Welcome to Saturday's Potluck - August 12, 2023

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 8:02am

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Some odd bits of information crossing my path this week.

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A Little history effecting current events.

Hot-wiring the Suu Kyi time machine in Myanmar Asia Times August 8, 2023

For foreigners, at least those who worked in the country before 2011 rather than the “transition” flunkies who flocked in on a wave of highly paid opportunism, it signaled a resumption of déjà-vu junta shenanigans.

For two decades Suu Kyi was bounced from house arrest to conditional freedom to divert attention from an incompetent autocracy before they got the formula right with “discipline-flourishing democracy,” where “The Lady” wins elections and appears to rule but the military holds most of the power.
...
Myanmar is a markedly different country now. How much does the SAC see Suu Kyi as currency for neutralizing, or at least further dividing, the domestic rebellion and participating as a partner in some form of mediated settlement?

Is she viable currency for leveraging international pressure? How popular is she as a leader to a domestic audience and to the world at large? ...
There have been three waves of Western obsession with Myanmar. The first, from 1991 to around 2016, was Suu Kyi herself, an obsession for US senators, George Soros and celebrity rock bands everywhere.

The second, from about 2012 to 2021, was the plight of the Rohingya, with the same international obsessives, who have since cast attention elsewhere: When a million refugees are down to starvation rations in Bangladesh without a murmur of concern, your time in the international compassion spotlight is over.

The third and ongoing obsession, which probably started some years before the 2021 coup, is containing China, increasingly evident in American commentary, and causing the Myanmar resistance significant unease at being caught in the middle of this new cold war.

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How the ambitions of a small country's US-backed leader launched the current confrontation between Russia and the West Russia Times reprinted August 8, 2023 first published on Аugust 13, 2022

Unfortunately for Georgia, when the Soviet Union collapsed, a man named Zviad Gamsakhurdia became its first president. He was utterly obsessed with nationalist ideas. At the same time, a movement for national autonomy gained momentum in Ossetia. Gamsakhurdia branded the Ossetians “trash” and attempted to launch a punitive expedition into the region. His plans failed, however, as neither the Georgian nationalists nor the local militia had any experience of real combat. In the early 90's, a short-lived and pointless but bloody war ended in negotiations. South Ossetia declared itself a republic; Georgia refused to recognize it, but the conflict was put on ice, and a Russian peacekeeping battalion was deployed in the region at the consent of both sides.

The following 15 years were uneventful –
...
But then, in the early 2000s, a young and ambitious Mikhail Saakashvili became Georgia’s third president, launching massive reforms and changing the country’s outlook to pro-Western and, most of all, pro-American. While Saakashvili managed to jump-start the economy to a degree, to the point that Georgia briefly became the poster child for a successful westernization, he had other interests, too, and they included restoring Georgia’s territorial integrity.
...
Believe it or not, neither of the patron states of the involved parties wanted a war – neither Russia nor the United States. Thanks to documents leaked by the WikiLeaks project, we know that American diplomats considered Moscow’s concerns about a possible military move on the part of Saakashvili nothing but a case of paranoia.
...
Georgian troops were trained by the US and its NATO partners. The president stuck to his westernization policy with regards to the army too. Georgia increased its military spending to 9.5% of GDP, which is extremely high – more typical for a nation in a state of war.
...
The key takeaway from the Five-Day War is that opportunism and recklessness can do more harm than scheming. The clueless pursuit of a single man’s ambition cost hundreds of lives. Those deaths could have been avoided had the politicians shown just a little more restraint and wisdom at the right time.

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Domestic Politics

Tucker Carlson removal from Fox programming happened just prior to a completed interview with Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund being aired. The twists and turns related around Jan 6, 2020 from his experience of managing the event is does not always metch the official narrative. The scope of influence of military command was unexpected.

Ep. 15 Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund reveals what really happened on January 6th. Our Fox News interview with him never aired, so we invited him back.

Full interview (54 min)

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Information Theater

Discusses Ukraine, Africa and about the 48 minute mark Yevgeny Prigozhin related events.

Down The Rabbit Hole With Pepe Escobar (61 min)

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The controversy over Gonzalo Lira, Scott Ritter and loosely connected group of information providers self-labeling as the Alternative Media community has been impossible to ignore. (At one time, my thought was alternative media was progressive leaning) Gonzalo status is unknown, Scott once again being cancelled in various venues and the arguing is extending to followers (how many are bots) in comment sections.

Have been debating whether to include this article as too divisive. To improve knowledge base decided to include. Personally I ignore the personal part and focus on the techniques being used by various intelligence agencies. Similar to techniques seen used by marketing departments for private commercial businesses.

Gonzalo Lira, the SBU, and Information Operations Scott Ritter Extra Aug 8, 2023

(note: HSOC = Human Science Operations Cell, JTRIG = Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group

The techniques used by HSOC and their Ukrainian counterparts could include the uploading of YouTube videos containing persuasive messages; establishing online aliases with Facebook, Telegram and Twitter accounts, blogs and forum memberships for conducting human intelligence or encouraging discussion on specific issues; establishing online aliases/personalities who support other aliases; sending spoof e-mails and text messages from a fake person or mimicking a real person; providing spoof online resources such as magazines and books that provide inaccurate information; providing online access to uncensored material; sending instant messages to specific individuals giving them instructions for accessing uncensored websites; and contacting host websites asking them to remove material and/or deplatform/demonetize a targeted individual or group.

Such operations are not “spur of the moment” affairs, but rather involve detailed planning which incorporates human behavioral science. HSOC in particular incorporates the so-called “Hofstede Dimensions” developed by Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede, which employs cross-cultural ideas of “collectivism” and/or “group think” to influence individuals and/or groups through psychological conditioning and manipulation, into every aspect of its operations.

A critical aspect of employing “Hofstede Dimensions” to their full effect is the ability to develop a detailed behavioral model of the targeted groups and individuals.
...
The best example of how this is done, and for what purpose, can be found in one of the JTRIG training slides. One of the best “events” that a side conducting information operations can arrange is to have opposing groups engage in self-destructive behavior. To accomplish this, the SBU would need to be able to identify the factors that push a group together, and those which pull a group apart. Then the SBU would need to create tension by setting members against members using fracture points in the structure of the group that had been identified during the intelligence collection phase of the effort.

Scott's Rumble Account

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Economic Theater

Western companies are at financial risk.

US Role in China's Real Estate Crisis: What Western Media Isn't Telling You Russia Times Aug 11, 2023

Throughout the real estate crunch, Western economists and media have chided China's authorities for the country’s “flawed and unsustainable economic development model,” regulatory loopholes, and ordinary Chinese people’s “greed” as the culprits responsible for blowing up a multi-trillion dollar real estate bubble.
But always absent from such conversations is the behind-the-scenes role played by Western investors in creating the crisis.
...
The observer cited US investment giant BlackRock as one of the major Western investors in China’s real estate. "BlackRock is actually struggling big time in their real estate investments and they’re not even paying back their investors anymore because they're losing so much money on these property and real estate development projects. They’re really getting hit hard by China. I’m not saying it's the same as the 2008 financial crisis, but there are a lot of similarities because of real estate," he said.

Other Western private and institutional investors waded heavily into China’s real estate market in the run-up to the crisis, with Goldman Sachs joining BlackRock in making bullish investments even after the downturn caused by Evergrande’s collapse in 2021. The trend has continued into 2023, with investors reportedly now looking not only at housing, but foreclosed office buildings and factories, amid the Chinese government’s effort to crackdown on speculators.
...
"Houses are for living, not for speculation," Xi said in an address to the previous CCP Congress in 2017.

Evergrande's collapse, Country Garden Holdings' uncertain future, and large-scale Western involvement in stirring up the real estate crisis could give his government all the more reason to make good on this mantra.

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Notice the majority of the guests are receiving US government pensions for work in intelligence related activities. The various ways the same information is used to explain opinions and biases is a reflection of the various power silos.

The livestream videos this week by Judge Napolitano channel ongoing discussions regarding current Ukraine/Russia conflict. The interviews are generally posted on Monday through Thursday if would like to view them in a more timely manner. The link opens in the LIVE column, occasionally an interview only appears in VIDEOS section.

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Local Happenings

Almost forgot - Another local power grab to bypass Oregon land use laws regarding land development. If Greater Idaho happens Bend remains in Oregon. Now a proposal for a new city just east of Bend. The area proposed has 160 residents on 265 square miles or 169,600 acres.

This could get interesting.

"The proposition of Mountain View is really about providing protections for residents. Ensuring that their voices are heard in regards to the land out there" Andrew Aasen explained to us Thursday.

Aasen is a Millican Valley resident who's on the Cannabis Advisory Panel in Deschutes County. The panel guides county commissioners on how to spend marijuana tax dollars.
...
Aasen also recently announced he's running as a non-affiliated candidate for Oregon's Fifth Congressional District seat currently occupied by first-term Rep. Lori-Chavez Deremer, R-Happy Valley.

Asked about any connection between his candidacy and the new-city pitch, Aasen said: "I would say, I should have waited to announce my candidacy until after September, when all of this is decided."

NEW CITY PROPOSED IN CENTRAL OREGON (56 sec)

Hearing set on proposed 265-square-mile city of 'Mountain View'; would be Deschutes County's (2.41 min)

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What is on your mind today?

edited- add link

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Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 10:40am
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With all the turmoil comes turmoil overload and a tendency to concern ones self with things like household chores and maintenance (including the garden and yard, etc.), recipes and meal planning, food shopping and all such as that. Today is, of course, farmers' market, so there goes the morning, starting any minute now, especially if we then extend the trip to include a hardware run. More later, oerhaos.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 5:17pm
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@enhydra lutris Taking each day as it comes is an art in of itself. We waste a lot of time trying to justify how we live our lives to others.

I have spent most of the week harvesting, preserving and watering. Livestock is so much of the daily routine since I was small do not even consider it a task. It is as routine and forgettable as tying one's shoes.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 11:56am

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 12:08pm

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 6:39pm
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@humphrey Months ago before The Saker site was frozen one of the possibilities was Poland providing the government support for the areas not desired by Russia to be an occupying force.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:19pm
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.

This interview by Carlson might have been posted here before but I like this segmented format of listening to the videos. Thread.

I’m still leaning towards Trump being a patsy for the deep state. He was still in office when the people who went to the capitol that day were being arrested and up charged for going into it and yet he offered no help for them or possibly a blanket pardon. I don’t follow him, but has he been saying anything about the people who have been locked up for 2 years before a trial or the draconian prison sentences they have received? And for gawd’s sake with everything democrats did to him in office and the bogus Hollywood styled and created 1/6 investigations was he still being in the limelight for the last 2 years? It’s almost like he is still playing his role.

Jim Kunstler writes about the 1st impeachment for Trump after his call to Zelensky about Joe Biden.

One thing that has become clear in this cabbage soup of perfidy, is just how blobbed-up Volodymyr Zelensky was when President Donald Trump made that fateful phone call to him in August of 2019 inquiring about “JB’s” curious doings in Kiev over the years. Did Z follow-up that call immediately with one to Alexander Vindman in the National Security Counsel… who then called Eric Ciaramella of the NSC and CIA? Because, voilà, there was something supernatural about how fast we were off to Impeachment Number One!

And now the not-insane cohort of Americans is prompted to ask whether this war in Ukraine was provoked in any part to cover-up all the nefarious blobbery that preceded it — and not just Hunter and “Joe Biden’s” capers, but the machinations, too, of State Department blobette Victoria Nuland and her retinue in the Kiev embassy, Marie Yovanovitch, George Kent, and many others of the Blob persuasion. A review of all this suggests that “Joe Biden” is what has driven the Democratic Party insane. And now, of course, they can’t seem to get rid of him, like a demon riding them through an endless nightmare

Please read the entire article because he nails the corruption of Biden and Smith’s charges against Trump. The silly judge that is in charge of the case has been sentencing Trump supporters to longer prison sentences than the DoJ asked for. And she says that the first amendment isn’t absolute and she made up excuses for why Trump shouldn’t have said that he believes that the election was rigged. Yeah good luck with that on appeal.

This blog was covering the Ukraine/Burisma/dem corruption that included many people there that played along with Hillary’s Russia allegations and the investigation into Trump’s campaign and it too wreaks of corruption.

And this has even more corruption written all over it.

Whole tweet

CBS News corespondent Catherine Herridge suggests Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware US Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to protect the Biden family by blocking Weiss from testifying.

Once the DOJ realized they wouldn't be able to push Hunter Biden's sweetheart deal through the finish line, the DOJ quickly sprung into action.

As suggested by Herridge, Weiss was appointed to "delay a resolution on the Hunter Biden matter" and to also stop Weiss from testifying before Congress.

Just more corruption…

indeed.

Special counsel must be from someone outside the government and Garland didn’t just appoint Weiss, Weiss asked to be appointed special counsel! Weiss has been stalling the investigation into Hunter Biden and he was in charge of making the sweetheart deal that saw Hunter not having any prison time for felonies that were turned into misdemeanors.

I wholeheartedly agree with Kunstler that Biden is intentionally trying to destroy the country and I hope to gawd that he isn’t re-elected.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:11pm
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@snoopydawg

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:34pm

@snoopydawg

I have my doubts that Weiss meets this criteria?

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-are-special-counsels-and-what...

What exactly is a special counsel?
A special counsel is an attorney appointed to investigate, and possibly prosecute, a case in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government come in and take responsibility for a matter.

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a special counsel must have “a reputation for integrity and impartial decisionmaking,” as well as “an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies.”

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 6:46pm
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@snoopydawg

And now the not-insane cohort of Americans is prompted to ask whether this war in Ukraine was provoked in any part to cover-up all the nefarious blobbery that preceded it — and not just Hunter and “Joe Biden’s” capers, but the machinations, too, of State Department blobette Victoria Nuland and her retinue in the Kiev embassy, Marie Yovanovitch, George Kent, and many others of the Blob persuasion.

If so it is a criminal reason to cause so much death and destruction. Should be dealt with in an international tribunal. US does not seem to be able to acknowledge and clean-up our corruption.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:26pm
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.

Biden has been emptying the store rooms of old military equipment that has been mothballed for decades, but the defense companies get to replace it with today’s prices.

War is a Racket… U.S. and NATO Arms Industries Make Record $400 BILLION in Sales from Proxy War With Russia

Western weapons manufacturers are popping champagne corks over record sales with total revenues hitting $400 billion for last year. According to media reports, this coming year-end will see that record figure exceeded by another salivating $50 billion.

Ukraine may be resembling a bloodbath, as we noted in last week’s editorial. But apparently, Western military corporations are swimming in a bonanza of profits and stock market investments.

Most of this lucrative new business stems from NATO’s proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, which is heading toward its second year. There is no sign of a diplomatic effort from the West or the Kiev regime it sponsors to end the bloodshed.

The main corporate beneficiaries making a financial killing from Ukraine are by far the American firms. They include such behemoths as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and RTX (formerly Raytheon). But also enjoying soaring profits are arms makers in other NATO countries: BAE in the United Kingdom, Airbus in France, Netherlands and Spain, Leonardo in Italy, and Germany’s Rheinmetall.

This week the Joe Biden administration requested another $24 billion in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to Ukraine. It’s hard to keep track of the money flowing from NATO countries to prop up the Nazi regime in Kiev. Even the NATO authorities don’t seem to know the precise figures, such is the rampant corruption that is inevitably associated with the vast doling of funds. But estimates of total U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine range from $150 billion to $200 billion over the past year alone.

Nearly a century ago, former U.S. Marine Corps General Smedley D Butler popularized the phrase, “war is a racket” as the title of his classic book in which he condemned how American capitalism profits obscenely from military invasions and killing.

Butler’s critique is as relevant today, perhaps more so, as evinced by the conflict in Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of monstrous profiteering from violence and death are the mounting social and economic crises from poverty and deprivation in Western nations. Last year, saw a record number of suicides in the United States, some 49,000 people, caused by growing acute material and psychological distress. Despite the massive unmet basic human needs in their own societies, elite Western leaders chose to prioritize fueling a proxy war with Russia. The aid for Ukraine this week requested by the Biden administration exceeds what his administration is earmarking to help the U.S. Pacific state of Hawaii and other American homeland states devastated by storms and wildfires this summer.

The continuation of the bloodletting and destruction in Ukraine is depravity. But, shamefully, it will go on because the Western forces driving it know of no other way. They are locked into an addictive slaughterhouse that defies all morality, legality and democratic principle.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:44pm

@snoopydawg

I am sure that it could easily be hidden as campaign contributions.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 5:19pm
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@humphrey

And it isn’t Biden who is getting kickbacks from the money going to defense companies. They have a huge lobby that makes sure that every congress member gets some of the money spent on defense back in campaign donations. I wonder if anyone has ever looked deep into campaign donations and whether all the money is used for that purpose? Anyone know?

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

Submitted by soryang on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 1:45pm
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Enjoyed reading this. I never really cared for Gonzalo, even before his first detention. This was just an intuitive response, my personal opinion doesn't mean anything. It's Scott's assessment not mine. An intel assessment rarely rises to a level of proof. What I liked about Scott's presentation was the description of the protocol/methods for online information warfare. In the past, I've had my own informal indicators for who an asset or troll may be in a community. Like many, been a part of several online communities over the years, left some, some disappeared for inexplicable reasons, a couple obviously had professional gatekeepers and trolls in mufti. This is just a hobby not a war.

Tim S. has found some good X tweets. He also has some posts on the history of the US in Korea, and US nuclear weapons deployments in South Korea. He usually covers Japan news reports as well.-

추억의 책장을 넘기면 SBS 신의 목소리-5회 20160504

This is a great rendition of Lee Sun-hee's 1990 hit by an amateur artist Jung Mi-hyeon. Lyrics and composition: Song Si-hyun
Turning the Pages of Memories

When I turn the pages of flickering memories
Unfulfilled yearning and painful regret
As in an old story. like dust on a faded window sill
accumulated in my heart, now like my distant love's smile

Even without rain showers, spring comes, then summer goes, oh my love
Even without tears, the flowers bloom, the leaves fall
My lingering longing, rises over the years
I fall asleep, dreaming

As in an old story. like dust on a faded window sill
accumulated in my heart, now like my distant love's smile

Even without rain showers, spring comes, then summer goes, oh my love
Even without tears, the flowers bloom, the leaves fall
My lingering longing, rises over the years

I fall asleep, dreaming
I fall asleep, dreaming

Found this video while browsing. Don't know what happened to this "amateur" singer. Had to do the English lyrics. I've always liked this song.

Thanks SOE for the OT. Not quite done with Pepe's video. Potluck is keeping me busy, and keeping my mind off my next trip to the hospital. Gotta bring the dog with us. My wife thinks there is an air conditioned area she can hang out in while waiting. A pre-op nurse said security probably wouldn't say anything. I hope not. Well, we had a several weeks of "normalcy" until now.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 3:32pm

@soryang

Hopefully everything goes according to plans.

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Submitted by soryang on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 6:10pm
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@humphrey I think everything will be fine. I won't have to stay there overnight. Just a few weeks to recover. I'm lucky the timing worked out. The VA got this scheduled more quickly than I anticipated. So I'll have plenty of time to get better before Ms. So heads off to see her friends and family in Seoul for a month which she missed last fall.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 7:39pm
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@soryang Korea. Been reading some of Tim's past work to better understand Korean history.

Until Abe's assassination I had associated Unification church with George Bush and South Korea, had missed the connection with Japan.

Sending good thoughts your way for the hospital stay. Hopefully short, then uneventful recovery in your own home. Sometimes boring is good.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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Submitted by soryang on Sun, 08/13/2023 - 12:51am
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@studentofearth ...is wonderful. I've been following him since the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration. I love his dives into the US-Korean history. I'm not sure he lives in DC only to have access to US government historical archives, but I know it's one of the reasons. Sometimes he's the classic liberal on US domestic politics, by which he's dating himself, but his coverage of Korean and Japanese issues is better than 99 plus percent of US media. He's also written alot about US intelligence issues.

Thanks for putting up the link to his web site.

I figure Moon of the Unification Church, and the Moonies were always intel related, connected to the Worldwide Anti-communist League, the CIA, the KCIA in South Korea, and the LDP in Japan from the early days. I didn't know the latter Japanese relationship until recently either. I figure the Sincheonji Church/cult which is very much a ringer for the Moonies, and the Sarang Jae-il Church, both in South Korea, are more of the same. I think both played key roles in spreading covid in South Korea, and working to get Yoon Seok-yeol elected president at the grass roots level.

(Source- JTBC News 8.17) Jeon Gwang-hun, leader of the Sarang Jaeil Church, and far right demagogue.

Minister Jeon tried to inject himself into a leading role of some sort in the PPP conservative party's election candidate selection process for the upcoming general elections in spring 2024. He was rebuffed by the Yoon faction which is defending its dominance of the party organization.

Shincheonji is responsible for Covid 19 getting out of control in South Korea
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/03/shincheonji-is-resp...

Shincheonji cult and the explosion of covid 19 cases in South Korea
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/02/shincheonji-cult-an...

South Korea: Corona virus welcoming party, Season 2
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/08/south-korea-corona-...

Thanks for the good wishes SOE and your Potluck OT. Enjoyed Tucker's interview with the Capitol Police Chief. I worked in DC for over 3 years, near the Mall. My subjective impression based on the tight security in the area when I worked there, a long time ago, was that the government laid down and let the invasion into the capitol building occur.

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Submitted by exindy on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 3:36pm

Like Bastian I am becoming very disturbed that what I read and experience about the unseen characters in my life story are somehow aware that they are able to hear or even see me at times. (If I borrow some words and thoughts describing The Neverending Story, I apologize).

I know I should be more enraged by the evils of my gov't and corporates and I'm resigned to believe I am helpless in so many cases. Neither voting nor demonstrating has made any difference so I just have another dose of my fukitol prescription washed down by a glass of wine (neither approved by my dr but...) and move on. Fortunately their moves are becoming so absurd they are humorous.

So I am concentrating on those situations that are so threatening to my personal security. These are experiences that have caused me some personal losses of functionality and finances. To start with perhaps I might present a couple of news items I saw this past week. I saw where a school district had been hacked:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The city of New Haven lost more than $6 million in multiple cyberattacks on its public school district earlier this summer and has so far managed to recoup about half of the money, officials announced Thursday.

The thefts, which occurred in June and involved hackers impersonating the city's chief operating officer and private vendors in emails, ...

Elicker said the cyber thieves gained access to the COO's public school email address in May, monitored online conversations with vendors and eventually inserted themselves into the conversations by impersonating the COO and the vendors. The thieves then made requests for electronic transfers to fraudulent accounts. A total of six payments were made...

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/connecticut-school-district-...

The implication in that story was that employees were partially at fault. Nothing about the lack of procedures within the email system to identify, isolate and block the external email. In my case, as in theirs, the emails were inserted into the email provider's threads. IOW the provider did not secure the comms I and they depended upon. BTW, since then I have made extensive changes to the hardware and software but I'm certain the situation still exists. Different but the same.

The second report was from Mayorkas and was presented in the CNN site:

Homeland Security report details how teen hackers exploited security weaknesses in some of the world’s biggest companies

A group of teenage hackers managed to breach some of the world’s biggest tech firms last year by exploiting systemic security weaknesses in US telecom carriers and the business supply chain, a US government review of the incidents has found, in what is a cautionary tale for America’s critical infrastructure.

The Department of Homeland Security-led review of the hacks, which was shared exclusively with CNN, determined US regulators should penalize telecom firms with lax security practices and Congress should consider funding programs to steer American youth away from cybercrime.

The investigation of the hacks – which hit companies like Microsoft and Samsung – found that, in general, it was far too easy for the cybercriminals to intercept text messages that corporate employees use to log into systems.
...
After a series of high-profile cyberattacks marked his first four months in office, President Joe Biden established the DHS-led Cyber Safety Review Board in 2021 to study the root causes of major hacking incidents and inform policy on how to prevent the next big cyberattack.
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The board’s first review, released in July 2022, concluded that it could take a decade to eradicate a vulnerability in software used by thousands of corporations and government agencies worldwide.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/10/politics/dhs-hacking-report/index.html

As usual our wonderful experts are blaming situation on the burglar for coming thru an open door and recommending a major spending/education effort to correct the burglar's evil ways.

Calling bullshit on this. Our corporate masters have built a system that is an absolute joke. Terrible coders and not a master Computer Scientist programmer within miles and miles... too expensive to staff and it might cause MSFT and Google to lose some market shares. Oh, and for sure the Android phone is loaded with the same bullshit.

In these systems the primary goal is increased profits with the damage to the user ignored.

Where is the IEEE, the IETF, the ACM, and the FCC with some real weapons to correct the laissez-faire regulatory system? Oh, I know we'll just hire some contractor who will hire some CS dropout to pump out some leaky java code and pretend that anticipation threads don't need to be cleaned up, nor does their leaky subroutines. Garbage collection is such a buzz kill.

From my forays into the PC code, I can easily see the glaring lack of security. We desperately need a comm sub system which cannot be compromised, not passed around like the phone number on a bar toilet door. SIM cards are extremely restrictive for honest people but a bag o' money for someone with $50 worth of hardware and a sniffer.

BTW, did you see who Brandon made the Education advisor? Another economist to replace the previous economist. Afterall, bankers make the best teachers and business admins. /s

Meh, enough of this... please stay well and be happy.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 7:50pm
studentofearth's picture

@exindy open holes in deployed code.

There was a period on time in the past couple years when neighbors or servicemen came near the house with a newer I-phone disabled bluetooth network connections on multiple computers were activated. At the moment seems limited to automatic Windows updates.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by exindy on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 8:47pm

@studentofearth

Win 11 is quite the trip (psychedelically thinking) and somewhat enjoyable. Not nearly as painful as it was in the beginning. Now it's a lot like a baby pulling on my nose.

Every morning when I first bring up the box I check to make sure that anything that is newly turned on is turned off. No background tasks.

My phones have no idea where the router is. Neither does my Honda. It nags me everyday and says I need to see the dealer. It has no idea who I am.

BTW, Corey Doctorow is doing some interesting stuff (https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys), particularly in his fight against the digital rights.

Thanks very much.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sun, 08/13/2023 - 12:51am
studentofearth's picture

@exindy

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Mon, 08/14/2023 - 10:02am
usefewersyllables's picture

@exindy

regarded Microsoft as the Krupp family for the new millenium: perfectly happy to sell weapons to both sides in the current cyberwars. Their OS program loader has always had security holes you can drive a truck through, and the window dressing they continually add in to "fix" that simply provides yet more holes to the bad guys to exploit. They won't do anything to reduce the requirement for expensive third-party security band-aids at this point- Mama Needz Nu Shooz, and all that. You don't even own the software any more- the "eternal rent" business model guarantees them cash flow ad infinitum.

Not a fan.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 4:40pm

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Submitted by Lookout on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 5:27pm
Lookout's picture

Late to the party today. Just been busy with the summer flush of chores and activities.

What to say about the state of the world? Lay down your bets, will WWIII start in Africa, Ukraine, Iran, or China?

I never liked aggressive assholes, but sadly it is the type of country where I live and was born. At least I have a nice holler to hide in as the collapse foments. My hope is still that economic failure will prevent/precede WWIII. We'll see.

Hope all's well on the homestead. Thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 8:00pm
studentofearth's picture

@Lookout Decided to spend most of the day in the house.

Agree

My hope is still that economic failure will prevent/precede WWIII. We'll see.

Homestead keeps getting more comfortable. I have been deliberately adding features I used to travel to experience.

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4 users have voted.
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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 10:09pm

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Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 08/12/2023 - 11:24pm

Started out this morning on an 8 hour drive to NC from AL. Intense traffic all the way. Wow. Yesterday's 9 1/2 hr drive from Texas was a cruise. Easy peasy.
Smiley7 is in fine fettle, will have pictures soon. Fridays OT most likely. Fun meet up.
Lira. Strange. I have an opinion about him being a CIA operative thingie, but I have an opinion, only. Great OT!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by studentofearth on Sun, 08/13/2023 - 12:58am
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@on the cusp to more details and pictures. I hope the rest of the journey is enjoyable.

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2 users have voted.
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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.