OT WE JAN 7 26 ~ Another X-Mas
According to central Russian calendars, today is recorded and celebrated as being X-mas.
Just when you thought all of that commercial madness is done for another 6 months, others
run on a different time scale. The theme is mostly the same as here, except for holiday
sales & general tackiness (a western tradition). Haven't worked-out exactly why they
operate at a different time scale than we do? Chime-in with enlightening clarifications.
.
A couple of interesting articles regarding VZ:
https://landmarksmag.substack.com/p/the-permanent-war-machine-the-modern
The Permanent War Machine: The Modern State as Organized Crime
US actions in Venezuela have nothing to do with law.
and
https://newstracs.com/devin-nunes-and-others-linked-to-trump-media-are-o...
Devin Nunes and others linked to Trump Media became officers of a company soon after it made an unsuccessful $10 billion bid for Venezuelan-state-owned Citgo Petroleum’s U.S. assets
As Trump Media proceeds with a billion dollar merger with a fusion power company, several leaders are now running Blue Water, which prior to being sold had made an odd failed $10 billion bid for (Venezuelan Oil Company) Citgo.
Make of it what you will. Open Thread so by all means take the stage.
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Comments
Hey, good morning
The political scene is not good.
Unfortunately, the empire manager may
decide on a whim to annex Greenland,
Mexico, Cuba and every other Latin country
that would temporarily placate his overblown ego.
These are not national security issues at all.
It is diminishing world-wide respect for US illusions of
freedom and democracy. To say nothing of devaluing
international standards.
What to do?
Zionism is a social disease
Regrettably, these really are
national security issues, but in reverse. With each successive step down this slippery slope of unbridled ego/greed-gratification, our military resources are spread thinner, and our national security is put more at risk.
Historically, not many empires have survived attempting to run a 6- or 7- or 8-front war: even a 2- or 3-front war has proven sufficient to rid the world of most of them in the past. I can't imagine that any sane student of history (such as those who have graduated from any of our military academies, and should have studied such things) would think that this current path is a good idea.
The ones that do either a) believe that they will be on the inner circle of the grift and will profit from it sufficiently in the short term to "make out okay" in satisfying their greed prior to the inevitable collapse, or b) are "christian" dominionists who think that they will be raptured out to heaven once they have had their fill of gleefully slaughtering the innocent unbelievers- or perhaps c) they are simply psychopaths. On reflection, I suspect that the Venn diagram of those three categories would show a great deal of overlap.
Our military has been optimized, and very profitably funded, to continue to fight WWII. Unfortunately, WWIII will differ in many ways. And we are no longer in a position to replace the hardware that would be lost almost immediately: we don't build ships any more, we don't make our own steel, and the majority of the output of the power grid is rapidly being redirected into creating more and better AI hallucinations, not war materiel.
We will be fighting WWIII all by ourselves against the rest of the world, as well. We no longer have the domestic industrial base to support WWII-level aggressions. Literally all that we have remaining now is our vaunted nuclear arsenal, a navy that will be on the bottom in the first 5 minutes, and bases all over the planet with unmaintainable supply lines. Once the aging ships start being sunk, and the aging transport aircraft start being splashed, we will have no response other than Mutual Assured Destruction. We won't have the luxury of investing the 5 or 6 or 10 years that it would take to ramp up that lost capacity again.
Our "leaders" believe their own propaganda. That is the same, in every respect, as a drug dealer who partakes of his own wares. It is madness, pure and simple.
Not a fan.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Stumbled upon this concept
today which brought me back to
my graduate studies at U of M.
We studied the case of
The 3 Christs of Ypsilanti (A neighboring town)
"On July 1, 1959, at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, the social psychologist Milton Rokeach brought together three paranoid schizophrenics: Clyde Benson, an elderly farmer and alcoholic; Joseph Cassel, a failed writer who was institutionalized after increasingly violent behavior toward his family; and Leon Gabor, a college dropout and veteran of World War II."
"The men had one thing in common: each believed himself to be Jesus Christ. Their extraordinary meeting and the two years they spent in one another’s company serves as the basis for an investigation into the nature of human identity, belief, and delusion that is poignant, amusing, and at times disturbing. Displaying the sympathy and subtlety of a gifted novelist, Rokeach draws us into the lives of three troubled and profoundly different men who find themselves “confronted with the ultimate contradiction conceivable for human beings: more than one person claiming the same identity.”
https://ia601705.us.archive.org/6/items/TheThreeChristsOfYpsilanti/The%2...
(Perhaps triggered by the psycho-in-charge's recently publicized illusions of grandeur)?
BERTRAND RUSSELL
Power
Zionism is a social disease
This is indeed a dark day in the calendar
@usefewersyllables
of the US 'experiment'.
Brought to us by the proponents of
anglo domination. Or the Donroe Doctrine
if you wish. Don't buy it.
Zionism is a social disease
I love that
Russell quote.
It reminds me of the saying often misattributed to Einstein: 'There are two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.'
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good morning...
Merry Orthodox Christmas!
Tommy Jarrell: Breaking Up Christmas (1983)
Tommy Jarrell and string band at the Edwards-Franklin House during the annual Sonker Festival, Mount Airy, North Carolina, July 23, 1983. Jarrell (fiddle and vocal); Chester McMillian (guitar); Frank Bodie (guitar and vocal); Bill Cummings (fiddle); Ray Chatfield (five-string banjo). [03.23.02]
Tomorrow is the 8th of January...
The Eighth of January · Chubby Wise
This is the same tune Johnny Horton used for his Battle of New Orleans, a good bit slower.
Old tunes have been recycled as long s there's been music.
Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Makes one want to kick-up the heels
some high octane stuff there!
Thanks
BTW, putting together a presentation for the writers group
involving music and poetry. Do you read music, or is it by ear?
Need a couple of pointers.
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning, Cap'n!
I read music and will be glad to help if LO can't.
I get all kinds of campaign stuff in the mail. Many feature the candidates in photos with Trump. I received another one from MAGA Mayes Middleton for Texas AG. I wonder if he wishes he could change his campaign slogans and brochure? If I understand things correctly, a flow of Venezuelan oil does harm to Texas Big Oil.
I wonder how Europe is going to respond to the theft of Greenland. I absolutely believe it is going to happen.
What a cluster you-know-what, friend.
Thanks for the OT!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Appreciate your offer otc
used to read music as a kid
so I know the concept but it
has been so long since practicing
that art, now I need some
basic direction to apply the music / poetry
aspect into a presentable fabric.
Thanks!
Zionism is a social disease
A neighbor friend has gifted me with
.
an electronic piano, which I am trying to fathom.
Labeled the keys, filled-in the staffs to relate
to the notes in an order I can understand.
FACE, EGBDF level. Transcribing to a visual level is key.
The rest is just the motor skills on the keyboard.
So am about half of the way to concocting a melody as a
background to frame poetry for the writing group.
(That is the overall goal)
Fortunately, the facilitator of our group has volunteered
to bring her ukulele as an adjunct. I am not a performer
by any stretch. We'll see (or hear) what progresses.
The good thing is some long dormant synapses are
still able to fire. Surprising!
Zionism is a social disease
Good for you, man.
There's nothing like the joy of learning a new instrument. Being a drummer for many decades, I got tired of being described as "that guy who hangs around with musicians", so I started teaching myself other instruments. (;-)
Keys are a hard sell for me, though. I can play some, after a fashion- but the whole black key thing is difficult for a linear thinker like me. If I were to design the perfect keyboard instrument for myself, it would be all 3/4-width white keys, with every 12th one painted purple and with a slightly sandy texture... I get that after many hours, the black keys themselves give you almost-imperceiveable tactile anchor points (like the little bumps on the F and J keys on a QWERTY layout), but developing that feel is a very long haul. I like my linear strings, where a half-step is a half-step.
And don't even get me started on the Boehm system for woodwinds. (;-)
Ultimately, music is about muscle memory meeting inspiration: everything else is an implementation detail. (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Interesting observation
Thanks for posting this.
Feel like a lost bunny in the jungles of life.
Anything that helps to anchor one to prevent
sliding backwards is good.
The analogy of keystrokes has occurred before.
Somewhere in the lost years.
Zionism is a social disease
I play by ear...
and agonizingly slow can read music. So OTC is a better resource.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning, Cap'n Q, et. al.
Why only a couple? Here's all 4
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 --
Give me the earl
Venezuela Live Updates: U.S. Forces Seize Two Tankers, One Under a Russian Flag
DD in German= Lebensraum
It's the difference between Julian and Grigorian calendars isn't it?
The Three Christs reminded me of Campbell and Jung. According to Campbell, Christ is one of the universal heroes, an archetype for the human experience. The mythical hero of the collective consciousness. The book sounds quite interesting.
Thanks for today's OT QMS!
己所不欲，勿施于人。
What will it take for the US to stop
seizing / bombing / droning ships in
international waters? Because of some
ill defined 'sanctions'. There will be an eventual
push-back by greater military powers. Do not see how
this will end well for the wannabe empire.
Yeah, the 3 christs is a fascinating study in mental / social
dynamics at the time. A couple of passages ..
Zionism is a social disease
@soryang The Russian flagged
The Russian flagged tanker had no russian flags. So they painted one on the side of the ship. Earlier in the week they were Panamanian. Now they are nothing.
Now they are booty...
...for a pirate nation that you seem proud of..."might makes right" from your POV evidently.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
ahh, certain individuals
seem unable to mask their programmed ignorance
and it sharing with us. Well, OK then. Whatever proof
does one need? The facts are on CNN, after all s/.
Happy birthday anniversary to Elvis
Zionism is a social disease
A day later we get info
that the ship was purchased by Russia recently and that it was empty.
No oil on the tanker? What if there are no drugs on those fishing boats?
My country being labelled as a murdering, thieving pirate does not make for a good day.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
@on the cusp I believe it was
I believe it was Russian owned, but trying to hide the fact by registering it in Panama and flying a Panamanian flag in an attempt to circumvent sanctions. Ukraine has been targeting tankers moving Russian oil, might as well move Venezuelan oil which is also sanctioned, and make a profit off the tanker.
Russia is not running out of soldiers, and they can buy artillery ammunition and drones and the components to make drones. But they seem to be having economic issues. Not gargantuan. Yet. But worrisome. They need money. Oil is down. the CIA has been giving Ukraine targeting information re refineries and AA facilities.
Further on the God complex
.
Zionism is a social disease
Funny how they all pick THAT Jesus. I mean, growing up
out here I met tons of dudes named Jesus. Ah well --
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 --
Perhaps the pronunciation
is the only difference?
The heysoos of your culture
is in stark contrast of the jeezus
of the evangelical world
Zionism is a social disease
Heh, reminds me of the days when there were tons of
bumperstickers that said "Honk if you love Jesus" everywhere you went, and then somebody started making ones that said "Jesus se dice gracias". I, by now, instinctively pronounce it Heysoos.
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 --
And then,
there is this. The hits just keep on coming...
Woman fatally shot by ICE during Minneapolis raids
https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/ice-shooting-minneapolis-wom...
https://v.redd.it/rmueiuzmqybg1
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
The Gestapo has everything under control. Hah!
"Comply or die"
is now the law of the land, I guess.
Sad, but not unexpected. As a nation, we have become exactly what we feared.
Be very careful out there.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
ICE is not nice
gestapo tactics perhaps gives
the enforcers a testosterone rush
but it is not a good look. People do not
choose to be treated like terrorists in this
'free' society, as far as I know.
Zionism is a social disease
I am not sure when it will actually happen but the end result
is inevitable.
Simply exchange the words " Humpty Dumpty" with Trump
"
Good afternoon Cap'n. I really like the
conifer in the skiff/dingy out in the lake. Dunno exactl why, but Ithink it's really great.
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 --
Even though it is AI generated it is a fairly accurate
description.
Pretty much sums it up
.
Trading partners versus the robber baron approach.
Woe to Maduro and his assaulted wife.
'muricun justice on display for the world to see.
Zionism is a social disease