Open Thread 03-29-24 - Who is to Blame?
This is the clearing brush edition. I've been busy clearing brush all week, gotta' get it before it gets too hot. I haven't had time to do a proper write-up so I'll post one I had in the drafts for quite a while. It's unfinished and unpolished and hasn't been fleshed out so it's basically just an outline, so hopefully you can help fill it in.
Did you cause the wars we fight in?
Did you force the banks to become criminals?
Do you have military outposts all over the world?
Do you spy on your neighbors and friends?
If you have an argument with someone do you lock them up for disagreeing?
Do you threaten to blow up a neighbor's house because they wont bend to your will?
Do you use political influence to enrich yourself?
If you've done none of the above then who's to blame for the shape the country is in? Did any of us ask for any of this?
The government is to blame as they gaslight us to accept their blame as your own.
They want us to carry their guilt. If you don't vote it's your fault for not caring enough. If you do vote it's your fault for enabling them. If you speak out it's your fault for catapulting mis/mal/disinformation.
This government is the problem. It's the governments fault, they are to blame for the shape this country is in, not we the people. But we all may pay the piper when the rest of the world has had enough of us.
Delaney & Bonnie
Comments
Good morning Free Rangers...
The world's in a tangle, much like the brush I need to clear.
I'll be busy most of the day today. I'll try to pop in when I can.
Can't shoulder the blame for the friggen blob
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that runs this joint. I do take responsibility for my own actions.
I am embarrassed by the policies of our gubbmint. In retrospect,
wish I had acted on the impulses to settle in foreign lands. Would
probably not feel the guilt of being a member of this whacky empire.
question everything
You mean our bought and paid for government are to blame?
Cause I would agree. I wish the pols had to wear coats advertising who is paying them...
Whatta screwed up system!
Hope the brush clearing goes well! I've been collecting rocks to repair the ford next summer. It was 40F this AM so Mr. Nohips isn't active. In summer they are common in the rock piles. Francis and her sister picked up and piled all those rocks in what she called the old potato field. She would tear up about how hard it was. Times were hard decades ago, and might be again.
I used the old tractor with the back scoop attached and it was a pretty easy job.
Have a great weekend! Thanks for the OT.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Word of advice, generally, post fifties Fords suck;
don't fix it, Junk it. Throwing rocks at it won't help, though it probably deserves it.
be well and have a good one
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 --
Only ford vehicle I have is a '63 4000 tractor...
The ford to repair crosses the creek. Got washed away.
...the tractor's a gem. The 40+YO toyota is in the shop getting better brakes and tighter steering. My 32 YO Geo had to have a valve replaced, but is running well.
We drive 'em till the wheels fall off.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I figured that you meant the kind used to cross a
watercourse, but couldn't resist taking a shot at that famous acronym:
"Fix Or Repair Daily", alternatively:
"Found On Road Dead"
Thanks for giving me a second shot. ;-D
be well and have a good one
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 --
Government of the people,
by the people, and for the people gives the world the impression we, the people, are squarely to blame.
The rest of the world does not know that if we speak out against our government, we get a visit from the FBI. If we went beyond speech to action, we would risk getting shot.
In this respect, we are truly exceptional.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Agonizingly true.
I take exception to our exceptionalism. But not enough to get dead for my beliefs...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Needs definition, in this case looking to original
meaning:
For some purposes (apportionment) - Free persons excluding Indians not taxed and three fifths of all other persons -
Otherwise (voting) white male property owners
be well and have a good one
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 --
We are, at this moment, exceptional
be well and have a good one
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 --
Once again you have hit upon the problem
But before we look into the problem we need to define the enemy, the factors.
What is the government of which we speak? Is it the one we learned long ago in a civics class when we had a civics class? Or is it some other entity that has been labeled as our government?
Is it made up of our 3 branches divided and determined by our constitution? Maybe we should just skip over that one because the issue is very complicated at this point and it will be like nailing jello to a wall.
Is it our state department, the one which has redefined their mission and functions to match what they want? What about the factions within it?
Is it our intelligence departments? Hmm, which one?
Is it our pentagon? Which faction?
We might just skip over the internal staff within these departments tho realizing they exist and have their own semi-independent domains. We might even skip the fake-assed cabinets departments also. The ones which are supposedly part of our gov't but are really just a joke, like USPS, Edu, etc.
Oh crap, this would take way too long. As a matter of fact, we have so much gov't we ain't got one.
Just who the hel are those soldiers freezing in the far north in some far off land working for? This week?
Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to vent. Getting ready to work on divorcing myself from T-Mobile/Samsung/google/.... ad infinitum. Of course I'll be escaping one cage and into another.
Be well all.
Now what about the pseudo gov't... the IMF, Fed reserve, internets, etc?
How about google? MSFT? Lilly?
It's Russia's fault, right?
Isn't it always Russia's fault?
Russia veto ends UN monitoring of North Korea sanctions after arms transfer probe
Except that South Korea has been providing artillery shells to Ukraine, and providing a massive arms package to Poland.
[Column] Korea’s predicament in the wake of Nuland’s retirement
Poland, South Korea wrangle over big-ticket weapons financing
President Yoon promoted these weapon agreements after he came into office. With respect to furnishing 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, Yoon's first National Security Advisor and Presidential Office Foreign Secretary were allegedly opposed and consequently sacked. Objections were allegedly picked up on a CIA listening device hidden in the presidential office. Shortly after they were dismissed by Yoon and replaced with more pliable staff who would take orders from Kim Tae-pyo who ostensibly is the principal "First Deputy National Security Advisor" in the presidential office. This was the so called March 2023 purge.
This was a similar bridge collapse near St. Petersburg in 1980.
Baltimore bridge collapse echoes 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in Tampa Bay
Based on my OTR driving experience, I expected the Horace Wilkinson Bridge, which opened in 1968 on I-10 over the Mississippi near Baton Rouge to collapse every time I drove over it. The heavier the load on it the more it trembled as if about to fail. I never experienced vibration to that degree on any other bridge and never got used to it. Supposedly, they are planning to build a new bridge in the area to take local traffic off of the interstate bridge.
It Takes a Long Time to Bridge the Mississippi River
(edited typos)
語必忠信 行必正直
Speaking of bridges.
Just over 4 years to rebuild skyway
...I read that somewhere. It's a suspension bridge. The span is about 180 ft above sea level. Not high enough for the largest cruise ships, some have complained. Apparently, there was a big problem with suicides for a while until they prepared a barrier for jumpers. Very beautiful to drive across. Once when I was driving across a B-1 bomber was using it as a fix, or a coast in point, probably just showing off and did a flare turn right in front of the main span. Hot dog I guess. I remember thinking, what if he missed it, and turned too wide?
語必忠信 行必正直
According to Reuters,
Putin has said:
This is somewhat overdue. I've been waiting for him to attack the supply lines, whether airlift or sealift. He has now basically said "If you try to hide your F-16s in some third country, and you use them against Russia, then I reserve the right to destroy them wherever they hide." This will represent an escalation right into several NATO bases, and will not end well.
He's now on record telling us what will happen. We could choose not to continue poking the bear. We haven't, we and won't. This escalation will occur, and soon. And shortly after that, things will turn truly ugly.
Ukraine is lost, and has been for a couple of years. It astonishes me that there are people who believe that continued and escalating provocation is a wise course of action. There will be bloodshed and destruction, and it will not be limited to "those people" or to the places "over there".
It really does appear that the only way for people to *wake up* to this reality will be for us to lose a few cities of our own. That might finally get people to look up from March Madness and/or Kim Kardashian's butt for a few minutes...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
This should happen to him and various other spokespersons
feeding the public numerous lies.
Well, the good news
is that the Trumpian new broom will sweep all these imbeciles clean, after he wins in a walk in November.
I won't vote for Trump, but I sure as hell won't vote for any semblance of the current administration to remain in power. They are actively and unrepentantly attempting to start WWIII, in full view of Gawd and everybody capable of fogging a mirror. And for that, I will not forgive or forget.
I just hope that we live that long.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
She appears not to like what he had to say.
We should
put the blame on Mame.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
OTC…an update on Medicare Advantage
.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-urged-to-hold-the-line-against-f...
Biden is going to raise the rates insurers can charge for MA coverage. The article states that it over bills the government $140 billion a year which is enough to cover everyone’s part B coverage. It’s funded by both the government and private insurance companies and of course the government knows that it’s full of fraud.
The guy who helped me decide what I should get sells it and has his parents on it. I told him how bad it is, but he wouldn’t listen. I wonder if any of the people he talked into it have ever called him and told him their problems?
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
rename it
Medicare Disadvantage.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981