Siberian tiger crosses 200-km stretch of Russian forest to meet former mate WION
A tiny organism is mysteriously repairing its DNA to defy death in Chernobyl India Today
Ancient inscription could rewrite history of Christianity north of Italy, archaeologists say CBS
Amb. Chas Freeman: The US Endgame in Syria and Ukraine (video) Dialogue Works, YouTube
Col. Larry Wilkerson: Will Israel’s Expansion Policies Trigger Catastrophic Consequences? (video) Dialogue Works, YouTube
Climate
Global warming can’t be ignored, Montana’s top court says, upholding landmark climate case AP
Carbon emissions from tourism are rising disproportionately fast The Economist
Syndemics
Biden administration places profits over lives, fueling the spread of H5N1 bird flu WSWS
Palestinians: Israel Demanding Release of 34 Hostages, 42-day Cease-fire in First Stage of Deal Haaretz
China?
China’s Benchmark Bond Yield Steadies After Central Bank Calls in ‘Aggressive’ Traders YiCai Global
Income of China’s rural residents soars over the past decade CGTN
Wang Zibo: China’s ‘wealth-flaunting’ influencer fined 13.3 million yuan for tax evasion Channel News Asia
New York man pleads guilty in Chinese ‘secret police station’ case Channel News Asia
A Chinese Internet Phrasebook Asterisk
Don’t Speak Chinese: Stigma and Fear in Cambodia’s Chinese Community The Diplomat
China and India agree on six-point consensus as they resume high-level border talks South China Morning Post
Myanmar
ASEAN Needs to Rethink Its Myanmar Strategy The Diplomat
The fighting peacock: Myanmar’s NLD on the front lines Frontier Myanmar
Yangon, Mandalay Deserted After Dark as Myanmar Junta Hunts for Conscripts The Irrawaddy
Africa
Macron lands in cyclone-hit Mayotte bringing food and health aid BBC
Syraqistan
Turkish FM denies Trump claim of ‘unfriendly takeover’ by Turkiye in Syria Al Jazeera
Turkey plans to run Syria through a parallel structure, according to secret plan Nordic Monitor
* * * Israeli curbs on Gaza water supplies are ‘acts of genocide’, rights agency says FT
* * * The Balkan Scenario New Left Review
Lebanon and Syria: My Interview for L’Indipendente Craig Murray
* * * Unplanned bank closures spark public outcry amid Iran’s gas crisis BNE Intellinews
New Not-So-Cold War
As Trump Turns Away From Ukraine, Even Supporters in Congress Rethink Aid NYT. The deck: “Reality has set in on Capitol Hill that with President-elect Donald J. Trump poised to take office, the era of U.S. military support for Ukraine is coming to an end.”
Zelenskyy: Ukraine lacks military strength to recover its Russian-occupied land VoA
NATO takes over coordination of military aid to Kyiv from US, source says Reuters
* * * Russian Strategic Forces Chief Details New Hypersonic Weapons Programs: Assesses Prospects Against Latest NATO Missile Defences Military Watch
Zelenskyy rejects Putin’s call to downsize Ukraine’s Armed Forces: Strong, large army is best Ukrainska Pravda
* * * Will Trump let Putin get Ukraine’s $26 trillion in gas and minerals? WaPo
South of the Border
Peru’s New Chinese Megaport Reveals a Refined Belt and Road Maritime Executive
Trump Transition
FT Person of the Year: Donald Trump FT
* * * Trump urges Republicans to sink government spending bill, puts federal offices at risk of shutting down Anadolu Agency
Trump brings chaos back to Washington by attempting to kill bipartisan budget deal with Musk’s help AP
DOGE Can’t Do It All. Here’s What It Can Do. Politico
* * * Trump demands renegotiations in bipartisan budget deal days before shutdown deadline PBS
GOP battle erupts over Social Security bill The Hill
A key Trump ally on immigration explains how mass deportations could work AP
Donald Trump’s pledges seep into Federal Reserve’s outlook FT
* * *
Realignment and Legitimacy
Political Investments (interview) Thomas Ferguson, Phenomenal World. Today’s must-read.
KYP 2024 statewide special convention The Kentuckian
Mystery Drones
‘Nothing nefarious’: Biden seeks to reassure US over drone mystery BBC. Commentary:
NEW: Michael Shellenberger has obtained a recording of the White House’s drone briefing for New Jersey mayors which included the FBI, DHS and FAA.
“The mayors are livid. One of them got up there and said, ‘I had two automobile-sized drones hovering over my house.'” pic.twitter.com/N4NHk0wHcX
— UAP James (@UAPJames) December 17, 2024
Radiation levels in New York spike as mysterious drones terrorize the Northeast Daily Mail. Hmm.
“We Are Getting Lasered”: Nearly a Dozen Planes Lasered Last Night During New Jersey Drone Panic 404 Media
Spook Country
DHS Says China, Russia, Iran, and Israel Are Spying on People in US with SS7 404 Media
Supply Chain
Guardians of the Rails: A Deep Dive into Railroad Crossing Safety (Part 1) Frederick R. Smith Speaks (MT).
Imperial Collapse Watch
Class Warfare
Amazon workers to strike in US during busy Christmas season Al Jazeera
2024 in Review: Strikes and Organizing Score Gains, but Storm Clouds Loom Labor Notes
Expropriate Them All! 3 Quarks Daily
The Economy Has Failed the American People, But It’s Taboo To Say Why Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds
An Optimist’s Guide to a Chaotic World Bloomberg
Antidote du jour (Stormbringer76):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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Comments are closed.
Man In A White Van
(melody borrowed from Frosty The Snowman by Walter Rollins and Steve Nelson, as sung by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys, 1950)
He drove a white van that would barely start or roll
He smelled pretty ripe in his tattered clothes and he loved his zydeco
A renaissance man from New Orleans he would say
He looked old and wise or a good disguise how could someone live this way?
To be homeless is so tragic but there’s lots of it around
You stand in line for soup and bread and you sleep right on the ground
Hey, there goes that old man with a tossed out Christmas tree
It’s so cold today, snow is on the way, but he’s happy and carefree
(musical interlude)
Lights in the white van parked beyond our slick driveway
When the pizzas come let’s go give him some ’cause this snow is gonna stay
Can’t shake the image of him sleeping in his van
It does not feel fair we’ve enough to share who can ignore that old man?
We brought him out some pizza with near everything on top
He had no heat inside his van just some blankets piled on top
That night the old man fell asleep and passed away
Then the cops came by for some frozen guy and they towed that van away
To be homeless is so tragic but there’s lots of it around
You stand in line for soup and bread and you sleep right on the ground
Farewell you old man, at the age of sixty three
Potter’s field they say where the nameless lay but you’re in my memories
Man in a white van, Man in a white van, you chose when to go
Man in a white van, Man in a white van, someone I used to know
I knew this guy. He lived in a graffiti covered white van on the block. He called me Flacco, I called him Papi and gave him drinkin’ money from time to time. He eventually lost his van to the city. Homeless in the era of Covid. I haven’t seen him in a couple of years now, so I’m not sure how his story plays out.
He eventually lost his van to the city.
Bye-bye warm clothing, dry socks.
Bye-bye shelter from elements, hard rain.
Bye-bye to items that can help one stay alive– just alive– the little things that when broken or gone put one into immediate crisis.
Many have said goodbye to living a long, long time ago, and bare survival is the norm, most clinging to this with a failing, tenuous grip, all the while being struck by countless, painful hits.
Most of the millions only wish for some comfort, but many of these millions realize that they are holding onto hopes for something unlikely to ever come. Instead of hope, I wish that perhaps a million of these (or more) would grip this New Year a length of rope (around a fat-man’s neck), a pitchfork handle or that of a knife… or perhaps a torch…
Our “elites,” our “betters,” our “masters,” is it not true that us peasants can comfort and warm ourselves by the flames of ten-thousand burning worlds?
“Will Trump let Putin get Ukraine’s $26 trillion in gas and minerals?”
I thought by the tone of it that it was written by Lindsey Graham but no, it was written by Marc Thiessen. Who is he when he is at home? Why a former speechwriter for George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld and also a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is basically saying that the Ukraine’s mineral wealth belongs to America but for that to be true, it would require a US occupation army in the Ukraine so this will happen. Trump has made clear that he is bailing out of the Ukraine and dumping the whole mess on the Europeans, even though Project Ukraine was an American plan from the get go. I am sure that the Russians would not care if the Ukrainians developed their mineral wealth so long as it was not spent on a massive army to once more attack Russia with but Thiessen wants all this wealth to be spent on buying weapons – American weapons – and have the whole country be a standing threat to Russia.
Wow…just wow. Could have been written and the article published circa 2006, just change the location from Ukraine to Iraq and make adjustments for all the finely determined , untapped stores of wealth within the country sovereign borders.
Adding onto his example of that $180 billion invested…by the bye didn’t the US “invest” trillions over the decades into the aforementioned Iraq? No wait those were funds that were “directed” largely on no bid contracts. The banking accounts for say Erik Prince had never looked better (not sarcasm it’s reality).
Need to find a vomit bag.
Can we stop buffing a shine on them “gas and minerals”, lol. Don’t look up.
95% of the gold deposits in California are still underfoot, and yeah finding it all could be tricky, but were gonna use it as collateral for a $5 trillion loan.
I hear that a lot of that “California Gold” is to be found at ‘Sutler’s Mall.’ Roll us up a “bomber” Wuk and we’ll have a hit of good, old fashioned Hopium 2.0.
(The real problem with “Chasing the Dragon” is that you might catch it.)
As for stealing all of the Ex-Russian assets, well, it’s looking a lot like the old South Sea Company. A good spot for the Bubble Bees to forage.
Not much hopium in Humboldt with a 4 finger lid fetching forty bucks @ a 31 flav a flavor storespencary
Supply not so subtle, demand a polite request, good news for discrete doobie doers done dirt cheap.
>Adding onto his example of that $180 billion invested…by the bye didn’t the US “invest” trillions over the decades into the aforementioned Iraq? No wait those were funds that were “directed” largely on no bid contracts. The banking accounts for say Erik Prince had never looked better (not sarcasm it’s reality).
Need to find a vomit bag.
No time to look it up at the moment but wasn’t it Donald Rumsfeld that said the money from Iraq oil sales would pay for the war?
Vomit bag indeed.
About 2/3rds of the gas and minerals are already in areas under the control of Russia, so its not much ‘letting’.
Thiessen wants all this wealth to be spent on buying weapons – American weapons – and have the whole country be a standing threat to Russia.
Everyone can dream.
Always nice to see the imperialists bare their fangs. The faction represented by Thiessen (neocons) believe the word belongs to Washington and its allies in London, Israel and a number of networked oligarchs around the world. Washington has seen itself as the new Rome and now the dream is threatened so these types are coming out of the closet. They hate Russia/China because they stand in the way of complete world domination. They honestly believe their own BS.
Speaking of “The New Rome”, has anyone else seen the film Megalopolis, rumored to be Coppola’s last? The hubris of Rome but set in NYC… it gets mixed reviews but I found it interesting.
“…..even though Project Ukraine was an American plan from the get go.”
I wouldn’t let the EU off so easily. It was actually the proposed EU-UKR Association Agreement (or to be exact, UKR’s refusal to sign it in November 2013) that really started the ball rolling towards today’s mess. The USA’s pyromaniacs have added plenty of fuel to the fire, but the EU lit the fuse.
It will be ironic if (as I have long expected) the USA walks away and dumps the UKR fiasco back into the EU’s lap. “F**k the EU” indeed, as Vicky Cookies famously said in 2014.
You’re quite right. The Europeans were all in on this plan right from the start as they wanted a share of the spoils and I have read years ago accounts of where some UK/EU nations were selecting which parts of Russia they wanted for themselves. Twice now I have read accounts of EU criticizing Russian officials to their faces that their country was just too damn big. Not sure if they had a plan to secure Russia’s 5,580 nukes or not. Perhaps they just planned to wing it.
So the entire Ukraine project from, oh let’s say 2014 for convenience if not accuracy, … the entire Ukraine project had nothing to do with “Democracy and human rights”, but has always been nothing more than an attempted smash and grab robbery attempt?
Any thug can knock off a bank. It takes a certain style to knock off a Federation.
Who did the new mark to market? Lindsay Graham IIRC put the value at $12 trillion.
Oh, and no less than Rand says Russia is not interested in Ukraine’s shale gas. Only at most 3% of Russia’s reserves, unproven to boot, and Russia is not interested in fooling with fracking.
Wow. Nothing on Kirillov killing?
We had it in Links yesterday. This is no longer new news.
If you think there is useful additional commentary, the usual practice is to provide links or add commentary.
It is in the nature of the Hegemon to act as a hegemon would, the scorpion that stung the turtle while riding on his back after promising not to acted in the nature of a scorpion. The world’s resources are the AngloAmerican’s elites to exploit.
>Musk’s claim of a 40% increase to Congress in the CR
Members of Congress currently earn $174,000 annually — more than 90 percent of American… “If enacted, this CR would allow for a 2025 adjustment of 3.8 percent, which would result in a Member salary increase of $6,600.”
Mr. Fact Checker chimes in with the above statement, countering Elon Musk’s Statement that Congress is sneaking in a 40% increase in the CR. Given that a sizeable portion of Congress are millionaires, not such a big deal apparently these days according to some, should they get any pay raise? I’m of a mixed mind. They certainly should not get any increase above ECI rate.
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/12/congress-not-proposing-to-give-themselves-40-raise/
I think it would be fair to give Congress cost of living increases that match those given to Social Security recipients.
And I say Congress gets a wage increase when minimum wage gets increased to the level it should be at just factoring in cost of living all those years it languished with nothing done. At which point if Congress gets an increase minimum wage is automatically increased the same percentage. If the millionaires in Congress need a wage increase you damn well know the minimum wage workers need it more.
Beware what you ask for. One of the major “Social Security Reform” schemes is to make the fund an “Investment Syndicate,” and throw all of that ‘money’ into the Wall Street Casino. In other words, make Social Security a stock options vehicle.
Implement a Social Security “Reform” plan and you usher in a New and Improved bomb throwing anarchist phase of American politics. I fear that “The Adjuster” who has ‘mysteriously’ fallen off of the MSM radar of late is just the beginning.
Gimme 3 missed meals, gimme 3 missed meals mister, and then watch us walk out the door, for sure.
I’m telling you son, it ain’t no fun, staring straight up a MQ-9.
Great discussion on “The Adjuster” from the perspective of two black men, Garland Nixon and Tony Monteiro on the former’s podcast show, the topic turns to Luigi Mangione about half way through. I think that both commentators put to much weigh/efficacy on the event in terms of impact on the social/political conditions in the U.S., but, like you, they note how quickly the story seems to be memory holed. Lot’s of details on Lugi that I was not aware on.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wPzmPcrNzgc?si=DPmBq-v1tUXNhcdK
Congressional salaries should increase if and only if (and to the same amount) as the modal wage rises – and fall when it falls.
This brings to mind Babe Ruth’s quip from back in the day. When a reporter noted that Ruth made more than Hoover had the previous year and asked whether it was justified that an athlete made more then the POTUS, Ruth replied “Well I had a better year than he did.”
I don’t think Congress has had a good enough year to warrant a pay increase in quite some time. Like those above mentioned, increase the minimum wage and stop being stingy with the Social Security increases, and then we can talk about Congress getting a bump.
In the meantime, they’ll just have to settle for their should-be illegal insider trading for increased compensation.
I’ll support them getting the proposed increase, if at the same time they will be forever subject to the same standards of trading, disclosure, and compliance that licensed financial industry professionals are subject to (basically, you can’t trade, and certainly not on inside information, and all activity is pre-approved, disclosed, and independently monitored (and that applies to all their household / family members’ accounts as well).
One should estimate the “total compensation package” for congress.
They can trade in the stock market, probably provide political jobs and favors to family and the well-connected.
Why they can even use 10 million in campaign money to ensure a fellow Democrat will not be faced in their contest for higher office.
(See Schiff vs Katie Porter)
And after they leave office, if they have been good to the right people, they will get corporate board positions, think tank positions, lobbyist jobs or academic positions.
If their official salary went to zero or even negative (had to actually buy/rent the position) there may no shortage of these public servants.
A House Rep’s salary is a small part of the cost of a congressional office. Each member has an “allowance” for staff (MRA). It varies for each district, but the average is about $1.5M.
>Political Investments (interview) Thomas Ferguson, Phenomenal World. Today’s must-read.
…voters [are] preoccupied with life and work are uninformed when it comes to the finer points of foreign trade; the federal budget; or the determinants of investment, unemployment, and inflation. If they must select among candidates and platforms decided elsewhere, how are those choices defined? …the complex of business corporations and their financiers—whose growth plans would be made or broken by changes to tax law, regulation, foreign policy, and exchange rates—significantly shape candidate nominations, electoral campaigns, and the careers of politicians. In a money-driven campaign and media system, these are the contributions that matter most.
The short of it is the iron law of oligarchy is just that, an iron law. The few connected, economically powerful. and focused, groups are “what matter most.” All the bellowing on blogospheres andsocial media, amount to little. The “media system” will provide cover/distractions as the behind the scene forces, what some call the “cyrpto-acracy” are the ones that determine the form and content of legislation. No matter how morally abhorrent the genocide in Gaza is or how repugnant the likes of Lindsey Graham and other war-mongers are, or, how Congress gives a standing ovation to the likes of Netanyahu, my “political investment” is dwarfed by those that matter in the political sphere.
What “The Adjuster” just demonstrated is that a properly placed few grams of lead can offset tons of gold, in an instant.
The present day elites seem to willingly “forget” that “kinetic personnel displacement” has always been a form of “political investment.” One available to one and all.
Just as the Hegemon’s “shock and awe” tactics are being brought “back home,” by the semi-militarized minions of the “Organs of State Security,” so too are the counter tactics of the sandal wearing ‘freedom fighters.’
Is the “Class War” finally heating up?
Absolutely
Great interview, a must read as Lambert stated.
Linking below to another Ferguson piece that was embedded to in the interview, in case anyone missed it. More detail on his work and conclusions, all perfectly describing our political oligarchy. The piece is
My favorite quote from the article:
Here’s the link
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/the-origins-of-the-investment-theory-of-party-competition
RE: An Optimist’s Guide to a Chaotic World
Or more accurately how Votlaire’s Candide and Panglossian positivism always works for the best.
I don’t agree that Pinker is a Dr. Pangloss–his figures are correct. Just look at the change in China and other Asian countries who have done amazing things to alleviate poverty. On the whole, the world has better health and life expectancy has gone up in most of the world with the stunning and staggering exception of the USA. What Pinker does not seem to recognize is spiritual and psychological health which, within the West (as far as I can see) is not good compared to former times. Certainly in the USA at least if you are working class you are by any measure worse off than you were a half-century ago but the rich and upper middle are doing very well from a material POV.
Leonard Bernstein ‘Best of All Possible Worlds’ (with a great cast):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ANMTxGVIw&ab_channel=arnau884
Kristofferson ‘Best of All Possible Worlds’ old man version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4m27E6wN8
I much prefer Kris’ version…
“Trump demands renegotiations in bipartisan budget deal days before shutdown deadline”
Musk seems to be involved too and it looks like they will refuse to pass that 1,547-page bill until Trump is sworn in as President. Of course that will leave millions of US federal workers without paychecks but I do not think that Trump or Musk would really care. They probably want to fire most of them anyway. There is a way for the Democrats to spike this move. They could propose a “clean” bill that covers only the wages of those federal workers and leave the rest up for negotiation when Trump becomes President. Of course the Democrats will do not such thing as they will want to make Trump look bad so will not care if those federal workers are left without pay. So perhaps Trump can spike this by proposing his own “clean” bill that covers only the wages of those federal workers and dare the Democrats to vote it down.
How is it humanly possible to write a 1500+ page bill that simply extends funding for the government at current levels for 3 months, even with an extra $100B in disaster aid (with 10% cut for the big guy?)
I mean, that sounds like at best a 10-pager to silly old me. Even with the legalese, and a clause or two for farm aid.
There was this thing called “an election” a month or so ago. And Mike Johnson really has to go.
An RT article say that the bill-
‘includes a pay raise for lawmakers, $100 billion for disaster relief funding and $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers, numerous provisions including foreign investment restrictions and new health care policies, among other authorizations.’
https://www.rt.com/news/609581-musk-trump-spending-bill/
I believe that they are called riders.
E Z Riders!
Taj Mahal
I said see, D.C. rider
Oh, see what you have done (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
I said see (D.C rider) appropriations rider (D.C. rider)
Oh, see, (D.C. rider) what you have done
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh girl, you made me voluminous
Now, now, now, your porkulus has gone
(D.C. rider) Girl what’d I say (D.C. rider)
Well, I’m going away, baby
And I won’t be back till inauguration
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
And I’m going away baby
And I won’t be back till inauguration
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Well, if there’s regular order
I won’t, I won’t, I won’t be back at all
Girl what’d I say
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlXzyY7gA4k
Aporkolypse now!
“The horror! The horror!”
And now for a word from our sponsor!
“Howdy folks! Jimmy Dean here….Ever wonder how all those bills get made? Let me show you…Don’t forget to look for K Street Style sausage in your grocers’ gelato cooler today!”
I believe you just wrote it on a cocktail napkin.
Watching the Fire Industrial Complex here during the Coffee Pot Fire milk the system was illuminating, although they had the excuse that a conflagration needed to be quelled.
The graft is in the tens of millions though, not the tens of billions.
How is it humanly possible to write a 1500+ page bill that simply extends funding for the government at current levels for 3 months?
I have the same question. It doesn’t sound possible to generate that many. I don’t have the gumption to read it. I must admit. but 1500 pages? is it triple spaced? or very large print for the geriatric bunch?
It’s a function of the number of discrete “stakeholders” involved in the process. Each “stakeholder” writes their own version of their wish list and has their tame Congresscrook insert it, without lube no less, into the Appropriations Bill.
One could say that these big Congressional Budget bills are the ultimate in “crowdsourcing.” The “In Crowd” that is.
The actual “continuing appropriations” running through March is only pages 15 – 23. The rest is all new stuff tied to “must pass” so no actual vote on each one of these things. The “Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025” is pages 23 – 102. So then you get to the “Other Maters”. That’s stuff like
Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2024
Reports on foreign boycotts of Israel
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD FOR
CERTAIN BATTERIES
DEPLOYING AMERICAN BLOCKCHAINS
TAKE IT DOWN ACT
AMERICAN MUSIC TOURISM
TRANSPARENCY IN CHARGES FOR KEY EVENTS
TICKETING
I mean it goes on and on. Can see why Musk is unhappy.
Congress exempting itself from oversight and subpoenas in that CR would strike many voters, as in people who elected those critters, as fundamentally wrong. When there are few consequences, what stops the venality, or even slows it down much?
The process is explained here: Thomas Massie Calls Out His Fellow Lawmakers About CR—And Predicts What Will Happen After It Passes
>The Economy Has Failed the American People, But It’s Taboo To Say Why Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds
Tell me what’s taboo and I’ll tell you the truths that threaten the status quo. As in Kafka’s novel The Castle, the nobility’s power structure is obscured, and the castle is bustling with activity–but very little productive results of this 24/7 activity ever waft down to the impoverished residents of the village.
I agree with almost all the points Smith makes except for the last one above. The equivalent to modern day “nobility” is much more clever then times past. They have many more powerful tools at their disposal. As Michael Hoffman’s “revelation of the method” convincingly argues, it’s not by obscuring “taboos” but by making them public in various contexts that is the mechanism by which the “power structure” have chosen to operate. Put the truth or taboo subject in a the mouth of an Alex Jones or someone who is generally seen as a quack, conspiracy theorist, bigot, anti-Semite, etc…and they, the “nobility,” have deflected and defused the “impoverished residents” anger and threat.
They may not be as clever as they think they are and the name of Smith’s blog is “of two minds.”
“As I explained in All Three Pillars Holding Up the Economy Have Cracked, the three mechanisms used to fill this gap–government subsidies, cheap credit and asset bubbles–are all self-liquidating systems due to their inner dynamics. Simply put, debt eventually consumes all the seed corn, and all asset bubbles pop.”
Which if true (and surely it is) then the “neo feudalists” are going to have a much shorter reign than the previous edition. In fact we already see their edifice cracking with widespread scorn for their propaganda arm decadence in their MIC enforcement arm.
And while this may not give much comfort for the peasantry here’s suggesting that TINA is more about fooling themselves than everyone else.
I mostly need to focus on other things today, but funny-enough, I decided to read the article only after seeing your post that he references The Castle (Das Schloss). As a big Kafka nerd, the reference may actually be much more insightful than Smith even intended, or the rest of the article (which I felt mostly repeats things that won’t surprise his readers).
The reason being that, among Kafka’s already ambiguous writing, The Castle is arguably the biggest riddle of them all. It’s been a while since I read it or did the deep-dive on what others were saying about it, but there were several wildly different theories even before I was born.
Is it theological or mystical, like a metaphor for henosis? Most Kafka nerds do agree that Kafka had both Eleatic and Gnostic streaks, but was that his main intent? Is it a psychological metaphor, like the id & ego vainly trying to reconcile with the superego, while the count, the bar-maid, and others stand in for archetypes? Is it actually a Marxist exploration of authority and power (the angle Smith seems to be taking exclusively)? Or was it just an extended puzzle and thought-experiment for something personal, like his relationships and conflicting social roles?
I don’t know, and I don’t think anybody does. The analogy to our current situation does line up perfectly all the same though, as Smith points out. But does that mean that just as the parable has no one meaning, our social reality doesn’t have just one explanation? And if so, does that mean to change our reality, we have to act from as many angles as possible without the certainty that any of them are exclusively true?
As long as the word “debt” remains a single poorly defined monolith in these various discussions, there will be no understanding of money and local or global economic flows. For all the MMT proponents there is still an old testament viewpoint about money amongst persons espousing new testament talking points.
There are now many forms of debt, good and bad. Today’s money is a form of debt. It is no longer denominated in gold. Anyone using the word debt as a pejorative doesn’t understand.
I am not cheering on debt. Just looking at what it is. Personally I have indulged in two kinds that could be characterized as consumptive and productive. One was just an obligation and the other was a privilege to work my butt off, but that one bore fruit.
Smith makes the point that if you are not working your own land then you are a serf. He paints an agrarian analogy of feudalism that was long ago supplanted by Marx’s analogy of the same dynamic that is now in turn passe. The new paradigm of fiat, the scalability of money, the population explosion, and indeed the modern world are all part of the same cloth. Smith doesn’t get that this isn’t something that can be stood against. It will have to be gone through.
It has occurred to me to wonder if early Christianity spread so rapidly because the words of the Lord’s Prayer — “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” — were taken literally. Not a religious historian, I just don’t know. (This thought popped into my mind based on the “Ancient inscription could rewrite history of Christianity north of Italy, archaeologists say.”
Jesus ate with hookers. The adulterous woman was told to go and sin no more. The money changers got an ass whupping. The Book of Acts describes an attempt at communism. Pagans derided Christians as women and slaves. I think you’re on to something.
> The adulterous woman was told to go and sin no more.
That is my favorite parable. John 8:2-9f:
“[T]hey went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest.” One can only wonder why. Exegetical masters will correct me, but it’s that kind of novelistic detail, 1600 years before the West’s first novel (Don Quixote) that persuades me there is a kernel of truth to the Gospels. And what is the meaning of Jesus writing on the ground?
One thing to note about that particular passage is that it was not in the earliest versions of the text and only appears from about CE 400-500 on. Many scholars believe that it is a later addition, for a variety of reasons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_and_the_woman_taken_in_adultery
I stand corrected (on my method, at least). What a great article!
I don’t know. Did she get pregnant after? That’s when the sanctions kick in.
There’s an old joke, where Jesus says “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” and then bends down, He hears the thud of a stone hitting the woman, looks up, and exclaims “Mother, what are you doing here?”
Coming from a Methodist/Episcopal (Anglican) tradition we historically (1662 Book of Common Prayer) use the formula:
“And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive them that trespass against us.”
I think that was part of it. But Jesus’ primary message was God loves you, love God, and loving other people is loving God. As Hillel said about another formulation, that’s all the law and the prophets. “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you” — said as he prepared to meet betrayal, torture, and death.
Yes, he ate with sinners. Of course he did.
Psalm 22 (which begins “My God. my God, why have you abandoned me”) isn’t a statement that he feels abandoned. That’s only how it starts. It ends by affirming his faith in God.
I have a complaint with Mr. Smith’s history, though I am of one mind with him on the advent and triumph of neo feudalism. The Roman Empire may have allowed land ownership by free citiziens (this is especially true after the Macedonian dynasty reforms of the 10th century but I am guessing that is not the phase of the Roman Empire Mr Smith is thinking of) but the high Empire and the Empire of Diocletian continued the traditions of the Republic in driving these free citizens into slavery via debt. One need not (though one ought) turn to Michael Hudson for confirmation. Brooks Adams noticed the fiendishness of Roman Plutocracy over a century ago. (Law of Civilization and Decay, chapter 1) and he was quoting an earlier historian. It’s hidden in plain sight in the primary sources though classicists preferred to let it stay so hidden.
re: Istanbul talks 2022
BERLINER ZEITUNG with comment on this interview by former Swiss ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch via Arnaud Bertrand’s X:
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1869270449030668620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1869270449030668620%7Ctwgr%5E1dbe15a02f78415916e8cd1c7b3cfece0f7218de%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.berliner-zeitung.de%2Fpolitik-gesellschaft%2Fgeopolitik%2Fschweizer-ex-botschafter-zum-ukrainekrieg-usa-schuld-an-abbruch-der-istanbul-verhandlungen-li.2282801
German BERLINER ZEITUNG has a new short piece quoting statements by former Swiss ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch who says the US/EU put high pressure on Kiev to not engage further in those talks.
Now NC forum knows this but the BZ text is accompanied by a nauseating tone of insinuating lies and allegations all by the RUs. As if any of this has still to be doubted – unless a Swiss dude says the opposite.
Ruch naturally fancies those fairy-tales of RU being in fact weakend, but also the EU while the US is not.
Wow, what expertise.
Ruch’s views while voiced in this new interview are not new in themselves. He already said this earlier this year.
Here the BZ text by – sigh – Nicolas Butylin (yeah! the name says it all)
Swiss ex-ambassador: USA is responsible for the breakdown of the Istanbul negotiations
There are many myths surrounding the failure of the Istanbul peace talks on the Ukraine war. The former Swiss ambassador to Turkey now comments on this in an interview.
https://archive.is/pipJQ
“A tiny organism is mysteriously repairing its DNA to defy death in Chernobyl”
Uhh, they’re worms. Could it be that living under several inches of dirt gave them protection from the worse effects of the radiation?
Didn’t read the whole thing, but they did lab tests too, and found some worms less likely to be damaged. (But not all worm families from the site were resistant.) Sample worms from dirt, leaf litter, poop, etc. One worm wasn’t available in the most radioactive area because that was never his habitat. Sounds like the researchers were already trying to get a lock on factors that predict resistance or ability to repair and picked a nuke zone for real world data. Maybe I’ll wander over to the nemebase blog and see if people smarter than me have said anything.
You, me and everyone else alive has a DNA repairing “machinery” in their cells. We’ve know about this for at least 20 years, it’s not really a mystery.
Also, it’s almost 4 decades after the disaster, so even if these worms were wiped out at the time and for the next 20 years, they’d have ample time to return to the scenery by now.
even if these worms were wiped out at the time and for the next 20 years, they’d have ample time to return to the scenery by now.
This is the point that I never see addressed in those optimistic reports about wildlife (boars, wolves, birds, and now worms) thriving in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Have those animals truly adapted, are they that resistent to the effects of radiation — or are the observations of a reasonably healthy fauna an artifact resulting from a constant influx of healthy individuals from outside the exclusion zone moving in and constantly rejuvenating a population debilitated by the exposure to dangerous isotopes?
Answering the question would probably require extensive analyses of DNA across animal populations within and outside the zone to determine the flow of genetic material, and hence assess how much “fresh blood” is replenishing the wildlife in Chernobyl.
DOGE…article from Politico is a fairly balanced reading of the tea leaves. There is much that can’t be done, or highly unlikely without action from Congress. And if Elon Musk or his co chair Vivek have an inkling of what they aspire to cut or downsize, it is apparent focusing on bloat seems an easy target. Bloat can show itself in many forms, be it a vast bureaucracy headcount or paying large rent and tenant fees on office space. Federal employees perform valued services of course, I grant that much but honestly it’s as though Washington, DC real estate never suffers in the least but only goes upward. I’m sure that rhetorical billions flowed through all those ancient districts of Rome just the same.
Cutting two trillion seems a lofty goal, I’ll be somewhat amazed if they get to $100 billion overall. Lots of pearl clutching from Senators or Reps if or when those cuts start to impact the interests of the US citizens they appear to represent. Jokes at the expense of this DOGE initiative are pretty easy to write up..
A blind man before a dartboard could locate bloat with each toss.
We refer to the local Dollar General as DOGE.
When a DOGE shows up-typically on the outskirts of town, you know your community has been targeted as downscale and worthy of a store that has the feel of a 7-11 that wanted to be a Wal*Mart, but only had 4,600 sq feet to work with.
Man bites Doge.
IMO you won the internet today. Good job.
The DOGE – From WIKI:
“The Doge of Venice acted as both the head of state and head of the Venetian oligarchy.”
Sounds like a perfect fit for Elon.
DOD is the obvious target, given its size and inability to pass an audit. What do you want to bet that DOD will nonetheless remain off limits to scrutiny?
Our very own Senator from my state of South Carolina will shut that discussion completely down. Senator Graham would just as soon kick puppies and steal babies before ever cutting a few shiny quarters of spending…
I wish it were otherwise but I do believe he functions well as an idiot for those he has presumed worthy of federal government spending…No matter the expense.
The Amur Tiger love story is the ultimate antidote and a must read. How did Svetlaya call Boris? And the photo. They look so satisfied.
It must have been a helluva scene when those two tigers met up again finally face to face. Maybe the last part of the journey was guided by them roaring to each other over a distance.
Time of the Tiger
Set to Willie Nelson’s Time of the Preacher and Denver
But he could not forget her
Svetlaya seared in his mind
And the halls of his sensory
coordinates to abide
And she cried like a baby
And she screamed like a panther
In the middle of the night
Boris at her shoulder
Bold and alive.
It was a time of the tiger
In the year of two-one
Now the searching is over
And the loving’s begun
The bright eyes of Boris are shining like diamonds
Like ten thousand jewels in the sky
And it’s nobody’s business where a tiger goes roaming
It’s best if you step to the side
In her mind’s eye she saw him, wandering and aimless
She calls on a sine wave of love
And they smiled at each other as he walked through her grove
And they danced with their smiles on their faces
And they loved with a smile on their face
Feds quietly ban liability for vax makers through Trump’s full term as FDA exposes RSV trial harm
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/feds-quietly-ban-liability-vax-makers-through-trumps-full-term-fda
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Elon Musk is bored
While SpaceX engineers kept watching
O’er silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a Starlink light
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Elon Musk is bored
The astronomers feared and trembled
When, lo! Above the Earth
Rang out the satellite chorus
That hailed our savior’s berth
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Elon Musk is bored
Down in a lowly DC manger
Our humble Elon was bored
And brought us all salvation
That blessed January 20th morn
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Elon Musk is bored
…that Elon Musk is bored
Our rocket man seems to be raising the specter of taking the Beltway Bandits private. Kind of like how corporate raiders will takeover the board of a public company, slash the dividend, and demand that they give up control or else they’ll be bankruptcy court by Sunday evening.
It would be kind of amusing to see House Speaker Elon Musk. Imagine seeing Nancy holding a box full of her office knick-knacks, looking forlorn on the steps of the Capitol. Or just imagine Mike Johnson having to go back home and manage a Popeye’s off of I-10 in Louisiana.
I used to think Johnson wasn’t long for the world, but he’s got staying power, an ersatz Clark Kent in search of a phone booth* to turn into a caped crusader for Christ.
* whatever happened to Superman’s civilian clothes after donning the uniform?
p.s.
I’m still holding out for potentially the return of Kev y Dev to Humordor. Devin’s gonna be in charge of national intelligence, while my ex would take just about any old cabinet position to be back with the gang, and a player.
Maybe if the Gaetz imbroglio is salacious enough, the Donald invites him back in the fold?
No chance that your Kev could be seen as Governor material one day?
We’re about due for a Governor who ain’t blue, but Kev would never do.
Never mix the practical with the magical. It confuses each sphere.
Johnson made a rookie error … back in September, he could have done a clean CR that expired right around inauguration. That would have kicked the can until after the holidays.
But no, he had to follow form and try to create an exigency so that the CR could be loaded up with riders like a Christmas tree.
Republicans always lose when there is a “run for the bus” right before Christmas. Maybe he gets replaced with Musk now.
Johnson made a rookie error here… back in September, he could have done a clean CR that expired right around inauguration. That would have kicked the can until after the holidays.
And more importantly, until after the House leadership elections.
But no, he had to follow form and try to create an exigency so that the CR could be loaded up with riders like a Christmas tree.
Republicans always lose when there is a “run for the bus” right before Christmas. Maybe he gets replaced with Musk now.
Tourism is done, and not just because of the carbon emissions. Turns out it doesn’t scale endlessly.
Can Jay Powell print tourists, and destinations?
Elon needs to get to work on that Mars project.
I chose Craig Murray for blogger of the year on my year end list. From today’s Link:
I don’t know what kind of reach L’Independent has but saying stuff like that can get you in trouble in some countries. He’s been very busy this year and seems to be using his time, resources and platform effectively and courageously. I am grateful.
—
I am ofc also grateful to Yves, Lambert and the whole NC team. You got my award every year so far.
Murray:
“I think this is an example of the fact that, when it comes to formulating its Middle East policy, the US cares more about Israel than they do about themselves.”
Indeed. And here’s suggesting Murray is more on the mark than those who say we are defending our “aircraft carrier” or oil supply etc. It’s embarassing for the dog when the tail is wagging it so excuses are needed.
The “aircraft carrier” as a military value seems questionable to me.
Some have suggested the sea based aircraft carriers are prime slow moving targets for foreign militaries to test their arms on.
Land based versions move even more slowly.
Yet China seems to be leading the world in building them. Wonder why??
The difficult part is what does the average goy do about the average Jew? I always found it difficult to dislike Americans for what their government does but that argument doesn’t hold much water when it comes to Israel. The general populace seems to be in accord with the genocide. The “I was just following orders” defence is starting to wear thin.
Americans in general do not have much interest in foreign policy which may be one reason elites see it as their special sandbox.
Israel approval here has slipped somewat.
I think people shining lasers at airplanes because of frothing drone hysteria is a good case for how severe Long COVID brain damage is affecting the general public.
And it’ll just keep getting better :)
Drones and lasers oh my, article here:
https://archive.ph/BIdF3
“Zelenskyy rejects Putin’s call to downsize Ukraine’s Armed Forces: Strong, large army is best”
This article mentions the following-
‘Zelenskyy confirmed that Keith Kellogg, Trump’s future special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, will visit Ukraine before the inauguration of the new US president.’
So maybe Kellogg needs to meet Zelensky up close to see what the Trump team will be dealing with. Trump knows but Kellogg probably doesn’t. I don’t think that it will be a confidence builder however as Zelensky is starting to get panicky and unstable and had a melt down when Hungary’s Orban suggested a Christmas day truce & a prisoner swap. Should be fun and games for Kellogg.
Maybe the way to handle Ukraine is for Trump to convince Putin to agreed to a ceasefire long enough to allow Ukraine to have it’s postponed election.
If “Z” is voted out maybe saner heads prevail. If “Z” is a winner, start the march to Kyiv…..
Trump, FT (and Time’s) “Person of the Year”. Why not I guess. My vote was for the Adjuster.
Looking for odds on Trump getting the Nobel for peace.
There is only one Trump. There can be many Adjustors. Just sayin’.
The only weapon never Trumpers have left is to tank markets before he assumes office. Its eerily similar to what happened to Grover, the Panic of 1893 got rolling a fortnight before his 2nd inauguration.
I have a relative who is pushing all the family to go to cash but imo that has a serious barney fife feel to it as most stocks are (once again imo) owned by the blue team members. I feel that it’s the same when biden goes out as it was when biden came in…nothing will fundamentally change. I’m sure the plunge protection team still have jobs. I don’t play the ponies myself so just ethereal entertainment for me.
A noted Democrat has had his firm assume a substantial cash equivalent position.
That is Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway to the tune of $325 billion into US treasuries.
Tanking the markets and having Trump ride to the rescue might not be their plan.
Tanking the markets AFTER Trump is in office makes a little sense.
But for the PMC and the financial industry Dems, rooting for tanked markets has more of a “cut off your nose to spite your face” view.
I think the market had a temper tantrum because the Fed said the punch bowel was conditional. It has a lot less due to Trump then speculation based on the high fliers currently punching well over their adjusted future earnings. It is pretty well established that anyone who lets politics influence the investment choices is courting failure.
>DHS Says China, Russia, Iran, and Israel Are Spying on People in US with SS7
Is Israel now part of the “axis of evil”?
Obviously a rhetorical question.
“How The U.S. Navy’s Cruiser Modernization Failed”
Soooo, I guess the whole plan of sending the US Navy to confront China off their waters is on hold for the moment?
Panay et Circenses?
China. A River runs through it.
Nah, the plan is to send Marine platoons to occupy the First Island Chain armed with anti-ship missiles on trucks. No Chinese ship will dare to challenge them. Or outgun them, if they do choose to challenge. Or something like that.
It’s complicated, you know.
Great movie to watch about now, is 1966’s The Sand Pebbles starring Steve McQueen & Candice Bergen.
Quite the parable for our time, nothing really gets done on the 1920’s US Gunboat on a Chinese river by the USN, Chinese do all the work on board, and then they disappear and things go to hell.
This is a case where Obama’s SecNav / admirals wanted to get rid of the cruisers long before they were out of life but Congress told then no, so you had the battle between administration and Congress and the result was probably predictable. It didn’t help that due to the “peace dividend” we gave away our ability to repair ships. The “dividend” went to China.
They need these instead
“Turkey plans to run Syria through a parallel structure, according to secret plan”
Erdogan has spent years on planning and scheming to topple Syria and now he has finally done it. So instead of having a weak but stable government on his southern borders, he now has an unstable hodge-podge mixture of all sorts of groups. And he is the one that will have to bring some sort of order. He broke it so now he owns it. Pottery barn rule. Will the Turkish economy be strong enough to stand the coming strains of trying to run other provinces and the military that might be needed? ? Will his entire attention now have to be devoted to his southern border at the cost of keeping track on what is happening at home? Will he finally be able to fight the Kurds or will the US try to stop him – and risk losing their nuke base in Turkiye. Life has gotten a whole lot more complicated for Erdogan. And I bet that he loves it.
What I saw was Turkiyet MoD saying that they hope Russian bases will stay in Syria. I guess it’s nice to have somebody between you and the Israelis, after all.
via the excellent “Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia”-blog
The Grayzone: Sebastian Gorka: Potential British Intelligence Asset?
https://natyliesbaldwin.com/2024/12/the-grayzone-sebastian-gorka-potential-british-intelligence-asset/#comments
Waiting for Godot Riddance up over ticker…
35:14:19
“US Congress Revives Cold War Tactics With New Anti-Communism School Curriculum”
Alan MacLeod on the “Crucial Communism Teaching Act,” which is now being read in the U.S. Senate, where it is all but certain to pass.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/12/18/us-congress-revives-cold-war-tactics-with-new-anti-communism-school-curriculum/
Sorry to say this – but the pervasive counter-Socialist, and anti-Bolshevik stance as of late – also – as I have the impression – taken by many otherwise sane commentators like Mercouris, Martyanov and in general the more old-fashioned US voices has been already a warning sign of what is unfolding here.
Of course they would never agree with any of this. But on a subliminal level this new fashion of regarding Bolshevism as a dangerous political virus, has become – intentionally or not – part of a giant wave. Which is now funneled into this sort of rabid legislative intent.
Reminds me a bit of “woke” turning against its early proponents. You reap the opposite of what you wish for.
Of course they are not in the same ideological vein. But when Mercouris likes to compare the 1917ers with the European Commission´s Russophobia I shake my head.
I find it ridiculous to equal the likes of Trotsky, Lenin etc. with Neo-Cons.
So now one always sees this nonsense notion US-“architects” of hegemony are “the new Bolsheviks.”
Often in commentary sections btw.
From above link (this is what you get if historic knowledge of Socialism and labour history has turned into caricature):
“Congress has just passed a bill that will see the U.S. spend huge sums of money redesigning much of the public school system around the ideology of anti-communism.
The “Crucial Communism Teaching Act” is now being read in the Senate, where it is all but certain to pass. The move comes amid growing public anger at the economic system and increased public support for socialism.
The Crucial Communism Teaching Act, in its own words, is designed to teach children that
“certain political ideologies, including communism and totalitarianism … conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding of the United States.”
Although sponsored by Republicans, it enjoys widespread support from Democrats and is focused on China, Venezuela, Cuba and other targets of U.S. empire. The wording of the bill has many worried that this will be a centerpiece of a new era of anti-communist hysteria, similar to previous McCarthyist periods.”
I was in high school during the McCarthy Years. One thing I remember was that it was almost impossible to find out what Communism/Bolshevism actually believed or thought. In my high school library there was not one book on the subject. There was no copy of Capital, although there were two copies of Mein Kampf. There was no copy of the Communist Manifesto in our town’s Public Library. There were none of the books written by Marx, Lenin, or Stalin. There was a general knowledge, there was much talk about unnamed and undescribed massacres, and there was, of course, the daily propaganda about how terrible life was in the Soviet Union, but Communism was forbidden to be described. I thought at the time it must be because it was so attractive that letting people know about it would create The Revolution.
I don’t see how, in today’s world, they can continue that. I don’t think Gen Z is knowledgeable about socialism. There is a lot more information available, but I don’t think grade school kids will know what they are supposed to fear. I have a feeling they are going to have to teach a lot more detail about what it is they are supposed to not think or do. And I think that might lead to a lot of people wanting the forbidden fruit.
Love him or hate him, but the man does say the truth from time to time…
It appears Trump has said he’d support the repealing of the congressional debt limit!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-calls-abolishing-debt-ceiling-rcna184820
The truth is, with Trump in control of both houses of legislature he will be free to spend like a drunken sailor with no debt ceiling.
No, there are too many “hard money” people among the oligarchs. There are too many “deficit hawks” among the congress-critters. He’s going to have problems spending enough on the things that matter to ordinary people. He may not worry about voters, since he can’t run again, but the House and the Senate will worry plenty about them.
I thought Musk’s recent bloviating on Twitter that no legislation shall pass until Trump is scorn^H(oops meant sworn, but funny typo) in, because reasons. I guess Congressional terms run only until the election results are decided. Maybe Congress should be sworn in immediately after the election results?
What a clown.
A look at Oreshnik damage.
(I should say supposed Oreshnik damage since we don’t know what else might have hit around that time period).
RE: DHS Says China, Russia, Iran, and Israel Are Spying on People in US with SS7
All of the US’ current enemies list is doing the spying, huh? How convenient!
Given that the Wikileaks Vault 7 release showed how the US spooks could fake attribution for digital content and make it look like it came from wherever the spooks wanted, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s the DHS that is spying on people in the US.
Re drones:
I continue to be astonished that JD Vance being a founding investor of the company (Anduril) that will (together with Palantir) “provide the solution” to these drones is not a topic of discussion. It is the most glaring thread of a much bigger story: The Thielverse take over
Question: what happens if Trump passes away while in office?
Answer: Vance is President and Thiel’s open desire to be Caesar may come true
“But, what of Elon?”
Caesar gets The Earth, Elon gets the heavens.
Shellenberger has the inside scoop in the tweet in today’s links above. Shellenberger is not an independent actor.
He’s a creature of the Thielverse. He is “Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech” at the (recently newly created by Joe Lonsdale the founder of Palantir) University of Austin. He’s literally head of speech at Thiel U.
Video below is Lonsdale speaking about Austin U and the free speech program.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6282593835001
Want to bet that Americans will soon be promised “access” to free speech? For a small monthly charge.
Who am I fooling? That’s how it is now.
Not unrelated:
China Builds World’s First Dedicated Drone Carrier
China has built the world’s first dedicated drone carrier. The ship has not been reported however and many of the circumstances surrounding it remain a mystery….
…It is immediately apparent that it is, in general arrangement, an aircraft carrier of some sort. It has a marked runaway running along the port (left side) with an island superstructure on the starboard (right) side.
Beyond this, it is unusual in every respect. The hull is a widely spaced catamaran. While catamarans are often featured in aircraft carrier concepts because they allow a large deck area, no one has actually built one before…