Open Thread for Wed 4 DEC 24 ~
Where is the combination to the safe containing free thought? Paradoxically, it may
be within the safe. A real life experience: commissioning a yacht built overseas,
sorting thru the files searching for the combo of the safe hidden in the aft cabin,
there was no such info.
Contacting the builder, eventually after much ado, it was determined the slip had
been safely put inside so as to not lose it. Hmm. Had to bring in a safe cracker to
open the safe. Not one of my skills.
In 1981 Reagan signed Executive Order on Intelligence (No 12333) allowing CIA
to engage in domestic counter-intelligence. Oops.
Is counter-intelligence related to domestic propaganda (thanks Obama) and
more recent efforts by the corpro-government to control thought crimes?
The answer , my friends, may be found within the (now defunct?) Disinformation
Governance Board (DGB) under 'Homeland Security'. Thanks Biden.
The C99 open thread. Opening minds one key at a time. Write on.
Comments
Good morning...
A chilly 25F here this morning, but headed to 50F this afternoon.
Interesting conversation about S Korea...
I didn't realize that the US could commandeer the entire S Korean military. No wonder we're so involved in their politics.
Interesting story of the ship safe. Take care and have a good day. Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
KJ Noh may be the leading Korean analyst in the US
I've been listening to him for years. He used to be interviewed regularly on a public radio station in California, I forget which one.
I will listen to this entire video later, but would like to point out that Yoon obtained the PPP nomination for president by fraud, namely polling abuse, which had come to light in recent weeks. The "private polling" which misrepresented Yoon's appeal to PPP party members, was disclosed in recent weeks during criminal investigation of Myung Tae-kyun, Yoon's former political consultant who engaged an election polling and forecasting company, to orchestrate fraudulent poll results, which showed Yoon to be more popular than the old party stalwart Hong Chun-pyo, currently mayor of Taegu. Investigation of this matter threatened to blow up the Yoon presidency because if true, it was a violation of election laws that could invalidate his election.
This issue initially came up for investigation when it was disclosed that Myung Tae-kyun, had interfered in the 2022 general election results at the behest of Yoon or Kim Gon-hee.
Scandal-hit ex-lawmaker denies corruption claims as pressure on Yoon mounts
This article above is a good introduction to this subject, that began to unravel whatever was left of the stability of the Yoon presidency.
語必忠信 行必正直
Hey there y'all
.
Wading thru the gnus:
So. Korea -
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241204/south-koreas-martial-law-turmoil-north...
Syria -
https://www.rt.com/news/608708-syria-battle-for-aleppo-matters/
Biden pardon -
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-accuses-president-biden-a...
there is a lot more out there, whadda world. where does it end?
~
~
Dr D @ TAE
enjoy your journey
I see that somebody
bumped off the CEO of United Healthcare in NY today- they wasted him on the sidewalk in front of the Manhattan Hilton where he was about to speak to the shareholder's meeting.
https://x.com/DanMannarino/status/1864307254733705559
And Wells Fargo is apparently going to try to sell off their midtown SF headquarters office building (and I wish them luck with that). So the weirdness level is most definitely increasing as the days go by...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
are you implying
.
the oligarchs are coming around to face the
reality which the rest of us already know?
Good gnus!
I would never
give them credit for having that much self-awareness. However, they are going to have a bit of a hard time ignoring the breakdown of the social fabric, and the fact that some of their investments are no longer appreciating monotonically to infinity and beyond.
Reminds me a little of the Steely Dan tune:
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
an under-reported factoid
.
.
this year 'Black Friday' was a flop
as was 'Cyber Monday' and 'Giving Tuesday'
put together it indicates people are tapped out
sorry for the retail industry and non profits but
good for the debt collectors? Interest rates attention.
One wonders if said CEO was killed by a disgruntled
customer, a disgruntled shareholder, a disgruntled employee, or somebody not at all related to his job like a jealous husband, jilted lover, or ordinary everyday nutcase with a gun.
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 --
I definitely get a sense
of money changing hands with this one. However, it is indeed hard to argue against gruntle as a proximate cause...
On edit: it now looks to me like a combination. Perhaps we should call it Geltgruntle. The perfect storm...
UnitedHealth Group Insiders Sell US$16m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution
"Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, for US$12m worth of shares, at about US$521 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$616, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 48% of Brian Thompson's holding."
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealth-group-insiders-sell-us-12002...
Perhaps he was getting ready to tell the shareholders some really bad news...
And on edited-edit: apparently the weapon used had a silencer. I think that a strong case can be made that money changed hands here. Now I really want to know what he was going to tell the shareholders, after his big insider cash-out.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Speaking of money….
The police have already issued an $10,000 award for the arrest of the suspect. Boy that was fast huh? Wonder if an award was issued faster than this one? I’m doubtful, but I’m cynical that way.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-new-...
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
There is video
of the attack, linked below. Pistol with a suppressor, several shots fired, the first in the victim's back. Weapon jammed after several shots. The shooter calmly unjammed it, and then fired several more rounds after the victim had collapsed to the sidewalk.
Trigger warning: this was an execution.
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1864376425685438810
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Wells Fargo ownership per google's built in AI summary:
Wells Fargo is owned by a mix of institutional, retail, and individual investors. Some of the largest shareholders include:
Vanguard Group Inc
BlackRock, Inc.
Fmr Llc
State Street Corp
Jpmorgan Chase & Co
Wellington Management Group Llp
Dodge & Cox
Geode Capital Management, Llc
Here's a breakdown of Wells Fargo's stock ownership:
Institutional investors: Own approximately 46.73% of the company's stock
Insiders: Own approximately 0.10% of the company's stock
Public companies and individual investors: Own approximately 17.87% of the company's stock
that adds up to about 65%. The rest is T stock? I doubt it, but ...
Lotsa asset stripper types up top, say what?
bwahago
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 --
Hola QMS. Was the safe combination, by any chance
42? How 'bout 42 in hexadecimal (2A)?
It ain't winter yet, it must still be fall because S. Korea's Yoon has a Fall Guym at least per RT:
https://www.rt.com/news/608701-south-korea-minister-resigns/
Other fun from RT: https://www.rt.com/news/608692-trump-conviction-biden-pardon/
https://www.rt.com/news/608629-occrp-secretly-funded-us-government/
Today is both National Cookie Day and Cabernet Franc Day, just sayin'.
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 --
think it was one of those L/R 3 number combos
.
.
your safe is safe as long as it can't be opened
Can't remember when was the last time I tried
to wash down cookies with cab. Ancient history.
Thanks for the links and best wishes.
BWANGO
Some Iconic Brands Leaving the US
My wife called my attention to an article titled
from/on msn.com. It is in the form of a slideshow.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/15-iconic-american-brands-saying...
One needs to note that it says "brands", some of which, like Craftsman Tools, are owned by other companies - Stanley Black and Decker owns Craftsman, and Whirlpool owns Kitchen aid as examples.
Also, the ones where I read the text speak to the companies moving manufacturing and production offshore. That should be "further" offshore, in that I know for a fact that several of these companies have long had some, much, or even most of their production offshore depending upon the specific brand.
I did not note any of these firms or brands alleging that they were offshoring their headquarters and related offices and activities, just factories.
Craftsman Tools, Gibson Guitars, New Balance, Kitchen Aid, Crayola, Hershey's, Wilson, Ray Ban, Wrangler, Nike, American Girl dolls, Converse, Levi strauss, and Harley Davidson.
bwahago
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 --
Hmm, gets us back into the weeds of
.
.
supply chain issues
offshoring everything except corp placement
doesn't really help US manufacturing capabilities
WTF and how does this
improveslowthe demise of the empire base?
good cheers and thanks for wandering
Not really Gnus, but, after "failing to load" for 3+ hours today
I finally got Sputnik up to find:
In order listed:
South Korea
US
Ukraine
Israel
EU
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241204/top-5-corruption-scandals-shaking-the-...
Quelle Surprise!
bwahago
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 --
are scandals somehow related
.
related to those cheap asian imitations
sold as foot protections called sandals?
they last about a week before blowing out
something about flip flops
When I ws in High School, a few bucks would get you some
lifetime huarache sandals down in Baja. Approximately 1/8 thick leather uppers and used tires for soles, good for at least 50,000 miles.
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 --
How China spends its money and resources. Sea of Death
Came across this rather big civic project in China. The project took 40+ years to complete. Basically it was a project to create a green belt around a huge desert to stop the lands around it from becoming deseret. The desert is 2nd largest shifting sands desert and is roughly the size of Germany.
China tames ‘sea of death’ desert’s shifting sand with giant solar wall, trees
I think the project cost over time something like $150 billion dollars. Still need to check but less money than we have sent to Ukraine military.
I used link to Yahoo as it seemed to be neutral in reporting as other Western media put critical pot shots at it which seemed rather dubious. One group claimed they were essentially using wrong types of trees and plants. But every report said the Chinese used trees and plants that were already adapted to desert conditions.
America will never get nice things as the corruption is much deeper than we know about.
a continuation of the story
.
.
as to why we do not have sustainable development
in the US. Other countries do invest in infrastructure
whereas we seem to invest in global domination.
Kinda leaves us in a loss in the final tally.
Good morning, Cap'n!
It is nearing noon, and I haven't come up with a single "honey do" for Dear One! It is interfering with my concentration and I do need to focus on getting a child back home after g'ma hauled ass with the kid. Not every g'parent is a good one.
I was in China some years ago, and went into a store to buy a cigarette lighter. The first time I used it, it fell apart and hit the sidewalk.
I thought about all those fabulous products we get for all kinds of household purposes that are made in China. sigh...
Biden should be investigated for his shady stuff in Ukraine. Hunter's pardon actually frees him up to testify without incriminating himself.
Must go retrieve an abducted baby, so thanks for the ot and i will check in later, friend.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Heh...
concentration interference
is not always a bad thing
good luck with saving the
chilluns from the grands
For the bird lovers
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Gag me with a giant spoon!
.
Jaguar killed its image with that silly ad that didn’t include its car and now this. Wait till you see the interior. (Gagging sounds!)
https://jalopnik.com/jaguar-type-00-concept-is-a-pink-panther-acid-trip-...
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Heh…
.
I look at the jaw bone and see all the places I have wires in mine. Had 12, but one broke and had to be dug out so now only 11.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
glad you are still (mostly) wired
Dementia Joe probably dreaming of a big bowl of ice cream.
Hmm!
The rest of the tweet:
Western governments and media
...have systematically avoided taking a critical look at Yoon for years.
語必忠信 行必正直
Also too!
The rest of the tweet:
That was the demand from Trump 1.
He wanted to increase the South Korean share of support to 5 billion. It never happened. It was raised somewhat from about 800 million dollars or so, to around a billion, a significant increase over a period of five years as i recall. I followed these negotiations. Adm. Harris was the US ambassador at the time. He's a jerk.
From CNN, I think this is more accurate:
US and South Korea reach tentative agreement on new cost-sharing deal for US troops ahead of potential Trump victory
(edit typo)
語必忠信 行必正直