Saturday Open Thread - 5/25/24: Odds and Ends

Good morning, everyone!

I came across some news that Target and Walmart are noticing drops in sales and are now dropping their prices on essentials, such as food and clothing. Poor people have hit their limit on what they can spend. (Target and Walmart finally noticed?)

Walmart says they just want to help people. They are so altruistic, amirite?

I have had some wonderful critter sightings this week. 3 rabbits in the yard. A large white tail doe just outside my yard fence. Six baby toads on my patio, all the size of my little finger fingernail.

One raccoon (little bandit!). Bluebirds coming to the bird bath. Grasshoppers. Remember when grasshoppers were all over the place? I might go all spring and summer without seeing one. I have traveled the planet to see critters.

A grasshopper learning a skill:

I have mentioned a friend/client won the primary against the incumbent county sheriff. The margin of the win didn't give the sheriff an automatic runoff, but he paid for a recount to justify one, as allowed by the Texas Election Code. My friend gained 5 votes, the sheriff gained 1. Monday evening, I got a call from my friend. Seems he had his campaign brochure, cards and mailers, done by a business run by a woman. He had his signs made by a man with a business. Out of the blue, a deputy with a search warrant raided their respective offices to search for evidence of all transactions between them and my friend. These were criminal search warrants from the sheriff's office. Well, I didn't get to bed until after 1 am that night. We have called on the Texas Ranger assigned to this county to investigate the sheriff. I have been warning my friend that he could become the 7th person in politics or in office to be charged with phony crap, a "thing" that began in 2006, continues to this day.

Tuesday evening, seems the friend was served with a civil suit, brought by the sheriff, alleging the election was fraudulent. If he prevails, he gets a runoff. Another late night trying to figure out the petition, the lawyer, wtf was the basis.

Wednesday, all day and until 11 pm, I was networking with attorneys who are experienced in election law litigation. Man, did I learn a lot! Trump's election results challenges have sprung up a what is now a niche area of law that is lucrative and can put a baby lawyer's practice in the top tier. Just after the primary this spring, 22 judge races in Harris County were contested by these Election Code lawsuits. That is a first. Losers everywhere in any primary or any election can sue. The actual evidence to prove their case is not in their hands until they sue and get it in pre-trial discovery. Tax payers foot the bill for the new runoffs, btw. It is crazy! If it hasn't come your way, it will.

I also mention I may have unknowingly represented the first trans in a custody fight in the particular county where the initial hearing took place. My client alleged baby mom grows/sells pot. My first witness was a guy she tried to sell her wonderful homegrown weed to, at a competitive price.

She represented herself. The judge allowed her to testify by basically telling him what she wanted him to know about the parent who could provide for the best interest of the child. Out of the blue, she said she did not want her 4 yr old son to be raised by Dad who is transitioning, wearing dresses, on websites with men who were doing the dating video thing. On cross examination, I made no mention of that, asked her about where she grew her pot, where she sold it, how could she afford fertilizer and a car and everything to survive, with no job. She took the 5th. We got custody, the judge tore her up about how the 5th works great in criminal court, not worth anything in family court.

This judge has been around as long as I have, and we have been friends for almost 4 decades, and he is a prude and can't stand hearing randy jokes, much less sex habit testimony. I figured he would be appalled. He got over his prudish mindset and did the right thing.

Is everyone as tired of supporting Ukraine and Israel as I am? Is everyone glad Biden's release of gas reserves will lower gas prices? Is everyone scratching their head how the climate change agenda just got revealed as bs when it comes to getting elected President? Or supporting a war?

Enough from me, your turn, friends!

This is an Open Thread. Any and all topics are welcomed and appreciated.

What up in your neck of the woods?
Let 'er rip!

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My dr. conceded that thrips did cause the red spots, said my use of Skin So Soft as a repellent was a good protocol.
Now, as Dear One constantly asks, "What's your bag?"

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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

enhydra lutris's picture

though the experiences sound like less than fun to participate in, except for the critter spotting. Can't wait for all the election suits to hit here too. A couple of follow ups to your Tokens tune:

1) The original, 1939 version - note the title

2) Another version of Mbube, as such, in xhosa, I believe

Decided to add Ladysmith Black Mambazo:

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 --

@enhydra lutris I love music from Africa, Spain, the Caribbean, Mexico...
The lawyers with whom I networked are some of the best of the best. One in particular, was able to overturn a murder conviction and lobbied to change Texas law forever. District attorneys no longer decide what evidence is mitigating or exculpatory. Now, they must disclose all of it to the defense attorney, or face felony charges.
Later today, I intend to watch this documentary about the famous Michael Morton murder case. My new friend was his attorney. He worked 7 years on the appeal, pro bono. I think of attorneys such as he when I hear nasty attorney jokes and smears.
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/an-unreal-dream-the-michael-morton-story

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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

snoopydawg's picture

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Larry and Ray discuss the latest ICJ ruling.

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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

@snoopydawg That makes 2 videos I will watch today, so far!
The US is pushing the legitimacy of the arrest warrant for Putin, the arrest warrant for Bibi is totally illegitimate. I swear, I just can't reconcile that in my mind.
I am hoping their discussion can help us all understand wtf is really going on.

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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

snoopydawg's picture

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There’s that.

Damn again…it’s too bad that I’m banned.

But I wonder what our resident pro Ukraine supporter would think of this and how he would explain that it’s okay for Ukraine's military to be full of Nazis.

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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

@snoopydawg almost succeeded in shooting my Dad in two. Any support of a f'cking Nazi brings out considerable hatred in me. He suffered 61 years for fighting Nazis.
WWII soldiers are rolling in their graves.

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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

snoopydawg's picture

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Will the Trump Jury Exercise Blind Justice or Willful Blindness?

Indeed, Bragg is expected to finally state with clarity what he is alleging … at the closing arguments of the case. In the meantime, the prosecution is pushing to make it easier for the jury to convict. First, they have vaguely referenced a variety of possible offenses from tax to election violations. Bragg initially laid out four possible predicate crimes. It is down to three – a tax crime and violations of state or federal election law. Merchan has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what crimes were being covered up so the jury could literally have three different views of what happened in the case and still convict Trump. Prosecutors are also seeking to effectively shorten the playing field by allowing the jurors to convict on a lower standard of proof for the key term in using “unlawful means.” The defense wants the jury instructed that it must find that such use of “unlawful means” was done with willful intent.

Remember that the statute of limitations had expired and the Biden DoJ refused to prosecute Trump for this alleged misdemeanor . It’s not illegal to pay someone to shut up. Plus the payment to Cohen happened after the election. Dunno if you’ve been following the trial, but it’s certainly shown a cesspool of corruption on Cohen's part. He even admitted that he stole $30,000 from Trump.

Also Merchan's daughter is a huge fundraiser for Democrats and the donations she has been getting have increased since the start of the trial. No conflict of interest there I’m sure.

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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

@snoopydawg attention to this case. The MSM is hysterically pro-prosecution and alt media, mostly right wing, rail on about how it is illegal.
The judge should have been recused. The trial venue should have been moved to another location. If it goes against Trump, expect the Republicans to demand the same treatment for all Bidens, top to bottom. More lawfare in our future. I see it in my community, and described it in this OT.
Government law enforcement agencies should not make decisions on cases for political reasons, or for intimidation of politicians. The FBI searching Mar-a-lago with deadly force readiness comes very close to Fascist 3rd Reich tactics. Those agents were safer searching Trumps home than they would be in my neighborhood. In my lifetime, a local rancher murdered an IRS agent who had come to seize and confiscate his cattle for non-payment of taxes. You'd think the FBI and Trump's Secret Service folks could communicate, wouldn't you?

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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

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

Merchan has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what crimes were being covered up so the jury could literally have three different views of what happened in the case and still convict Trump. Prosecutors are also seeking to effectively shorten the playing field by allowing the jurors to convict on a lower standard of proof for the key term in using “unlawful means

That seems like they are rigging it so even if the prosecution hasn’t defined the crime or proven its case the jury can still find Trump guilty of pissing people off because he won the election. Remember that these were misdemeanors, but rigged into felonies. After it expired.

Hell, Hillary broke all kinds of election laws by paying the Russia gate swamp to make shit up on Trump which Durham sorta proved and she only had to pay a small fine. Trump signed some checks after the election….
And F'ing a porn star whose business relies on F'ing men isn’t illegal either. And her testimony was only to embarrass Trump. Heh…I doubt that would work after his wife with a sordid past was the 1st Lady.

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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

@snoopydawg The "charge to the jury" is a critical stage in a trial. Each proposed charge, one by one side, one by the opponent, has to be decided by a judge. We know this particular judge as biases.

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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

@snoopydawg that appears to be a minute to minute report on the jury charge arguments.
Looks as though the prosecutors won every one of their arguments, so the final jury deliberations will not have to find unanimously that there was intent to commit a crime.
Unbelievable.

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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

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
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what kind of creative justice system are they creating?
guilty on one count, not guilty on others, therefore
just guilty. This is an abstraction of justice, made to
keep Trump out of running for reelection. Plain and simple.

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truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

@QMS I will check that local news reporter Tuesday. He will hear the summations of the prosecutors and defense. That should be a spectacular shit show.

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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

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

That should be a spectacular shit show.

It has been all along so why change things now? I’m betting that the jury is so biased that even if the prosecutor was found to be lying they would convict anyway. Turley said that the judge should do a directed verdict and throw the trial out. But it’s obvious from his rulings that he too is biased. There are 2 lawyers on the jury and hopefully they will be true to their values. I think if he’s found guilty it will be overturned on appeal, but by then the election will be over. How can Bragg find 34 felony charges on a misdemeanor that has expired?

On the documents case it’s obvious that the evidence was tampered with and the case should be thrown out. Instead shitlibs are livid with the judge and wants her replaced.

The FBI took the files out of the boxes and put classified paper on top of the files and then they leaked the photos to newspapers.

On the RICO charges case the AG hired her lover and he took her on expensive vacations laundering his high salary back to her. The judge ruled that one or ta'there should be retired from the case. Lawyers commenting on the ruling say that both should have been expelled.

Meanwhile Trump is still in the news daily just like he has been for the last 7 years. I’m still getting vibes that he is a patsy going along with this farce. He’s just as bad as the Hellabitch. Neither one of them has gone away after they both lost their election. Are we being played? Probably. Just can’t wait to see what happens at the Chicago convention. Hope y’all are stocking up on popcorn. I’m stocking up on wine and potatoe chips.

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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

usefewersyllables's picture

our floating pier off Gaza has broken loose in heavy seas, and beached itself- along with a couple of our support vessels that were trying to retrieve it. That’s what happens when you let the Army drive boats, I guess.

Who could possibly have foreseen that there might be weather this time of year? I mean, it’s like Indianapolis, where it never rains in the summertime, amirite?

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bidens-320m-gaza-pier-has-detache...

Sigh…

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables spend on that stupid and unnecessary pier, all the while making sitting duck targets of our military personnel?
Thanks, ufs, and I will read the article this evening.

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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

@usefewersyllables a shit show?

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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

snoopydawg's picture

@usefewersyllables

One was towing the pier when it broke away and the ship sent to tow it off the beach also beached itself.
Someone pointed out how well the military worked during ww2 when we did operation D day. We can’t even build ships that run anymore. But people are still getting paid.

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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

QMS's picture

@snoopydawg
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urine the navy now

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soryang's picture

The Story of an Old Couple in Their 60s 어느 60대 노부부 이야기

You fixed my tie with your two pretty white hands
I vaguely recall, honey, do you remember that time?
The nights we spent sleepless, during our youngest son’s college exams
I vaguely recall, honey, do you remember that time?

Time rushed by, we arrived at this point.
That's how life goes, as twilight nears.

The tears I shed on my eldest daughter’s wedding day
Now they are all dry, honey, do you remember those tears?
As time went by, our hair became grey.
As everyone left us, honey, you held my hand tightly.

Time rushed by, we arrived at this point.
That's how life goes, as twilight nears.

How can I go back to that long road alone without you?
Honey, you left me alone here, why don't you say something?
Honey, goodbye, go peacefully
Honey, goodbye, go peacefully
Honey, goodbye go peacefully

Lyrics, music composed, and originally performed by Kim Mok-kyeong 김목경

English nickname "Hero" 英雄. 林英雄 임영웅 Lim Young-woong performed this on a Mr. Trot broadcast ( another video of Lim of this song recorded on youtube has 47 million hits). Two of his other popular performances in this vein are "What about my age?" and "If You Smile, You'll Get Younger, If You Get Angry, You'll Only Get Older" Lim is the leading male Trot artist in the younger generation today. He also does ballads, and Kpop. He has widespread appeal. I'll skip the anecdote how I learned of this artist a couple of days ago. Apparently, most of his performance videos are under copyright restrictions, and don't appear on youtube where his channel has one million followers.

傳立民 chuan limin (Chas Freeman) 傳 chuan in common usage means spread, disseminate. Here's another Charles Freeman excerpt from Dialogue works.

I'm just about over the acute effects of my surgery. I feel my strength or what's left of it at this point coming back. Ki is probably the better word. So I walked smokey last night a couple of blocks. Now I just have to hear the verdict so to speak which is supposed to come in several days.

Ms. So was my driver, so she had to wait outside. I recognized two of the pre-op nurses from my surgery last August. They were great! The doctors were very impersonal, even mechanical in their demeanor. I guess that's to be expected. One of the nurses was a Philippine-American; she was wonderful. She had just taken a vacation in Seoul, and was telling me about visiting Changdeokgung, palace grounds in Seoul, where she dressed up in a traditional Hanbok. She must have looked beautiful walking about the Secret Garden (often used as a movie set). She was so excited to tell me about it, the Kdramas she watched, and the Korean words she knew. She kept coming back to "check on" on an old man while I waited to get rolled out to an OR on the assembly line. She really put my mind at ease.

Poor Ms. So, she took over when I woke up. Where would I be without her support for a spouse even more debilitated than usual? She laughed when I told her about my nurse having visited Seoul recently. "Oh, so she did the standard tourist routine?" I said yes, and we both had a good laugh.

Thanks for the Odds and Ends On the Cusp. One of my few regrets is that I never did volunteer death penalty appellate work. I think its such a worthwhile cause. In the distant past, I've been known to write a few worthwhile appeal briefs. I did get one felony client out of Leavenworth once with an emergency habeas brief to the appellate court. I received harassment, bad evals, and ridicule while working at the Trial Defense Service. It ruined my career. I even got a death threat from a military officer. While working as a public defender much later I was harassed by local officials including police, deputies, and one judge in particular. Same routine. Even my superiors gave me s..t. F.. em all! See you in my rear view mirror.

Admire your talent, tenacity and resourcefulness, OTC. Keep up the good work! 힘내세요!

(edit- typos) (sorry- I had to fix em )

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語必忠信 行必正直

@soryang Now, I have a 3rd video to watch today!
And beautiful music to hear!
Defense attorneys are targets. Same here for death threats, being removed from court appointment lists, followed and even investigated by police, and nothing confirms I was doing the right thing more convincingly than when I was shot at.
If it ain't surgery that screw you up, it is post-op rehab. It takes such a long time to see the benefits, particularly as we age.
Please give your wife a hug from me. Much respect.
Throw in a hug for Smokey, while you are at it.
Please take good care of yourself.

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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

QMS's picture

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somehow, I don't think you are intimidated by
crooked law enforcement types
they would be up against an unmovable force

keep on with the good fight
and thanks for the OT!

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@QMS I hate keeping a watch over my shoulder because of crooked cops. My time and attention would be better spent on other things.
The cops did not investigate the incident when that bullet whizzed over my head from 40 yards away, and they didn't investigate the death threat I received in a letter, or the one I got in a phone call. The only investigation they ever did was to try to connect me to the drug trade. After a year, they gave it up.
The handful of honest cops I have known vs. the hundreds of crooked ones I have known makes me think the first criteria to become a cop is to be a murderous thug.
No rain in the forecast, but next week, temps will be in the high 90s. My guess is this will be a record setting hot summer, with no rain. I expect outside watering to be rationed by July.
What a world!
Take good care, and go sailing, mind and body.

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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

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
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wouldn't wanna mess with you ashore or otherwise Wink

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@QMS Well, so far, I have only had to make my point to an FBI agent by disarming him, then pointing said gun at his pants zipper area,and threaten to shoot his dick off.
Gotta say, it really worked well for me.

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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

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
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of the lashed headsail on the prow of the ship?
Means she went thru some mighty heavy weather.
Reminds me of a few characters like you.

Bien suerte.

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truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

@QMS One way or another, none of us escape heavy weather and associated dangers, do we?
Nobody can expect life to be continuous smooth sailing.
Now more than ever before.
I ran across a meme that was the situation young people are in: they go to college, owe student loans for the rest of their lives, get educated and trained for jobs that no longer exist.
The waves are swamping them before they attain voting age.
I am glad I am old.

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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

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
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in favor of paid training in the trades
that's our future

better to hit the heavy weather
early in the voyage

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@QMS school, get a job, pay your own way to a college degree in your own time, your own schedule, if you just desire to be further educated.
That advice coming from me, 9 years of higher ed, many of which were merely for fun and to satisfy my curiosity. The only time I got a student loan was for 4 semesters of law school. It took me 5 semesters to graduate. I paid installments for 10 years. Big celebration when I sent in that last payment!

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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

Pluto's Republic's picture

There is always something going on worth chatting about. And everyone knows everyone for absolutely ever. Always something going on. In fact I'm looking to relocate....

Anyway, I am reposting, below, a video from Soryang's interesting essay last week, "US tone deaf to East Asian history.." Those who haven't seen it will discover exceptional information about the US war to bring down China's economy. The video is by Cyrus Janssen, who has lived in and reported on China (and Chinese business) for many years.

Here he tells viewers about the US's massive new sanctions attack on China's economy, and shows why it is going to have a profoundly negative impact on US consumers.

Joe Biden has just passed numerous tariffs against China. But these tariffs will not help America close the manufacturing gap with China, nor will it stop China's rise. The real loser in this entire trade war is the American consumer who will pay more for the products they need.

In today's video we break down the new tariffs against China, the myth of overcapacity and how the US is facing an inconsistency problem.

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If China is the hill the US empire has chosen to die on. then it's worth taking a look at how that comes down so we can all remain on the same page. The video offers many examples of China's genius. Keep in mind, China has no intention of attacking or going to war with anyone. To the Chinese, that woiuld signify failure. This is also reflected in the way China governs in the modern era.

China follows and perfects the ancient conflict strategy of Sun Tzu (544–496 BC) — maneuvering the enemy into untenable positions for actual battle. If the enemy forcefully rushes an attack, China suddenly steps aside and the enemy topples off a cliff, unable to stop. China reaches agreements only through 'consensus' because it understands that forced or unfair agreements lead to greater conflicts in the future. These are known-knowns that the US Neocon coup government cannot begin to fathom. In the end, the US will be the sole author of its own demise — because that is the road that it travels. US leaders have no wisdom or enlightenment, and are intellectually stunted.
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Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Patriot Lawrence details how Clinton screwed both the working and middle classes when he passed nafta because the globalist parasites wanted higher profits. Over 1 million jobs were lost and twice as many in the companies that supported the factories.

He points to a picture of the rose garden signing ceremony that has leaders of a few unions that Biden is screwing with his signature. Mostly young and minorities who don’t understand what Biden is doing.

https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/23/patrick-lawrence-the-price-of-bidens-n...

He talks about the car his dad bought in 1956 back when companies made products that would last and how they changed into cheaper products that have led to our current crapification that break down quickly so people have to keep buying new ones.

2 things I thank Trump for. Keeping Her out of the WH and canceling Obama’s TPP that would have screwed us even more.

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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

Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg

.One of the great moments in World history.

So glad I got to see that.

He was so unbelievably dumb. He never figured out who the Neocons were. Unbelievable. He kept appointing Neocons, then firing their crazy asses. Then, he would appoint another Neocon. Rinse, Repeat. It was complete chaos. They kept tricking him into committing war crimes and fellating Netanyahu. Good times!

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Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Sheldon Anderson. They were all Israel protectionists. Elliot Abrams was dredged from the deepest swamp and put in charge of regime change in Venezuela. Omar really gave him hell at his appointment hearing.

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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

QMS's picture

@Pluto's Republic

it floats! Try that Detroit.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@QMS

I was so knocked out by the video review of China's fabulous EV vehicle I wads ready to buy. But could I make such a purchase here on the American Plantation?

I began to research how to do so. Our US Overlords just slammed China's new EV breakthrough car with global sanctions of 100 percent in order to kill imports and sales of the vehicle in the US and other Western nations. It looks like a mortal blow to China's economy. However, in the process of my research, I discovered something astonishing that I had totally missed.

(Ahem.... You need to get up pretty damned early in the morning to put something over on the Chinese! They've already retaliated before you even commit your stupid crime**.)

It turns out while the US has been busy waging a proxy war against Russia — China has been busy building a vast factory city just south of the Texas-Mexico border, the size of Los Angeles. (A very slight exaggeration. It's massive.) The BYD EV is being produced there. And, thanks to NAFTA and its protectionist offshoots, there are no tariffs on anything produced in North America. Hahahaha.

I plan to take delivery on one of those low cost miracles of Chinese ingenuity.

Thanks, Mexico!

_________________
** The fact is,China's response to the escalating US attacks on China's economy is probably what follows:

From Business Insider outside its paywall:


China ramps up de-dollarization efforts by dumping a record amount of US bonds

Filip De Mott
Tue, May 21, 2024

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China sold a record $53.3 billion worth of Treasurys and agency bonds in the first-quarter, Bloomberg reported.

It previously unloaded US debt to prop up its yuan, which has again grown weak against a rallying dollar.

The country is piling into gold, which now makes up the highest share of its reserves since 2015.

China unloaded a record volume of US bonds in the first quarter, escalating the country's pivot away from dollar-denominated assets.

According to US Treasury data cited by Bloomberg, Beijing sold $53.3 billion worth of US Treasury and agency bonds from its stockpile.

That's above already eye-catching volumes China was offloading last year. Altogether, one estimate has calculated that the country has sold $300 billion of US Treasurys between 2021 and mid-2023. China's selling grew to the point that markets worried about higher yields.

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$300 billion? What a coincidence! That's exactly what the US stole from Russia after it began its de-nazification SMO in Ukraine. What comes around goes around, I guess.

But now, China seems to be accelerating its step back from the dollar, as trade relations seem unlikely to improve between Beijing and the US.

By last year, China was already discarding US debt to prop up its yuan, given considerable declines against the dollar. This could again be the case, as the greenback has rallied heavily on hawkish US monetary policy.

In fact, the US Dollar Index has reached as high as 4.9% year-to-date, while the yuan has only trailed lower. This has made imports into the country expensive and could be a trend that only gets worse: that's if rising US protectionism continues to prop up the greenback.

Most recently, that's as the Biden Administration has announced tariffs on a slew of advanced Chinese products, targeting everything from electric vehicles to batteries. Even if former President Donald Trump wins back the White House come November, he has promised to apply tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese imports.

To diversify from the dollar, Beijing is also diving harder into purchasing gold. Now, the metal makes up a 4.9% of Chinese reserves, the highest since at least 2015, Bloomberg said. It's a trend followed by other central banks as well, who have been snapping up bullion at record speeds.

But dollar strength isn't the only thing motivating these trends. China is also de-dollarizing its reserves as part of a broader movement to diversify global finance, and chip at dollar dominance.

Fear of US sanctions first triggered this pattern among central banks, after witnessing how the West applied dollar restrictions on Russia in 2022.

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Read the original article on Business Insider.

View Comments (433)

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Look at all those reader comments!

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3 users have voted.
Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
QMS's picture

@Pluto's Republic
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working around US sanctions. The Biden regime argument 'it is protecting US jobs'
is total BS. Ask anyone in the 'rust belt' where the jobs went. US corps offshored
manufacturing to squeeze out profits. It is a bit late in the game to pretend the US
economy is anything but a financial smoke screen. Propaganda only buys votes.

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2 users have voted.

truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

Pluto's Republic's picture

@QMS

protecting US jobs'
is total BS. Ask anyone in the 'rust belt'

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I predict these guys and their kids are going to swimming the Rio Grand in the other direction by next year, trying to get into Mexico and score factory jobs from the Chinese. China just built 12,000 very nice family homes that workers can easily afford. The whole factory city is surrounded by theaters, shopping malls and entertainment plazas, schools, hospitals, and institutes of higher learning.

Right under our noses.

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2 users have voted.
Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
soryang's picture

@Pluto's Republic

I still have two copies of the book. One is just an old paperback, the other is a fancy gift version. I packed them somewhere after the flood, I don't know which of the fifty odd boxes it's stored in.

I'm listening to Danny Haiphong going over the various media reports about the PLA's military exercises around Taiwan.

I think anyone who has read or heard about the various "war games" played out by the think tankers, that US aggravation of this Taiwan situation is a very ill conceived policy. The same goes for the futile attempts to sabotage the Chinese economy. The same goes for the US plan to "strangle China."

The US policy on Taiwan is just another version of the old 50s "roll back the iron curtain" nonsense. No one is going to "roll back" anything within Chinese national security interests without provoking a terrible war. As with the continued screwing around with Russian national security interests in Ukraine, a real risk of nuclear war is present. In one or another of the strategic analyses I've read over the years, the US policy is the "crazy uncle" policy. In other words, a US "diplomat" may say something like, yeah, well, I get what you're saying, but you never know what my crazy uncle might do. This is why they are always saying one thing and doing another. This is what Trump was doing with his "fire and fury" threats to North Korea. I'm just using that as an example. Now, Biden is no less the "crazy uncle." Barring some unforeseen miracle, I would expect that should anyone other than the known characters we're familiar with, including Hillary, we are going to continue to see the "crazy uncle" routine.

US nuclear threats did nothing to stop China from defending North Korea during the Korean conflict. The Chinese drew a red line in North Korea and the US ignored it. Result Chinese invasion of North Korea.

Thanks Pluto's Republic.

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6 users have voted.

語必忠信 行必正直

@soryang This, at a time when our Navy SUCKS! We can't do this.
Why can't we accept a 3rd or 4th place in the global power structure? ESPECIALLY when 1, 2, 3 have no desire or intention to do to us what we want to do to them?
GAAHHH!!!

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6 users have voted.

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

@Pluto's Republic Let me know in the pms what you want.
I know east, central, north Texas, not so much south or west, for reasons.
We are renown for being the Friendly State. You don't have to live here long to be forever friends with your community.

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4 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

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prisoners of war, their own citizens including children and foreign mercenaries from '3rd world' countries. Well I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since they are actual Nazis that follow the Nazi ideology. And you don’t think Biden, et al knows about this just like they know what Israel is doing.

Lethal operations and sadistic experiments: the Ukraine’s secret “medical” unit conducts inhumane experiments on living people

Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice have found out that one of the special military-medical formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) called Unit No. 110 conducts banned secret experiments on people. The victims of inhuman biological experiments in a strictly classified laboratory were Ukrainian citizens (adults and children), foreign mercenaries from “third world” countries, as well as Russian prisoners of war

The patients were subjected to complex and lethal medical manipulations similar to torture, including medical drug testing, frostbite, radiation, electric shocks, vivisection and dismemberment. The experiments are aimed at testing the limits of the human body’s survivability, trying out the effects of new bioweapons, drugs and stimulants.

But Putin was given an arrest warrant for getting children out of a war zone. Will the UN ever investigate these types of crimes against humanity? Bush and Obama got away with doing it as did many of the people who were just following orders.

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8 users have voted.

“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

@snoopydawg I asked for some clothes and books on the Second World War, and the concentration camps, for my Christmas and birthday presents.
When I visited 2 camps, I already knew, more or less, what to expect.
Still, I saw more "techniques". 4ft/by 4ft/by 6ft deep cells, interior decorated with barbed wire. Standing on them barefoot, standing up straight to dig into your head, or, lying down to dig into your body, crammed full of 30 or more prisoners. Another: near freezing water in a circular pool, a mound with sloping sides place to stand in the middle that was frozen and slippery cement, 24-7, buck naked. Another: save bullets by putting a man and woman in a freezing cell and seeing how long intercourse can keep them warm and alive. Another: poke a water hose down the prisoner's mouth and see how much water it takes to explode their stomachs. And another: cut open a person, dose the wounds with poison, or with a deadly bacteria or virus, time their death.
In all of these dreadful tactics, cost effectiveness, including limits bodies could withstand before dying, was the goal of the Nazis.
And they have never gone away.
And the cheapest, most effective way to get the intended persons gone was the gas chambers. The US pre-WWII was instrumental in the chemicals and formulation of the capsules Nazis used.
We are not, nor have we ever been, the good guys.
What do you want to bet we are giving assist in medical protocol and so forth, to Unit 11O? A couple of bucks?

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3 users have voted.

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