange Bedfellow, thank you for your kind words. I tried to come up with something, but it just gets too long for this space. So, for those interested, I wrote a SubStack.
Writing well and cogently is not easy, especially on a topic with so many angles and variables as the Middle East.
Short-term, post-Assad Syria is a win for Turkey, a win for Israel, a loss for Iran. It is also a loss for many Syrian people, especially the Christians. It will rhyme with the chaos in Iraq following the demise of Saddam Hussein.
Long-term, the demise of Assad and his replacement by Islamic militants has moved the world closer to a global conflagration by increasing the likelihood that US/Israel will bomb Iran and attack Iran’s nuclear program, setting off a chain reaction of nasty events. Assad's demise has also increased the likelihood of an overconfident Turkey starting a war with Greece, which could result in a war that will reshape the map of Turkey.
"Strange Bedfellow, thank you for your kind words." ~ SocratesDetroit (SD)
You never have to thank me for my kind words, unless you insist, or it is specifically requested.
I like to think of this avenue as bit of a livingroom chat, rather than an awards ceremony, where I then walk up with my entourage and you hand me my Oscar, amid audience applause, shaking hands, hugs and kisses.
"Short-term, post-Assad Syria is a win for Turkey, a win for Israel, a loss for Iran. It is also a loss for many Syrian people, especially the Christians. It will rhyme with the chaos in Iraq following the demise of Saddam Hussein." ~ SD
We already know that, more or less. I want your take, ideally one that might have a few curve balls that go outside the plate and hit the catcher, or Pepe Escobar, in the shoulder, assuming you're not Pepe...
Anyway, I'll read your Substack later and won't mind if you get in there after and do some more editions. Just let us know.
"Writing well and cogently is not easy, especially on a topic with so many angles and variables as the Middle East." ~ SD
That's what the edit button (and your Substack, etc.) is for. (I use the former liberally.) Maybe even a drink.
Presumably, you'll include Russia and its relationship with Iran, as well as China's, India's, BRICS+, the Petrodollar, the EU, Yemen and the rest of the ME's and NA's interests in the area too.
If any extraterrestrials happen upon there at the last minute, we can cross that bridge when it comes to us.
Only AI will be able to save us then, if not sooner.
I recently re-watched the dramatic mini-series from the 1970's, "I, Claudius," a history of the palace politics from the reign of Caesar Augustus through Claudius, which included the 4 year reign of Caligula. Caligula was insane and morally degenerate, to the point of impregnating his sister and then cutting out the fetus and eating it, believing it might grow to become a greater god than himself, Caligula. He made his horse a member of the Roman Senate.
One watches this history and wonders how the Roman Empire, consisting at that time of much of the known world, could be under the command of a complete lunatic? How could those around him let it continue? The parallel with the Biden administration presents itself; how could the United States be headed up by someone with such conspicuously deficient mental capacity? In the present case, the mental condition is exemplified by Joe Biden, and the repugnant sexual snd personal behavior by his son, Hunter (who, of course, is given a pardon for all crimes by his father). Without a word of dissent from the Congress, or the Judiciary.
Things do not change.
But no one studies history these days. Ask a college student any question about history, and you will get a blank stare. Either that or complete nonsense, something they heard from Whoopi or their blue haired, hog ring-nosed Gender Studies "Professor."
I love the BBC 1970s "I Claudius"! One of my favs. Derek Jacobi! In any case, yes, all throughout history, leadership has been like it is now. We live through one Greek Tragedy after another. It's the human condition. And we rail against it, as if it has never happened before. This is what I love about being such a history buff and student of history: The clarity. As such, I don't freak out when things recur as they always have. Rinse & repeat.
"For one thing, the incoming government has tasked itself with reducing government substantially, eliminating many of its perquisites, and surgically excising the nefarious blob that is draining the purpose, meaning, and vitality out of our national life. " That is my favorite line today! If only it was so....
We will see if the Golden Golem of Greatness (how Kunstler USED to refer to Donald Trump when Trump actually WAS the Prez) is going to pursue any of that noble agenda, or it if it was all simply a ruse to get elected and to further enrich himself and his rich friends and donors.
Obama used health care and the war in Iraq as a gimmick to get elected. Also noble goals. In actuality, Obama bailed out Wall Street, crushed Main Street, and continued Bush' war in Iraq (the US is still there!) and doubled down on the war in Afghanistan.
(as an aside, reducing the size of government and ending the warfare state are different sides of the SAME coin; getting better health care for less money and reducing the control of big money/health insurance/pharma are again, different sides of the SAME coin).
Don't hold your breath. The debt is out of control. I doubt Trump is willing to even end the war in Ukraine (see Obama comment), which is the easiest of his pledges to fulfill, politically speaking in terms of VOTES (in terms of MONEY flowing to political campaigns, ending Ukraine is very difficult. So Russia will have to win the hard way--something that is ultimately in the best interest of we the people of the US).
Things will get worst, because needed critical mass of the US public is AWOL when it comes to having an opinion on, and being willing to advocate for, the things that really matter (several of which Mr. Kunstler adeptly noted in today's piece).
On the bright side, IMO, while I think things will get worse in general, I also think they will still be less bad than they would have been if Kamala Harris and the Democrats won.
I don’t see a “bright side”. I think things will go from bad to worse regardless if it was Trump or Harris who got elected as chief executive of the US govt.
The only way that the truth will come out, on a large scale, is if a bunch of people go to jail. Once you start locking people up, seizing their bank accounts, etc. Then people will start talking to save their own ass.
Tom - that's a long drawn out process. If someone were to drop from a headshot, the criminals would think it's a one-off; after the next two are dropped, you'll have every answer by the end of the day. It'll also be good to be long new undergarments that day.
Annette - that's a sweet thing to say, and I appreciate it. You may be my biggest - maybe only - fan. Your son is fortunate have such a wonderful mother, and your grandchildren are lucky to have you as a grandmother. Many our age are out playing bingo, shuffleboard or watching The Price is Right.
Your family is fortunate that you choose to stay active and informed - watching out for their future - and staying educated on things that shouldn't trouble their young minds.
As a former LEO, maybe you're fond of my extrajudicial leanings. Our retired County Sheriff for the past 16 years is a neighbor and good friend of mine.
In private conversation in the past, off the record of course, I've mentioned my pet peeve of criminals - child molesters/predators - and that if anything ever happened to my children, the perp would just magically disappear - always wanted but never found.
His answer? I'm right there with you - didn't see a thing. He's a good man. Thanks again Annette, I appreciate your kind words. You and your family have a safe and Happy New Year!
You do not, actually, need to "disappear" a child predator. Just put him in GenPop, lock the jail doors, and wait a couple of minutes. To those who aren't familiar with law enforcement,, GenPop is prison slang for being housed in the General Population. A prisoner who is a "chomo", meaning Child Molester, or a Snitch, or a former Cop, their lives may be measured in minutes in the general population. This is not just internet babble, I personally was involved in a case where a child predator was beaten so badly that he had to be released from Jail on Home Detention with Electronic Monitoring so he would not simply be murdered by his fellow inmates. This stuff is very real, and quite common. Oh, and if you're in jail for raping or assaulting adult women, or a senior citizen, a disabled person etc., you may face summary justice with no right of appeal.
Tom, agree 100%. They all have kids too, and they will dish out that jailhouse justice. There is no greater crime than taking a child's innocence. Just my opinion. Child molesters and predators need to be put out of their misery.
They are. The few who manage to survive in jails and prisons are generally capable of concealing their crime and misleading fellow inmates. That said, in my state you can easily go online and enter a person's name into a free, widely available database to see all of their legal history--criminal charges, divorce cases, bankruptcy filings, etc. So a person incarcerated for
Sorry that got cut off. A person incarcerated for sexual abuse of a child, well, the inmates or their friends and family can find out what they were charged with in 30 seconds or so online. I do know that some child sex offenders are kept segregated from the other inmates, in Solitary Confinement, so they aren't attacked or summarily killed. That said, being in jail or prison can be very boring even if you're in genpop, being held in solitary for years on end can lead to mental health problems and even suicide. So they're pretty much screwed either way.
One more question that needs answering, and that will never be answered: Who shot Comperatore? That goes directly to who gives the orders at the deep state.
Thanks so much for the list. I hope Patel sees it. I'd love to be on the task force.
Homelessness Reaches Record High as True Conservatives Call for Immigrant Tsunami to Rival Metal Gear
Shouldn’t we be getting the Americans off our streets before we bring in billions of Indians to shit on those streets?
By bringing in a group of people who shit on the street while so many people live on the streets, do we not risk that people will be shit on?
Is that truly the future we were promised?
RT:
The number of homeless people in the United States has reached a record level since the federal government began tracking teh figures in 2007. According to data released this week, almost three quarters of a million people, 771,000 are homeless in America, an increase of 18% compared to 2023, marking the sharpest annual rise in decades.
The figure published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday translates to approximately 23 out of every 10,000 people in the US. The increase follows a 12% rise in 2023, which the department attributed to skyrocketing rents and to the conclusion of pandemic assistance.
A severe lack of affordable housing nationwide is being compounded by “rising inflation, stagnating wages among middle- and lower-income households, and the persisting effects of systemic racism,” natural disasters, and an influx of migrants without access to stable housing, according to the HUD statement.
Frankly, virtually all of the white homeless people are junkies, and no one wants to address the root causes of junkies. Instead, they just want to say they’ll ban fentanyl, which is completely impossible.
This is another situation like saying you’re going to raise the birthrate by giving women more financial incentives: it’s a complete denial of the actual cause of the problem, because the cause of the problem is politically incorrect to talk about.
All meaning has been stripped from human existence (not in small part because of the women’s liberation movement, one might note). We’re at the point where “junkie living on the street” is a pretty valid life choice.
Like, I’m sure fentanyl feels pretty good, right? It must definitely feel better than being a single middle-aged man working at an Amazon warehouse while believing there is no God.
America is still talking about “individualism” and saying society doesn’t exist. You cannot address mass junkies with that attitude, I can tell you that.
Lugh: Most people are always one drink behind as Bogart said. The people are obsessed (rightfully so) by the crimes that were committed. So much so that they are blind to the great crimes about to be committed by "their side".
The People need religion. As Washington said, Only highly educated people, strangely formed, can be good without a belief in God. Or not be depressed as Anglin adds.
Similarly, the sexes need each other. Help men and men will take care of women. Help women, and men will die under bridges. Do I mean the sexes aren't the same (gasp!)? That one is better than the other? Indubitably. Women are good with small animals like children. And they like to decorate. So let's help them to do what they love.
Yeah, Indians, Mexicans, Central Americans, Middle Eastern Islams, African Blacks, Chinese, Russians, Filipinos, Venezuelans. Each with their own brand of criminal contingent. Corporations that trade H1B immigrants to lower wages, such as Disney, should be penalized. Maybe sued by the same unemployed as they create. Ask for a moment, how do they get away with it? Who enables the corporations to screw over American workers. Hmmm, maybe the same folks as keep the border open for a long time.
The creepy-crawly US government, the Deep State, the Swamp.
Also known as the most worthless organization in the world’s history.
The politicians who exist today weren't around when previous civilizations declined and/or collapsed. Many politicians demonstrate little evidence that they know how to effectively manage this one's decline/collapse (almost the opposite, that some are actually driving decline/collapse) as much as they might like us to think they do, or as much as some of us would like to think they do. Some are driving essentially blind and taking their captive populations-- hostages-- along for the ride.
---
"In summary, despite the common impression that societal collapse is rare, or even largely fictional, 'the picture that emerges is of a process recurrent in history, and global in its distribution' (Tainter, 1988). See also Yoffee and Cowgill (1988), Goldstein (1988), Ibn Khaldun (1958), Kondratieff (1984), and Parsons (1991). As Turchin and Nefedov (2009) contend, there is a great deal of support for 'the hypothesis that secular cycles — demographic–social–political oscillations of a very long period (centuries long) are the rule, rather than an exception in the large agrarian states and empires.'
This brings up the question of whether modern civilization is similarly susceptible. It may seem reasonable to believe that modern civilization, armed with its greater technological capacity, scientific knowledge, and energy resources, will be able to survive and endure whatever crises historical societies succumbed to. But the brief overview of collapses demonstrates not only the ubiquity of the phenomenon, but also the extent to which advanced, complex, and powerful societies are susceptible to collapse...
In this paper... we propose a simple model, not intended to describe actual individual cases, but rather to provide a general framework that allows carrying out 'thought experiments' for the phenomenon of collapse and to test changes that would avoid it. This model (called HANDY, for Human and Nature DYnamics) advances beyond existing biological dynamic population models by simultaneously modeling two separate important features which seem to appear across so many societies that have collapsed: (1) the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity (Abel, 1980, Catton, 1980, Kammen, 1994, Ladurie, 1987, Ponting, 1991, Postan, 1966, Redman, 1999, Redman et al., 2004, Wood, 1998, Wright, 2004), and (2) the economic stratification of society into Elites and Masses (or 'Commoners')"
~ Safa Motesharrei, Jorge Rivas, Eugenia Kalnay: 'Human and nature dynamics (HANDY): Modeling inequality and use of resources in the collapse or sustainability of societies', [ sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800914000615 ]
I can say it was a major plank platform for Gavin Newsom.
With billions spent it has only ballooned in California.
Homeless people are everywhere now they used to be contained in certain sections of cities.
At least in San Diego they are literally EVERYWHERE.
I was in Malaysia just over a month ago and noticed something.
They had very little homelessness the streets were mostly clean and devoid of trash and for the most part pothole free. Yes, there was poverty and obvious extreme wealth, but it was different. Can't explain it. They had huge eight story malls full of products and a vibrancy you just don't really see in the US anymore.
Got home to San Diego the nation's finest city (self described) and was appalled at how trashed out everything is.
Garbage everywhere, homeless camps overflowing with filth radiating in all directions, streets falling apart and obvious illegal aliens running around all over.
California is now a third world country more like India minus the corpses washing down the river.
Instead of lepers we have zombies wacked out on fentanyl standing around staring off into space.
Gee, I wonder if Homan takes the lead, if they just scoop up all the homeless that have no proof of a visa or a passport, or citizenship and just dump them into Mexico, how much the homeless ness would subside?
I think that Trump Derangement Syndrome and Trump National Savior Syndrome and Trump Hero Worship Syndrome and Trump Delusion Syndrome are all related. I think that Trump is a narcissist and a megalomaniac and an egomaniac. I don’t trust him. There are plethora reasons why I don’t trust him, including the swamp creatures he’s proposed for his cabinet and other posts. If this makes me “deranged”, guilty as charged. I’d rather be called crazy than trust a man like Trump.
A leader always has people “tearing him down”. It goes with the territory. It remains to be seen if Trump leads a good second administration. I think his first admin was a disaster, first and foremost because he followed the advice of swamp creatures like Birx and Fauci. The CARES Act destroyed whatever economic recovery Trump could have taken credit for. Just less sovereign debt — ultimately the responsibility of the taxpayers — was added during the first Trump administration than during two Obama administrations, and probably more than during one Biden administration. We’ll see how Trump handles the debt crisis — the mother of all bubbles — during the next four years. I’m not hopeful. The debt problem is bigger than Trump.
Frankly, I don’t know how a debt jubilee could be declared and the country’s currency be put onto solid footing and the Federal Reserve banking system abolished. Hope springs eternal.
Now ask yourself, why do the super Blue, sanctuary areas want to cling onto their illegals or immigrants ( same folks?)? Exactly, how much free money are they getting from the Federal debt printers? Exactly how many of the higher-ups in the Blue zones are “owned” by the Mob. “Just like the old days!”
Without gallows being built on the National mall to hang all the treasonous bastards that mostly destroyed our once great country, the blob will just Bide ( Biden) its time and wait until 26/28…. The one thing going for this country is the rest of the world and its governance is more f’d up than us. FJB
Speaking of "gallows" on the Capitol mall, at 0600A hrs on Insurrection Day, 6th Jan 2021, a pickup truck arrived with a very nicely constructed prefab wooden gallows—replete with drop and noose. A well-rehearsed team of a half dozen clean-cut young Dudley Do-Right clones smartly unloaded and re-assembled this supposed infernal device of the Trumpista crazies intended for the righteous public execution of VP Mike Pence for refusing to question the obvious monkey-business entailed in the electoral vote counting.
Then the fine young Dudleys climbed back into their truck and drove away, leaving the gallows in full sight for the whole day: specifically contrary to the laws and regs regarding such things. Presumably, the entire project was multiply videoed by the Blob's surveillence hardware.
Some prog jerk fellow traveller soon published an account, still available from Amazon books, describing the whole thing: not as what it so transparently was —an Op by, e.g., the Fubbies— but as documented evidence of the Far Right's boundless evil and subversion. The Fubbie's infamous DNC pipe bomb drop was small potatoes by comparison; but also no doubt extensively and multiply archived by the local surveillence infrastructure.
Those "gallows" were a complete farce, banged together by someone with limited woodworking skills and zero knotsmanship. That was not a real noose, it was an embarrassment. It looked like someone wrapped the rope around a beer can and glued it in place. Cheap stage prop that would have blown over in a stiff breeze.
Contrast the phony J6 gallows with the real, fully functional guillotine set up by BLM in front of the White House during their multi-day siege with which they lopped the head off of an effigy of Trump while the crowd demanded the heads of the president and his family.
Nobody asks where they got the guillotine.
Sounds like a bunch of so-called progressives slapped this J6 contraption together.
Yes, all of J6 was an entrapment operation by Pelosi and the FBI.
https://patrick.net/post/1378157/2023-01-01-january-6th-should-be-a-national
We now need to make it into a national holiday in honor of the political prisoners still being held for protesting the obvious election fraud of 2020.
And Pelosi and her FBI henchman need to be put into those same prison cells, for life.
Yes, life imprisonment probably without parole. In the UK the worst murderers and serial killers usually get a 'whole life' sentence. One example was Dr Harold Shipman, who murdered 100s of his elderly patients, mostly by lethal injection .
How strange ... lethal injections. Mmm, sounds familiar to me.
Anyway he killed himself after a few years. Apparently he couldn't bear the thought of decades more confined to his cell.
Elon Musk
Replying to @stevenmackeyman
4h
The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people
who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that
made America strong is because of HI B.
Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go
to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly
comprehend.
Dec 28, 2024 4:22 AM UTC
Elon is threatening White America just like Biden did. And the Orange Retard is going along with it. We are betrayed.
Did the US just import over the past 4 years an excess of immigrants as Trump ran his campaign in part on sending many back?
Trump is betraying his base. But at the victory speech he said, We going to deport a lot of people and bring a lot of people in. Few heard that part. I did though. And here we are.
~ Surf-'N'-Turf ~
What Trump might have meant/said and immigrant visas/sociopolitical engineering nuance aside, it's also about economic growth or, in the face of economic/energy decline (and the wars abroad about it), a kind of 'Red Queen' running and progressive increases in the speed, just to stay in one place.
Ron Anselmo mentioned to me in a previous thread the 'classic' 'immigrants living 8 to a one-bedroom apartment/flat', though neither of us mentioned the monied ones who also immigrate. Our bad.
Money's energy; energy's money. The MIC helps ensure that 'Am-a gonna git me some.'. Petrodollar; BRICS+.
Over here, we had a small relatively-run-down district not too many years ago that's now all spit-and-polish and full of cafes and restos and immigrants owning, running and frequenting them. That's taxes and fees, etc., in the governments' eyes/pockets-- who cares about the quasi-original, in part so-called 'White' or 'Black', locals. They proved their 'worth' by in part falling off the wagon and onto the streets to remain for a time.
Tokens aside, the Musk, Trump, Vivek, etc. clique are about maintaining, for as long as possible, the status-quo that they benefit from, being 'elite businessmen/parasites' and all that.
Ultimately, the MAGA crowd may find that they're at odds with that, with the status-quo-- itself now beginning to hit the rocks against the new incoming surf.
Oh ya, one other thing, maybe more: I looked up, maybe 10 or so years ago, what the deal was with Elon and found that he simply lucked-out with Dad giving him about $27 000; Compaq (before disappearing) buying his biz for an insane amount and then government-- you know, The People?-- giving him yet much more for much of what he's now generally known for. (Maybe a similar story with Trump.)
But he has relatively very little skin in the game per se, or boots on the ground. (That's why he can dick around on X.) That belongs to those who work/slave for him...
Which, naturally, feeds back into what I just started with in this comment...
And, too, as you write, here we are.
The People own most everything that Musk is known and takes the credit for, they just don't realize it.
Are the immigrants, Musk et al. and their wage-slaves helping to pay our monthly benefits and/or proto-Universal Basic Incomes? And do we have enough to purchase all their gizmos to boot (never mind a patch of poor land and a humble house)?
Then life is good. Carry on, peon.
Zazzy - playing that 4-D Chess again, are you? Interesting thought, not surprising, you're an interesting man, do you drink Dos Equis?
~ Hacking Reality With Brother Ron ~
I had to look up the Dos Equis reference, since we don't appear to have or have had those cute commercials up here. At the same time, however, I am unsure what you mean by 4-d chess. Then again, if I'm like that guy in the commercials, I suppose I could be playing it and not realize it and chalk any 'wins' up to a kind of Peewee Hermanesque 'I meant to do that.'.
Ron, if we make an internal case to hack/question reality as often as we can, if only intellectually/perceptually, though ideally, practically (so the 'movers-and-shakers' get less leg-ups on our asses), we can be like Neo of The Matrix who finally manages to unplug from the manufactured society whose allegory is/was the Matrix. It's my favourite film because of that.
5:00 pm 2025 and I'm still drinking... but unlike our Dos Equis cherry-poppin' daddy's (apparently of course), it's one of those 'faggy' drinks that our late-teen hood used to call them as friendly jabs. I like to think I balance it out, though, by the fact that I can do my own cider and moonshine-- and wine or mead if I tried. So I like to think I've earned my 'faggy' drinks dammit...
But here's a thought: Where would a Long Island Iced Tea be on the drink-gender-preference spectrum? Harvey Wallbanger? Rusty Nail? Margarita? Salt on her rim or sugar? 'Who/What you be bangin' with that rusty nail?' And therein, too, lies an example of the gist of the reality-hack...
If you think it's a good idea to discuss these kinds of things over a crackling fire beyond a certain latitude, how about if it's just one 'node'-- in that case, the allergorical cafe/teahouse-- of a growing string of nodes all around the world that hoover up increasing and willing participants and slowly eat the State like a beneficial cancer?
youtu.be/yyrhikYaRrk?si=r7aRNgL9Kyzy-vrY
Stay tuned...
Zazzy - I know I told you a while back, some of your stuff is funny AF, some flows for me, and some melts my brain.
The above is funny AF - the drinking at 5:00 (not starting, because "It's 5:00 somewhere!"), but "still drinking" at 5:00, making you a confessed "day drinker", and the "faggy" drinks and the inquiry into drink-gender preference spectrum are classic. But seriously worth deeper discussion at the cafe.
But your post in it's entirety, is my the brain-melt spectrum - low end though - so I think I get your larger thesis.
I'm definitely down with the cafe/teahouse's being nodes to eat the State. More enjoyable and not nearly as kinetic as my usual preference. I'm open to site suggestions.
After being "cancelled" by our local newspaper and being personally set up and attacked by them on what was then Twitter, after having 25+ letters published (the paper took a hard left turn after being bought out by USA Today (Gannett)), my last public forum for exercising my First Amendment rights in written form, is my back windshield.
It currently states, "Free the J6 Political Prisoners". However, my thinking for the next installment is, "Break the State". So, we're on the same page, I'm just defaulting to my more kinetic roots.
We live in a small town here - half the people think I'm crazy - and the other half are certain of it. And yes, The Matrix is instructive - a favorite of mine as well.
Change your panties and take a Xanax.
Oh, absolutely without any possibility of parole.
We'll see how many of the J6ers still in prison are pardoned by executive order when Trump assumes office on 1-20. It may not be as many as many people think. Will Trump even pardon any before his new AG is confirmed?
One reporter got into their cellblock. Conditions ware appalling. One guy had a black thumb and the rest of hand was a deep purple. He probably ending up losing at least his thumb. Denied medical care. Someone should go down hard for that in and of itself.
Political Prisoners:
Enrique Tarrio - 22 Years
Ethan Nordean - 18 Years
Joe Biggs - 17 Years
Zach Rehl - 15 Years
Trump beckoned them to "stand back and stand by" - they did. He asked them to "peacefully protest" - they did until fired upon. If he lets them twist, I'm off the Trump Train.
Terrio (head of the Proud Boys) wasn't even there! The judges who gave such unbelievably harsh sentences should be removed from their position and disbarred!
Agreed, it was simply a show trial, gross abuse of due process, and a shot across the bow for anyone else contemplating acting up. I've followed the Proud Boys since their early days in Portland, OR.
There was a group called Patriot Prayer, that used to publicly and peaceably assemble - as is their constitutional right - and hold prayer vigils for certain people or causes.
Invariably, they would be violently set upon by Antifa thugs, preying upon the weak and defenseless, as all cowards do. That is until the Proud Boys started showing up to protect them, because Portland PD was ordered to "stand down", by their Marxist Mayor.
Thus began, the animosity between the two. The Proud Boys were simply bouncers for free speech, and they kicked ass. Every. Single. Time. Check out some old videos - there are plenty of the street skirmishes in Portland.
In one, Ethan Nordean threw about four one-punch knockouts in a 3-minute span. He's a BAMF - a flat-out brawler and he doesn't play. Not for a second.
In the chaotic time after the night of the 2020 election, when it was obvious the election was being stolen, Trump implored people to go to their State Capitols and push back. I dropped everything, and much to my wife's dismay, and drove straight to the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee - a 3-hour drive.
You had people - patriots, every age, race, color and creed, exercising their constitutional right to peaceably assemble and seek a redress of grievances, many holding signs saying, "Stop the Steal".
Antifa/BLM were there but so were the local chapter of the Proud Boys. Here's what I saw - not what I heard, what I saw: The Trump supporters held the Capitol. Across a 4-lane street Antifa/BLM was assembled. Many of the Trump supporters, unfamiliar with the area, had parked beyond and behind Antifa "lines".
As an older couple - maybe in their late 80's - was attempting to cross the street, they were escorted across the street, one Proud Boy on each side - an almost solemn march, as a father gives away his daughter - as Antifa closed in, spitting on them, one of the Proud Boys knocked him the fuck out, and the crowd parted. The couple was safely escorted to their car.
Next up was what appeared to be a single Hispanic mother with two little children in tow, holding a "Latinos for Trump" sign. Another supporter courageous enough to do the right thing and show up. Same thing, they escorted her and her children through the Antifa cowards - with a much wider berth this time as they parted.
So it went, late into the night until everyone was escorted to safety. So, there were the "violent, terrorist, white supremacists". It was a beautiful thing to behold, glad I went. I still get chills thinking about watching them.
I have family from the Left Coast - who suffer from Liberal mental illness, and trash talk the Proud Boys. Them and anyone else who has anything to say about them, I tell them to STFU, they don't know what they are talking about. Typical for liberal Marxists - talk without thinking, because they can't think for themselves.
Whew, sorry folks. Jim, thanks for the outlet, you are invaluable, my friend. Happy New Year to everyone at CFN!
Thanks. Didn't know the original story. I did live in Portland and saw the hatred. And the widespread support the antifa have among the citizens. It's a madhouse. Thirty to forty percent of the people have no representation whatsoever.
Every man must stand behind the men behind the wire.
Old Irish fight song.
Agree 100%, provided they are unjustly behind the wire.
Oh very sorry for so wrongfully overstating the fine joinery and knotology skillset of the lean, mean, well-groomed and bodily-fit Dudley contingent; but kindly inform us here as how that undermines ID-ing this as a Blob Op?
It doesn't. It just means it was a fake gallows frame and noose and that the builders had no intention of actually using it, therefore, it supports your contention of being a Blob Op -- at least that element of the day.
When I first came to the conclusion that hangings are absolutely necessary I was a bit disturbed, but now I see that there is no other possible way for the public to ever trust the government again. Any government that does not enforce justice is utterly illegitimate.
https://patrick.net/post/1377537/2022-11-03-everyone-who-imposed-toxxine-mandates
Pfauci pfirst.
Guillotines are more entertaining
I'm knitting…
I was for the gallows. I still am, and also for the location. Expressing such, (all within the rule of law) cost me one job. I still excercise my right to free speech. Freedom isn't free.
Guillotine fun fact: cognition persists for about 7 seconds post event.
That’s something to think about quickly.
Ha!
They smack of the French Revolution, so dearly beloved by the Left. In contrast, hanging is our thing. They want to take things apart. We want to keep things together. Hang 'em high! Let the people SEE. What was that horror movie where the Deplorables wanted people to SEE? Like that.
"Treasonous bastards." The ears of the delusional, duplicitous, infantile, fascist moron JHK hilariously refers to as "Mr. Trump" are surely burning.
Don't look, but Trump is under your bed...
...BOO!
And the Russians - you have to look every night...sneaky bastards.
And there might be Zionists hiding in the closet.
Your breath smells of Timmy Walz' nutsack, you pathetic clown-troll.
I try to avoid personal insults myself, but had to actually LOL at that one.
I am working on my restraint... I could have, perhaps, been just a tad more subtle...
Walz doesn’t have balls. He has a mangina
Bada bing, bada bang!
OH NO! Trump is actually Hitler incarnate ((( mendelsshon)))
And you’re actually an imbecile, Spingerah.
Duh dumb de dumb dumbdumb
HE does have a point... you are something of a low IQ ahole.
No offense.
Oh Bb you are such a meany
Like x 1000!
Six gorillion
The Truth?? To Democrats and their media sycophants, the truth is Their Truth. Exposing the actual truth will be an exhausting and difficult task for the Trump administration. Many will be hoisted on their own petard and deservedly so. The legacy media will be exposed for the frauds that they’ve openly become and should, by the end of Trump’s term, be formally consigned to the dustbin of history.
More complicated will be the exposure of those people and organizations who actively conspired to overthrow the first Trump administration. These treasonous acts should be prosecuted as such, resulting in the indictment, financial impoverishment and incarceration of all miscreants involved. After that, the country will have a chance to thrive! 💪💪👍👍
Some of them should get the penality for treason in full public view as a warning, justice demands it.
The tree of liberty...
"The Truth?? To Democrats and their media sycophants, the truth is Their Truth"
Net,
Sooo, the actual truth will be "our truth"? The Republican Truth?
Take two decent men, both honest, educated, intelligent. Expose them to the same scenario, and get two diametrically opposed statements of fact. Two entirely different versions of "The Truth". I have friends, intelligent, serious men of real accomplishment in life, who believe that Kamala Harris is qualified to be President of the United States.
I must disagree with our host in that there is but one truth (based on "facts" like first person accounts, and after the fact narrative.
OK, label me a nihilist, or an asshole, or a Commie.
You’re correct that two reasonable people may see a set of facts differently. My point is that during the Trump era, the left wing has created their own truth/set of facts rather than dispassionately analyzing existing facts. Examples are many - Joe Biden is sharp as a tack and anyone who disagrees is a fool, even if they’ve observed obvious signs of dementia. The set of “facts” created by the Clinton campaign re the Russia hoax was incredible and anyone who pointed out obvious errors was a denier. The Charlottesville hoax was another obvious lie for anyone with the curiosity to watch the original tape.
These are not two reasonable people differing about a set of facts. These are people who create fraudulent narratives to suit their political agenda. These are the people who need to be exposed, flushed out of the system and introduced to the federal prison facilities. Does that add clarity?
You've lost your way, friendo. People can be accomplished in some ways and areas, and utter fools in others. Not all knowledge is of equal worth or applicability. One could be a expert on say, stamps, and easily be a Democrat weirdo. An engineer would be far less likely to freak out like this, but it is still possible.
A criminal event will be seen from different angles and by different people with different mentalities. Two different people in the same place won't see exactly the same thing - or remember seeing the same thing at least. Is this Fact distorting your understanding? It's up to the legal system to understand it and work to harvest the truth from the differing angles and mentalities.
You're on the downward path. Remember my analogy of the caveman not wanting his son to generalize about saber tooth tigers? The son could have said: But Dad, the fact that you call them all the same thing (saber tooth tigers) is generalizing too, isn't it? Dad would then say: You're right, son. You caught me. There is no knowledge at all. Each moment is brand new and completely unique.
This is what you are doing now.
Jerek,
The point is that "Truth" is subjective, as you describe. In your analogy, the caveman's son will die with that generalization on his lips.
"There is no knowledge at all. Each moment is brand new and completely unique." Every human, at birth quantifies this fact.
Do you trust the legal system to provide understanding and truth? The system exists to administer the rule of law, not "truth" as an abstract.
Yes, Jerek, I have, indeed, lost my way.
Oh, and an example of the accomplished in my experience? 70 Yo, Navy Veteran, no college, retired Senior airline pilot, helicopter pilot, owns a 100-ton master's ticket as a ship's master. Something of an inventor, machinist.
Go figure.
The best I can do is to say that "Truth" is subjective.
It's a human thang....
No, the Truth is objective but discovered by subjects, who are of course very different from each other. A camera records what happened. The eye is a camera, but the mind focuses on the things that interest them and that's what they remember.
Sooo, the truth is objective but is viewed subjectively? Who will then be the arbiter of truth? With what qualifications?
The Nurenberg trials were filmed. Evidence presented. Truth ordained! Do you believe the objective truth presented? If not, why not?
Intelligent men can disagree, and, perhaps, without fault, both be correct in their own minds. Subjective.
You do not either, so why do you disagree with it? On what basis do you disparage Nuremberg? Because war is hell? Because Sherman said so? Because whatever Israel does it right and if they do it, Germans deserve an apology?
Subjectivities or "people" must train themselves to see truth. Give an Abo a microscope and he will hit another Abo over the head with it or use it to grind grain or berries. As with the Eye of Flesh, so with the Eye of Mind, and ditto the Eye of Spirit. What I'm teaching you know is how to use your Eye of Mind. The Three Eyes are the basis of one school of Medieval Philosophy. So just a Catholic thing? No, all the Traditions have their version of this. The Catholic one is simple, clear, and ours, so I used it.
Lugh,
I do not disparage, but rather decry the certainty you develop from faith. I did not see overwhelming truth from the trials. That is my point.
I have more than once said that the more I study, the less I know. I have learned not to trade in absolutes.
You're deliberately being obtuse, perhaps because you're a postmodernist. Have you ever heard of the empirical method? You know, like real science? Each time an experiment is done, it varies from what is predicted by a mathematical model. Does that make science subjective? No. Instead, an experiment is performed thousands of times, and the resultants are analyzed according to statistics, from which the objective truth is extracted. This is the same process for individuals viewing a situation. All of their subsequent re-creations are put together, from which the objective truth is obtained.
Meanwhile, postmodernism believes that reality is socially constructed, that objective truth is impossible, and that each person's feelings about something are oh so special, oh so 'authentic'. What a load of crap. Does a tree in the forest make a sound, if nobody hears it when it falls? Does a fact exist about something the woke left doesn't like, if nobody states it or writes about it? The wokusts' answer is “No, it doesn't exist. And anybody who tries to talk about it is banned for creating hate." The end result of this nonsense is narcissism and nihilism, which is destroying western society for anyone with eyes to see. And the only objective metanarrative that can possibly tie together all the millions of differing 'authentic' subjective viewpoints is raw power applied top-down by a tyrannical state.
The only hope for western civilization and objective Truth is to completely purge wokusts and their postmodernist insanity from society, in any and every way possible. To hell with woke leftism, to hell with wokusts. And if the same shoe fits you, then wear it and suffer the consequences.
~ Creatures Of Infinity & The Vanishing Horizon Of Truth ~
I am unsure we can ever know the absolute truth, perhaps because we can affect the/its outcomes, so it constantly shifts, like a receding horizon, forever beyond reach.
It's about the Uncertainty Principle and, perhaps ultimately, infinity. Infinity cannot resolve. There are no initial conditions. It's turtles all the way down as they say.
That's why I think that, if infinity goes into what makes us who and what we are, that makes us very special. It may be that consciousness cannot even happen without it. It may even hint at absolute free will. It makes us so special in fact that it seems kind of tragic that it might be missed, so preoccupied in the day-to-day mundane minutiae that we can be.
---
No Horizon
youtu.be/rGSrW8L_Lik?si=7kPDg2NN2HUT7KN3
"It makes us so special in fact that it seems kind of tragic that it might be missed, so preoccupied in the day-to-day mundane minutae (sic) that we can be." ~ Strange Bedfellow
Zazzy - this is why the Coffee Shop needs to be a priority. Deep discussion in the wee hours, before a crackling fire, in an intimate setting, is where revelations, and sometimes epiphanies are made.
"ave you ever heard of the empirical method? You know, like real science? Each time an experiment is done, it varies from what is predicted by a mathematical model. Does that make science subjective? No. Instead, an experiment is performed thousands of times, and the resultants are analyzed according to statistics, from which the objective truth is extracted.
#String theory
#Dark Matter
"The only hope for western civilization and objective Truth is to completely purge wokusts and their postmodernist insanity from society, in any and every way possible. To hell with woke leftism, to hell with wokusts. And if the same shoe fits you, then wear it and suffer the consequences."
Sooo, I am labelled a "Wokust" and should be sanctioned for my heresy. And by what method...boxcar or tumbrel? Your "objective truth extracted"...could that be considered "Settled Science"? You know, like Climate Change and the Holocaust?
Yes, I am deliberately obtuse, or "agnostic", to put it in a less abusive format.
You're being ridiculous. Just as Socrates showed how much an uneducated slave boy knew, I could show you how much you believe in the Truth if I could just get you to answer honestly.
A dog looks for its master. It comes to a triple fork in the road. It sniffs our the first two, nothing. Then it just goes down the third without sniffing. The process of elimination. Elementary reasoning.
If the Abos want to get the straight story in a conflict, they separate the parties involved and torture them. Then they discuss the results to see commonalities. Cops do the same thing sans the torture in most cases.
I want to give you the benefit of the doubt for being as smart as the Abos, but you're fighting me every step of the way.
The problem, at it's core, is misread by yourself as it is with most of the herd. I advise that you review your post and observe the quantity of subjective material. Then challenge yourself with the premise that perhaps 'believing Kamala Harris is qualified to be President of the United States' AND 'friends, intelligent, serious men' are mutually exclusive. This is wonderful for you, if you can grasp it, it is your way forward towards the light, grasping that you like most others do not have the 'GIFT' of judging others.
Though, sadly, the odds are about 10 to 1 that you won't grasp it........
Yeah...but no. I'm with the herd on this one....
Yes of course, the odds were 90% in favor of that......
I’m (for one) completely skeptical and dubious about the Trump administration wanting to “expose the actual truth”. Trump’s not above being a narcissistic liar himself.
Great piece as usual, James. Funny how there is a 'Civil War in MAGA' over visa's...
There is no civil war in MAGA, just narrative generation to distract from what you are writing about here.
You are an invaluable American, sir.
"You are an invaluable American, sir." ~ Danimal28
Could not agree more, and history will document the same.
Happy New Year Jim, and many more.
Indeed, because of such priceless insights as this: "...a surrender to nihilism — the rejection of moral principle, a belief that the human project is meaningless."
Yeah, what Alzaebo said....
Yeah…what they said
Brilliantly stated but I can't share your optimism that the trash will be swept out. It's ALIVE!
Yes, I'll believe it when I see it. Emerging events will rapidly overtake any notions of a grand inquisition.
Yes. The future of the world my children are in the process of inheriting and the world in which my grandchildren will live is being decided in Ukraine, not DC.
OR, emerging events will make it even more urgent?
Not an either/or!
We shall see what emerges.
Nosferatu, no doubt.
What about the pessimistic (but true?) attitude that Trump himself is part of “the trash”?
What’s happening behind the closed doors of the media in concert with the blob is a Wargaming preparation for their most concerted effort ever to lie, misinform, and malign all that the new administration will uncover and attempt to prosecute over the next four years.
Without their experiencing some manner of a truly serious comeuppance for all their years of “fake news” and fabrications, they will not just continue apace, but they will perform in exactly the same manner, only now on steroids.
Their egregious malfeasance must suffer the harshest of consequences or they will never stop.
The covid “pandemic” and the “response”– the “public health” measures and the Operation Warp Speed – all of it was theater: lethal falsehoods wrapped into a veneer of on-paper-legal activities designed to fool the public into believing that the usurpation of government by “science experts” and removal of the human rights was justified by the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC, pronounced “fake”), and that the poisonous weaponized bio-chemical injections were “safe and effective vaccines”. The injections marketed as vaccines were bioagents deployed by actors within the US Government and pharmaceutical/bioweapons industry, intended to injure and kill American people as targets, and exported to other countries' governments to injure and kill their people. All while reaping extraordinary profits and power from DOD/USG financial stakes in the MCM industry, and subversion of the Constitutional lawful governance and separation of powers under
From Sasha Latypova
If people call me a religious fanatic, a Jesus Freak, or simply an "Old School antiquated thinker" I still harbor the opinion that the wrath of God and the eternal barbecue dance for disobeying the commandments of God (let alone the supposed social contact we Americans call the Constitution) will eventually awaken to the generational truths taught in the Holy Bible. Those who view their neighbors with an evil eye, will not escape the judgment of God. Mischaracterizing known truths with sleight of hand sophistries, cannot change the base elemental truth that they only buried Jesus for three days, and the truth will out the liars.
Clyde,
But what of Yahweh? Or Allah (peace be unto him!), or the great JuJu under the sea?
"he base elemental truth that they only buried Jesus for three days, and the truth will out the liars."
Yes, Clyde, a vast majority of the World's population are fools. those mischaracterizing known truths....
"There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites."- Thomas Jefferson
"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it"- John Adams
"Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, on which only the strange belief that it is the word of God has stood, and there remains nothing of Genesis but an anonymous book of stories, fables, and traditionary or invented absurdities, or of downright lies."- Thomas Paine
"The Bible is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies." - Mark Twain.
Faith has never filled an empty belly, but filled many empty heads.
“Every religion is false, except the one I believe in” - every religious person I’ve known.
Christianity: The belief that God sacrificed God to God to save God's creations from God.
Thank you.
Dennis, it was recently opined on the internet that there are only two ways a man can be fooled. 1. By refusing to believe what is true and 2. By choosing to believe that which he knows is not true". It has also been asserted that time tells all secrets. Beyond the grave where time no longer exist is where the final arbitration of liars and truth-tellers will be settled.
Some interesting questions indeed. When Jesus's disciples called for "fire from heaven" (Luke 9:52-56), Jesus replied " For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (v56). Our own intrinsic knowledge calls us to desire peace, but the divisiveness of our common enemy Satan, will continue to divide men into warring factions as long as men choose to deceive their own hearts (consciousness), leavening the whole lump in the compromises of the mundane as opposed to a more excellent knowledge.(Luke 1:1-4).
My old book says that Jesus said "For the Son of man is not come to destroy, blah, blah, blah........"
Who wrote this nonsense? Your old book was written centuries after this guy Jeebus was supposed of existed. By unknown authors.
My favorite parts of the Bible are where Jesus is talking to God, himself, and no one else is around ~ and his conversation is quoted in the Bible.
"At what point does all of this stuff just break down and become just a lot of stupid shit that someone made up! They fucking made it up folks! It's make-believe!” – George Carlin
"Beyond the grave where time no longer exist is where the final arbitration of liars and truth-tellers will be settled."
Christins believe that when they get to heaven, they will know why and agree with God about all the people sent to hell. Thus, they will be either happy or indifferent about all their friends and family that get sent to hell. Just another dehumanizing aspect of religion.
When I realized Hell wasn’t true it was the biggest relief of my life. I couldn’t get my head around having friends and family burning in hell while I enjoyed paradise. Also, I now don’t worry that people are in danger of burning in hell if they don’t believe in the Bible. I’ve slept much better since.
Although dissenting opinions are a matter of freedom to chose for oneself, as a matter of principle, those who take issue with "Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, can undoubtedly advance any given argument. To assert that hell, jail, or clouds do not exist hasn't convinced me that your belief's are not founded in centuries of Human experience, but selective bigotry against those who do not share in your delusions It's OK. I can still love my enemies, because I do not look to my own understanding but a little higher. Yes, they can kill my body, they've done it before, but they cannot shake my faith.
One does not have to be religious to hold the values thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Clyde. Those are human values that existed long before your old book was written.
Atheists don't assert that hell, jail, or clouds do not exist.
Atheist assert one and only one thing.....there is no evidence a supernatural God exists. Period. Full stop. What's delusional about that? Nothing. I can also still love my enemies. Don't need an old book to tell me that.
Trust and obey God - The wish to be a slave - a celestial North Korea!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPD1YGghtDk
"Faith" is the deliberate refusal to think critically and the glorification of willful ignorance that follows. Religion is the permission slip to set aside truthful thought. "Faith" is the excuse people give when they don't have a good reason to believe something. If they had a good reason, they would offer that as justification for their belief, not "faith".
If religion was kept in their churches and their heads, and that they didn't think they are superior to others, I'd be generally OK with that. If you want to bask in self-imposed victimhood over something happening between your ears, no one can stop you.
"One does not have to be religious to hold the values thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbors, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Clyde. Those are human values that existed long before your old book was written" That is a pretty bold assertion, but where is your evidence to make such a claim? The Video did appeal to my sense of humor though, as it implies just the opposite opinions found in John Milton's "Paradise Lost". To be a slave to appetite is not freedom, but as the old maxim goes "To each his own" certainly applies to those warmongering factions whose appetites are insatiable. How does one reconcile the differences between words and actions if there is no such thing as good faith and bad?
"
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities" (2nd Peter 2:10) Where is the dignity found in calling any form of war civil?
10 Minutes that Proves Morality Doesn’t Come From Religion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm0HC8InIhM&t=28s
Christopher Hitchens destroys the myth that morality comes from religion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG-JLmc4Krw&t=104s
True morality is doing what is right without the threat of divine retribution nor the possibility of divine reward.
(2nd Peter 2:10) Well, if you referenced Biblical scriptures – it must be true. LMAFO. It still amazes me that Christians think the Bible is evidence. The Bible is the CLAIM, with no evidence. Why is it so hard for people to understand that "My book is true because my book says it is true" is not a valid form of reasoning?
Scriptures are just the scribbling of ancient ignorant, superstitious, religious cultists. It's always ironic to hear the hundredth different interpretation of the gospels ~ with the complete certainty to say that everyone else got it wrong. And these are the people that consider themselves humble.
No-one would believe these fantastical stories in scripture if they hadn't been born into a world full of people who already believed the same thing. If a Jew, Christian or Muslim woke up tomorrow and found himself in a world where there were no other believers, how soon would it be before they became too embarrassed to admit to believing in such things as flying horses and talking snakes? They'd rightly be thought insane.
The stories in the Bible made the Church rich. While the truth lay outside of that Bible. To be fooled is not an insult, to stay in the foolery is an insult to ones self.
You give me the impression Clyde that you have never read a counter argument to any of your positions. You need folks to just accept that your assumptions are true without evidence. If they won't, then they are not open-minded.
I think I can understand your avoiding my questions Dennis, In the first video you offer is "Situational Ethics and Moral Relativism" In the amorphous shifting sands of "Reason"? If the morals and dogma's of Christopher Hitchen's is your "Proof" than it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise. The second video was truly tragic when he described what happened to that girl in Yemen. Although cults have the same characteristics of "occulting" knowledge away from the masses, (I tend to think of Mormonism for instance) eventually those closely guarded "belief's" do get challenged. Atheism as you've previously mentioned is in and of itself a religion if you wanted to be candid about it.
If the morals and dogmas of Religion is your "Proof" then likewise it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise.
For me at this point pretending to respect people’s religious beliefs is an exercise in futility. I do not respect people who CHOOSE to be gullible and uneducated - and try to foist that nonsense onto me
Telling your young children…. “He’s your God. You shall love him. If you don’t, he will torture you forever”. Demanding kids love somebody they fear. The very essence of sadomasochism. How many kids has that screwed up for life?
Most Christians have devoted most of their life to the religion and are very susceptible to the sunk cost fallacy. They hold on to this belief for so long that even if they see the flaws in it, they feel that they just wasted part of their life, so they hold onto it to feel better. If Christians could just state this fact, these discussions would be much shorter. "I believe this Christian theology simply because I was randomly born into this culture and was told to believe it as a child. I have no shred of verifiable data or empirical science-based evidence for any supernatural events or Gods. I just believe it."
Theist: You cannot see, hear, touch or smell my all-powerful God.
Same Theist: YOU have the burden of proof to show me he doesn't exist.
"God exists outside of time and space".
OK…so never and nowhere. I'll go with that.
Outside of time and space - a way of saying "imaginary".
And on the first day. Man created God.
*
The perennial classic: "Isn't atheism just another religion?"
The question is always posed by these gentle, humble Christians as a sly put-down. Its pejorative. It is meant to put atheists in their place (You think religion is so stupid? Well, your atheism is just another religion, so you are also stupid! Hah!).
Or to expose atheists as hypocrites (You condemn religious people, but you atheists are not so different, so there!).
Or at best, it is meant to be snarkily clever (Bet you didn't think of that Mister Atheist Smarty Pants!).
What makes something a religion? Simple: the supernatural. Religions are social movements that maintain a belief in the supernatural. It's members engage in rituals predicated on shared supernatural beliefs. It is belief in God, or angels, or karma, or heaven, or Allah, or spirits, or past lives, or zombies, or Vishnu, or Satan, or Jesus, etc. And the gatherings, rites, and activities that go on as a result of those beliefs.
Thats what makes religion religion.
Atheism lacks a belief in the supernatural. As such, it is not a religion.
Calling atheism a religion is like calling abstinence a sexual position, or baldness a hair color, or not collecting stamps a hobby.
It's not *what* they believe, as it is with us, with our kind of thinking, it is *that* they believe. Their faith is their central pillar; with us, accurate description is our guiding principle.
You just said it; Dennis has no central pillar, no faith.
So why does anyone listen to him?
Exactly lieing tongues must be cut out. 10:31
Yep, the enabler is the media, but of course 'everyone' knows that.
JHK, what happened was: first we went from print to electronic. Radio is a medium of propaganda (McLuhan's "tribal drum").
Skipping to another era, the TV era, CNN and then Fox happened. Suddenly there were 24 hours to fill, not fifteen minutes at six o'clock. Then websites were continuously updating and competing with one another and the news cycle went from a few weeks to three days to an hour.
Oh, and my point is, there is not enough "news" to fill 24 hours a day. So you have to pack it with bullshit, screaming, "commentary," "analysis" and crisis actors running toward the nightclub shooting rather than away from it.
Good points. Then record it and play it over and over again all day and night in the best propaganda style. Because we all need to be "informed," of course.
Lots of noise to sift through
If even half of the things that need investigation get investigated and exposed it will be a huge benefit to the nation. And a genuine signal that it truly is different this time. That the "Truthiness" Era has ended. That Nature is healing. I'm hopeful, but not entirely optimistic. Even with an irrefutable mandate Trump & Co doing so goes against decades of unspoken agreements between Donkey and Elephant. Between the Executive Branch and the Deep State. May the gods bless Donald Trump. May his balls truly be solid brass and that he kicks those lying, sleeping dogs awake to run howling through the streets.
How does one effectively battle a blob; it's like wrestling with water?
Strategically scoop out the most egregious scum floating about the cesspool of corruption.
I'm trusting that Atty General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have a game plan and will make examples of at least some of the traitors.
End Q1 2025 is as generous as I can muster. If nothing substantial and painfully public for traitors, I will color myself a sucker.
AJR - Agreed, we can get off the Trump Train at the same stop.
Yes, they will absolutely have this 'Game Plan'
a) blend in
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It really does matter what the truth is because we’re all gonna die from bird flu soon! Bird flu was discovered in 1878, we’re all still here. It’s as natural as rain. Nothing infuriates me more than this bird flu bs! The lies will continue.
What infuriates me even more are those who play along with bird flu and actually believe this crap! I say to them: Enjoy your 11$ a dozen eggs.
I liked the part where they were saying that pigs spread the bird flu. Sometimes, they are unintentionally funny.
But don't pigs fly?
Well, I always heard "when pigs fly". Perhaps the time has come???
We used to call F-4 fighter jets pigs (semi-affectionately, of course), as they were the heaviest fighter jet in the world at the time (might still be for all I know) and pretty shitty aerodynamically as well. If you lost both engines you punched out no questions asked, as you were basically flying a brick at that point.
I suppose they do, in the blob's world.
Here's a lesson for libtards: Viruses mutate. Like crazy. In fact, for viruses, mutation is their only means of long-term survival. Viruses that don't mutate well extinct themselves. So, yes, viruses CAN mutate to infect different species or types of animals. Bird to mammal, etc. The natural progression for most viruses is to mutate from being deadly to its host to being much less deadly to its host; and from being less communicable to being more communicable. When, say, a bird flu mutates to infect humans, its first human victims may get very sick and maybe die. But, soon enough, new mutants of the virus that are less deadly will overtake the more deadly ones . . . because viruses spread more readily when their hosts stay living. Understanding that, the whole COVID19 fiasco shows conclusively that the virus was artificially human-engineered to be both fairly lethal AND easily communicated--an unnatural progression. But, once released, it quickly succumbed to natural forces, and, over a relatively short time, became even more communicable but much less lethal. As for bird flu, I've endured talk about it infecting humans for over 40 years. There was a panic about a bird flu pandemic infecting humans back when I was in the livestock business in the 1970's. It's nothing "new."
You are aware that the human genome has bits of virus sequences in it, that viruses have been changing us as long as humans have been around. Viruses are one form of mutation, as well as radiation that allows any species to change, to mutate, to adapt to changing environments. Just think, if Covid might end up being a positive for the human genome in some fashion. Or polio, or Ebola, or Zika, or flu. Or the cold. Remember too that viruses have been proved to cause cancer, another indication of their ability to change DNA.
I call BS: "...human beings will insist on being informed..." Sorry, not sorry.
Most human beings insist on being coddled, especially when scared. The Blob via the MSM has, and will continue to produce fear-porn.
Otherwise, I like your view through that rose-colored shot glass bottom. Hope you enjoy a Happy New Year and we all get to enjoy another year of your posts!
Absolutely. And lied to. I watch in horror as people on NextDoor clamor for MOAR video surveillance because so-and-so's house got egged or someone else got ding dong ditch doorbelled, or whatever they call it. So ridiculous. People have become coddled little wimps who can't take care of themselves.
Yup. It wasn't until the MIL moved in that I had the epiphany. I had always just dismissed it as the "Bread and Circuses" mundanity of the masses [h/t Mel]. Life in fear paradoxically makes people feel secure in their insecurity and that inures them to a manipulative Narrative(TM).
NOTE: Pretty sure that last sentence is on a PPT slide somewhere at Langley.
"rose-colored shot glass bottom"
LMFAO!!!!
+1 for including the ever-present, close-to-your-heart expletive, and the enthusiastic delivery.
It reminds me of back in the day, I was hanging out at a blues bar, chatting with my friend who owned it, and he just randomly picked up two of those square amber 70s-era ashtrays, held them up over his eyes, and sang, "B-b-b-Benny and the Jets." ROTFLMAO
You know, for as "flamboyant" as Elton John is, he's an incredible talent, as a singer/songwriter/musician - a triple-threat as the music industry calls such artists - his style so genuine, he's a genre of his own - a legend.
He's also ahead of his time - the tip of the spear (no pun intended) - in the "pick-any-name-you-want" game that's so popular today.
Hmm...Reginald Dwight? Boooring...call me Elton's John. No...Elton John...yeah that's it, Elton John.
“Most human beings insist on being coddled…” Yep. Give hoi polloi (the dēmos) — Greek — their bread & circuses and they’ll never rebel. America is in decline and failing/falling as surely as the Roman Republic (and later Empire) did.
Human beings will insist on being entertained. Fixed it for you.
The news has never been objective, even in the 1970s, even when Mr. Kunstler himself was a reporter. The mainstream media, at least in my lifetime (starting in the mid-1960s) represented a generally establishment view. The mainstream media still does this, just more so.
"The news existed to register WHAT happened day-to-day." The media, then as well as now, decided WHAT was news and reported accordingly. That's why, for example, I was pro-Israeli when I was young. "Little" Israel was covered in positive light: "the only democracy in the Middle East" (which was generally correct, though voters can and did pick leaders in Lebanon and Turkey). Palestinians were portrayed as terrorists (hi-jackings, Munich were real events). Guns were, and are, portrayed as always bad. Almost never, then or now, do we EVER here in the news how the presence or use of a firearm deters or stops a crime, though it happens tens of thousands of times a year in the US. Then, as now, the MSM molded opinions. Several things have happened, completely unmentioned today, that have made even more powerful in molding opinions.
First, and most important, starting the 70s and 80s, and accelerating ever since, the American voter is simply more ignorant and less intelligent. While a higher percentage of Americans have college degrees, Robert Putnam, in Bowling Alone (2005) wrote that studies showed that the average 1948 US high school graduate was more proficient in math, science, history, and English than the average 1998 US COLLEGE graduate. So, the public had more discernment and was smarter.
Next, TV, and then the internet, reduced the attention span of the masses. So sound bites became more popular, to the point that a lot of Americans get their news from Facebook, and consider themselves informed. Which also reflected the dumbing down of Americans mentioned above.
The media itself became more concentrated. As late as the 1980s/90s, there were HUNDREDS of newspapers, even though many of their stories came from wire services. Now four or five companies own like 90% of the print papers. And who reads anyway?
As people stopped reading, and as cable, and later the internt, and smartphones, became more popular, the news media, to stay in business or make more money began catering to "customers", and tailoring the news accordingly, while still peddling the establishment message.
The one good thing is that internet has spawned alternative media. CFN is "mainstream" alternative media. A lot of alternative media is more factually correct (CFN certainly is--though as a reporter, Mr. Kunstler adeptly omits the facts that don't fit HIS world view. He totally omits, or worse, justifies Israeli abuses of the Palestinians on the one hand, but does trumpet the facts about the US role in Ukraine, the effects of mRNA on the other).
If one wants to have some idea of what is going on in the world beyond one's neighborhood or small town, one needs to go to VARIOUS alternative sites, and then try to discern the truth.
And that's why Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton want to set "standards" for the internet--to take that small crack of light away.
Hi SocratesDetroit.
I've been meaning to ask you, and given Syria's new situation, what might be your take on Turkey now and in the not too far future, and vis-a-vis its general surrounds and States like Iran, as well as Israel in particular?
Also, do you have a blog or Substack or something like that? If so, where, if not, why not?
Strange Bedfellow, thank you for your kind words. I tried to come up with something, but it just gets too long for this space. So, for those interested, I wrote a SubStack.
Writing well and cogently is not easy, especially on a topic with so many angles and variables as the Middle East.
Short-term, post-Assad Syria is a win for Turkey, a win for Israel, a loss for Iran. It is also a loss for many Syrian people, especially the Christians. It will rhyme with the chaos in Iraq following the demise of Saddam Hussein.
Long-term, the demise of Assad and his replacement by Islamic militants has moved the world closer to a global conflagration by increasing the likelihood that US/Israel will bomb Iran and attack Iran’s nuclear program, setting off a chain reaction of nasty events. Assad's demise has also increased the likelihood of an overconfident Turkey starting a war with Greece, which could result in a war that will reshape the map of Turkey.
Go to my substack for details. Happy New Year!
~ Clusterfuck 2025, by SocratesDetroit ~
"Strange Bedfellow, thank you for your kind words." ~ SocratesDetroit (SD)
You never have to thank me for my kind words, unless you insist, or it is specifically requested.
I like to think of this avenue as bit of a livingroom chat, rather than an awards ceremony, where I then walk up with my entourage and you hand me my Oscar, amid audience applause, shaking hands, hugs and kisses.
"Short-term, post-Assad Syria is a win for Turkey, a win for Israel, a loss for Iran. It is also a loss for many Syrian people, especially the Christians. It will rhyme with the chaos in Iraq following the demise of Saddam Hussein." ~ SD
We already know that, more or less. I want your take, ideally one that might have a few curve balls that go outside the plate and hit the catcher, or Pepe Escobar, in the shoulder, assuming you're not Pepe...
Anyway, I'll read your Substack later and won't mind if you get in there after and do some more editions. Just let us know.
"Writing well and cogently is not easy, especially on a topic with so many angles and variables as the Middle East." ~ SD
That's what the edit button (and your Substack, etc.) is for. (I use the former liberally.) Maybe even a drink.
Presumably, you'll include Russia and its relationship with Iran, as well as China's, India's, BRICS+, the Petrodollar, the EU, Yemen and the rest of the ME's and NA's interests in the area too.
If any extraterrestrials happen upon there at the last minute, we can cross that bridge when it comes to us.
Only AI will be able to save us then, if not sooner.
youtu.be/fgtQMwepAaw?feature=shared
Which Hillary Clinton would that be?
I recently re-watched the dramatic mini-series from the 1970's, "I, Claudius," a history of the palace politics from the reign of Caesar Augustus through Claudius, which included the 4 year reign of Caligula. Caligula was insane and morally degenerate, to the point of impregnating his sister and then cutting out the fetus and eating it, believing it might grow to become a greater god than himself, Caligula. He made his horse a member of the Roman Senate.
One watches this history and wonders how the Roman Empire, consisting at that time of much of the known world, could be under the command of a complete lunatic? How could those around him let it continue? The parallel with the Biden administration presents itself; how could the United States be headed up by someone with such conspicuously deficient mental capacity? In the present case, the mental condition is exemplified by Joe Biden, and the repugnant sexual snd personal behavior by his son, Hunter (who, of course, is given a pardon for all crimes by his father). Without a word of dissent from the Congress, or the Judiciary.
Things do not change.
But no one studies history these days. Ask a college student any question about history, and you will get a blank stare. Either that or complete nonsense, something they heard from Whoopi or their blue haired, hog ring-nosed Gender Studies "Professor."
I love the BBC 1970s "I Claudius"! One of my favs. Derek Jacobi! In any case, yes, all throughout history, leadership has been like it is now. We live through one Greek Tragedy after another. It's the human condition. And we rail against it, as if it has never happened before. This is what I love about being such a history buff and student of history: The clarity. As such, I don't freak out when things recur as they always have. Rinse & repeat.
"For one thing, the incoming government has tasked itself with reducing government substantially, eliminating many of its perquisites, and surgically excising the nefarious blob that is draining the purpose, meaning, and vitality out of our national life. " That is my favorite line today! If only it was so....
We will see if the Golden Golem of Greatness (how Kunstler USED to refer to Donald Trump when Trump actually WAS the Prez) is going to pursue any of that noble agenda, or it if it was all simply a ruse to get elected and to further enrich himself and his rich friends and donors.
Obama used health care and the war in Iraq as a gimmick to get elected. Also noble goals. In actuality, Obama bailed out Wall Street, crushed Main Street, and continued Bush' war in Iraq (the US is still there!) and doubled down on the war in Afghanistan.
(as an aside, reducing the size of government and ending the warfare state are different sides of the SAME coin; getting better health care for less money and reducing the control of big money/health insurance/pharma are again, different sides of the SAME coin).
Don't hold your breath. The debt is out of control. I doubt Trump is willing to even end the war in Ukraine (see Obama comment), which is the easiest of his pledges to fulfill, politically speaking in terms of VOTES (in terms of MONEY flowing to political campaigns, ending Ukraine is very difficult. So Russia will have to win the hard way--something that is ultimately in the best interest of we the people of the US).
Things will get worst, because needed critical mass of the US public is AWOL when it comes to having an opinion on, and being willing to advocate for, the things that really matter (several of which Mr. Kunstler adeptly noted in today's piece).
On the bright side, IMO, while I think things will get worse in general, I also think they will still be less bad than they would have been if Kamala Harris and the Democrats won.
I don’t see a “bright side”. I think things will go from bad to worse regardless if it was Trump or Harris who got elected as chief executive of the US govt.
The only way that the truth will come out, on a large scale, is if a bunch of people go to jail. Once you start locking people up, seizing their bank accounts, etc. Then people will start talking to save their own ass.
Tom - that's a long drawn out process. If someone were to drop from a headshot, the criminals would think it's a one-off; after the next two are dropped, you'll have every answer by the end of the day. It'll also be good to be long new undergarments that day.
Addendum:
Just saw your occupation in your profile. You've got a dog in the fight, vis-a-vis, the long drawn out process.
"Never ask a barber if you need a haircut." ~ Warren Buffett
I like your style
Annette - that's a sweet thing to say, and I appreciate it. You may be my biggest - maybe only - fan. Your son is fortunate have such a wonderful mother, and your grandchildren are lucky to have you as a grandmother. Many our age are out playing bingo, shuffleboard or watching The Price is Right.
Your family is fortunate that you choose to stay active and informed - watching out for their future - and staying educated on things that shouldn't trouble their young minds.
As a former LEO, maybe you're fond of my extrajudicial leanings. Our retired County Sheriff for the past 16 years is a neighbor and good friend of mine.
In private conversation in the past, off the record of course, I've mentioned my pet peeve of criminals - child molesters/predators - and that if anything ever happened to my children, the perp would just magically disappear - always wanted but never found.
His answer? I'm right there with you - didn't see a thing. He's a good man. Thanks again Annette, I appreciate your kind words. You and your family have a safe and Happy New Year!
You do not, actually, need to "disappear" a child predator. Just put him in GenPop, lock the jail doors, and wait a couple of minutes. To those who aren't familiar with law enforcement,, GenPop is prison slang for being housed in the General Population. A prisoner who is a "chomo", meaning Child Molester, or a Snitch, or a former Cop, their lives may be measured in minutes in the general population. This is not just internet babble, I personally was involved in a case where a child predator was beaten so badly that he had to be released from Jail on Home Detention with Electronic Monitoring so he would not simply be murdered by his fellow inmates. This stuff is very real, and quite common. Oh, and if you're in jail for raping or assaulting adult women, or a senior citizen, a disabled person etc., you may face summary justice with no right of appeal.
Tom, agree 100%. They all have kids too, and they will dish out that jailhouse justice. There is no greater crime than taking a child's innocence. Just my opinion. Child molesters and predators need to be put out of their misery.
They are. The few who manage to survive in jails and prisons are generally capable of concealing their crime and misleading fellow inmates. That said, in my state you can easily go online and enter a person's name into a free, widely available database to see all of their legal history--criminal charges, divorce cases, bankruptcy filings, etc. So a person incarcerated for
Sorry that got cut off. A person incarcerated for sexual abuse of a child, well, the inmates or their friends and family can find out what they were charged with in 30 seconds or so online. I do know that some child sex offenders are kept segregated from the other inmates, in Solitary Confinement, so they aren't attacked or summarily killed. That said, being in jail or prison can be very boring even if you're in genpop, being held in solitary for years on end can lead to mental health problems and even suicide. So they're pretty much screwed either way.
Yep, +a million.
One more question that needs answering, and that will never be answered: Who shot Comperatore? That goes directly to who gives the orders at the deep state.
Thanks so much for the list. I hope Patel sees it. I'd love to be on the task force.
Anglin
Homelessness Reaches Record High as True Conservatives Call for Immigrant Tsunami to Rival Metal Gear
Shouldn’t we be getting the Americans off our streets before we bring in billions of Indians to shit on those streets?
By bringing in a group of people who shit on the street while so many people live on the streets, do we not risk that people will be shit on?
Is that truly the future we were promised?
RT:
The number of homeless people in the United States has reached a record level since the federal government began tracking teh figures in 2007. According to data released this week, almost three quarters of a million people, 771,000 are homeless in America, an increase of 18% compared to 2023, marking the sharpest annual rise in decades.
The figure published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday translates to approximately 23 out of every 10,000 people in the US. The increase follows a 12% rise in 2023, which the department attributed to skyrocketing rents and to the conclusion of pandemic assistance.
A severe lack of affordable housing nationwide is being compounded by “rising inflation, stagnating wages among middle- and lower-income households, and the persisting effects of systemic racism,” natural disasters, and an influx of migrants without access to stable housing, according to the HUD statement.
Frankly, virtually all of the white homeless people are junkies, and no one wants to address the root causes of junkies. Instead, they just want to say they’ll ban fentanyl, which is completely impossible.
This is another situation like saying you’re going to raise the birthrate by giving women more financial incentives: it’s a complete denial of the actual cause of the problem, because the cause of the problem is politically incorrect to talk about.
All meaning has been stripped from human existence (not in small part because of the women’s liberation movement, one might note). We’re at the point where “junkie living on the street” is a pretty valid life choice.
Like, I’m sure fentanyl feels pretty good, right? It must definitely feel better than being a single middle-aged man working at an Amazon warehouse while believing there is no God.
America is still talking about “individualism” and saying society doesn’t exist. You cannot address mass junkies with that attitude, I can tell you that.
Lugh: Most people are always one drink behind as Bogart said. The people are obsessed (rightfully so) by the crimes that were committed. So much so that they are blind to the great crimes about to be committed by "their side".
The People need religion. As Washington said, Only highly educated people, strangely formed, can be good without a belief in God. Or not be depressed as Anglin adds.
Similarly, the sexes need each other. Help men and men will take care of women. Help women, and men will die under bridges. Do I mean the sexes aren't the same (gasp!)? That one is better than the other? Indubitably. Women are good with small animals like children. And they like to decorate. So let's help them to do what they love.
"Shouldn’t we be getting the Americans off our streets before we bring in billions of Indians to shit on those streets?"
Fucking priceless.
The man has a way with words.
Yeah, Indians, Mexicans, Central Americans, Middle Eastern Islams, African Blacks, Chinese, Russians, Filipinos, Venezuelans. Each with their own brand of criminal contingent. Corporations that trade H1B immigrants to lower wages, such as Disney, should be penalized. Maybe sued by the same unemployed as they create. Ask for a moment, how do they get away with it? Who enables the corporations to screw over American workers. Hmmm, maybe the same folks as keep the border open for a long time.
The creepy-crawly US government, the Deep State, the Swamp.
Also known as the most worthless organization in the world’s history.
I will add one tidbit that has clicked.
This centralized banking scheme is why we are so fucked.
They create wealth from thin air, but we have to work for every penny.
Not everyone has a viable skill and alas we are all several paychecks from living under a bush or bridge if we are not careful.
~ The Near-Tautology of The Failed State ~
The politicians who exist today weren't around when previous civilizations declined and/or collapsed. Many politicians demonstrate little evidence that they know how to effectively manage this one's decline/collapse (almost the opposite, that some are actually driving decline/collapse) as much as they might like us to think they do, or as much as some of us would like to think they do. Some are driving essentially blind and taking their captive populations-- hostages-- along for the ride.
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"In summary, despite the common impression that societal collapse is rare, or even largely fictional, 'the picture that emerges is of a process recurrent in history, and global in its distribution' (Tainter, 1988). See also Yoffee and Cowgill (1988), Goldstein (1988), Ibn Khaldun (1958), Kondratieff (1984), and Parsons (1991). As Turchin and Nefedov (2009) contend, there is a great deal of support for 'the hypothesis that secular cycles — demographic–social–political oscillations of a very long period (centuries long) are the rule, rather than an exception in the large agrarian states and empires.'
This brings up the question of whether modern civilization is similarly susceptible. It may seem reasonable to believe that modern civilization, armed with its greater technological capacity, scientific knowledge, and energy resources, will be able to survive and endure whatever crises historical societies succumbed to. But the brief overview of collapses demonstrates not only the ubiquity of the phenomenon, but also the extent to which advanced, complex, and powerful societies are susceptible to collapse...
In this paper... we propose a simple model, not intended to describe actual individual cases, but rather to provide a general framework that allows carrying out 'thought experiments' for the phenomenon of collapse and to test changes that would avoid it. This model (called HANDY, for Human and Nature DYnamics) advances beyond existing biological dynamic population models by simultaneously modeling two separate important features which seem to appear across so many societies that have collapsed: (1) the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity (Abel, 1980, Catton, 1980, Kammen, 1994, Ladurie, 1987, Ponting, 1991, Postan, 1966, Redman, 1999, Redman et al., 2004, Wood, 1998, Wright, 2004), and (2) the economic stratification of society into Elites and Masses (or 'Commoners')"
~ Safa Motesharrei, Jorge Rivas, Eugenia Kalnay: 'Human and nature dynamics (HANDY): Modeling inequality and use of resources in the collapse or sustainability of societies', [ sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800914000615 ]
If the Trump administration lessens homelessness — which I’ll bet it won’t — I’ll eat my hat.
I can say it was a major plank platform for Gavin Newsom.
With billions spent it has only ballooned in California.
Homeless people are everywhere now they used to be contained in certain sections of cities.
At least in San Diego they are literally EVERYWHERE.
I was in Malaysia just over a month ago and noticed something.
They had very little homelessness the streets were mostly clean and devoid of trash and for the most part pothole free. Yes, there was poverty and obvious extreme wealth, but it was different. Can't explain it. They had huge eight story malls full of products and a vibrancy you just don't really see in the US anymore.
Got home to San Diego the nation's finest city (self described) and was appalled at how trashed out everything is.
Garbage everywhere, homeless camps overflowing with filth radiating in all directions, streets falling apart and obvious illegal aliens running around all over.
California is now a third world country more like India minus the corpses washing down the river.
Instead of lepers we have zombies wacked out on fentanyl standing around staring off into space.
Thanks for the description.
Another thing I noticed Malaysia had a dollar a liter for regular unleaded gas.
Virginia was $2.69 a gallon as gas prices go so does society.
Cheap energy means a better economy which is part of why California is failing gas is over $4 bucks a gallon still.
Gee, I wonder if Homan takes the lead, if they just scoop up all the homeless that have no proof of a visa or a passport, or citizenship and just dump them into Mexico, how much the homeless ness would subside?
Yeah. I’m sure that this is exactly what’s going to happen under the watch of heroic Trump.
The TDS flows from you.
Seek help.
Are you Benr?
If so. Good to see ya.
Yes, weird it keeps making me change my name all around but I have been logging literally all over the world.
Good to be seen at least by some.
I think that Trump Derangement Syndrome and Trump National Savior Syndrome and Trump Hero Worship Syndrome and Trump Delusion Syndrome are all related. I think that Trump is a narcissist and a megalomaniac and an egomaniac. I don’t trust him. There are plethora reasons why I don’t trust him, including the swamp creatures he’s proposed for his cabinet and other posts. If this makes me “deranged”, guilty as charged. I’d rather be called crazy than trust a man like Trump.
I get it!
I held my nose and voted for him first time around with extreme reluctance.
He deserves a chance to make good on his mandate and has enough people tearing him down.
A leader always has people “tearing him down”. It goes with the territory. It remains to be seen if Trump leads a good second administration. I think his first admin was a disaster, first and foremost because he followed the advice of swamp creatures like Birx and Fauci. The CARES Act destroyed whatever economic recovery Trump could have taken credit for. Just less sovereign debt — ultimately the responsibility of the taxpayers — was added during the first Trump administration than during two Obama administrations, and probably more than during one Biden administration. We’ll see how Trump handles the debt crisis — the mother of all bubbles — during the next four years. I’m not hopeful. The debt problem is bigger than Trump.
Frankly, I don’t know how a debt jubilee could be declared and the country’s currency be put onto solid footing and the Federal Reserve banking system abolished. Hope springs eternal.
Good book: https://michael-hudson.com/2018/08/and-forgive-them-their-debts/
Now ask yourself, why do the super Blue, sanctuary areas want to cling onto their illegals or immigrants ( same folks?)? Exactly, how much free money are they getting from the Federal debt printers? Exactly how many of the higher-ups in the Blue zones are “owned” by the Mob. “Just like the old days!”
"Women are good with small animals like children. And they like to decorate. So let's help them to do what they love." ~ Lugh
Funny AF.
Janos, as the year 2024 comes to a close tonight, I'd like to award you the CFN 2024 Funniest Comments Award.
Zazzy - is far more adept than I - technically talented, I mean - I'd love to see him come up with a compilation of "Lugh's Funniest Quotes of 2024"
Is it funny or just sad and pathetic?
Lighten up, Francis.