Open Thread - 5-22-2026 - Misc
Morning,
This is my last diary for a while - our regular host is returning next week. I am going to focus on farm work and a few projects to be completed this year.
Passing the baton from British Empire to the US.
Perfidious empire Asia Times by Han Feizi May 22, 2026
Perfidy. There is no other word to describe the assassination of Iran’s leadership while negotiations were ongoing. It does not matter how evil they were, nor how juicy the window of opportunity was, nor how free the Iranian people will become – killing adversaries during negotiations is perfidy.
Perfidy, the war crime, has a specific definition under the Geneva Conventions. An act constitutes perfidy when two conditions are met:
1. Deception: Feigning protected status to gain an enemy’s trust.
2. Hostile act: Using the established trust to kill, injure or capture the adversary.
...
One can interpret wartime rules against perfidy as the last vestiges of honor remaining while humans are slaughtering each other. Or one can be coldly rational, refraining from perfidy because to not do so would invite treachery from current and future adversaries.Proscriptions against perfidy, however, do not survive cold rationalization. At some point, someone will do a ruthless cost benefit analysis and determine that strategic gains from an act of perfidy outweigh potential blowback. The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
Let us not over-moralize this choice. The United States (and Israel) did the cost benefit analysis and must now deal with the consequences.
...
“The US has no bottom line” (美国没有底线) is an idea long bandied about in Chinese geopolitical discourse, appearing in state media outlets ssuch as Xinhua and People’s Daily and in statements by the Ministry of Defense. This decades old trope is darker than France’s lament over Perfidious Albion. In this view, America prioritizes primacy above all else and will commit all manner of crimes – perfidy the least of them – in its maintenance.Proving or disproving the legitimacy of this view is not constructive for the purposes of this piece. We will not go through the litany of atrocities that China accuses the US of committing – with its corresponding denials, rationalizations and whataboutisms from America’s defenders. Suffice it to say that many in China believe the US to be capable of egregious depravity to maintain hegemony.
...
Fears of a dangerous America prone to violent outbursts as it tries to arrest decline are valid – witness Venezuela and Iran. But not for China. The United States of America only clubs baby seals. And somehow manages to get mauled by baby seals. Against peer and near peer powers like Russia and China, the United States Empire can only engage in the bag of perfidious tricks – economic sanctions, media slander and buck-passing military alliances. These tricks work. But only on the weak.
The story is getting renewed attention.
A decade of lies: The US-funded biolab denial saga Russia Times May 15, 2026
The biolabs affair was revealed in a 2017 exposé by RT that questioned a shady US military tender seeking the genetic material of living Russians. Over the years, Moscow has raised allegations against Washington of conducting clandestine bio-research, including potential WMD development and illicit human testing, in a network of labs located across multiple nations, the bulk of which operated in Ukraine. The claims were met with a blanket denial in the West, which repeatedly dismissed them as “Russian propaganda.”
This abruptly changed the past week when US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that her department had identified more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories in 30 countries, with over a third of them located in Ukraine.
Not a good trend.
Palantir Inks Deal With USDA To Manage Farmland And Control America's Agriculture Data, Taking Over The Nation's Food Supply The Wine Press April 26, 2026
Defense contractor and data analytics company Palantir announced a partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), making this the 27th official collaboration with an American department, further deepening its ties and grip on the U.S. government.
Despite no official announcement published yet on USDA’s website, Palantir disclosed the $300 million agreement in a press release on April 22nd.
...
In July of last year, the USDA and Secretary Brooke Rollins — in collaboration with Secretary of Defense War Pete Hegseth, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem — announced the National Farm Security Action Plan (NFSAP), by “safeguarding our food supply, strengthening critical infrastructure, and defending U.S. agricultural innovation from foreign adversaries,” USDA said in a news release at the time.The plan is sevenfold:
1. Secure and Protect American Farmland – Address U.S. foreign farmland ownership from adversaries head on. Total transparency. Tougher penalties.
2. Enhance Agricultural Supply Chain Resilience – Refocus domestic investment into key manufacturing sectors and identify non-adversarial partners to work with when domestic production is not available. Plan for contingencies.
3. Protect U.S. Nutrition Safety Net from Fraud and Foreign Exploitation – Billions have been stolen by foreign crime rings. That ends now.
4. Defend Agricultural Research and Innovation – No more sweetheart deals or secret pacts with hostile nations. American ideas stay in America.
5. Put America First in Every USDA Program – From farm loans to food safety, every program will reflect the America First agenda.
6. Safeguard Plant and Animal Health – Crack down on bio-threats before they ever reach our soil.
7. Protect Critical Infrastructure – Farms, food, and supply chains are national security assets—and will be treated as such.
Comments
Hey, good morning
.
You have been a real champ stepping in to cover
all of the OT's during these weeks. Wish you luck
with the farmstead projects.
Zionism is a social disease
Looking forward to focusing on
my playground. I am never bored. Cannot not imagine living being content in a place with a neighborhood or home owners association constantly making and enforcing rules. Thanks for the regular input making the diaries a little livelier.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Thanks for all the OT's
Interesting about Palantir. The more I read, the more I see the US turning into a mix of old soviet centralized government and Putin style corruption.
Back when Miranda came down I remember some republican senator angry that they now had to read criminals their rights. He then expressed admiration for the commies because they could beat a confession out of these thugs. Doesn't feel too far off now.
The creep of implementing a centralized government has
affected both parties. Nearly all the elected leaders and individuals rotating public/private/educational jobs are focused on personal family wealth accumulation. Anyone with a different agenda is effectively purged.
Since the US has infilled most of the territory it has acquired the past couple plus centuries there is no frontier for free spirits and individualists to migrate. Instead we need to learn how to create the space in our homes and communities rather than simply migrating to a new area until it becomes what we tried to escape.
Thanks for stopping by.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Han Feizi
SOE, Thanks for introducing the namesake of the "master" Han Feizi. Good column on "perfidy." It encouraged me to read his economic analysis, China’s qinlao spirit driving the next leg of globalization
Can't agree with this in his Perfidy article-
They didn't do the cost benefit analysis. That's the whole point. Therefore, his conclusion is wrong as well.
There is no limit to presumption, ignorance, venality, hubris, and delusion among our leadership. Fear of a US violent outburst against anyone, whether China, or others, small or large, is a reasonable one. It could be initiated by proxy, or directly. We could be dragged into it by an ally, prompted by us or not. Ever listened to the US military czars in Asia? Japan and the Philippines sound off as if they are ready to go to war. Media propaganda in Taiwan English speaking media, on behalf of the current ruling party in Taiwan, constantly puts out drivel about a military contest with China. imo
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Have enjoyed his writing
It does reflect the evolution of opinion towards the US.
I believe our leaders in US and Israel calculated all benefits would flow towards them and costs would be born by target nation or the general citizens they govern in respective nations.
Western leaders have used mainland China as a punching bag for a long time. China has been deliberately changing, improving their internal strength, solidifying national opinion, building allies, increasing the power of their ability to strike and adding new skill sets.
If US or Allies start something it will make the blocking Straight of Hormuz consequences seem small.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Good morning soe. Thanks for this and all the prior OTs.
Perfidy is a culture that the fledgling US learned at its parents' knee. Spain got to some areas first, but the US is historically culturally British and we absorbed Perfidy with our mothers' milk so to speak. Are we not the child of Perfidious Albion. The colonists practiced it on the indigenous peoples, on each other and on the Spaniards, who, to their shame, did it right back at us. It is baked into our culture and, for what it's worth, our economic practices. All may not be fair in love and war, but nothing is barred in business. We do have laws against some stuff, but don't expect anybody to obey them if the potential perp can see a reasonable chance of getting away with it, or if cost-benefit-analysis shows a significant benefit. The fines for many, many forms of corporate misbehavior are a pittance and seldom a material fraction of the cost savings or revenue increases available from the malfeasance which they purport to punish, often simply amounting to a promise to stop doing whatever it is that they wee doing.
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 --
Generational abuse patterns take
deliberate effort to stop moving forward. First step is awareness. US culture is making progress. Second step is to actively stop behavior, not simply change target. I worry our society is getting stuck at this stage. The attempt to divide society into smaller and smaller social groups encourages finger pointing and calls for special privileges.
Special exceptions for non-profits and religious groups have become an effective path societal exploitation. Better than using a C corp, S corp or LLC for self enrichment.
Thanks for stopping by.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Good afternoon, soe!
I long for a world where Palantir does not exist.
Our farmlands managed by a man who believes we are useless eaters?
Well, I can sympathize with Tulsi Gabbard to the extent she is stepping down due to her husband's cancer diagnosis. She needs to be in on most decisions made by his oncologist.
She might have a conversation similar to this: Last check up with the surgeon, he needed to scope out Dear One's rectum. Hubby asked, what will be going up my butt? dr.: one finger. Hubby: Use 2 fingers. I want second opinion. Dr. leaves room laughing. I leave room reminding Hubby not to squeal like a pig. Nurse leaves the room laughing.
It's the little things, folks.
Thanks for the OTs and all your efforts made for all of us.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
SOE, thank you so much for your Friday OTs.
While homesteading can be technical it sure is an art in the end. Your farm sounds wonderful.
I am hoping that because of lack of modern fertilizers and other items lots of Ag rely on, the mixed smaller and family farms might be encouraged to move to permaculture and rotational grazing. It could really work and on a scale that could feed us all and much better than the stuff we often eat. Maybe the big ag crops soybeans, wheat, corn and sugar beets can be broken up into more family scale diverse crop and animal farms. I keep forgetting that corn is a fuel product.
Over here in France, the prices of our farmers' market foods: vegetables, fruits, meats and fish, are at parity or lower than store food. Our visitors are always amazed at the prices of shallots and Pine Nuts. We can get domestique Olive Oil, Kiwis, local honey, incredible cheeses, jams, of course breads sometimes sold by the kilo and so much more. We really do eat and drink well.
Best wishes for your work to come.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
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The quiet of my
afternoon recuperation time was just shattered by the arrival of a crew of workers with chainsaws and wood chippers, cutting down all the mature trees in the space that used to separate the wall of our cheap shitty little apartment from the street beyond. Needless to say, the property owners didn't send out any prior notice. "Diseased", the tree-destruction crews said. "Have to go", the crews said. "Hazard", the crews said.
"Bullshit", this renter says. This tells me that the earthmovers are certain to be next, and they'll be chopping into the lot (presumably via eminent domain) to blow out the sidewalks and add lanes to the street. Which, given the fact that every road in Colorado is under construction, simultaneously, means that we'll have no peace and quiet for the next year or three, and we'll have cars at speed 15 feet away from the bedroom (and people walking right up to the windows) when they're done. No wonder the property owners didn't send out any notification.
Renters have no rights whatsoever, of course, so there is nothing to be done about it- especially since the trees are now confetti, in any case. So, just what I needed: now we have to find a new shitty little apartment, and move. I regard this as a material breach of the lease contract, on their part.
Kinda liked it here- but there is some shit up with which I will not put. Should have stayed in Amsterdam: the writing is on the wall in bold type. Not a fan.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.