Open Thread - Thurs 19 Sep 2024 - Not Surprised!
Not Surprised...
I can't say I'm all that surprised about the revelations Jeffery Sachs and Matt Taibbi have brought forward about the US's interest and involvement in the ending of Communist Russia and the development of whatever Russia is now. I will admit to be depressed by such revelations, because it just confirms how idiotic our leaders are.
Remember the fall of the Soviet Union? Everything was going to be hunky dory, supposedly, and every country, including Russia, was going to turn to capitalism and prosper - or so we were told. And TPTB sent people, like Sachs, to do that for countries like Poland. But Russia? Naw. It seems that TPTB always wanted Russia, the former Soviet Union, to fail, to remain our enemy. Our military industrial complex needs it. And so TPTB set that up to happen. Sachs details some of that in his article 'A True Shock? Economist Jeffrey Sachs Reveals Secret at Heart of U.S.-Russian Relations'. The sub-title of the article says it all: 'The U.S. was advised toward a "Marshall Plan" to help rebuild post-Soviet Russia as a democracy, but a key witness says the Cold War never ended, because we didn't want it to'.
Taibbi and Sachs discussed all this recently on Counter Points - 'Jeffrey Sachs, Taibbi: How The West DESTROYED Russia' (the discussion is 50 or so minutes long):
So, basically, we helped form Russia into what it is now, and we've constantly made it into our enemy. And... here we are. It's like our people in power simply can NOT see beyond their immediate profit, can not do things for the regular people, whether those people are American or European or Russian or Chinese or Ukrainian or... whatever. I suppose most all political leaders are like that, eh?
Anyway, thanks for reading this post. Here's the open thread - remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Happy Thursday!
Hope your Thursday is going well!
Mine is.. well, this week has been very sad for me. A man who was a friend of mine for over 25 years passed away a couple days ago. My Aunt died about 10 days ago. My father will be joining his sister soon. Sad times.
My mother's phone service is dead. A line atop a telephone pole went down a week ago or so. It's hanging freely, about a mile up the rural gravel road my parents live on. She has no phone, no internet, and no cell phone (because they are in a cell phone hollow area with no reception except the wireless I set up to come over their internet). So, she's got no way of communicating with anyone. I've contacted the phone company, had to do it over the internet with 'chat'. The earliest appointment - the person obviously did not understand or believe me when I said we could see the downed line when driving down the road - is next week. Woo hoo! Modern service at it's best!
On the other hand, Nikko is doing well in training class. And I had a good weekend with my roommate from college, who I hadn't seen in years. It was over 40 years ago we lived together in the college dorms. We were very different then, it's amazing how similar we are now.
So, tell us what's up and how you are doing. I hope everyone is doing better than this week was for me!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
What are the odds?
.
something fun to get things started
good luck with the phone lines
Great, forwarded to many folks. Thanks
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 --
That was good...
'Too Much to Think About' - now I'm humming that to myself
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning...
Your Mom's phone Co. sounds about like ours. If you have trouble and call them, you get someone in India that doesn't speak good English. Then it takes weeks to get a repair person to show up. Fortunately we don't often have problems. Back in the day of dial-up modems, the neighbors electric fence often interfered...part of the joy of country living.
We finally got a bit of rain off Hurricane Francine. We could use more, but this is our usual dry season.
Mr Fish calling BS on the election
Glad your dog is doing well. Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I tried calling...
the local PUD (public utility department) to let them know about the downed line. Figured they might have some advice They were local, even the guy I was talking to was local. He thanked me and said they couldn't do a thing because the line is 'owned' by the phone company. Heh.
That cartoon is spot on
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Dear Vladimir,
We don't really want to see American towns and cities bombed into oblivion. But we love Kamala and her laugh.
So we're willing to risk it.
In conclusion, we have one request of you. Please don't bomb our city. We would like to live.
Yours sincerely,
“One of the things I love about the American people is that we can hold many thoughts at once” - Kamala Harris
My town...
would go immediately, soon as Bangor Naval Base and the nuclear weapons stored on Indian Island were bombed. I don't know that I'd even have time to take a drink.
As for Kamala and her laugh... bleh. How's about the Joker's laugh?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Compare and contrast
Two things to remember about Mark Hamill:
1) He appeared in the crap Star Wars sequels, took the money, and then complained about them
2) He's a Zionist
So yeah.
“One of the things I love about the American people is that we can hold many thoughts at once” - Kamala Harris
Absolutely befuddled…l
.
How do you work on a TV series that puts human rights first and then endorse a candidate that is committing genocide? Talk about missing the premise of what your work stood for.
The Women of Star Trek are throwing a shindig for Kamala. In my opinion they aren’t just overlooking a single issue. They are overlooking THE issue. That issue is a huge stain on humanity and against everything Gene Roddenberry impressed upon me.
I remember the movie, Insurrection where Picard was ordered to remove people from a planet ‘for the greater good' and he refused.
Beam me up! I am very disappointed in the ladies.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
It's true!
As advertised on the Den of Delusion itself!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/18/2271407/-Women-of-STAR-TREK-f...
I can only think of one possibility here: we are living in the Mirror Universe, the one in which Spock had a beard.
“One of the things I love about the American people is that we can hold many thoughts at once” - Kamala Harris
Yuck
Only about 30 people there have a problem with genocide and many of them are going to vote Biden/Harris anyway. Not too much of a problem then.
Here’s the link.
https://womenofstartrek.com/
It’s not all the women. Just 5 or so of the main characters. The rest I don’t remember what role they played.
Whoopie of course will vote for Harris. She recently revived her role as Guinan and she did a lousy job of it. She sounded more like Whoopie of the View than Guinan. It really turned me off even more than she normally does.
Picard asked how many people it takes to make it a genocide. 500? 1,000? 10,000? What’s the number?
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
One.
The last one.
Just like the passenger pigeon...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Nope. Genocide is not a deal breaker
for shitlibs and if it is for anyone else…well that’s not acceptable.
It gets much worse in the comments. One person tried, but he got scolded for it.
We all survived the 1st Trump presidency and I think we’ll survive the next.
Oh yeah and Trump is once again working for Putin as are all the republicans. I don’t think Russia Russia Russia will ever end for so many people who bought Hillary’s lies hook, line and sinker. She’s advocating for people who push propaganda to be criminally charged for it. Her and Rachel would be first in line if she gets her wish.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Much histrionics signifying nothing
For some reason it reminds me of Maud Flanders of the Simpsons:
And let's not forget the Harris campaign's primary theme:
IIRC there was once a big propaganda campaign centrally themed around "joy." The Nazis sponsored it.
“One of the things I love about the American people is that we can hold many thoughts at once” - Kamala Harris
That quote...
It made just shake my head in disbelief. Someone who lost a loved one is Gaza has to support someone somewhere who might have a tough time if Harris ain't elected? What? What?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I didn't know this about the current star trek...
It's very disappointing. This 'election' is such a farce!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima. Gonna play a bit of
Sputnik sayz here; about those pagers, phones, scooters solar panels ans such:
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240919/are-you-at-risk-what-we-know-about-ele...
A good read and not too long with a Super Bonus PSA linked at the end:
BUT - it's an old article and I wouldn't even want to try it. Here it is but I won't go there however, this is a nice reminder to try to find out what, if anything, can currently be used to check for and kill this thing.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20210720/how-to-search-for-spot-and-stamp-out-p...
be well and have a good one
edit - added all the extra info on the old pegasus [age
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 --
Good information...
In the Sputnik article. Is it true? Probably. A lot of news sources are reporting BAC Consulting is a shady Hungarian company probably set up by Israel. And then that company 'made' the Gold Apollo pagers. Who knows?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good afternoon, sima!
Our society is geared for phones and internet. Our government seems absent when it is unavailable to a population sector.
The elderly are especially in need of communication in emergencies.
Sachs is great in that video. He made me laugh when he mentioned Nuland is a colleague at Columbia. Bet they do not take coffee breaks together and have pleasant chats.
Is Nikko the class' top dog?
I remember the Russians I met on my tour from Moscow, down the Volga, to St. Petersburg. They clearly understood our government's policies were not shared by ordinary Americans. We talked, we laughed, we had some drinks, we shopped, we dined, we danced, we sang, we were sorry to say goodbye.
Maybe one day I can return.
Thanks for the OT, sima. I learned some new stuff, confirmed my understanding of other stuff was correct.
Give Nikko a hug for me, Ok?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Nikko loves the hugs!
He's often the top dog in class, because he really wants to please and learns fast. But he is annoying to others, at times, because he's a puppy and he is a Finnish Spitz. They aren't call the barking dogs of Finland for nothing
I want to travel to Russia. I have never gotten the chance and perhaps never will. Your adventures there sound really good!
Sachs made me laugh too. And it also made me very sad and angry and kind of, I dunno, resigned, but more than that, maybe wistful too?
Have a good, relaxing, weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so