Hemi-Sync Going Home Study Kit (Full Package) Part 1 of 2

This is part one of a large two part series. The series is a complete “study kit”. It consists of two series of sounds/music, of 11 and 12 files respectively, and an instruction manual included herein.

This post contains Hemi-Sync music / audio tracks. Hemi-Sync is a method of control that uses sounds to center the activity in the brain. When the brain is fully centered, it becomes easier to exist within this reality. Or even more specifically, easier to be able to use your consciousness to control your brain.

The files are FLAC files. Not MP3.

They should play on almost all cell phones and computers. If you have any doubt you can probably download an APP that will allow you to listen to them.

MP3 is the most popular format while FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a less known alternative. The main difference between the two is in how they compress the audio information. MP3 is a lossy format where parts of the audio information that people are not likely to hear are discarded. On the other hand, as the name suggests, FLAC is lossless.

-Difference Between MP3 and FLAC | DifferenceBetween

Hemi-Sync contains frequencies and audio wavelengths that are traditionally considered as “unnecessary” and thus is often removed using an MP3 format to cut down on the file size. That is why they are in the FLAC format.

MP3 vs. FLAC

This Post

This is the full training kit called “going home”

  • Part 1 – (this article) – 11 FLAC files titled “Subject”.
  • Part 2 – 12 FLAC files titled “support”

This particular package enables the person to train their mind to begin “lucid dreaming”, eventually out of the body consciousness movements, and other related activity.

The link will download a ZIP file. Just place it where you want, and copy the files in order, to the player of your preference. You should listen to them in order in one sitting. It will be around a half and hour of listening.

The Manual for this series

Here is the manual for using this series. You need to read it first before you start listening to the FLAC files and performing the exercises.

Going Home Manual

The Files

You can download the files by clicking on the images below…

File 1-11
File 2-11
File 3-11
File 4-11
File 5-11
File 6-11
File 7-11
File 8-11
File 9-11
File 10-11
File 11-11

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Hemi-Sync Sub-Index here;

Hemi-Sync

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Articles & Links

You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

To go to the MAIN Index;

Master Index

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Rufus humanity post. Time is too short not to be the best you can be.

Here’s a mixtures of videos describing Rufus behaviors.

Are you being the best that you can be?  Are you making the world around you a much better place? In a world of hate and strife, betrayal and trickery, the world needs people who will stand up and stand for something. Will you be that person? The world is filled with people who have been hurt by a corrupted society that uses, and discards others. These people need people like you.

Whether it is the use and discard nature of corporate America. Or the use and discard nature of American relationships. Or the use and discard nature of American culture. Or the use and discard nature of American finance…

… it NEEDS to change.

And if you are not living in America, but instead in a “Western nation”; a nation that has adopted this love for profits at all costs; like the UK, or Canada, or now Australia… then it is up to YOU to change things.

Stop waiting around for someone else to do something.

You step up (to the plate) and take a swing at life. Do you have room to adopt a neglect animal at the shelter; the one that no one will select? Will you go and buy a cup of coffee to the coworker? Will you go and say something nice to the girl that you hold the door open for? Will you “pay it forward” at the next toll-booth?

Will you do something good?

The Videos

The following are some videos about people; humanity and being a Rufus. Some are sad, some are painful, some are good, and some are happy. Be the Rufus. Otherwise, why live?

Be the Rufus. Be family. Be the community that cares for it’s members.

I strongly suggest you watch the videos in the order presented to get the proper "effect" that I am trying to provide.

BONUS

Be the Rufus!

Some thoughts

What are you doing to make the world a little bit better place?

It doesn’t take much, sometimes. But other times, like with a meat pie lady, you have to break a few rules to show your humanity. You must be more than just friendly. You must go out of your way to do the uncomfortable. Sometimes it ‘s a real hassle… just to smile. But do it anyways.

Don’t judge the measure of your worth is by the size of your bank accounts.

Do not measure your value by your career, or who employs you.

You are far better than that.

I am telling you differently. We must seek out others. We must make friends with them, and form associations, build friendships and relationships and share. Never, ever forget the rule of three. Be the Rufus!

Help others.

Make the world a better place.

I believe in you!

More Links in my Rufus Index here…

Check them out…

Rufus Index

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More stuff…

Master Index

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You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
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[PissedLizard] Into the light and what it is like first hand

We all have experiences, and once we step outside the realm of what is "normal", or experiences take on a surreal aspect. Others, sometimes well-meaning, don't understand what you are trying to relate. And thus, you learn. You keep quiet and you don't share your experiences with anyone. But that really isn't healthy.

The following is a personal narrative regarding PissedLizard's (Lovingly referred to as PL here on MM) personal experiences. He died, left his body, and entered the non-physical realms.  If you read with an open mind, and then consider his experiences to be "puzzle pieces", you can use them to construct a fuller picture of where you are at in your own life and society. It's good stuff you all.

-MM

I would like to explain the “light/void” concept as I experienced it and can communicate it.

I did not go anywhere.

First, I PHYSICALLY did not go anywhere.

I wasn’t “abducted” by a UFO.

I was here on this planet at my house. My consciousness left my physical body.

My physical body was here (in my house) annoying the crap out of my wife.

I wasn’t acting right. I wasn’t behaving right. Things were “off” about me.

For instance, I did not take care of my animals the way I normally do, I did not eat at all. And I was terribly thirsty. In fact, I drank 2 bottles of water.

Something was really “off”.

The Physical world around me was in turmoil

I became convinced that something was up.

Somehow, and in some way.

There was this hurricane barreling straight at us, it was more than just a physical hurricane. There was something different in the air. Something substantive. Something thick. Something that was “shaking everyone up”.

There is so much to say about the oppressive heat, the unbearable anxiety, and the huge buildup on all levels. I felt like I was a balloon inside a pressure cooker and I was about to *pop*.

The Build-up

At this point I will put in that for the last six months there have been waves of uncontrollable anxiety and heat.

The anxiety felt like waiting for the results of a very, very important and critical test.

All day.

Every day. It dragged on.

The heat. Lordy! The heat!

You can even see condensation coming off of me (if I was against a black background.)

It is feverish heat followed by chills. I would take my temperature and it would actually be below normal.

The Experience

Here is how I experienced the light and void.

Going into the light is a repeat of this planet but in a different timeline.

I have used this analogy before – you are put in a totally random human body. You can end up as Hunter Biden’s love child, born into a world where “everything is taken care of” or you can end up as a poor kid making sweaters for 20 cents each. Most, including myself would jump at the rich baby, but that human is given the same kind of “issues” the other kid has only presented differently.

So it all evens out.

As I said I spoke with and was allowed to experience what the Christian messiah went through because EVERYONE has to. That is what salvation actually means.

The Christ did say that this planet was sacred to him and his followers. This is why he has them stay.

This is where my personal confusion as to who is keeping us here, because to me it’s a prison.

Is it that God/Jesus or is it – a big lie the way “Alien Interview” described it.

It shouldn’t matter to me but it does.

He asked “Well, did you understand the experience?”

After I experienced that event, my Mantid asked me if  I understood what just transpired.

Mantid = Angel. 
My Mantid = My Guardian Angel

Different terms for the same thing. -MM

I explained what I thought transpired.

He then said that the one aspect of human life that I did not and will not experience is being a father.

And this is correct. I do not have kids.

I was then shown how to be a father and a dad.

And it was amazing, but not me.

I travel light. I hate to say it but I saw having children as being a hindrance to my life. I was very selfish that way.

No worries. In MAJestic I was forbidden to have children as well, and my first and second wives were both unable to conceive. It wasn't until I was "retired" from MAJestic that I was able to have children. I had my first daughter when I was 62. -MM

Upon Death and the light

Upon death when you are shown the light, if you don’t stop to look around you go to what is comfortable, which is the light.

I saw many people I know and met the Christian Jesus.

He showed me fatherly like love, and he let me be him.

Then, after all was finished he asked if I still wished to NOT go to the light or if I wanted to go somewhere else.

So I went into the light…

At this point I was scared to death. My Mantid took me into the light.

Once a person goes into the light THEY HAVE TO EXPERIENCE a “something” which I call “THE VOID”.

In other words there is no getting around it.

When you go into the light you go into the void first.

But, yah, there is another flash of light that gets much bigger.

Hell

Those who go to “hell” stay here in THE VOID for a bit.

But everyone WILL eventually get out of the void and be able to go into the “true” light afterwards.

And with that comes the mandatory amnesia…

…followed by placement in a unformed embryo.

The Alien interview said the amnesia was by a heavy voltage.

My interpretation was how you acted on this planet determines the voltage, but everyone experiences it as a static shock.

There is no punitive “Hitler gets a million volts while you get a few”.

The idea isn’t to punish but to grow.

My Mantid then showed me how to get out of the void and how to contact them if I get stuck.

A Second Chance

The Christ then even gave me a second chance to go with him.

I could go with him, into the light again keeping everything I have.

He said he only wanted me to be a better person.

I found this to be an extraordinarily nice gesture on his part.

But…

Before I go on to the void I have to say that those faithful Christians will be raptured. Of this I am certain. Just as it says in the Bible. Others in other religions WILL GO to where you believe heaven to be.

Heaven, or the idea of it, depends on the person.

My Mantid took me back into the void and this is where things really took off.

He showed me the light.

In it was the entire knowledge of the universe.

It was the most thrilling thing imaginable.

Every good feeling you have is there. It didn’t get boring.

No. Not at all. That’s for certain.

I was then shown that the light (if you take the PARTICLE form of light, not the waveform, but a photon) you would see it as light, but you can’t really “touch” a photon.

But a photon is how I was shown it all.

So I will explain it as best I can without being “all over the place”…

A Photon

Imagine a photon. Divide it in half and you get a pair or 1 “level”. If you divide that in half you will go all the way down to “strings” of energy – MM really explains it well in his articles.

When you get down to the last string to the quantum level you have a “hole”. It would look like a wall at your house with a big string hanging out of one side.

You see the wall and you see the string of energy going into that wall. It looks like a physical string into a hole.

If you go alllllll the way up to the hole and look through it – you would see that the string “disappears”.

This is where the particle and wave meet – at that hole.

That HOLE IS THE VOID!

Once your physical has been cut down to it’s wave form (0.000000000000000000000000000000000001 nm) you can tap into everything.

Everything.

Changes

This is where I know these two things to be true:

[1] My DNA was altered. How we think of DNA and what it really is are 2 different things.

I am a human male with no kids. My Y chromosome was “terminated” at this time and new DNA was inserted.

My DNA was cut not at my first human on the chain but past it to a primitive form, but it’s still a “relative”.

The Human species is a hybrid construction that has many evolutionary components and contributors. The DNA from one of the contributors was cut and an earlier progenitor was spliced into the space there. Thus a certain section of the DNA regressed to an earlier form. Ugh! -MM

I needed to feel this anger as when I was a kid in high school I got caught with my girlfriend by her father during an “intimate moment”. He lost his shit. Like went NUTS.

Because I have no daughters I could never feel that kind of anger but I needed to as my void in THIS life was being a father. He showed me how to control the anger.

I was then shown that each 0 in the quantum number of 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001 Is a different “level” of our DNA and as the number gets smaller – you go back in “time” on your DNA.

For example 0.0000 is my great-great grandfather. The zero on the left side of the decimal point is me (or you) so writing this looks like:

At each “level” you have a quantum “hole” to tap into.

These are actual real people you are related to. It’s their “spirit” but they are still connected to you.

I had one LONG portion of my DNA removed and another put in.

However, my guess is if I was to do a DNA test it would look identical to an old one because that is the particle form not waveform.

If I was abducted by a UFO that would be particle form. Because I physically stayed here it’s waveform.

Some “UFO”s are actually biological entities (yes, the whole craft) and these can travel by wave or particle form.

I was then brought to the Gods and Goddesses and was shown why I had to study Islam.

Islam a quick study

In a quick QUICK nutshell -this is about Islam and can be looked up further-  the Both Sunni and Shia believe in the end times. Their “messiah” is a child Imam who is in a vegetative state in a well in Qom, Iran. He is going to lead the MUSLIMS. His name is Imam al Mahdi.

The Mahdi has an enemy – his name is al Dajjal – it means “the deceiver” and will lead the Christians and Jews against the Mahdi. Like Jesus the Christ will.

The Dajjal (Christian Jesus) can be identified by having ONE EYE. He also survives a head shot.

So in MY mind – for years and years and years I thought the Mahdi was the Antichrist BUT thought the One eyed God, the ones the Muslims call the Dajjal – was “the good guy” and the Mahdi as “the bad guy”.

I thought that If the person or entity that the Muslims called “the antichrist” – it MUST be Jesus. So, the one eyed God – to me – had to be Jesus.

I worship the AllFather Odin. He is one of many Gods and Goddesses but he is the FATHER of the Gods and Goddesses. I am personally VERY religious when it comes to my Gods and Goddesses.

I take this stuff VERY seriously.

Then ZOOM…

Next, I am with all of the Gods and Goddesses and it’s just freaking awesome.

Odin literally came to me (not the other way around) and looked at me with that one eye of his…

… and two things happened…

… I went back INTO the void hole while staring at Odins eye, realizing that in order to know what God was I really had to know good versus evil.

He showed me (something otherwise obvious) but I did not understand then, that I needed to study something I hated (which at the time was, in fact, Islam) in order to come out the other end and be worthy of the Valhalla of my choosing.

The God with one eye was, in fact, a distraction to get me to learn what I needed to learn.

And I passed his test.

DNA comparability

NOW he said I had to be able to show that our DNA and Christian DNA is compatible.

I have to be able to translate the Eddas into Bible words so that everyone is on the same page and that I can HELP these people without the fear of them thinking I am satanic or something.

As MM said – yeah, the fundamentalism of the South and Baptism is on par with any other kind of fundamentalism- and that’s fine but I am to help not harm.

The problem is the way things are going elsewhere – how much human time do we have?

Anyone watching this fiasco and doesn’t see the writing on the wall – whether it’s all real or all a show – it’s just looking like things are moving faster than I can do everything and do THAT as well.

It’s all good though.

DNA reconfiguration

The DNA reconfigure was like this.

I was at a facility described by MM, I am not comfortable sharing where at this point but I was with my Mantid.

I was put on a table and he talked to others.

They then went through every feeling I ever had – like waking up Christmas morning – all the way to the feeling of defeat when I failed a big exam. Those feelings were removed and given – all of this WILLINGLY- to other humans that haven’t been born, this way they can “jump ahead” in life with my “books”.

I did this willingly as I have no children nor intend to.

My Y chromosome ends with this body and all my relatives agreed.

In that DNA space I was given knowledge.

I can access somethings but not others.

Seven Women

I was then brought to Seven women.

These are REALLY REALLY REALLY Important women according to my Mantid and I was to control my thoughts – in other words if I thought one was attractive – to keep that thought to myself.

My Mantid knows me.

These women took me into a circle and causally asked questions about my interactions with all kinds of things on earth.

Being honest to these women was difficult because it’s honesty – and it’s difficult, but I was absolutely brutally honest.

They asked – and all attention was on these answers – how or what I would do different given the knowledge I have.

When I my answer could have been better they showed me – by being the people at the moment I affected them – stopping time – the showing me the right way.

An APP and a Telephone

I am uncomfortable writing the rest of this interaction, but one of them showed me an app – YES – an APP to use to meditate to contact them.

I am learning how to use it.

Then my Mantid got me and he showed me how to call them if I ever need them.

He then showed me how the consciousness around me works.

He brought me back to the void and said [1] the amnesia given by the “old players” was lifted but [2] the access to the info is controlled.

We went into the void – I clicked out of it and was home – with a “Viking” and his son who were making a camp.

I was shown this so I could see distance in my bubble.

Science

Before “modern science” our ancestors saw things this way. Reality was in the bubble only. In quantum physics – reality is in the bubble only – that’s how they thought and maneuvered through the world. We lost that when we put our faith in “science”.

This lasted a while.

I learned a lot.

The Mantid gave me a cloth with XXXXX  on it. He showed me how to distinguish it from the other smells in the cloth.

When he was satisfied – we moved on.

I hope this helps, especially Christians.

The whole light thing is a concept that is very important to them and I do not want this to scare them.

The entire time “Satan” was the enemy.

The manifestation of Satan was a reason to call the Mantids.

But it’s a manifestation of EVIL waves that cause the physical to appear.

My Mantid was clear – indication of evil was a clear cause to call more than My Mantid.

Anger!

And I am telling you – straight up – You feel the Mantids anger.

You live it.

I would never ever ever fuck with one of these things for anything, so although the concept of “Satan” creeps me out – even today – I know what happens when the Mantids are called and am leaving that there.

Coming out of the void…

Finally, coming out of the void and into this realm was like this:

Look at this character zero below:

0

The void is inside the zero. The outside of the zero – the line itself – is “reality” or A light (single)

When you are inside the zero all you have to do is say “I” and you become a person who can only say “I” – then the rest of the words come-but they have to be chosen carefully.

When I write “I think I am going to go to then store” has to be corrected to “I will go to the store” otherwise I am communicating that I am thinking about the store only.

This is driving my wife nuts, but it’s getting better.

Learning to speak takes a couple of full days.

Conclusion

Phew! As I have said, these other contributors have a world of experiences so unlike mine, but in some ways so vary familiar. I think that we can all take what is important to us and learn from PL experiences. Don’t you?

More on the way.

-MM

Do you want more?

The master Index of PissedLizard articles can be found here…

PissedLizard

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MM Articles & Links

Master Index

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You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

The mystery of the missing “Black Operations” submarines off the Chinese Taiwan coasts

Here’s another post that you simply will not find anywhere else on the Internet. And, you know, I tire of my own sluggishness in trying to understand the great failure of the American “free media”. Even I realize that there is no such thing as actual “news” in the West, but really guys it’s not too FUCKING DIFFICULT. You look for what is not being reported and stay alert for distractions.

What’s the biggest distraction this August 2021?

Why it is the fucked up, terribly botched evacuation of American military out of Kabul, Afghanistan. That’s ONE FUCK of a distraction.

Ok, then, let’s scour the “news” for oddities and pieces that might point to a major event that the United States government might want to hide, or distract others from looking into.

And, whoa…

But first a major comment from Singapore.

Turn up your speaker and listen to these wise words. And if you don’t understand them, play them over and over (on repeat) until it sinks into your fucking skull. Deprogram your mind God damn it. Click on the picture and watch the video until you tire of the simple, simple message.

A missing special operations submarine in the South China Sea

There have been substantive black operations in and around Taiwan since 2019. In all, the Untied States Navy has been doing all sorts of things in the area along the coasts of China and Taiwan. And after the April 2021 Anchorage, Alaska “meeting”, China laid down the line. They established “Red Lines” that WILL result in military conflict if they are ignored.

Of course, the brain dead people (are they actually people?) in Washington DC dismiss these threats as simple “posturing” and rhetoric.

There is every evidence to suggest that the United States has been conducting illegal and sensitive black operations inside of Chinese and Taiwan territories, and that China took aggressive military action against them. Or in other words, sank the submarines and set the hundreds of sailors and SEALs to their deaths in steel coffins in the deep dark seas.

American Submarines break cover

The U.S. Navy rarely publicizes even the routine operations of its own submarines. Stealth, both tactical and operational, is the Silent Service’s greatest strength, after all. But the Americans made a series of exceptions in June as new Chinese and Russian subs surfaced.

The Navy posted photos of the Washington-based USS Seawolf sailing alongside the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson off Hawaii on June 22, 2021 the same time a Russian naval task force was exercising near the island.

The 353-foot-long, nuclear-powered Seawolf is the lead vessel in a three-ship class that also includes USS Jimmy Carter, the U.S. fleet’s secretive special-mission submarine. Jimmy Carter also made a rare appearance when an airline-passenger photographed the boat sailing from San Diego towards Hawaii on June 8, 2021.

Seawolf and her sister USS Connecticut are bigger and faster than the newer Virginia-class attack boats are and, in many ways, represent the future of undersea warfare more than the Virginias do.

The Navy optimized the Virginias for land-attack missions with Tomahawk cruise missiles, at the expense of their anti-submarine capabilities. But with the Chinese and Russian sub fleets steadily growing more powerful—the new Type 039 and Belgorod are exhibits A and B—the Americans want their next attack boat to be fast and heavily-armed with greater numbers of torpedoes and mines.

In other words, more like a Seawolf. Not coincidentally, the Navy also released a photo of sailors in Crete loading Mark 67 mines on the Los Angeles-class attack sub USS Montpelier on June 22.

Amid a wider collapse in U.S. long-range naval planning, the administration of U.S. president Joe Biden remains committed to spending as much as half of the Navy’s shipbuilding budget—around $20 billion annually—on attack submarines, including the next-generation SSN(X).

“The recent uptick in submarine images released by the U.S. Navy is quite noticeable,” tweeted Chris Cavas, host of the CavasShips Podcast. “Remembering that submarine have pride-of-place in Department of the Navy budget calculations.”

So, we know that the US Navy is all over the South China Sea

But it is more than that.

We notice and are paying attending to what they are actually doing. Their movements are all recorded in great detail. With the most obvious being the surface ships, and the aircraft. Not so well known are the movements of the “Black Operations” submarines.

All 2021 has been stories about major Naval Operations in the South Pacific Sea.

The “excuse” has always been to protect the freedom of navigation in those waters off the Chinese coast. But that excuse is just that.

A fucking excuse.

Any person with half a brain cell and who knows what a globe looks like can easily see that the USN is up to no good. But Americans have been dumbed down so terribly that they are lucky to be able to hold a spoon, let alone calculate how to count to ten.

Think people!

Think!

And we know that ALL of the “Special Operations” submarines are in operation all around Taiwan

How do we know?

It’s by deduction. Duh!

We know that the submarines work work in covert operations and carry SEAL teams. While they perform such tasks as tapping into fiber optic undersea cables and the like, they are all equipped with landing bays that carry “miniature troop insertion submarines” designed to carry SEAL teams close to the coastlines for insertion into “enemy territory”.

And they are all rotating in and around Hawaii. Are they planning to invade Bora Bora? Performing secretive missions around Tahiti? Going to lay secret operations in Pago Pago?

Nope. It’s all China.

Special Operations submarines showing the landing bays for the SEAL secretive assault troops.

The four converted ballistic missile submarines are so much more than Tomahawk slingers and transports for Navy SEALs.

Today, the U.S. Navy’s quartet of converted Ohio class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarines, or SSGNs, are among America’s most powerful, in-demand, and flexible weapons. These giant and secretive submarines are known for their ability to carry up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and dozens of special operations frogmen into contested territory to ply their quiet trade, but really, they are much, much more than that.

A decade and a half ago, the U.S. Navy was testing incredible new capabilities that it would subsequently integrate into its four yet to be converted SSGNs, including one highly elaborate, but obscure proof of concept exercise that solidified the SSGN concept for the seagoing service. Here is the story of how these vessels came to be and the highly unique, if not exotic capabilities, from drone mothership to command and control center, they possess.

The Genesis of the Ohio SSGN

The decision to covert Ohio class SSBNs into SSGNs originated with the 1994 Nuclear Posture Review, which determined that only 14 of the 18 Ohio class boats were necessary to meet the United States’ nuclear deterrence needs. Eight years later, the Navy began actually converting the four oldest Ohio class submarines – USS Florida, USS Georgia, USS Michigan, and USS Ohio – into the new configuration.

The Navy had considered a number of potential configuration options for the new SSGNs. The concept that the service finally settled on retained 22 of the 24 missile tubes found on Ohio SSBNs, but modified them so that they were unable to fire Trident D5 nuclear-tipped submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Instead, each one would be able to launch up to seven BGM-109 Tomahawks using a Multiple All-Up-Round Canister (MAC) adapter. The SLBM fire control systems were similarly replaced with ones for the Tomahawk.

Tubes one and two on each of the four SSGNs would be completely replaced with lockout chambers so combat divers and Navy SEALs could enter and exit the submarine underwater. Personnel could also install a Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) to the top of the hull linked to either one of these modified tubes, or both if required, which could accommodate swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) mini-submarines. As the name suggests, the DDS provides a fully enclosed, dry space to work in on the submarine’s deck, even while it is underwater.

The abortive Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) was supposed to have been able to directly dock with either one of these lockout chambers, as well. The Navy canceled the ASDS program in 2009 after cost overruns and other major setbacks, including a fire that had destroyed the original prototype the year before.

With a DDS installed, a number of additional tubes on the SSGNs would also be blocked off, so the Navy decided to make tubes three through 10 reconfigurable into storage space, if necessary. A dedicated berthing area for a typical contingent of 66 special operators, with a surge capacity of up 102 personnel, was added in the reconfigured missile compartment, as well.

More recent reporting has indicated that a typical load for these submarines is around 100 Tomahawks. This most likely represents between 14 and 16 fully loaded tubes, which would equate to between 98 and 112 missiles in total. This would leave between six and eight tubes available for storage or other purposes, something we will come back to later on in the story.

Beyond that, the SSGN configuration had an all-new a dedicated special operations mission control center and associated mission planning spaces.

It also included additional and improved sensor and communications antenna masts on the sail.

Other modifications that would allow these submarines to better operate in shallower waters closer to shore, were also likely involved with the conversion.

An intelligence nerve center

It’s hard to overstate how significant the intelligence fusion capabilities demonstrated during Silent Hammer were. For the experiment, Georgia had an embarked joint service command team onboard, who used modified spaces in the submarine to run a forward operations center that controlled other assets under the waves, riding on the surface, in the air, and on land. This was intended to reflect the capabilities that the submarine would have after going through the SSGN conversion, which would create new, more robust mission spaces for command and control elements and intelligence gathering personnel, among others.

This was the first time the Navy had ever done this as part of the development of the SSGN concept of operations and it put the operational commanders right in the thick of things in a whole new way. Unlike traditional surface command ships, such as the USS Blue Ridge, the Georgia was allowing these officers and their staff to direct forward operations while sailing concealed below the surface of the ocean. The submarine’s command center was linked to rear command centers, and their intelligence networks, via satellite. It also had direct data-link feeds from a number of other sources.

In the air, these included the Pelican, a highly modified, pilot-optional Cessna 337 propeller-driven aircraft, and a specially configured Sabreliner twin-engine business jet. The Pelican belonged to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) and was configured at the time in a way that matched the capabilities of the MQ-1 Predator drone.

The Lincoln Lab also had their heavily modified Boeing 707 airliner, nicknamed Hannah, a well-known cutting-edge communications and sensor testbed, in the air playing the role of a airborne radar with synthetic aperture and ground-moving-target indicator capabilities. This effectively made it, in part, a surrogate for a U.S. Air Force E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) battlefield management command and control aircraft.

Navy EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare planes and EP-3E Aries II intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft also took part in Trident Warrior and fed information into this network of information sources.

Down below, Georgia was networked together with other vessels taking part in Trident Warrior, including two Los Angeles class fast attack submarines, the USS La Jolla and USS Pittsburgh. In addition, members of the Silent Hammer experiment team were on board the first in class amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa and the Wasp class USS Bonhomme Richard, which were also taking part in the larger exercise.

Ashore, U.S. Navy SEALs, along with other unspecified attached special operators, likely including U.S. Air Force Joint Tactical Air Controllers (JTAC), were in direct contact with Georgia. They emplaced their own “unattended” sensors to monitor for potential hostile activity and otherwise fed even more data back to the submarine.

We also know that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) supplied unspecified payloads, as well as sensor systems for the exercise. Georgia itself demonstrated how she might launch unmanned aircraft and an unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) during the exercise to support intelligence collection efforts.

The very same intelligence collection aircraft are operating in the airspace around Taiwan RIGHT NOW

Imagine that!

Just a coincidence, don’t you know!

More than 700 patrols were conducted by US vessels and aircraft in the South China Sea region in the past year, according to a report by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS). As the US never ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), its claims of protecting "freedom of navigation" is rather hollow. 

-ChinaPlus

Of course, you will never read about this in CNN, FOX “news”, Hall Turner, or Forbes. Those just provide bullshit for a dumbed down citizenry. Real secrets are secret.

But all over Chinese media are reports of these intelligence gathering aircraft, with videos of their interactions.

Reported that Davidson, by video link, to the U.S. think tank American enterprise research institute (AEI) talks. He declared that the Indo-Pacific region is one of the most critical regions in the world and will face many challenges between now and 2026.

Davidson spent much of his time describing the Pentagon's Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which he said was one of the priorities of the Department's annual budget. 

The U.S. Army India-Pacific Command has reported to Congress that it will increase the program's budget from $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2021 to $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2022 and plans to spend $27.3 billion over the next five years, the report said.

-美印太司令部宣称“助台增强防御力、持续对台军售”,网友讽刺:台湾保护费要涨了!

But there is something very interesting going on…

These aircraft are not “loitering” as part of operations so much as flying “search and rescue” scans in the deep ocean South of the Taiwan Coast.

What are they looking for?

What is going on? Check out the video.

Searching for something.

This is not a “loitering” SEAL support protocol. It’s all over the place in a limited geographical region.

Not deploying sonar buoys.

Doing something else.

Other curious events…

The timing of all these unusual intelligent gathering aircraft in “searching and recovery” flight paths occurred at the SAME TIME as the US Navy, broke all diplomatic protocol to land on Taiwan and deliver a “package” containing a “message” to the Military Representative in Taiwan.

Yes. It must have been one fuck of an important package to risk getting shot down and starting world war III in the process.

Much of the anti-China stuff is just noise…

The actual war is stealthy.

What you read is just hype.

Matt Drudge, ever the neocon (or whatever neocon interns he has running his site for him these days), is perhaps the biggest offender on this type of fake news. Right now if you go to his site, just the main page (drudgereport.com) you'll see *HUGE* red emblazoned text about "Marines in China!" and a giant picture of what looks like some sort of seafaring battalion of US troooooops getting ready to storm some shore or the other. He's worse than CNN, WaPo, WSJ or the NYT (of course he often links to those sources).

Interestingly, on actual left-leaning sites, there's nothing to be seen on the non-topic, but instead moooooore stories about Trump (they just can't stop themselves), the abortion bills and COVID related stuff.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 7 2021 21:41 utc | 32

Another day, same hype…

But what about proof?

Well, we all know that America is the most transparent and least secretive nation on the planet. It’s got that thing called “freedom”, and there is nothing more important than a “free press”. Right? So if they don’t report anything, that simply means that nothing is going on. Right?

Yada. Yada. Yada.

American view of themselves.

The United States is laying the foundations for a war.

That’s what is going on.

China realizes this and is getting mightily pissed. I can tell you that secret operations that go “tits up” are never recognized as an event. it is just hidden and compromised with other excuses.

When a submarine goes off the grid, the hundreds of sailors are quietly written off, and records state that they died in accidents.

The submarine itself is quietly “retired”, and nothing further is spoken of it.

Maybe one of these days the SEAL “Special Operations” submarines will sail into port without incidence.

You know like the broken and busted up Seawolf submarine that limped into Hawaii for “repairs” and urgent medical treatment for it’s crew when it had an incident in the South China Sea during “Mission 7”.

Ah, but what do I know…

And then we have this on 13SEP21

Conclusion

America will continue to wage a secretive war against China hidden away from public scrutiny up until nuclear weapons are detonated. Then we all won’t know what is going on, but we will know that America will be a radioactive wasteland no matter what happens in the rest of the world.

I told you all that the war would not be televised.

And it isn’t.

There are numerous missing submarines in the United States Navy. Not just the ones listed here, but attack submarines, and maybe even a “boomer”. All nuclear. And they are “sitting ducks” in the shallow South China Sea.

There’s a secret, silent war of stealth going on. If it goes visually kinetic, then it risks destroying the American economy “house of cards”. So this “war” must be hidden, quiet and done in stealth.

Most submarines are either sunk or “heavily damaged”. Those that are not sunk sail home “heavily damaged”. So far, we haven’t seem too many sail home damaged. But we will.

I would STRONGLY suggest you all watch the movie “Threads” to see the frightening similarities between this 1980’s movie and what is going on right now.

Oh…

And the mainstream press finally decides to report something….

8OCT21

U.S. Nuke Attack Submarine Suffers Underwater Collision…

Several sailors injured…

South China Sea mystery…

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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Law 27 of the 48 Laws of Power; Play on people’s need to believe to create a cult like following

This is law 27 of the “48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green. Reprinted in it’s entirety. I hope that you all enjoy it. I am presenting it here with out much commentary. There are more than enough cult-leaders in America today. So I feel that I really don’t need to say too much more about it.

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise ; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

LAW 27

PLAY ON PEOPLE’S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING

JUDGMENT

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise ; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

THE SCIENCE OF CHARLATANISM, OR HOW TO CREATE A CULT IN FIVE EASY STEPS

In searching, as you must, for the methods that will gain you the most power for the least effort, you will find the creation of a cultlike following one of the most effective. Having a large following opens up all sorts of possibilities for deception; not only will your followers worship you, they will defend you from your enemies and will voluntarily take on the work of enticing others to join your fledgling cult. This kind of power will lift you to another realm: You will no longer have to struggle or use subterfuge to enforce your will. You are adored and can do no wrong.

You might think it a gargantuan task to create such a following, but in fact it is fairly simple. As humans, we have a desperate need to believe in something, anything. This makes us eminently gullible: We simply cannot endure long periods of doubt, or of the emptiness that comes from a lack of something to believe in. Dangle in front of us some new cause, elixir, get-rich-quick scheme, or the latest technological trend or art movement and we leap from the water as one to take the bait. Look at history: The chronicles of the new trends and cults that have made a mass following for themselves could fill a library. After a few centuries, a few decades, a few years, a few months, they generally look ridiculous, but at the time they seem so attractive, so transcendental, so divine.

Always in a rush to believe in something, we will manufacture saints and faiths out of nothing. Do not let this gullibility go to waste: Make yourself the object of worship. Make people form a cult around you.

The great European charlatans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mastered the art of cultmaking. They lived, as we do now, in a time of transformation: Organized religion was on the wane, science on the rise. People were desperate to rally around a new cause or faith. The charlatans had begun by peddling health elixirs and alchemic shortcuts to wealth. Moving quickly from town to town, they originally focused on small groups—until, by accident, they stumbled on a truth of human nature: The larger the group they gathered around themselves, the easier it was to deceive.

The charlatan would station himself on a high wooden platform (hence the term “mountebank”) and crowds would swarm around him. In a group setting, people were more emotional, less able to reason. Had the charlatan spoken to them individually, they might have found him ridiculous, but lost in a crowd they got caught up in a communal mood of rapt attention. It became impossible for them to find the distance to be skeptical. Any deficiencies in the charlatan’s ideas were hidden by the zeal of the mass. Passion and enthusiasm swept through the crowd like a contagion, and they reacted violently to anyone who dared to spread a seed of doubt. Both consciously studying this dynamic over decades of experiment and spontaneously adapting to these situations as they happened, the charlatans perfected the science of attracting and holding a crowd, molding the crowd into followers and the followers into a cult.

It was to the charlatan’s advantage that the individuals predisposed to credulity should multiply, that the groups of his adherents should enlarge to mass proportions, guaranteeing an ever greater scope for his triumphs. And this was in fact to occur, as science was popularized, from the Renaissance on down through succeeding centuries. With the immense growth of knowledge and its spread through printing in modern times, the mass of the half educated, the eagerly gullible prey of the quack, also increased, became indeed a majority; real power could be based on their wishes, opinions, preferences, and rejections. The charlatan’s empire accordingly widened with the modern dissemination of knowledge; since he operated on the basis of science, however much he perverted it, producing gold with a technique borrowed from chemistry and his wonderful balsams with the apparatus of medicine, he could not appeal to an entirely ignorant folk. The illiterate would be protected against his absurdities by their healthy common sense. His choicest audience would be composed of the semiliterate, those who had exchanged their common sense for a little distorted information and had encountered science and education at some time, though briefly and unsuccessfully.... The great mass of mankind has always been predisposed to marvel at mysteries, and this was especially true at certain historic periods when the secure foundations of life seemed shaken and old values, economic or spiritual, long accepted as certainties, could no longer be relied upon. Then the numbers of the charlatan’s dupes multiplied—the “self killers,” as a seventeenth-century Englishman called them. 

THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO, 1939

The gimmicks of the charlatans may seem quaint today, but there are thousands of charlatans among us still, using the same tried-and-true methods their predecessors refined centuries ago, only changing the names of their elixirs and modernizing the look of their cults. We find these latter-day charlatans in all arenas of life—business, fashion, politics, art. Many of them, perhaps, are following in the charlatan tradition without having any knowledge of its history, but you can be more systematic and deliberate. Simply follow the five steps of cultmaking that our charlatan ancestors perfected over the years.

Step 1: Keep It Vague; Keep It Simple. To create a cult you must first attract attention. This you should do not through actions, which are too clear and readable, but through words, which are hazy and deceptive. Your initial speeches, conversations, and interviews must include two elements: on the one hand the promise of something great and transformative, and on the other a total vagueness. This combination will stimulate all kinds of hazy dreams in your listeners, who will make their own connections and see what they want to see.

To make your vagueness attractive, use words of great resonance but cloudy meaning, words full of heat and enthusiasm. Fancy titles for simple things are helpful, as are the use of numbers and the creation of new words for vague concepts. All of these create

the impression of specialized knowledge, giving you a veneer of profundity. By the same token, try to make the subject of your cult new and fresh, so that few will understand it. Done right, the combination of vague promises, cloudy but alluring concepts, and fiery enthusiasm will stir people’s souls and a group will form around you.

Talk too vaguely and you have no credibility. But it is more dangerous to be specific. If you explain in detail the benefits people will gain by following your cult, you will be expected to satisfy them.

As a corollary to its vagueness your appeal should also be simple. Most people’s problems have complex causes: deep-rooted neurosis, interconnected social factors, roots that go way back in time and are exceedingly hard to unravel. Few, however, have the patience to deal with this; most people want to hear that a simple solution will cure their problems. The ability to offer this kind of solution will give you great power and build you a following. Instead of the complicated explanations of real life, return to the primitive solutions of our ancestors, to good old country remedies, to mysterious panaceas.

Step 2: Emphasize the Visual and the Sensual over the Intellectual. Once people have begun to gather around you, two dangers will present themselves: boredom and skepticism. Boredom will make people go elsewhere ; skepticism will allow them the distance to think rationally about whatever it is you are offering, blowing away the mist you have artfully created and revealing your ideas for what they are. You need to amuse the bored, then, and ward off the cynics.

THE OW WHO WAS GOD

Once upon a starless midnight there was an owl who sat on the branch of an oak tree. Two ground moles tried to slip quietly by, unnoticed. “You!” said the owl. “Who?” they quavered, in fear and astonishment, for they could not believe it was possible for anyone to see them in that thick darkness. “You two!” said the owl. The moles hurried away and told the other creatures of the field and forest that the owl was the greatest and wisest of all animals because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question. “I’ll see about that,” said a secretary bird, and he called on the owl one night when it was again very dark. “How many claws am I holding up?” said the secretary bird. “Two,” said the owl, and that was right. “Can you give me another expression for ‘that is to say’ or ‘namely?’ ” asked the secretary bird. “To wit,” said the owl. “Why does a lover call on his love?” asked the secretary bird. “To woo,” said the owl. The secretary bird hastened back to the other creatures and reported that the owl was indeed the greatest and wisest animal in the world because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question.

Can he see in the daytime, too?” asked a red fox. “Yes,” echoed a dormouse and a French poodle. “Can he see in the daytime, too?” All the other creatures laughed loudly at this silly question, and they set upon the red fox and his friends and drove them out of the region. Then they sent a messenger to the owl and asked him to be their leader. When the owl appeared among the animals it was high noon and the sun was shining brightly. He walked very slowly, which gave him an appearance of great dignity, and he peered about him with large, staring eyes, which gave him an air of tremendous importance. “He’s God!” screamed a Plymouth Rock hen. And the others took up the cry “He’s God!” So they followed him wherever he went and when he began to bump into things they began to bump into things. too. Finally he came to a concrete highway and he started up the middle of it and all the other creatures followed him. Presently a hawk, who was acting as outrider, observed a truck coming toward them at fifty miles an hour, and he reported to the secretary bird and the secretary bird reported to the owl. “There’s danger ahead, ” said the secretary bird. “To wit?” said the owl. The secretary bird told him. “Aren’t you afraid?” He asked. “Who?” said the owl calmly, for he could not see the truck. “He’s God!” cried all the creatures again, and they were still crying “He’s God!” when the truck hit them and ran them down. Some of the animals were merely injured, but most of them, including the owl, were killed. Moral: You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

THE THURBER CARNIVAI , JAMES THURBER , 1894-1961

The best way to do this is through theater, or other devices of its kind. Surround yourself with luxury, dazzle your followers with visual splendor, fill their eyes with spectacle. Not only will this keep them from seeing the ridiculousness of your ideas, the holes in your belief system, it will also attract more attention, more followers. Appeal to all the senses: Use incense for scent, soothing music for hearing, colorful charts and graphs for the eye. You might even tickle the mind, perhaps by using new technological gadgets to give your cult a pseudo-scientific veneer—as long as you do not make anyone really think. Use the exotic—distant cultures, strange customs—to create theatrical effects, and to make the most banal and ordinary affairs seem signs of something extraordinary.

Step 3: Borrow the Forms of Organized Religion to Structure the Group. Your cultlike following is growing; it is time to organize it. Find a way both elevating and comforting. Organized religions have long held unquestioned authority for large numbers of people, and continue to do so in our supposedly secular age. And even if the religion itself has faded some, its forms still resonate with power. The lofty and holy associations of organized religion can be endlessly exploited. Create rituals for your followers; organize them into a hierarchy, ranking them in grades of sanctity, and giving them names and titles that resound with religious overtones; ask them for sacrifices that will fill your coffers and increase your power. To emphasize your gathering’s quasi- religious nature, talk and act like a prophet. You are not a dictator, after all; you are a priest, a guru, a sage, a shaman, or any other word that hides your real power in the mist of religion.

Step 4: Disguise Your Source of Income. Your group has grown, and you have structured it in a churchlike form. Your coffers are beginning to fill with your followers’ money. Yet you must never be seen as hungry for money and the power it brings. It is at this moment that you must disguise the source of your income.

Your followers want to believe that if they follow you all sorts of good things will fall into their lap. By surrounding yourself with luxury you become living proof of the soundness of your belief system. Never reveal that your wealth actually comes from your followers’ pockets; instead, make it seem to come from the truth of your methods. Followers will copy your each and every move in the belief that it will bring them the same results, and their imitative enthusiasm will blind them to the charlatan nature of your wealth.

Step 5: Set Up an Us-Versus-Them Dynamic. The group is now large and thriving, a magnet attracting more and more particles. If you are not careful, though, inertia will set in, and time and boredom will demagnetize the group. To keep your followers united, you must now do what all religions and belief systems have done: create an us-versus- them dynamic.

First, make sure your followers believe they are part of an exclusive club, unified by a bond of common goals. Then, to strengthen this bond, manufacture the notion of a devious enemy out to ruin you. There is a force of nonbelievers that will do anything to stop you. Any outsider who tries to reveal the charlatan nature of your belief system can now be described as a member of this devious force.

If you have no enemies, invent one. Given a straw man to react against, your followers will tighten and cohere. They have your cause to believe in and infidels to destroy.

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

In the year 1653, a twenty-seven-year-old Milan man named Francesco Giuseppe Borri claimed to have had a vision. He went around town telling one and all that the archangel Michael had appeared to him and announced that he had been chosen to be the capitano generale of the Army of the New Pope, an army that would seize and revitalize the world. The archangel had further revealed that Borri now had the power to see people’s souls, and that he would soon discover the philosopher’s stone—a long-sought-after substance that could change base metals into gold. Friends and acquaintances who heard Borri explain the vision, and who witnessed the change that had come over him, were impressed, for Borri had previously devoted himself to a life of wine, women, and gambling. Now he gave all that up, plunging himself into the study of alchemy and talking only of mysticism and the occult.

The transformation was so sudden and miraculous, and Borri’s words were so filled with enthusiasm, that he began to create a following. Unfortunately the Italian Inquisition began to notice him as well—they prosecuted anyone who delved into the occult—so he left Italy and began to wander Europe, from Austria to Holland, telling one and all that “to those who follow me all joy shall be granted.” Wherever Borri stayed he attracted followers. His method was simple: He spoke of his vision, which had grown more and more elaborate, and offered to “look into” the soul of anyone who believed him (and they were many). Seemingly in a trance, he would stare at this new follower for several minutes, then claim to have seen the person’s soul, degree of enlightenment, and

potential for spiritual greatness. If what he saw showed promise, he would add the person to his growing order of disciples, an honor indeed.

The cult had six degrees, into which the disciples were assigned according to what Borri had glimpsed in their souls. With work and total devotion to the cult they could graduate to a higher degree. Borri—whom they called “His Excellency,” and “Universal Doctor”—demanded from them the strictest vows of poverty. All the goods and moneys they possessed had to be turned over to him. But they did not mind handing

over their property, for Borri had told them, “I shall soon bring my chemical studies to a happy conclusion by the discovery of the philosopher’s stone, and by this means we shall all have as much gold as we desire.”

Given his growing wealth, Borri began to change his style of living. Renting the most splendid apartment in the city into which he had temporarily settled, he would furnish it with fabulous furniture and accessories, which he had begun to collect. He would drive through the city in a coach studded with jewels, with six magnificent black horses at its head. He never stayed too long in one place, and when he disappeared, saying he had more souls to gather into his flock, his reputation only grew in his absence. He became famous, although in fact he had never done a single concrete thing.

To become the founder of a new religion one must be psychologically infallible in one’s knowledge of a certain average type of souls who have not yet recognized that they belong together.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900
Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived. 

-
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527

From all over Europe, the blind, the crippled, and the desperate came to visit Borri, for word had spread that he had healing powers. He asked no fee for his services, which only made him seem more marvelous, and indeed some claimed that in this or that city he had performed a miracle cure. By only hinting at his accomplishments, he encouraged people’s imaginations to blow them up to fantastic proportions. His wealth, for example, actually came from the vast sums he was collecting from his increasingly select group of rich disciples; yet it was presumed that he had in fact perfected the philosopher’s stone. The Church continued to pursue him, denouncing him for heresy and witchcraft, and Borri’s response to these charges was a dignified silence; this only enhanced his reputation and made his followers more passionate. Only the great are persecuted, after all; how many understood Jesus Christ in his own time? Borri did not have to say a word—his followers now called the Pope the Antichrist.

And so Borri’s power grew and grew, until one day he left the city of Amsterdam (where he had settled for a while), absconding with huge sums of borrowed money and diamonds that had been entrusted to him. (He claimed to be able to remove the flaws from diamonds through the power of his gifted mind.) Now he was on the run. The Inquisition eventually caught up with him, and for the last twenty years of his life he was imprisoned in Rome. But so great was the belief in his occult powers that to his dying day he was visited by wealthy believers, including Queen Christina of Sweden. Supplying him with money and materials, these visitors allowed him to continue his search for the elusive philosopher’s stone.

Interpretation

THE TEMPLE OF HEALTH

[In the late 1780s] the Scottish quack James Graham... was winning a large following and great riches in London.... [Graham] maintained a show of great scientific technique. In 1772 ... he had visited Philadelphia, where he met Benjamin Franklin and became interested in the latter’s experiments with electricity. These appear to have inspired the apparatus in the “Temple of Health,” the fabulous establishment he opened in London for the sale of his elixirs.... In the chief room, where he received patients, stood “the largest air pump in the world” to assist him in his “philosophical investigations” into disease, and also a “stupendous metallic conductor,” a richly gilded pedestal surrounded with retorts and vials of “etherial and other essences.” ... According to J. Ennemoser, who published a history of magic in 1844 at Leipzig, Graham’s “house... united the useful with the pleasurable. Everywhere the utmost magnificence was displayed. Even in the outer court, averred an eye-witness, it seemed as though art, invention, and riches had been exhausted. On the side walls in the chambers an arc-shaped glow was provided by artificial electric light; star rays darted forth; transparent glasses of all colors were placed with clever selection and much taste. All this, the same eyewitness assures us, was ravishing and exalted the imagination to the highest degree.”

Visitors were given a printed sheet of rules for healthy living. In the Great Apollo Apartment they might join in mysterious rituals, accompanied by chants : “Hail, Vital Air, aethereal ! Magnetic Magic, hail !” And while they hailed the magic of magnetism, the windows were darkened, revealing a ceiling studded with electric stars and a young and lovely “Rosy Goddess of Health” in a niche.... Every evening this Temple of Health was crowded with guests; it had become the fashion to visit it and try the great twelve-foot bed of state, the “Grand Celestial Bed,” said to cure any disease.... This bed, according to Ennemoser, “stood in a splendid room, into which a cylinder led from an adjoining chamber to conduct the healing currents... at  the same time all sorts of pleasing scents of strengthening herbs and Oriental incense were also brought in through glass tubes. The heavenly bed itself rested upon six solid transparent pillars; the bedclothes were of purple and sky-blue Atlas silk, spread over a mattress saturated with Arabian perfumed waters to suit the tastes of the Persian court. The chamber in which it was placed he called the Sanctum Sanctorum.... To add to all this, there were the melodious notes of the harmonica, soft flutes, agreeable voices, and a great organ.”

THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO, 1939

Before he formed his cult, Borri seems to have stumbled on a critical discovery. Tiring of his life of debauchery, he had decided to give it up and to devote himself to the occult, a genuine interest of his. He must have noticed, however, that when he alluded to a mystical experience (rather than physical exhaustion) as the source of his conversion, people of all classes wanted to hear more. Realizing the power he could gain by ascribing the change to something external and mysterious, he went further with his manufactured visions. The grander the vision, and the more sacrifices he asked for, the more appealing and believable his story seemed to become.

Remember: People are not interested in the truth about change. They do not want to hear that it has come from hard work, or from anything as banal as exhaustion, boredom, or depression; they are dying to believe in something romantic, otherworldly. They want to hear of angels and out-of-body experiences.

Indulge them. Hint at the mystical source of some personal change, wrap it in ethereal colors, and a cultlike following will form around you. Adapt to people’s needs: The messiah must mirror the desires of his followers. And always aim high. The bigger and bolder your illusion, the better.

Observance II

In the mid-1700s, word spread in Europe’s fashionable society of a Swiss country doctor named Michael Schüppach who practiced a different kind of medicine: He used the healing powers of nature to perform miraculous cures. Soon well-to-do people from all over the Continent, their ailments both serious and mild, were making the trek to the alpine village of Langnau, where Schüppach lived and worked. Trudging through the mountains, these visitors witnessed the most dramatic natural landscapes that Europe has to offer. By the time they reached Langnau, they were already feeling transformed and on their way to health.

Schüppach, who had become known as simply the “Mountain Doctor,” had a small pharmacy in town. This place became quite a scene: Crowds of people from many different countries would cram the small room, its walls lined with colorful bottles filled with herbal cures. Where most doctors of the time prescribed foul-tasting concoctions that bore incomprehensible Latin titles (as medicines often do still), Schüppach’s cures had names such as “The Oil of Joy,” “Little Flower’s Heart,” or “Against the Monster,” and they tasted sweet and pleasing.

Visitors to Langnau would have to wait patiently for a visit with the Mountain Doctor, because every day some eighty messengers would arrive at the pharmacy bearing flasks of urine from all over Europe. Schüppach claimed he could diagnose what ailed you simply by looking at a sample of your urine and reading a written description of your ailment. (Naturally he read the description very carefully before prescribing a cure.) When he finally had a spare minute (the urine samples took up much of his time), he would call the visitor into his office in the pharmacy. He would then examine this person’s urine sample, explaining that its appearance would tell him everything he needed to know. Country people had a sense for these things, he would say—their wisdom came from living a simple, godly life with none of the complications of urban living. This personal consultation would also include a discussion as to how one might bring one’s soul more into harmony with nature.

Schüppach had devised many forms of treatment, each profoundly unlike the usual medical practices of the time. He was a believer, for instance, in electric shock therapy. To those who wondered whether this was in keeping with his belief in the healing power of nature, he would explain that electricity is a natural phenomenon; he was merely imitating the power of lightning. One of his patients claimed to be inhabited by seven devils. The doctor cured him with electrical shocks, and as he administered these he exclaimed that he could see the devils flying out of the man’s body, one by one. Another man claimed to have swallowed a hay wagon and its driver, which were causing him massive pains in the chest. The Mountain Doctor listened patiently, claimed to be able to hear the crack of a whip in the man’s belly, promised to cure him, and gave him a sedative and a purgative. The man fell asleep on a chair outside the pharmacy. As soon as he awoke he vomited, and as he vomited a hay wagon sped past him (the Mountain Doctor had hired it for the occasion), the crack of its whip making him feel that somehow he had indeed expelled it under the doctor’s care.

Over the years, the Mountain Doctor’s fame grew. He was consulted by the powerful —even the writer Goethe made the trek to his village—and he became the center of a cult of nature in which everything natural was considered worthy of worship. Schüppach was careful to create effects that would entertain and inspire his patients. A professor who visited him once wrote, “One stands or sits in company, one plays cards, sometimes with a young woman; now a concert is given, now a lunch or supper, and now a little ballet is presented. With a very happy effect, the freedom of nature is everywhere united with the pleasures of the beau monde, and if the doctor is not able to heal any diseases, he can at least cure hypochondria and the vapors.”

Interpretation

Schüppach had begun his career as an ordinary village doctor. He would sometimes use in his practice some of the village remedies he had grown up with, and apparently he noticed some results, for soon these herbal tinctures and natural forms of healing became his specialty.

And in fact his natural form of healing did have profound psychological effects on his patients. Where the normal drugs of the time created fear and pain, Schüppach’s treatments were comfortable and soothing. The resulting improvement in the patient’s mood was a critical element in the cures he brought about.

His patients believed so deeply in his skills that they willed themselves into health. Instead of scoffing at their irrational explanations for their ailments, Schüppach used their hypochondria to make it seem that he had effected a great cure.

The case of the Mountain Doctor teaches us valuable lessons in the creation of a cultlike following. First, you must find a way to engage people’s will, to make their belief in your powers strong enough that they imagine all sorts of benefits. Their belief will have a self-fulfilling quality, but you must make sure that it is you, rather than their own will, who is seen as the agent of transformation. Find the belief, cause, or fantasy that will make them believe with a passion and they will imagine the rest, worshipping you as healer, prophet, genius, whatever you like.

Second, Schüppach teaches us the everlasting power of belief in nature, and in simplicity. Nature, in reality, is full of much that is terrifying—poisonous plants, fierce animals, sudden disasters, plagues. Belief in the healing, comforting quality of nature is really a constructed myth, a romanticism. But the appeal to nature can bring you great power, especially in complicated and stressful times.

This appeal, however, must be handled right. Devise a kind of theater of nature in which you, as the director, pick and choose the qualities that fit the romanticism of the times. The Mountain Doctor played the part to perfection, playing up his homespun wisdom and wit, and staging his cures as dramatic pieces. He did not make himself one  with nature; instead he molded nature into a cult, an artificial construction. To create a “natural” effect you actually have to work hard, making nature theatrical and delightfully pagan. Otherwise no one will notice. Nature too must follow trends and be progressive.

Observance III

In 1788, at the age of fifty-five, the doctor and scientist Franz Mesmer was at a crossroads. He was a pioneer in the study of animal magnetism—the belief that animals contain magnetic matter, and that a doctor or specialist can effect miraculous cures by working on this charged substance—but in Vienna, where he lived, his theories had met with scorn and ridicule from the medical establishment. In treating women for convulsions, Mesmer claimed to have worked a number of cures, his proudest achievement being the restoration of sight to a blind girl. But another doctor who examined the young girl said she was as blind as ever, an assessment with which she herself agreed. Mesmer countered that his enemies were out to slander him by winning her over to their side. This claim only elicited more ridicule. Clearly the sober-minded Viennese were the wrong audience for his theories, and so he decided to move to Paris and start again.

Renting a splendid apartment in his new city, Mesmer decorated it appropriately. Stained glass in most of the windows created a religious feeling, and mirrors on all the walls produced an hypnotic effect. The doctor advertised that in his apartment he would give demonstrations of the powers of animal magnetism, inviting the diseased and melancholic to feel its powers. Soon Parisians of all classes (but mostly women, who seemed more attracted to the idea than men did) were paying for entry to witness the miracles that Mesmer promised.

Inside the apartment, the scents of orange blossom and exotic incense wafted through special vents. As the initiates filtered into the salon where the demonstrations took place, they heard harp music and the lulling sounds of a female vocalist coming from another room. In the center of the salon was a long oval container filled with water that Mesmer claimed had been magnetized. From holes in the container’s metal lid protruded long movable iron rods. The visitors were instructed to sit around the container, place these magnetized rods on the body part that gave them pains or problems, and then hold hands with their neighbors, sitting as close as possible to one

another to help the magnetic force pass between their bodies. Sometimes, too, they were attached to each other by cords.

THE POWIROI II

In the town of Tarnopol lived a man by the name of Reb Feivel. One day, as he sat in his house deeply-absorbed in his Talmud, he heard a loud noise outside. When he went to the window he saw a lot of little pranksters. “Up to some new piece of mischief, no doubt.” he thought. “Children, run quickly to the synagogue,” he cried, leaning out and improvising the first story that occurred to him. “You’ll see there a sea monster, and what a monster ! It’s a creature with five feet, three eyes, and a beard like that of a goat, only it’s green !”

And sure enough the children scampered off and Reb Feivel returned to his studies. He smiled into his beard as he thought of the trick he had played on those little rascals. It wasn’t long before his studies were interrupted again, this time by running footsteps. When he went to the window he saw several Jews running. “Where are you running ?” he called out.

“To the sonagogue !” answered the Jews. “Haven’t you heard? There’s a sea monster, there’s a creature with five legs, three eyes, and a beard like that of a goat, only it’s green !” Reb Feivel laughed with glee, thinking of the trick he had played, and sat down again to his Talmud. But no sooner had he begun to concentrate when suddenly he heard a dinning tumult outside. And what did he see? A great crowd of men, women and children, all running toward the synagogue. “What’s iep?” he cried, sticking his head out of the window.

What a question! Why, don’t you know?” they answered. “Right in front of the synagogue there’s a sea monster. It’s a creature with five legs, three eyes, and a beard like that of a goat, only it’s green!”

And as the crowd hurried by, Reb Feivel suddenly noticed that the rabbi himself was among them.

“Lord of the world!” he exclaimed. “If the rabbi himself is running with them surely there must be something happening. Where there’s smoke there’s fire!” Without further thought Reb Feivel grabbed his hat, left his house, and also began running. “Who

can tell?” he muttered to himself as he ran, all out of breath, toward the synagogue.

A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED., 1948

Mesmer would leave the room, and “assistant magnetizers”—all handsome and strapping young men—would enter with jars of magnetized water that they would sprinkle on the patients, rubbing the healing fluid on their bodies, massaging it into their skin, moving them toward a trancelike state. And after a few minutes a kind of delirium would overcome the women. Some would sob, some would shriek and tear their hair, others would laugh hysterically. At the height of the delirium Mesmer would reenter the salon, dressed in a flowing silk robe embroidered with golden flowers and carrying a white magnetic rod. Moving around the container, he would stroke and soothe the patients until calm was restored. Many women would later attribute the strange power he had on them to his piercing look, which, they thought, was exciting or quieting the magnetic fluids in their bodies.

Within months of his arrival in Paris, Mesmer became the rage. His supporters included Marie-Antoinette herself, the queen of France, wife of Louis XVI. As in Vienna, he was condemned by the official faculty of medicine, but it did not matter.

His growing following of pupils and patients paid him handsomely.

Mesmer expanded his theories to proclaim that all humanity could be brought into harmony through the power of magnetism, a concept with much appeal during the French Revolution. A cult of Mesmerism spread across the country; in many towns, “Societies of Harmony” sprang up to experiment with magnetism. These societies eventually became notorious: They tended to be led by libertines who would turn their sessions into a kind of group orgy.

At the height of Mesmer’s popularity, a French commission published a report based on years of testing the theory of animal magnetism. The conclusion: Magnetism’s effects on the body actually came from a kind of group hysteria and autosuggestion. The report was well documented, and ruined Mesmer’s reputation in France. He left the country and went into retirement. Only a few years later, however, imitators sprang up all over Europe and the cult of Mesmerism spread once again, its believers more numerous than ever.

Interpretation

Mesmer’s career can be broken into two parts. When still in Vienna, he clearly believed in the validity of his theory, and did all he could to prove it. But his growing frustration and the disapproval of his colleagues made him adopt another strategy. First he moved to Paris, where no one knew him, and where his extravagant theories found a more fruitful soil. Then he appealed to the French love of theater and spectacle, making his apartment into a kind of magical world in which a sensory overload of smells, sights, and sounds entranced his customers. Most important, from now on he practiced his magnetism only on a group. The group provided the setting in which the magnetism would have its proper effect, one believer infecting the other, overwhelming any individual doubter.

Mesmer thus passed from being a confirmed advocate of magnetism to the role of a charlatan using every trick in the book to captivate the public. The biggest trick of all was to play on the repressed sexuality that bubbles under the surface of any group setting. In a group, a longing for social unity, a longing older than civilization, cries out to be awakened. This desire may be subsumed under a unifying cause, but beneath it is a repressed sexuality that the charlatan knows how to exploit and manipulate for his own purposes.

This is the lesson that Mesmer teaches us: Our tendency to doubt, the distance that allows us to reason, is broken down when we join a group. The warmth and infectiousness of the group overwhelm the skeptical individual. This is the power you gain by creating a cult. Also, by playing on people’s repressed sexuality, you lead them into mistaking their excited feelings for signs of your mystical strength. You gain untold power by working on people’s unrealized desire for a kind of promiscuous and pagan unity.

Remember too that the most effective cults mix religion with science. Take the latest technological trend or fad and blend it with a noble cause, a mystical faith, a new form of healing. People’s interpretations of your hybrid cult will run rampant, and they will attribute powers to you that you had never even thought to claim.

Image: The Magnet. An unseen force draws objects to it, which in turn become magnetized themselves, drawing other pieces to them, the magnetic power of the whole constantly increasing. But take away the original magnet and it all falls apart. Become the magnet, the invisible force that attracts people’s imaginations and holds them together. Once they have clustered around you, no power can wrest them away.

Authority: The charlatan achieves his great power by simply opening a possibility for men to believe what they already want to believe…. The credulous cannot keep at a distance; they crowd around the wonder worker, entering his personal aura, surrendering themselves to illusion with a heavy solemnity, like cattle. (Grete de Francesco)

REVERSAL

One reason to create a following is that a group is often easier to deceive than an individual, and turns over to you that much more power. This comes, however, with a danger: If at any moment the group sees through you, you will find yourself facing not one deceived soul but an angry crowd that will tear you to pieces as avidly as it once followed you. The charlatans constantly faced this danger, and were always ready to move out of town as it inevitably became clear that their elixirs did not work and their ideas were sham. Too slow and they paid with their lives. In playing with the crowd, you are playing with fire, and must constantly keep an eye out for any sparks of doubt, any enemies who will turn the crowd against you. When you play with the emotions of a crowd, you have to know how to adapt, attuning yourself instantaneously to all of the moods and desires that a group will produce. Use spies, be on top of everything, and keep your bags packed.

For this reason you may often prefer to deal with people one by one. Isolating them from their normal milieu can have the same effect as putting them in a group—it makes them more prone to suggestion and intimidation. Choose the right sucker and if he eventually sees through you he may prove easier to escape than a crowd.

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Glimpses of contemporaneous Vietnam. Oh, it is so very different from what you would expect

Here, I continue on my “bender” on taking a look at other nations in our world. In each case, so far, I have shown the reality to be something different from what you would ever read about in the Western (especially the American) press. I have looked at China, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the middle East, and now, Vietnam.

Vietnam is a very interesting place full of great beauty, beautiful women, delicious food, and an easy going happy-go-lucky lifestyle.

Enter Donald Trump and his neocon war-mongers

Vietnam continued their easy and laid back lifestyle since the tumultuous 1960’s when America decided to churn up and rape the countryside for freedom™ and democracy™. And it continued that way through the decades, up until Donald Trump took office and started his “War on China”.

He demanded that American companies leave China or face all sorts of consequences. In American “language” this means that “border-line legal” actions might (and probably would) be directed at the company. Such as suspicious hard-line tax audits, and review of OSHA and EPA policies and factory operation shut-downs during the “investigations” as well as mysterious fires in the warehouses, random union uprisings and personal tax audits and random arrests of key corporate executives.

Many, but not all, American companies started to relocate a number of their operations out of China. The vast bulk did not return to America, however. Instead, they went to Mexico and Vietnam.

About Factories

When America switched from manufacturing inside of America to outsourcing to China, they did NOT teach the Chinese how to make factories or build products. Instead, they went to existing factories, handed over the blueprints, and quality specifications, moved their tooling and equipment, and said “make this for us”. And that is pretty much (as harsh as it sounds) what actually happened.

Now, in the thirty to forty years that America has been devoid of solid manufacturing skill, the American companies that manufactured inside of China were in a bind. Just how do you move your factory, when you don’t own it?

Do you start from scratch? Hire new engineers? Try to reverse engineer your systems to fit a Mexican or Vietnamese work force? What do you do?

Well, I can’t say that this is what happened to all of the factories, but I can tell you that a sizable number took this action…

…the Chinese factories that supplied the American companies, set up divisions inside of Vietnam.

Thus, the Donald Trump trade war, as far as bringing manufacturing capability back to the United States failed. Instead, all that happened is the existing Chinese factories continued to supply the American companies. The only difference is that they did so out of Vietnam.

Vietnam Changed.

Of course, all of this movement of Chinese factories into Vietnam, and with it, the Chinese support structures, have made great changes to Vietnam. While it is still a sluggish and rather backward nation, it is growing and expanding. And this has created a rather unique mix of older traditional Vietnam, with modern Chinese industry and support structures. Very few American influences are present. As America is rather a nation of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and diversity experts. Very few have an kind of impact on Vietnamese society.

Here we are going to look at some videos out of Vietnam taken these last two months. It’s a quite interesting mix of color and tradition.

The Videos

Let’s go through these videos.

I suggest you watch them in order to get the full diverse effect. And I hope hope that you enjoy them and get “something out of them”. This group has around 85 (give or take) videos. So to prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome (yikes!) clicking on each individual video, I have clustered the videos into small zip files that you click on, download and then browse through at your leisure.

Group A

  • Cooking some kind of purple Vietnamese food.
  • Foreigner in Vietnam trying to pick up a local butterfly girl.
  • Young love having some fun.
  • Lunch in a Chinese factory located in Vietnam.
  • Dressing up to go out on a date.
  • You ride scooters to get anywhere.
  • Making supper.
  • Loved ones going off to do their mandatory military service.
  • Some girls getting down at a local gathering.
  • Another foreigner trying to pick up some butterfly girls.
  • Night life in one of the bigger cities.
  • Two girls on the way to work (my guess is a massage or restaurant).
  • Bar Life.
  • Home made turbo-generators for local village power needs.

Group A

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group B

  • Single 20-something girl in her one-room apartment.
  • Hair stylist.
  • Wedding party.
  • Bride’s Maids showing their disdain for the bride for leaving them behind.
  • Pretty Vietnam girl in a tea house.
  • Pretty Vietnam farm girl in the field.
  • Some 20-something’s “hanging out”.
  • Pretty factory girl on the factory campus.
  • Drunk factory girl in her shared dorm room.
  • Classmates cheering up a sad girl.
  • Before a wedding.
  • Prep-cook.
  • Lunch with beer and pigeon eggs.
  • Vietnam government taking guidance from China and fighting COVID.

Group B

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group C

  • What small-town Vietnam is actually like.
  • A typical highway between towns.
  • Pretty girl doing a Tictok.
  • Wedding tradition.
  • Wedding reception activity.
  • Girls of the night looking for customers.
  • Picnic Vietnamese style.
  • Female Vietnamese kick-boxer.
  • Haircut and a shave.
  • Happy birthday.
  • Handing out money to those wearing masks.
  • Chilled girl stopping by the side to put on a warmer top.
  • One of the many wedding rituals.
  • Butterfly Girl on the prowl in the night-life section.

Group C

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group D

  • Foreigner interacting with some “ladies of the night”.
  • Not quite sure what is going on.
  • Laundry on the porch.
  • Young love at the factory.
  • A beautiful Vietnamese girl.
  • Leaving his house as he has to go off to work now.
  • Lining up for vaccinations.
  • Household savings.
  • Nothing is sexier than a woman cooking.
  • Working the farm.
  • Washing hair outside.
  • Traditional outfit.
  • [Video messes up on MS systems about 50% of the time.]
  • Traditional family.

Group D

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group E

  • Butterfly girls (prostitutes) lined up for some customers.
  • making waffles for breakfast.
  • City night ride.
  • China giving away free “dead virus” (traditional) vaccines in Vietnam.
  • Pretty girl 1.
  • Pretty girl 2.
  • A factory lunch.
  • A friend had a little too much to drink.
  • Off to the honeymoon.
  • Night life.
  • A girl of the night.
  • Making products for American consumers in a Chinese factory in Vietnam.
  • Farting at loved ones.
  • I am not too sure what is going on here.

Group E

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group F

  • Foreigner picking up a butterfly girl.
  • Another butterfly girl scores BIG.
  • Pretty girl in traditional attire.
  • OMG! What a sexy video!!!!!
  • Night time going out to be with friends.
  • Confrontation or something…?
  • It’s hot! HOT!
  • Healthy dinner.
  • China is assisting Vietnam in the construction of hospitals.
  • KTV fun. I wish I was there.
  • Later on at the KTV things are getting a little crazy.
  • You have to wear pants over your miniskirt while riding a scooter.
  • Wedding exchanges.
  • Friends partying.
  • A bit of fun at a Chinese factory inside of Vietnam making products for Americans.

Group F

You can download this entire archive HERE.

On a topical note…

As the Biden administration consolidates its foreign policy, it has predictably turned its attention towards Southeast Asia in a bid to “counter China”.

Just last week, Mid-August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore in a bid to increase military ties between Washington and the region.

Means… allow American military bases there, American war ships to sail there, and the placement of American offensive missile systems there.

Right on China’s “doorstep”.

Imagine that!

Now, Kamala Harris is also set to visit two of these countries (Vietnam and Singapore), where the reported main message will be ‘America is Back!’ – a sentiment which will no doubt go down a storm in Hanoi.

You know like swallowing bile that rise up in your throat.

The vice president’s aim with this trip is to “call out” China over its maritime claims in the South China Sea.They can’t do it personally face-to-face with China. They will no longer play “that game”. So like cowards, they are trying to undermine all the relationships of all the nations that border on China.

They come with suitcases (no cross that out) pallets, (no cross that out) Shipping containers full of freshly minted US dollars.

Freshly minted.

Hot off the (over worked) printing presses.

For, you know, the leadership to do what ever they want with the nice crisp “green backs”.

This comes amid America’s attempts to militarize the region.

They’ve been really busy, don’t you know.

The anti-China QUAD; those vassal states of the UK and Japan who will be compelled to “die on their swords” at the push of a button from the American Pentagon. To Australia who has only become a vassal state for reasons not so obvious. In my mind, a treasonous Morrison government with many, many skeletons in his closet is willing to sacrifice his people for Washington DC.

As well as continuously sailing aircraft carriers through the sensitive waters in a bid to project American power.

It comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting, where he has warned against “external interference” by “extraterritorial powers” in the region.

No prizes here for guessing who he was talking about…

The US says that it’s “back” to Southeast Asian countries.

It’s just bullshit.

The reality is this: apart from all the militaristic “sabre rattling” and pushing a non-stop hate China narrative while convincing everyone (with a pulse) to oppose China, the United States actually doesn’t have a strategy for the region.

But Beijing does.

In many ways, the legacy of recent US policies in this area of the world has been self-defeating.

The “political space” (the room to maneuver and work around is) that Biden has to turn it around is really quite limited.

In other words, it’s essentially still Trump’s ‘America First’ sentiment.

And that is quite telling as the biggest gaping hole in America’s strategy towards Southeast Asian countries is failing to offer them anything in return.

There are no, absolutely zero, economic incentives to oppose China. All they have to offer is personal riches for the rulers. As well as promises to offer them “green cards” and citizenship if the whole plan goes “tits up”.

China, need I remind you, which is right next door to these nations.

On this front, America has isolated itself.

In so many ways too.

Most notably by withdrawing from the mega trade deal which Obama fashioned as an anti-China initiative known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Now rebranded CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) amongst local partners.

On the level of US domestic politics, this is toxic because the consensus is that free trade is bad, especially if it detracts from jobs at home.

Therefore, Biden faces protectionist pressure not to re-join it, thus it has not come back on the Biden agenda.

China, on the other hand, has comprehensively doubled down on its economic ties with the surrounding region and entrenched its presence. Most notably through joining the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which it quickly ratified.

This creates an obvious problem for America.

China is increasingly integrating itself with the region on an economic level.

In which local parties (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc.) welcome with open arms gleefully.

But, you know, the United States is not happy with in the least.

China has, in addition, begun to move away from the US dollar in its business with these countries. This includes a local currency trade agreement with Indonesia and the setting up of an RMB bank in the Philippines, amongst other things.

No longer is trade being conducted in the “almighty” US Dollar. It’s local currency to the e-yuan. And as time moves forward, more and more nations are following this lead.

The US doesn’t have an answer to any of this.

Recently, it was reported that Washington wanted to try and propose a ‘digital trade deal’ among the economies of the Asia-Pacific. This “digital trade deal”  is intended to lock China out of trade with any nations that sign that agreement. This is by regulation.

A favorite technique, mind you, well established and mature to crush nations that do not “toe the line” with American Geo-political policy.

This is intended to be done by setting strict rules and regulations on the ‘digital economy’ of the region.

Diplomatic sources dismissed it as a complete non-starter.

Why?

Because it’s absolutely untenable for these countries to lock China out, and it’s not hard to see why.

Yesterday (Mid-August 2021) Huawei announced it would be investing $100 million into over 1,000 software start-ups throughout Southeast Asia. And that’s just one of the many initiatives in bringing manufacturing, development, growth and prosperity to all the nations that surround China.

With a high degree of integration and economic benefits, it is impossible for the US to now shape the region’s initiative while keeping China excluded.

There’s nothing left.

This leaves the military.

And this is where China is increasingly powerful, but the US remains competitive and relevant.

Many countries in the region accept the presence of the United States and its allies militarily, because it gives them strategic space to prevent them from being completely dominated by China.

For a small city state like Singapore, this inclination makes obvious sense, but this is not so much ‘siding’ with America as it is a geopolitical balancing act between both powers.

Walking the “tight rope”; the “fine line” of neutrality.

Here lies the problem: America wants countries to align with it against China in a binary way, but the nations themselves want neutrality.

And ASEAN (The association of South East Asian nations) as an institution officially seeks such.

Singapore’s prime minister stated several days ago that it seeks balance between both powers, and did not want to become torn between them.

Seeks balance.

Seeks neutrality.

Seeks a uni-polar world.

Some of these states of course are formally allied with America, such as the Philippines. Yet, you know, for all intents and purposes they utilize a strategy of ‘hedging’ between both sides.

And for certain, they do not seek confrontation with Beijing.

If Washington pushes too hard on anti-China initiatives, these countries become uncomfortable, and this may have the ‘opposite’ result.

Recognizing what the US is doing, China is now pre-empting it by making diplomatic breakthroughs and concessions on the ‘South China Sea code of conduct’ – a proposal that has been in gridlock for decades.

This aims to ease tensions, and brands the US a ‘troublemaker’.

Duh!

Again, Washington doesn’t have the ability to conduct close diplomacy with these countries as a neighbor, only as a ‘visitor’.

America is an outsider.

China is local.

China is right there.

All in all, geography works against America. China is the neighbor of Southeast Asia, not the US.

Beijing is the largest economy in the region and is irreversibly integrated in terms of trade, technology, and finance.

America is not.

Yet, the US foreign policy strategy seems to pursue the bizarre premise that they can somehow dominate this region…

… push back China…

…and match its growing power…

… despite the fact they physically cannot, simply because they are not based there.

This means that whilst these countries are not necessarily rejecting an American presence, they are never going to adopt any serious anti-China policies or the militarization of the region that Biden hopes for.

Would you start a fight with your much bigger next-door neighbor?

Biden has no economic incentives to offer either.

China is, in many ways, continuing to lead and shape the regional agenda through its own initiatives, and as its own military presence in this area also grows, it has plenty of options to counter US posturing.

And the United States is impotent in the region, no matter what the American media says to the contrary.

Conclusion

Most of the world is still being influenced by the American media in one form or the other. And on subjects that everyone seems to have adjusted to what ever narrative that the American government made, the belief is that what ever Washington DC says is the truth. Nope. It is not.

Vietnam is many things, but an American proxy nation, whether military, commercial or economic, is simply not true.

This article broaches the true and actual state of affairs, and I do hope that it was interesting and meaningful at the same time. I have tried to present a diverse collection of videos showing the great breadth and width of the colorful Vietnamese society, and I hope that I put it in a positive light.

I have many friends how go to Vietnam, as it’s not too far from where I live, and they pretty much confirm what I have listed here. I hope that you all can see that it has a bright future ahead, and some deep and wonderful culture and traditions. I sincerely hope that they hold on to them and not allow them to disappear.

And when the pandemic ends, perhaps a nice visit to Vietnam would be a wonderful trip, and I am sure that you would make some wonderful, maybe even lifelong friends. And isn’t that what we all want out of life?

Do you want more?

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[daegonmagus] – Part 2 – Contact with the Elder Guardians

The following is the second part from a series of articles describing the adventure that a follower who goes by the handle "daegonmagus" has experienced since reading MM. They are very interesting and fascinating. I hope that you all learn from his journey and maybe learn a thing or two as he relates his unique experiences to the readership here. 

-MM

Part 2 – Contact with the Elder Guardians

In the last part I talked about my first contact experience with a group of Elders resembling the Ascended Masters whilst lucid dreaming back in 2012.

I mentioned (in this last article) how these Elders told me [1] about a “spiritual amnesia” that was affecting mankind and cutting them off from a higher state of conscious awareness.

I also mentioned (in the article) how the [2] physical human brain had apparently been deliberately engineered to help with this dumbing down of consciousness.

It was during this experience that I was able to tap into this higher state of conscious awareness –  what I refer to as the higher self or higher intellect.

The higher self (or higher intellect)

This higher self equates to a processing power orders of magnitude far above what we (normally) use whilst contained within the physical body.

It lets you see through physical and non physical realities like they are glass.

Different States of being

It is important to note here, that I use the connection with this higher state of mind to differentiate between [A] a lucid dream/ astral projection and [B] a mystical experience.

When I mention a mystical experience – or what I call an Auric projection – it means that I have been under this superior state of conscious awareness whilst lucid.

It is a completely different experience to what both astral projection and lucid dreaming entail.

Whilst in this state, there is a constant flux of information coming in and being perceived of higher reality aspects; only a very small percentage of it can ever be remembered upon waking up.

This information also contains soul-time memories, and is not limited to a single physical incarnation.

There is always a catch 22 dilemma when functioning from this state; you know the information coming in is important, but you are also aware you will forget most of it when awakening back into your physical body.

Thus one is forced to try and focus on specific elements to try and remember them when waking up.

It is beyond frustrating.

My mystical experiences

All in all I had 5 or so “mystical experiences” in which I was connected to this higher state of awareness. It was over a 7 year period, many of which the Grand Elder appeared in.

This is not including my “second contact” experience.

This “second contact experience” occurred as a recurring lucid dream.

In this recurring lucid dream, I was also connected to this state of awareness and being bombarded by information.

So (all told), including these recurring dreams, the amount of mystical experiences I had whilst connected to the higher self would easily be over 20 events.

Hijacking of dreamscape

In part one I briefly touched upon the idea that I was playing around with consciousness and conducting experiments with it whilst lucid dreaming.

It was apparently because I had developed advanced abilities in this area that the Ascended Masters were able to contact me; at least that is what they told me.

One of these experiments related to “hijacking” my wife’s dreamscape and implanting a dream scenario of my devising.

What I didn’t talk about, is that around this same time, my wife was also having her own contact experiences with both physical and non physical entities.

Wife’s Contact Experiences

These entities took on a myriad of different forms from [1] “angels” and [2] “demons” to [3] ETs wearing strange space suits.

I did not realize it at the time but they had been “visiting” my wife since she was a little kid.

She had only vaguely mentioned very few of these experiences in fear of me thinking she was crazy.

In actual fact she had had enough experiences to fill a whole volume. I did not get much of the specifics of these experiences until very recently (this year).

What I find curious is that when she was little, one of the angelic types suggested to her the same thing about the human brain; it had been deliberately created to hold consciousness at a lesser level.

In many of these visitations, she was also under the influence of a similar higher state of conscious awareness. Her description of this state of awareness matches my experience of it.

Having “synchronized” dreams and experiences.

I am not sure if it was because of my hijacking experiment or not, but thereafter my wife and I also began having “synchronized” dreams and experiences.

These related to visiting the same places whilst lucid (she was just as proficient at lucid dreaming and astral projecting as me, if not better).

Often times we would describe to each other a place we’d been to or a lucid dream we’d just had only to have the other finish the sentence with an exact description of the scenario.

Many of these synchronised dreams related to “waking up” and trying to retrieve each other from “sleep facilities”.

Consciousness brainwashing facilities

These “sleep facilities” were unique. In them, it appeared consciousness brainwashing was being undertaken, or (a cleansing of) memories of things we did in past lives or other worlds.

One of these synchronicities was a scenario where we were both killed in one world, and “woke up” in another. Other memories included being trained in remembering “timeline resets”.

Out of all of my mystical experiences, a great deal of them were synchronised in this manner.

One of the “worlds” we were both visiting prior to my first contact experience with the Elder Guardians, was this place that was very reminiscent of a movie theater.

We’d always pop out in a hallway that had various ‘theater” rooms coming off it.  These rooms would be lined with chairs, in typical theater fashion, except that instead of a screen there was a spherical shaped portal floating in mid air.

Though I have no specific recollection of them being used for consciousness brainwashing, my wife remembers this place as being used for exactly that.

Whenever I would enter the portal in the theater room, it would take me to a completely different world.

My wife was also able to describe this same world in exact detail.

In this other world there is this weird road that sort of curves upwards into the sky. It sort of looks like what the great Wall Of China would look like if you bent it upwards; the gravity changes as you move along the road so you are always on it.

There appears to be some sort of ancient market festival going on and something to do with timeline resets.

I was having lucid dreams about both the portal theater and the market festival place almost weekly for a whole year; they were, evidently, astral assignments my handlers were sending me to.

There were also instances of being “attacked” whilst lucid that, fortunately for us, we were able to corroborate as both of us had experienced similar things happening.

Such things included weird entities entering our heads and pushing our consciousness to one side, distorting it in the process.

Others included typical succubus expeditions, timeline slips and things that aren’t even describable with human words.

At one point I had something extremely heavy – about 100kg – sit on me and crush my chest to the point I couldn’t breathe.

Majority of these strange occurrences would happen whilst in the sleep paralysis/ hypnogogic state.

Strange occurrences

My wife spoke of one astral projection experience where she went into our roof and found a strange creature living there guarding an ancient dusty box.

This creature was humanoid, had no face and pounced around like a cat. It would not let her anywhere near the box. It wanted to play with her, like a kitten would.

We had “ghosts” moving stuff in many of the houses we moved into.

Our life was one big paranormal experience that for us just became normality.

The weirdest example is a doppelganger version of myself that both my wife and daughter saw and heard that appeared when I was out with my son.

I believe such a doppelganger almost got me executed, but for the sake of brevity I will skip over that whole ordeal.

What I will mention was that this particular incident happened only a few short months after my recurring mystical dreams.

These eventually culminated in me remembering my own reincarnation at the guidance of the voice of the Grand Elder and the torture my soul had undergone moments prior to becoming incarnated in this current body – what I call “soul burning”.

Strange Lucid Dreams

The lucid dreams themselves were strange; they started as me appearing in an apocalyptic purgatorial like place.

There were broken decrepit houses every where one looked.

A single path that led seemingly into nowhere was the only thing besides the houses. There as what appeared to be another version of myself waiting for me along this road.

As I approached it I realized it was a zombie; it was me but it was devoid of all emotion, and as it noticed me it began to give chase.

The information that was coming in from my higher consciousness and through the voice of the Grand Elder told me how this was a part of my higher energetic body.

That body had been damaged by the spiritual amnesia;

  • It was effectively, a corrupted part of my soul from a higher, non physical plane;
  • It was an unseen baggage that I would always carry with me.

For about a year this dream would start from the exact same point and slowly progress.

It was like watching the same movie from the start over and over, but each time watching a little bit more before turning it off.

My zombie would chase me and eventually catch me and I would wake up as soon as it touched me.

Eventually my time line resetting memories would start kicking in, and I would be back at the start of the dream with 2 zombies chasing me instead of one upon a zombie touching me.

It would progress in this fashion, with the number of zombies doubling every time I got reset.

It got to the point where I had thousands upon thousands of zombified versions of my energetic body chasing me.

After about a year of having these dreams on a monthly, sometime fortnightly basis, I started to realize it was the period between a zombie touching me and “resetting” that the Grand Elder was trying to get me to remember; whenever I had one of these dreams, my focus would go entirely on trying to figure out what was happening in between the resets.

The amount of information coming through each and every time I had one of these experiences was intense.

I was constantly comparing everything that was happening with the physical world my body was asleep in…

…whilst listening to the Grand Elder’s voice telling me to pay attention to certain details.

They were simply not normal dreams or even normal lucid dreams.

He was guiding me through this experience each and every time I had it like I was back at college opening a textbook and continuing study of a subject from a previous week.

Each experience thus was a continuation of the “lessons” from the previous one.

The Grand Elder would not let up in what he was trying to show/ teach me.

A force controlling the zombified energetic bodies

Because of my connection to my higher mind, I could feel that some kind of external force was controlling these zombified energetic bodies. It was an incredibly strong telepathic connection.

I could sense the raw hatred of this external force coming through; I simply knew it was not part of the zombie’s make up.

It was pure evil and I knew whatever it was, was the same Slave God the Grand Elder had told me was responsible for the Ancient Egyptian slave trade and the spiritual amnesia.

This purgatorial domain I was in it evidently owned and controlled.

In the last experience I was being chased by thousands of these zombies when all of a sudden I realized this hatred emotion I could use to my advantage.

I started taunting these zombies as they gave chase which angered the controller immensely.

Like it’s hatred, I could feel this anger surging through.

I went out of my way to bring this anger to a level where the Slave God would lose control of the situation.

Then I just stopped running and turned around, deliberately allowing the zombies to catch me.

My plan had worked.

The next thing I knew I was being taken to a sort of operating room and was being strapped to a bed.

The zombified versions of my energetic bodies all stood around me, as I was hooked up to a strange piece of apparatus.

Torture!

What followed was the most excruciating torture I have ever experienced in either lucid dreaming or physical reality.

It was unbelievably intense that it literally felt like my very soul was on fire.

It felt like I was being electrocuted with incredibly high current as well as being cut to pieces and set on fire all at once.

I called it Soul Burning.

At the same time this was all carried out there was things being done that I can only describe as a brainwashing regime courtesy of the same apparatus that was torturing me.

It was like it had the ability to instill my very being with false memories.

I could feel things being spliced into my soul that I knew should not have been there.

The controller was so angered by my insolence, that he made the zombies increase the savageness of their “purging” me into one of them.

They ripped and tore at my soul so brutally that I could feel it coming to pieces.

It was a similar feeling to what projecting into the anomaly had done to my consciousness, except that it wouldn’t disintegrate my higher mind.

What was worse was that I suddenly remembered every other time this had happened to me.

Fourty thousand years worth of lifetimes that ended with this same torture all came flooding back to me.

Each one amplified the pain by a million.

Because I was operating from my higher mind I could feel every single one of these tortures as if they were all happening at the same time.

The Grand Elder had warned me it was going to be an uncomfortable memory, but I did not care.

The knowledge of my soul’s history was more important to me than comfort.

My commitment had been to remember whatever was necessary and bring it back here into the physical plane at all costs.

After the soul burning session finished, the zombies all left, courtesy of the controller and I found myself lying alone on the bed in this hellish operating room.

Finished and exhausted

I was completely, 100% lucid and could remember everything that had just happened as well as that somewhere back on Earth my body was asleep in its bed.

My consciousness was completely detached from it.

Whatever it was that had carried out this torture on me had failed to properly administer the amnesia, and I realized this was exactly what the Grand Elder wanted me to see.

I was, however, mentally and emotionally spent from everything that had just transpired.

With my last ounce of energy I deliberately projected my consciousness away from that purgatorial realm into space – I didn’t even have enough energy to get back to my body I was that exhausted.

So I just floated in space for what seemed like a minute, looking at some nearby stars.

There was a suddenly change in my environment as my perceptive field went from that of the universe to a wall of skin that clung to me and enclosed me within it.

That is when I realized I was free floating in a placenta as a fetus.

I even kicked out and could feel the resistance of the skin in my foot as I did so.

This placenta provided a great soothing comfort for me after the whole soul burning ordeal; it was incredibly inviting and felt as though it was healing me as I floated within it.

Shortly after this I awoke back in my bed.

I was certain this was a memory of the moments prior to me being incarnated into this current body.

The Grand Elder plucks me out…

Several months later I was again abducted out of another lucid dream by the Grand Elder.

This time he showed himself to me like he did at the 2012 gathering in the celestial courtyard; it was the very same being, I am 100% sure of this.

He told me that the ordeal in the purgatorial realm was necessary for me to remember before this second meeting with him could be undertaken.

He was teaching me a higher knowledge about consciousness and how it was being affected by the amnesia.

Like the reincarnation dreams this was yet another Auric experience and the information coming through was with a potency that the Earth mind is just not capable of processing.

Again I was taken to a point on the outskirts of a universe in a different, non physical plane.

There was this sort of racing circuit laid out; it was similar to a formula one track just floating randomly in space.

There were these canon like things blotted about around the track randomly that were shooting light far out into the universe. Guarding these canons were these hairy, bipedal, monkey like beasts.

The Grand Elder told me my mind had been deliberately sped up so that I could comprehend this light, which I was perceiving as if it was being slowed down.

The beasts could apparently not see me because their minds were operating at a lower frequency; I was moving faster than the light, they weren’t.

I was also told by the Grand Elder I was seeing these canons in this manner so I could more easily remember them back here in the physical plane.

The actual devices cannot be comprehended by the limited human mind.

This light was not the same as light that we know of on earth.

It was of a much higher frequency and, according to the Grand Elder was responsible for the creation of physical and non physical universes.

We watched as the beasts pointed the canons upwards and fired light pulses out into the vast empty space that surrounded us.

The pulses would fly through space until they collided with the pulses from other canons, whereby whole galaxies would just appear out of no where from the collision.

Suddenly I could see a myriad of stars that had formed because of these collisions. This was happening in every direction we looked. These whole galaxies were extremely small from our vantage point.

There was probably about 20 or so canons placed strategically on this circuit track.

Whenever one of the beasts would fire their canon, you could see the light pulse move around the track before coming out of it.

It was strange in that it looked like a racing track but functioned more like an electronic circuit. You could see the light enter various components before reaching the canons.

Another lesson

What followed was the Grand Elder giving me yet another lesson in consciousness and how it was being affected by the amnesia.

Apparently the Slave Gods had somehow hijacked this light here, right as it came from the source before it could even create the first non physical universes.

The way it was explained to me was that they had embedded “codes” that would affect consciousness in a similar manner to how we vary digital pulses using Pulse Width Modulation.

This effectively meant a consciousness – any consciousness – could be used as a carrier of information that was not part of the “divine” creator’s purpose.

Consciousness could be controlled remotely in this “place” by changing the PWM codes.

This was the whole point of the circuit track we were watching.

The beasts were there to ensure consciousness was being kept in a dumbed down state, and creating the “realities” where those consciousnesses could be trapped.

After this, the Grand Elder took me below the circuit track. We were now in the middle of what appeared to be an electronics manufacturing factory.

The divine light would drop out of the track above us and on to a conveyor belt that was lined with cell phones and similar technology.

It would go into the phones, the phones would be picked up by even more of these beasts, packaged and sent off for shipment.

It was an extremely bizarre affair and, to begin with, I didn’t quite understand what I was looking at.

The Grand Elder told me that the consciousness manipulation technology I had just witnessed was directly connected (at a quantum level) to technologies currently being used around the world.

The actual connection was never explained to me. I was just made to take note that there was a connection.

Shortly after this the dream ended.

Back to the physical world

About 3 months later is when I was very nearly killed by my own neighbors.

My hand was cut open and I was left permanently disabled in my left hand as a result.

As I lay in a hospital bed that very night waiting for surgery, I could hear a crowd of voices in my head all speaking incredibly fast.

The languages they spoke in were not any languages native to Earth.

This was new to me.

These voices were so loud and fast that I thought I was going crazy.

I thought my mind had been broken by the whole ordeal, and that this was going to be my life from then on out.

Unbeknownst to me, about 50kms away at her mother’s house, my wife was also hearing similar voices that same night.

Whereas I could not make out anything mine were saying, hers were screaming “THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!” over and over again.

This was apparently directly in relation to me being almost being killed and having my hand cut open. The idea it could have all been instigated by my doppelganger didn’t enter my mind until this year.

And yet, the crazy train didn’t stop there…

Ah. this is enough for now. There's a lot of "meat" to absorb here. Soak it in. Enjoy it, and soon enough part 3 will be posted. Best Regards. -MM

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[PissedLizard] A crash, then death, then rebirth and then to MM

We all have experiences, and once we step outside the realm of what is "normal", or experiences take on a surreal aspect. Others, sometimes well-meaning, don't understand what you are trying to relate. And thus, you learn. You keep quiet and you don't share your experiences with anyone. But that really isn't healthy.

The following is an introductory statement / story regarding PissedLizard's personal experiences. (Lovingly referred to as PL here on MM) If you read with an open mind, and then consider his experiences to be "puzzle pieces", you can use them to construct a fuller picture of where you are at in your own life and society. It's good stuff you all.

-MM

A crash, then death, then rebirth and then to MM

I am going to start to write what happened to me. MM can verify as soon as something happened on whoever’s end – things just got crazy…

First, I remember the crash and remembered it happened 2 years ago.

I wrote about this before. Where a person would have an accident and "die", only to find out that there was a world-line slide and they really didn't actually die. 

Though they will remember dying and the entire death sequence. Most people who encounter this tend to be quite shaken up by it.

After the “Alien Interview” things started to clear up.

I posted a series of articles, parsing and the full text of "Alien Interview" on MM. This was the transcript (and narrative by the translating nurse) of the interview with a type-1 extraterrestrial commander by the United States military in 1947.

When I say I remember the crash, it was in this body…

… but the crash and impact was elsewhere…

…even though it looked like it was in my house. There were others with me I just do not know what happened to them.

Second, the going to the light thing has a lot of Christian meaning and if they choose to believe that they go to God, then I am not to interfere only to say where I stand with them. Other than that I can only speak for me.

PL is relating his experiences. He is trying to do so free of religious overtones.

When the cycle of not going into the light is broken you remember everything. EVERYTHING.

The problem I am having is relearning how to read, speak, write and overall communicate. This is what’s freaking out my wife. Because now I am a better “listener”. Go figure.

As out of place as this sounds – I have to put it here.

When it happened to me I was shown everything that happened to Jesus Christ. The whole nine (yards).

The "whole nine yards" is an American idiomatic expression. 
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"The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way", as in, "The Army came out and gave us the whole nine yards on how they use space systems." Its origin is unknown and has been described by Yale University librarian Fred R. Shapiro as "the most prominent etymological riddle of our time".

From asking for a cup of water to the resurrection. I lived it.

I had to live it because I am a pagan and always will be.

My ancestors are showing me how to communicate what has to be communicated to an area of Southern Baptist’s who believe everything else is satanic.

I have to translate (THAT – that right there – I know this and I have to know that –  this shit is driving me nuts but in a great way).

In the area where PL lives is a fundamentalist Christian hard-line, hard-Right, Hard-belief religious extremist area. It's sort of the American equivalent of Taliban-controlled, or ISIS controlled Syria. It is known as the "Bible Belt", and is peopled with some rather unique people with very strong and strange belief systems.

To exist within that society, you need to fit in and understand others. You need to be able to "speak their language" and work with them so that they accept you. Otherwise, you can be ostracized and hurt in the process.

I was sent thru all this biblical stuff in order to understand it.

For example – “Jesus died for your sins” I never understood.

Now I do. And that’s real cool of him to do so.

(But) I created my sins. I will die for them.

I made a blood oath to MY Gods and Goddesses to protect my land with my life years ago. I did not understand what the word “sacred” REALLY meant, and now I do. And I will never break that oath.

One of the most important aspects of clarity of mind, is clarity of soul and consciousness. When you stand for what you believe in and you walk the walk and talk the talk.

I was at a facility where my soul was worked on and my DNA reconfigured at the exact facility that MM describes and he was there. Slightly behind and to the right and he was helping. The whole “soul anchor thing” I understand.

Nothing to be afraid of here. There is a non-physical reality and there are others that exist there and they help us repair, recover, change and alter ourselves.

The Mantids are very, VERY real.

I am honored to be allowed to use them as a symbol.

I am going to explain how I interpret their race for you and it’s easy – it is a quote from Sonny Barger.

“Treat me good and I will treat you better. Treat me bad and I will treat you worse”.

A Mantid is what guided me and protected me when I went through the light.

And it feels like a static shock – but it depends on who you are and what is attached to you.

They have this unbelievable loving quality to them. Like a love I have never felt before. BUT – you do not want to mess with them.

Like at all.

They are showing me – along with a real Viking how to live. What signs to see and how to read them.

They explained a very important concept that those who need to know will understand COMPLETELY.

This has to do with reading and writing.

Light reflected off of something is processed very different than generated light – like from a phone or computer.

Reflected light directs the flow of information 2 ways. If you were to print this up and read it on paper – the information is accessed differently.

When you come out the other side it’s a feeling I cannot describe other than Christmas morning at the age of 5, followed by seeing all of the negativity YOU carry with you.

The way the Mantid did it – it was just AWESOME.

He was like a father showing me what I did wrong, who I did it to and how it affected everyone else.

That is all I can say about that.

But it’s really cool.

I was shown this body’s death through both murder and suicide and was given the choice on both and lived through both. I watched someone put a bullet in my head then watched it in slow motion and reverse. My Mantid was showing me what to look for.

That’s all I can write about this right now.

I am sure that PL will go on in greater detail about the death event and what transpired, but it will take time, and it will take away from what is presented herein.

I was shown the beginnings of how to live from my Mantid and “Viking” I guess I could call him, but he is showing me literally how to communicate 2 ways with animals and it’s a frigging crazy crazy way.

He showed me how to smell the difference between smoke from an enemy area versus friendly.

He is showing me how to do a ton of stuff – even what not to write here.

And that's the way it works, don't you know.

I asked what a Mantid smelled like on this board out of curiosity not to be a wise-ass. I don’t know how to put this as I still don’t know their sense of humor at this point (they have one) and I saw what they can do – so maybe another time.

They do have an easygoing sense of humor. Much more personable than say the type-1 greys. (Not bad mouthing them, mind you.) Just telling you like it is.

That’s all I can say right now.

Whoever was there – because I am CLEARLY not steering the proverbial boat and you all know that – just know that I KNOW that and genuinely appreciate it.

Once that switch was flipped – and I remember it,  I just can’t remember which one of you did it – but I do remember it and can’t wait to buy you (all) a beer.

Do you want more?

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Subliminal Seduction; subconscious programming using subsonic sounds and radiation

Hum… Have you noticed that Americans are so very serious when compared to others from the rest of the world?

Well, I’ve been monitoring the Afghanistan situation in the “news”. It looks pretty calm and collected. Mostly it’s people going about their business, shops open, trade going on, food markets selling produce and the like. Apparently the new government has retained all the public servants and are not making any radical changes, instead trying to establish a solid and decent enough government.

Afghanistan.

But, Christ All-mighty! If you read what the “news” out of America and the UK has to say, it’s all screeching bat-shit crazy hysterics!

My Lordy!

Someone needs to give these folks some Quaaludes and get them strapped to a gurney and carted off to the rubber-padded room.

It seems and appears to me that most of the people in both the USA and the UK are way-way-way too “high strung”.

What’s going on?

Why are they so “out there” and “in orbit”?

Well, that’s what this article is all about.

Most Americans really need to calm down.

Don’t freak out folks. But this article is going to take you into uncomfortable spaces.

Lately a number of MM participants have commented that they seem to “feel” electrified or odd in regards to being inside the United States. (Let’s call this Observation “A”.) It is like there is a very uncomfortable “wave going through everyone” simultaneously with this feeling of impending doom.

Meanwhile, there’s observation “B”, where others have commented that maybe the debacle in Afghanistan was not a sign of collapse, but was actually an intentional event concocted by those that control the United States for Geo-political and domestic advantage. Bo Chen offered a compelling argument for this, and I will post it later on.

I cannot say one way of other other related to observations “A” and “B” above. However, I will like to release this article that (again) I am being “lightly” pestered to write and release.

“Lightly” pestered.

Not hysterically pestered like the Deagel article from last week. The mere fact that I am suddenly getting “pestered” tells me that “something is afoot“.

So let’s try to consider Observation A and B in light of this article.

Again. Take what you read in an easy relaxed format. Don't get too caught up in the information. I'm going to talk about something very uncomfortable for most people to grasp. Ok?

The use of electronic mechanisms to broadcast thoughts, influence actions, alter the operation of the human body, or interact with it remotely is mature technology.It’s well known, well used, with decades of experience and operation.

Just because it is not common knowledge, or dismissed as “tin foil hat” fringe conspiracy science is meaningless. Those that control nations and societies have been using this technology for decades.

The United States is (almost) wholly controlled using these kinds of technologies. Not only on the mass scale for the intentional herding of American society, but for the control of specific people, and the obtainment of specific social-economic and Geo-political objectives.

The MetallicMan Experience

I can personally vouch that multiple personalities came out from MM during my “retirement” within the secure ADC Pine Bluff facility.

I can tell you that I was unaware that I had these personalities, abilities, skills or behaviors. I lived with them, and they laid dormant for much of my career within MAJestic.

I can also tell you that when my brain was unlocked, they had to absolutely make sure that I was in a very secure “padded room” when I “un-wound”.

For those of you who haven't read my MAJestic Index, there are multiple instances in my narrative that included...

[1] Physical cranial implants of three specific types (EBP, ELF1, ELF2), 
[2] a shut-down sequence of the ELF implants, 
[3] activation of memories, skills and personalities that I was unaware of, and 
[4] behavior variations that can only be associated by radiative induction.

The technologies that was used on me personally were developed and were quite mature in 1981.

For me, personally, the technologies were developed in the sub-project 119 of Project MKUltra.

There are a myriad of technologies that can do this, and there are all sorts of tangential sciences and operations regarding them.

This article will just cover a few that I personally consider to be “main-stream” in continuous daily operation by those with the ability and the interest in using them.

Behavioral Control Background

American interest in the hypnosis – EMR [electromagnetic radiation] interaction was still strong as of 1974, when a research plan was filed to develop useful techniques in human volunteers.

The experimenter, J.F. Schapitz, stated:

“In this investigation it will be shown that the spoken word of the hypnotist may also be conveyed by modulated electromagnetic energy directly into the subconscious parts of the human brain.

That is, without employing any technical devices for receiving or transcoding the messages.

And without the person exposed to such influence having a chance to control the information input consciously”. 

Although our modern electronic age has been in existence only since the turn of this century, individuals have claimed that their minds were being remotely influenced and controlled by machines for at least two centuries.

Recorded way back in 1810 is the case of James Tilly Matthews, a London tea broker.

He claimed his mind was being controlled by a gang operating a machine he called an “Air Loom” which sent out invisible, magnetic rays from a London cellar.

Matthews believed machines like the Air Loom were also controlling the minds of members of the British Parliament.

He wrote letters to the MPs warning them about the machines and the conspiracy behind it.

This kind of information, was not taken seriously at all. Instead,it was treated as delusional. And Matthews was committed to Bethlem Hospital as being insane.

It might be easy to dismiss Matthews’ claims of a machine that can control one’s mind because of the early date. However, his is by no means an isolated case.

In 1994 Ronald K. Siegel, a Associate Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Bio-behavioral Sciences at UCLA, wrote “Whispers: The Voices of Paranoia.”

Whispers

Whispers is a collection of case histories of mind control, (or ‘paranoia’ as he calls it) that he studied and compiled.

One case concerned a man named Tolman.

He believed his mind was being controlled by computers via a satellite system named POSSE (Personal Orbiting Satellite for Surveillance and Enforcement).

Interestingly, author Dorothy Burdick, in her 1982 book Such Things Are Known described what she claimed was her mind control harassment by computers via satellites.

She names Siegel as being the inventor of a device named FOCUS (Flexible Optical Control Unit Simulator) which can project hallucinations directly onto the retina so the subjects can’t distinguish the images from reality.

In Siegel’s book Tolman claims images are being directly transmitted into his brain.

Siegel says,

“You mean to tell me that here are machines capable of sending visual images directly into the brain?”

In 1968 Siegel published a professional paper titled “A Device for Chronically Controlled Visual Input”. This paper was a very detailed description of a device he developed to project images directly into the brain. He developed the techniques and system on experimental animals via their optic nerves.

He suggests further experimentation be

“conducted on neonates (kittens) which have their total visual stimulation controlled from the time they open their eyes.”

Thirty years later a team of US scientists wired a computer to a cat’s brain and created videos of what the cat was seeing.

One of the scientists working on the project, Garret Stanley of Harvard University, predicted machines with brain interfaces. We can only imagine how far such technology has advanced in the secret research laboratories of the US government and the military/industrial complex.

Today there is a wealth of documentation confirming how government agencies and research centers have been developing these technologies and methods.

These technologies involve elements of psychology, hypnosis, political conspiracies, and even devices that emit “rays” to control the behavior of others without their knowledge or consent.

Project MKUltra

Project MKUltra is the code name given to a program of experiments on human subjects that were designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, some of which were illegal.
.
Experiments on humans were intended to develop procedures and identify drugs such as LSD to be used in interrogations in order to weaken the individual and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
.
The project was organized through the Office of Scientific Intelligence of the CIA and coordinated with the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. Other code names for drug-related experiments were Project Bluebird and Project Artichoke.
.

MKULTRA, as well as projects BLUEBIRD, ARTI-CHOKE, CHATTER, CASTI-GATE, MKDELTA, MKNAOMI, THIRD CHANCE, MKSEARCH, MKOFTEN, etc., were covert CIA projects involving many prominent members and institutions of the medical and scientific communities to investigate and experiment with various forms of behavior modification and control using, in many cases, unwitting human subjects.

In was in operation from the late 1940’s until the early 1970’s, they delved into everything from drugs to hypnosis to electronics.

Then, when Congress began to investigate the activity, the head of the program (illegally) destroyed all records. He gathered up every single record, and burned all of them. He did this in direct defiance of the law. Obviously, there were some very damning things in those records that the public should never be exposed to.

And the few that remain are just minor evidence of the full extent of a very invasive program conducted without Congressional oversight against the American people.

Sigh.

Trying to bring up this subject in any forums would get your canned, scoffed at or perma-banned. It’s “tin foil hat” conspiracy shit. Don’t you know…

…And then, one day, a bunch of boxes of Project MKUltra documents were discovered…

  • REORGANIZATION OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

    Our recent discovery of seven boxes of documents related to Project MKULTRA, a closely held CIA project ... conducted from 1953-1964. 
    
    As you may recall, MKULTRA was an "umbrella project" under which certain ... 
    
    MKULTRA prepared by the Inspector General's- office in. 1963. Asa result of that report's ...

New Vistas

In 1996, the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board published a 14-volume study of future developments in weapons called “New World Vistas.”

Tucked away on page 89 of an ancillary 15th volume are some hair-raising insights into the future ‘coupling’ of man and machine in a section dealing with ‘Biological Process Control’. The author refers to an ‘explosion’ of knowledge in the field of neuroscience, adding, ominously:

One can envision the development of electromagnetic energy sources, the output of which can be pulsed, shaped, and focused, that can couple with the human body in a fashion that will allow one to prevent voluntary muscular movements, control emotions (and thus actions), produce sleep, transmit suggestions, interfere with both short-term and long-term memory, produce an experience set, and delete an experience set.

Translating the words ‘experience set’ from military jargon into plain English, this means, simply, that they envisage the ability to erase your life’s memories and substitute a new, fictitious set.

Imagine that.

Oh, what fun.

By projecting such developments into the future, the authors of “New Vistas” are camouflaging present day capabilities.

The Revolution in Military Affairs and Conflict Short of War

A similar futuristic scenario with many references to mind manipulation is described in “The Revolution in Military Affairs and Conflict Short of War (US Army War College, 1994)”.

Authors Steven Metz and James Kievit declare:

“Behavior modification is a key component of peace enforcement” 

and 

“The advantage of [using] directed energy systems is deniability.” 

The authors ask: 

“Against whom is such deniability aimed?” The direct answer is “the American people”.

Set in the year 2010, Metz and Kievit write of “perception molding” and “advanced psycho-technologies” to avoid irksome public protest, but that is just the beginning.

The major obstacle, they believe, is that “traditional American ethics [are] a major hindrance.”

My goodness!

And thus they continue to point out that

“old-fashioned notions of personal privacy and national sovereignty [are to be] changed.”

The future presented by Metz and Kievit sounds like a mixture of George Orwell’s 1984 and the movie “The Matrix”.

Individuals unwilling to go along with the revolutionary changes are…

 “identified using comprehensive inter-agency integrated databases.”

They will then be “categorized.”

And “sophisticated computerized personality simulations” will be used “to develop, tailor and focus psychological campaigns for each.”

Jeeze Louise!

Other techniques to be used in association with these new mind weapons include ‘morphing’, a present-day ability that controls the distortion of TV images.

So, if you are lucky enough not to have your brain electronically scrambled or erased, the electronic news media will be manipulated especially for you!

And such, it will be presenting convincing near-real-life visual images through your combined TV set-cum-internet interface. Woo! Woo!

Silent Sounds

The Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (SSSS) technology, also known as “S-quad”, was developed by Dr. Oliver Lowery of Georgia, USA, and is described in US Patent #5,159,703 as “Silent Subliminal Presentation System.”

The abstract for the patent reads:

A silent communications system in which nonaural carriers, in the very low or very high audio-frequency range or in the adjacent ultrasonic frequency spectrum are amplitude-or frequency-modulated with the desired intelligence and propagated acoustically or vibrationally, for inducement into the brain, typically through the use of loudspeakers, earphones, or piezoelectric transducers. 

The modulated carriers may be transmitted directly in real time or may be conveniently recorded and stored on mechanical, magnetic or optical media for delayed or repeated transmission to the listener.

According to literature by Silent Sounds, Inc., it is now possible, using supercomputers, to analyze human emotional EEG patterns and replicate them.

Then store these“emotion signature clusters” on another computer.

Thus, afterwards, one can, at will,

“silently induce and change the emotional state in a human being.”

Judy Wall, writing in Nexus (October-November 1990, says

“Silent Sounds, Inc. states that it is interested only in positive emotions, but the military is not so limited. That this is a US Department of Defense project is obvious.”

Edward Tilton, President of Silent Sounds Inc., says this about S-quad in a letter dated 13 December, 1996:

All schematics, however,have been classified by the US Government and we are not allowed to reveal the exact details… 

We make tapes and CDs for the German Government, even the former Soviet Union countries! All with the permission of the US State Department, of course… 

The system was used throughout Operation Desert Storm (Iraq) quite successfully.

By using these computer-enhanced EEGs, scientists can identify and isolate the brain’s low-amplitude “emotion signature clusters”, synthesize them and store them on another computer.

In other words, by studying the subtle characteristic brainwave patterns that occur when a subject experiences a particular emotion, scientists have been able to identify the concomitant brainwave pattern and can now duplicate it.

“These clusters are then placed on the Silent Sound carrier frequencies and will silently trigger the occurrence of the same basic emotion in another human being!”

So, let’s suppose that you are holding your beloved pet and stoking them. You feel relaxed and content. Well, your brain could be imaged and a “snap shot” of your feelings can be recorded. This is known as an “emotion signature cluster”. And the United States have an entire library of these that they can identify, and impose on others.

Some examples…

  • Blind uncontrollable rage and anger.
  • Hunger.
  • Soothing comfort and calmness.
  • Love.
  • Attraction and interest.
  • Organism / ejaculation.
  • Infatuation with another.
  • OCD behaviors.
  • Stomach pain / bowel movements.
  • Being terribly horny and desiring of sex.
  • Missing something or someone.
  • Headache.
  • Loss and grief.

This technology was used on me during my MAJestic operations, and I can tell you that they were able to use it on me because my entire “emotion signature cluster” for me personally was imaged and recorded at NAMI at NAS, NASC Pensacola, Florida in 1981.

This technology could also be applied to the public at large, but I do not believe that to be the case. It wouldn’t be that effective for large groups of people.

Unless things have changed (and they actually could, don’t you know) there are better technologies to induce corralling of herds of humans via electromagnetic means.

This “Silent Sounds” technology is most useful for specifically targeted persons.

Now, there does seem to be elements of human crowd control taking place all over the United States. Instead of the Silent-Sounds technology, there are other, better suited candidates for these kinds of indiscriminate herding activities…

Synthetic Telepathy

Synthetic telepathy is a term used to describe the beaming of words, thoughts, or ideas into a person’s mind.

This is done by a type of electromagnetic transmitter, similar to a radio or television broadcast, operating in the microwave frequency band.

In recent years thousands of people have come forward claiming to be victims of this technology.  However, the first officially reported scientific experiment documenting a case of synthetic telepathy cannot be found in any of the academic literature because of the highly secretive nature of the research.

In 1961 Allen Frey, a freelance biophysicist and engineering psychologist, reported that a human can hear microwaves.

However, this discovery was dismissed by most United States scientists as being the result of artifact (outside noise). The more technical description of the experiment is described by James C. Linn.

It turns out that Frey discovered that human subjects exposed to 1310 MHz and 2982 MHz microwaves at average power densities of 0.4 to 2 mW/cm2 perceived auditory sensations described as buzzing or knocking sounds (also described as clicks or chirps).

The peak power densities were on the order of 200 to 300 mW/cm2 and the pulse repetition frequencies varied from 200 to 400 Hz.

Frey referred to this auditory phenomenon as the RF (radio frequency) sound.

The sensation occurred instantaneously at average incident power densities well below that necessary for known biological damage and appeared to originate from within or near the back of the head.

Further testing revealed that two requirements were necessary for the subject to hear the microwave induced sound:

“...good bone conduction and the ability to hear acoustic energy above 5 kHz...”

By 1975 the introduction to a paper by A.W. Guy and others begins,

“One of the most widely observed and accepted biologic effects of low average power electromagnetic (EM) energy is the auditory sensation evoked in man when exposed to pulsed microwaves.”

Today, the US Government use of synthetic telepathy was described in the October-November 1994 issue of Nexus:

Directed-energy weapons currently being deployed include, for example, a micro-wave weapon manufactured by Lockheed-Sanders and used for a process known as ‘Voice Synthesis’ which is remote beaming of audio (i.e., voices or other audible signals) directly into the brain of any selected human target. This process is also known within the US Government as ‘Synthetic Telepathy’.

Microwave “Zapping”

Much of the work done with microwaves was developed by Project Pandora.

This project was put into place by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

It was initially set up to study the effects of microwaves that were being beamed into the American Embassy in Moscow by the Soviet Union.

Some of the findings of the scientists involved with Pandora are quite disturbing.

Dr. Joseph C. Sharp and engineer Mark Grove were able to hear and distinguish one-syllable words by pulse-modulated microwaves.

Microwaves can also alter the permeability of the body’s blood-brain barrier. This characteristic can synergistically increase the effects of drugs.

“Using relatively low-level RFR, it may be possible to sensitize large military groups to extremely dispersed amounts of biological or chemical agents to which the unirradiated population would be immune.”

Sound can be transmitted even easier through the use of implants.

As fans of Rush Limbaugh can attest to, cochlear implants, implants that send electrical signals into the fluid of the inner ear can effectively transmit sounds.

Additionally implants that transmit sound vibrations via bone conduction, such as the cases of dental fillings picking up audible radio signals.

Implanted Stimoceiver

The stimoceiver, invented by Dr. Jose Delgado, consists of wires running from strategic points in the brain to a radio receiver/transmitter located entirely under the skin.

Through this device, Delgado was able to stimulate raw emotions such as sexual arousal, anxiety, and aggression with the turn of a knob.

Of course, secret research by the US Government into microwaves and synthetic telepathy has moved on considerably since the 1980’s.

McVeigh: Manchurian Candidate?

Among the many telemetry instruments being used today, are miniature radio transmitters that can be swallowed, carried externally, or surgically implanted.... They permit the simultaneous study of behavior and physiological functioning.

—Dr. Stuart Mackay, Bio-Medical Telemetry (textbook), 1968

While visiting friends in Decker, Michigan, Timothy McVeigh complained that the Army had implanted him with a microchip. He said that it was a miniature subcutaneous transponder, so that they could keep track of him.

He complained that it left an unexplained scar on his buttocks and was painful to sit on.

Of course, we all know that McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 bombing of a US Government building in Oklahoma City.

Miniaturized telemetrics have been part of an ongoing project by the military and the various intelligence agencies to test the effectiveness of tracking soldiers on the battlefield.

The miniature implantable telemetric device was declassified long ago.

According to Dr. Carl Sanders, the developer of the Intelligence Manned Interface (IMI) biochip,

“We used this with military personnel in the Iraq War where they were actually tracked using this particular type of device.”

It is also interesting to note that the Calspan Advanced Technology Center in Buffalo, NY (Calspan ATC), where McVeigh worked, is engaged in microscopic electronic engineering of the kind applicable to telemetrics.

Calspan was founded in 1946 as Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory.

And funded in part by the “Fund for the Study of Human Ecology,” a CIA financing conduit for mind control experiments.

This operation was set up by emigre Nazi scientists and others under the direction of CIA doctors Sidney Gottlieb, Ewen Cameron, and Louis Jolyn West.

According to mind control researcher Alex Constantine,

“Calspan places much research emphasis on bioengineering and artificial intelligence (Calspan pioneered the field in the 1950s).”

Human tracking and monitoring technology are well within Calspan’s sphere of pursuits.

The company is instrumental in REDCAP, an Air Force electronic warfare system that winds through every Department of Defense facility in the country.

A Pentagon release explains that REDCAP…

“is used to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic-combat hardware, techniques, tactics and concepts.”

The system …

“includes closed-loop radar and datalinks at RF manned data fusion and weapons control posts.”

One computer news board reported that a disembodied, rumbling, low-frequency hum had been heard across the country the week of the [Oklahoma] bombing.

Similiar hums in Taos, New Mexico, Eugene and Medford, Oregon, Timmons, Ontario and Bristol, England were most definitely (despite specious official denials) attuned to the brain’s auditory pathways.

The Air Force is among Calspan’s leading clients, and Eglin AFB has farmed key personnel to the company.

The grating irony (recalling McVeigh’s contention he’d been implanted with a telemetry chip) is that the Instrumentation Technology Branch of Eglin Air Force Base is currently engaged in the tracking of mammals with subminiature telemetry devices.

According to an Air Force press release, the biotelemetry chip transmits on the upper S-band (2318 to 2398 MHz), with up to 120 digital channels.

There is nothing secret about the biotelemetry chip.

Ads for commercial versions of the device have appeared in national publications. Time magazine ran an ad for an implantable pet transponder in its 26 June, 1995 issue—ironically enough—opposite an article about a militia leader who was warning about the coming New World Order.

While monitoring animals has been an unclassified scientific pursuit for decades, the monitoring of humans has been a highly classified project that is but a subset of the Pentagon’s “nonlethal” arsenal.

As Constantine notes,

“the dystopian implications were explored by Defense News for 20 March, 1995:

Naval Research Lab Attempts To Meld Neurons And Chips: Studies May Produce Army of ‘Zombies.’

Future battles could be waged with genetically engineered organisms, such as rodents, whose minds are controlled by computer chips engineered with living brain cells….

The research, called Hippo-campal Neuron Patterning, grows live neurons on computer chips.

“This technology that alters neurons could potentially be used on people to create zombie armies,”

Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said.

“It’s conceivable given the current state of the electronic mind control art, a biocybernetic Oz over the black budget rainbow, that McVeigh had been drawn into an experimental project, that the device was the real McCoy.”

Timothy McVeigh may have unknowningly been an Army/CIA guinea pig involved in a classified telemetric/mind-control project—a “Manchurian Candidate.”

Or not.

Whatever, the technology does exist, and it is mature. Only a fool would think that it is not being used.

But I don’t think that it is being used on a large scale.

If you wanted to do this on a large scale you would to alter one’s DNA or mRNA for person-to-person Hippo-campal neural patterning. But, again, unless large segments of the population are being injected with small mind-control devices, this technique isn’t very useful to corral large numbers of people

Other systems must be employed…

Soviet Research

A highly secretive battle was being waged behind the scenes during the Cold War in the area of EM weapons (sometimes described as psychotronics) to control and influence the minds of people.

It’s only now that some of this research has emerged, but much of it remains hidden and classified. In fact, we know more about Soviet research into this area because it was the Soviet Union that collapsed.

A 1975 issue of the Soviet publication International Life, discussing electronic mind control developments, stated that atmospheric electricity can be used “to suppress the mental activity” of large groups of people.

The Soviet journal said that a sonic generator, tuned to an infrasound (below the hearing level) frequency, could create “feelings of depression, fear, panic, terror, and despair.”

In 1977, the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) declassified a report describing how advances in Soviet psychotronic technology can create the ultimate big brother society.

The DIA stated that by using electronic mind control against populations to implant ideas and thoughts into the heads of unsuspecting victims:

“Sounds and possibly even words, which appear to be originating intracranially (within one’s own head), can be induced by signal modification at very low average power densities.”

The DIA report also said that the Soviets discovered that secret microwave radiation can be used to induce in unsuspecting victims:

“Headache, fatigue, perspiring, dizziness, menstrual disorders, irritability, agitation, tension, drowsiness, sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, forgetfulness, and the lack of concentration.”

After the collapse of the Soviet Union (in a maneuver identical to Operation Paperclip in World War II) Western intelligence agencies obtained all the Soviet research and recruited key personnel working in this sensitive area.

Russian research has now all but stopped due to economic crises.

A report in Defense Electronics in the early 1990s said that a Richmond, Virginia firm, Psychotechnologies (believed to be closely tied to the CIA and the FBI) purchased the American rights to Soviet mind control devices.

Defense Electronics described a spring, 1993 meeting between Clinton Administration officials and Soviet psychotronics experts, including Dr. Igor Smirnov.

Amongst the US agencies represented at the meetings with Smirnov were the FBI, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Advance Research Projects Research Agency.

Clinton Administration officials wanted…

“...to determine whether psycho-correction... programs could be undertaken by the US Government. These devices could be used to affect judgment or opinion of decision-makers, key personnel or populaces.”

Clinton defense officials expressed interest that the psychotronic devices could be used “in non-violently” clearing areas of potential enemies, snipers, etc.

On the domestic front, psychotronic devices could be used to suppress political dissidents, and any other potential threats to the government.

Also meeting with the Soviet experts were officials from giant international corporations, such as General Motors, and researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The 22 August, 1994 Newsweek magazine reported on a secret Arlington, Virginia meeting between experts from the FBI’s Counter-Terrorism Centre and Dr. Smirnov, whose work was described in the publication:

...Using electroencephalographs, Smirnov measures brain waves, then uses computers to create a map of the subconscious and various human impulses, such as anger or the sex drive. 

Then through taped subliminal messages, he claims to physically alter the landscape with the power of suggestion.

Psychotronic Weapons Research

One man’s name has become synonymous with the field of non-lethal weapons development.

Col. John Alexander first became known to the public through his December, 1980 Military Review article titled, “The New Mental Battlefield.”

This article clearly describes the lethal nature of many of the so-called “non-lethal” weapons now being developed to control civilian populations.

Alexander noted:

Psychotronics may be described as the interaction of mind and matter… The possibility for employment as weaponry has been explored. To be more specific, there are weapons systems that operate on the power of the mind and whose lethal capacity has already been demonstrated.

Describing Soviet development of psychotronic weapons, Alexander stated:

“The ability to... cause death can be transmitted over distances, thus inducing illness or death for no apparent reason.”

These…

“weapons would be able to induce illness or death at little or no risk to the operator... The psychotronic weapon would be silent (and) difficult to detect...”

Powerful elite insiders have long known how electromagnetic weapons can be effectively utilized to wage mind control against the population, specifically targeting political dissidents and troublemakers.

What of the numerous political activists and investigative journalists who died under mysterious circumstances, many from rare forms of cancer?

Could they have been ‘taken out’ by psychotronic weapons? We can only imagine how advanced this technology is today.

President Lyndon Johnson’s Science Adviser, Dr. Gordon J.F. MacDonald wrote the 1968 book, “Unless Peace Comes, A Scientific Forecast Of New Weapons.”

MacDonald described how man-made changes in the electrical earth ionosphere can be used for mass behavior control.

He said that low frequency electromagnetic oscillations can attack the low frequency electromagnetic brain waves in human beings.

He stated,

“Perturbation of the environment (by geophysical warfare) can produce changes in behavioral patterns.”

In his 1970 book, Between Two Ages, Zbigniew Brezezinski (a long-time Establishment strategist) described “weather control” as a “new weapon” that is a “key element of strategy.”

He added:

Technology will make available, to leaders of major nations, a variety of techniques for conducting secret warfare, of which only a bare minimum of the security forces need to be appraised.

Brzezinski predicted the exact types of electromagnetic psychotronic weapons that the US Administration now has for the mass behavior control of citizens.

He stated:

It is possible—and tempting—to exploit, for strategic-political purposes, the fruits of research on the brain and on human behavior... 

Accurately timed, artificially excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth... 

In this way, one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of a very large population in selected regions, over an extended period.

Available Electronic Harassment Technologies:

Five Available Electronic Harassment Technologies.

There are five older technologies capable of extreme destruction of the ability to earn a living, and the quality of life of a target, listed below.

None of these technologies require implants, and all can be transmitted silently, through walls, and leave no trace evidence.

All have been available for decades.

Since few targets will acquire the correct detection equipment, destruction of a target’s life even using these older technologies is a perfect crime under the American “justice system”.

Here is the list:

[1] Weaponized microwave oven weapon

A simple microwave oven, door removed, with the door interlock switch bypassed, and held against the bedroom wall of a target in an apartment building or semi-detached house. This device can cause a variety of disabling medical symptoms. (Google “Dr. Reinhard Munzert”.)

[2] Dr. James C. Lin’s pulsed microwave transmitter

Joseph Sharp’s voice to skull success was replicated with Dr. James C. Lin’s pulsed microwave transmitter.

This was publicly announced in 1974 at the University of Utah.

This device produces audible sound transmitted directly into a target’s skull, through a target’s wall.

Of course, this can drive the through-the-wall target crazy, and if the target complains, the target will be immediately diagnosed as mentally ill.

U.S. patent 6,587,729 was issued based on Dr. Joseph Sharp’s voice to skull success.

[3] Silent Sound

Lowery’s “Silent Sound,” patent 5,159,703, has been used for self-help subliminal hypnosis tapes and CDs.

It has also used by the U.S. Army in Gulf War One (1991).

It is currently used for shoplifting prevention in some countries.

Together with Sharp’s voice to skull technology, Silent Sound projected through a bedroom wall can hypnotize a target in their bed with the target being unaware.

Unaware hypnosis is CLEARLY extreme electronic harassment.

A target’s personality can be severely interfered with, and the target will not know why this is happening.

Concept diagram, combined voice to skull and Silent Sound

[4] Lida Signal

This is a half-century-old medical device, the Russian-built Lida machine, a pulsed 40 watt, 40 MHz radio transmitter.

Russian-built Lida machine.

It can be used to make a target exhausted on the job when pulsing at the rate consistent with sleep.

If you perform a pulse rate increase, it will deprive the target of sleep as well.

Certain ham radio transmitters can be configured so as to duplicate the Lida signal.

U.S. Patent 3,773,049 describes the Lida operating principle. And you can buy one here below…

[5] EPIC

Named EPIC, a through wall coordination/balance disruption weapon is an active technology being used today.

Electronic harassment targets have reported suddenly having their balance and coordination disrupted.

Here’s a quote from a May 21, 2007 article about the EPIC weapon:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com 

Local Company Developing 'Less than Lethal' Weapon 'EPIC' by Invocon is being developed as a 'Less than Lethal' Weapon. 

How do you disable bad guys in a crowd without killing them or causing permanent damage? 

It’s a problem faced by troops in urban combat and by local law enforcement. 

Now, a local company called Invocon may have the answer, and the solution may be a weapon code named "Epic." 

The company is developing a weapon they hope someday will be able to shoot through a wall and stun people on the other side of the wall. ...

Conclusion

In the United States today, the official unemployment rate is supposed to be a wonderful 3.68%.

U.S. unemployment rate for 2019 was 3.68%, a 0.21% decline from 2018. 
U.S. unemployment rate for 2018 was 3.90%, a 0.46% decline from 2017.

Declining every year. Getting better and better. Wonderful right?

Yet, 61% of Americans were so poor that they didn’t pay any Federal taxes. And that’s pretty bad, as Americans are taxed for everything.

These two numbers do not fit together.

How can [1] most Americans be working AND [2] being so poor that they are not being able to pay their taxes?

So? What the reasoning? If both numbers are correct, then what is going on is frightening. For either…

  • The American government has failed everyone on a grand scale.
  • The United States system of “exceptional democracy” has failed everyone on a grand scale.
  • Or, if one of figures is a fabrication or manipulation, then the government is lying to cover-up something very serious and very bad.

I argue that no matter how you look at this situation, something inside of the American society and the American government is severely “off the rails”.

Off the rails - Idiom

In an abnormal or malfunctioning condition, as in Her political campaign has been off the rails for months. The phrase occurs commonly with go, as in Once the superintendent resigned, the effort to reform the school system went off the rails . 

This idiom alludes to the rails on which trains run; if a train goes off the rails, it stops or crashes.

The ONLY way that the government can control the situation is to control the people.

Which is why…

[1] American people and population is being irradiated constantly and covertly with narratives and control algorithms to corral their behaviors. This is non-stop all over America.

[2] Manipulation of Social Media and other avenues are used to herd the people into balkanized enclaves of thought; “echo chambers”.

[3] Vault 7 clearly states that Operating Systems out of the United States are designed to control the minds of those using it.

So if you feel that the world seems to be spinning out of control, and that there is a overriding feeling of dread and terror, perhaps it is the ongoing operation and a side effect for decades of intentional mind control. Rather than it “just being you”.

Air China plane.

I can tell you that once I left the United States, and got on board the Air China flight that I felt an absolute calmness and safety. Initially, I believed that it was that I was finally putting that nightmare of the last few decades behind me.

  • No more prison.
  • My “retirement” ended.
  • No more bullshit and reporting nonsense.
  • No more life as a slave in a gulag.

However, now (in hindsight) it appears that I (along with everyone else) was living inside an irradiated torture chamber, and it was only once I left that I could experience the kinds of freedom and feelings that I grew up with in the 1960’s.

And make no mistake…

…you can absolutely FEEL the calmness once you leave the United States.

What leaving the United States is like.

And I want to remind everyone that there are options out there; places that DO NOT irradiate you with radiation to control your thoughts, monitor your actions, and arrest you if you get out of line. You have REAL freedom. Not the kind of faux “freedom” that what most Americans suffer though.

The rest of the world is just great. Really, really great.

Real freedom.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my MAJestic Index here…

MAJestic

.

Articles & Links

Master Index

.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

 

 

Some of my favorite cat pictures

This article is just a collection of some of my favorite cat pictures. Some are cute. Some are inspirational. Some are funny, and some are “head scratchers”. I hope that it brightens up your day today.

Fat Cat

Fat cat.

The love bond.

The love bond.

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty

There’s a Japanese Show About a Samurai and the Adorable Cat He Wouldn’t Assassinate

It’s a classic Hollywood story: an assassin on a job can’t go through with it when he meets his would-be victim, then the two form an unlikely friendship against their common enemy.

Samurai Cat.

It’s a pretty reliable trope, although it can be hard finding new ways to keep it fresh. But that not a problem for one Japanese show, which had the greatest version of this story we’ve ever come across:

The amazing tale of the friendship between a samurai and the adorable cat he refused to kill.

Fighting for the Cat.

Neko zamurai (translation Samurai Cat), which we only just learned about at Reddit, was a Japanese TV mini-series that ran for two seasons from 2013 to 2015.

A time for a meeting of the minds.

It followed Madarame Kyutaro, known as Madara the Devil, a “humorless samurai, nearly desperate for work” who agrees to kill Tomanojo, the cat “accused of possessing a man’s soul.”

Protecting the Cat.

One problem, though: when he actually saw the adorable little kitten, his Katana became a Kan’t-ana, so he took Tomanojo home with him.

Man and cat.

Kitty in the snow

Kitty in the snow

Lion Love

Lion Love.

A fine tail

A fine tail.

Are you alive?

Are you alive?

Expert at game play.

Expert at game play.

Cartoon Kitty.

Cartoon Kitty.

Ready to pounce.

Ready to pounce.

An outdoor excursion.

An outdoor excursion.

Walking Around.

Walking Around.

Little guy.

Little guy.

Needing snuggles.

Needing snuggles.

A very fine looking cat.

A very fine looking cat.

And…

A very fine looking cat.

Climbing up to say hi.

Climbing up to say hi.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

Where I keep my spare cats.

Where I keep my spare cats.

Chow Hall.

Chow Hall.

Adjacent Cattery.

Adjacent Cattery.

A natural hunter.

A natural hunter.

A close call.

A close call.

Cat ladder.

Cat ladder.

Beautiful Eyes.

Beautiful Eyes.

Fail!

Fail.

Under the sheet fun!

My cats used to love to play this game when we made up the beds.

Under the sheet fun!

Who is this stranger?

Who is this stranger?

Come to mommy.

Come to mommy.

Smart Cat.

Smart Cat.

Climbing the walls.

Climbing the walls.

Wants to be the one and only.

Wants to be the one and only.

Ready or not; here I come.

Ready or not; here I come.

Service please.

Service please.

I will not be ignored.

I will not be ignored.

Kitten fight!

Kitten fight!

Boop!

Boop!

Caught up in a first person mouser!

Caught up in a first person mouser!

A clean escape.

A clean escape.

Conclusion

Cats make wonderful and funny companions. Those who visit MM might be able to see similar GIFs and pictures that resemble events that they too have experienced. This is just a fun post, and I do hope that you all enjoyed it.

Masterless Samurai Kyutaro Madarame is hired by a dog-loving gang to get rid of their rival gang’s beloved pet, an adorable white cat. Upon raising his sword, however, he cannot bring himself to go through with the act and the cat melts his heart.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my Cat Heaven Index. Here…

Heaven

.

Articles & Links

Master Index

.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

Fallout from the American rout in Afghanistan in August 2021, and now it’s a whole new “ballgame”

I dedicate this article to "Nick" who asked what will the Middle East look like when China replaces the United States as the dominant nation.

I want to take a moment and acknowledge that there is a lot of historical events going on right now.  (Sigh.) They have been covered through the various “news” outlets over and over all with various “spins” and opinions. I am sure that you are all getting tired of this. Especially for youse Americans who are (probably) just exhausted by it all.

Yes, the pre-planned Clusterfuck in Kabul, or Bay of Pigs 2.0, or whatever shook the world as victims of 20 years of lies and death reasserted a modicum of control over their situation. The outrage and howling from the CIA-controlled media and the Establishment over Biden's correct decision is hilarious.

Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 14:11 utc | 1

It’s been a very crazy week.

Personally, I’ve been a tad busy, but then you have the US failure in Afghanistan. But… is it really a failure, or just a regrouping?

The long-term optimism of China is great but the US does not care about that.  The US has not been number one at anything for a long time;  not education, literacy, healthcare, internet speed, and all the things called "human development".  At the turn of the century the U.S. ranked about 18 on the UN Human Development Index adjusted for equality.  Today it is 28.  

Yet if you ask the average American what country is the best in the world, he will say the US.  The people do not even realize how far they have fallen compared to the rest of the world.  That shows how good the US propaganda system is.  The US is #1 at propaganda.  #1 in military spending too, although the technology of the weapons is declining.  #1 in obesity.  #1 in junk culture.  Yes, bread and circus to keep the masses happy works.

The U.S. does not care about the development of the people.  It does not care about cooperation.  

The U.S. does not care about winning wars.  Wars are the end in itself.  It is how the wealth of the people is transferred upwards.  That is why during the "War OF Terror" the U.S. has been steadily declining "when adjusted for equality" from 18 to 28. 

The U.S. has not "lost" in Afghanistan, because it had nothing to lose.  Nor has the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan.  

It has just been a pivot.  

CIA special activities, special forces and mercenaries are "stay behinds".  They will now regroup the mujahideen and create a civil war that will last for another 20 years.  They will also intensify direction of the mujahideen to former Russian republics, Chechnya, Xinjiang, Myanmar, Thailand, and anywhere else they can get a foothold for regime change and to attack the BRI.

The US takes China and Russia's kindness as weakness.  It will take what kindness is offered and then stab the giver in the back.  The US will use whatever sabotage it can against the BRI.  

America is not interested in cooperation.  

The battlefield of propaganda has been well prepared for the American people.  They believe the US has many aggressive enemies, and all (illegal) US wars (of aggression) are defensive.  The vast majority believe anything from the CIA's Mighty Wurlitzer.

Regards,

[name withheld]

This (mid-August 2021) was a week where the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan overshadowed everything else. That is okay as huge consequences will flow from these events. The future history books (or what ever they will use) will record these events as one of the most significant dates and contributing events that will eventually lead up to the start of the “New Beginning” of the new global order.

And it will, as this comment foreshadows…

When will other occupied suzerainties ask Imperialist forces to leave? 

The Taliban has been fighting the Imperial forces since their occupation started. However, people in Germany, Japan, South Korea,… that have been occupied by the Imperialists over many decades do nothing. Aren’t they democracy? What does it tell about these SUZERAINTIES? What percentage of their transactions are in Imperialist’s currencies? Are you okay with imperialism? Imperialists go back!

Name a democracy that isn’t a suzerainty.

Will Afghanistan’s fiasco create any wave of change?

Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 14:23 utc | 3

Hey! What the heck is a “suzerainty”? That’s a new word for me.

"a position of control by a sovereign or state over another state that is internally autonomous." 

So, a nation can be under the control of another nation, while still having it’s own domestic laws, rules and culture. So Japan, would be under the control of the United States as a vassal state, but is still allowed to keep Japanese culture, society, laws and rules domestically. However, internationally, it must obey and do what ever the United States says.

The USA tells Japan to join the QUAD. They join the QUAD. The USA tells them to buy USA debt. They buy USA debt. But if the girls want to wear kimonos, watch strange television, and have a giant penis festival, that’s just fine.

So Japan is a suzerainty of the United States.

Hey! You learn something every day.

So it has got me to thinking. You know. I start to ponder things, and wonder about things. So, I wonder what the difference between a suzerainty and a “vassal state” is?

Vassal state

State
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. 

Vassal states were common among the Empires of the Near East, dating back to the era of the Egyptian, Hittite and Mitanni conflict, as well as Ancient China. 

The use of vassal states continued through the middle ages, with the last Empire to use such states being the Ottoman Empire. 

The relationships between vassal rulers and empires was dependent on the policies and agreements of each empire. 

While payment of tribute and military service is common amongst vassal states, the degree of independence and benefits given to vassal states varied. Today, more common terms are puppet state, protectorate, client state, associated state or satellite state.

-Wikipedia

So, to me it appears that as a Vassal State, the controlling Empire can also dictate domestic behaviors, society and laws as it deems necessary. While a suzerainty is permitted domestic autonomy.

We can thus think that a “suzerainty” is a subset of a “vassal state”.

A suzerainty.

Interesting stuff.

It puts the entire perspective of what the world really looks like and operates into a much greater perspective. And most certainly what the United States actually is in the greater scheme of things.

To the world at large, the United States is a big massive, bad bully. That if not “tamed” by the rest of the world, it will end up consuming it and destroying it. As stated in this video. Funny how this section was never shown on American media…

The USA is out of control.

 

Some haggling seems to continue today but the outcome is assured.

Trump has something to say…

Yada, yada, yada.

Trump gives his two cents worth.

Now for the “meat”…

Big warning; long read.

And as my articles tend to be long, expect this one to be encyclopedic. To fully understand what is transpiring in this far-away mountainous area you need to know some history. And Jeeze! There’s a lot of history.

By the time you are 25% done reading, you should be moe informed than a full 90% of the people around you. At 50%, that number jumps to 95%, and at the end of this article, you will be more informed than 99.99999% of those around you.

Such a responsibility!

Do you want this level of understanding?

We will avoid all the great pilliages of the Genghis Khan and the Persions and all the rest, and we will start when the UK British Empire decided to annex the region as a Vassal State.

Then we will explore how the Soviet Union Empire decided to annex the region as a Vassal State.

And finally, we will explore how the United States Military Empire decided to annes the region as a Vassal State.

Long read. As I said.

So first, some history…

The usual disclaimers apply. Content edited for this venue all credit to the original authors, etc.

Britain’s first war in Afghanistan: what happened and why?

HistoryEXTRA

Britain’s first war in Afghanistan took place in the Victorian era, beginning in 1839. Historian William Dalrymple explores the conflict in conversation with Rob Attar, in a piece first published in 2013, and discusses what parallels can be drawn with the fighting in recent years

The First Anglo-Afghan War: what happened?

Concerned that Russia was expanding its influence in the region, Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1839, ousting ruler Dost Mohammad and replacing him with Shah Shuja, who had been king from 1803–10.

Insurrections later broke out, compelling the British garrison to flee Kabul. Believing they had been promised safe passage, a large contingent of British and Indian forces attempted a retreat in January 1842, but were ambushed by Afghan troops, leading to the deaths of around 18,000 soldiers. Abandoned in Kabul, Shah Shuja was killed.

British forces managed to recapture Kabul later that year and elsewhere laid waste to the countryside but eventually decided to pull out of the country altogether. Dost Mohammad returned to Kabul in 1843 and his dynasty would remain in power until the 1970s.

William Dalrymple, author of Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, discusses the First Anglo-Afghan War in conversation with Rob Attar

How does your book change our understanding of the First Anglo-Afghan War?

It is one of those old chestnuts that’s already got a shelf-and-a-half of books written about it. So it seemed the only point of dedicating four years to this was to try to completely rewrite the story, obviously with a view to seeing it in the light of what is going on now, but more specifically trying to cover both sides of the story, which has never been done before. To date, not one book on the war has used a single Afghan source. Everything we have is entirely from the British side.

The British Experience.

I did several trips to Afghanistan to search out more sources and by the end I had nine full-length Afghan accounts of the war. What emerged from them was that the war had a completely different dramatis personae and a more fractured regional make-up than the British seemed to be aware of. They saw an undifferentiated wall of bigoted bearded Afghans coming towards them but in reality the resistance was divided by tribe, ethnic group and language.

My most exciting find was the autobiography of Shah Shuja. He had been written off by the British and Afghan nationalists as a weak and hopeless guy, but I think he was wonderful. He was a poet, civilised and immensely likeable. He just didn’t have military luck ever in his career.

The British Experience.

Astonishingly he was from the same sub-tribe, the Popalzai, as current Afghan president Hamid Karzai. We’ve put the same guy in twice! And he was brought down by the Ghilzai who today make up the foot soldiers of the Taliban. This is the same tribal war, continuing under slightly different flags, 170 years later.

Has your research changed your view of the First Anglo-Afghan War’s origins?

The account I give is subtly, but not completely, changed from previous versions. The basic reason for the British invasion was a blown-up fear of Russian intervention and here there are parallels, oddly enough, with the war in Iraq, with a ‘dodgy dossier’. A group of hawks manipulated intelligence to exaggerate a threat that didn’t exist in reality as substantially as they thought it did.

There was this episode when a young great gamer, Sir Henry Rawlinson, was riding through Persia to join the Shah of Persia’s camp in the north-west of the country. One night Rawlinson found himself in the very dodgy borderlands between Persia and Afghanistan and, just as dawn was breaking, he witnessed a party of horsemen coming down the valley towards him. He saw that they were Russian Cossacks heading in the direction of the Afghan border. He headed them off at the top of the pass and found them eating their breakfast.

There was a young Russian officer who refused to talk to him in Russian, Persian or French but agreed to chat in Jagatai Turkish. He told Rawlinson he was on his way to the Persian camp so Rawlinson rode straight there to see the Shah. The Shah said that the Russians were nothing to do with him but were going to open diplomatic relations with Dost Mohammad in Kabul.

This was the yellowcake of its day [in 2002, it was claimed that Saddam Hussein had been trying to obtain yellowcake uranium to develop weapons of mass destruction]. For 30 years hawks had been worrying about Russia moving towards Afghanistan and there was this whole literature already in London about Russia taking Afghanistan then sweeping down the Khyber and expelling the British from India. There was no evidence for this at all until this chance discovery.

There was this new governor general, Lord Auckland, who had inherited a group of belligerently hawkish and Russophobic advisors, led by the hopeless William Macnaghten. They ignored the advice of the one British official in India who really knew Afghanistan, Alexander Burnes. He was sending despatches saying that Dost Mohammad wanted to ally with the British rather than the Russians, but they didn’t listen and advised Auckland to oust Dost Mohammad and bring in what they described as the ‘ousted legitimate ruler’ Shah Shuja.

How did the British fare in the early military operations?

The war followed the same trajectory as the current conflict. Everyone warned that it would be catastrophically difficult, but in fact they conquered the country almost instantly with minimal casualties. Then you had, as happened in 2001, the government crowing that they’d seen off the naysayers and it was going to be easy.

For the first year it did seem to be so.

The Afghans were very friendly and their noblemen went hunting, did amateur theatricals and played cricket with the British. But slowly it began to unravel, from Helmand, working northwards. There was more and more resistance until the British found themselves surrounded in Kabul without any control of the countryside around it. Again, it was exactly the same as the situation today.

The British Experience.

Where did this resistance come from?

Here my interpretation is different from that of the British. They assumed that the Afghans were rising up against Shah Shuja as much as themselves but it’s quite clear that a lot of the resistance was from irritated royalists who wanted Shah Shuja to shed his allegiance to the British. They thought the British were abusing agreements he’d made with them, which was indeed the case.

The initial idea had been that Shah Shuja would be given rule and the British would just help him enforce it, but, rather like with the tensions between Karzai and the British and Americans, increasingly the British got irritated with their own puppet and tried to bully him or take unilateral action. Macnaghten and Burnes gradually despaired of ever running Shah Shuja effectively and just took control of Afghanistan themselves.

What we get very clearly from Afghan sources is the motivations of individual leaders, which were all quite different. Abdullah Khan Achakzai was a young aristocrat whose girlfriend was seduced by Burnes, so for him it was a personal slight. He made a wonderful speech the night before the rebellion saying: “We have to put a stop right here and now, otherwise these English will ride the donkey of their desires into the field of stupidity, to the point of having us all arrested and deported into foreign imprisonment.”

Aminullah Khan Logari was a self-made man who had worked his way up for over 60 years of service. He was treated very peremptorily by a young British official who threw him off his lands. It was people such as Logari and Achakzai who kicked the whole thing off. They called everyone to arms and, within a few days, 50,000 had gathered in Kabul to fight the British.

The British Experience.

Did the British just retreat then?

There were two quite substantial battles that they lost through their incompetence and then they retreated. It was during the retreat under the promise of safekeeping that they got shot down. The East India Company at the time still used the Brown Bess musket, which was great in a flat European field like Waterloo but couldn’t fire long distances or uphill. The Afghans had these clumsy big jezails that took an hour to load but nonetheless could fire a mile downhill and were perfect for mountain warfare.

How did the British allow this catastrophe to happen?

It was quite fantastically incompetent British leadership. As well as Burnes and Macnaghten, who were always at each other’s necks, there was this gout-ridden old general called William Elphinstone who hadn’t seen action since the battle of Waterloo and was an invalid. On the first morning of the revolt he tried to get on his horse, which fell on top of him and he was more or less out of the action from there. By their own indecision and hopelessness the British lost the war very quickly. They lost all their food and ammunition within about 48 hours and it was only a matter of time before they had to retreat.

Was it a political or military decision to pull out of the country altogether?

Retreat was inevitable once they’d lost their food and ammunition, so that was a military decision. The Kabul garrison was wiped out but there were others surviving in Jalalabad and Kandahar. They were reinforced and the following spring they returned and laid waste to southern Afghanistan.

This army of retribution committed war crimes on a grand scale, raping and murdering women and children.

The British Experience.

After that, the decision to pull out was an economic one and this is also true of the later conflicts. Resistance can be defeated but only at huge cost, because the country is so diffused and the geography makes it so difficult. Plus there is no way of defraying the cost of the occupation. If you invade Iraq you can take the oil, or in the Punjab you can tax the rich, fertile land, but the entire tax revenue of Afghanistan never paid then and doesn’t pay now even a fraction of the cost of occupation.

How might your book inform policy makers today?

I do think there’s a huge amount to be learned from the Afghan version of events. It gives a precision into understanding the resistance, which has been lacking to date.

The story of the First Anglo-Afghan War provides clear warnings about the dangers of being trapped in Kabul, surrounded and with no allies, having fallen out with the people you put into power.

The problem is that each generation fails to learn these lessons.

George Lawrence was one of the troops taken hostage during the retreat and so survived to write his memoirs. He saw history repeating itself in the 1870s with the Second Anglo-Afghan War and he roused himself to write a letter to The Times. He said:

“A new generation has arisen, which instead of profiting from the solemn lessons of the past, is willing and eager to embroil us in the affairs of that turbulent and unhappy country… The disaster of the retreat from Kabul should stand forever as a warning to the statesmen of the future not to repeat the policies that bore such butter fruit in 1839–42.”

He wasn’t listened to in 1870, and this is now the fourth lost Afghan war.

William Dalrymple is an award-winning writer and historian based in India. His books include The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (Bloomsbury, 2019), Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond, co-authored with Anita Anand (Bloomsbury, 2017) and Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan (Bloomsbury, 2014) 

This article was first published in the February 2013 issue of BBC History Magazine

So what the heck is going on?

Lessons of the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Middle East Policy Council

After Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988-89, the regime it was defending there fell. This experience contributes to present fears that, if America withdraws from Afghanistan, the regime it is defending will also fall. A closer look at Soviet and Russian actions between 1988 and 1992, though, suggests that this need not have been the result then — and that it need not be the result of an American withdrawal now either.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up the Marxist regime that had come to power the previous year but which appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

Unlike the Soviet invasions of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, however, Soviet forces encountered prolonged resistance that they were unable to defeat.

In order to promote his goals of domestic reform and improving Moscow’s relations with the West, Gorbachev withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan (which he had termed a “bleeding wound”) between May 1988 and February 1989.

Russians in Afghanistan.

At the time, it was widely predicted that the Marxist regime Moscow had been supporting in Afghanistan would fall within a few months — or even weeks — of the final departure of Soviet forces.

The regime of President Najibullah, however, survived until April 1992, over three years after the Soviet withdrawal.

Several factors contributed to the regime’s longevity, including the continuation of Soviet military and economic assistance, the mistakes made by some of the mujahideen (the Afghan forces that had fought against the Soviet occupation) as well as their Pakistani supporters, divisions among the various mujahideen groups, and the Najibullah regime’s successful exploitation of these problems.

After the downfall of Gorbachev and of the Soviet Union itself in December 1991, though, Moscow’s assistance to Najibullah ended.

Without this assistance, Najibullah was unable to continue effectively exploiting the weaknesses of his adversaries. Instead, they were able to exploit his, and so his regime fell. This paper will examine how Moscow’s actions helped Najibullah survive but then contributed to his downfall, as well as how Moscow’s actions affected the other factors influencing the fortunes of the Afghan Marxist regime.

Russians in Afghanistan.

1989-91: Soviet Support for Kabul Continues

Although the Soviet troop presence in Afghanistan ended in February 1989, large-scale Soviet military and economic assistance to its Marxist protégés there continued.

As Soviet troops withdrew, they left behind literally all their matériel except for the vehicles needed to transport them back over the border. In addition, as Soviet forces withdrew from Eastern Europe following the downfall of communist regimes there in late 1989, some of this weaponry was transferred to Afghanistan.

From early 1989 to late 1991, Soviet assistance to Kabul reportedly amounted to $300 million per month. Perhaps this is not a large figure by today’s standards, but it was a much greater amount than the mujahideen were receiving after the Soviet withdrawal, and was a considerable financial burden on the economically beleaguered USSR.

Weaponry that Moscow supplied to Kabul included MiG- 27 fighter jets (the Afghan Marxist regime had an air force with some 200 aircraft plus helicopters). In addition, as Zalmay Khalilzad (whom President George W. Bush appointed as special presidential envoy for Afghanistan and then U.S. ambassador to Kabul) noted in 1991,

Moscow has provided more than thirteen hundred Scud-B missiles, hundreds of shorter range Frogs, several hundred tanks, and sixteen hundred five-ton trucks. To keep Kabul supplied, the Soviets launched the biggest air supply effort in its history, sending some twenty-five or more IL-76 transport planes to Kabul each day for much of 1989 (Khalilzad 1991, 82-83).

Indeed, all this was reportedly more than the Marxist regime could effectively use. To help them, though, Moscow left behind about 300 advisers, some of whom reportedly participated in the firing of the Scud missiles at mujahideen targets. (In addition to a regular army of 55,000 men, the Kabul regime also had the support of a 10,000-strong presidential guard and various militias, including an especially effective one raised and led by the ethnic Uzbek leader, General Abdul Rashid Dostum.)

When the Soviets withdrew, much of the anti-foreign-presence motivation for many Afghans to fight with the mujahideen disappeared.

A mujahideen group.

Indeed, some mujahideen groups themselves appeared tainted for being so very close to Pakistan. Soviet assistance also allowed Kabul to effectively compete with Pakistan and the various mujahideen groups based there in paying off local commanders and tribal leaders inside Afghanistan.

While Pakistan tied its support to various mujahideen groups not only to whether or not they fought against Kabul but whether they did so in the manner specified by the ISI, Kabul gave support to various groups just in exchange for not fighting against it. As Khalilzad noted at the time, “Najib’s offer is more attractive than ISI’s; while ISI wants it clients to fight and risk their lives, Najib is willing to pay if the commanders agree not to fight” (Khalilzad 1991, 81).

Russians in Afghanistan.

Further, the groups Pakistan supported were not always effective. In March 1989, some 15,000 Pakistani-backed mujahideen forces attacked the town of Jalalabad. Their unwillingness to accept prisoners, though, meant that the defending government forces had strong motivation to fight on. Although the mujahideen laid siege to the town, the Kabul government was able to resupply and reinforce its garrison by air, launch a counterattack, and break the siege by mid-May 1989. This was a major humiliation for Pakistan and its allies.

In addition to military assistance, though, Moscow provided Kabul with key economic assistance. As mujahideen forces approached Kabul and interrupted the supply of food and other consumer goods into the city, the Soviets airlifted these commodities to the Afghan capital.

At Moscow’s urging, the Kabul regime attempted to broaden the basis of its support by downplaying its Marxist nature, appointing non-Marxists to visible positions and trying to appeal to nationalism.

According to contemporary accounts, though, these efforts were not particularly successful, as the Marxist regime — especially President Najibullah — was extremely unpopular with the Afghan population. Indeed, while outwardly broadening the base of the regime, it appears that Najibullah actually narrowed it by increasing reliance on his hard-core supporters.

But while Najibullah and his regime lacked popular support, the mujahideen themselves frequently provided Afghans with strong incentive either to support the Marxist regime or to see it as the lesser of two evils. The mujahideen’s efforts to impose an economic blockade on Kabul as well as their periodically shelling it did nothing to endear them to the citizens of the capital.

Even worse, when the mujahideen captured the town of Khost in March 1991, they not only looted it but killed all the government forces they had captured instead of holding them prisoner. This action not only created fear in other towns; it also made clear to irresolute government forces that defecting to the mujahideen was probably not an option for them.

A mujahideen group.

Mujahideen groups also fought among themselves, and this was something that the Marxist government was able to exploit. As was noted in the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Strategic Survey 1989-1990,

…by early 1990, although the mujahideen continued to control the bulk of the countryside, most of them had in effect ceased being mujahideen, in the sense that they were no longer fighting against the central government, but were instead attempting to work out compromises with Kabul which would ensure their local power, particularly against their former fellow comrades in arms. 

Most local commanders had reverted to the traditional relationship between local powers and a weak central state that has shaped Afghan history since the eighteenth century. 

The central state is seen less as an enemy than as a referee which can help to promote the interests of the local group. 

This development was expected to play a decisive role after the collapse of the Najibullah regime, not before. 

That it has come into play so soon is a result of the unexpected adroitness of the regime, aided by the ineffectiveness of US-Pakistan policies (IISS 1990, 160).

At the time, Khalilzad seemed to suggest that the Afghan Marxist regime might even come out on top in the ongoing conflict, when he noted that the Kabul regime “…is likely to increase its efforts to reach out to make deals with commanders and the supporters of the former king at the expense of the majority of the Peshawar-based leadership. Should it succeed, it can reduce the fighting in the country” (Khalilzad 1991, 84).

1992: Russian Support Ends

But, of course, the Afghan Marxist regime did fall in April 1992. Once again, Russian actions appear to have played a key role in bringing this about.

Shortly after the failed August 1991 coup attempt in Moscow and under very different political circumstances, Moscow and Washington agreed to stop aiding their respective Afghan allies as of January 1, 1992.

Not only did Moscow end its arms supply to Kabul, but it also stopped providing it with food and fuel. By contrast, although Pakistan had agreed to stop aiding the mujahideen, Saudi aid to them via Pakistan continued.

Shortly after this in February 1992, Najibullah (a Pushtun) apparently tried to bolster his authority over the Uzbek militia chieftain Dostum by appointing a fellow Pushtun as a commander in the northwestern Uzbek heartland.

But if this was his intention, it backfired in April 1992, when Dostum defected from the government and joined forces with long-time anti-Soviet Tajik mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud (whose relationship with both Pakistan and the Pushtun mujahideen groups it supported was adversarial). Non-Pushtun forces from the north and Pushtun forces from the south then rushed to capture Kabul, with the Marxist regime splitting along ethnic lines and either joining forces or making deals with their ethnic kin.

Najibullah resigned and sought sanctuary inside the UN compound in Kabul after his attempt to reach the airport was blocked (by his erstwhile ally Dostum, according to some).

The Islamic State of Afghanistan was declared, but the mujahideen remained divided.

After a short, sharp battle for control of Kabul, the Dostum-Massoud alliance prevailed over their Pushtun opponents, for the time being. Russia appeared to play no role in these events.

Conclusions from the Russian Experience

Six observations can be made about the events described here:

First, even after the withdrawal of Soviet forces was completed in February 1989, Soviet military and economic assistance enabled an unpopular regime to remain in power in Afghanistan — at least, in the major population centers — for over three years.

Second, despite continuing to receive significant aid from Pakistan and other nations, the mujahideen were unable to overthrow the Afghan Marxist regime so long as that regime was receiving significant aid from the Soviet Union.

Third, opposition to the Afghan Marxist regime appeared to decline after Soviet troops withdrew. Further, while they had not performed effectively during the period of Soviet occupation, the effectiveness of Afghan government forces increased significantly after the Soviet withdrawal.

Fourth, after Soviet assistance to Kabul ended at the beginning of 1992, the Afghan Marxist regime’s strength declined rapidly.

Fifth, the collapse of the regime in April 1992, though, was not due just (or perhaps even mainly) to the actions of the Pakistani-backed Pushtun mujahideen. Indeed, the immediate downfall of the regime was precipitated by the defection of the previously pro-regime Uzbek militia leader, Dostum, to the side of the non-Pushtun opposition to the regime.

Sixth, as the collapse of the regime approached, the most salient division in Afghanistan was not Marxist vs. Islamist, but Pushtun vs. non-Pushtun.

History, of course, is not destined to repeat itself. These six observations from the 1989-92 period, however, may have salience for the present as well as the short- and medium-term future. They suggest the following:

First, even after the withdrawal of ISAF forces is completed by the end of 2014, American and allied military and economic assistance to the current less-than-popular Karzai government may enable it to remain in power in the major population centers.

Second, the Taliban are not destined to return to power, despite the likelihood that they will continue to receive Pakistani assistance so long as the Kabul government continues to receive significant aid from America and its coalition partners.

Third, opposition to the Karzai government may actually decline after the American and coalition withdrawal. Once they are responsible for their own survival, the effectiveness of Afghan government forces may quickly increase.

Fourth, if American and allied support for it ends, the Kabul government’s strength is highly likely to decline rapidly.

Fifth, under these circumstances, ethnic divisions within the Kabul government leadership are likely to become exacerbated. It is highly likely that the non-Pushtun officer corps would seek to oust the Pushtun president, Hamid Karzai, and his entourage.

Sixth, even if (indeed, especially if) the Taliban manage to seize control of Kabul once again, the most salient division within Afghanistan is once again likely to be Pushtun vs. non-Pushtun.

Well that was pretty dry and scholarly…

And yeah. That’s what it was.

Real events are colorful, painful, full of joy and sadness. They are visceral.  Here’s a far better explanation…

Afghanistan: The Soviet Union’s War in Vietnam

By William Stroock

In late 1979, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was torn apart by a civil war pitting the weak Communist government of Hafizullah Amin against several moderate and fundamentalist Muslim rebel armies.

The war had been brought about by Amin’s incompetence and corruption, his vicious program of political repression, the massacre of entire village populations, and a ham-handed agrarian “reform” program that disenfranchised tribal leaders.

He followed the very exactly same mistakes as the Americans and the South Vietnamese did back in the 1960's.

Fearing that Amin would be defeated and replaced by a government of Muslim fundamentalists or—even worse—pro-American intellectuals, the Soviet Union launched an invasion on Christmas Eve aimed at removing Amin and replacing him with a more reliable strongman.

To pave the way for the invasion, Soviet advisers with the Afghan Army tricked their clients into incapacitating themselves.

In one case, the Soviets told an Afghan armored unit that new tanks were about to be delivered but that, due to shortages, the gas in the old tanks would have to be siphoned out. The Afghans obligingly siphoned gas out of their tanks, rendering them useless.

In another instance, Soviet advisers told an Afghan unit to turn over all their ammunition for inspection, something that likewise was done without question.

Sneaky. Very sneaky.

A Former Prime Minister Declares Himself President

By the time the first Soviet transport planes landed at Kabul airport carrying elements of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the Afghan Army was largely incapable of fighting back.

On December 27, the Soviet 5th Motorized Rifle Division rolled across the borders toward Herat, Shindahd, and Kandahar, while the 108th Motorized Rifle Division drove on Kabul.

The 201st Motorized Rifle Division advanced toward Kunduz.

That same day, Soviet troops captured the Kabul radio station and attacked the presidential palace, killing Amin.

December 27, 2019

By Frud Bezhan

KABUL — Afghanistan’s communist President Hafizullah Amin was lying unconscious in his bed.

A KGB agent who had infiltrated Amin’s staff as a cook had poisoned the president and his ministers during lunch at the Tajbeg presidential palace in Kabul.

It was December 27, 1979.

Two Soviet doctors, unaware of the KGB plot, worked desperately to revive Amin at the palace. His ministers were rushed to a military hospital.

“The doctors put tubes through his nose and mouth to pump his stomach,” Faqir Mohammad Faqir, the interior minister, who had rushed to the palace, tells RFE/RL. “When his stomach was cleaned out, the doctors took him to the bathroom. For 30 minutes they poured cold water over him.”

After four long hours, Amin gradually regained consciousness. Still groggy, he muttered to Faqir, one of his most trusted men, to go to the nearby Defense Ministry building.

A few hours later, the Afghan president was lying in bed in his underpants when scores of KGB special forces stormed the presidential palace, killing Amin and his family members amid fierce clashes. Soviet forces also seized key government buildings and military installations in Kabul in a coordinated attack.

Moscow considered Amin, who had studied in the United States, an unpredictable ally. Some in the Kremlin suspected he had attempted to forge links with Washington. Meanwhile, his penchant for using brutal methods to crush his rivals fueled growing opposition to communist rule in Afghanistan.

Moscow installed Babrak Karmal, a rival communist leader, as president the next day. Thousands of Soviet troops and hundreds of planes and tanks crossed into Afghanistan in the following days.

The invasion was the start of a devastating, decade-long Soviet occupation that would set Afghanistan on a path for decades of conflict.

“The Soviet invasion was the worst day for Afghans,” says the 86-year-old Faqir as he trudges through the empty halls of the Tajbeg Palace, which is now being reconstructed. “It was the darkest day,” he adds. “The most miserable day for Afghans. The misery that started that day continues until today.”

‘So Much Firing’

When Faqir arrived at the Defense Ministry, army chief Yaqub Khan was at a meeting with several Soviet military advisers in his office.

After greeting the guests, Faqir turned to sit down on a couch, when there was a burst of gunfire. He dashed to an adjacent room to take cover.

“After a few moments, Yaqub Khan entered the room and fell on the bed,” Faqir says. “He had been shot twice and seriously wounded.”

Minutes later, Khan died.

Drenched in Khan’s blood, Faqir grabbed his handgun and aimed it at the door.

“There was so much firing that you couldn’t hear anything,” Faqir says, retelling the story as he slowly trudges through the National Museum, which back then housed the Defense Ministry. “The [Soviets] were throwing hand grenades, firing rockets, and using Kalashnikovs.”

‘They Look Like Russians’

Khan’s secretary, Dawlat Waziri, was sitting at his desk at the Defense Ministry building when the shooting erupted.

“I got up, grabbed my Kalashnikov, and I opened the window,” says Waziri, who was then 26 years old. “I saw that there was gunfire coming from down there, so I fired a few rounds.”

Waziri says the attackers were wearing “yellow uniforms and woolen hats.” “I thought to myself, ‘They look like Russians,'” he says.

He then stormed into Khan’s office where, he says, he saw a Soviet translator shoot his boss.

Waziri rushed out the door and into the hallway. He spotted a Soviet soldier and dashed to take cover. “Before I could fire, he fired at me,” he says. “A bullet struck my wrist. I dropped my Kalashnikov. Then another bullet struck me in the stomach and one in my right leg.”

Waziri stumbled into a nearby room. A grenade landed nearby, smashing the door and setting it on fire.

He was cornered.

“I thought for a second, ‘Why did the Russians fire at me?'” Waziri recalls. “Just then, they were about to throw a second grenade. So, I opened the window and jumped out.”

Waziri broke his legs and shattered his hip in the jump from the second floor.

He passed out.

‘Shots Were Fired’

Before the attack, hundreds of Soviet paratroopers — members of the Soviet Army’s Muslim Battalion — and KGB special forces had surrounded the palace, taking cover in the heavy snow.

The KGB forces stormed the palace while the Soviet troops provided a ring of security around the building.

“Our job was to neutralize any reinforcements that came to Amin’s aid,” Vytas Luksys, a former Soviet paratrooper from Lithuania, tells RFE/RL.

“It was dark,” recalls Luksys in the capital, Vilnius. “There wasn’t much time to think about what was happening where. We had to focus on carrying out our orders. We heard that shots were fired, but we couldn’t pay much attention to it.”

The KGB special forces, most of them in sportswear or plainclothes, went floor to floor battling the Presidential Guard and members of Amin’s family.

No reinforcements came to Amin’s help, much to Luksys’s relief. “I don’t know how I would have fared,” he says. “We had very little experience with night-vision devices, guns, and machine guns.”

Within hours, the battle was over. Over 200 Afghans were killed and over 1,000 surrendered. Declassified KGB files said over 100 Soviet personnel were also killed in the fierce clashes.

Amin is believed to have died of gunshot wounds.

All his male relatives at the Tajbeg Palace were either killed in the clashes or executed. His wife, daughter, and grandchildren were sent to prison.

‘It Was Better To Die’

Faqir had been holed up inside one of Khan’s personal rooms for seven hours when he heard a colleague’s voice. “He said, ‘If anyone is in the room he should put down his weapon and come out,'” he says. “He was my friend, so I decided to come out.”

When Faqir came out he was handcuffed by Soviet troops. “That was when I realized that the Soviets had attacked us,” he says. “I shouldn’t have left the room. I didn’t want to surrender. It would have been better to die.”

Soviet forces whisked Faqir away to their military headquarters. He was sentenced to death and transferred to Pul-e Charkhi, the notorious prison outside Kabul where Amin was alleged to have sent thousands to their deaths.

Waziri, meanwhile, woke up in an operating room in the hospital the day after the invasion.

“I was piled up along with the dead bodies,” Waziri says. “When they realized I was still alive, they took me to the operating room in the hospital.” He would be in the hospital for 13 months recovering from his wounds.

Afterward, Waziri served as an officer in the Soviet-backed Afghan army.

Luksys visited the Tajbeg Palace the next morning to find scenes of destruction. “It was a big beautiful palace that had been turned into a mess,” he says. “There were beautiful carpets. Furniture, tables, intricate stucco, very pretty chandeliers.”

“There was blood, but no dead bodies by that time,” Luksys recalls.

After the storming of the palace, Soviet forces wrapped the bodies of Amin and his family members in carpets and buried them in unmarked graves.

Their bodies have never been found.

‘Biggest Betrayal’

The element of surprise was key to the Soviet Union’s lightning seizure of Kabul.

The Soviet decision to topple Amin was a shock, including to the Kabul regime, which had forged close ties with Moscow since communists seized power after a bloody coup in 1978.

“The Soviets committed the biggest betrayal,” Faqir says. “We had a brotherly relationship. We had no idea that the Russians would attack us.”

Faqir was released from prison in 1989 after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, having served 10 years and three months.

Luksys served two years in the Soviet Army before leaving in 1981.

Military Quagmire

The events of December 27, 1979 would have a lasting effect, unleashing a four-decade war that has yet to end.

The Soviet Army soon got bogged down in a costly military quagmire against the mujahedin, the U.S.-backed Islamist rebels.

The Soviet Union pulled its troops out of Afghanistan in 1989 after an estimated 2 million Afghans and at least 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed. Millions of other Afghans were displaced, living mainly as refugees in Pakistan and Iran.

The mujahedin toppled the communist regime from power in 1992. But within months, a devastating civil war erupted among the warring mujahedin factions, paving the way for the rise of the Taliban.

By then, the Soviet Union no longer existed.

In a radio address broadcast from the Soviet Union, former prime minister Babrak Karmal, who had been handpicked by Soviet authorities, declared himself president.

Russian map of attack.

The DRA army had an impressive strength on paper, numbering 13 infantry divisions and 22 independent brigades.

There were also 40 separate regiments.

This force was composed of at least 70 percent conscripts, including thousands of men who had been rounded up by government press-gangs and forced to serve in the army.

What few volunteers there were usually became junior and noncommissioned officers. Despite the press gangs and financial incentives to volunteer, DRA army units were badly under strength, sometimes by as much as 40 percent.

The army was decimated by desertions and riddled with mujahideen spies. Supplementing the army was the KHAD, or secret police, numbering 100,000 men.

Hope for Stabilizing the Region Was Failing

Soviet planners had hoped that the invasion and coup would stabilize the situation enough for the DRA army to take control.

In fact, their strong-armed tactics devastated morale in the Afghan Army and led to further desertions and defections.

Even worse, enraged mujahideen took to the field and engaged Soviet forces in open battle outside Kandahar, in Jalalabad, and along the Salang highway.

After the Soviets’ massive firepower overwhelmed them, the mujahideen retreated into the mountains along the Afghan border and switched to guerrilla-style tactics.

The Soviets followed.

The Red Army deliberately waged war on Afghan civilians and drove them over the border into Pakistan. By doing so, they hoped to deny the mujahideen local support and a native population to hide among.

In 1980, the Soviets mounted a large-scale offensive into the Kunar Valley that resulted in the expulsion of nearly all of the valley’s 150,000 residents.

A similar offensive was undertaken to the south in the Sultani Valley. Supporting these Soviet attacks were clearing operations south of Kabul and around Kandahar that destroyed dozens of villages. Similar operations were launched throughout the country in 1981, but with little long-term success.

Guerrilla Attacks and Civilian Casualties

In the face of the Soviet onslaught, mujahideen forces retreated into the mountains or melted into a population made friendly by repeated Soviet and Afghan Army atrocities.

When the mujahideen did come out and fight, they subjected Soviet forces to a constant stream of guerrilla attacks.

DRA troops were no match for the mujahideen. In daring assaults in April and September of 1981, the mujahideen temporarily seized Kandahar from DRA forces and left only after the Soviet Air Force bombed them.

Compounding anti-Soviet sentiment brought about by the Red Army’s complete disregard for Afghan civilian casualties was the brutality of the common Soviet soldiers, who regularly took out their frustration on the Afghan populace.

An Afghan farmer passing through a Soviet roadblock could count upon his valuables being stolen and his wife being raped. Mounted Soviet troops seemed to take great joy in shooting at Afghans along the road. Soviet advisers, officers, and NCOs treated their Afghan proxies with contempt.

The frustration of the Soviet fighting man was easy to understand.

Soviet soldiers were conscripts who often received only three weeks of basic training before being sent to savage Afghanistan.

Once there, a new recruit was bullied by veteran soldiers and brutal NCOs. Soldiers were badly paid, ill fed and clothed, and lived in tents.

Many soldiers found relief from their situation in the form of the opium or locally produced alcohol. Hungry conscripts sometimes traded their weapons to the Afghans for food. Fevers and infections caused by unsanitary camp conditions decimated thousands of Soviet recruits.

Hills Swarming With Mujahideen

Despite the Soviets’ various campaigns of annihilation, the hills outside the major Afghan cities were swarming with mujahideen.

Soviet army units were confined to their bases and traveled only on the main roads.

Traveling at night in anything other than a large convoy was suicidal.

The Soviets, like their American counterparts in Vietnam, were heavily reliant on helicopters for movement through the hostile countryside. Also mirroring the American approach in Southeast Asia, the Soviets used only a bare fraction of their military might, refusing to delegate more men and material than were absolutely necessary.

They even went so far as to call the 40th Army in Afghanistan a “limited contingent of forces.”

By 1981, the mujahideen numbered as many as 150,000 fighters organized into seven main Sunni Islam parties.

Three Islamic fundamentalist organizations had roots reaching back to the 1960s, and a fourth group formed in 1982 to serve as an umbrella organization and raise money for the cause throughout the Islamic world. There were also three “moderate” parties.

These were formed after the 1978 coup, and although not as radical as the other four groups, they were still Muslim organizations. There were also three smaller Shiite groups with ties to Iran.

Excellent Fighters, but Poor Soldiers

The average mujahideen fighter was an illiterate farmer or herder. Although they were excellent fighters, mujahideen tended to be poor soldiers.

They disliked field craft, were reluctant to crawl even when under fire, and were often unwilling to conduct sabotage missions, as these were not seen as glorious and honorable.

They were terrified of Soviet land mines, which often maimed rather than killed—the former being considered a fate worse than death.

Mujahideen saw firearms as a status symbol, and most were excellent shots. They took great pride in their centuries of tribal warfare and raiding, and consequently they believed that they had little to learn from Pakistani and Western advisers about how to fight a modern superpower.

In 1982, the closest thing the mujahideen had to a central command was the Afghan Bureau of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI.

Led by General Mohammed Yousaf, the Afghan Bureau operated numerous training camps in the border area, provided advisers from the Pakistani Army, and funneled supplies to the mujahideen.

These were provided by the American Central Intelligence Agency, which bought weapons from sellers all over the world, including China, Egypt, and, ironically, Israel, which sold equipment it had captured during the various Arab-Israeli wars.

The Afghan Bureau also tried to coordinate mujahideen attacks. This inevitably led to conflicts.

Afghan leaders were interested in disrupting Soviet supply lines and sabotaging infrastructure, while mujahideen commanders wanted to engage Soviet troops in open combat.

Still, some highly valuable and successful attacks were carried out. In one bold raid, mujahideen fighters loyal to Ahmad Shah Massoud fought their way onto Bagram Air Base, attacked Soviet barracks packed with sleeping troops, and hit the airstrip, destroying 23 aircraft.

They then retreated to their bases in the nearby Panjshir Valley.

Ahmad Shah Massoud

In the aftermath of the airport raid, the Soviets launched a massive counteroffensive against the Panjshir Valley designed to destroy mujahideen forces and install permanent DRA army garrisons there.

The Panjshir Valley juts out from the Hindu Kush, pointing like a dagger at Kabul and Bagram Air Base.

The Salang highway, the road over which 90 percent of the Soviets’ supplies were carried, went right past the valley entrance.

Running through the valley is the Panjshir River. The banks were dotted with villages, farms, and vineyards. Dozens of canyons were home to small, isolated villages. At the beginning of the war, some 100,000 people of Tadjik origin resided there.

The valley was also home to the mujahideen’s most feared commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Born in 1953 in Herat, Massoud was part of Afghanistan’s minuscule educated class, having attended the French-run Lycee Istaqlal and the Russian Polytechnique Institute (both located in Kabul) where he studied engineering.

Massoud was an accomplished athlete, voracious reader, and spoke French, Pashto, and Dari.

During his time in Kabul, he became politically active, joining the Jamiat-e Islami party.

When Mohammad Daoud seized power in 1974, Massoud fled to Pakistan, where he underwent military training and studied the art of war, particularly the campaigns of Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap.

He returned to Afghanistan in 1978 and began operations in the Panjshir Valley, quickly gaining a cadre of tough, loyal followers who waged a guerrilla war against DRA forces.By 1980, Massoud controlled the entire valley.

The Ambitious “Panjshir V”

Massoud’s rebel army was a pan-Afghan force numbering more than 3,000 Tadjiks, Pashtuns, Turkmen, and Uzbek fighters.

He divided the valley into 25 field commands, each defended by a small unit called a sabbet.

These were supplemented by a number of moutariks, or mobile companies. Each moutarik numbered about 75 men and was subdivided into platoons of three.

Moutarik fighters received extra rations and a welfare benefit for their families back home. Each unit had in its arsenal three machine guns, three RPG-7 grenade launchers, one mortar, and a ZPU-2 antiaircraft gun.

Panjshir V, as the Soviet operation was called, was ambitious.

At the valley entrance, the Soviets deployed the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 66th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, one regiment from the 108th Division, one regiment from 201st Division, the 345th Parachute regiment, and elements of the 866th and 181st Separate Motorized Rifle Regiments.

There were also significant DRA forces, four infantry regiments, and parts of the 37th Commando Brigade.

Under the Soviet plan, heliborne troops from the 103rd Guards Airborne Division would seize villages and hilltops throughout the valley and pin down mujahideen fighters.

At the same time, Soviet/Afghan motorized forces would advance along both banks of the Panjshir River. In this way, the Soviets hoped to bring Massoud’s army to battle and destroy it in detail.

To mislead Massoud as to the actual target, a diversionary attack would be launched against the Ghorband district to the north.

The Panjshir V campaign began on May 15, 1982. The diversionary attack against Ghorband succeeded in fooling Massoud, who sent significant reinforcements to the Ghorband district in Parwan Province.

The next night, several Soviet reconnaissance companies advanced to the valley’s entrance; lead elements of 108th Division advanced a short way into the valley.

On the morning of May 17, the Soviets unleashed a massive aerial and artillery strike up and down the Panjshir Valley.

Then Soviet heliborne troops landed at key high points.

Even though Massoud was surprised by the move, his forces, armed with numerous ZPU-2 antiaircraft guns, managed to shoot down two helicopters and damage several others.

There was also severe fighting for control of the landing zones, but the Soviets had put dozens of gunships in the air, and the mujahideen were outgunned and had to withdraw.

In all, the six Soviet battalions were inserted.

In the meantime, elements of the 108th Division slowly advanced up the valley along a battalion-wide front.

The vanguard encountered a never-ending stream of man-made obstacles and land mines that had to be cleared by engineers and sappers deployed up front.

The mujahideen engaged the lead forces, sparking fierce and lopsided clashes as Soviet firepower and close air support were brought to bear.

There were dozens of small engagements as well, as Soviet forces cleared out the numerous canyons running out from the valley. In contrast to the pounding they were giving Soviet troops, the mujahideen left DRA troops largely alone.

This encouraged defections, so many that the Soviets had to pull several DRA units out of the valley.

In an effort to trap mujahideen forces engaging elements of the 108th Division on the second day of the advance, one Soviet and one Afghan battalion landed at the village of Mata, halfway up the valley.

Mujahideen forces there were quickly overcome, allowing the combined Soviet/DRA force to occupy the heights above the village.

The next day, a similar force landed at Astana, and on the 22nd two Soviet and two Afghan battalions landed at Evim, 60 miles inside the valley at an important crossroad through which the mujahideen received supplies and reinforcements.

The Evim operation was the scene of particularly heavy fighting as Massoud did not want a large enemy force on the ground so far up the valley. After sundown, several moutariksconverged on the landing zone and launched a determined assault on Soviet/DRA forces there.

The assaults were repelled with heavy losses.

Although impressive on paper, the landings did not prevent mujahideen forces from continuing to move at will throughout the valley. They knew the terrain too well and could move at night.

Nor did the heliborne insertions keep the mujahideen from withdrawing before a Soviet advance.

Massoud’s moutarikshad ample warning, as any Soviet attack was preceded by an artillery barrage lasting up to half an hour.

After the barrage, the moutarikswould pull back to a prepared position farther up the valley while a small rear guard sniped at the advancing column. Such tactics resulted in a steady trickle of Soviet casualties and vehicle losses and ensured that the moutarikssurvived to repeat the process.

The battle for Evim marked the end of Panjshir V. On May 25, Soviet forces began a gradual withdrawal to Bagram, completing it three days later.

Control of the valley was handed over to DRA units, but their bases were gradually overrun by the mujahideen. The Soviets returned to the valley in September and, after another impressive show of force, once again left DRA forces in control.

By the end of the year, however, Massoud’s forces regained effective control of the valley. In all, Panjshir V cost the Soviets 2,000 casualties, 17 tanks, and a dozen aircraft. DRA losses totaled 1,200, including numerous defectors. The mujahideen lost 180 fighters.

The civilian toll was much greater.

In 1983, Massoud signed a truce with the Soviets. By agreeing to a cease-fire, Massoud allowed his forces a chance to rest and re-arm. Other mujahideen commanders were furious, since the unilateral truce freed up Soviet forces for operations against them.

The Soviets returned to the Panjshir Valley in 1984. Informers in Kabul tipped the ISI, who informed Massoud and sent emergency supplies to him.

The Soviet offensive began on April 20 with a massive high-altitude bombardment by TU-16 bombers.

This was supported by SU-24 medium bombers that struck individual targets. After the air strikes, which did little more than bounce the rubble and announce the coming attack, the 108th Motor Rifle Division, along with the 8th and 20th Afghan Infantry Divisions, moved into the valley.

They advanced in typical Soviet fashion, with a long artillery barrage preceding every movement.

As the divisions made their way up the valley, airborne battalions landed behind villages and other suspected mujahideen strongpoints. The raids netted few prisoners—Massoud’s fighters simply avoided the valley floor and sniped at the ponderous Soviet column from surrounding hilltops.

Under such conditions, it took the 108th MRD eight days to advance 50 miles to the village of Khenj.

In the second part of the operation, several Soviet airborne battalions helicoptered into the valley’s side canyons in an attempt to cut off the mujahideen line of retreat.

In one instance, a Soviet battalion landed at the village of Dash-i-Ravat, 13 miles beyond the main advance. On a hilltop deep inside mujahideen territory, the battalion was badly exposed. Several moutariks converged on the landing area and inflicted heavy casualties on the isolated paratroopers.

By May 7, the Soviets felt that they had accomplished all of their objectives and gradually began withdrawing, again leaving DRA garrisons at various spots along the valley. These were highly vulnerable, and troops had to be resupplied by air.

In June 1985, Massoud’s forces attacked the DRA base at Peshghor. In a dawn attack, they penetrated the base’s minefield and stormed the defenses under cover of a rocket and mortar barrage. Afghan resistance collapsed. Massoud captured more than 400 prisoners, including five DRA colonels from Kabul.

When Mikhail Gorbachev took power in the Soviet Union in 1986, he announced plans for a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan, which he famously called “a bleeding wound.” Such a withdrawal required the DRA army to take the lead against the mujahideen.

The Ministry of Defense decided to launch an operation aimed at destroying the massive mujahideen facility at Zhawar Kili. Although planned by the Soviets, the assault would be a largely DRA operation, with the 7th, 8th, 14th, and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 38th Commando Brigade, and the Soviet 666th Air Assault Regiment in support. The attack was commanded by Afghan General Mohammed Delavar.

Zhawar was the center of mujahideen activity in Paktika Province; through it flowed 20 percent of the mujahideen supplies.

It was the site of an 11-cave storage facility housing a barracks, hospital, mosque, and electrical power plant. Zhawar fell under the purview of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a mujahideen commander loyal to the fundamentalist Hezb-Islami party.

Haqqani was regarded as a competent and brave leader, a favorite of the ISI and the United States.

As such, he received millions of dollars in military aid, including the much-vaunted Stinger missiles. Haqqani had stationed at Zhawar a permanent regiment of 500 fighters supported by nine ZSU-1 and ZSU-2 antiaircraft guns, a dozen M-12 multiple rocket launchers and two T-55 tanks.

Stationed north and east of Zhawar was a quartet of mujahideen units belonging to other parties. The complex lay south of Khost at the end of a canyon, a few miles from the Pakistani border.

The main route to Zhawar was through the Manay Kandow Pass, whose entrance was dominated by the mountainous Dharwi Ghar.

Atop Dhawri Ghar was a cave protected by a large overhang.

The DRA assault began on April 2. After a massive artillery barrage, a half dozen MI-8 helicopters landed a battalion of the 38th Commando Brigade east of Zhawar, unknowingly inside Pakistan.

The battalion quickly came under heavy attack by the mujahideen, and Delavar decided to insert the rest of the brigade into the fight.

Dozens of helicopters flew over the battlefield and landed Afghan commands on the heights east of Zhawar.

The mujahideen shot down three helicopters and destroyed several more on the ground. Haqqani’s fighters attacked the landing zones, over-running four. He also brought in reinforcements from Pakistan.

The combined force enveloped and pounded the trapped commandos, killing dozens and capturing nearly 600.

In the meantime, Soviet bombers pounded the cave complexes, collapsing the entrances to a pair and trapping more than 150 mujahideen, including Haqqani who, although badly wounded, managed to escape.

For three days DRA forces, the 7th Infantry Division in the west and the 8th Infantry Division in the east, tried and failed to blast their way through the mujahideen positions.

After suffering heavy casualties and exhausting their ammunition, the two divisions pulled back. In their place, the 14th and 25th Infantry Divisions moved up and attacked mujahideen fighters holding Manay Kandow Pass.

This attack, too, went nowhere as mujahideen inside the caves were invulnerable to air and artillery strikes.

After 10 days of fruitless efforts, Delavar called off the attack.

While artillery and aircraft pounded the region, the DRA resupplied and reinforced its exhausted units. Delavar was sacked.

The offensive was restarted on April 17 with a two-pronged assault; the 25th Infantry Division advanced on the east while the 14th Infantry Division moved on the west.

Like its predecessor, the 25th Infantry Division encountered heavy resistance. DRA commanders finally decided to forgo the standard massive artillery preparation in favor of a snap attack that took the mujahideen by surprise and swept them from the mountain. DRA forces pushed out to the east and outflanked the remaining mujahideen facing them. Haqqani was wounded again, and rumors that he had been killed demoralized the mujahideen.

With no one to rally the mujahideen forces, Zhawar fell later that day. DRA troops and Soviet advisers rigged the complex with explosives and destroyed the extensive stores.

That night, the head of the Hezb-Islami party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, launched a counterattack, but patrols approaching Zhawar found the base abandoned. The battle had cost the mujahideen 100 dead, as well as the vast stores at Zhawar.

The DRA lost 1,500 dead or wounded, 500 prisoners, and 13 aircraft.

The base at Zhawar was back in mujahideen hands 48 hours after the DRA abandoned it.

By the beginning of 1989, the situation in Afghanistan had changed radically. The influx of American-supplied Stinger missiles had given the mujahideen a powerful weapon with which to counter Soviet/Afghan airpower.

In Pakistan, President Zia ul-Haq and the head of the ISI had been killed in a plane crash.

That February, the last Soviet forces withdrew from the country.

The seven mujahideen parties formed an interim government in waiting. The alliance was eager to go on the offensive; its leadership felt that a large show of force would bring about the final collapse of the Communist regime.

Their target was Jalalabad, at the foot of the Hindu Kush. Connecting it to the Khyber Pass to the east and Kabul 33 miles to the west, Highway 1 ran right through the city. A few miles east was the Kunar River; the Samarkel Ridge commanded the highway.

By taking the city, the mujahideen alliance hoped to demoralize the DRA and grab a swath of the country that they would declare “Free Afghanistan.” From there, they planned to go for the jugular and attack Kabul. The operation was carried out with the full approval of the new head of the ISI, General Hamid Gul. The DRA had plenty of time to prepare for the attack.

Stationed in Jalalabad were the 11th Infantry Division and the 1st Border Brigade. The government had filled the ranks with replacements and stockpiled supplies in the city. The DRA units manned a formidable ring of defenses including concrete bunkers, minefields, and barbed wire.

Some 7,000 mujahideen gathered for the assault, with contributions from all seven of the major parties and an eighth group of well-equipped Arab jihadi led by a rich Saudi calling himself Abu Abdullah.

His real name was Osama bin Laden.

Other important contingents were personally led by Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Like Massoud, Hekmatyar had attended school in Kabul, where he studied engineering.

In the mid-1970s, he founded the Hezb-Islami party, which sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan in the mold of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, whom he greatly admired. Hekmatyar was virulently anti-Soviet, but also anti-American. Seeking to consolidate power, he had also waged war on other mujahideen parties. He was a bitter rival of Massoud.

The campaign began in early March 1989 with a mujahideen assault on Samarkel Ridge. Supported by a massive rocket and mortar barrage, the mujahideen took the ridge after three days of fighting.

The mujahideen then fought their way into the village of Samarkel on the ridge’s western slope. The next target was Jalalabad airfield, which they attacked on March 8.

There, the mujahideen went up against a battalion of crack DRA troops who held their ground in the face of several determined assaults. Advancing behind a line of T-55 tanks captured at Samarkel, the mujahideen finally managed to take the airport, but the DRA counterattacked later that day and retook it.

Four days into the battle for the airport, a battalion of DRA Special Guards was flown in from Kabul. The frontal assaults continued until late March, with the mujahideen suffering more than 1,400 casualties. DRA forces lost 1,000.

Tired of seeing their fighters impaled on the defenses of Jalalabad, mujahideen commanders decided to starve the city into submission. Unfortunately for them, the siege was not airtight.

Some commanders along the highway allowed convoys to slip through in exchange for a portion of the supplies. And since the DRA still held the airport, the Soviets were able to resupply government forces from the air.

Mujahideen commanders also had difficulty coordinating attacks, with many unwilling to make the first move for fear their men would bear the brunt of the fighting. What attacks were carried out were badly exposed to Soviet high-level bombing and Scud missile attacks.

By July, the mujahideen siege had collapsed. On July 6, the DRA launched a counterattack aimed of Samarkel Ridge, which they took two days later. In defeat, the rivalry between Massoud and Hekmatyar slipped into outright war, with the two parties fighting each other throughout the rest of the year.

The Communist regime in Kabul managed to stay in power until 1992, falling only after the Soviet Union itself broke up.

A fractious mujahideen coalition led by the Jamaat-i-Islami failed to bring peace and was ousted by the Taliban in 1996. For the next five years, the Afghan resistance called the Northern Alliance was led by Massoud.

He was assassinated on September 9, 2001—two days before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Haqqani became a minister in the Taliban government and, on September 29 he was appointed commander of Taliban forces.

He fights on today out of Waziristan, having survived several American attempts to kill him. Hekmatyar still leads the Hezb-Islami party, which is closely allied with the exiled Taliban. He too has survived numerous assassination attempts.

Despite losing nearly 15,000 troops in a decade-long incursion, Soviet commanders never grasped the concept that, in order to defeat an insurgency, they first must win the loyalty of the civilian population. Their oafish tactics had the opposite effect.

By forcing millions into refugee camps in Pakistan, they created a limitless pool of angry youth from which the mujahideen could recruit more troops. The war could never have been won so long as Pakistan remained a mujahideen safe haven. American and NATO forces in Afghanistan today confront exactly the same problem, and like their Soviet predecessors two decades ago, they have to date devised no workable solutions.

The ravaged nation remains a bleeding wound in the seemingly endless war on terror.

Lessons for Leaders: What Afghanistan Taught Russian and Soviet Strategists

February 28, 2019

Introduction

Thirty years ago this month, Gen. Boris Gromov became the last serviceman of the Soviet 40th Army to cross the Friendship bridge from Afghanistan into Uzbekistan, heralding the end of a Soviet military intervention that had lasted nearly a decade.

That intervention, which began in December 1979 (with 30 military advisors and some guards remaining beyond February 1989), did not only fail to firmly anchor Afghanistan to the so-called socialist camp, as the Soviet Politburo had hoped, but contributed to the demise of the USSR by imposing formidable human, financial, economic, political and reputational costs on the already declining empire; needless to say, it caused numerous casualties and widespread grievances among Afghans as well.

Debates continue to this day about the full array of national-level, organizational-level and personal-level factors that led the Communist Party leadership—including General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and a handful of other Politburo members—to adopt a resolution on Dec. 12, 1979, authorizing the deployment of a “limited contingent of Soviet troops” to Afghanistan.

However, even with that debate unfinished, the Soviet experience in Afghanistan offers plenty of lessons to explore—some of which can, perhaps, be applied by the U.S. and its allies as Washington leans toward ending its own military campaign in this war-plagued Central Asian country.

The following is a selection of military-political lessons gleaned mostly from the recollections of Soviet strategists who were involved in making and executing the fateful decision to send troops to Afghanistan, as well as from writings by some of post-Soviet Russia’s prominent military analysts.

Where possible, the author made an effort to relay these strategists’ analysis of the failures and successes of the intervention because he felt that such assessments, based on first-hand experience, are not always given their due in English-language literature on the subject.

The lessons listed below, which are discussed in greater detail in subsequent sections of this research paper, are lined up in the order in which they would have come up—starting with the Soviet leadership’s decision to consider sending a large contingent of troops into Afghanistan, moving onto its management of the actual intervention and, finally, onto its decision to withdraw the troops and beyond. All of these lessons are meant for consideration by nations’ military-political leadership.

Lesson 1:

Before making final decisions on issues of fundamental importance, such as military intervention, determine what national interests are at stake, what options exist for advancing or defending those interests and what costs and benefits each of these options would generate, both direct and indirect; and do not let leaders’ personal ambitions impact the ultimate decision.

Lesson 2:

Ensure a sufficiently broad and comprehensive inter-agency process of reviewing potential decisions to use force, factoring in the views of all key stakeholders in general and those to be tasked with implementing the decisions in particular.

Lesson 3:

Examine aspects of a country’s history relevant to your planned undertaking.

Lesson 4:

Once the decision to send troops has been made, formulate the goals of the intervention and communicate them clearly to the agencies involved in implementation; also, shape your messaging to other key stakeholders likely to influence the outcome of the intervention.

Lesson 5:

If you do decide to go in, develop an exit plan in advance.

Lesson 6:

Once in, ensure effective inter-agency coordination and cooperation.

Lesson 7:

Rather than try to mold your local allies in your own image, empower them, encouraging self-reliance, and pay attention to indigenous traditions.

Lesson 8:

You cannot succeed in a military intervention unless the side on whose behalf you intervene is willing to fight for your joint cause.

Lesson 9:

Talk to moderates on the opposite side.

Lesson 10:

When leaving, leave

Lesson 11:

…but before you leave, secure enforceable guarantees that POWs and MIAs are found and brought home, and give the returning soldiers proper welcome and care.

Lesson 12:

…also before you leave, secure firm and enforceable agreements that would not only meet your own minimum requirements for a negotiated settlement, but also those of your local allies, because the end of an intervention by itself cannot end hostilities.

Lesson 13:

Even after you leave, prevent mission creep.

Lesson 14:

Last but not least: Be willing to learn the lessons.

Only some of these lessons were inferred as the intervention unfolded, while most were drawn years after the withdrawal of the Soviet 40th Army—which made up the bulk of the so-called limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, or OKSVA—on Feb. 15, 1989.

Of course, such hindsight could not have changed anything in the intervention.

We should also bear in mind that “where you stand depends on where you sit”: As some of the passages below demonstrate, some of the “lesson learners” tend to cast their own and their comrades-in-arms’ actions in a favorable light while criticizing the conduct of their peers from other agencies.

Despite the occasional bias, these lessons could still prove useful to policymakers faced with the stark dilemmas of a possible military intervention.

In particular, some of the entries at the end of the list could, perhaps, prove instructive for the U.S. leadership as it contemplates whether or how to end its own intervention in Afghanistan.

Finally, those in charge of applying these lessons should keep in mind historian Ernest May’s procedure for ensuring against amateurism in drawing historical analogies, as described by Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson in their Applied History Manifesto: “Put the analogy as the headline on a sheet of paper; draw a straight line down the middle of the page; write ‘similar’ at the top of one column and ‘different’ at the top of the other; and then set to work.

If you are unable to list at least three points of similarity and three of difference, then you should consult a historian.”

And here is yet another group of lessons...

The Lessons (in far greater detail…)

Lesson 1:

Before making final decisions on issues of fundamental importance, such as military intervention, determine what national interests are at stake, what options exist for advancing or defending those interests and what costs and benefits each of these options would generate, both direct and indirect; and do not let leaders’ personal ambitions impact the ultimate decision.

Winston Churchill once famously observed that the key to Soviet decision-making is “national interest.”

If Churchill was right, then anyone with access to transcripts of Politburo meetings from 1979 should expect to find some kind of discussion on the Soviet national interests at stake in Afghanistan, as well as opportunities for advancing these interests with an intervention.

In reality, the author’s review of transcripts of the Soviet leadership’s deliberations on Afghanistan revealed that while Politburo members did discuss some of the Soviet national interests that were at stake, they failed to take stock of potential, direct and indirect, costs and benefits that their country would encounter if they decided to advance those interests by means of a full-fledged military intervention in Afghanistan.

A failure to grasp that the costs of such an intervention would significantly outweigh the benefits led the Soviet leadership to make an erroneous decision on Dec. 12, 1979, in favor of sending troops en masse into Afghanistan. In addition to horrendous human costs on all sides of the conflict, that decision cost the Soviet Union’s stagnating economy dearly through a combination of such factors as Western sanctions and expenditures needed to sustain the intervention. Moreover, in the decade after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Afghanistan turned into a hotbed of instability.

This did not only spill over to affect post-Soviet Russia’s Central Asian allies, but also gave a home base to al-Qaeda, which in turn supported the insurgency in Russia’s own North Caucasus. In the end, therefore, the intervention undermined rather than advanced such Soviet interests as having neutral or friendly neighbors and sustainable development of the Soviet economy.

The author’s review of Soviet deliberations on Afghanistan prior to Dec. 12, 1979, reveals a variety of justifications for intervention put forward by different members of the country’s leadership—including ones that concern Soviet national interests such as ensuring the survival of Moscow’s allies and having friendly neighbors. Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov and some other Politburo members, for instance, pointed out the need to bolster the rule of the pro-Moscow People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)—which had come to power in an April 1978 coup—and save it from being overthrown by opposition forces.

The coup, which the Soviets preferred to call the “April Revolution,” had resulted in the ouster of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and his eventual succession by PDPA General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki; by the fall of 1979, however, Taraki had been assassinated at the behest of his rival and party colleague Hafizullah Amin, who took over as PDPA leader and president of what became the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA).

This power grab gave Politburo members new cause for concern: One of the arguments they considered in favor of intervention was the perceived need to prevent Amin from initiating a rapprochement with the West, which they saw as a possibility, according to a secret Central Committee memo signed by several Politburo members—including Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, KGB chairman Yuri Andropov and Ustinov, the defense minister—as well as Boris Ponomaryov, chief of the Central Committee’s International Department.

In his 1995 book about the intervention, “The Tragedy and Valor of Afghanistan,” Gen. Alexander Lyakhovsky wrote that Andropov and Ustinov told a meeting of select Politburo members in Brezhnev’s study on Dec. 8, 1979, that they feared Amin’s interest in mending fences with Washington could eventually allow the U.S. to deploy medium-range nuclear-armed missiles in Afghanistan to target the Soviets’ Baikonur cosmodrome, among other facilities. (More generally, Lyakhovsky, who served in Afghanistan in 1987-1989, blamed the decision to intervene on what he saw as a strategic disinformation campaign pursued by the U.S. and its allies, among other things.)

The Soviet leadership also feared that, if allowed to establish a presence in Afghanistan, the U.S. would be able to collect telemetry during launches of newly designed Russian missiles, since most of the main testing ranges were located in southern parts of the Soviet Union, according to a 1999 article by Gen. Valentin Varennikov, who was not a Politburo member but was intimately involved in planning and carrying out the intervention as deputy chief of the Soviet General Staff.

Some of the post-factum analysis of the intervention also made references to the Soviet Union’s geopolitical interest in keeping Afghanistan anchored to the Cold War-era “socialist camp” of countries. For instance, Gen. Ivan Pavlovsky, who had commanded Soviet ground troops as deputy defense minister in 1967-1980, believed that several key factors played a role in the decision to send in troops, including the possible strengthening of American positions on the Eurasian continent, the deterioration of Soviet relations with China, China’s rapprochement with the U.S. and a dramatic increase in the influence of Islamic fundamentalism within Afghanistan. Varennikov wrote in his memoirs, entitled “The Unrepeatable,” that the Soviet leadership’s decision hinged on “the calculation that the presence of our troops in Afghanistan would cool the hot heads of Amin’s supporters, and even those of the opposition forces, and … would prevent possible encroachments by the Americans and stabilize the situation.”

General of the Army1 Makhmut Gareyev, the chief Soviet military advisor to the Afghan army after the withdrawal, wrote in a 1994 article called “Why and How We Went Into Afghanistan” that he saw the USSR’s “geopolitical interests” in general as the main driver of the decision to intervene. Among those interests he singled out the Soviet Union’s need to have loyal or at least neutral neighbors to ensure the security of the country’s frontier regions, particularly in the south.

It should be noted that in addition to the need to defend the aforementioned interests, various other justifications for the intervention were offered in the course of discussions by the Politburo.

Not all of them look plausible. For instance, one rationale cited during the Dec. 8 meeting of five Politburo members in Brezhnev’s study was the need to prevent Iraq from getting access to Afghanistan’s uranium deposits, which Baghdad could have then used to build nuclear weapons.

That concern was raised by Ustinov and Andropov, according to Lyakhovsky’s aforementioned book.

Another justification cited by the duo was the need to disrupt what they saw as U.S.-supported efforts by Turkey to build a new Ottoman empire that would incorporate the Soviet Union’s Central Asian republics, according to the book.

The top Soviet decision makers in the Central Committee’s Politburo did see some downsides to an intervention too, including the reversal of Soviet-U.S. détente and the inevitable damage to the USSR’s reputation in the world as a whole. Less than nine months before the intervention, when the Afghan government had asked Moscow for help against an uprising in Herat, Gromyko, the foreign minister, allegedly told fellow Politburo members that the Soviet army would be branded “an aggressor” if it were sent into Afghanistan and that it would have to “first and foremost fight the Afghan people,” according to a transcript of the March 18, 1979, deliberations by Politburo members cited in Lyakhovsky’s book. Gromyko warned that Brezhnev’s summits with American and French leaders would have to be cancelled.

According to the same source, Andropov agreed it would be wrong to send troops. “We can only prop up the [April 27, 1978] revolution in Afghanistan with our bayonets, but this is completely unacceptable for us” and “we cannot run such a risk,” Andropov said as almost 9,000 DRA soldiers mutinied against Taraki’s regime.

The Politburo meeting concluded with the consensus that troops should not be sent, but that the Soviet Union will expand military aid to Taraki’s regime.

However, the issues raised at this and other Politburo meetings represented just a fraction of the costs that the Soviet Union could incur. In the end, in its decision-making process, the Politburo neither took full stock of the exact interests at stake nor produced a comprehensive review of all the potential, direct and indirect, costs and benefits of sending troops into Afghanistan.

This flew in the face of warnings from some of the Soviet Union’s top military strategists—warnings that the Politburo ultimately ignored. One senior Soviet military officer said to have comprehensively assessed the costs of a campaign before it began was the commander of Soviet Ground Forces, Ivan Pavlovsky. Pavlovsky inspected the state of affairs in Afghanistan in August-November 1979 and concluded that Soviet troops should not be sent there.

In a 1999 article for the aforementioned Rodina journal Pavlovsky recalled citing seven reasons not to intervene militarily in a report he sent to Ustinov upon his return from the 1979 trip to Afghanistan.

These included: his perception that the April 27, 1978, socialist “revolution” did not enjoy significant popular support; the lack of a working class and mass belief in Islam; widespread possession of arms; porous, ill-guarded borders that would allow the U.S. and its allies to ship in arms; an inevitable popular backlash against such an intervention; and the resulting deterioration in relations with the U.S. and NATO.

Anatoly Chernyaev, who was a senior international affairs analyst at the Central Committee when the decision to intervene was made, was quick to point out that it could not have possibly generated a net benefit for the Soviet Union. “Have we really acted only for the sake of revolutionary philanthropy? The argument that we had to do so to secure the border is ridiculous,” he wrote on Dec. 30, 1979, three days after Soviet commandos  stormed Amin’s residence outside Kabul in an operation code-named Storm-333 to kill him and bring Babrak Karmal to power, as Moscow’s troops poured across the Soviet-Afghan border. In Chernyaev’s view, the Soviet Union could have reaped “political and prestige dividends” if only it had chosen to prop up socialist factions in Afghanistan without a large-scale military intervention. Beyond seeing no benefits from the intervention, Chernyaev—who went on to become assistant for international affairs to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet general secretary who ended the intervention—saw serious costs too.

In a diary entry dated Nov. 1, 1980, he lamented that the intervention cost “several million [in cash] every day, and … the blood of our soldiers also every day.” The head of the Moscow-based Institute of the Economy of the Global Socialist System, Oleg Bogomolov, made similar points in a memo sent to the Central Committee at about the same time as Chernyaev recorded his thoughts.

“With the sending of troops to Afghanistan our policy … has crossed the permissible boundaries of confrontation in the third world,” Bogomolov wrote in the 1980 memo. “The benefits of this action turned out to be insignificant in comparison with the damage that was inflicted on our interests.” The costs, as seen by the authors, included: the emergence of a hotbed of instability on the “southern flank of the USSR”; generating dissent among the Soviet Union’s allies regarding the intervention; burying any prospects for normalizing Soviet-Chinese relations; facilitating consolidation within the anti-Soviet coalition of states that “girded the USSR from West to East”; stalling Soviet-U.S. detente; and strengthening the West’s technological and economic sanctions against Moscow (something Russian President Vladimir Putin may find all too familiar in the wake of his intervention in Ukraine).

The author of the 1980 memo and other informed sources have also pointed out the “economic burden” the invasion placed on the Soviet economy—and it was no small burden, indeed. As of the late 1970s, Soviet aid accounted for half of all foreign aid to the DRA, according to Vladimir Toporkov, a KGB officer who advised Afghanistan’s security establishment in the 1980s and went on to become a general in post-Soviet Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

By his calculations, the overall costs, including both aid and funding for Soviet military operations in Afghanistan, totaled the equivalent of $50 billion in 1979-1989.

That sum by itself was “neither catastrophic nor painful” for the Soviet economy, according to Toporkov.2 However, if one were to count not only direct but also indirect costs, such as Western sanctions imposed on the USSR over its Afghanistan campaign, these were a significant destabilizing factor, for the Soviet Union, according to Toporkov’s study, “The Influence of the Afghan Factor on Economic Processes in the Soviet Union in 1989-1992,” published by the Russian Defense Ministry’s Military-Historical Journal in 2004.

Like Toporkov, generals Gareyev and Lyakhovsky also waited for the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan to end before publicly weighing its pros and cons, with both of them concluding that its costs had outweighed the benefits.

Gareyev, who retired shortly after his time as chief Soviet military advisor to the DRA army, wrote in his 1994 article that the primary cost of the campaign was that “the Soviet Union found itself in international isolation,” its relations with the U.S., NATO and China deteriorating.

He also wrote in a 1996 book called “My Last War” that “the protracted war in Afghanistan and the need for continued support of the regime in Kabul generated huge financial and material costs, undermining the already limping economy” of the USSR and sapping its military strength. “The decision of the Soviet leadership to stage an armed intervention into Afghan affairs ended up generating more minuses than pluses,” he wrote in the 1994 article, published in the Russian Defense Ministry’s Oriyentir journal.

Lyakhovsky, for his part, believed that one of the costs vastly underestimated by the Soviet leadership was how strong local resistance to the intervention would be: “Scant regard toward the Afghans played an important role too. Ustinov, for example, thought that some of the rebels would instantly lay down arms, while the rest would flee as soon as the Soviet troops appeared in Afghanistan,” he wrote in a 1999 Rodina article called “How the Decision to Send Troops to Afghanistan Was Made.”

“In practice, however, underestimating the adversary cost the USSR dearly. The same thing happened in Chechnya in 1994,” Lyakhovsky wrote, referring to Russia’s first war with separatist Chechnya.

In addition to failing to fully anticipate the costs and benefits that the Soviet Union would encounter if it were to try advancing its interests in Afghanistan by means of military intervention, some Soviet leaders let their personal ambitions influence the fateful decisions they made on their country’s behalf. For instance, Varennikov wrote of “our leaders’ ambitions” in his 1999 article, headlined “Those on Top Wanted Glory, the Military Opposed the War.”

When listing reasons for the intervention, he referred specifically to Ustinov’s personal ambitions: “It was difficult to call Dmitry Fyodorovich an outstanding political leader. However, at one point I sensed how he began to want to try on the laurels of a strategist and a victor.” While Ustinov’s personal feelings may indeed have been a contributing factor, they were not as decisive as Brezhnev’s.  In his diary Chernyaev bluntly blamed the intervention on Brezhnev’s desire to take revenge on Amin. Chernyaev wrote in his dairy on Feb. 5, 1980, that some of Brezhnev’s confidants must have managed to “play on” the Soviet leader’s “demential indignation” over Amin’s decision to have Taraki ousted and then killed. That Brezhnev was agitated by Taraki’s murder is also confirmed by his personal physician, Yevgeny Chazov. “In spite of the decline of his ability for critical perception, he took that event much to heart,” Chazov recalled in his book, “Health and Power: Memoirs of a Kremlin Doctor.” According to him, Brezhnev was most infuriated with the way Amin undermined the Soviet leader’s personal credibility by killing Taraki whom Brezhnev had hosted and publicly promised support to a month earlier. “What will they say in other countries? How can one trust Brezhnev’s word if his assurances of support and protection remain just words,” Chazov quoted Brezhnev as saying. Gareyev, in his post-factum analysis, also wrote that Taraki’s murder on Oct. 9, 1979, had “pushed Brezhnev toward that step” of sending in troops.

After the killing “there was no longer any carefully considered analysis of the situation” by Soviet decision makers and “much was being done in haste,” according to Gareyev’s 1994 article. Lyakhovsky, in his 1999 article in the Russian government’s Rodina journal, also said that Brezhnev’s view on military intervention in Afghanistan changed after Taraki’s murder.

Lesson 2:

Ensure a sufficiently broad and comprehensive inter-agency process of reviewing potential decisions to use force, factoring in the views of all key stakeholders in general and those to be tasked with implementing the decisions in particular.

One reason the Soviet leadership erred in its decision to send a military contingent to Afghanistan was that the decision-making circle was very narrow. Had the political leaders included the country’s top military strategists, the decision could have been the opposite. According to one authoritative account by then First Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Kornienko, “a narrow group” that consisted of only five of more than a dozen Politburo members at the time “made the final political decision” to send troops. Those were Brezhnev, Andropov, Ustinov, Gromyko and Mikhail Suslov. Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, also a Politburo member, was absent from the meeting, according to Kornienko’s recollection of the events, which he published as part of his memoirs, “Cold War: Testimony of a Participant.”3

According to Kornienko’s account, the hand-written, two-paragraph resolution passed by this small group on Dec. 12, 1979, was “formalized retroactively” with signatures from the remaining Politburo members. “Thus, not even all the members of the Politburo made the fateful decision,” according to Kornienko, whose recollection is corroborated in Lyakhovsky’s book.

Notably, even though the decision was adopted only by a handful of Politburo members, its signatories framed it as a resolution of the entire Central Committee, even though most of its members had not been consulted before it was made; other high-level officials were likewise kept out of the loop.

Chernyaev was equally dismayed by the narrowness of the decision-making: “I think that in the history of Russia, even under Stalin, there has not yet been such a period when such important actions were undertaken without a hint of the slightest coordination with anyone, [without any] advice, discussion, careful consideration, even if only in a very narrow circle,” he wrote in his diary in December 1979. It is notable that despite their key positions, both Chernyaev and other senior officials in the Central Committee staff were kept in the dark not only about the exact reasons for the decision to send in troops but also about who actually initiated that decision. It was only in 1985 that one of Chernyaev’s colleagues told him Kornienko had claimed in a casual chat that it was, in Kornienko’s view, his boss, Foreign Minister Gromyko, who had convinced Brezhnev to send in troops.

In addition to being too narrow, the circle of decision makers also suffered from a lack of reliable information.

The fact “that the information was distorted did not allow the country’s top leadership to understand the processes taking place in Afghanistan and prevent fatal mistakes,” Gareyev wrote in his book.

As Col. Nikolai Vasilyev, a military historian, explained in his own 2014 article on the lessons of the Soviet military intervention: “Many leaders, including members of the Politburo, adapted themselves to the opinion of L. I. Brezhnev. The intelligence and other agencies were required to confirm the ‘sagacity of the leader,’ and the information and recommendations of analysts and experts that did not fit into the pre-planned framework were thrown away.” The quality of information fed to the Politburo’s top brass did not improve even after Soviet troops were deployed and learning about the situation in Afghanistan first-hand. “Most likely, the General [Secretary] doesn’t even know what is happening around us.

Briefings from Afghanistan are prepped for him so that they’re full of ‘complete normalization.’ As for information from the West, it’s probably ‘at the level of Pravda’ [the Central Committee newspaper], since he’s long been kept in ‘spare-him mode.’ So he’s not even aware of what he’s done,” Chernyaev wrote in his dairy on Feb. 9, 1980. As important, Chernyaev believes the ageing Brezhnev could not have drawn sound conclusions from the information even if it had not been distorted to please him because of the extent to which his mental capabilities had deteriorated. In a Sept. 29, 1982, diary entry Chernyaev describes how Brezhnev, in Baku to laud the performance of Soviet Azerbaijan, had become so senile by the third year of the Soviet campaign that, 10 minutes into a televised speech, he did not realize he was reading the wrong text even after it explicitly referred to “Afghanistan” instead of “Azerbaijan.”

Even when accurate information on Afghanistan did make it to the top decision makers, they often rejected it as they suffered from cognitive bias, dismissing dissenting views even when they were presented by key stakeholders who would be tasked with executing the decisions.

Top Soviet military commanders felt particularly slighted by their exclusion from the decision-making process. As Vasilyev, the military historian, lamented in his article, published by the Defense Ministry’s Military-Historical Journal, “The Special Commission of the Politburo for Afghanistan, headed by Foreign Minister A. A. Gromyko, in effect replaced the Council of Defense of the USSR and, in part, its working body, the General Staff.

… Among them [the commission members] there were no professionals of military strategy.” Chief of the Soviet General Staff Nikolai Ogarkov, his first deputy Sergei Akhromeyev and Varennikov, a deputy of Ogarkov’s, had been asked to present their thoughts about sending troops sometime before the pared-down Politburo meeting Dec. 12. The trio argued that a Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan would be “impossible and inconceivable, first and foremost from the political standpoint,” according to Chernyaev’s diary. Rather than heed their advice, Ustinov, the Soviet defense minister and a Politburo member, dismissed their arguments, telling them “not to discuss [orders]” and to present a detailed plan of the operation.

Ogarkov, it should be noted, objected to the intervention on more than one occasion. When summoned to the Politburo on Dec. 8, 1979, Ogarkov called on its members to reject Gromyko and Andropov’s arguments in favor of reversing the Soviet leadership’s previous position, which had been to refrain from sending troops. He repeated his calls again the following day in Brezhnev’s presence, warning that “we will turn all of eastern Islamism against ourselves and lose politically across the world,” only to be shut down by Andropov: “You were invited not to have your opinion heard, but to write down the Politburo’s directives and organize their implementation.”

That conflict, according to Varennikov, led to a dramatic deterioration in Ogarkov’s relations with Andropov; Ogarkov lost his post after Andropov succeeded Brezhnev as general secretary. One senior Soviet commander who lost his post even before the campaign had begun, possibly over his opposition to the intervention, was the aforementioned commander of Soviet Ground Forces, Pavlovsky. As described above, after his travels in Afghanistan in summer-fall of 1979, Pavlovsky claims he pleaded with the Soviet military-political leadership not to send a contingent, but his advice was not heeded; shortly afterwards he was relieved from his post.

In his 1994 article Gareyev criticized the Soviet political leadership for ignoring Ogarkov’s views and telling him to stick to military planning. “As life has repeatedly proved, political decisions prove viable and grounded only when they take into account all aspects, including foreign policy, economic, ideological and military-strategic considerations,” he wrote, adding: “The General Staff cannot determine policies, but they must actively participate in crafting military aspects of this policy and ignoring these aspects can lead to major political failures.”

Interestingly, while telling the General Staff to stick to military planning, the Politburo would not even heed the staff’s advice on such a key element of that planning as the personnel strength of the intervening force. Ogarkov had responded to the political leadership’s order to develop an intervention plan with a proposal for deploying 30-35 divisions, but his request was shot down, according to Gareyev’s recollections of the events, which he shared with University of Kansas history professor Jacob Kipp in 1996 and also put on paper for his other book on the subject, entitled “Afghan Suffering.”4 However, the Politburo authorized only 75,000-80,000 servicemen, according to Lyakhovsky’s book (at the time, a typical Soviet infantry division had 13,000 servicemen).5

Lesson 3:

Examine aspects of a country’s history relevant to your planned undertaking.

There’s a joke that says Americans learn about the history of other countries by invading them. The Soviets, you could say, merely recalled what they had already learned about Afghanistan’s history by invading it. Had the Soviet leadership factored in the way that Afghan tribes’ intense and enduring dislike for outside powers and their local clients had foiled previous empires’ attempts to anchor the country, that may have influenced Moscow’s final analysis about sending in troops and helped to save them from a costly mistake.

None of the transcripts of Politburo discussions about intervening in Afghanistan contains any significant discussion of Afghan history. Analyzing how Afghans had fought off various past encroachments, by the British Empire among others, would have perhaps made Soviet leaders more averse to using force to accomplish anything there. The absence of such discussions is especially ironic given that one of Soviet ideology’s most revered figures warned how “unruly” Afghans could be: None other than Friedrich Engels observed between the first and second of the three Anglo-Afghan wars that Afghans’ “indomitable hatred of rule, and their love of individual independence, … prevents their becoming a powerful nation; but this very irregularity and uncertainty of action makes them dangerous neighbors … [for whom] war is an excitement.” The Politburo members could have also examined how Joseph Stalin staged an abortive military intervention in Afghanistan in an effort to prop up Amanulla Khan, the sovereign from 1919 to 1929 who signed the 1921 Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty, but then had to abdicate his throne in a revolt. In 1929 Stalin sent 1,000 Red Army soldiers into Afghanistan disguised as Afghan soldiers to operate jointly with some of Khan’s loyalists, according to Lyakhovsky’s book and a 1999 article in Rodina by Pavel Aptekar. The joint Soviet-Afghan unit took Mazar-i-Sharif in April 1929, but Stalin then had to recall his troops after learning that Khan had fled to India.

Some Soviet officers came to the same conclusions as Engels, but only after being sent to Afghanistan to take part in the 1979-1989 intervention. “It was impossible to defeat those Afghan bearded men and their sons, with whom we then had to fight. They were ready to fight their whole lives, and they had nothing to lose from it because they had nothing to their name, just like now. This is a proud, freedom-loving people. They have nothing but their faith and the desire to live the way they want and consider to be right,” KGB officer Vladimir Garkavy, who completed multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan in 1979-1984, wrote in his book. Gromov also cited history in his 1999 Rodina article on Afghanistan. “Any interference from the outside is deemed to fail in a country where tribes have struggled against each other for centuries and where nationalism is extremely developed,” he wrote in his book, which contains more useful insights on the intervention than a New York Times op-ed he co-wrote with Dmitry Rogozin; entitled “Russian Advice on Afghanistan,” that January 2010 piece is essentially a wish list Moscow had at the time for U.S. conduct in Afghanistan.

Lesson 4:

Once the decision to send troops has been made, formulate the goals of the intervention and communicate them clearly to the agencies involved in implementation; also, shape your messaging to other key stakeholders likely to influence the outcome of the intervention.

The Soviet leadership’s marching orders for its military contingent, OKSVA, were anything but clear—with the exception of the secret order to immediately replace Amin with Karmal. The fact that the Soviet leadership failed to define what would constitute the ultimate long-term success once the initial goal of regime change had been achieved made it difficult for both that leadership and commanders on the ground to understand, once Amin was removed, whether the Soviet intervention was succeeding, failing or stagnating, other than by measuring how much territory the DRA regime controlled at any time. In the absence of a well-defined mission, Soviet commanders oscillated between merely providing support to DRA forces and actually leading combat engagements, while some of the military advisors pressed for a troop surge that could expand the mission to sealing Afghanistan’s borders. In addition to failing to clearly communicate their goals to their own troops, Soviet leaders also failed to communicate their goals in Afghanistan to the international community as a whole, making it easier for the U.S. to win support in its efforts to isolate and punish the USSR over the intervention.

The lack of a clear long-term mission was evident in the key documents kicking off the Soviet intervention, both on the political and the military side. The two-paragraph Politburo resolution initiating the troop deployment, entitled “Concerning the Situation in ‘A,’” stated neither the reasons for the campaign nor its goals. The military directive to execute the Politburo’s decision, issued jointly by the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Force on Dec. 24, 1979, gave only a vague idea of why troops were being sent into Afghanistan, proclaiming it was to “give international aid to the friendly Afghan people and also to create favorable conditions to interdict possible anti-Afghan actions from neighboring countries.” (Defense Ministry newspapers such as Red Star didn’t provide “any sensible explanation” either, according to Gareyev’s 1994 article.) In his book, Gareyev recalled that Directive 312/12/001, signed by Ustinov and Ogarkov, stated that Soviet troops were being sent into Afghanistan for “fulfillment of international duty.” “What that duty constituted was to be decided by each commander and soldier themselves,” Gareyev wrote. According to one website maintained by Soviet veterans of the Afghan war, the directive did not provide for Soviet troops’ participation in combat. That created ambiguity in its interpretation, even though the 40th Army did get involved in fighting almost immediately. For instance, Marshal Sergei Sokolov, the deputy defense minister in charge of the ministry’s Operational Group in Afghanistan in 1980, told Soviet military advisors there in January of that year that “special attention should be paid to the inadmissibility of Soviet troops’ involvement in the armed struggle against the rebels; their [the troops’] functions are completely different.” Several days later, however, the same commander, under pressure from Afghan allies, sanctioned the use of “one or two units of Soviet troops” to oust the mujahedeen from an artillery depot, according to Gareyev’s 1994 article. In addition, while Sokolov’s boss, Ustinov, also under pressure from the Afghan leadership, “demanded that Soviet troops engage in active combat operations,” General Staff chief Ogarkov, opposed to the intervention from the outset, tried to restrain the troops’ involvement in large-scale military operations, according to Gareyev. Gromov, commander of the 40th Army, which made up the bulk of OKSVA, described in his book how he prioritized minimizing Soviet casualties and criticized Kabul for constantly pleading with Moscow to have his troops step up operations while trying to find ways to prevent using its own troops. Gareyev—who commanded no units in Afghanistan and, therefore, bore no personal responsibility for casualties—appears to have criticized what he saw as the 40th Army commanders’ passiveness, writing in his book that some of their most important combat operations “were undertaken only at the request of the Afghan leadership and under pressure from the Soviet leadership.”

(In the end, a decision to limit involvement in combat operations appears to have prevailed among the Soviet top brass: At some point as many as 70 percent of the 40th Army’s forces were tasked with ensuring transportation of humanitarian supplies and 60 percent of its activities were geared toward peacekeeping and nation-building, such as helping to build infrastructure and training the DRA army, according to Gromov’s estimates.)

The Soviet military’s top brass also appears not to have spelled out rules of engagement when sending in the troops. “The inadmissibility of the use of weapons against the civilian population is stipulated by international legal norms, but what about the ‘civilian’ armed with an automatic rifle or a grenade launcher? Wait till he shoots?” asked Gareyev in his book. He also recalled: “As strange as it may sound, from the very beginning of the introduction of troops and until the end of their stay in Afghanistan there was no clear line on whether our troops in this country should fight or not.”

As a result, some Soviet commanders displayed “covert resistance to attempts to force the troops to fight,” Gareyev wrote. The Soviet political leadership’s lack of a “clear goal” and a “definite plan of action” had a direct impact on military operations. In fact, in Gareyev’s view, the Soviet leadership continued to have neither “a definite political, strategic plan nor an integral concept of the use of troops in Afghanistan from the very beginning and in essence until the end” of the campaign.

Lyakhovsky concurred in his book that Soviet leaders had failed to spell out to the troops what they would be doing in Afghanistan, lamenting in his book that “the political leadership of the USSR formulated the strategic goals of the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan in a vague and unclear way,” except, again, for the goal of replacing Amin with Karmal, which was not made public. According to Gromov, however, the 40th Army did at least have clear initial goals. The first was to keep the “April Revolution from dying,” he wrote in reference to the April 1979 coup d’état that had brought the Moscow-friendly PDPA to power. The second goal was to prevent external aggression. The 40th Army “handled that [first] task brilliantly,” but then the PDPA’s leadership managed “craftily to drag the 40th Army into a large-scale guerilla war,” Gromov wrote.

While criticizing the Soviet political leadership for failing to formulate and communicate clear goals for the campaign in Afghanistan, Gareyev and other officers involved in the campaign had their own ideas on what these goals should be. In Gareyev’s view, which he shared with Ogarkov in December 1979, the Soviet military contingent should have been tasked with sealing Afghanistan’s borders and establishing control over all major settlements, communications and other infrastructure, arguing that the Soviet command should send 40 rather than four divisions to accomplish these goals.

Lev Rokhlin, who commanded infantry regiments in Afghanistan and then fought in Chechnya, concurred with Gareyev’s view that the Afghan borders had to be sealed, but also thought OKSVA should have refrained from siding with any of the warring parties in the country, according to a 1999 article of his in Rodina, “I Was Not Afraid to Fight.” It should also be noted that the Soviet command did task 50,000 soldiers with securing Afghanistan’s borders as of 1986, according to Akhromeyev, Ogarkov’s first deputy at the General Staff, but that number was insufficient to stop the inflow of arms and rebels. In general, it is doubtful that such a goal would have been achievable. If the experience of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and Russia’s own experience in Chechnya during the two campaigns there are any guide, a complete sealing of borders would have proved problematic, at best.

That’s why, perhaps, Vladimir Kryuchkov, who served as deputy chairman of the KGB during most of the intervention before heading up the agency in 1988, believed the mission should have been limited to a special operation to replace Amin with Karmal. “I remain convinced that a short special operation” to effect regime change “would have been the best outcome,” Kryuchkov was quoted as saying in a 1999 issue of Rodina.

In addition to failing to clearly communicate their goals to their own troops, Soviet leaders also failed in their communications with allies, foes and the international community on the issue. For instance, while official Soviet statements cited the Soviet-Afghan Friendship treaties of 1921 and 1978 as giving legal grounds for the intervention, portrayed by the Soviet propaganda machine as “international aid to the friendly Afghan people,” the Politburo decision makers did not even bother to have their Dec. 12, 1979, resolution approved by the Soviet parliament, though such a move may have somewhat increased the “official” credibility of their decision in the eyes of their allies. Lyakhovsky noted this problem in his 2005 book: “The then leadership of the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] did not consider it necessary to submit this question for discussion by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. It was simply announced as ‘international assistance’—end of story.”

Lyakhovsky’s boss, Varennikov, thought it was wrong not to reach out to the international community on the decision to send troops into Afghanistan. “What was the main mistake that our leadership made after making a decision to deploy troops? That we did not announce it.

We should have preempted the Americans and others by announcing it to the whole world: The leadership of Afghanistan repeatedly asked us for military assistance,” Vasilyev quotes Varennikov as saying. Moreover, the propaganda dimension of the Soviets’ efforts vis-à-vis the Afghan public did not become a priority until the sixth year of the campaign. It was in 1985 that the Soviet military-political leadership made the decision to “organize special propaganda in relation to the population and opposition of Afghanistan” and that was done in response to an increase in Western “information influence” there, according to a 2003 article on the “informational and psychological struggle” in Afghanistan by Col. Yuri Serooky in the Russian General Staff journal Military Thought.

To be fair, it is unclear whether such propaganda could have made much of a difference in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds even if launched on Day 1 of the intervention. After all, it would have been very difficult to make Afghans forget whose troops had poured into the president’s palace and killed Amin in the Storm-333 operation—no matter that Afghan leaders, including both Taraki and Amin himself, had asked the Soviets some 20 times to send in troops, according to Gareyev’s 1994 article and Lyakhovsky’s 1999 article.

Lesson 5:

If you do decide to go in, develop an exit plan in advance.

It should also be noted that the Soviet military had no exit plan when going in. The first draft of such a plan was developed only in 1980, according to Gareyev’s book, which cites Yuri Drozdov, the former chief of the KGB’s so-called “Illegals Program.” According to Varennikov’s 1999 article, however, it was not until 1983 that Soviet commanders submitted a proposal for withdrawing troops for consideration by the country’s political leadership. Of course, the development of an exit plan in advance could not have influenced the outcome of the intervention. In the end, Gromov, the last commander of the 40th Army, had many months to plan the withdrawal and executed it both leaving months’ worth of supplies for the remaining DRA forces and minimizing losses among OKSVA personnel during the withdrawal itself. However, had the intervention gone wrong in the early stages of the campaign (e.g., if Afghan rebels had inflicted massive losses on the advancing troops or a significant unexpected event had emerged, such as a major military conflict elsewhere), then a hasty, unplanned withdrawal could have cost a lot of lives.

Also, while the military component of the exit was well planned and executed, the diplomatic component fell short. As discussed further down, the Soviets failed to secure either assurances for the return of their own POWs and MIAs or the effective enforcement of other signatories’ obligations on ending aid to the rebels. The latter accelerated the fall of the PDPA regime, bringing instability to the disintegrating Soviet empire’s southern frontiers.

Lesson 6:

Once in, ensure effective inter-agency coordination and cooperation.

Both the preparation and the execution of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan revealed that inter-agency coordination and cooperation was inadequate. That by itself could not have decided the outcome of the campaign, but inter-agency rivalry did limit the OKSVA command’s situational awareness, causing a range of problems, including the diminished effectiveness of combat planning and operations.

Initial coordination was so ineffective that key figures were kept in the dark about their colleagues’ plans even within a single agency. For instance, the chief Soviet military advisor in Afghanistan, Gen. Saltan Magomedov, had no idea that commandoes of the General Staff’s Main Intelligence Directorate would storm Amin’s palace, in cooperation with KGB commandos and other forces, to replace him with Karmal. When Ustinov called this star-studded advisor in December 1979 sometime prior to the attack and asked to be briefed on “readiness for Operation Storm-333,” Magomedov did not know what his superior was talking about, according to Gareyev’s book. When Magomedov admitted this, Ustinov suggested he contact the KGB representative in Kabul. When Magomedov did that, he got “hints, not … the necessary information,” Gareyev wrote.

Moreover, according to Gareyev’s 1994 article, Soviet military advisors in Afghanistan learned that Soviet troops had entered the country from foreign radio broadcasts.

Cooperation across agencies was equally if not more problematic. Both Gromov and Gareyev listed multiple instances when Defense Ministry and KGB personnel would fail to coordinate their actions in Afghanistan. Being army generals, both blamed the lack of cooperation on the KGB, particularly when it came to interactions with the General Staff’s Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU. KGB agents in Afghanistan would sometimes refuse to share intelligence they had collected directly with the Soviet armed forces’ commanders there, sending it to superiors at KGB headquarters in Moscow instead. “As a result, we [40th Army Command] would learn about actions supposedly planned by the mujahedeen from Moscow,” Gromov wrote.

“Such situations arose with depressing consistency and created certain tensions between military intelligence [GRU] officers and their colleagues from the State Security Committee [KGB],” Gromov wrote.

It was only in 1985, six years after the campaign began, that inter-agency intelligence coordination meetings began to take place at 40th Army headquarters so that representatives of the GRU, KGB, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry could jointly examine and analyze intelligence, according to Gromov.

Lesson 7:

Rather than try to mold your local allies in your own image, empower them, encouraging self-reliance, and pay attention to indigenous traditions.

As stated above, the Soviet Union spent the equivalent of billions of dollars arming and training DRA forces, including Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry and security troops.

The results proved to be far from either lasting or sufficient, however. DRA troops proved unable either to hold on to territorial gains made by the Soviet 40th Army or to withstand rebel offensives after Moscow withdrew the army and then discontinued aid.

The implosion of the DRA forces—which proved to be no match for the rebels in skills, tactics or morale—brought instability to the southern frontiers of the Soviet empire.

One of the senior Soviet officials to criticize the quality of DRA forces’ training by their Soviet advisors was Leonid Shebarshin, then a general in the KGB’s foreign intelligence branch.

While some Soviet military commanders sought to portray their efforts to train the Afghans as adequate, blaming poor results on the Afghans’ ineptitude, Shebarshin offered searing criticism of the trainers themselves in his memoirs. “What was the source of the [Soviet commanders’] distrust of the [Afghan] ally? How did it happen that two thousand advisers, including colonels and generals, failed to create a single fully combat-capable and reliable unit in the Afghan army?

How did it happen that the tactics of the Afghan army’s actions are not based on modern realities but on the hopelessly outdated experience of war in the open spaces of Russia?” wrote Shebarshin, who spent more than a decade in the region, conducting more than 20 trips to Afghanistan and eventually becoming chief of KGB operations in the Middle East.

In Shebarshin’s view, one reason the training of Afghan troops proved to be ineffective was that the Soviet commanders never learned how to delegate powers to their trainees: “We did teach something to Afghans, no doubt.

But mainly we ordered them around and commanded them, ‘stitching them on’ to our operations, imposing our decisions, while loudly shouting about the weak fighting capacity of the ally.”

Gareyev agreed with Shebarshin’s assessment on the lack of Soviet commanders’ trust in their Afghan allies, but blamed it in his book on KGB operatives.

Whether it was the lack of trust that adversely affected soldiers’ conduct, or the other way around, is unclear. What is clear, however, from all the Soviet commanders whose writings and statements were reviewed for this article, is that this conduct was subpar.

Rather than try to press their Afghan allies into some Marxist-Leninist mold, the Soviets should have encouraged the PDPA leadership to revert to indigenous traditions of power sharing to ensure national reconciliation and subsequent self-reliance. As Gromov wrote in his book, “A puppet-string mentality grew so strong among Afghans that they could no longer act independently, without the help of the Soviets.”

Chernyaev was even starker in his assessment of the Afghan leadership’s overdependence on the Soviets for making crucial decisions: “Karmalism is the dogmatism of Marxism-Leninism plus parasitism in relation to the USSR,” he wrote on Aug. 28, 1987, in his diary.

As Gareyev wrote: “In the early 1980s, in relation to Afghanistan, the most realistic thing was [for Soviet-policymakers] to avoid striving for the creation of a similar, obedient and unconditionally socialist state, but to support more moderate forces that enjoyed the support of the majority of the population and to push for reconciliation of the parties from the very beginning.” Gromov struck a similar note. “It is impossible to make country like Afghanistan, with its completely different way of life, with different religion, low level of development, a country that lives in its fourteenth century according to its calendar, similar to the Soviet Union. It would be a real absurdity,” Gromov wrote.

Lesson 8:

You cannot succeed in a military intervention unless the side on whose behalf you intervene is willing to fight for your joint cause.

No amount of training and empowering your local allies will help an intervention succeed unless those allies are actually willing to fight for your joint cause. The Soviets intervened to bring Karmal’s PDPA faction to power, going as far as assassinating a president to make way for their protégé. But the PDPA lacked a sufficient number of loyalists willing to fight for that cause, and many of the tens of thousands of men conscripted into the Moscow-aligned Afghan forces preferred to either avoid battle or outright desert when given orders to fight opposition forces.

Gromov vented repeatedly in his book about Afghan civil and military authorities’ failure to hold on to territorial gains made by Soviet forces, implying that differing priorities played a part. “The local Afghan leadership, despite its pro-Soviet sentiment, was not interested in having us conduct combat operations with maximum efficiency. Only a few of them [Afghan officials] tried to consolidate their power and govern in the provinces that we had ‘cleared.’ Obviously, they understood that sooner or later the war would end and there would be no one to face the music but them,” Gromov wrote of his first tour of duty, which ended in 1982 with him commanding an infantry division. His second tour of duty, which he began in 1985 as the General Staff’s representative in Afghanistan, was not marked by significant changes. Gromov called the situation he returned to that year “a dead end”: “One and a half months after our battalions returned to [their] military camps, we were again forced to conduct operations” in the same areas, he wrote in his book. “Our experience has shown that the results we achieved during our combat operations are not then utilized by the Afghans.

About one and a half to two months after completion of an operation everything would go back to square one: Mujahedeen would again take the districts from which we had knocked them out; they would restore their old bases with weapons and ammunition, coming very close to our sites again and resume shelling and attacks.

The question is: What did we fight for so long, sacrificing our guys in the mountains? It was necessary to stop,” Gromov wrote in 1985. Akhromeyev, first deputy chief of the General Staff, lamented the same problem at around the same time: “There is not a single piece of land left in this country that a Soviet soldier has not taken, yet most of the territory is in the hands of the rebels,” he told a Politburo meeting chaired by Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, on Nov. 13, 1986. “We control Kabul and the provincial centers, but we cannot establish authority in the conquered territory. We lost the fight for the Afghan people,” Akhromeyev said. Indeed, as of 1986, only 8,000 of some 31,000-35,000 villages were under Afghan government control, according to estimates by Mohammad Najibullah, who succeeded Karmal as PDPA head in May 1986, which he shared with Soviet diplomat Yuly Vorontsov in October of that year, according to Gromov’s book. As of 1989, the authorities’ controlled only 18 percent of the country’s territory, according to Gromov.

Gromov confirmed his impressions of Afghan soldiers’ and administrators’ conduct during his third and final tour of duty in 1987-1989 when he was commanding the 40th Army. “A time will soon come when revolutionary leaders will be left alone with their problems. They will be left one on one with the opposition. Only in this way can I explain the numerous instances of treason and betrayal by the Afghan military, which we encountered wherever we went,” he wrote in his 1994 book “Limited Contingent.”

Some of the officers from Afghanistan’s Ministry of State Security were no more enthusiastic about standing up to the mujahedeen than their Soviet Defense Ministry counterparts or civilian administrators, according to Gromov.

In his book he described how Soviet forces would “mop up” areas, detaining suspected mujahedeen and passing them on to the Afghans, only to encounter the same suspects again during the next mopping-up operation three or four months later. It was most likely that Afghan security agents would simply let these suspects go without investigating them or prosecuting them in court, Gromov surmised.

Not only were Afghan authorities and troops far from committed to the Soviet cause, they sometimes actively sabotaged it. Gromov complained that opposition field commanders like Ahmad Shah Massoud had “broad networks of informants in the Afghan army and government,” making it difficult to keep combat plans secret. Moreover, Afghan soldiers kept deserting to the opposition forces, taking their arms with them, including even howitzers and heavy armored vehicles. Equipment transfers by government troops “constituted a formidable source of arms and ammunition for the rebels,” Gromov wrote. Thousands would desert from the Afghan ministries of defense, security and internal affairs. According to one Russian account, a 1993 memoir called “Pursuing the Lion of Panjshir,” the number of deserters totaled 34,000 in 1983 alone. Even some DRA Air Force pilots would desert, reportedly flying their Soviet warplanes and helicopters to Pakistan, while some of those who stayed on would deliberately drop their bombs away from the designated targets, according to Gromov, who claims to have “documented a multiplicity of such instances.” He also wrote that some of the DRA servicemen tasked with observing enemy positions and providing targeting data would supply coordinates of locations where their personal enemies lived rather than mujahedeen.

Desertion from DRA forces became particularly widespread in the late 1980s as it became clear that OKSVA would be leaving. Of the 370 Afghan tank crewmembers trained in the city of Termez in Soviet Uzbekistan in 1989 and used to form a new tank brigade, only 127 made it to Kabul, according to Gareyev; the rest deserted, with several trainees fleeing during every night-time stopover en route.

Even when faced with an existential threat to the regime, some DRA commanders could not stop theft of military stocks or prevent desertions among their soldiers. When departing Soviet troops left three months’ worth of supplies for the DRA army, including almost 1,000 armored vehicles, 3,000 other vehicles and 14,400 assault rifles, many of these supplies did not reach the designated recipient because they were either stolen and sold to insurgents or seized by insurgents by force, according to Gareyev.

Gromov described how entire military camps that his withdrawing army had outfitted with everything from security perimeters to slippers next to beds would be looted by corrupt DRA commanders and their subordinates within days of being handed over and the goods then sold in local private shops.

Lesson 9:

Talk to moderates on the opposite side.

In theory, the Soviets were bound by their ideological dogmas to offer unconditional support for the PDPA only. In reality, while supporting Afghanistan’s ruling socialist regime, Soviet commanders did not refrain from reaching out to some of the moderate leaders among the mujahedeen, even though they espoused such “hostile ideologies” as political Islam and Pashtun nationalism. Such outreach proved to be important not only in reducing combat losses, but also in creating opportunities for reconciliation, which ultimately remained unused.

The Soviets likewise managed to establish direct contacts between commanders and chiefs of staff of Soviet units and “a multiplicity of [rebel] field commanders,” using Soviet military intelligence agents as liaisons, according to Gromov.

Gromov dedicated quite a few pages in his book to describing his contacts with such leaders, including Massoud, whose stronghold was in the Panjshir valley. “We were particularly interested in individual gangs’ attitudes toward the Afghan state authorities and the Soviet troops,” he wrote. Gromov noted that some of the field commanders would deal with OKSVA top brass, but would refuse to deal with official Afghan authorities. “Apparently, the mujahedeen believed they would benefit more from dealing with the Russians.

In addition, constant cooperation with the command of the Soviet troops gave them certain guarantees that this or that grouping would not be destroyed in the near future,” he wrote.

Those field commanders who cooperated with OKSVA would even sometimes receive medicines and food from the Soviet contingent, according to Gromov.

Overall, however, this cooptation fell short, mostly due to ideological dogmas. “Having bet on PDPA members and ignoring the Afghan elites established over the centuries, the Soviet leaders made themselves hostage to all these Tarakis, Amins, Karmals, Najibs [short for Najibullahs] and the like. This they understood much later, however,” Vasilyev, the military historian, wrote.

However, not all of this outreach was a waste. The contacts between Gromov and Massoud may have contributed to the latter’s desire to take a cooperative stance toward post-Soviet Russia.

Once the DRA regime fell apart and the Taliban rose to power, Massoud became one of the leaders of the so-called Northern Alliance, which post-Soviet Moscow supported in its effort to prevent an expansion of the Taliban’s influence into Central Asia in the 1990s.

Lesson 10:

When leaving, leave…

When describing how he engineered the withdrawal of the 40th Army in his book, Gromov does not cite the popular Russian adage “when leaving, leave,” sometimes attributed to Cicero.

However, the description itself proves that he persistently tried to do just that despite pressure from DRA rulers.

Had Gromov not been so persistent, Najibullah may have succeeded in persuading Moscow to keep the troops in-country, and the result of that “success” would have been only delaying the fall of his regime at the cost of more OKSVA casualties.

Moreover, had the Soviet soldiers stayed for three more years, they would have found the state they had sworn to defend vanish in December 1991.

Even as it was, the subsequent process of dividing Soviet units among the 15 newly independent republics proved to be chaotic and antagonistic at times, which would have seriously affected both the supplies and the morale of OKSVA had the contingent still been deployed.

Come 1992, and even the largest of the ex-Soviet republics, Russia, would have lacked the resources possessed by the USSR in 1989 to smoothly and securely withdraw the 40th army had post-Soviet Moscow claimed it for its own. In reality, when 1992 came, there were only seven “Soviet” military advisors left in Afghanistan and they all left the country in April of that year.

In his book Gromov describes multiple instances when Najibullah and some of the Soviet leaders kept coming up with options that would commit Soviet troops to stay in Afghanistan even after the announcement about withdrawal.

In 1988 “the government of Afghanistan made truly ‘heroic’ efforts to stop the 40th Army from leaving at any cost,” Gromov recalled in his book.

To do so, the Afghan Defense Ministry made repeated attempts to draw OKSVA into “large-scale combat,” while DRA diplomats argued that the withdrawal should be suspended because Pakistan was failing to fulfill its commitments under the 1988 Geneva Accords.

In one instance, also in 1988, Najibullah said that he would agree to the withdrawal of the 40th Army, but asked that Soviet volunteers guard Kabul’s airport and the Hairatan-Kabul highway, which would have required a 12,000-strong division, according to Gromov’s book.

A secret Central Committee memo of Jan. 23, 1989, described several options for providing military support to the DRA after the withdrawal, including one similar to what Najibullah asked for—to leave a 12,000-man division to guard the highway so that the Soviets could continue shipping aid. Another option was to ask the U.N. to deploy peacekeepers and keep Soviet troops in until they arrive.

A third option was to withdraw OKSVA, but have Soviet military units guard convoys with aid. The fourth option was to “withdraw almost all Soviet troops,” but leave some units behind so they could guard key parts of the Hairatan-Kabul highway. The fifth and final option was to withdraw all troops, but have the Soviet military send in ammunition and other supplies to fully equip and maintain Afghan government units guarding the highway.

Ultimately, the Soviet leadership rightly concluded that keeping in regular troops was not an option and withdrew all personnel except advisors, who at one point totaled 2,000, according to an interview Gareyev gave the Rodina journal in 1999.

The Soviet departure did not suffice to end the civil war, as some may have hoped based on the mujahedeen’s stated goal of driving out the Soviets; however, subsequent events proved that the Soviets’ Afghan allies could hold onto power even without Soviet soldiers and, therefore, without significant Soviet casualties, as long as Moscow continued to materially support the government.

Lesson 11:

…but before you leave, secure enforceable guarantees that POWs and MIAs are found and brought home, and give the returning soldiers proper welcome and care.

Describing how the last battalion of the 40th Army crossed into Termez under his command on Feb. 15, 1989, Gromov wrote how ordinary people embraced the returning soldiers heartily, but how also “not a single commander in Moscow even thought about how to organize greeting” them. “Were we supposed to greet ourselves? The attempt to overlook the withdrawal of the 40th Army from Afghanistan became another instance of tactlessness by those who worked in the Kremlin… They could have at least sent someone from the huge government staff or the Defense Ministry to meet us in Termez. It’s not every day we complete the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan,” Gromov wrote. He also wrote that some of the Soviet citizens welcoming home his last battalion were relatives of Soviet soldiers who had been killed in Afghanistan.

“Some of them, having received official notices and even having buried their loved ones, still hoped: What if he was alive, what if he would come out now?” Gromov wrote. Overall, 15,051 Soviet servicemen were killed in Afghanistan, according to a 2001 study edited by Col. Gen. Grigory Krivosheyev. As for Afghans, some 800,000-1,500,000 of them died during the intervention, according to one scholarly estimate.

Of those who did return, many suffered from post-traumatic disorders that often went untreated, while also encountering public disapproval from those with anti-war sentiments, much as Vietnam veterans initially did in the U.S.

The author of this paper encountered one such veteran in 1999. The former sniper, broad-shouldered, had served in a Soviet commando unit in Afghanistan and said the only means of relaxation his commanders had provided was an aquarium.

He also said his complaints about what he later realized to be a post-traumatic stress disorder were dismissed by commanders with phrases like: “What psychological stress?

Have you seen the size of your arms?” (meaning, presumably, that his physical fitness precluded any medical conditions).

According to a book by KGB officer Vladimir Garkavy, who completed multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan, “despondency, apathy and despair have become the companions of many veterans.” Garkavy wrote that some 500 veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan committed suicide in 2007 alone.

In addition to failing to organize a proper welcome to the returning troops or ensure adequate treatment of their war-induced disorders, the Soviet authorities also did not bother to include a clause on the return of Soviet MIAs in any of the so-called Geneva Accords,6 which were signed in 1988 and included three Afghan-Pakistan bilateral agreements on ending the war and a declaration on international guarantees signed by the U.S. and Soviet Union and meant to cut off U.S. and Soviet aid to the warring sides.

At the time, Gorbachev and his foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, “who concluded these treaties, seemed to be concerned only about convincing the public that they were not personally involved in the deployment of Soviet troops to Afghanistan and to disclaim responsibility for it.

Soviet soldiers and officers who were in captivity … were of little interest to them,” Lyakhovsky wrote in his book. According to Varennikov’s 1999 article, he and other Soviet commanders pleaded with Shevardnadze during a 1987 meeting to include clauses on reciprocal closure of rebel bases in Afghanistan and he agreed to push for them, but none made it into the accords.

Gromov also wrote in his book that the leadership of the 40th Army and Soviet Defense Ministry “insisted” the Soviet government insert a clause on the return of Soviet POWs and MIAs into the accords because “we had no moral right to leave Afghanistan until we liberated our soldiers or at least ascertained their fates.”

However, these demands were disregarded. According to the Krivosheyev study, 417 Soviet soldiers went missing or were taken captive in Afghanistan during the intervention, with 130 of them later found and returned home, leaving 287 MIAs and POWs as of Jan. 1, 1999; by 2013 the list had been whittled down to 263 people, according to a Moscow-based veterans’ organization.

Lesson 12:

…also before you leave, secure firm and enforceable agreements that would not only meet your own minimum requirements for a negotiated settlement, but also those of your local allies, because the end of an intervention by itself cannot end hostilities.

Had the Soviet Union managed to secure enforceable commitments from other external powers involved in the conflict to discontinue aid to the Afghan rebels in exchange for doing so itself, it might have at the very least delayed the fall of the friendly regime in Kabul. Moreover, that could have created a stalemate that would have made some of the warring factions more inclined to achieve national reconciliation. This, in turn, could have led to the emergence of a regime that would have been neutral toward Moscow rather than hostile like the Taliban. The latter ultimately gained the upper hand in Afghanistan in the 1990s before being ousted from power by a U.S.-led coalition and, at the time of this writing, was negotiating a power-sharing agreement with Washington.

Gareyev, Gromov and Kryuchkov all pointed out in their books and interviews that the Soviet withdrawal may have robbed the mujahedeen of one of their rhetorical casus belli, but it did not and could not have ended hostilities, as the rebels strove to finish off Najibullah’s regime. Yet the new Soviet leadership (Gorbachev and his team) was so keen to withdraw from Afghanistan that a POW/MIA clause was not the only one they forgot to insert into the Geneva Accords: While the U.S.-Soviet declaration obliged both countries to cut aid to warring factions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other sponsors of the Afghan mujahedeen either were not bound by the accords or ignored them, continuing to supply aid and rightly calculating that the Soviets were in no mood to enforce agreements as their country grew weaker.

Gromov wrote that Pakistan was failing to abide by the accords even as the Soviets honored their obligations: “We knew that the government of Pakistan did not really fulfill most of the clauses of the signed agreements. As before, insurgent bases operated on the territory of that country, [and] weapons were continuously flowing from there,” he wrote in his book. Gromov refrained from evaluating Pakistan’s failure to honor its commitments, but Gareyev was blunt in his criticism of the Soviet leadership’s failure to make Islamabad comply: “Neither the Soviet nor the Russian foreign ministries did anything to achieve the implementation of the Geneva Accords by the United States and Pakistan…

[While] the Soviet troops left, all the military bases and training centers of the mujahedeen in Pakistan remained. Soviet military aid to the Republic of Afghanistan was stopped, but the supply of weapons and ammunition to the mujahedeen continued,” he wrote.

“Why did we need long and expensive negotiations with the Americans and Pakistanis and the Geneva Accords if only one side abided by them and the other was not going to do anything? It would have been easier to withdraw the Soviet troops unilaterally and resolve the issue without any diplomatic games,” Gareyev wrote. Former KGB officer Garkavy struck a similar note in his book. He criticizes the Soviet leadership for committing to end assistance to Afghanistan in exchange for a U.S. commitment to end assistance to the mujahedeen because such reciprocity did nothing to stop aid that the Afghan rebels were getting from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Kuwait.

In addition to trying to obtain enforceable guarantees from external stakeholders, the Soviets could have also done more to press their own client into reconciliation when still providing the DRA with substantial aid because such aid could be used as leverage. As Gareyev wrote, “there were no tangible results in the implementation of the policy of national reconciliation. The concept of political settlement in Afghanistan put forward by the Afghan leadership was perceived by many [PDPA] party leaders as a loss of its current leading role in governing the country and, for many members of the leadership, as having to leave the government positions they held.”

Lesson 13:

Even after you leave, prevent mission creep.

Even when the bulk of the troops have been withdrawn and only a small contingent of military advisors are left behind to help the ally retain positions, it is important to continue avoiding mission creep. Otherwise, leaders of the (no longer) intervening power may find themselves in the same predicament as Al Pacino’s character in “Godfather III” when he exclaimed: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” According to Gareyev, such mission creep nearly occurred again after the 40th Army was withdrawn with only 30 Soviet advisors and some guards left behind. The general recalled in his book how Dmitry Yazov, the-then defense minister, told him—when dispatching him to Afghanistan in 1989 to act as the chief Soviet military advisor after the 40th Army’s withdrawal—that his task was to make sure Najibullah’s regime survives for at least three or four months; if it did, Yazov argued, then maybe a political resolution of the conflict could be attained in that time.

But, seeing Najibullah’s regime last for a year after the OKSVA withdrawal, some top officials in the KGB and Foreign Ministry began to assert that Najibullah’s troops and their Soviet advisors had been on the defensive long enough and should now initiate “decisive, offensive actions in all directions,” Gareyev wrote. He also wrote that he had had a hard time convincing some leaders in Moscow to refrain from such “adventurist aspirations” that “could only lead to the most negative consequences.” It is easy to see how, if DRA forces would have gone on a major offensive, they could have suffered a disastrous defeat, strengthening the case made by Najibullah and some of his supporters in Moscow – who tried to prevent withdrawal of OKSVA – from brining the troops back in.

Lesson 14:

Last but not least: Be willing to learn the lessons.

Last but not least, strategists of an intervening power need to be willing to infer and internalize lessons that the intervention has generated. Otherwise, they will be more likely to repeat mistakes and less likely to replicate some of the intervention’s successes.

An estimated 620,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were rotated in and out of Afghanistan during the 10-year campaign. (The author of this paper still remembers, as an adolescent, the sinking feeling upon seeing his father, Soviet Air Force Lt. Colonel Karen Saradzhyan, pack for another komandirovka to Afghanistan at the time.)

However, while the rank-and-file learned to fight in the country’s rugged mountains because it was a matter of survival, not all of their commanders did. Members of the military-political leadership need to be willing to learn the lessons that present themselves during a campaign—that is the final lesson inferred for this paper from Soviet commanders’ and officials’ recollections of the country’s intervention in Afghanistan.

According to Gromov, in the summer of 1981, with the intervention well into its second year, the Soviet Defense Ministry decided to send the commanders of several military districts to Afghanistan for several days to learn the lessons learned there by the OKSVA. Many of the dispatched high commanders and their staff officers showed no real interest, however, thinking the lessons would be of little use to them because the local war was local whereas they had been preparing for a major international conflict with NATO. Ironically, though his book came out in 1994 when Russians troops were fighting an anti-insurgency campaign in the mountains of Chechnya, which was in some ways similar to Afghanistan, Gromov did not draw such a parallel. Rather than focus on lessons, some of the commanders spent much of their time in Afghanistan examining whether barracks were tidy, “whether the soldiers’ beds were made and there were slippers next to the nightstands,” Gromov wrote.

When these visiting commanders did venture out to combat areas, they were asking why there is no loudspeaker communication between the commander and his artillery unit. “By and large, no one got interested in the experience we acquired. It was simply ignored and it was not integrated into education. Apparently, they believed it was better to keep silent about the war in Afghanistan.

I think the reason the war was initiated should not affect whether the invaluable combat experience [accumulated over its course] is studied or not,” Gromov wrote. Soviet advisors likewise did not apply the inferable lessons when shaping the Afghan military they were advising. “How did it happen that the structure of the Afghan armed forces was created exactly according to our model and the experience of a nine-year war did not yield any changes in that structure,” KGB general Shebarshin wrote in his book after more than 20 tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Finally, a year and a half after ascending to the post of general secretary in March 1985, Gorbachev too faulted the Soviet military top brass for failing to infer and learn some lessons from the Afghan war. “In Afghanistan, we have been fighting for six years,” Gorbachev told a Nov. 13, 1986, meeting of the Politburo. “If you do not change the approaches, then we will be fighting there for another 20-30 years.

This would cast a shadow on our ability to influence the development of events. I must also tell our military that they are learning poorly from this war. … In general, we have not found the keys to solving this problem. Are we going to fight endlessly, as testimony that our troops are not able to deal with the situation? We need this process completed soon,” he said.

Thoughts and summy of the 14 lessons.

As demonstrated above, the Soviet leadership made a number of mistakes, first [1] when contemplating whether to intervene in Afghanistan, then [2] during the intervention and, finally, [3] when withdrawing the troops.

Some of these mistakes were particularly costly, such as the failure to take full stock either of the hierarchy of vital national interests at stake in Afghanistan or of the costs and benefits of intervention. Had the leaders in Moscow paid attention to the full array of potential costs presented to them, they may have avoided the fateful error of sending troops en masse across the Soviet-Afghan border.

The Soviet leadership also erred in failing to clearly formulate the troops’ mission beyond regime change, creating confusion and debates among top commanders about what it is they were supposed to achieve in Afghanistan once Amin was replaced with Karmal and how.

Whatever the mission, the Soviet military operations would have probably dealt greater setbacks to the armed Afghan opposition at lower costs to the Soviet troops if the various Soviet government agencies had fostered effective coordination of their activities from the very beginning—including, first and foremost, the sharing of intelligence on the ground.

The Soviets eventually learned the importance of such sharing and corrected the mistake.

However, even such coordination, or better training of DRA forces by their mentors, could not have led to a decisive defeat of the opposition forces as long as many of the DRA forces remained unwilling to fight.

Therefore, it was a matter of time before the Soviets realized that their only option was to leave. That was the right decision, which was made in spite of pressure from the DRA ruling elite. However, while leaving was the right move and its military component (the actual withdrawal of troops) was executed well, the diplomatic and political aspects of that maneuver were not without flaw. Not only did the Soviet government fail to secure guarantees for the return of POWs and MIAs, but it also failed to secure enforceable commitments from other external powers involved in the conflict to discontinue aid to the Afghan rebels in what could have at the very least delayed the fall of Najibullah’s regime.

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was not what bankrupted the Soviet Union or led to its collapse, contrary to U.S. President Donald Trump’s January 2019 take on Soviet Russia’s experiences in Afghanistan, which he offered as he argued in favor of a U.S. troop withdrawal from the country. Rather, as Yegor Gaidar convincingly demonstrated, a combination of structural economic and other factors played the lead role in the demise of the Soviet empire. However, that intervention, which caused horrendous hardship for many Afghans, did contribute to the demise by imposing formidable human, financial, economic, political and reputational costs on the Soviet Union, despite the fact that Soviet leaders did eventually realize some of the mistakes they had made in Afghanistan and sought to correct them.

Not all erroneous decisions can be reversed and some of them can have disastrous consequences.

Therefore, if faced with a situation that passes May’s test for historical analogies to the Soviet predicament vis-à-vis Afghanistan,  Western leaders would do well to learn from those mistakes, rather than make their own, even if some senior Russian legislators are now planning to convince their compatriots that the Soviet intervention was the right thing to do.

And so… now we have the American debacle…

And this here it kind of sums things up from the point of view of American “allies” and other neocons throughout the American military empire. They are not happy…

…and emotion is clouding their judgement.

Debacle.

Yeah. It’s a mess.

What is HELL is America and the UK doing there in the first place?

Well, here’s some clear and true points well stated…

The USA should stay?

And let’s not forget what he said in his younger days as the President of Singapore. This next video has to be one of the very best video clips that I have ever seen in my life. Check it out…

And now, since you all know a little bit of history, and a little bit about the UK and RUssian experience, you should be well equipped to read this great article…

Nasrallah: Afghanistan is worst debacle in US history, Biden hopes for civil war

Resistance News Unfiltered

Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on August 17, 2021, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 9th night of Ashura, two days before the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.

Transcript:

[…] My last point is Afghanistan, which I quickly mentioned before. What is happening in Afghanistan right now is an emergency situation that is grabbing the attention of the whole world. Inside the United States, this is the main event all are talking about, and of course everyone blames each other, just like in Lebanon, people are all the same: the Republican Party blames the Democrat Party, blames Biden, and describes the scene as a humiliation for the United States, (a proof of) weakness, helplessness, failure, historic defeat, shame, disgrace, etc. If we want to faithfully describe (the political situation in the United States), we can say that they are tearing each other apart. The same goes for the position of European countries, of the leaders of certain European countries [United Kingdom, France, Germany…], who speak with very strong and very negative words to assess the situation in Afghanistan.

Suppressed crocodile tears: that’s all British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has to offer all his Afghan allies that the Royal Army won’t evacuate.#Afghanistan https://t.co/HbIh7DR9ay
— Le Cri des Peuples (@cridespeuples2) August 21, 2021

It is indeed a striking and vitally important spectacle, filled with lessons to be learned, and we all must…

It is not something that one or two speeches is enough to describe, for the situation continues to develop, and deserves everyone to watch it carefully and think about it seriously, very seriously.

This should not simply be of interest to (pseudo-)experts (in) strategic (issues), who are very numerous today, ma sha Allah, experts, analysts, no: all men and women (must feel) that what is currently happening in Afghanistan (is their concern), and all that has been said so far remains little in the face of the importance and consequences of what is happening in Afghanistan, at the historical, strategic, ideological, cultural, political, psychological and moral levels.

And those who must be the most assiduous in the reading (and the interpretation) of this (considerable) event to draw the strategic and historical consequences from it are the peoples of this region. Yes, the people of the Middle East must be the first to care about what is happening. Because what is happening in Afghanistan is a very big and even masterful lesson.

The images that you see and have all seen on TV screens speak for themselves… and all the media around the world (follow and broadcast what is happening), because however strong the censorship system of the United States may be, (it is powerless to prevent the mass distribution of these images).

On the subject of social networks and the Internet, which the United States has opened up and spread around the world to instrumentalize them in color revolutions here and there, they find themselves caught in their own trap, because even inside of the United States, the government of Biden can certainly influence such newspapers or such television channels (to dissuade them from broadcasting these humiliating images), but how could it prevent millions and tens of millions of users of social networks who disseminate and share these images?

And glory to God, these are exactly the same images as in Vietnam!

As in Saigon, the (American nationals) climbed stairs to access a helicopter on a roof (and escape), we see exactly the same thing happening at Kabul airport! It’s extraordinary ! A real photocopy! Can we believe that this is just a coincidence?

PHOTO 1: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the #Taliban enter #Kabul from all sides. #Afghanistan (2021)

PHOTO 2: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the PAVN & Viet Cong capture of Saigon, Vietnam (1975) pic.twitter.com/YamWmzjOay

— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) August 15, 2021

History repeats.

Either way, the images of Afghanistan and the fall of Afghanistan into the hands of the very movement that the United States fought for 20 years and expelled (from power), before handing the country over to them on a silver platter…

The Taliban flag flies over Kabul airport.

I have already mentioned Afghanistan in my previous speech [cf. below], and today Biden took the floor to try to defend himself…

I said before that instead of rushing to achieve the withdrawal of his troops, as long as the American forces were present , and since the Afghan forces (formed by the USA) have 300,000 to 400,000 members —between soldiers and police forces— he should have cut a deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban, in favor of the formation of a transitional government, which would have avoided everything that happened, allowing the United States to withdraw with dignity.

Why didn’t he do this?

Because he couldn’t bear to stay any longer (in Afghanistan). Honestly! It was not out of respect that Biden did not do this.

And don’t take my word for it, listen to what Biden himself said! Listen to Biden, listen to his Secretary of State and his National Security Advisor… Because now they are forced to explain themselves to the American people…

They do not explain themselves to the peoples of the world, but to the American people who is amazed at these humiliating images of defeat and failure.

Listen to his explanations, and you will understand the American point of view.

I’m not going to make you a (full) TV report, but I hope everyone will listen carefully to what Biden said yesterday, today, and what American (authorities) will say in the days to come.

Give seriously some time to their statements, as this will give a good understanding of the historical and strategic consequences of the (humiliating) defeat and (monumental) failure of the United States and NATO in Afghanistan. It is a matter of concern to us as peoples of the region, and gives us lessons that we can use for our present and our future.

I’m going to stop on two points (of Biden’s speech).

In his speech today, he said

“We have spent over a trillion dollars, that is over a thousand billion dollars! They spent a trillion dollars in Afghanistan! And they left crestfallen, empty-handed, with Honaïn’s shoes as the saying goes, humiliated, defeated, ashamed, in disgrace. And this according to the admission of their own media, and Western media. What does this prove?

That they have failed (miserably), that they have been routed, that they are helpless, ignorant and stupid.

Biden himself said that the US did not foresee that the Afghan government and forces would collapse so quickly, and was surprised that they neither fought nor resisted. The Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor said the same thing. What does this indicate?

People imagine the United States to be a demigod, omniscient, analyzing and mastering everything at their fingertips, knowledgeable about everything, able to plan everything through its state-of-the-art study and planning centers with top notch skill and technology, with huge & infaillible plans, etc.

But the reality is far from all that!

In our region, the United States is ignorant, unable to understand anything!

For decades, they have been repeating the same mistakes, deploying the same experiments and the same calculations doomed to failure!

This is one of the lessons to be learned!

Biden says it is not the fault of the United States, but the fault of the Afghan forces who did not fight. But my dear, these Afghan forces, you left them without air force, because the air force is in your hands, (and you did not allow them to develop it), while claiming that you spent a trillion dollars .

This is the first point.

Second, these Afghan forces were led by your generals, who prepared doomed (war) plans for them! What (war) plans did you concoct, what (military) advice did you provide to these Afghan forces?

Third, what did Biden want (ultimately)? What does his confession reveal? Because he did not know how to hold his tongue, too entangled in his defense (awkward, and he unmasked himself).

He wanted a civil war!

He wanted the Afghan forces to wage war on the Taliban, a war between hundreds of thousands (of fighters) against hundreds of thousands (of fighters), and he would just have to sit down and enjoy the spectacle. bloody in Afghanistan.

Civil war, bloodbath… BHL’s wildest dream for #Afghanistan
“It’s good for Israel” https://t.co/cKg7aC3YyR
— Le Cri des Peuples (@cridespeuples2) August 21, 2021

Whereas if he had humanity, and cared (for the well-being) of people as he claims, he would have presided over an agreement and a settlement of the conflict before withdrawing from Afghanistan.

(This contempt for the lives of Afghans) is an ethical and moral downfall of the American administration!

This moral degradation is emphasized even by leading politicians and commentators in the United States and elsewhere.

This is why Biden says today that he wanted a political solution (between the Afghan government and the Taliban), but that Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan President, did not want it. You see? Biden pins the blame on him, and claims to be faultless!

These words reminded me of those verses of the Qur’an which speak of the devil:

“[And Satan will say when the matter is decided: “It was God Who gave you a promise of truth: I too promised but I failed in my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you but ye listened to me.] Then reproach not me but reproach your own souls. » [Quran, 14, 22]

(The damned) are invited not to impute to the devil (their bad actions which will lead them to Hell), but to only blame themselves!

What were the American administrations doing with all the those tax dollars in Afghanistan? pic.twitter.com/winabg5GEn
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) August 16, 2021

It was you (pro-US Afghans) who put yourselves at the service of the Americans, who listened to them and obeyed them, who placed your hopes in them and bet on them, but they got to the point where they told you (quite simply) fare well,  « Bye-bye » [Nasrallah says it in English].

And what kind of « Bye-bye » are we talking about?

What is happening at Kabul airport is incredible, it is heartbreaking and sad. Because in the end (these Afghans who want to flee) are human beings. We have all seen this (American military) plane advance with dozens of people around it, without worrying about them, without the pilot stopping, while he could have run over them!

🇦🇫⚡️AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT

Kabul airport on the morning Of August 16, 2021#HORRIFIC
❌ ⚡️SHOCKING video shows Afghans HANGING ONTO AMERICAN AIRCRAFT'S UNDERCARRIAGE as it takes off!#Afghanistan #Kabul #AfghanistanCrisis #Taliban #USA pic.twitter.com/WR1v1niXK4
— The RAGEX (@theragex) August 16, 2021

❌ ⚡️SHOCKING video shows Afghans HANGING ONTO AMERICAN AIRCRAFT’S UNDERCARRIAGE as it takes off!#Afghanistan #Kabul #AfghanistanCrisis #Taliban #USA pic.twitter.com/WR1v1niXK4

And he saw that people had clung to the plane, but took off anyway! Whether they fall and crash (horribly to the ground) or not, that’s not his problem!

Desperate Afghans trying to flee the Taliban hanging on to US military plane to get out of Kabul and fall to their deaths. Low flying US Apache helicopters chasing Afghan civilians off the runway with their rotor blades. But Julian Assange is the criminal? pic.twitter.com/RPT1o48MqL
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 16, 2021

This is the United States! What I’m telling you is all over the media, I’m not inventing anything! They embarked police dogs, but did not embark the Afghans who collaborated with them!

U.S. military dogs being evacuated from Afghanistan on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/fxfIA49zEq
— Phillip Walter Wellman (@pwwellman) August 16, 2021

They embarked equipment which costs only money, but did not embark human beings, who are human beings, men, with human rights! Such is the United States, (this is their true face)!

Everything that is happening in Afghanistan, even if in Lebanon we are absorbed by our daily problems, I hope that we will pay attention to it and will consider it as the pivotal moment that it is, because for 50 or 60 years, there was nothing like it.

And this will have a great impact on international policies, international relations, international alliances. And today, those who observe and comment on these events most attentively are the Israelis!

If the US stopped supporting Israel tomorrow, Tel Aviv would fall faster that Kabul.

— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) August 16, 2021

Because when Biden said, and this is a message to all of America’s allies in the region (including Israel), when Biden was defending himself, he said something very, very, very, very, very, very, very… (repeat it until you lose your breath) important, and I hope America’s “friends” in Lebanon and the region will read this very carefully.

Biden said

“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war in the place of anyone else.“

If anyone expects the Americans to come and fight for them, this is what Biden says!

Listen up Taiwan.

Listen up Australia.

Listen up South Korea.

Listen up Europe.

And in order not to fight for anyone else, he is ready to endure a historic and humiliating defeat in Afghanistan! When we talk about Lebanon or whatever, in comparison, it is only an (insignificant) detail (in the eyes of the Americans).

At least 40 people have died since Monday in a stampede and shooting in Kabul International Airport, TOLOnews TV channel reported – citing a Taliban commander who is inside the airport.
According to him, the people died after “foreign troops opened fire” as well as a stampede

— ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary) August 17, 2021

In conclusion, in what is happening in Afghanistan, are very big and very important lessons, and we must take advantage of them and act accordingly, at the cultural, ideological & emotional levels, at the level of our choices, of our hopes, of our our reading (of events), of our alliances, of our infrastructure, at the economic, political, military, security levels, etc.

This was my conclusion during my last speech, when I said that we must only rely on God and on ourselves!

We must not wait for the United States, nor their training, nor their advice, nor their support, nor their false promises, nor their plots! We do not want their good nor their evil.

Of course no good can come from them. The good resides in our people, in our (Arab-Muslim) Community, in our region, in the Arab-Muslim peoples. It is on them that we must rely. Because we have all these possibilities and capacities.

This is so sweet.
The Iranian interpreter got emotional when Sayyed Nasrullah said Iran never abandones its allies, biggest evidence being the dismembered hand of martyr Qassem Soleimani in Iraq where he was assassinated beside his ally and friend Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis❤ https://t.co/m1nRrXbkkA
— Marwa Osman || د. مروة عثمان (@Marwa__Osman) August 20, 2021

I am done on this subject.

I will meet you tomorrow, for the 10th night (of the month of Muharram, the eve of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein), the night of the last meeting, and of the big fare well.

Peace be upon you, O my master Aba ‘Abdillah al-Hussein, and on the souls who dwell in your court! On you, from me, the Peace of God, forever, as long as I exist and as long as night and day last! May God not make this the last time I am visiting you! Peace be upon Hussein, upon ‘Ali son of Hussein, upon the children of Hussein and upon the companions of Hussein!

Peace be upon you, as well as the Mercy of God and His blessings.

The Taliban has a sense of humor:

Ultimate insult? Taliban fighters mock iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising photo, posing in seized US military gear

Fox News was all over the place with this photo, probably to try to induce the USA to go back to Afghanistan.

That won’t happen, because the USA was militarily defeated, there was never any withdrawal/pullout.

They have every reason, however, to be very, very angry…

Too much denial:

CBS accused of eco-overreach after claiming CLIMATE CHANGE ‘helped strengthen’ Taliban

I’ve never seen the American people so inconsolable before. If their mothers had died tragically, it wouldn’t be that much grief. Didn’t imagine a defeat in godforsaken Afghanistan would be so devastating.

And then we have this…

Follow the money.

“A Big Money Funneling Operation” — Afghanistan Vet Reflects On Withdrawal Of US Forces (Michael Tracey, July 13, 2021)

Has the Dollar Empire given up the dream of a global empire?

Haven’t seen strong signals to conclude “yes.”

What is the national hierarchy in the Financial Empire?
The Financial Empire is a global debt based financial system administered by the City of London and Wall Street, and enabled by NATO & Six Eyes (Five Eyes [USA+UK+Aus+Can+NZ] + Israel)?

The Global Financial Empire’s hierarchical structure looks like the following:

  • Core: SIX Eyes – English Union, huge debt generators, negative trade balance (U$A, UK)
  • Conquered: EU/Germany,.., Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea – Debt distributors, positive trade balance (supporting the US$)
  • Capital Rich: Russia, China, Brazil, Africa, Iran, ME – (Resource/Asset rich)
  • Circumference countries: ROW

The U$A is the top management layer, CEO/CFO. It has a board seat. Why is it creating lots of IOUs?

Please look at the Dollar Empire’s key players in the treasury bond market.
Who are the sophisticated investors that are buying NEGATIVE “real” yields?
Who bought the $5 Trillion piled on the Monstrous U$A National Debt in 15 Months?

The Financial Titanic (Dollar Empire) is taking water (Debt) at an exponential rate. This is UNSUSTAINABLE. Are Americans sleeping or having fun while music is playing?

The average age of a global reserve currency is 94 years (80-110). It is said the US$ started on its reserve trajectory in 1921.

When will this Financial Titanic break?

Something to ponder about while you read over the next article.

Here's another article.

Despair in the Empire of Graveyards

Or Gilbert and Sullivan Come to Afghanistan, Depending on Your Perspective

Forty-six years ago in a previous comedy I was in Saigon, recently having been evacuated from Phnom Penh in an Air America—CIA—Caribou carrying, in addition to me, several ARVN junior officers and perhaps a dozen BUFEs (Big Ugly Fucking Elephants, the ceramic pachyderms much beloved of GIs).

America had already embarked on its currently standard policy of forcing small countries into wars and then leaving them in the lurch.

Caribou aircraft.

In Cambodia this led to the reign of Pol Pot, the ghastly torture operation at Toul Sleng, and a million or so dead. In the unending fight for democracy, casualties are inevitable.

At the time Saigon was tense because Ban Me Thuot had fallen and the NVA roared down Route One toward Saigon.

To anyone with the brains of a doorknob, the American adventure in Vietnam was coming to an end, but the embassy was studiedly unconcerned.

Embassies do not have the brains of a doorknob, but are keenly aware of public relations. Acknowledging the inescapable is not their way.

As usual, Washington would rather lie than breathe, and did.

As in Cambodia, so in Nam, and so later in Afghanistan.

Apparently a genius at State realized that a lot of gringo expats lived in Nam—the number six thousand comes to mind, but may be wrong—and that six thousand hostages taken when Saigon fell would be bad PR.

So the embassy in Kabul—Saigon, I meant to say, Saigon—quietly announced that expats could fly out on military aircraft from Ton Son Nhut.

They didn’t, or at least many didn’t. The NVA continued its rush toward Saigon.

The expats didn’t fly out because they had Vietnamese wives and families and were not going to leave them, period. These wives may not have had the trappings of pieces of paper and stamps and maybe snippets of ribbon. These things do not seem important in Asian war zones. But the expats regarded them as wives. Period. The family went, or nobody did. Period.

The embassy didn’t understand this because embassies are staffed by people from Princeton with names like Derek who wear pink shirts and don’t know where they are. The ambassador is usually a political appointee being rewarded for campaign contributions and probably doesn’t speak the language as few gringos spikka da Pushto or Vietnamese or Farsi or Khmer. For example, nobody at all in the embassy in Cambodia spoke Khmer.

The rank and file of State are better suited to a high-end Rotarian barbecue than a Third World city teeming with strange people in funny clothes eating God knows what horrible things in winding frightening alleys.

And so the State people could not understand why an American would marry one “of them,” as in the embassy I once heard a gringa put it. It was a good question. Why would a man marry a pretty, sleek, smart, self-reliant woman who wanted family and children? It was a great mystery.

The Taliban—NVA, I mean–NVA kept coming closer. A PR disaster loomed.

Meanwhile the PR apparatus insisted that the sky wasn’t really falling even as it did and no, no, no the US had not gotten its sit-down royally kicked by a ratpack of rice-propelled paddy maggots, as GIs described the opposition.

Many in government seemed to believe this. This was an early instance, to be repeated in another part of Asia, of inventing a fairyland world and then trying to move into it.

Finally State faced reality, a novel concept. It allowed quietly that expats and their families could fly out, military. It was getting late, but better than nothing.

The comedic value of this goat rope grew, becoming more amusing by the hour. I was trying to get a young Vietnamese woman out as she had worked for the embassy and we suspected things might not go well with her under the NVA.

Call her Linda. Linda and I took the bus to Tan Son Nhut. The Viet gate guards gave her a hard time, envying her for getting out while they could not, but we got in.

I was going to tell the State people that we were married but that while I was in Can Tho, by then in VC hands, see, the marriage papers had slipped from my carrying case.

This was obvious bullshit, but I guessed that if I made a huge issue of it they would bend rather than get in a megillah with a reporter, no matter how unimportant.

We found ourselves in a long line of expats with their families leading to the door of a Quonset hut, inside of which a State official was checking papers. Some of the expats had around them what appeared to be small villages of in-laws, brothers of wives, sisters, everything but the family dog.

An official with a bull horn told us to write down all their names and the relationships on clipboards being passed around. Tran Thi Tuyet Lan, sister, for example.

Then a genius at the embassy or Foggy Bottom realized that something resembling a third of Viet Nam was about to come out, listed as in-laws.

Policy changed, at least in Washington which was as usual blankly ignorant of reality on the ground. At Tan Son Nhut this meant telling men that they had to leave parts of their families behind, which they weren’t going to do.

This would not look good above the fold in the Washington Post. Dozens of Americans taken captive because the State Department would not let their families out.” All was confusion because the US had spent years telling itself that the disaster couldn’t happen. What to do?

American ingenuity kicked in. At the Quonset hut the guy with the bullhorn announced, “From now on, all mothers-in-law are mothers, all brothers-in-law are brothers. Change your forms.” All along the line, magic markers went through “in-law.”

This meant that some women had two mothers, but this under the circumstances seemed a minor biological quibble.

The guy with the bull horn was at most three feet from the guy in the Quonset hut who was certifying papers as valid. He solemnly looked at the papers with their strike-through’s, , certified them as correct, and that was that. A field expedient.

Hours and hours went by. Night came. Tempers frayed. Nobody seemed to have planned how actually to get these people out. Nobody seemed to have planned anything. Finally a 130 howled in.

This was the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop cargo bird and a magnificent plane. It taxied over. The engines did not shut down. The prop wash was strong and hot.

The tail ramp dropped.

The waiting mob were rushed aboard without ceremony. There were no seats in the dark cavern of the fuselage. That would have required planning, which no one in Washington had thought of. The air reeked of burned aviation kerosene. We squatted on the cargo deck while an Air Force guy with a bullhorn warned, “Keep the kids’ hands out of the expansion slots, you’ll lose them.”

The real-world Air Force didn’t have people named Derek in pink shirts and if you told it all rules off, get the job done, it did. Ramp up, fast taxi, takeoff run, tight corkscrewing climb with the engines running at power I didn’t know they had.

The NVA and VC were now very close due to incompetent planning (have I mentioned incompetent planning?) and might have SAM-7s so it wasn’t a good idea to fly over territory they now controlled. Cutting and running from a stupid war run by generals as clueless as they were careerist, with Saigon spinning below, seen through open doors amid tightly packed peasants going they had little idea where.

Days later when we got to San Fran on a chartered airliner, hundreds of refugees were dumped into the main concourse, no immigrations, customs, or paperwork.

And now we have done it all over again in Kabul, complete with helicopters over the embassy and a panicked evacuation undertaken way too late and sudden concern for turncoat Afghans who made the mistake of working for the US. There is talk of importing 20,000 Afghan refugees to America. I find it amusing that many conservatives, who thought the war was peaches because it was about democracy and niceness and American values, now object to importing people their dimwitted enthusiasms put in line to be killed. Use and discard. Countries and people.

There was the now-traditional underestimation of the speed of the insurgent advance, the predictable deprecation of the “good” Afghans for not fighting with sufficient enthusiasm for the Empire: If they didn’t care enough to defend their country, Biden would say with earnest cluelessness, what could we do?”

So why did this happen? Why another rush to the exit as the world laughs? Which the world is doing. In a sentence, because if you do something stupid and it doesn’t work, it probably won’t work when you do it again.

The psychological explanation is slightly more complex. Vietnam is a good example. America invaded a country of another race, utterly different culture, practicing religions GIs had never heard of, speaking a language virtually no Americans spoke, a country exceedingly sick of being invaded by foreigners, most of them white. in Afghanistan the designated evil was terrorism, in in Viet Nam communism, but the choice of evils doesn’t matter. You have to tell the rubes at home something noble sounding.

Then the Americans did as they always do, training the ARVN, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, to fight the communists to impose democracy, which the Viets had not asked them to do. But when you ask some Viets (Bodes, Laos, Iraqis, Afghans) to fight other Viets (Bodes, etc.) to kill their own people for the benefit of the invaders, they are not greatly charmed.

With a predictability that makes sunrise seem chancy, they desert, fight lackadaisically, with officers charging the US pay for soldiers who do not exist, and probably go over to the other side en masse when the collapse comes. Which latter the Afghan army just did. Duh, as the kids say.

The speed of the Taliban advance took Americans by surprise because officers are liars and had been hiding the deplorable state of the “Afghan” army, its numbers, morale, degree of training, and phenomenal rates of desertion.

Often the American officer corps thinks that if it can just have a little more time, they can win, so lying is a part of the war effort.

Biden bought into this, announcing that the Afghan army vastly outnumbered the Taliban and was better armed and trained and the insurgents couldn’t possibly do what they proceeded to do.

Another reason is that the American style of war recruits its enemies. Soldiers are not the Boy Scout defenders of civilization that so many like to imagine. They kill a lot of civilians, many tens of thousands in the bombing of cities such as Baghdad and Hanoi.

Ground troops come to detest the natives whom they designate gooks, zipperheads, sand niggers, camel jockeys, and the like.

They commit war crimes that, when discovered, are called “isolated incidents,” when in fact they are common.

Fragmentation bombs produce such things as a little girl crying with her belly torn open and intestines falling out while her mother goes stark raving bugfuck mad watching her daughter bleed to death and she can do nothing about it.

But it is for democracy and American values, and anyway the ragheads breed like flies, and besides, CNN won’t air it.

Today drone strikes hit weddings and other gatherings.

When you kill people in a village, the young men join the insurgents, wanting revenge. When a few thousands were killed in Nine-Eleven, Americans exploded in rage. Three thousand is a small fraction of the numbers killed in, say, the attack on Baghdad.

The Iraqi soldiers killed in a hopeless attempt to defeat the Americans were sons, fathers, husbands, brothers of other Iraqis. How much love do we think it engendered in Iraqis? This seems not to occur to Washington.

Militaries at bottom are amoral. Afghans know of the torture operations at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Americans seem to dismiss such things as minor. They are not. Afghans seeing Moslems lying in pools of blood at Abu Ghraib, or being paraded around naked in hoods, are going to want to kill someone. Guess who.

American wars last a long time because no one has an incentive to end them. American casualties are low, especially now with the killing mostly done from the air against peasants with no defenses.

No important American ever gets killed. American wars are all class wars, with the dying being done by blue-collar suckers from Kansas or the deep South, not by Bush II, Hillary, the other Clinton, Bolton, Bannon, Obama, Blinken, Biden, Cheney, Kamala, Trump, and the rest of those not required to fight.

The US public has little idea of what goes on in its wars because the corporate media hide them. the Pentagon having learned that the media are their worst enemy, not the Taliban.

It would not surprise me if one unfettered camera crew, filming the corpses and mutilated children and devastation, could force an end to such a war.

Americans are not heartless but calculatedly uninformed. Wars are also extremely profitable for those who provide the bombs, fuel, vehicles, and so on. If the US loses a war, the contracts stop, and equally if it wins.

Keeping it going for decades provides a steady revenue stream.

What’s not to like?

Finally, or as much as I am going to worry about, there is the 1955 Syndrome, the engrained belief that America is all powerful.

This is arrogance and self-delusion. In the Pentagon you encounter a mandatory can-do attitude a belief that the US military is indomitable, the best trained, armed, and led force in this or any nearby galaxy.

In one sense this is necessary: You can’t tell the Marines that they are mediocre light infantry or sailors that their aircraft are rapidly obsolescing, their ships sitting ducks in a changing military world, and that the whole military enterprise is rotted by social engineering, profiteering, and careerism.

But look around: The US has failed to intimidate North Korea, chase the Chinese out of its islands in the South China Sea, retrieve the Crimea from Russia, can’t intimidate Iran, just got run out of Afghanistan, remains mired in Iraq and Syria, failed to block Nordstream II despite a desperate effort, and couldn’t keep Turkey from buying the S-400.

The Pentagon plans for the wars it wants to fight, not the wars it does fight. The most dangerous weapons of the modern world are not nukes, but the Ak-47, the RPG, and the IED. Figure it out.

And now the US comes home, leaving Afghanistan in ruins for decades. Use and discard.

Here's another note, collected over the week...
Dear [redacted]
” China will not initiate trouble but is not afraid of trouble “
” Willing to talk ? The door is wide open !
   Want to fight ? We will entertain you ! “
Absolutely, Chua !
In a nutshell, that’s my life philosophy !
Or as President Xi Jinping said
准 备 打 仗 打 胜 仗
Zhun3 Bei4 Da3 Zhang4 Da3 Sheng4 Zhang4
Be ready to fight victoriously !
And then we have this little blub that also came to the MM mailbox...

From [redacted]

Peace can sometimes only be achieved via well armed and the readiness in hit back.
The reason US and NATO dare not attack Russia is because they are well armed with nuclear weapons, and putin has made it clear that “don’t F with a nation with nuclear weapons.” putin also warn US, “if there is any missile fly toward Russia, Russia will regard it as nuclear attack, and will immediately response with nuclear missiles. ” this is why no one dare to bomb the Russian (including their military bases in Syria.)
When trump visited Beijing before starting the trade war, China offer trump $235b worth of deal. Guest what happen next?
Trump think that China is afraid of US, and thinking he can demand more from China. He has instead begin his first stage of trade war and announce to move on to the 2nd stage within months. He then claim that trade war is easy to win.
What trump didn’t expect is that China hit back.
China never stab on anyone on the back. China has made it clear all the times, “China will not initiate trouble and are not afraid of trouble”
China also make it clear: ” willing to talk? The door is wide open! Want to fight? We will entertain you.”
So, China simply respond to a situation initiated by the crusaders Nd not stabbing on people back. We should not expect China simply stood there fir people to bomb.
In Australia, China has issue numerous warning before hitting back.
China outline a 14 grievance created by Australia.
In Chinese history, they rather build wall, marrying princess, and initial a tribute system to keep peace, but if someone push too hard thinking they are in the position of strength, they will eventually be crushed .
This is not back stabbing. This is a last resort to keep peace.
The defeat of the crusaders in the Korean war allow China to enjoy the next 50 years of relative peace with the crusaders.
Today, the armed with AK47 Taliban successfully chase away the crusaders simply because they fight back.
Only when the crusaders are defeated, the Afghanistan people can then rebuilt their nation and looking forward to a better future with China belt and road.
Asia will again become the world most peaceful and wealthy region before the end of 21st century when China successfully chase away the trouble maker from the region.
The crusaders can also enjoy peace and prosperity if they change their mindset and get rid of their corrupt, low quality fake democratic political system. They need to control property price, nationalised industry that provide basic needs to the people like water, electricity, mining, health, pension fund, education, public transport etc like what China do.
Wealth redistribution from Wall Street to allow the 99% also  doing well. This will automatically make a nation strong, a society in harmony.
Cheers
[redacted]
.
I have to tell you that there has been a lot of messages, articles, comments and thoughts flowing back and forth all week. Here's another...

American Howl !

By Larchmonter445 for The Saker Blog

Whether you supported the 20-year war in Afghanistan or not, if you are American, you paid for it. Two Trillion Dollars. Your personal tax tab is 7 thousand dollars.

If you sent a relative or friend into this horror in South Asia, you paid an emotional price also.

If your relative or friend lost his or her life, you paid again, most grievously.

If you are one who returned, PTSD is taking a toll on your life. You pay every night and day, psychologically.

If you came back with traumatic wounds, you pay each moment as you try to rehabilitate and recover.

And with all these payments and losses you sit in front of a TV or monitor and watch the most feckless, incompetent leadership on the face of the Earth. You see total disorder, amateur thinking, and disgraceful performance of State Dept. and US Military. The top command and elected officials, the top counselors and advisers, each and every one clueless, ignorant, flummoxed by reality. They know nothing and can do nothing. Yet, they lead the country.

If you are fond of NATO, the alliance just took a huge hit.

So, the 75 years of unity and the 20 years of joint operations in Afghan are tossed away unilaterally. NATO is fracturing.

They know Biden is a fraud and the US is aimless.

You finally hear from the President of the United States, the reasoning that was the policy and follow through. It makes no sense. The old man is irrational.

Day after day this continuing catastrophe you see the same imbeciles prove over and over that they don’t know how to think, organize, lead or inspire.

Admiral John Kirby spokesman for the Defense Dept., Ned Price spokesman for State Dept., Jan Psaki spokeswoman for the WH, all of them know nothing, have no facts to report, seem bewildered by simple questions.

Listening to Jake Sullivan, NSC explains, is more naïveté and kindergarten-level thinking.

Mark Milley and Lloyd Austin are a quiniela of incompetence, both are lost in Critical Race Theory and too busy to win a war, command an evacuation, secure billions of dollars in lethal weaponry or answer a simple question with believable facts. Two Four-Star Dumb and Dumbers.

These dolts cut off the US government pipeline for the citizens caught inside Afghanistan, their lifeline to the State Dept. and consular staff has gone just when they need them.

These jackasses sent off all the resources their citizens needed for evacuation.

They inadvertently point blame to the Clown-in-Chief Biden, who reflexively blames Trump for the policy Biden created.

Then the inept US military took six days to bring in 7000 troops to work security at the airport. These troops, they told us, were pre-positioned and ready to go. Another massive failure of military logistical performance.

There are more days of this until the artificial deadline on the 31st. The odds are there will be 20-30,000 Americans and Afghanis who worked for and with our military left behind. This is totally unacceptable. They will become hostages to Taliban authorities.

The only good result of this debacle is it hurts Biden politically and makes a change in the Congress much more likely in 2022.

Biden’s Kabul is worse than Ford’s Saigon and Carter’s Tehran. And it is far from over.

As a citizen, you are embarrassed, ashamed, insulted, depressed, left helpless, enraged, and damn angry at the juvenile operational disaster in plain sight at Kabul airport.

Biden and Harris should be impeached. The entire NSC staff should be fired. The JCS chief and the JCS staff and the SOD should be fired. The State Dept. from top-down to consular staff should be fired.

It is their turn to pay for this national embarrassment, geopolitical disaster, and human tragedy.

And then we have this article...

A Saigon moment looms in Kabul

August 12, 2021 will go down as the day the Taliban avenged America’s invasion and struck the blow that brought down its man in Kabul

by Pepe Escobar,  first posted at Asia Times

August 12, 2021. History will register it as the day the Taliban, nearly 20 years after 9/11 and the subsequent toppling of their 1996-2001 reign by American bombing, struck the decisive blow against the central government in Kabul.

In a coordinated blitzkrieg, the Taliban all but captured three crucial hubs: Ghazni and Kandahar in the center, and Herat in the west. They had already captured most of the north. As it stands, the Taliban control 14 (italics mine) provincial capitals and counting.

First thing in the morning, they took Ghazni, which is situated around 140 kilometers from Kabul. The repaved highway is in good condition. Not only are the Taliban moving closer and closer to Kabul: for all practical purposes they now control the nation’s top artery, Highway 1 from Kabul to Kandahar via Ghazni.

That in itself is a strategic game-changer. It will allow the Taliban to encircle and besiege Kabul simultaneously from north and south, in a pincer movement.

Kandahar fell by nightfall after the Taliban managed to breach the security belt around the city, attacking from several directions.

In Ghazni, provincial governor Daoud Laghmani cut a deal, fled and then was arrested. In Kandahar, provincial governor Rohullah Khanzada – who belongs to the powerful Popolzai tribe – left with only a few bodyguards.

He opted to engage in an elaborate deal, convincing the Taliban to allow the remaining military to retreat to Kandahar airport and be evacuated by helicopter. All their equipment, heavy weapons and ammunition should be transferred to the Taliban.

Afghan Special Forces represented the cream of the crop in Kandahar. Yet they were only protecting a few select locations. Now their next mission may be to protect Kabul. The final deal between the governor and the Taliban should be struck soon. Kandahar has indeed fallen.

In Herat, the Taliban attacked from the east while notorious former warlord Ismail Khan, leading his militia, put up a tremendous fight from the west. The Taliban progressively conquered the police HQ, “liberated” prison inmates and laid siege to the governor’s office.

Game over: Herat has also fallen with the Taliban now controlling the whole of Western Afghanistan, all the way to the borders with Iran.

Tet Offensive, remixed

Military analysts will have a ball deconstructing this Taliban equivalent to the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Satellite intel may have been instrumental: it’s as if the whole battlefield progress had been coordinated from above.

Yet there are some quite prosaic reasons for the success of the onslaught apart from strategic acumen: corruption in the Afghan National Army (ANA); total disconnect between Kabul and battlefield commanders; lack of American air support; the deep political divide in Kabul itself.

In parallel, the Taliban had been secretly reaching out for months, through tribal connections and family ties, offering a deal: don’t fight us and you will be spared.

Add to it a deep sense of betrayal by the West felt by those connected with the Kabul government, mixed with fear of Taliban revenge against collaborationists.

A very sad subplot, from now on, concerns civilian helplessness – felt by those who consider themselves trapped in cities that are now controlled by the Taliban. Those that made it before the onslaught are the new Afghan IDPs, such as the ones who set up a refugee camp in the Sara-e-Shamali park in Kabul.

A new generation of IDPs in Afghanistan.

Rumors were swirling in Kabul that Washington had suggested to President Ashraf Ghani to resign, clearing the way for a ceasefire and the establishment of a transitional government.

On the record, what’s established is that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin promised Ghani to “remain invested” in Afghan security.

Reports indicate the Pentagon plans to redeploy 3,000 troops and Marines to Afghanistan and another 4,000 to the region to evacuate the US Embassy and US citizens in Kabul.

The alleged offer to Ghani actually originated in Doha – and came from Ghani’s people, as I confirmed with diplomatic sources.

The Kabul delegation, led by Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of something called the High Council for National Reconciliation, via Qatar mediation, offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal as long as they stop the onslaught. There’s been no mention of Ghani resigning, which is the Taliban’s number one condition for any negotiation.

The extended troika in Doha is working overtime. The US lines up immovable object Zalmay Khalilzad, widely mocked in the 2000s as “Bush’s Afghan.” The Pakistanis have special envoy Muhammad Sadiq and ambassador to Kabul Mansoor Khan.

The Russians have the Kremlin’s envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. And the Chinese have a new Afghan envoy, Xiao Yong.

Russia-China-Pakistan are negotiating with a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) frame of mind: all three are permanent members. They emphasize a transition government, power-sharing, and recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political force.

Diplomats are already hinting that if the Taliban topple Ghani in Kabul, by whatever means, they will be recognized by Beijing as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan – something that will set up yet another incendiary geopolitical front in the confrontation against Washington.

As it stands, Beijing is just encouraging the Taliban to strike a peace agreement with Kabul.

The Pashtunistan riddle

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has minced no words as he stepped into the fray. He confirmed the Taliban leadership told him there’s no negotiation with Ghani in power – even as he tried to persuade them to reach for a peace deal.

Khan accused Washington of regarding Pakistan as “useful” only when it comes to pressing Islamabad to use its influence over the Taliban to broker a deal – without considering the “mess” the Americans left behind.

Khan once again said he “made it very clear” there will be no US military bases in Pakistan.

This is a very good analysis of how hard it is for Khan and Islamabad to explain Pakistan’s complex involvement with Afghanistan to the West and also the Global South.

The key issues are quite clear:

1. Pakistan wants a power-sharing deal and is doing what it can in Doha, along the extended troika, to reach it.

2. A Taliban takeover will lead to a new influx of refugees and may encourage jihadis of the al-Qaeda, TTP and ISIS-Khorasan kind to destabilize Pakistan.

3. It was the US that legitimized the Taliban by striking an agreement with them during the Donald Trump administration.

4. And because of the messy withdrawal, the Americans reduced their leverage – and Pakistan’s – over the Taliban.

The problem is Islamabad simply does not manage to get these messages across.

And then there are some bewildering decisions. Take the AfPak border between Chaman (in Pakistan’s Balochistan) and Spin Boldak (in Afghanistan).

The Pakistanis closed their side of the border. Every day tens of thousands of people, overwhelmingly Pashtun and Baloch, from both sides cross back and forth alongside a mega-convoy of trucks transporting merchandise from the port of Karachi to landlocked Afghanistan. To shut down such a vital commercial border is an unsustainable proposition.

All of the above leads to arguably the ultimate problem: what to do about Pashtunistan?

The absolute heart of the matter when it comes to Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan and Afghan interference in the Pakistani tribal areas is the completely artificial, British Empire-designed Durand Line. 

Islamabad’s definitive nightmare is another partition. Pashtuns are the largest tribe in the world and they live on both sides of the (artificial) border. Islamabad simply cannot admit a nationalist entity ruling Afghanistan because that will eventually foment a Pashtun insurrection in Pakistan.

And that explains why Islamabad prefers the Taliban compared to an Afghan nationalist government. Ideologically, conservative Pakistan is not that dissimilar from the Taliban positioning. And in foreign policy terms, the Taliban in power perfectly fit the unmovable “strategic depth” doctrine that opposes Pakistan to India.

In contrast, Afghanistan’s position is clear-cut. The Durand Line divides Pashtuns on both sides of an artificial border. So any nationalist government in Kabul will never abandon its desire for a larger, united Pashtunistan.

As the Taliban are de facto a collection of warlord militias, Islamabad has learned by experience how to deal with them. Virtually every warlord – and militia – in Afghanistan is Islamic.

Even the current Kabul arrangement is based on Islamic law and seeks advice from an Ulema council. Very few in the West know that Sharia law is the predominant trend in the current Afghan constitution.

Closing the circle, ultimately all members of the Kabul government, the military, as well as a great deal of civil society come from the same conservative tribal framework that gave birth to the Taliban.

Apart from the military onslaught, the Taliban seem to be winning the domestic PR battle because of a simple equation: they portray Ghani as a NATO and US puppet, the lackey of foreign invaders.

And to make that distinction in the graveyard of empires has always been a winning proposition.

And then we have this article...

The War Comes Home

A nation is made of race, ethnicity, culture, and identity. Ernst Renan called it a “daily plebiscite.” He said a nation needs a “common will in the present,” and the wish to perform great deeds in the future. Identity is a feeling, but feelings, emotions, personalities and beliefs come from the blood. We don’t create ourselves, and we can’t be other than what we are. Polities are temporary, but peoples endure.

I remember September 11, 2001. I never knew what people meant by “blood running cold” until I looked at New York City from my favorite hill and saw the smoking ruin where the Trade Center had been. I felt a deeply personal insult.

An abstraction called “America” hadn’t been attacked. This was something real. “Freedom” wasn’t under attack. It was my city, my people, my country that these savages had assaulted. American unity was awesome. President George W. Bush could have asked for anything from the country. The grief and righteous anger could have changed the world.

Now these feelings seem absurd and embarrassing. Patriotism is at a record low, even among conservatives. It’s hard to define what “America” means, or if it even exists.

Part of this is because the response to the attacks had nothing to do with defending America. President Bush could have stopped immigration, worked to defend the Christian faith he supposedly holds, and renewed patriotism. He did none of these things. Multiculturalism and anti-white preferences are far stronger today. Rather than seizing the moment to push assimilation and patriotism in schools, they teach Critical Race Theory and other anti-white ideas. Islam, once a marginal force in American life, has joined homosexuality and black identity as one of our national totems.

In 2001, the attackers entered the country legally through holes in our immigration laws. The holes are still there and immigration is worse than ever. The Muslim population of the United States has grown continuously, despite support for a total ban on Muslim immigration. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress, was a black nationalist who once argued for ending the Union — and no black congressmen ever said that was wrong. We fought in Afghanistan and Iraq to bring “democracy” to foreigners, who rightly hated us for trying to turn them into something they were not. The Iraq War’s most lasting consequence, and the greatest impact of the so-called Christian Right, may have been to destroy what was left of Christianity in Iraq. A SEAL team eventually killed Osama bin Laden. Crowds cheered, but that seems hollow now.

What was the purpose of the wars? If they were to “spread democracy,” they failed. If they were to defend the “American way of life,” they failed. The America of 2021 is a nightmare to a patriot from 2001. It’s bad enough that today’s “American way of life” is imposed on us, let alone on foreigners. If the War on Terror was supposed to keep us “safe,” that also failed. America seems far more besieged than before 2001, despite trillions spent and intrusive surveillance. America even faces the possibility of real defeat in a conventional war against great powers. If our government took foreign terrorism seriously, we would not have a porous border.

What happened over the last 20 years is something deeper. Thousands of Americans are still in Afghanistan, and the defense secretary said the world’s sole superpower has “no capability” to go outside the Kabul airport to get them out. “There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this [Afghan proxy] army and this government in 11 days,” said General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Incredibly, he didn’t resign. President Biden bizarrely defended himself by saying that the scenes of desperate people fleeing the country and falling off airplanes were from “four, five days ago.”

We had to leave Afghanistan, but it’s astonishing that we had no plan to protect Americans, secure weapons, or even protect the airport. Those in charge pay no price for failure.

After September 11, Americans thought American power had been roused and we would smite our enemies. Instead, we sacrificed thousands of young men to bring “democracy” to foreigners. Iraqi and Afghani cooperation (or collaboration) went no farther than a paycheck. Many Americans even died at the hands of their supposed “allies” in “green on blue” attacks, which killed more than 150 coalition troops by 2020.

Now we have a supposed “obligation” to bring in Afghans. How many “green on blue” attacks will we get in the homeland? President George W. Bush (in)famously defended the wars by saying that “we will fight them over there so we do not have to face them in the United States of America.” Now, it appears we fought Afghans “there” so we could bring Afghans “here.” If an estimated 99 percent of Afghans want to make Sharia the basis of law, it’s hard to claim we are bringing “pro-American” Afghans here. The ones who come will learn in no time to complain about “white supremacy.”

The United States could have pulled out of Afghanistan in late 2001 after removing the Taliban and still continued the hunt for Bin Laden, who was in Pakistan. The US could have declared victory after it killed Bin Laden. Instead, the country spent trillions trying to turn Afghanistan into a liberal democracy. This included propping up a miserably corrupt government, promoting female politicians who never visited their constituencies, spending more than $780 million on “gender programs,” celebrating “Pride Month,” and, most infamously, punishing American soldiers who tried to stop child abuse by Afghan allies. And we were supposed to be fighting for the “good guys?”

There isn’t even an “Afghanistan.” It is a patchwork of tribes. Rather than working with the tribes, the United States tried to impose an artificial “national” government. The United States rejected the idea of re-establishing the Afghan monarchy, which had the support of most tribes. Instead, America imposed Hamid Karzai. The ungrateful stooge now blames the USA and NATO for his country’s collapse. Old ethnic and tribal patterns have re-emerged.

The Taliban is mostly Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group. Just as in 2001, the old “Northern Alliance” is coming together in Panjshir, led by the son of the legendary commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, a Tajik. Afghanistan’s tribal society may make it almost impossible for foreigners to conquer, but it also makes it almost impossible to unify. Turning tribal groups into Afghans is hard enough. America should never have tried to turn them into proto-Americans.

Indeed, we can’t even turn refugees into Americans. And they certainly won’t be grateful. The most prominent “refugee” in American life is Rep. Ilhan Omar. She said September 11 was nothing more than “some people did something,” and brags, “This is not going to be the country of white people.” Tucker Carlson says she’s proof our country is “not very good at resettling refugees.” The Hmong, another group of American “allies” imported after Vietnam, have been a disaster for America and a burden on social services.

America itself is turning into a tribal society. Pat Buchanan explains:

The more diverse we have become, it seems, the less united we have become, even about public manifestations of patriotism — the American flag, the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance. Nor do our history, holidays and heroes unite us as once they did. 

Whites are second-class citizens. The “American” government discriminates against us, “American” schools shame our children, the government hands out contracts by race, and anti-white mobs tear down our history. Media and academia have successfully broken many whites to the point they have a negative bias against their own group. “American” law enforcement is selective. Corporate America funds Black Lives Matter and other anti-white movements. If this were happening to any other group, many Republicans would say it justified military intervention in the name of human rights.

Is the system that rules us worth defending? No. If that makes me a “traitor,” I would say only that there is nothing to betray. Our rulers have already betrayed us.

The Afghan and Iraqi wars did nothing to protect this country. They made things worse. Every servicemen sent was sacrificed by a government that doesn’t deserve them. Soldiers deserve respect, but their commanders and politicians deserve scorn. I have yet to hear one veteran say the wars were worth it. Even the legendary Pat Tillman came to oppose the Afghanistan War — before he was accidentally killed by his own comrades. “Were all our sacrifices wasted?” heartbroken veterans ask. Yes.

Reporters brag about getting the military to purge white soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who had a racial consciousness. Perhaps we should thank them. Eighty-five percent of those who died in Afghanistan were white. Their government clearly doesn’t appreciate them. Afghanistan was not worth one life, nor are the interests of politicians and financiers.

The military teaches Critical Race Theory. General Mark Milley was telling Congress less than two months ago why we had to study “white rage.” He should have been studying intelligence reports on the Taliban.

Patriots must not die for the interests of those who despise them. If China moves on Taiwan, let journalists, defense contractors, and affirmative action pets do the fighting. The Global American Empire’s interests are not ours.

After September 11, it was common for liberals to mock the idea of a “War on Terror,” How do you fight an idea? No one is mocking the fight against “hate.” If those in power want to wage war, it may be against us.

President Biden’s “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism” is designed to spy on white advocates and censor us. The Patriot Act and other national security laws pushed through after September 11, 2001 are now used against American citizens. If the FBI decides you are under investigation, it can seize your assets, and there is nothing you can do. The United States government has lost all moral authority to call Russia or China authoritarian. Even the Taliban is mocking Facebook (which is under increasing pressure by the federal government to censor content) for hypocrisy on free speech.

Even liberal news outlets are now doubting the supposed “militia” plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. It appears the FBI was encouraging the plot, not thwarting it. (An FBI agent involved in the investigation was just arrested for assault.) Shun anyone who ever talks about violence. He’s probably a government employee looking to justify his paycheck.

PayPal and the ADL are teaming up to investigate the financial transactions of users to fight “racism.” When a system mouthpiece, Jimmy Fallon, mentioned that whites were a declining share of the population, the audience applauded, which even Mr. Fallon found bizarre. And there was the widespread celebration at the death of Ashli Babbitt, who was a misguided victim.

When I see the scenes of retreat and shame in Afghanistan, I feel humiliation, but also schadenfreude. This strips naked the fools who have been sending soldiers to die. I long for the America that was, and mourn for the brave men who died for a government that doesn’t deserve them. And yet there is a certain satisfaction in the ruling class’s humiliating defeat.

The Jewish publication Tablet, marveling at the desire of the American elite to destroy its own country, says:

 [T]here are no institutional elites left to ask whether it’s a good idea to purge the combat ranks of the U.S. military by targeting “white supremacism.” America’s all-volunteer military is 43% minority, but the majority of its combat units are made up of white males. So why purge them? To make America vulnerable to foreign adversaries? Maybe the elites are more fearful of the domestic cohort still armed with a powerful group solidarity — i.e., patriotism — and most likely to defend what the elites are determined to destroy.

It’s frightening to see American leadership pulling America apart at the seams. And it’s shocking to see our constitutional order ripped to shreds as the establishment undercuts property rights, imposes capricious public health regulations, mandates experimental medical treatments, and holds political prisoners. 

This author is right. The elite wants to unmake the middle class and sees patriotic white men as the real threat. This leaves us with a tragic choice between our people and “our” government. On September 12, 2001, I’d have attacked someone who even suggested there was a distinction. Today, I find myself a man without a country. I don’t discount the possibility of a solution within the system. We must obey the law, pay our taxes, and fight to reclaim our rights. But there may be no electoral solution. Our future may be South Africa.

We should talk openly of secession That is how this country began. Those who rule us don’t value the Founders, but we do.

Two decades after September 11, America’s rulers are disgraced, humiliated, and unaccountable. What legitimacy do they have besides their courts and their guns? We must build alternative institutions that can win the loyalty of our people. We must provide for them in the dark times that are coming.

As we turn our backs on the Regime, we do not turn our backs on America. America can survive the degenerate ruling class on the Potomac. If the last few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that a strong tribe can outlast a failing empire.

We are the nation. America is ours and always will be. Renan had an “abridged hymn of every fatherland” that quoted from a Spartan song: “We are what you were, we will be what you are.” If we can get enough whites to believe that, anything is possible. The empire is dying; let the nation be reborn.

The years ahead will be dark, but we should rejoice. We live at arguably the most important time in our people’s history. America, Western Civilization, and the white race can survive only as one. It’s up to us.

Had, enough? Here's another...

Oh, did you see this?

Biden forfeits his Afghan victory by defending his Deep State advisors

By Michael Hudson, first posted at Unz Review and Expanded for The Saker Blog

President Biden put a popular flag-waving wrapping for at America’s forced withdrawal from Afghanistan in his 4 PM speech on Monday. It was as if all this was following Biden’s own intentions, not a demonstration of the totally incompetent assurances by the CIA and State Department as recently as last Friday that the Taliban was over a month away from being able to enter Kabul. Instead of saying that the massive public support for the Taliban replacing the United States showed the incompetent hubris of U.S. intelligence agencies – which itself would have justified Biden’s agreement to complete the withdrawal with all haste – he doubled down on his defense of the Deep State and its mythology.

The effect was to show how drastic his own misconceptions are, and how he will continue to defend neocon adventurism. What seemed for an hour or so as a public relations recovery is turning into a denouement of how U.S. fantasy is still trying to threaten Asia and the Near East.

By throwing all his weight behind the propaganda that has guided U.S. policy since George W. Bush decided to invade after 9/11, Biden blew his greatest chance to burst the myths that led to his own bad decisions to trust U.S. military and state officials (and their campaign contributors).

His first pretense was that we invaded Afghanistan to retaliate against “its” attack on America on 9/11. This is the founding lie of U.S. presence in the Near East. Afghanistan did not attack us. Saudi Arabia did.

Biden tried to confuse the issue by saying that “we” went into Afghanistan to deal with (assassinate) Osama Bin Laden – and after this “victory,” we then then decided to stay on and “build democracy,” a euphemism for creating a U.S. client state. (Any such state is called a “democracy,” which means simply pro-American in today’s diplomatic vocabulary.)

Hardly anyone asks how the U.S. ever got in. Jimmy Carter was suckered by the Polish Russia-hater Brzezinski and created Al Qaeda to act as America’s foreign legion, subsequently expanded to include ISIS and other terrorist armies against countries where U.S. diplomacy seeks regime change. Carter’s alternative to Soviet Communism was Wahabi fanaticism, solidifying America’s alliance with Saudi Arabia. Carter memorably said that at least these Muslims believed in God, just like Christians. But the Wahabi fundamentalism army was sponsored by Saudi Arabia, which paid for arming Al Qaeda to fight against Sunni Moslems and, early on, the Russian-backed Afghan government.

What is so typical of America’s aggressive Cold War mindset is that it could have much more easily (and at much lower cost) won Afghanistan by honey, by having so much more to offer economically than did Russia. Documents released from Soviet archives show that:

None of the Soviet documents list terrorists going into the USSR as a concern in 1979. The Soviet worry was the incompetence and worse of their Afghan Communist clients, the declining Soviet influence (much less control) in the country, and the possibility of Afghanistan going over to the Americans.

Soviet Politburo documents that first became available in the 1990s show the real Soviet fear was that the head of the Afghan Communist regime, Hafizullah Amin, was about to go over to the Americans. (Egyptian president Anwar Sadat famously flipped in 1972, ejected thousands of Soviet advisers, and became the second largest recipient, after Israel, of U.S. foreign aid.)[1]

This policy predates President Carter, of course.

It was endemic in America’s Cold War force-oriented strategy since the 1950s.

Over 60 years ago, for instance, I sat in on a meeting with Fidel Castro’s representatives trying to get support from the Democratic Party and Kennedy for their overthrow of the Batista regime.

Imagining that it was the Republicans and the Dulles brothers that were the hardliners, they expected that the incoming Democratic Party diplomacy would find their self-interest in giving economic support to help Cuba’s economy recover from the corrupt dictatorship.

My father warned them that the Democrats would be just as force-oriented.

On my visits to Cuba, it was obvious that the population and even many government officials would have welcomed a deal whereby the loosened their Castroite economic policy in exchange for U.S. aid.

The United States has never tried to use this tactic in the Caribbean or Latin America, any more than it has done in Afghanistan.

That is the neocon mentality:

“Do it by force, don’t give any other country a choice.”

A “market-based” tradeoff of aid for economic policy acquiescence is not U.S. policy. Offering a carrot still leaves the choice to America’s designated adversary.

The only way to make sure that a country will obey is to confront it with brute force.

That is the mentality behind U.S. support for Maidan and the neo-Nazi Bandaristas opposing Russia instead of simply trying to help reform Ukraine.

And so it has gone in Afghanistan. After Carter, George W. Bush and Barack Obama funded Al Qaeda (largely with the gold looted from destroying Libya) to fight for U.S. geopolitical aims and oil in Iraq and Syria.

The Taliban for its part fought against Al Quaeda.

The real U.S. fear therefore is not that they may back America’s Wahabi foreign legion, but that they will make a deal with Russia, China and Syria to serve as a trade link from Iran westward.

Biden’s second myth was to blame the victim by claiming that the Afghan army would not fight for “their country,” despite his assurances by the proxies whom the U.S. installed that they would use U.S. money to build the economy.

He also said that the army did not fight, which became obvious over the weekend.

The police force also did not fight. Nobody fought the Taliban to “defend their country,” because the U.S. occupation regime was not “their country.” Again and again, Biden repeated that the United States could not save a country that would not “defend itself.” But the “itself” was the corrupt regime that was simply pocketing U.S. “aid” money.

The situation was much like what was expressed in the old joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto finding themselves surrounded by Indians. “What are we going to do, Tonto,” asked the Lone Ranger.

“What do you mean, ‘We,’ white man?” Tonto replied.

That was the reply of the Afghan army to U.S. demands that they fight for the corrupt occupation force that they had installed.

Their aim is to survive in a new country, while in Doha the Taliban leadership negotiates with China, Russia and even the United States to achieve a modus vivendi.

So all that Biden’s message meant to most Americans was that we would not waste any more lives and money fighting wars for an ungrateful population that wanted the U.S. to do all the fighting for it.

President Biden could have come out and washed away the blame by saying: “Just before the weekend, I was told by my army generals and national security advisors that it would take months for the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan, and certainly to take control of Kabul, which supposedly would be a bloody fight.”

He could have announced that he is removing the incompetent leadership engrained for many years, and creating a more reality-based group.

But of course, he could not do that, because the group is the unreality-based neocon Deep State.

He was not about to explain how

“It’s obvious that I and Congress have been misinformed, and that the intelligence agencies had no clue about the country that they were reporting on for the last two decades.”

He could have acknowledged that the Afghans welcomed the Taliban into Kabul without a fight.

The army stood aside, and the police stood aside.

There seemed to be a party celebrating the American withdrawal.

Restaurants and markets were open, and Kabul seemed to be enjoying normal life – except for the turmoil at the airport.

Suppose that Biden had said the following:

“Given this acquiescence in support for the Taliban, I was obviously correct in withdrawing the American occupation forces. 

Contrary to what Congress and the Executive Branch was told, there was no support by the Afghans for the Americans. 

I now realize that to the Afghan population, the government officials that America installed simply took the money we gave them...

... and put it into their own bank accounts...

... instead of paying the army, police and other parts of civic society.”

Instead, President Biden spoke about having made four trips to Afghanistan and how much he knew and trusted the proxies that U.S. agencies had installed.

That made him seem gullible.

Even Donald Trump said publicly that he didn’t trust the briefings that he was given, and wanted to spend money at home, into the hands of his own campaign contributors instead of abroad.

Biden could have picked up on this point by saying,

“At least there’s a silver lining: We won’t be spending any more than the $3 trillion that we’ve already sunk over there. 

We can now afford to use the money to build up domestic U.S. infrastructure instead.”

But instead President Biden doubled down on what his neocon advisors had told him, and what they were repeating on the TV news channels all day: The Afghan army had refused to fight “for their country,” meaning the U.S.-supported occupation force, as if this was really Afghan self-government.

The media are showing pictures of the Afghan palace and one of the warlord’s office.

I did a double-take, because the plush, wretched-excess furnishings looked just like Obama’s $12 million McMansion furnishings in Martha’s Vineyard.

Obama officials are being trotted out by the news spinners.

On MSNBC, John Brennan warned Andrea Mitchell at noon that the Taliban might now back Al Qaeda in new destabilization and even use Afghanistan to mount new attacks on the United States.

The message was almost word for word what Americans were told in 1964:

“If we don’t fight the Vietcong in their country, we’ll have to fight them over here.”

As if any country has an armed force large enough to conquer any industrial nation in today’s world.

The whole cast of America’s “humanitarian bombing” squad was there, including its harridan arm, the Democratic Party’s front organizations created to co-opt feminists to urging that Afghanistan be bombed until it treats women better.

One can only imagine how the image of Samantha Power, Madeline Albright, Hillary Clinton, Susan and Condoleezza Rice, not to mention Indira Gandhi and Golda Maier, will make the Taliban want to create its own generation of ambitious educated women like these.

President Biden might have protected himself from Republican criticism by reminding his TV audience that Donald Trump had urged withdrawal from Afghanistan already last spring –and now, in retrospect, that the Deep State was wrong to advise against this but that Donald was right.

That is what his order for withdrawal was acknowledging, after all. This might have detoothed at least some Trumpian criticism.

Instead, Mr. Brennan and the generals trotted in front of the TV cameras criticized Biden for not prolonging the occupation until the fall, when cold weather would deter the Taliban from fighting.

Brennan stated on Andrea Mitchell’s newscast that Biden should have taken a ploy out of his “The Art of Breaking the Deal” by breaking the former president’s promise to withdraw last spring.

Delay, delay, delay.

That is always the stance of grabitizers refusing to see the resistance building up, hoping to take what they can get for as long as they can – with the “they” being the military-industrial complex, the suppliers of mercenary forces and other recipients of the money that Mr. Biden curiously says that we spent “in Afghanistan.”

The reality is that not much of the notorious $3 trillion actually was spent in Afghanistan.

It was spent on Raytheon, Boeing and other military hardware suppliers, on the mercenary forces, and placed in the accounts of the Afghan proxies for the U.S….

…maneuvering to use Afghanistan…

…to destabilize Central Asia on Russia’s southern flank and western China.

It looks like most of the world will quickly recognize the Afghan government, leaving the U.S., Israel, Britain, India and perhaps Samoa isolated as a recalcitrant block living like the post-World War I royal families still clinging to their titles of dukes, princes and other vestiges of a world that had passed.

Biden’s political mistake was to blame the victim and depict the Taliban victory as a defeat of a cowardly army not willing to fight for its paymasters.

He seems to imagine that the army actually had been paid, provided with food, clothing and weapons in recent months simply because U.S. officials gave their local proconsuls and supporters cash for this purpose.

I understand that there is no real accounting of just what the $3 trillion U.S. cost was actually spent on, who got it the shrink-wrapped bundles of hundred-dollar bills passed down through America’s occupation bureaucracy.

(I bet the serial numbers were not recorded. Imagine if that were done and the U.S. could announce these C-notes demonetized!)

The U.S. is now (20 years after the time it should have begun) trying to formulate a Plan B.

Its strategists probably hope to achieve in Afghanistan what occurred after the Americans left Saigon: An economic free-for-all that U.S. companies can co-opt by offering business opportunities.

On the other hand, there are reports that Afghanistan may sue the United States for reparations for the illegal occupation and destruction still going on as the country is being bombed in Biden’s flurry of B-52 anger.

Such a claim, of course, would open the floodgates for similar suits by Iraq and Syria – and the Hague in Holland has shown itself to be a NATO kangaroo court.

But I would expect Afghanistan’s new friends in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to back such a suit in a new international court, if only to block any hopes by U.S. companies of achieving by financial leverage what the State Department, CIA and Pentagon could not achieve militarily.

In any case, Biden’s parting shot of nasty bombing of Taliban centers can only convince the new leadership to solidify its negotiations with its nearest regional neighbors with their promise to help save Afghanistan from any American, British or NATO attempt to try and come back in and “restore democracy.”

The world has seen enough of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s “rules based order”.

And President Biden’s pretended history on whose mythology U.S. policy will continue to be based.

Add: It is not an accident that the politicians backed by the United States are so corrupt, ruling corrupt bureaucracies that increasingly alienate local populations.

There is a deliberate thought-out reason why American diplomats choose to work with such opportunistic grabitizers as clients whom they place in control.

It is precisely such people whom the U.S. sponsors can trust.

Suppose that you have some truly democratic idealists whose aim is to develop their country.

The problem is that such individuals cannot be trusted to follow U.S. diplomatic aims.

They may act on their own – and go their own way, independently of U.S. direction.

That is a risk that U.S. diplomats never choose to take.

The result is much like corporate bureaucracy, where opportunistic CEOs choose yes-men (or yes-women if they seek protective coloration by posturing as more woke). Such subordinates will support the boss in his own maneuvering, not serve the welfare of the firm.

That is why Boeing preferred financial managers to engineers, whose logic might not be that of the increasingly financialized company.

The aim of U.S. “aid” is not to help the country – or even to help “America” – but to help U.S. arms exporters, contractors, big engineering firms, and neocon ideologues in the CIA and State Department, along with ambitious generals in the military seeking a path to promotion and retirement on the board of directors of the military-industrial complex.

All this was expressed crisply by Zbigniew Brzezinski in famous advice for U.S. hegemonic strategy on the Eurasian continent:

Its aim should be…

“to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and keep the barbarians from coming together.”

What kind of local leader indeed could one expect to implement such policy?

Here's yet another. Man! I am intentionally whipping a dead horse. But by the time this is all over, you all won't want to hear anything else about this section of the world...

White Flagged America

When Ichiro played in the Major Leagues, he was always hounded by a mob of Japanese journalists and photographers, starting with the first day of Spring Training.

Sick of this, he told an interviewer he wished they would just disappear.

“From your life?”

“No, from this earth.”

The USA, though, is not being pestered but deformed, debilitated and, well, frankly destroyed by a host of people, many of whom you may not have heard of, so let’s us:

  • Imagine there’s no George Soros,
  • No Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch or Klaus Schwab, too.
  • No Jeff Zucker, Mark Zuckerberg, Arthur Sulzberger,
  • Jonathan Greenblatt, Larry Fink, David Solomon,
  • Robert Iger, Charles Scharf, Jamie Dimon,
  • Steve Schwarzman, Jeremy Zimmer, Len Blavatnik,
  • Andy Slavitt, Jeffrey Zients, Anthony Fauci,
  • Jessica Rosenworcel, Janet Yellen, Gary Gensler,
  • Betsy Berns Korn, Mort Fridman or, what the hell,
  • Nancy Pelosi also, mostly because she’s so icky.

Even more than most lists, it’s highly incomplete, but you get the idea.

Or maybe not. It’s too eclectic, you say, if not confusing.

What do they have in common?

They are all social engineers, out to remake America in ways that have nothing to do, at least initially, with the wishes of its majority…

… so there goes your democracy.

And that's the way it is, Jack!

As new norms are relentlessly propagandized, legalized then imposed, most Americans will learn to embrace their newly cowed, castrated selves.

Many clearly have.

When I tried to indict a cynical and sinister Uncle Sam in my last article, one who has wrecked not just dozens of foreign countries, but America itself, several readers took offense, not at Sammy, the Jew-jerked puppet, but me!

Clearly, they identify with the steel boots that are pinned on their faces, so fine, let them embrace their increasingly wretched fate, but what about others? What about their children?

Due to their parents’ nauseating cowardice, American kids are inheriting hell.

Notice I didn’t bother to list Biden, not because he’s already dead, but because American politicians are merely cabana boys and girls for their social engineering paymasters.

From president on down, they decide absolutely nothing.

Truly moronic…

… Americans keep waiting for the next election to vote in their savior…

… or they vote for an “independent” candidate as a symbolic gesture.

By merely voting, however, they endorse a system that’s openly destroying them.

With voting machines that can’t be audited, American presidential elections are designed to be rigged, with one of two vetted candidates allowed to win to keep the intramural bickering and catfight lurching along, to distract the dummies from seeing what’s going on.

(The last American politician with any integrity was Cynthia McKinney, and they’ve chased her all the way to Bangladesh. Once disappeared, she’s never mentioned by any former colleague, such is their collective cowardice.)

In any case, you don’t want to turn a clown like Obama or Trump, say, into a martyr or, God forbid, national hero, to be worshipped for centuries.

Not that America is likely to last another decade, especially since most of its “patriots” are curled up, with their eyes shut tight, as waves of degeneracy, idiocy and infamy lap over them.

As their family graves are routinely crapped on by their ruling wardens, these pant-soiling patriots keep muttering, “Please don’t fire, deplatform or cancel me, massa! I’ll do whatever you say. I’ve never whispered one bad word about you, not even online. I’ve only used my internet privilege to spit at Afghan refugees and Mexican dishwashers, but no, no, no, I’m no racist! Black lives matter! Please give me the blackest flip-flop to french kiss!”

Conditioned by Hollywood to enjoy others being chopped or blown up, many Americans are getting a kick out of the current terror and panic in Afghanistan.

Some justify this sick schadenfreude by saying these Afghans are collaborators who fully deserve their punishment or even death, but guess which country has provided the most collaborators, by far, to the evil empire?

America, of course.

To the millions who have fought for war profiteers and Jews, you must add all the employees of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics and Raytheon, etc., as well as all the academics who go along with the perverted, mostly Jewish-led social engineering agenda, and the journalists who spew nonsense and lies daily, on and on, so that, really, about the only innocent Americans are the little kids, those who will inherit a hellish, denatured reality as constructed by their clueless or spineless parents, not to mention an astronomical mountain of debts, as brought into being by a Jewish-dominated banking system.

Many Americans are also laughing at the quick collapse of the Afghan Army, but 66,000 of them did die fighting the Taliban and other opposition groups (who themselves suffered 51,191 deaths). 117,191 Afghan men, then, laid down their lives over conflicting versions of Afghanistan.

Do prove me wrong, but the only country that’s going down without any fight whatsoever is the United States of America.

But, but, but America has just created the largest military budget in history to "counter" China. Obviously a grand World War III is planned. What then? Can America destroy China?

China, Russia conclude joint military exercise

Updated 12:54, 14-Aug-2021
CGTN

 

A five-day joint military exercise between China and Russia, named ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021, concluded Friday in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

A four-phase exercise was held on Friday morning and attended by more than 10,000 service personnel and main battle armaments, including aircraft, artillery and armored vehicles of various models.

Read more:

Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu observed the exercise and held talks later in the day.

Wei said that the Chinese and Russian armed forces have supported each other in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating the high-level development of relations between the two militaries.

The two militaries should enhance strategic coordination and comprehensive and practical cooperation, so as to make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and safeguarding world peace and stability, Wei said.

Russia is willing to enhance strategic communication with China, deepen cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism and work together to safeguard regional peace and stability, Shoigu said.

The two ministers also observed the signing of cooperation documents.

They announced the conclusion of the exercise in the afternoon of the day.

The exercise was the first joint military exercise held in China since the COVID-19 outbreak.

And then we have this piece...

How Russia-China are stage-managing the Taliban

By Pepe Escobar: The Saker Blog and cross-posted at the Unz Review.

The first Taliban press conference after this weekend’s Saigon moment geopolitical earthquake, conducted by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, was in itself a game-changer.

The contrast could not be starker with those rambling pressers at the Taliban embassy in Islamabad after 9/11 and before the start of the American bombing – proving this is an entirely new political animal.

Yet some things never change. English translations remain atrocious.

Here is a good summary of the key Taliban statements, and

here (in Russian) is a very detailed roundup.

These are the key takeaways.

– No problem for women to get education all the way to college, and to continue to work. They just need to wear the hijab (like in Qatar or Iran). No need to wear a burqa. The Taliban insists, “all women’s rights will be guaranteed within the limits of Islamic law.”

– The Islamic Emirate “does not threaten anyone” and will not treat anyone as enemies. Crucially, revenge – an essential plank of the Pashtunwali code – will be abandoned, and that’s unprecedented. There will be a general amnesty – including people who worked for the former NATO-aligned system. Translators, for instance, won’t be harassed, and don’t need to leave the country.

– Security of foreign embassies and international organizations “is a priority.” Taliban special security forces will protect both those leaving Afghanistan and those who remain.

– A strong inclusive Islamic government will be formed. “Inclusive” is code for the participation of women and Shi’ites.

– Foreign media will continue to work undisturbed. The Taliban government will allow public criticism and debate. But “freedom of speech in Afghanistan must be in line with Islamic values.”

– The Islamic Emirate of Taliban wants recognition from the “international community” – code for NATO. The overwhelming majority of Eurasia and the Global South will recognize it anyway. It’s essential to note, for example, the closer integration of the expanding SCO – Iran is about to become a full member, Afghanistan is an observer – with ASEAN: the absolute majority of Asia will not shun the Taliban.

For the record, they also stated that the Taliban took all of Afghanistan in only 11 days: that’s pretty accurate. They stressed “very good relations with Pakistan, Russia and China.” Yet the Taliban don’t have formal allies and are not part of any military-political bloc. They definitely “won’t allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for international terrorists”. That’s code for ISIS/Daesh.

On the key issue of opium/heroin: the Taliban will ban their production. So, for all practical purposes, the CIA heroin rat line is dead.

As eyebrow raising as these statements may be, the Taliban did not even get into detail on economic/infrastructure development deals – as they will need a lot of new industries, new jobs and improved Eurasian-wide trade relations. That will be announced later.

The go-to Russian guy

Sharp US observers are remarking, half in jest, that the Taliban in only one sitting answered more real questions from US media than POTUS since January.

What this first press conference reveals is how the Taliban are fast absorbing essential P.R. and media lessons from Moscow and Beijing, emphasizing ethnic harmony, the role of women, the role of diplomacy, and deftly defusing in a single move all the hysteria raging across NATOstan.

The next bombshell step in the P.R. wars will be to cut off the lethal, evidence-free Taliban-9/11 connection; afterwards the “terrorist organization” label will disappear, and the Taliban as a political movement will be fully legitimized.

Moscow and Beijing are meticulously stage-managing the Taliban reinsertion in regional and global geopolitics. This means that ultimately the SCO is stage-managing the whole process, applying a consensus reached after a series of ministerial and leaders meetings, leading to a very important summit next month in Dushanbe.

The key player the Taliban are talking to is Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special presidential envoy for Afghanistan. In yet another debunking of NATOstan narrative, Kabulov confirmed, for instance, “we see no direct threat to our allies in Central Asia. There are no facts proving otherwise.”

The Beltway will be stunned to learn that Zabulov has also revealed, “we have long been in talks with the Taliban on the prospects for development after their capture of power and they have repeatedly confirmed that they have no extraterritorial ambition, they learned the lessons of 2000.” These contacts were established “over the past 7 years.”

Zabulov reveals plenty of nuggets when it comes to Taliban diplomacy: “If we compare the negotiability of colleagues and partners, the Taliban have long seemed to me much more negotiable than the puppet Kabul government. We proceed from the premise that the agreements must be implemented. So far, with regard to the security of the embassy and the security of our allies in Central Asia, the Taliban have respected the agreements.”

Faithful to its adherence to international law, and not the “rules-based international order”, Moscow is always keen to emphasize the responsibility of the UN Security Council: “We must make sure that the new government is ready to behave conditionally, as we say, in a civilized manner. That’s when this point of view becomes common to all, then the procedure [of removing the qualification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization] will begin.”

So while the US/EU/NATO flee Kabul in spasms of self-inflicted panic, Moscow practices – what else – diplomacy. Zabulov: “That we have prepared the ground for a conversation with the new government in Afghanistan in advance is an asset of Russian foreign policy.”

Dmitry Zhirnov, Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, is working overtime with the Taliban. He met a senior Taliban security official yesterday. The meeting was “positive, constructive…The Taliban movement has the most friendly; the best policy towards Russia… He arrived alone in one vehicle, with no guards.”

Both Moscow and Beijing have no illusions that the West is already deploying Hybrid War tactics to discredit and destabilize a government that isn’t even formed and hasn’t even started working. No wonder Chinese media is describing Washington as a “strategic rogue.”

What matters is that Russia-China are way ahead of the curve, cultivating parallel inside tracks of diplomatic dialogue with the Taliban. It’s always crucial to remember that Russia harbors 20 million Muslims, and China at least 35 million. These will be called to support the immense project of Afghan reconstruction – and full Eurasia reintegration.

The Chinese saw it coming

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saw it coming weeks ago. And that explains the meeting in Tianjin in late July, when he hosted a high-level Taliban delegation, led by Mullah Baradar, de facto conferring them total political legitimacy. Beijing already knew the Saigon moment was inevitable. Thus the statement stressing China expected to “play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan”.

What this means in practice is China will be a partner of Afghanistan on infrastructure investment, via Pakistan, incorporating it into an expanded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) bound to diversify connectivity channels with Central Asia. The New Silk Road corridor from Xinjiang to the port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea will branch out: the first graphic illustration is Chinese construction of the ultra-strategic Peshawar-Kabul highway.

The Chinese are also building a major road across the geologically spectacular, deserted Wakhan corridor from western Xinjiang all the way to Badakhshan province, which incidentally, is now under total Taliban control.

The trade off is quite straightforward: the Taliban should allow no safe haven for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), and no interference in Xinjiang.

The overall trade/security combo looks like a certified win-win. And we’re not even talking about future deals allowing China to exploit Afghanistan’s immense mineral wealth.

Once again, the Big Picture reads like the Russia-China double helix, connected to all the “stans” as well as Pakistan, drawing a comprehensive game plan/road map for Afghanistan. In their multiple contacts with both Russians and Chinese, the Taliban seem to have totally understood how to profit from their role in the New Great Game.

The extended New Axis of Evil

Imperial Hybrid War tactics to counteract the scenario are inevitable. Take the first proclamation of a Northern Alliance “resistance”, in theory led by Ahmad Masoud, the son of the legendary Lion of the Panjshir killed by al-Qaeda two days before 9/11.

I met Masoud father – an icon. Afghan insider info on Masoud son is not exactly flattering. Yet he’s already a darling of woke Europeans, complete with a glamour pose for AFP, an impromptu visit in the Panjshir by professional philosopher swindler Bernard-Henri Levy, and the release of a manifesto of sorts published in several European newspapers, exhibiting all the catchphrases: “tyranny”, “slavery”, “vendetta”, “martyred nation”, “Kabul screams”, “nation in chains”, etc.

The whole set up smells like a “son of Shah” [of Iran] gambit. Masoud son and his mini-militia are completely surrounded in the Panjshir mountains and can’t be de facto effective even when it comes to regimenting the under 25s, two-thirds of the Afghan population, whose main worry is to find real jobs in a nascent real economy.

Woke NATOstan “analyses” of Taliban Afghanistan don’t even qualify as irrelevant, insisting that Afghanistan is not strategic and even lost its tactical importance for NATO. It’s a sorry spectacle illustrating how Europe is hopelessly behind the curve, drenched in trademark neo-colonialism of the White Man’s Burden variety as it dismisses a land dominated by clans and tribes.

Expect China to be one of the first powers to formally recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, alongside Turkey and, later on, Russia. I have already alluded to the coming of a New Axis of Evil: Pakistan-Taliban-China. The axis will inevitably be extended to Russia-Iran. So what? Ask Mullah Baradar: he couldn’t care less.

Now, let's focus on China, as China will play a major role in this region.

Sitrep : Here comes China : Military Drills, Extortion, the ‘Religious Freedom Balkanization’ Plan for China

.

The main news of the day is the Biden administration’s effort to sell 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems, 1,698 precision guidance kits for munitions, spares, training, ground stations and upgrades for previous generation of howitzers, to the island of Taiwan in a deal worth up to $750 million. China is, to say the least, livid.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230698.shtml


Military Drills:

US ‘large-scale’ military exercises cannot scare China, Russia

The US has begun two “large-scale” military exercises. The first is a joint Indo-Pacific military exercise led by the US Indo-Pacific Command with the participation of Japan, Australia and the UK. The other is the “Large-Scale Exercise 2021” held by US Navy around the world and is reportedly the largest naval exercise since 1981. A US military scholar told media that it is intended to demonstrate to China and Russia that US naval forces can simultaneously meet challenges in the Black Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, South China Sea and East China Sea.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230616.shtml


More Military Drills:

Chinese, Russian militaries to hold joint drill in NW China

YINCHUAN — A joint military exercise by the Chinese and Russian armies will be held from Aug. 9 to 13 at a training base of the People’s Liberation Army in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

The exercise, named ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021, is the first joint military exercise held inside China since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the exercise’s leading group.

http://www.chinadailyglobal.com/a/202108/06/WS610c8415a310efa1bd667010.html


And more, an ongoing military drill from Friday to Tuesday

A large section of waters from Hainan to the Paracels has been cordoned off by China’s maritime authorities from Friday

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3144111/south-china-sea-are-carrier-killer-missiles-being-primed-pla


While we are right at the end of the Tokyo Olympics, the force is strong for canceling or otherwise interfering with the upcoming Beijing 2022 Games.

This is what Radio Free Asia (and people should recognize that for what it is), reports, and this is clearly within the human rights wars.

2021-07-27 — The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday said it had to “remain neutral” on global political issues in response to a request from the U.S. Congressional commission that asked it to postpone and relocate the 2022 Beijing Winter Games if China does not end its human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The reply came in response to a letter that the bipartisan U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) sent to IOC president Thomas Bach. The commission made the letter public on July 23.”

Despite these efforts to do something to China, anything, before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese are keeping cool:  “Off the field, observers noted that the success of the Tokyo Olympics under huge pressure is a desperately needed inspiration for the world. Tokyo’s experience in carrying out a major international event under such circumstances sets an example for next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, experts said. ”

United States blackmail.

And then during the time of writing, the news broke.  Part of the Xinjiang story, is pure hard blackmail:  the US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) blackmailed, bribed, and extorted a Chinese company and its US cooperative partner for $300,000 by threatening to hype up fabricated “forced labor” issues related to China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230759.shtml

The complete Xinjian story of forced labor, a genocide (with no dead people), prison camps et al is falling apart like an overripe watermelon that just smashed itself falling off the watermelon buggy and is not fit for eating any longer.


A MUST READ report…

While we are on the topic of extortion, Alex Rubinstein did some undercover work.

He says:

“Using a friend’s company on my application and adopting a fake persona, I attended a three-day summit on religious freedom where leading figures in the Democratic Party including Nancy Pelosi, USAID Director Samantha Power and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ...

...joined up with anti-gay Evangelicals, 
...a slew of shady NGOs and 
...multiple bonafide cults to ratchet up pressure against China.”:

From this ‘Davos of Religious Freedom’, we see top democrats, top republicans, the Christian far right, some clear cults, NGO’s with no history, and just about every anti-China organization in the world right across the spectrum.

The objective?  Balkanization under the guise of religious freedom as the new front in the new China cold war.

This report is incredibly detailed and would need some time to read through.

It is however recommended to understand the vast array of forces aligned in the new cold war against China.

https://realalexrubi.substack.com/p/top-democrats-unite-with-christian

More anti-China planning

And the 2nd part is out, titled: A Cult, a Fake Gov’t & US-funded NGOs Hold Panels Panning China…

https://realalexrubi.substack.com/p/cult-fake-govt-ngos


How the CIA infultrates China

And this is how medical philanthropy US to China actually operates:

https://saker.community/2021/08/02/tarnished-american-philanthropy-in-china/


So, what is happening in China?

Simply said, strong strong words. 

The recent visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, despite the usual initial nice and welcoming words apparently did not go down well.  “A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the talks were in-depth, frank, and beneficial to the relationship between the two countries.”

Days later the story changed materially.   “We will no longer make unilateral efforts to maintain the public opinion atmosphere in China-US relations. Using illegal sanctions as a pretext, the US, aided by Canada, has effectively kidnapped a high-ranking Chinese corporate official, Meng Wanzhou, and is still threatening her with possible imprisonment. No other nation behaves so brazenly in defiance of international norms.

“The basis for such changes is that Chinese society has become fed up with the bossy US and we hold no more illusion that China and the US would substantially improve ties in the foreseeable future.

The Chinese public strongly supports the government to safeguard national dignity in its ties with the US and firmly push back the various provocations from the US.

In the face of the malicious China containment and confrontational policy adopted by the two recent US administrations, the Chinese people are willing to form a united front, together bear the consequences of not yielding to the US, and win for the country’s future through struggles.

In other words, Chinese society would unconditionally support whatever tough counterattacks the Chinese government would launch in the face of US-initiated conflicts in all directions toward China.

The US should abandon forever the idea of changing China’s system and policies through sanctions, containment, and intimidation.

We hope US allies in the Asia-Pacific, especially Japan and Australia, can weigh the situation.

They should not act as accomplices of the US’ China containment policy and place themselves at the forefront of confronting China, or they are betting their own future.”

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229704.shtml

And this is the message that is still prevailing in China and internal to her people.

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou was in the dock in a Canadian court this last week but at the time of writing, I have not seen any reports.

Chinese Technology is amazing…

Check out this video…

Amazing!


Further details:

Far more world leaders visit China than America: “If leadership diplomacy was an Olympic sport, Beijing beats Washington to the gold medal.”

In 2019, 79 foreign leaders visited China, while only 27 called on the United States.

More world leaders have visited China than the United States in every year since 2013. Many US allies visited China more often than the United States, including those of South Korea, Germany, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and New Zealand.

Read full article →

South East Asian issues

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said ties with Southeast Asia are a priority for China and called for “multilateralism with Asian characteristics”, as the country seeks to counter US moves in the region.

“China has always made Asean its priority for diplomacy in the region … and firmly supports Asean’s central role in regional cooperation,” Wang said, according to the Chinese foreign ministry readout on Thursday.

“Both sides should conduct frequent communication on all levels, and continue with mutual understanding and support for each other’s core interests.”

Read full article $→ 

Strong arming failures

US drops visa fraud charge against Chinese researcher accused of hiding ties to Chinese military.

Days before trial was expected to start, US prosecutors ask judge to dismiss charge against cancer researcher Tang Juan.

Imagine that!

Federal agents said Tang allegedly sought refuge at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after they interviewed her at her home.

Read full article $→ 

More strong arming failures

The US dropped cases against five Chinese researchers accused of hiding ties to the Chinese military.

The China Initiative has raised concern about racial profiling of Asians, however, and led to calls for investigation into the DOJ’s conduct.

Judges had already dismissed parts of two cases after it was revealed FBI agents hadn’t properly informed them of their rights against self-incrimination.

Read full article $→

Trying to regulate into oblivion

U.S.-listed Chinese firms must disclose Chinese government interference risks. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that Chinese companies listed on U.S. markets must disclose the risks of the Chinese government interfering in their business as part of their reporting obligations.

Read full article $→

No overseas coal projects.

For the first time since 2013, China funded no overseas coal projects in H1. Last month, ICBC announced that it would begin to phase out coal project financing, and pulled out of a major $3 billion coal power plant project in Zimbabwe.

Then Beijing  published fresh guidelines encouraging overseas enterprises to invest in greener projects and dump environmentally risky ones.

Read full article →


Sitrep: Here Comes China: Giant Pandas, Elephants and Decoupling

Selections from Godfree Roberts’ extensive weekly newsletter: Here Comes China. You can get it here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe 

Further selections and editorial and geopolitical commentary by Amarynth.

Geopolitical moves:

Most of the geopolitical space was taken up by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.  Soon Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, moved in, boots ‘n all, with SCO.

http://thesaker.is/russia-china-advance-asian-roadmap-for-afghanistan/

North Korea and China

A geopolitical story of note is the confirmed friendship between Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un pledging to strengthen their friendly relations as they exchanged messages on the 60th anniversary of a bilateral landmark defense treaty.

Under the 1961 agreement, China and North Korea must automatically defend each other when one of them is attacked. Xi said he is ready to work with Kim to “take bilateral friendly cooperation to a new level and deliver more benefits to the two countries and two peoples.” 

Read full article $→

Huawei Kidnapping

Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case suffered a major blow.

A Canadian judge ruled that HSBC documents showing that US authorities had made selective, misleading and “outright false” claims about the Huawei CFO could play no part in the case.

[Ed: Under Hong Kong’s controversial extradition law one had to commit a crime. Under Canadian law one can be extradited if they “may” have committed a crime].

Read full article $→

Taiwan to be toast

On Taiwan, the Chinese have put down their red lines and a warning:  “We advise the US and the island of Taiwan not to misjudge the situation and not to underestimate our determination and will to punish their provocation. They must be prepared to face a sudden blow.”


Hey! Look what’s coming to Africa!

Well, I heard that President Biden is going to throw some more billions of dollars for more High Speed Train development in the United States. I am sure that the lawyers, the accountants, and the bankers are all very excited about the money. But look at what is going up in Africa…

Made by America? Nope. Made by China.

Two good-feel-good stories:

Pandas

Wild Giant pandas are no longer endangered, but they are still vulnerable with a population outside captivity of 1,800.

Authorities have expanded their habitats and replanted bamboo forests to feed them.

The number of Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, Asian elephants, and crested ibis has also “visibly increased” as a result of conservation efforts.

Read full article  →

Elephants

And those wandering elephants are still wandering.  Excepting western reporting considers this story as: “Cuddly elephants are the latest propaganda weapon in President Xi Jinping’s propaganda offensive to present a more ‘lovable’ global image of China.

The elephants are just one manifestation of Beijing’s decade-long obsession with boosting what it calls its ‘discourse power.’”  Sydney Morning Herald. 

Read full article →

I’ve seen western reporting say things like:  Marauding and destructive elephant herd in China demolishes the countryside.  So, now we know, even good-feel-good stories out of China are weaponized.

(Could we imminently expect a headline saying .. marauding Chinese elephants EAT pandas in JinJiang?  Xi Jingping personally responsible for giving the order.  For those who find themselves temporarily without a sense of humor, this is meant as humor although it illustrates the media from the west that will use anything and everything to continue the media war).  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0bf8y-Qbo0 


Business:

It is hard to choose what to put first from this growing Chinese juggernaut.  Let’s start with banks:

The world’s top banks are Chinese: ICBC, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China hold the top four positions for the fourth year in a row. ICBC has been at the top of the table for nine consecutive years.

Its Tier 1 capital has grown to $439.9bn, the highest individual bank total on record and a $59.7bn increase YoY.

Capital levels continue to grow significantly, up 18.6% YoY compared to the global average of 12.7%. They now account for 30% of global aggregate Tier 1 capital in the Top 1000 compared with 11% in 2011 and 5% in 2001.

Read full article →

Chinese GDP a growing

GDP grew 18.3% in Q1 and 12.7% in H1 YoY. Urban unemployment is 5%, and 6.98 million new urban jobs, 63.5 percent of the annual target, were created in the first half. Per capita disposable income increased 12.6% YoY.

Read full article $→

Chinese exports are up, up, up!

Exports up 32.2% in June, from 27.9% in May, YoY. Imports increased by 36.7% y/y last month, down from 51.1% y/y growth in May. The trade surplus was $51.5 billion in June, and to $45.5 billion in May.

Read full article $→

China trade with Europe

January – May, Chinese trade with Germany, $92.8 billion, grew 36% YoY and France $32.9 billion rose 44%. China has proposed cooperating with Germany and France for Africa’s development and aims to reopen investment deal with EU.

Read full article →

Six new projects

Six new projects broke ground at Gwadar Port, a flagship of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): a fertilizer factory, an animal vaccine factory, a lubricant factory and an exhibition center.

A 300MW imported coal power plant has been in construction since 2019 and the Power Purchase Agreement was signed earlier this year.  

Read full article  →

Didi Ride-share

Beijing’s investigation of Didi jolted global markets and tech startups canceled overseas IPOs. Keep, backed by SoftBank, Alibaba-backed medical data solutions provider, and Ximalaya, the podcast app, all canceled IPOs, admitting that regulators had discouraged them from listing overseas.

The Financial Times says the “debacle signals [the] end of [a] steady stream of New York listings for Chinese companies.”

Read full article $→

Wall-street hurting

China’s Tech Crackdown Hits Wall Street’s Wallet. U.S. listings of Chinese companies have accounted for nearly 8 percent of Goldman Sachs’s underwriting fees so far this year, and over 12% of underwriting revenue over the previous five years. Didi Chuxing is just the tip of the iceberg.

Read full article  →

Remember, the Chinese work together as one singular organism

You try to hurt it, and all Hell will break loose, the people in the United States and the West have absolutely no concept or idea of what they are going up against. It’s like those cocky Space Marines in Aliens II (the movie) and then were FUCKING slaughtered in three minutes.

The Chinese are not what everyone thinks.

The Chinese work together.

Compliance in China

A Global Times op-ed explains that Chinese tech companies are moving from an era of “barbaric growth” to an “era of compliance,” in which internet companies learn to observe domestic laws and regulations. China has long held restrictions on foreign investment but a loophole, called a VIE, allowed companies to bypass those rules. Chinese internet companies “should now step out of the gray area and move toward normalized corporate governance.

Read full article  →

Decoupling from the “West”

China seems intent on decoupling its companies from Western markets. The Economist. Nearly $2 trillion in shareholder wealth is on the line.

Read full article  $→

IPOs under investigation

How Chinese clampdown targets offshore listings: China’s securities regulator is setting up a team to review plans by Chinese companies for initial public offerings (IPOs) abroad, including those using a corporate structure that Beijing says has led to abuse.

Read full article  →

US continues to blacklist

In a separate act of decoupling, the U.S. Commerce Department today added 14 Chinese entities to its growing economic blacklist over their participation in “China’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high technology surveillance” in Xinjiang. The companies include AI and other tech firms based in Xinjiang, Beijing, and Chengdu.

Read full article $→

More YoY

Couriers delivered 49 billion pieces in H1, up 46% YoY, and added an average of 2 billion pieces of express delivery per month, with business volume approaching 10 billion in a single month, constantly hitting new record highs.

Read full article $→ 

TikTok

TikTok will stop requiring employees to work an extra day every two weeks, following a similar move by its local rival Kuaishou. Under the arrangement, workers were paid double their regular daily rate when working on weekends and triple during legal holidays, a bonus that some young professionals preferred to better work-life balance.

Read full article $→

Electric Vehicles

Two of China’s three best-selling electric vehicles in June were Shanghai-built Tesla models, shining a light on the U.S. automaker’s popularity in the world’s largest auto market despite recent setbacks there like a regulatory probe into the safety of its autopilot system.”

Read full article $→

Battery swapping centers

China is embarking on a building spree for battery swapping centers, as the nation’s network of swapping centers numbered 716 at the end of June, nearly three times the amount at the end of last year.

Read full article $→

Shanghai Microelectronics

Shanghai Microelectronics sells its 600/20 flagship lithography machine for 90 nm chips. By Q4, it will offer machines for 28 nm, replacements for ASML’s 1980Di machine and next year will offer 14 nm. machines. “China has world-class EDA(Electronic design automation) startups–companies with worldwide customers.”

Read full article $→

China Space……

For the SpaceONauts – China’s space sector is getting too big and too busy to report on in this Sitrep and magazine format and I’m sure there are media focused on the sector.  Just a little while ago, we have this reusable suborbital spacecraft with its successful first launch.  It leaves earth horizontally, and returns vertically, like an airplane.


China and Syria signs rebuilding and BRI investments

Until a little while ago, at the time of writing, this was a rumor.  Now it is fact.

Chinese FM arrives in Syria, meets officials and signs agreements

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2021/07/18/662478/Chinese-FM-arrives-in-Syria,-meets-officials-signs-agreements

China to help rebuild the Ukraine

There is another similar type of rumor, very small in the press as yet, that China is now active in the Ukraine in terms of rebuilding and perhaps farming contracts.  This is very small currently but keep your eyes open.

On these two items, one has to remember the ‘double helix’ of China and Russia.


This is but a fraction of what I gleaned from the Here Comes China newsletter.  Godfree has some delicious longer reads in his newsletter:   https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe

And if all this isn't enough, then let's start talking about America and how it fits with the changing global situation...

Lesser Evil Politics Assure Greater Evil Economics

By Frank Scott

A new American president is presenting a program for renewal of human values in the marketplace unheard of since the 1930s but still projecting American military domination and environmental destruction far beyond the awareness of most Americans.

Continued insistence that Russia and China are major global threats to everyone and not just American monopoly capitalists resonate not only in the cosmic void between the ears of our mentally disabled foreign policy experts but echo in the minds of innocent Americans since that’s all they get from major, and all too often minor media.

The charge that China is conducting genocide on its Islamic people coming from the butchers of hundreds of thousands of Islamic people in the middle east would be a dreadful sick joke if not so incredibly evil, but poor souls condemned to network media remain stuck in a misinformation chamber amplifying our ruling power’s message day in and day out.

The fact that growing majorities have little or no faith in government or media is a hopeful sign but until we totally clean out the sewage system much of corporate news has become, the stench that wafts up remains a carrier of the information pandemic.

While alleged economic threats from China actually do offer market competition to the empire ( and market competition is supposed to be good, according to the theology preached by the priest-rabbi-therapists of the church of capital ) and China is under the control of communists who at least try, not always with success, to force it to work for the common good and not just the minority of Chinese capitalists, why and how and to whom is that a threat?

Only to America where majorities exist in numbers of those in debt but never those who vote nationally.

This is called  “our” democracy by many wishful thinkers still unaware that the political process is owned and operated by the wealthiest minority, which spends billions to maintain political control by purchase and rental of candidates and office holders.

Citizens innocently proclaiming this hustle as “our” democracy are like past slaves referring to “our” plantation.

If they were the minority house negroes of the time they could afford such fantasy but the overwhelming majority who toiled in the fields and suffered the most brutal treatment had no such luxury.

And as if the treatment of these two powerful nations didn’t show enough imperial idiocy, that of a nearly helpless tiny nation currently, as usual, under assault, is greater indication of lunacy bordering on stark raving insanity.

After 60 years of a murderous attempted strangulation of the Cuban political economy, that tiny nation survives with the support of the overwhelming majority of governments on earth.

Recently at the United Nations 184 countries voted to end the filthy American embargo with only Murder Inc. headquartered in the USA and Israel still, as always out of step with the overwhelming majority while spouting humanitarian rhetoric and practicing murderous brutality.

This still finds well meaning people waving flags and quoting bibles and constitutions as though these fabled symbols clean up the reality of degenerate social practice as hypocritical as a rapist claiming victims only to assure they do not suffer sexual frustration.

The anti-Cuban lobby, second only to that of Israel in its control of American foreign policy, was originally a creature of the Cuban upper classes who escaped to Miami from the revolution that was working to spread education, jobs, health care and other necessities of life to the greatest number of people who had long been denied by American partnership with Cuban ruling power.

They loom large in the current scenario of an alleged uprising against the terror and horror of millions of people eating, going to school and getting health care despite the ugly embargo and other violent attempts to smother the island of 11 million so that capital might again profit from gambling and drugs, as it did before 1960.

Meanwhile, another bloody lie in Afghanistan has ended with the Taliban, the group we were allegedly protecting poor afghans from, has taken over the government of their own country.

This after billions have been spent and hundreds of thousands murdered in pursuit of profits while good people here have been fed stories about emancipating women and educating afghans to the joys of democracy like ours, where hundreds of thousands of Americans live in the street while we spend trillions to kill people and billions to care for pets.

And far beyond wretched national policies looms the global curse of what private profit industrial and war marketing are doing to the environment shared by humanity and not just one or anther national identity group often claiming super status with a special connection to deities ranging from Santa Claus to the Easter bunny for all they are worth in the material world.

Words about democracy are not balanced by deeds of mass murder, oppression and absolute support for rich minority rule that assures continued profit making from exploitation of workers whether they clean toilets, drive buses, pilot airplanes or walk dogs.

Like the sex workers who use their private parts to create private profits for their entrepreneurial pimps, those who create, package and deliver the consumer goods that are the foundation of the economy are doing it for the benefit of owners and investors rather than their own which would be far better served if they owned and ran the businesses they form the foundation for while others get rich on their labor.

Facing horrible news at what the future of humanity looks like under the environmental stress called climate change, more people than ever are working to end foul methods of economics that assure disaster for humanity but trying to do so while maintaining market rules of private profit assures further destruction or worse, simply throwing people out of work they do only to survive and thus destroy hope of survival.

The future must be to keep people alive by assuring the public good before any pursuit of private profit. We do not need professional economists to explain that capitalism is the only answer to social problems all the while collecting fat salaries and investment opportunities while society fails more quickly under their rule.

In truth, if workers are doing dirty work that affords them salaries so they can pay their rent, mortgages and other life supports, but it costs society billions to have to clean up the mess they create, we would all best be served by paying them to not go to work.

We’d be saving the billions we’d have to spend to clean up the mess they created in service to private profiteers and assure their survival by using those mammoth savings to help them learn and get better jobs for them and everyone else, that serve all of us and not simply minority investors.

As the world grows more threatened and conditions become more dangerous with the USA holding several hundred military bases in foreign countries and surrounding Russia and China with troops and war ships, immediate action must be taken to both confront environmental conditions that threaten us all and war like preparations that are profitable to a criminal minority while threatening the planet and all its people.

In short, we need global democratic communism before anti-social capitalism destroys us all.

email: fpscott@gmail.com Frank Scott writes  political commentary and satire which appears online at the blog Legalienate  http://legalienate.blogspot.com)  

Let’s not forget the Amazing HST that has revolutionized China, and is now changing all of Asia…

Video of Chinese HST. Good watch.

Now, let’s move on to the biggest project of the century; the BRI…

The Belt and Road Initative

From my mail box by [redacted].

Here we focus on making people understand that the Belt & Road Initiative is the Endeavor of the Century.

And it’s not a small task with the pervasive anti-China propaganda.
Why ? because the BRI will decrease poverty, will open perspectives, will connect lands & seas, will create bonds between nations, will provoke many occasions to work together and learn from each other personally, will boost education (technical & philosophical).
.
Yes, capitalists & upper class people (Americans, Chinese, Russians, Iranians, Europeans, Japanese, Indians, Pakistanis, Koreans, Africans, Latin Americans, Down Under-ians etc.) will profit more, so what ?! They got the money and the organization ! Let’s be realistic !
.
A bit of Real Politik, please, as Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin said to Angela Merkel at the occasion of her valedictory visit to him. If this project, which is supposed to be finished in 2049, (for the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China) can achieve only 50 % of its potential, the World will not be a paradise but it will be a much much better place because true, physical development will be possible for so many people on Earth. Imagine it as a Marshall Plan to the square.
True development means first and foremost public utilities and infrastructures (clean water, power grids, roads & bridges, schools buildings etc.). I think it was Lenin who said that the Bolshevik Revolution is the power of the Soviets plus the electrification of Russia.
According to an article by MK Bhadrakumar, a former Indian diplomat, the total amount of money injected in the BRI projects to now is in the order of 4 trillions, with a “t” !
Imagine the 2.2 trillions wasted in Afghanistan and the 5.7 trillions lost in Irak channeled to infrastructural, health & educational (all levels) improvements in the USA !
China became Europe’s first commercial partner this year with exchanges worth almost one trillion, with a “t”.
Speaking of Europe, Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek Finance minister can testify to the unexpected and respectful Chinese interventions in the so-called Greek crisis within the framework of the Belt & Road Initiative.
It is obvious that we need to be aware of the ecological dimension and many industrial projects were utterly careless for our natural environment but the Climate Change narrative and Green narrative are fabrications to brainwash in order not to allow true and respectful of nature development. Watch Professor William Happer’s video or for those speaking French, François Gervais’s videos.
As Vijay Prashad said rightly, in the mind of the Crusaders, most of the Planet are pools of slaves and microscopic pockets of house niggers/ching-chongs/wogs/snow white house niggers (if you want a nicer, politically correct ,acceptable & respectful expression:compradore bourgeoisie) for them to use & abuse so they can live the high life. Of course, a global project for true and solid development like the Belt & Road Initiative
(development of the mind & true industrialization)
is absolutely anathema to them.
.
What is happening now in the West is the slow ( maybe not so slow) motion of the plutocrats to crush the offspring of the middle class created post 1945 because even the crumbs they “gave” your parents cannot be “given” to you anymore since new poles of power re-emerged, depriving them (relatively for now but the tendency will increase with time) of guaranteed long term slave laborers and cheap natural resources so they want to “give” even less here because in THEIR SYSTEM, the profits are less.
.
In technical words, that’s the system of empire or the British system (aka closed paradigm) the eternal foe of the open paradigm or the American System of Physical Economy (and true development) by Henry Charles Carey (1793-1879) who was also the economic adviser to President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
I want to remind everyone of Jeff’s 6 E s describing the PBC’s  (Psychopathic Barbarian Crusaders) usual modus operandi : Extortion, Extraction, Expropriation, Enslavement, Evangelization & Extermination.
I would like to remind everyone a conversation between Roman historian Tacitus (56-c.120) and his father-in-law, the general Agricola (40-93). Agricola was at the time of the chat governor of the province of Britain, he was looking in the direction of Ireland and confided to his son-in-law his wish to conquer it.
.
Tacitus replied it would be a loss for the empire since those barbarians are not even fit to be trained as slaves. Agricola said that Tacitus was naive because to leave a pocket of freedom is a danger for Rome, it would give a small hope to the subjugated people. The English oligarchy learned from the “right” people !
Exploitation & Intimidation form an eternal pair.
.
But in an open paradigm, that mentality of false scarcity for justifying oligarchical control will not be accepted.
.
For those who can’t stand Lyndon Larouche (1922-2019), be informed that he was a genius and a philosopher king, without a crown like Confucius (551 BCE-479 BCE) and Plato (427 BCE- 347 BCE). The mere fact that the oligarchy felt the need to fabricate a sordid story of stolen documents to convict him to years of hard labor speaks volumes.
.
He also predicted the 2008 crisis years in advance, not a small feat since most of the garden variety economists were clueless, I don’t even think they were  bought off, I would grant them too much brain by adhering to such a hypothesis… Larouche might sound a little bit granddiloquent in certain speeches but it was the natural expression of a man confident in the quality of his mind because he truly developed it.
.
Last but not least, he insisted on exposing the epistemological warfare, denouncing the dionysian sex, drug and rock’nd roll “culture”, skillfully and surreptitiously downgrading the possibilities of the human mind, making people easier to corral.
.
The Frankfurt school, the ‘societal’ changes, the ‘ecological’ battles were all used as red herrings to the true socio-economic struggles. Mai 68 in France was a color revolution to get rid of Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), try to explain that to a Parigot bobo completely brainwashed by the contemporary doxa !
.
His analysis of Universal History is outstanding. Webster Tarpley, a brilliant historian having writtten ” 9-11, terror made in USA ” has been part of his organization.
.
For those having difficulties to watch “The Revival of the American System with Chinese Characteristics”, I suggest 12 sessions of 5 minutes. I’m not being sarcastic, sometimes simplistic means can give great results…
To recapitulate, if you are not filthily rich or do not wield formidable power (meaning you don’t have money to give or positions to offer) but are willing to devote some time in order to be useful for the cause of an advanced & refined mankind :
.
FOCUS  ON PROMOTING THE BELT & ROAD INITIATIVE AND TRY TO EDUCATE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE ON EPISTEMOLOGICAL WARFARE
.
Which is (the worst form of slavery is the mental form, please remember Plato’s allegory of the Cave and don’t forget one of the six E s is Evangelization) because both are powerful multi-generational (not only do we need to understand Real Politik but also that a great Endeavor will take the efforts of many people over more than one generation) tools to escape the clutch of the imperial aka British system.

And a message for all thos neocons who wants World War III with China & Russia…

Things are not going to happen as you think.

Never forget that the Chinese are super patriotic

If you try to hurt the Chinese now, they will SLIT YOUR FUCKING THROAT.

Of course, there is no one at the helm in the United States these days. What ever professional diplomatic corps that used to exist has been sacked and replaced with toadies who are just political donors. And they have no concept of the shit-load of trouble that they are walking into.

It absolutely reminds me of the Hungarian and Polish leadership that tried to take on Genghis Khan and his hordes of blood-thirsty killers.

Here’s a Chinese preschool.

Do not mess with the Chinese.

Now, a few years older. Here’s a video of Chinese “cub scouts” (Optional in Elementary School)…

Elementary School.

Next a video of Chinese Middle School Students (Mandatory. Everyone in China get’s this training.). When a kid is in middle school, they must attend Summer training at different levels. They make up the basis for the conscript army.

Chinese mandatory Middle School Training.

Next a video of some Chinese Para-Military. There are all sorts of para-military forces embedded within China. This group is a regulatory arm of the Corruption Police. Of course, they are all trained in the warrior arts.

Chinese Paramilitary.

Next video shows some of what China’s professional warrior class can do. China is hardly a “peasant army fielding old AK-47 clones”.

China’s professional warriors.

And of course, everyone knows that China is no match for America’s professional military with it’s “Warrior Culture”, massive numbers of high-technology weapons, and the “never-give-up-Rambo spirit!

China is no match for America.

Anyways, here’s some topical links.

Topical Links

sayed salahuddin @sayedsalahuddin - 11:59 UTC · 22 Aug 2021

Almost all parts of Afghanistan enjoying peace for a week now after over 42 years of war, but Kabul airport has become the most violent part.

Conclusion!

We went from the history behind Afghanistan and the various military empires that tried to conquer it, to the gnashing of the teeth and wailing of the American cheerleaders who are in shock and pain.

Then, we started to review how this obscure nation fit in with the global power play and that means the “collective West” and Asia. Where “Asia” is China, Iran and China together.

Then, if that isn’t enough…

…we see that China continues to grow.

And even though the “news” about China is all doom and gloom…

… no one in the “West” has any idea of what a force China is right now, and how insurmountable a united Asia is against the fat, weak, corrupt United States and it’s vassals.

There is no question that for the twenty years that the United States has been in Afghanistan not one American leader read any history…

… not one American diplomat or military general or expert had any idea about what was actually going on in that section of the globe.

And since Afghanistan was such an enormous drain in money, resources, and “news”, once can only imagine the poverty of United States ability in other Geo-political arenas.

The best thing for the United States to do right now is to die quietly in a hole somewhere and allow the rest of the world to carry on.

Provocative?

Yes, I suppose, but it is accurate.

Proud transgender American military.

We know that with the enormous outlay of military funding that the United States fully plans to engage China in a serious war. And they plan to do it not only in the South China Sea, but on Chinese soil. This will not work out the way that everyone plans.

As I have said before, China is a serious, serious nation, that does not play.

Video of the future of Africa with Chinese help.

China is a serious serious nation that does not play.

Read my Deagel reports, if you don’t know what I am talking about. Right there is everything that you need to know about the future of the world. And what you can do about your little part of it.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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Articles & Links

Master Index

.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

Someone Else is on The Moon by George Leonard (Full text in PDF)

The following is the full text of the late 1970’s paperback book titled “Someone else is on the moon”, by George Leonard. It is provided here for free in PDF format.

Few people noticed the secret codewords used by our astronauts to describe the moon. Until now, few knew about the strange moving lights they reported.

George H. Leonard, former NASA scientist, fought through the official veil of secrecy and studied thousands of NASA photographs, spoke candidly with dozens of NASA officials, and listened to hours and hours of astronauts' tapes.

Here, Leonard presents the stunning and inescapable evidence discovered during his in-depth investigation:

-Immense mechanical rigs, some over a mile long, working the lunar surface.

-Strange geometric ground markings and symbols.

-Lunar constructions several times higher than anything built on Earth.

-Vehicles, tracks, towers, pipes, conduits, and conveyor belts running in and across moon craters.

Somebody else is indeed on the Moon, and engaged in activities on a massive scale. Our space agencies, and many of the world's top scientists, have known for years that there is intelligent life on the moon.

"An extremely convincing case the moon has life on it - an intelligent race that probably moved in from outside the solar system..." -UFO Report

"Leonard's photos are truly mind-boggling..." -Publisher's Weekly

This is an interesting book. I can tell you that. I believe that I read it back when I was in College. Not that I was assigned books to read, like the rest of my friends. My courses were all heavy mathematics and physics. So to unwind, I would read all sorts of paper-books. And this was one such book.

It’s a great fun read, and he’s a searcher who has stumbled across some uncomfortable truths got got him ridiculed. Well, so what?

To download the book click on the link below…

I am going to put this article in my Type-1 Greys sub index because I really don’t know where else to put it.

To can visit that Index here…

Type-1 Grey

.

Articles & Links

Master Index

.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

 

Glimpses of the part of the Middle East that the United States did NOT destroy for democracy, and freedom

For the last 75 years, the United States Military Empire has been on a rampage attacking and waging wars, either overt, or covert all over the globe. It would utterly destroy it’s “enemies” and ignore it’s “friends”. And now today, we see the end result of this activity. Of the many, many trillions of dollars over the last 75 years dedicated to destruction and death, the American people live in squalor, destitution and poverty. A full 61% are so poor that they don’t pay any taxes, and in America that’s pretty darn poor!

America taxes everything.

Meanwhile, those nations who have been unscathed by the sheer might of the massive bloated gargantuan military wrecking ball, are unscathed. We can see China prospering. We can see Russia prospering. We can see prosperity all over the globe. And in this article we will look at the portions of the Arab world that the United States spared from destruction.

The following are some clips from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and a few other nearby nations. They are not only doing well, but they are oozing with wealth and success.  Watch the videos. Really look at them.

This SHOULD be what America is, but isn’t.

Instead, the “leaders” decided to squander the wealth, knowledge, skills and resources of America towards the destruction of others. And listen to me, it’s all gonna come back in full force. The USA is not stopping. They are not turning off the “war machine”. Instead, they are gearing up to fight China and Russia.

Idiotic fools.

Don’t Forget Land Wars in Asia. “You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is to never get involved in a land war in Asia.”. This humorous quote from the film The Princess Bride has become received wisdom, echoed by no less than my former boss, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2011.

Anyways, look at these videos.

This is what America could have been, but isn’t because not only have the leadership failed Americans, but the entire system of government has been corrupted beyond repair. America will NEVER ever look like these videos. Simply because the current structure will never permit it to occur.

America is a nation for the rulers. Only for the rulers.

So suck in the videos and look at what you should be living. But which the government and your “leaders” discarded when they said “no soup for you!”.

In the November 2nd, 1995 Seinfeld episode “The Soup Nazi”, the main characters check out a local soup shop with an incredibly strict chef (played by Larry Thomas) who is nicknamed “Soup Nazi” for his rules about ordering. After Elaine Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) attempts to subvert his ordering procedure, the chef utters the statement, banning her from the shop for an entire year.

The Videos

Final Thoughts

The common narrative in the United States is that the Middle East is rich and wealthy simply because they have a lot of oil.

This is all a big enormous lie.

If it were true, then everyone in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas would be millionaires. Nope. Something else is going on.

But what is it?

It’s a complicated issue with no clear answers, but the question still exists.

Why are the people who live in oil-rich Pennsylvania so poor, while those that live in oil-rich Middle East so wealthy?

I argue that it is like comparing apples to bananas. There’s all sorts of other issues complicating the matter. But I will posit that the society and the government that serves that society is the primary culprit.

  • Society
  • Government
  • Laws, rules, regulations = Graft and Corruption

Pennsylvania is a “democracy” in name, but functionally an oligarchy of the wealthy out of Philadelphia.

As such, they have created a stratified society where any wealth and benefits flow upwards, and those that exist and toil on the land are treated as serf / slaves. For the vast bulk of Pennsylvania citizenry, they live in cheap housing (mostly trailer parks), farm or work the oil and coal fields, and live off supporting government handouts.

Many rural Pennsylvanians live on oil and coal rich lands, but own no mineral rights. Instead they labor by mining them, are taxed for the labor, and the profits flow to the Pennsylvania oligarchy in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile you have places like Dubai which is in the United Arab Emirates. It has a government structure similar to that of Chinese “Communism with Chinese Characteristics”.

The President of the Federation is elected by a body known as the Supreme Council of Rulers. The Supreme Council is the top policy-making body in the UAE, and the President and Vice President are both elected from its membership for renewable five-year terms. Which is nearly identical to that of China.

They manage the nation based upon the well being of the vast and diverse citizenry. They do not manage it in favor of a select few, like it is done in the United States.

As such, but China, and the UAE are wealthy, prosperous, and thriving. When wealthy people start to get out of line, like we saw in China, or Saudi Arabia, the “corruption police” step in and stops their influence.

But that is one part of the equation.

Of the United States “War on Terror”, the indiscriminate bombing and destruction of those nations were all for the benefit for the American oligarchy. Not for the citizenry. After all, the local gas station owner, or the grocer or butcher, that school bus driver or the pastor at the local church really did not benefit one penny from the destruction of Syria.

Did they now?

No.

But, that’s where all the funds went.

Funds that could have improved the roads, funds that could have improved the schools. Funds that could have reduced taxes. Funds that should have been used to expand businesses. No.

It went to destroying things.

Here’s Syria after America saved it for democracy™ and freedom™.

America destroyed Syria.

Now the “news” media (and they are a de facto branch of the government today) is trying to spin the rapid American military escape from Afghanistan as a mistake…

…and the poor Afghanistan citizens will now look forward to a life of horror and squalor. “Oh, what about the children?” they wail on the “news” 24/7.

Nonsense!

Afghanistan and it’s neighbors.

Right now, those in Afghanistan see that they too can have prosperity and a solid and stable society. They see the prosperity of the Uighur Muslims in China (no, you won’t ever read about this in the Western press, but it exists never the less) and the stability of Iran and Pakistan.

They want that.

They can see it.

The Uighur Muslims are thriving in China. While the Afghanistan people suffered under the boot of America.

I think that empire will continue to pull tricks out of their ass to try and regain control of the global narrative, if not in Afghanistan, then elsewhere. We have a global cult who have been in control of society in the West for hundreds of years and I haven't seen any white flags being raised from their corner.

So, Afghanistan is going to join the multi-polar world and slough off the jackboot of empire. Lets hope the Taliban understand the example they are setting for the rest of the jackbooted world. I expect their living through 40+ years of conflict has sharpened their focus on reality quite well. I expect the reality they build will shatter some of the delusions of the West and its about time, IMO

Where is our civilization war going to rear its ugly head next?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 21 2021 16:37 utc | 7

Crunch!

Here’s what the Afghanistan people see right over their border inside of China. This is what they see

Yes.

They see growth. They see prosperity. They see happiness.

They see their traditions not only upheld, but codified into law. They see a world that they want to be part of.

They see a world that they can be part of.

They see a world that they want to be a part of…

China wants Afghanistan to prosper.

And so does everyone else in the region.

Central Asian countries. The SCO. 
Military bases and relations with the USA
 
 
Kyrgyzstan
Since 2014, the USA used the Manas Air Base (unofficially Ganci Air Base) near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The American troops vacated the base in 2020. It was handed over back to the Kyrgyzstan military. 

The Russian military base, a stone's throw from the former US military base, is still there.
  
Kazakhstan
On 02.06.2020   President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared that construction of a US military base in Kazakhstan is out of question. 

"The contract with the US biolab facility in Almaty expired and the Americans left the reference laboratory, only Kazakhstani specialists work there at the expense of our budget. Given the relevance of research in this area, we are ready for the most transparent cooperation with Russian specialists," Tokayev said. 
 
Uzbekistan
10.05.2021   As per the administration of US President Joe Biden, it would be best to deploy troops in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which border Afghanistan, which allows the US to quickly get into Afghanistan if necessary. However, the constitution of Uzbekistan does not provide for the deployment of foreign military bases and facilities in the country, the press service of the Uzbek Defence Ministry told RIA Novosti.
 
Turkmenistan
The United States has a small Air Force team, normally around seven airmen, who assist US aircraft to refuel at Ashgabat Airport, as part of this rebuilding and stabilizing effort for Afghanistan. Turkmenistan allows the US overflights of humanitarian cargo in support of stabilizing and rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan.
 
Tajikistan
There ain't no US military bases in Tajikistan. Tajikistan is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and hosts a Russian military base. From all the countries in Central Asia, Tajikistan has the frostiest relations with the United States. It's never gonna happen.
  
Pakistan
As Washington looks for options post-Afghanistan withdrawal, Islamabad isn’t going to roll out the red carpet. "Don’t Expect Pakistan to Host US Military Bases"  Imran Khan, PM of Pakistan said on 09.06.2021
  
Afghanistan
After the chaotic US military retreat from Afghanistan on 15.08.2021, Afghanistan is lost forever.

SCO
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental international organization founded in Shanghai on 15.06.2001 by six countries: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.The SCO is an Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance. Currently, the main focus is on exchange of military and intelligence information.  Observer countries are: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia. Partner countries are: Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijian, Cambodja, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey.Iran announced that all political obstacles are resolved for getting a full member of the SCO. The SCO countries represent half of the global population. (Compare that to NATO countries: 950 million people, 1/8 of the world population)

And with oil lines flowing through Afghanistan into China, the entire region is poised for great “Dubai style” wealth and prosperity.

Oil induced prosperity for Afghanistan.

The only way for the world to prosper is to recognize that the systems, used for centuries, that permits the wealthy to come and say into power is not healthy and must be discarded.

What is needed are new systems of governance and new ways of doing things so that the evil, the corrupt, and the mentally ill never ever, EVER get an opportunity to come near any kinds of power ever again.

The future of the health of the world is at stake.

Postscript

And forget about the West trying to keep war alive in Afghanistan. The UK efforts fell completely apart.

That a connection to a neighboring country would help the insurgents is, in my opinion, a misperception. Russia and China would come down hard on, for example Uzbekistan, if it would allow its border to be used to support the insurgency. Every neighbor country of Afghanistan now has an interest in a united Afghanistan at peace. That is why any insurgency against the Taliban will have no chance.

The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan agrees.

And this telling comment…

As long as the Taliban NEVER reopen the US embassy and also ban all the same western NGOs Russia and China have, any color revolutions are doomed to fail.

Posted by: Mar man | Aug 21 2021 16:41 utc | 8

What China is currently doing in Africa is very, very possible in Afghanistan. And the entire world knows this (with the exception of American and their “allies”). Just like China is building houses, roads, infrastructure all over Africa, it will do so in a stable INDEPENDENT Afghanistan.

This is in Africa TODAY…

And China has changed the entire world.

They are smart, talents, organized, and have the backing of the biggest most powerful military (Russia plus China) on the planet.

They are not stopping for shit!

And they are making the world a better place for EVERYONE.

And those wealthy few do not like this one bit, and they would rather destroy the entire world rather than relinquish one tiny iota of control. But they have never seen such an organized, powerful force before.

Afghanistan has. They see. They see how their Uighur brothers and sisters are doing, and they want that in THEIR lives.

And they will be working with China in the years and decades forward…

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An exploration of what it is like to live in Cambodia as a Chinese security professional

You know, all that you get out of the American “news” is manipulation, and fear mongering. Meanwhile the rest of the world continues to live, exist and prosper. One of those nations is Cambodia. It is a pretty poor nation, but it is growing.

Americans (and Europeans) might have noticed a “blip” on the media last year when Cambodia refuted all efforts by Mike Pompeo to absorb it into the American proxy military sphere. They wanted no part of that. Not only did they say so, but they bulldozed all the structures that the United States built for the nation as a symbol of “good will”. As well as capturing and ejecting the NGO “regime change” forces that were mobilizing to cause strife and discord.

Cambodia wants no part of that.

And it was a top-down decision.

Cambodia is next door to China, and China wants to help them develop. In the eyes of China, it is in their advantage to be surrounded by prosperity and happiness. When nations and people are happy and prosperous, there isn’t strife or conflict. Which is the exact opposite of what the United States has been doing over the last 75 years.

What an idea!

Surround yourself with good healthy societies, and then you interact and trade with them. Let them live their lives as they see fit.

Imagine that!

Here’s some short movie clips taken by a Chinese man (and his family) living in Cambodia. It is part of a private security force that attends important Cambodian officials. You will see scenes from city life, rural life, social life, and work life in the clips.  You will also notice that Cambodia uses American currency, and that the country is very, very poor.

You will also note that these clips are banned in the United States for some unknown reason. The American version of Tictok has banned this and some other sites from Cambodia.

I have no clue as to why.

I hope that watching these clips helps give you, the reader, an appreciation of other nations, other cultures and other ways of life. And no, it’s not at all like America. And perhaps that’s a good thing, don’t you know.

Start with the first video and then go down the list one by one. Most are very short, and easy to download and view.

The videos…

Conclusion

This was a little excursion out of the main stream media echo chamber and narrative. Never paid too much attention to Cambodia, eh? Well, that’s the way it is. There are all sorts of places all over the globe living life. These places live outside of the narrative of fear and manipulation.

So, in this instance, turn off the “news” about Afghanistan and how the world is collapsing in that section of the world. It isn’t. The American military presence left and they are sorting out the vacuum left behind. And I’ll tell you this, they want to be recognized as a stable and productive nation. Not an outlier.

So don’t believe the “news”.  Look around you. Look at what is going on elsewhere. Pay attention to things the media is not reporting on.

Smile.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Happiness Index here…

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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Glossary related to world-line templates and the true nature of the MWI

This article describes a visualization method that is very helpful in understanding how our universe (reality) actually works. This is not the only method to describe how things work, but I like to think that it is the best one for me personally, and so I have been using it for some time now. Most people tend to pick-up on it’s idea and concept rather readily, and thus it’s really very useful. In this article we will go into more detail on how this visualization method works.

I also get into a glossary of terms that I have been using over these years.

中文翻译

Introduction

The MWI is this big universe of possibilities. And each possibility is a frozen moment (in time) that our consciousness visits momentarily.

So, in reality, our consciousness is constantly moving in and out of different realities. And since each reality is it’s own singular world-line, we can say that we are moving in and out of different world-lines.

Step by step

When a consciousness is injected into our (personal) reality, it enters a (some what) fated life. We do have the illusion of freedom of movement and thought, but in reality there are actually limitations all around us.

The baby enters the world. It cannot walk, speak, crawl or do much of anything. It lies there in it’s crib. Certainly, it might be able to crawl to the edge of the crib, crawl up the side, and get out of the crib.

Let’s look at what this would look like.

The baby obtains consciousness

At some point, the infant will obtain consciousness. For some it is inside the mother. For others it is after being physically birthed. And for many, the consciousness comes and goes in and out of the physical body until it settles in place.

And on the world-line template map, it will look something a little like this…

Birth.

The first few minutes

In the first few minutes, days, months, the freedom of movement is very limited. The consciousness is just learning how to get around. It is just learning how to use it’s body. So there are actual physical limitations that it can do. This is it’s fate.

However, if it pushed itself, and it strove to overcome, it could roll, crawl, move and do other things that are very difficult to do.

Now these things that are very difficult to do are shown on the template map as hills and mountains.

Using the Z-axis we can say that the higher the “mountain”, the harder the effort. While the shallower the depression, the easier the effort.

From the baby point of view it might look like this…

Next steps.

And that is the way it is

As time moves on, the consciousness moves around on this template map. Depending on the personality of the consciousness, it will either take the easy route (which is a fated, go along with the herd mentality), or will become a “hard driver”, pushing and striving to “climb those hills”.

There are many aspects to this. But for now, let’s consider the idea that when you are born, the selection of the pre-birth world-line template will pretty much define your future. You will enter a fated future, and if you did absolutely nothing your future will be as predictable as anything.

But, if you decide to climb “those hills and mountains”, what then?

Climbing out of the crib.

And this is the point of this article

The height of the “mountains” is a measure of effort and deviance from the comfortable normalcy of your pre-birth world-line template. As you move away from the “flat, safe” median, you will (by definition) change.

And, as we all know, change is a good thing.

And change will alter the geography of your pre-birth world-line template.

But…

For most people the changes will not be significant. That is to say that the pre-birth world-line template will still stay pretty much the same. You will “climb that mountain” and then discover other areas that would otherwise be forbidden for you to go to otherwise. However, you would still be on that pre-birth world-line template.

Movement up those mountains tends not to alter the pre-birth world-line template.

But it does build up “something”

In the quantum world, everything is connected, and all efforts are significant, no matter how tiny or seemingly insignificant.  And yes, the movement upwards up the mountains will tend to change the topography of the template somewhat. It will end up making is “softer”, more “gradual”, and “easier”. But none of this is of real significance to the observer.

In other words, the more “mountains” you climb, the “softer” the terrain becomes.

So what is the point?

If you try to push and strive to do the more or less uncomfortable things in your life, you will actually, in the long term, make your life run smoother.

Instead of always going to and from work in your car, how about taking a little detour one day, and pulling into a diner and getting their blue plate special. It’s not a real mountain, but it’s a sizable hill. And it will make a difference.

If you always go and get McDonald’s coffee and then come home, how about next time bringing a creamer and a stirrer for your little kitties at home.

When you have a coffee, how about bringing some home for your kitty.

If you always eat at that restaurant down the street and order the food that you have become comfortable with, how about trying a different restaurant elsewhere. Maybe you will not like the food. So what? The mere fact that you step outside of the limitations of comfort means that you are climbing those hills.

And it doesn’t have to be hard, difficult, or distasteful either. It just should be different…

If you want change, then get out of your comfort zone…

Which pretty much is a central theme in all of this.

It doesn’t need to be much. But any change is good because it means that you are moving away from the common, and towards more interesting objectives.

I would suggest small steps…

If you are wearing a corporate uniform of a white shirt and a red tie, then replace one of the white buttons on the shirt with a green one. (Oh, boy! Will that make a difference!)
.
Go to a animal shelter and adopt another furry friend to your household.
.
Go one week soda free (if your habit is to drink soda).
.
If you always use the regular gas, next time put high-test in the car. Go with the "good stuff".
.
Buy a cup of coffee for a co-worker.
.
Put a thank-you note in your mailbox for the mailman. (Mail-person?)
.
Add some "whimsy" to your front lawn, or change the paint on your front door. Make it bright Red, or Pista.chio, or Robin's egg blue.
.
Plant a tree in your yard.
.
Visit a place that you haven't been to "in ages".

You see, it’s not that difficult to make changes. You just need to try something new and different.

OK. So now the glossary

I have come to bantering these terms so often that new-comers are often very confused. I think that  glossary would be in order.

Time

Time does not really exist. Instead, what we refer to as “time” is actually the events that a consciousness experiences. It wakes up, brushes it’s teeth, eats breakfast, gets in the car… and so on and so forth.

That is what the consciousness experiences.

It is a straight “arrow of time” starting with getting up, and all the subsequent events. It is unique to the consciousness experiencing it.

Every consciousness experiences their very own versions of “time”. And there is no real unified time. Rather just the unified (apparently) measurement of it. With clocks, watches, etc.

Life-Line

A “life-line” is a collection of experiences that a consciousness has. As the consciousness moves in and out of individual moments of time, it creates a path. This path looks like a vector. It starts at the moment of birth and ends at the moment of death.

Time-Line

A “Time-Line” is ALMOST the same thing as a “Life-Line”.

Except that the Life-Line encompasses the entire realm of experiences from birth to death, whereas a “Time-Line” is a much shorter period and may or may not include birth or death events.

World-Line

A “world-line” is a frozen moment. Nothing moves. Nothing goes on. It’s just like a photograph. Only it is a 3D photograph of the entire universe.

The term “world-line” comes from Science Fiction novels and movies. These fictions depict another reality that differs from the one that the person was just in. As example, in “Back to the future II”, a pair of time-traveling explorers alter history, with horrible consequences.

Back to the Future II.

As far as using the world-line map template, each intersection point, dot or globe represents one such world-line. As in this here…

This is what a world-line is.

World-Line Cluster

As the consciousness travels on the MWI it does so based upon it’s thoughts. If others share the same thoughts, they travel the MWI in a similar manner.

If you map out the Time-Lines of people who are sharing similar thoughts, you will find that they seem to travel together, and they seem to experience the same World-lines.

This is known as clustering.

Echo Chamber

If you only listen to a certain type of “news”, and only receive your input from others that agree with you, the thoughts that you have will be reinforced into one set staid narrative. You will be unable to think other thoughts. And as such, your thoughts will be controlled by whomever, or whatever controls the narrative that you are immersed in.

This environment; a closed environment where your thoughts are set to a “conformist setting” within that environment is dangerous. It locks your path and travel in the MWI to a set route.

In discussions of news media, an echo chamber refers to situations in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal. By participating in an echo chamber, people are able to seek out information that reinforces their existing views without encountering opposing views, potentially resulting in an unintended exercise in confirmation bias. Echo chambers may increase social and political polarization and extremism. 

-Wikipedia

MWI

The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts that the universal wavefunction is objectively real, and that there is no wavefunction collapse. 

This implies that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realized in some "world" or universe. 

In contrast to some other interpretations, such as the Copenhagen interpretation, the evolution of reality as a whole in MWI is rigidly deterministic. 

Many-worlds is also called the relative state formulation or the Everett interpretation, after physicist Hugh Everett, who first proposed it in 1957. Bryce DeWitt popularized the formulation and named it many-worlds in the 1960s and 1970s. 

-Wikipedia

In short, it is the universe where everything is possible. And every single possibility exists somewhere in some form. And I refer to these variations as “World-lines”.

Template Map

A template map is a method to visualize movement in the MWI.

A topographical map of a mesh is created. Each intersection of that mesh is a “world-line”.

The surface of this map is the HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD of movement of a given consciousness within a physical body.

The height of the topography is a measure of the difficulty in likely movement. This a flat surface is easy with no difficulty and effort. And a “mountainous” feature depicts enormous difficulty and strife.

Which now brings us to…

Pre-Birth World-Line Template Map

This is the very first template map that is established when a baby is birthed, and a consciousness is injected into the body.

It is called a “pre-birth” World-line template map because the template was painstakingly set up in place carefully for the consciousness to obtain experiences on it.

It is a carefully constructed fated life.

The easiest map paths are laid out for the consciousness to explicitly experience and enjoy certain events. And that is both good and bad events.

The only way off this map is to “slide” off of it, on to a different template map.

Slide

A slide is an intentional change of the template map.

You “slide” off the map that you are on, and land on a completely different map.

While this is possible with artificial contrivances, equipment, electronics, vehicles and the like, the most effective way to do so (on a personal basis) is to do it by thought.

You specifically control your thoughts in a concise and directed manner to slide off your template map.

You can use a slide to get off your current world-line template and to get on another one.

Shadow People

We (as consciousness) travel the world-lines alone. It is extremely rare for another consciousness to share a world-line with us.

Thus all those “people” that we see are actually not like us. They don’t have a consciousness like we have. They are real to us, and they have feelings that we react to, but their consciousness is elsewhere on their own world-line somewhere else, and what we see is a “shadow” of them.

A “mountain”

On the topography of a world-line template are “highs” and “lows”. These features define the difficulty of effort to move in those directions. A “mountain” is a particularly difficult are to traverse. And on the 3D map it will appear as a mountain.

A “hill”

A hill is similar to a mountain. It’s level of difficulty to traverse is proportionally smaller.

Hills on a world-line template map.

Comfort Zone

By all practical purposes, the flat and level area is always your comfort zone. You can always find a comfort zone on your pre-birth world-line template map, no matter how mountainous the terrain before you appears. This is the “fated” path that you established for your self when your soul first established the pre-birth world-line template.

This is good and bad. But in general, it means that there is always a default action that will lie ahead of you. Good or bad. You might end up saying “There’s a kind of calmness knowing that you are 100% fucked no matter what you do.” Or, you might say, “You know, if I just keep on doing what I am doing, everything will work out”. It all depends on your individual situation.

Comfort zone.

Affirmation Campaign

An affirmation campaign is a specific technique that you use to navigate on the world-line template. It is a way to direct your thoughts when moving from world-line to world-line on your MWI template map. It’s a powerful skill set. You can go visit my entire index of articles here…

Intention

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Be part of a community; there is strength in numbers. Be the Rufus.

Here’s a mixtures of videos describing Rufus behaviors.  This group was inspired by a Pakistani woman who explained why China is the sole nation surviving the Coronavirus bio-weapon attack. As she explained it, and I really concur, is that when the Chinese government told everyone to stay inside and wear masks that everyone did. But it was more than that. They didn’t do it for themselves. They did it for others.

They did it for the old lay down the street. They did it for the health workers who volunteered. They did it for the elementary school filled with children. And if you go through those videos taken during 2020 you can clearly see the signs that everyone was holding up on their porches and windows. That they believed in China, and that they are all part of something larger.

This is what a nation full of service-to-others people can do.

But in Service-for-self nations, it’s every man for himself. It’s “I can do my own thing”, and “if I have to lie, cheat, or pretend to have to wear a mask, it’s my right”.

The future belongs to those who are contribute to the greater good; to Rufus’s who are part of a community. To those Rufus’s who can contribute what little they have, and make the difference. If everyone just picked up some trash at the side of the road then wouldn’t the roads be cleaner? If everyone spent more time on their porches and invited other to play card with them there, wouldn’t there be a sense of community? If everyone did little things like smile and say a cheery word, don’t you think that the world would be a better place?

Here’s about twenty or so videos. About half of them show the local community running to help a person in distress. Like antibodies fighting a cancer; fighting a virus, the Rufus goes and does what ever is necessary. Be that Rufus. Be the Rufus!

The videos

Each video opens up in it’s own tab. I hope that you enjoy them.

Some thoughts

It’s a well known prepper axiom that you can have a ton load of guns and an unlimited supply of bullets, but unless you are a part of a community, you will be overwhelmed and killed. The “lone wolf” never survives in a conflict or an emergency situation. During times of strife, and emergency, we all need each other. One person’s strength can compensate for our individual weaknesses.

Somehow this basic, most fundamental aspect of humanity has been bleached out of the Western culture. Instead, it has been replaced with the idea that we are so much better being alone, cowering in fear inside our nice comfortable homes, and communicating by monitored electronic media. Uh huh.

And that our measure of worth is by the size of our bank accounts.

Well, I am going to tell you different. We must seek out others. We must make friends with them, and form associations, build friendships and relationships and share. Never, ever forget the rule of three. Be the Rufus!

More Links in my Rufus Index here…

Check them out…

Rufus Index

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More stuff…

Master Index

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You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
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The Shocking 2025 ‘Deagel’ Forecast and Remote Viewing the future

How’s that for a “mouth full” headline. Nah. Not the kind of stuff that you were expecting from ol’ MM was it. But (I am so sorry) I am being “pestered” to draft this up. And it truly is “pestering”, and I don’t like it ok? And don’t bother asking why I am publishing this article now, of all times. I haven’t a clue.

And that’s the way it works, don’t you know. So just enjoy the read, and if this article resonates with you, then great for you! Otherwise, just get some wine, a fine companion, and eat some delicious tasty food… stuff that you can savor and smell.

Oh, and one more thing.

In this analysis we are going to entertain a professional Remote Viewer for his comments on the Deagel Forecast. And given that I am being so insanely driven to push this article out (for God know what reason), I am including the entire conversation with him.

And it goes everywhere.

So buckle up. Some of it might be important to some people, and some of it might not be to others. So just relax and take from this article what is important to you, and ignore the rest.

OK?

Introduction

The Deagel corporation is a minor branch of US military intelligence, one of the many secretive organizations which collects data for high-level decision-making purposes and prepares confidential briefing documents for agencies like the National Security Agency, the United Nations, and the World Bank.

It’s a work of “love” from some retired intelligence assets, and like most of us ex-spooks, it’s hosted outside of the United States. Just like MM here. We have VERY good reasons to do so. Reasons that are far too complex to get involved in right this moment. But we DO KNOW what we are doing. Never doubt that.

Deagel is known, for example, to have contributed to a Stratfor report on North Korea. With this kind of pedigree, Deagel should be seen as a legitimate player in the intelligence community and not merely a disinformation asset.

If so, then it must be assumed that its population predictions for 2025, as well as its industrial output predictions on a nation-by-nation basis, are based on strategic assumptions which are shared and well understood by other players in the intelligence community.

Deagel predictions.

Until the start of the Covid ‘pandemic’ many commentators were perplexed by the Deagel spreadsheets.

Perhaps they were part of a psychological operation?

However, in light of recent events, we are obliged to consider a possible connection between the projected massive reduction in the population of certain countries, forecast by Deagel, and other trends going on right now.

Trends?

What trends?

  • Devaluation of the Dollar with an out of control American Congress.
  • Strange insistence in using a mRNA vaccine instead of a traditional “dead host” vaccine.
  • A global pandemic that America is just fucking up royally.
  • Desire for a war with China.
  • Desire for a war with Russia.
  • Desire for a war with Iran.
  • China, Russia and Iran forming a unified Asian block.
  • Race war in the United States.
  • Progressive onslaught and control of all electronic media.
  • Looming bubbles in just about every facet of American life.

And so on and so forth…

The Deagel scenario

The Deagel corporation was asked to explain the thinking behind its strange set of population and output figures. While we cannot take its response at face value, it nonetheless paints a picture that is very similar to the world we now see. And this is not an exaggeration at all.

Consider…

[1] A fake American GDP

In short, they argued that the US government has greatly over-stated the real level of US GDP. This means the country will be fatally exposed when the next economic crisis strikes.

How can the GDP be so high that a full 61% of Americans are so poor that they do not pay Federal Income Taxes? 

It defies rational understanding.

[2] A Pandemic Scenario

They also take into account a “pandemic scenario” – their term – caused by Ebola or a similar pathogen. This, they say, would cause an exceptionally high death rate, placing extreme pressure on healthcare providers across America and greatly reducing economic output.

[3] A financial crisis with the US Dollar

This pandemic could quickly spiral out of control and create an international financial crisis:

“The collapse of the Western financial system will wipe out the standard of living of its population while ending Ponzi schemes such as the Stock Exchange and the pension funds.” 

Trying to figure it out…

They try to explain the predicted dramatic fall in the population of the US by reference to a massive outward migration of millions of Americans seeking economic relief in other countries, but this is unconvincing.

They seem to concede this themselves when they add a further explanatory factor – widespread suicide in response to economic distress. But this too is unsatisfactory.

Their primary reason for predicting a colossal drop in the population of the US by 2025 – a fall of up to 70 percent – is the scale and severity of the alleged pandemic.

As they put it,

“the death toll will be horrible.” 

Map

Here’s a map showing the predictions made in the forecast. You see that Asia is unscathed, while America and the West suffer horribly.

  • Japan will lose 1/5th of it’s population!
  • Australia will lose a full 1/3rd of it’s population!
  • Canada will lose 1/4th of it’s population!
  • The United States will lose almost 3/4ths of it’s population!

Map

Timing

By all accounts, historically, the massive drop in population at this time is validated by the “Fourth Turning” predictions. The date and timing all agree with the Strauss and Howe model for America.

This model is United States centrist, and acknowledges that different societies and different cultures have different “turnings” and generational changes.

Casualty Figures

The casualty figures are gargantuan.  They are over and above what one would associate with such things as…

  • Civil War = 2% to 10%.
  • Genocide = from 25% to 99% of the population.
For example; 77.0% of the Tutsi population of Rwanda. 85 percent of the population in the Hutu ethnic group. In Cambodia, 70% of the total Cham population, were exterminated.
  • World War = 6% to 9% of the population (World War II).
  • Global Military Empire = 11%
Genghis Khan’s legacy is one of a ruthless warrior who dominated unimaginable amounts of territory. He slaughtered about 40 million people and reduced the population of Earth by 11 percent.
  • Pandemic = 15% to 60%
The Bubonic plague was a deadly pandemic that wiped out a massive chunk of population in the World during the mid-1300s. In Europe alone the plague wiped out nearly 50% of Europe’s population. 
  • Nuclear War = 30% to 85%
  • Economic Collapse = 1% to 30%

An American centered fiasco

Based on historical precedents, and the Deagel predictions, these kinds of numbers and figures can only be associated with an American centered disaster. Not really a global one. Because if it was a global disaster, then the causality figures would be more uniform.
.
The most likely candidate is a combination of two (or possibly more) contributors listed above. Which are…

Candidate disaster combinations

Here are some of my suggested candidate combinations that allow us to better understand how those enormous population causality figures could be reached…

  • Global pandemic, AND genocide.
  • Global pandemic, AND civil war WITH genocide.
  • Global pandemic, AND collapsing Military Empire, WITH war.
  • Global Military Empire AND Nuclear War WITH Global pandemic.
So, in my mind, as I understand things, the ONLY way that the kinds of predictions (as determined by the forecast) can manifest is through a combination of some very horrific events that happens in one centered geographic area.

So how did they come up with these numbers?

Indeed, these are truly shocking numbers and values. So shocking, that it’s simply not an extrapolation of trends. As an extrapolation of trends show things either moving towards “infinity” or falling into a “black hole”. But there is no way to be able to quantify that data into numbers.

So, how the heck did they come up with these values that they are using? And they have come up with specific values and specific data. And it is all very, highly specific. Such as this…

Specific Data and values

Here’s some of the very specific data that they have come up with…

The countries that will suffer the greatest reduction in population, according to Deagel (as per 2014), are:

That’s pretty darn specific. Don’t you know.

Remote Viewing

Remote viewing is defined as the ability to acquire accurate information about a distant or non-local place, person or event without using your physical senses or any other obvious means.

It’s associated with the idea of clairvoyance, seemingly being able to spontaneously know something without actually knowing how you got the information.

It is also sometimes called “anomalous cognition” or “second sight.”

Many of us experience this from time to time as an intuitive flash of insight that turns out to be correct.

Many well-known entrepreneurs and business people, like George Soros, Conrad Hilton, Thomas Alva Edison and Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony, have attributed their business success to this ability.

Remote Viewing Sketch.

And (of course) we’ve all seen natural psychics perform seemingly amazing feats of mental skill on TV.

The difference between natural psychic receptivity and remote viewing is that the latter is a trained skill, a controlled process, that the average person can learn to do, to some degree or another.

History of the Remote Viewing Program

Remote viewing in modern times originates from the U.S. Government’s interests in psychic espionage during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Back during World War II, the Soviets had heard rumors that the U.S. Military were using psychic communications at sea.

While it’s not clear now whether this was really true, the Soviets believed it. And that is, after all, all that matters.

They started their own psychic training within their military and intelligence agencies many decades ago.

The U.S. Government learned of this program and, in the early 1970’s, decided to create their own remote viewing CIA training program.

Stanford Research Institute Remote Viewing Tests

Money and resources (from the Federal government, and buried in the R&D section of the government) were given by the Central Intelligence Agency to Stanford Research Institute (SRI).

That that time, they were located on the campus of Stanford University. And their charter was to test the possibility of remote viewing.

The goal was to disprove that psychic functioning was real.

No one wanted it to exist.

It was the last thing that the military establishment wanted to worry about, especially if it was a new Soviet threat.

Physicists Russell Targ and Hal Putoff working at SRI were tasked with determining whether Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and related phenomena were real or not.

Physicists Russell Targ and Hal Putoff.

So they set about to locate some natural psychics and test them.

Their first subject was artist, psychic and scientist Ingo Swann of New York City. He had demonstrated an ability to accurately “remote view” weather in various American cities.

Ingo Swann.

He had published some articles about ESP and psychokinesis (the ability to mentally affect distant objects) when he worked with researcher Gertrude Schmeidler of City College, New York (and the American Society for Psychical Research.)

Working with Schmeidler, Swann had demonstrated that he could affect the temperature of thermistors sealed in insulated thermos canisters twenty-five feet away from him. Which (of course) was an amazing feat.

At a friend’s request, Swann sent his published findings to Putoff.

Upon reviewing them, Putoff asked Swann to come to SRI and demonstrate his abilities.

The first thing they had Swann do was to see if he could affect a super sensitive, (electromagnetically shielded) quark-detector buried five feet underground in a cement floor.

Every time Putoff asked Swann to think about the detector (used to detect subatomic particles), the readings from the device would noticeably deviate from the baseline readings.

Putoff was convinced that Swann had special abilities and so the program to test and develop remote viewing began.

Expanded Scope

At first they had Swann view objects in a box: this was a practice he was good at but quickly became bored with.

Swann said to them:

“I can view anything in the universe, this is a trivialization of my abilities.”

A few days later he came up with a new way to do remote viewing: viewing map coordinates.

Targ and Putoff went out and bought the biggest atlas they could find at the local book store.And so they started taking coordinates from the map, putting the coordinates in individual blank envelopes, and had Swann image the places at those coordinates at random.

Global Atlas.

Swann’s coordinate map viewing turned out to be a big success.

But, of course, critics were everywhere. No one in the military, or the government wanted to believe the findings. Indeed, a critic at the Central Intelligence Agency suggested that maybe he had memorized the entire global map.

Swann went on to use randomly chosen numerical coordinates to view randomly selected events, people and structures around the planet. He performed equally well using this coordinate-based viewing system.

Overview

Some quick notes on Remote Viewing.

  • Remote Viewing occurs in a sterile workspace. Most reports of paranormal events come from outside the science lab, and when research is done on these cousins of RV, it is somewhat like examining the natural history of some specimen brought in from the wild. When clairvoyance (RV’s closest relative) was done under controlled conditions for research purposes, it was generally targeted at such things as cards or colors, since these sorts of targets allowed easy scoring of experimental results. Remote viewing, on the other hand, was actually developed and first explored in a research setting . And the sorts of targets used for RV research differed from those typically used in other psi research. Targets chosen for “viewing” include geographic locations, hidden objects, and even such things as archaeological sites and space objects about which it was expected that ground truth would eventually become known, so that the viewer’s accuracy could be checked.
  • Remote Viewing is a combination of observed sensings. Unlike most other psi disciplines, remote viewing is not precisely one thing, but rather an integrated “cocktail” of various phenomena. Despite the “viewing” part of the term, remote viewing is only partly about experiences associated with what might be visible about a target. It also involves mental impressions pertaining to the other senses, such as sounds, tastes, smells, and textures, as well as limited telepathy-like effects, and in some cases just plain intuitive “knowing.” RV owes some of these qualities to the fact that lessons learned from research in clairvoyance, telepathy, and even out-of-body experiences — traditionally considered separate disciplines — played a role in its development. In remote viewing, the viewer not only verbalizes what he or she is perceiving, but usually also records in writing, in sketches, and sometimes even in three-dimensional modeling the results of the remote viewing episode, or “session.”
  • Remote Viewing is Structured. Remote viewing tends to be more structured than other psi disciplines. In some important varieties of remote viewing, viewers follow specific scripted formats. These formats are designed to enhance the viewer’s performance in various ways, such as to better deal with mental “noise” (stray thoughts, imaginings, analysis, etc. that degrades the “psychic signal”) or to allow incoming data to be better managed. Some of these structural methodologies are widely used. Other methods are more personal. An individual remote viewer, for example, might through trial and error develop his or her own customized approach.
  • Strict science-based protocol. Proper remote viewing is done within a strict science-based protocol. As mentioned, the remote viewer is kept unwitting of either the nature or identity of the target until after the session is completed. Except in training situations, the monitor (a sort of remote viewing “guide” or facilitator that may assist the viewer during the session) is also unwitting, and external clues or data about the target are carefully excluded. Sessions are conducted in a setting that prevents knowledge of the target “leaking” to the viewer. These measures are important to insure that the viewer does not receive hints or clues about the target in any way other than what would be considered “psychic.”

What is Remote Viewing?

Swann coined to term “remote viewing” to describe the process though you can question whether the information is actually remote to the viewer or whether the process is entirely visual.

Some people are more sensitive to auditory, kinesthetic or other types of sensory information and few viewers actually “see” the target very clearly.

Nonetheless, the name stuck and was sufficient to convince the intelligence agencies to fund the project.

Other viewers were also tasked to help Targ and Putoff understand remote viewing.

Pat Price, a former police commissioner from Burbank, CA also proved to be an excellent viewer. Price used his own system to view where he actually imagined that he was at the distant target site.

Pat Price.

His results were so good that the Central Intelligence Agency hired him to work for them directly.

Back East, another natural viewer Joe McMoneagle, also known as “Remote Viewer No. 1,” worked directly with the U.S. Army and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Joe McMoneagle.

He was also tested and found to have amazing abilities to describe and sketch distant locations. Upon retirement, McMoneagle was awarded a Legion of Merit award, in part, for his five years of remote viewing missions for the military and various government agencies.

Coordinate Remote Viewing

However, Swann was able to describe, with great precision, what he was doing with his mind and attention as he was viewing, an ability other viewers did not have.

This allowed him to come up with a 6-stage system that could be taught to anyone, including you or me. It became known as CRV: Coordinate (or Controlled) Remote Viewing.

Swann’s CRV system is based on separating out signal from noise in your mind as you are viewing.

All the information is recorded during a session, but the viewer puts the noise in a different place on the paper than the signal.

At the end of the session, you can separate them from one another.

The method became the basis of the remote viewing protocols that the U.S. army taught to several groups of viewers.

The program lasted until 1995 when it was declassified; about $20 million was spent over the two decades. It is now part of "deep black" SAP programs and commercial programs for profit.

Princeton’s Random Number Generator Research

During this time, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR) at Princeton University, run by Bob Jahn and Brenda Dunn, also conducted twenty years of research into remote viewing.

They referred to this as the so-called “micro-psychokinesis”.

They conducted experiments on the effect of human intention on Random Number Generators (RNGs).

They found that, looking at the cumulative results of hundreds of thousands of trials, that their subjects could influence about 2 or 3 events per 10,000 random coin flip.

Thus being able to move the device away from true randomness by thought alone.

The odds of these results being by chance were an astonishing 375 trillion to one.

Open the Aperture of Your Perception

When someone asks you to describe something, you normally proceed to name what you’re perceiving using nouns and symbols.

"I see a man holding a dog". He is on a bench. He is in a park. The dog is hungry and barking at the food in the stall nearby.

Remote viewing is just the opposite.

You begin by describing your perceptions without trying to identify anything about what they mean or what the larger picture is.

Natural.
Noise.
Hungry feeling.
Green.
Resting.

You begin with basic gestalts: fundamental, general components of the target site like whether it’s manmade or living or natural. You then proceed to basic colors, smells, temperatures, shapes and sizes.

Only after you’ve been describing the target for a while can you proceed to more specific ideas and possibly names, nouns and more analytical types of information.

Follow the Ambiguity

Our minds are always attempting to draw conclusions from what we’ve perceiving at any given moment.

But this isn’t really desirable in a Remote Viewing exercise.

If you try to do this, you will always likely to be wrong. Which brings us to one of the great paradoxes of RV: the fainter the perception, the more likely it is to be accurate and the less likely you are to feel confident in that perception.

  • In other words, the more confident you are about your psychic perceptions during the session, the less likely those perceptions are to be correct!
  • And the less confident you feel, the more likely it is that your perceptions are right on. How’s that for a paradox?
Someone familiar with the military viewing program once told me that if a viewer finished a session and said with confidence “I nailed it!,” that viewer’s session would be thrown in the garbage. A good session is one in which the viewer has no idea what they’ve been doing or whether it’s accurate or not.

This is very different from the way our educational system, which stresses linear and rational thinking, trains us to deal with acquiring and processing information.

Eventually, you see the benefits: you learn to trust your intuition more and don’t necessarily need to rationalize everything before you take action. You become more spontaneous which can often be a good thing if you’re used to over-thinking things in your life.

Scientific Analysis of the Remote Viewing Program

When the RV program was declassified, one of the two people asked to evaluate the program was statistician Jessica Utts, the head of the American Statistical Association.

She concluded:

“Using the standards applied to any other area of science, it is concluded that psychic functioning has been well established. Arguments that these results could be due to methodological flaws in the experiments are soundly refuted.

Effects of similar magnitude to those found in government-sponsored research at SRI and SAIC (another government sponsored think tank) have been replicated at a number of laboratories across the world. Such consistency cannot be readily explained by claims of flaws or fraud.”

And researcher Dean Radin, doing very complex meta-analyses using the results of many studies about psychic perception over many decades, came to the same conclusion.

Looking at the entire population, not just trained viewers, RV is a weak effect, about four to eight percent higher than expected if we were only using our physical senses to gather information: yet, it’s consistently there in everyone.

How Does Remote Viewing Work?

So RV is scientifically proven to work.

But how?

What’s going inside the viewer’s body and mind? How do they access far away information with such great accuracy?

You can pick your favorite explanation but the truth is, no one knows for sure. But my feeling is that it has something to do with resonance, vibration and frequency on the quantum level. And to this end I have generated explanatory template maps for the MWI.

Right brain thinking tends to be free flowing, intuitive and descriptive while left brain thinking is more analytical, linear and symbolic.

Good remote viewers learn to distinguish their own left and right-brain thinking.

They’re good at discerning the difference between the two and can separate signal from noise. Remote viewing tends to be more more accessible to the right-brain type.

Picking Up Signals Through Vibrational Resonance

Where does the information come from?

Well, if you look around the space wherever you are at the moment, the air will seem empty: you can’t see the air with your eyes. But you also know that it’s filled with electromagnetic information from cell phone signals, radio waves, TV signals, etc. So empty space can be filled with information coming to you from distance. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

That information is coming to you through a type of vibrational resonance that fills space-time.

When you have a receiver that is tuned to the frequency of those signals, you’ll pick them up.

All you need to do after that is to amplify the signal.

Remote viewing doesn’t necessarily amplify the signal of what you’re viewing, but it does teach you how to reduce your own mental noise, your monkey mind.

Yeah, but what about Deagel? And the future?

I argue that there must have been some technique, other than “extrapolation of data applied to historical models“, to come up with the data that Deagel presented. And the only publicly known method is via Remote Viewing.

Of course, there is the time-travel, and 5th and 7th dimensional travel mechanisms. 

I have discussed this elsewhere. 

And those are indeed valid methods of "time travel;", but I do not believe that they are actually being used at this time, in this case.

Remote Viewing The Future

Remote viewing the future is possible because time does not exist and therefore it is possible to reach out and link with events that are happening in a future “now” upon the world-line MWI template map.

This can only be done for a relatively short period into the future because the further one looks into the future, the more variables can change what happens.

What happens is that, based on what has occurred or what is going on at the moment, a sort of inevitability occurs.

An Apple Tree Example

For instance, if an apple falls from a tree, there is a strong possibility that it will fall to the ground.

Now, if at a certain time a person walks towards the tree, is it possible to predict if the apple will hit the person on the head or not?  Many variables will come into play that permit the apple to hit the person on the head – or not – so it is not usually possible to predict with absolute certainty such an event.

Under an apple tree.

A remote viewer looks out along timelines and picks up the most dramatic events that are likely to occur. Then the person tries to see what is likely to happen.  But, as nothing is totally certain, they can only predict with greater or lesser accuracy.

The events along any timeline are quite simply projections of “now” events.  The “now” moment is constantly altering but each succeeding “now” moment is dependent on the preceding one to a certain extent.

But given the over all MWI template that most people seem to be using, it can become relatively easy to Remote View upon this template and describe a future that will exist for a wide selection of people.

So, to describe it simply, if one looks at a series of single moments in time, for instance concerning the apple growing on a tree, we can see that the apple ripens and, eventually, falls from the tree.  The exact moment when the apple will depart from the tree cannot be predicted but we know that it will eventually fall.
Once it starts to fall it is simple to imagine that it will hit the ground.

So, imagination is brought into play to predict the future from the last “now” moment. That is why remote viewing is so difficult.  Once we start to use imagination, we are in murky waters.

World Line Template

While every consciousness has their own pre-birth template maps that they follow, most of the maps are derived from a “universal template”.

Most people all share the same "universal template" from which to develop their initial "pre-birth world-line maps" from.

And thus the “terrain” is similar to each others maps (more or less to some degree).

Even though every one is different, and everyone has their own world-line map that they are following, they are all very similar to each other for the vast bulk of humanity (well, at least geographical clusters of people, anyways.)

And people, on these MWI maps, follow them, interacting with other consciousnesses along the way, generating “clusters” or world-lines that are all tied together.

Most people find living on their world-line maps to be easy if they "just go with the flow". They just follow them and "don't climb those peaks" and just go along with what the relative "winds blow" in their lives. And this all creates a situation where world-lines (on different maps) cluster together.

Never the less, the vast bulk of humanity will act as herded animals and cluster together towards similar goals and objectives.

And thus, the Deagel forecast is one that is based upon this clustering of lines. They are apparently doing so for various corporate reasons, being profit forecasts and other such concerns. And to them the map would look similar to an individual map, only that the vector would be for a group of consciousnesses, not just for one singular consciousness.

Such as this…

The remote viewed future for America.

Of course, and I have stated this over and over again, you have the ability to change your world-line template map, and if you don’t like it you can “slide off it” and get on one that you do like.

Running affirmation prayer campaigns for safety.

Of course, the inertia of millions of people following “the herd” and the clustering of their world-lines is going to be rather difficult to stop. But what you can do is slide off their template and move on your own path. And while there might be all sorts of very bad things going on, and the “news” will amplify this, a person who is conducting their Affirmation Prayer Campaigns diligently will be able to avoid a great deal of hardship and turmoil.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand…

So Deagel came up with this forecast back in 2012 that pretty much stated that a lot of bad things were going to happen to America. And by 2025, the nations would not look anything like it looked like in 2012. They predicted a die off of a very significant proportion of the American population and a collapse of the economy, military might and governance.

Then come 2020, we have the Coronavirus.

And many of the things that they predicted, as outlandish as they sounded back then, now seems frighteningly plausible.

Because their predictions were so detailed, and outlandish, it gives one pause to think. Especially now, as Hard-Right, Religious Zealots are blaming China for trying to kill off Christianity. HERE. Jeeze!

I strongly suspect that this forecast was derived though Remote Viewing activity in association with other calculus. And to this end, I consulted with an MM influencer and contributor, our resident Remote Viewing Expert; Blue NarWhal.

Thinking.

Blue NarWhal Comments

Blue NarWhal is a professional in the Remote Viewing Industry, and has done work for both the United States government and private industry. I asked him for his thoughts and opinions. Edited for clarity and for this venue.

BlueNarwhal:
Knowing most of the top remote viewers on a first name basis I do have some input for you here. 

As you know the typical result of civilian allied military development projects, where real operational capability is developed, go through a bifurcation.

It is a bifurcation where one strand goes SAP deep black, and the other goes public debunk.

(You know) there's nothing to see here Fred, these are not the droids you are looking for, move along. 

This has been repeatedly confirmed by the best viewers, that there is a whole range of deep black remote viewing corps that...
BlueNarwhal:
...That has multiple purposes. 

One purpose is human to alien communication. 

Another is strategic advantage and nonlinear intelligence, called “quantum viewing” now. 

Predictive viewing, is as Courtney says, subject the multiple worlds branching.

The targets are often collecting data from multiple MWI strands to see variations and research options.
BlueNarwhal:
Subject to the MWI factors.. (corrected). 

Here below are my top ten candidate causality strands that could lead to major USA population die off in 4 years. I have gleaned these from my RV associates, and other sources, such as really good verified psychics I personally know, and meta analysis ... 

Since each candidate has a lot of detail to go with it, I will start with the titles. 

I think the push to write about this is we are at a global inflection point for breakdown and revolution 4th turning style (Howe and Strauss). 

Following parsimony, certain candidates are just more likely and bakes in the cake. 

But the essential question of where Edwin got his forecast from I think may well have been his contacts in shadow military and recently retired. 

The benefactors and the malevolence on the non-human sources have been predicting this die off as well, and some even (have been) blaming the coming die on entirely ET allied to human elites.

The reason being to enact a scorched Earth policy in response to their getting defanged by the benefactor balance aliens. 

But we don’t need ET in the mix to accomplish this. So likely other factors are more probable.
BlueNarwhal:
Now I know you are more likely to want to see how we can understand the dynamics from an entirely human causality POV, because that can hold more receptive water...
BlueNarwhal:
Source data candidate of the Deagel USA population reduction forecast and no it wasn’t a typo.

Forecasted for 2025 "top candidate causation" of drastic reduction in USA population ...

[1] Long time plans by globalist elite. Goal for population reduction to stave off CC ruining so much of their asset base in preparation, and thus predicting massive depopulation since the early 2000s.

[2] Long time plans for denationalizing the globe. With the de facto lead player winner likely China, having certain depopulation effects on the most resistant nationalists. (or in other words the "gun toting" USA population.)

[3] China retakes Taiwan. And (foolishly) Japan jumps in to defend them, USA jumps in to defend Japan. Chinese proxy North Korea nukes Hawaii and San Francisco. Followed by a myriad of tactical nuclear events (and chem warfare covertly) from western elite to make their own survival deal with new China global leadership

[4] Virtuous genocide of the vaxxed by the series binary weapon scheme.

[5] Virtuous genocide of the unvaxxed by the vaxxxed totalitarian biomedical martial law state proxy mobs. Since they cannot get the military to do the bidding, UN internment camps spring-up across the USA

[6] Societal Shift. A 4th turning Piscean top down group-schoolers to Aquarian bottom up individualist SOCs - societal shift

[7] Bubbles all break. Global currency crash, petrodollar crash, dollar hyperinflation.

[8] Natural calamities aggravated with the above. Combined with 5 year super drought, massive famine, urban die offs with no resources, more pandemic, more CC extremes, followed by mini ice age super freeze.

[9] Civil war population reduction outcome. With breakdown of US between red and blue, which are unvaxxed and vaxxxed as psychological warfare dehumanization victims in both directions

[10] Vaxxed mRNA die off from runaway variant evolution in the vaxxed bodies, though blamed on unvaccinated, within 4 years 65% of those vaxxed die.

- on this last one, my theory I developed through my own remote viewing is specifically sorcerers apprentice runaway that creates Monsanto like terminator seed immune systems. 

I have a short detail on that, let me grab it...
BlueNarwhal:
But before detailing that, here is another ingredient...

CyberPolygon

OK. We are going to get off the subject for a spell. Don’t worry too much about it. Just go with the flow. If it interests you, then great. If not, then chill out.

BlueNarwhal:
On the Cyberpolygon, of which I have been aware for a long time.

After all, since I am a cybersecurity professional, I am well aware of this.

This will the incidence of a behemoth cyber attack.

This will occur soon after all the PR about Cyberpolygon cybersecurity (hits the "news"). As such, it will give the government authorities great “cover” so no one can claim they were asleep at the switch when a national scale false flag cyber attack occurs.

It will be an attack of such severity that it is create adequate national security threat pretext for an “internet martial law” to ensue.

A situation will occur that can more effectively suppress the so-called "Vaxx misinformation".

This will begin by opening the door to authorities literally shutting down the DNS of any and all websites.

As well as interdicting all text messaging traffic that is deemed misinformation by their algorithms.

No of course, nothing to see here, more along.  Get help. Get back on your meds.  Get jabbed immediately. To save us all!

A false flag cybersecurity attack is intended to accomplish the following objectives: 

[1] Stop unsanctioned crypto-currency transactions, 

[2] Stop any online resistance to vaxxing, 

[3] Stop the ability for the vaccine resistant to organize, and 

[4] Stop any dissent to the great reset that will occur when the stock market crashes (due in part to high rates of deaths among the vaccinated, and the seemingly endless new lockdowns.)

The great reset will be touted as virtuous and compassionate.

The creeping installation of UN run internment camps all over the US for the unvaccinated will be hailed as life saving.

This will be especially true as the unvaccinated are now defined as high risk and potential terrorists.

Dependence of the populace on the towing lines of the government narrative will reach an all time high and consolidation of totalitarian power will be complete!

https://threatpost.com/cyber-polygon-2021-towards-secure-development-of-digital-ecosystems/167661/omplete.  

Welcome to George Orwell’s worst nightmare.

Monsanto-like “terminator seed” immune systems

And just like that, my sources become absorbed into the blob that has become the “great Vaxx vs. unVaxx debate”.

Sigh. It only happens with Americans inside of America. If you talk with people outside of America, you just won’t hear this kind of stuff.

I have no problem with use of an injection to control the population is feasible. I have no problem with evil people using it to control others.  I have no problem with reading about the various ideas that people have on this.

But…

Keep in mind, that all of this is a side distraction from the “big event” what ever it might be. And I personally find it hard to believe that vaccinations are a major part of a big “shake down reset event”.

A part of it YES.

But the main part? NO.

Here, Blue NarWhal goes on…

The dirtiest secret is they installed Monsanto-like “terminator seed” immune systems on a large chunk of the planetary population. 

How? 

If you don’t get the next booster your immune system will no longer work and you will likely die next variant season. Taking the jab once makes it necessary to take jabs for life.

I told this to xXx and just a couple friends 6 months ago but felt it would be so incendiary to post it anywhere back then. 

I still haven’t.

When I first thought of it this way it was too horrible a thought to even imagine and I thought I must be getting too paranoid. And I am not a paranoid person, just a good data collector.. like yourself MM:)

But now…. 

All the immune systems of the vaxxed incubate or evolve the next deadly variants that precisely escape the last booster just like poor use of antibiotics incubated and evolved antibiotic resistant bacteria. In the case of covid evolution of variants it is the exact same thing.

The only thing they desperately need to pull this multi trillion dollar caper off is to avoid blame for designing the entire thing to operate this way.

If they can mentally and emotionally program the vaxxed to believe only the unvaccinated are variant factories then they can get away with many trillions in profit. 

Dehumanization of the unvaxxed gives them cover and profit to the moon.

The truth is the unvaxxed do not evolve the variants. 

All variants have started soon after introductions of the vaxx in different countries or during the large trials in those countries. 

The evidence is incontrovertible if one reads the real science that is not being faked.

The CDC even recently recommended creating nationwide internment camps for the unvaccinated to keep the vaxxed safe! See how insidious the plot really is? 

Of course you do.

But now they will brazenly lie about variants only coming from the unvaxxed even when the evidence is becoming overwhelming to the contrary. 

The mob will be programmed to literally want to exterminate the vermin unvaxxed.

They will - to the last - direct all the anger of the vaxxed dying from covid variants on the unvaxxed. 

They will gin up a sense of being virtuous to want to send unvaxxed vermin to death camps. 

You know this to be true.

History repeating itself now with the 4th Reich Blue Nazis. You feel me? It won’t be a yellow star but a red covid patch that the unvaxxed will be forced to wear. Don’t believe it will come to this? 

Not long to wait and find out at this point. 

The game is afoot

I totally am nauseous about being right about such terrible things! It’s really just too depressing and insane to believe. But I thought I was insane for thinking the shot was a terminator seed immune system ploy. Now it is becoming entirely true and will continue to be born out.

And sorry, no, you cannot reason with loved ones to not get boosters. The messenger will definitely be shot and reviled. 

The lines have been drawn.

Please pretty please tell me I’m wrong about this - I’ve never ever wanted to be more wrong about something in my entire life!

But this I believe will become obvious when millions of vaccinated begin to die from the next variant their own bloodstreams evolved. I am so already grieving the future loss of my family relatives. 

Seriously.

Because it’s a lose lose game - get the booster to live another 6 months but at the same time getting foreshortens ones overall life span by another 15 to 20% each shot (that is of course if side effects don’t kill one within 3 weeks of the jab each time).

They actually believe they have pulled off the perfect crime to make trillions and trillions of dollars. That’s more than Carl Sagan’s billions and billlions of stars!

In this case only the paranoid may survive and the innocent follower sheep will perish or at the least become so dumb that the idiocracy movie will seem like a probability.

Brawndo, it’s got electrolytes! = 
Pfizer, it’s got electro-spikes!

That’s why Zelenko said it’s a billion x better to have natural immunity.

Weaponizing CORRELATION VS CAUSATION

I know that all of this is a meandering maze off “the beaten path” of what the question was all about. But follow the train of thought. Believe it if you want, or don’t if you want. What ever you do, do not get swept up too far in it.

Don’t get lost in the maze.

Remember that this source is an “insider” in these matters regarding the United States government, and you owe it to hear what he has to say, because SOMETHING  has set his mind down these paths. Right or wrong. Factual or fantasy.

Good or bad.

Right or wrong.

Like a little more of my esteemed lunacy?

Weaponizing CORRELATION VS CAUSATION

The CDC policy guidance to doctors is any death after 3 hours of injection to as much as 1 week after is only correlation and not causation. 

The only side effect admitted to is a little “very rare” anaphylaxis. 

Assignment of causation just so happens to destroy many life insurance payouts - I have collected many reports of that. 

The emerging science does not support correlation but causation. 

I have links to videos by more than a dozen esteemed doctors and researchers that support causation. But these are not the droids you are looking for, move along says the mainstream biomedical cartel.  

There is a 4 part unholy alliance between the government, the media, big tech, and biopharma industry to suppress speech.

Predominantly speech about promising therapeutics.

They will deny causational evidence and malign and de-platform anyone of influence that departs from the “100% safe and effective” narrative.  

The normalcy bias is reinforced constantly. 

If you follow the money and power it becomes obvious that the unholy alliance is both making a fuck-ton of money and getting untold control and power which will never want to be relinquished.  

People in government + big tech + media ownership are heavily invested in biopharma stocks.  

Is that correlation or causation?  

Correlation only of course. The rising tide floats all boats they say. Sure! Move along nothing to see here.  Get the jab.  

Are the 450,000 VAERS reports about side effects of which many thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of life long infirmities happening soon after vaxxing just correlation and not causation?

Is the now repeatedly verified presence of EMF responsive graphene oxide found in large quantity in the vaxxes, which right after injected respond to both magnets and EMF detectors only in the injected site, is that correlation or causality?

Is the well established (but totally denied by the CDC “experts”) safety and efficacy of vitamin D and Ivermection and zinc, which when generally adopted shows dramatic drops in death rates (over 85%) in dozens of studies in many countries, is that correlation or causation?

In every case the mainstream government sanctioned experts refuse to even consider the research into these therapeutics (that are all expired patents so there is no money in it for them) and which if were admitted as being effective would quixkly end the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization - is that just correlation or is it causation?

When any esteemed doctor or pathologist or epidemiologist or Nobel Prize winner or vaccine researcher that worked at the head with Gates foundation (Moderna) or for Pfizer - when they risk their jobs and reputation to report any science that impeaches the authoritarian narrative - are immediately cat-called, maligned, suppressed and deplatformed as misinformation terrorists for reporting their scientific conclusions - is their research data only correlation and not causation?

When every single time I am around vaccinated people I really want to hang out outdoors to visit (without masks on) results in my having lung pain, headache, sore throat for several hours afterward (which then abates right after I dose Vitamin D, Quercetin, and Zinc).. is that correlation or causation? (I am not responsive to placebo and never expected or was afraid of hanging with my friends and relatives. But that is the consequence every time).

Are all the bad science and respected scientific journals who are then later forced to retract their highly celebrated therapeutic-denial studies that support the idea that effective therapeutics are nonexistent and dangerous (even though they are safer than aspirin) - is that situation correlation or causation to prevent losing Emergency Use Authorization and to suppress the idea there are real alternatives to jabbing because it fuels the antivaxxers?

Is the fact of even discussing the virus being bio-engineered was totally suppressed for over a year but now finally being admitted only very quietly in the halls of power, is that denial good science or bad science? 

Is the fact that Fauci and DARPA and other cohorts jointly and covertly funded the Wuhan gain of function research through Peter Daszak, and then patented the spike protein injection using mRNA technology in early 2019 merely correlation or is it causation?

You see, the entire presumption of correlation over causation truly serves the interests of making money and creating more control over the populace. 

When any and all scientific evidence about the dangers of the vaxx or availability of effective and safe therapeutics is quickly dismissed by the vacination stakeholder extreme bias, is that mere correlation or causation?

If the vaxxed have ever never actually read a single source scientific study but only trust the mouthpiece experts which support their normalcy bias that the vax is perfectly safe and effective, and that there are no effective therapeutics - is that denial and dehumanization of anyone suggesting otherwise only correlation or causation?

Well if you are a nice, caring, good and decent person who simply cannot believe the government would lie to you, or that the unholy alliance is evil and greedy, and that there is nothing to see here.

Move along and get the jab and shut up or be dehumanized.

If you disagree - and believe it’s all just random unfounded conspiracy theory that at best is only remote unfounded correlation and never ever possibly causation, then there is no reasoning with you. 

No science that will convince you.  

No evidence you will ever admit to. 

No room for any doubt. 

And everyone who says otherwise are likely to be filthy vermin white supremacist domestic terrorists who should be placed in internment camps to protect the vaxxed, then guess what? 

We will all just have to wait and see how it all turns out and agree to disagree!  

Correlation vs Causation is the defensive talking point for all those in the unholy alliance. 

But now that all people resisting or refusing or promoting anything other than the party line about the the vaxx are literally being defined as domestic terrorists.

Any evidence they report is labeled misinformation, well then, good luck with labeling 50% of the populace of the US as terrorists who should be dehumanized and interned to keep the vaxxed population safe. 

Are these policies going to be correlation to and not causation of a potential civil war between the red check folks and the blue check folks? 

What a pleasant thought.  How unifying.  How desperate.  How immature.  How greedy.  How all so sweetly patriotic!  Yeah sure, I got a couple bridges to sell you. In fact, I got a dozen bridges to sell you, Get in line! Big discounts available. 🪂

Jesus! Man. All I care about is the Deagel Forecast. And here we find that one of my top “to go” people on the Remote Viewing sciences has started connecting the vaccinations of Coronavirus in it’s mRNA form to a profit-scheme that will result in the deaths of millions.

It seems so far out.

But…

According to the 2012 Deagel Forecast, only those nations (that we see today) who are pushing the mRNA vaccine protocol (and who perhaps match up with the rant above) MATCH together.

BlueNarwhal:
H Christ! Are we having fun yet?
BlueNarwhal:
Just a few side notes I wrote over the last weeks... lol
BlueNarwhal:
And you my dear friend predicted all of it earlier this year and last year with the help of your benfactoring inputs as well!

Well, it is true that I predicted much of this kind of stuff. I will not deny that. But it doesn’t need to be so “in your face” and blunt. Does it?

My point is that I am being driven, and going crazy being pushed to push this article (about remote viewing and the Deagel Forecast) out the door as soon as possible, and as a side note, Blue NarWhal is dragging along this vaccination stuff alongside. So there MUST be a reason.

But is the reason important?

Let’s continue…

BlueNarwhal:
It’s war, not between China and US, but between elites and populace, between benefactors and malevolent overseers, between piscean and Aquarian change over, between satanic and holy, between horizontal and vertical evolution, and between last past patriarchy and future matriarchy, and between globalists and nationalists
BlueNarwhal:
We are arriving quite rapidly at the super size MEI inflection point where large scale global bifurcation occurs, and hence there is a tremendous urgency to communicate the big picture so the order and chaos agencies are seen for the agenda motivations they breathe MWI.

So human consciousness has more choices in the matter, so natural leaders that are needed will arise.
BlueNarwhal:
You of course have the Deagel 2020 change of heart write up right....? Worth pasting in here, since it is not nearly as wacky as my stack.

Amen to that!

Deagel 2020 revision to the original 2012 Deagel Forecast

BlueNarwhal:
Forecast disclaimer revision in 2020:

In 2014 we published a disclaimer about the forecast. In six years the scenario has changed dramatically.

This new disclaimer is meant to single out the situation from 2020 on-wards.

Talking about the United States and the European Union as separated entities no longer makes sense. Both are the Western block, keep printing money and will share the same fate.

After COVID we can draw two major conclusions:

[1] The Western world success model has been built over societies with no resilience that can barely withstand any hardship, even a low intensity one. It was assumed but now we’ve got the full hard confirmation beyond any doubt.
[2] The COVID crisis will be used to extend the life of this dying economic system through the so called “Great Reset.”

The Great Reset; like the climate change, extinction rebellion, planetary crisis, green revolution, shale oil (…) hoaxes promoted by the system; is another attempt to slow down dramatically the consumption of natural resources and therefore extend the lifetime of the current system.

It can be effective for awhile but finally won’t address the bottom-line problem and will only delay the inevitable.

The core ruling elites hope to stay in power which is in effect the only thing that really worries them.

The collapse of the Western financial system – and ultimately the Western civilization – has been the major driver in the 2012 forecast along with a confluence of crisis with a devastating outcome.

As COVID has proven Western societies embracing multiculturalism and extreme liberalism are unable to deal with any real hardship.

The Spanish flu one century ago represented the death of 40-50 million people.

Today the world’s population is four times greater with air travel in full swing which is by definition a super spreader.

The death casualties in today’s World would represent 160 to 200 million in relative terms but more likely 300-400 million taking into consideration the air travel factor that did not exist one century ago.

So far, COVID death toll is roughly 1 million people.

It is quite likely that the economic crisis due to the lock-downs will cause more deaths than the virus worldwide.

The Soviet system was less able to deliver goodies to the people than the Western one. Nevertheless Soviet society was more compact and resilient under an authoritarian regime. That in mind, the collapse of the Soviet system wiped out 10 percent of the population.

The stark reality of diverse and multicultural Western societies is that a collapse will have a toll of 50 to 80 percent depending on several factors.

But in general terms the most diverse, multicultural, indebted and wealthy (highest standard of living) will suffer the highest toll.

The only glue that keeps united such aberrant collage from falling apart is over-consumption with heavy doses of bottomless degeneracy disguised as virtue.

Nevertheless the widespread censorship, hate laws and contradictory signals mean that even that glue is not working any more.

Not everybody has to die.

Migration can also play a positive role in this.

The formerly (known as) second and third world nations are an unknown at this point. Their fate will depend upon the decisions they take in the future.

Western powers are not going to take over them as they did in the past because these (Western) countries won’t be able to control their very own cities let alone those countries that are far away.

If they remain tied to the former World Order they will go down along with the Western powers. However, they won’t experience the same kind of brutal decline that the Western powers will experience so brazenly. This is partially because they are poorer and (obviously) not diverse enough. Instead they are stronger than the Western powers because they are actually quite homogeneous. This is their advantage. And that they are used to deal with some sort of hardship. Though,  not precisely the one that is coming.

If they switch to China they can get a chance to stabilize but will need to depend upon the management of their own resources.

We expected this situation to unfold and actually is unfolding right now.

With the November election triggering a major bomb if Trump is re-elected. (Did not happen.)

If Biden is elected there will very bad consequences as well.

There is a lot of bad blood in the Western societies and the protests, demonstrations, rioting and looting are only the first symptoms of what is coming.

However a new trend is taking place overshadowing this one.

The situation between the three great powers has changed dramatically.

The only relevant achievement of the Western powers during the past decade has been the formation of a strategic alliance, both military and economic, between Russia and China.

Right now the potential partnership between Russia and the European Union (EU) is dead with Russia turning definitively towards China. That was from the beginning the most likely outcome.

Airbus never tried to establish a real partnership but rather a strategy to fade away the Russian aerospace industry.

Actually Russia and China have formed a new alliance to build a long haul airliner.

Western Europe (not to mention the United States) was never interested in the development of Russia or forming anything other than a master slave relationship with Russia providing raw materials and toeing the line of the West.

It was clear then and today is a fact.

Russia has been preparing for a major war since 2008 and China has been increasing her military capabilities for the last 20 years. Today China is not a second tier power compared with the United States. Both in military and economic terms China is at the same level and in some specific areas are far ahead.

In the domain of high-tech 5G has been a success in the commercial realm but the Type 055 destroyer is also another breakthrough with the US gaining a similar capability (DDG 51 Flight IIII) by mid of this decade (more likely by 2030).

Nanchang, the lead ship of the Type 055 class, was commissioned amid the pandemic and lockdown in China.

Six years ago the likelihood of a major war was tiny.

Since then it has grown steadily and dramatically and today is by far the most likely major event in the 2020s.

The ultimate conflict can come from two ways.

[1] A conventional conflict involving at least two major powers that escalates into an open nuclear war.

[2] A second scenario is possible in the 2025-2030 time-frame. A Russian sneak first strike against the United States and its allies with the new S-500, strategic missile defenses, Yasen-M submarines, INF Zircon and Kalibr missiles and some new space asset playing the key role.

The sneaky first strike would involve all Russian missile strategic forces branches (bombers and ground-based missiles) at the different stages of such attack that would be strategic translation of what was seen in Syria in November 2015.

There was no report that the Russian had such a capability of launching a high precision, multiple, combined arms attack at targets 2,000+ kilometers away.

Western intelligence had no clue.

The irony is that since the end of the Cold War the United States has been maneuvering through NATO to achieve a position to be able to execute a first strike (nuclear) over Russia and now it seems that the first strike may still occur but the country finished would be the United States.

Another particularity of the Western system is that its individuals have been brainwashed to the point that the majority accept their moral high ground and technological edge as a given.

This has given the rise of the supremacy of the emotional arguments over the rational ones which are ignored or deprecated.

That mindset can play a key role in the upcoming catastrophic events.

At least in the Soviet system the silent majority of the people were aware of the fallacies they were fed up.

We can see the United States claims about 5G being stolen from them by China or hypersonic technology being stolen by Russia as the evidence that the Western elites are also infected by that hubris.

Over the next decade it will become obvious that the West is falling behind the Russia-China block and the malaise might grow into desperation.

Going to war might seem a quick and easy solution to restore the lost hegemony to finally find them into a France 1940 moment. Back then France did not have nuclear weapons to turn a defeat into a victory. The West might try that swap because the unpleasant prospect of not being Mars and Venus but rather a bully and his dirty bitch running away in fear while the rest of the world is laughing at them.

If there is not a dramatic change of course the world is going to witness the first nuclear war.

The Western block collapse may come before, during or after the war.

It does not matter.

A nuclear war is a game with billions of casualties and the collapse plays in the hundreds of millions.

He Concludes…

This website is non-profit, built on spare time and we provide our information and services AS IS without further explanations and/or guarantees. We are not linked to any government. Take into account that the forecast is nothing more than a game of numbers whether flawed or correct based upon some speculative assumptions. - Friday, September 25th, 2020

Interesting take and a refreshing relook at the Deagel Forecast

This 2020 is news to me.

BlueNarwhal:
Well then good food for thought to have the whole range of inputs for your writing️
BlueNarwhal:
The 2020 disclosure is plausible. I don’t know the Deagel folks but do know the Stratford
BlueNarwhal:
Stratfor folks and they are similar so I judge this statement from D to be a good picture on why their forecast changed, but it is just the cover story for the kind of crazy stuff I was thinking...

He continues discussing consciousness movement in the MWI.

Consciousness movement in the MWI by Blue NarWhal

BlueNarwhal:
Consciousness MWI

What if MWI travel physically nearly does not happen. Only Consciousness travel can change MWI multiverse bulk-phase lanes. (I think this is possible for many people. -MM)

Types of change:
Outer- The world changes and you don’t, mostly.
Inner- You change and the world stays the same, mostly.
Differences in both yourself and the world are apparent.

Sometimes multiverse A can fuse with an existing other you multiverse B and you find yourself situated in a life steam as you with additional foggy life memory if it’s a new you incoming to you.

So the physical idea of MWI consciousness sliding or jumping or transitioning between universes is all fine and good, if the universe fuses them while still remembering a bit of both for the transiting consciousness.

So what is happening in the balancing of consciousness?

The benefactors, [a]. prior to every substantial jump, and [b]. depending on the target MWI universe group the agency consciousness transited is going to, [c]. install locally entangled paraphysical sync kits in the target universe bodies.

If the small moves predict the large moves…

BlueNarwhal:
Or did I send this to you already and forgot who wrote it - I have too many unfinished and unsent drafts of stuff to you lol
BlueNarwhal:
I think I sent you this as I was assimilating your knowledge into my own framework of understanding... or does this contain specific paragraphs you wrote as I was working through my own take on it...?

BlueNarwhal continues in this interesting line of thought.

Please, everyone, realize that when I “get on a bender or am being pushed” to write or do something, it is SIGNIFICANT. This is most especially true if it is URGENT. It has been my experience that everything attached and associated with my actions may or may not be important, but that I need to include it in my calculus for some reason.

Remember, I only know what I know. The rest is up to youse guys.

Qubit qudit infinity cascade

  • Qubit qudit infinity cascade
  • The universal wave equation as the prime qubit/qudit operator
  • The superposition of hyperlight entangled with both all and one
  • The existence of alternate multiverse laminar access through qubit fields and spaces that preserve equal probability of all
  • The qic start of the universe
  • The bipolar symmetry as a collapsed expression of polar superposition archetype preservation inside local space.
  • And so on through all quantum wave guided evolutionary complexity manifest permutation
  • Where out of the seam of infinity and zero reflects dualistic possibility virtual states of plus one and minus one

The singular all encompassing quantum wave equation of the entire scope of the universe is a hyper qubit/qudit singularity function that entangles across all embedded sub wave time functions.

With that I’m alone inside my own quantum qubit infinity manifold, swaddled in my own bubble creation.

However, yet also paradoxically voluntarily and with love entirely embedded within a collective soul group alignment with and for whom I might sacrifice everything.

The distribution of probable and possible trajectories that deviate out our current world line all depend on soul relevance.

In the surface appearance of the other is a co-seeded by self created habitation for different groups of soul who are mutually co-anchoring commonality.

The Bipolar Multiverse

If I can change world lines…

The prime assumptions:

  • We each exist in our own fully independent universe, (or more properly stated we all live in our own multiverse probability of occurrence trajectories.)
  • Our consciousness interfaces own quantum creative agency with our present manifest reality.
  • Our consciousness is a step down of our soul energy into our physical existence.
  • The Soul could be synonymous with Higher consciousness, the physical reality synonymous with the unconscious and subconscious mind, and the personal self synonymous with the conscious mind relating to their own beliefs, choices, agreements which are in play, singularity issued from our soul.

On one pole you have each soul creating completely independent bubble universes for the habitation of consciousness in physicality.

On the other pole you have a vast population of people (and beings) in their independent universes all fervently believing they live together in a singular shared universe.

Searching for the better explanatory nomenclature.

One idea is there are many different possible collective worlds.

Each have independent persistence and existence separate from our local self awareness.

The dance of illusion of living in a shared universe doesn’t make it unreal, it just comports with how human consciousness creates its own Local Bubble universe.

There exists a spectrum of different novel Global Bubble universes within the multiverse – Earth for example. Their solidity and continuity is not dependent on just one soul’s creation.

That does not mean one’s soul cannot have its own Local Bubble universe make phantom copies of the mutual universes. No, not at all.

We each make illusory copies of whatever large scale mutual universe we believe we are in and do in our usual quarter second wave-particle personal universe lock-in tick rate.

We agree to adopt a set of influences associated to being there. We agree to allow our adoption include our own.

And out of resonant lock with those world lines.

This is really deep and takes the world-line narrative that I have been promoting to that of a mini-universe that we "copy" from the MWI template to live within. An interesting concept and something that I do need to think about. -MM

The multiverse offers all possibilities for soul and consciousness growth, but there is a landscape of alternate probability ‘movement options’ that can naturally occur.

In that landscape of options there are lesser and greater deviating alternate world line moves available to the consciousnesses.

A consciousness can naturally transit into greater degree world line deviance moves if their sum quantum resonance can both entrain and allow it to occur relative to its intrinsic greater/lower likelihood for the consciousness habitation should no active entrainment be engaged.

There are relative world line consciousnesses movement options – or quantum manifestation probabilities – within our personal universal quantum Everett wave function.

Wave function embedded harmonics that intersect with, and offer entrainment access pathways to different outcomes and sequences are a largely passive to activation by consciousness, despite all appearances to the contrary!

These world line trajectories exist out of all the possible alternate infinity qubits

I’m am able to couple with within the singular super wave function.

There are very far world-line variances or trajectories that could cause insanity to engage, except more safely in lucid dreams, but those are not readily accessible to manifest without extraordinary effort with relative shocking, disorienting as new subsumed manifest self-image and world-image radically shift into a new center of gravity of manifest conscious.

I entrain myself to, or am entrained by, various world line shifting options as I may choose, think and feel or choose to allow.

If I let it happen to me I am giving control over to my unconsciousness. If I make it happen I am controlling my own outcomes.

But my options are limited within the superpositional prepositional manifold of my consciousness encompassed by my soul.

It’s got a soul growth agenda.

I have a slight clue, and that’s it.

It about growing the capacity to selflessly nurture collective evolution, and to evolve the capacity to love, to intend, and to romance the soul of greater feminine archetype for inclusion and unity … or of the greater phi masculine archetype that expresses diversity and differentiation …across the many souls in the meta-verse of the multiverse.

Valiant match grids of entangled qubit superposition articulating ‘n’ spatial reduction (quantum collapse) possibilities accessing the multiverse diversity eternity continuum.

Embedded referential meaning and information

Single geometric symbols as containers of all that is sub-referentially defined and associated within its signularity symbols as culimated or concentrated.

Or, alternatively,

It’s subsumption symbols as instantiated singularity event horizon representations or gestalts of specific self-associated component elements held within their symbol mount.

Meaning, as you mount symbols over a subsumed domain of interrelated and contained data reference points…

You might get the accretion of information as explicit subsumption quantum linguistics…

…if that is such a thing…

Remote Viewing and the MWI

You all got a headache yet?

BlueNarwhal:
And this one on RV and MWI...
BlueNarwhal:

A new working hypothesis:
Predictive remote viewer naturally quantum-couples or entangles their viewing range to be occur across multiple proximal world line probability trajectories in the multiverse.

Outlier world line target coupling by RVers occurs simply due to the collateral quantum attractive influence that higher relative disruptive novelty factors exert on selected souls and consciousnesses, e.g. a group of top viewers all view a disaster scenario that never happens in the world line from which the viewers viewed.

Yet it clearly happened in some nearby world line of greater variance to our own.

Some of these influences can be injected into remote viewing sessions.

This is due to the idea that individual remote viewers couple with targets via universal quantum field or “soul intelligence”.

This target coupling process can allow insertion of universal intent to bias the remote viewer to couple with a more novel world line but less likely or even unlikely the mutual world line viewers are viewing from.

This seems to a form of universal intent coupling with conscious individual.

The effect is to widen the multiple world line range of consideration aperture to provide high value insight about probabilities on other world lines about similar lurking but unmanifest novel high impact eventualities for the viewer world line. Could universal intent (being entangled for target coupling by remote viewers) be making individual intent see outcomes that might happen but likely won’t?

While working with universal intent sentient within the multiverse quantum super field encompassing all our souls and individual quantum clouds, there is no issue with requesting super sentience to limit target viewing hits to only the higher probability outcomes for the present world line in which the viewers reside. Universal intent is certainly willing to limit targeting to single world line or widen the reception aperture to proximal cluster of most probable but yet alternate world lines relative to an anchor referential consciousnesses.

Another different possibility is that remote viewing “picking up signals” of a proximal relative cluster of world lines is likely only possible because remote viewers are evolving souls and consciousness themselves. And despite their proclivity for rationally limiting future probabilities viewing to the world line in which they reside, multiple world lines will be viewed.

The viewers themselves, as do human beings in general, possess individually, in groups and even globally possess the natural ability to shift/move/migrate to different world lines. The quantum wave field of the soul focuses consciousness on inhabiting a physical embodiment existing in nearby variant world lines that furthers soul growth.

This is in turn depends on their in-body own associated outside influences, their own resonant thoughts, feelings, core beliefs and choices that normally bias target coupling to that which holds the greatest growth value for the viewer alone, unless they alter the target description to anchor its viewing parameters to exclude world line coupling that is less likely for the anchoring set of consciousnesses.

The result is remote viewing in any single timeline easily gets crosstalk from other multiverse proximal timelines. If proven, this may predict targeting protocols with means to bind multiverse RV target coupling range to viewing only the most probable eventuality for the timeline in which the remote viewer originates the session, thereby filtering the quantum coupling multiverse range to the most novel punctuated variations across a cluster of intersecting world lines.

For example, one may find some means to construct the RV target description to effectively limit multi-timeline target coupling to only the most large population probable common future for a selected anchor subjects in the timeline as of the session or as of an identified target date.

However, taskers for remote viewers can design target descriptions to block receptive coupling to less than large selected sample group collective likelihoods. This couples the target range to a more commonly desired and likely world line so that predictive RV sessions entangle only relative to and biased from the selected baseline group of anchor parties. It effects a proximal world line variance clamping function to block entanglement with less likely outcomes for this present world line.

World line entanglement blocking prevents viewer intermediaries drifting towards natural attraction of more novel world lines, regardless of present world line probability momentum and mass habitation factors. It simply works to exclude less likely world line outcomes relative to an anchor reference group of persons or beings to thereby yield more likely valid predictive data for the present world line.

And a few more curiosities written and vectored across our mutual fusion being derivatives., LOL!

Conclusions

Blue NarWhal is saying that using the MWI mapping, that it is obvious that in 2012 that more predominant surface topography features of the world-line template showed (at that time) that there was [1] a looming pandemic, and [2] economic crisis. Using available historical and economic data, Deagel extrapolated to a very disturbing forecast.

In truth, they were really close to the mark, and the clustering of the world-lines are STILL on a trajectory for a very unpleasant conclusion.

Now, we need to filter out the “noise” and consider the world-line template landscape topography.

In remote viewing out of America these days, the primary (peaks and topographical) landmarks viewed are related to [1] the strange imposition of mRNA vaccinations, and [2] a gathering storm of strange behaviors on the social / economic front out of Washington DC.

This “noise” of Vaxx, and economic “bubbles” make the current topographical landscape quite rugged and mountainous. Thus, Americans see the topographical mountains all around them, and they cannot see the larger looming mountains past those peaks. It’s a side effect of the incessant mind-controlling Main Stream and alternative media.

The mountains that surround Americans are predominantly ones of…

  • Greed.
  • Media manipulation.
  • Out of control government.
  • Economic bubbles
  • Social re-engineering.
  • Racial divides.
  • Hate. Hate. Hate.

While the mountains in the distance consist of other things, that most Americans are not focusing on. For instance; China. Or the “far away” South China Sea. Or what is going on in Russia. Or Africa. Or South America.

But they are real, and of great concern. For it is the real mountains that are the real issues and the real problems that lie ahead.

The real “mountains” are…

  • Nuclear war with a unified Asia.
  • End of the US Dollar as the global currency.
  • Iran allied with Russia and China, and the rest of the Mideast complies.
  • African middle class growing in favor of Asia.
  • Europe retreat from American influence.

Thus you can see the differences in all the analysis. Those inside the United States echo chamber are combining elements of the United States government narrative of “Hate China; Blame China; China is evil”, with forced mRNA vaccinations and complete incompetence of the Federal Government. Resulting in this bastardized fucked up narrative…

“China stole an American bio-weapon and it was accidentally released in Wuhan, and when caught, they decided to use it to destroy America and all Christians by forcing them to get mRNA vaccinations that will kill everyone!”

Jeeze!

Putting all this nonsense aside, let’s continue on our study.

Obviously the 2012 Deagel report used Remote Viewing activity and extrapolation of existing economic and social trends and transposed to the two together to arrive at their (horrific) conclusion.  In 2012, they predicted a major event, that seems to indicate a pandemic or something similar coupled with an economic collapse.

I am sure that remote viewing of this pulled up those “Vaxx hills”, and “Coronavirus hills”, and when combined, the Deagel group  flushed out their predictions as such. I am sure that they did not like it, but the data and the trends, supported by remote viewing substantiated this belief.

Then, last year, in 2020 they revised their forecast. Now, the hills and mountains further out are much closer and clearer.

Before I read the 2020 revised forecast, I believed the following outcomes to be predominant. As you can well read, I said…

Here are some of my suggested candidate combinations that allow us to better understand how those enormous population causality figures could be reached.

  • Global pandemic, AND genocide.
  • Global pandemic, AND civil war WITH genocide.
  • Global pandemic, AND collapsing Military Empire, WITH war.
  • Global Military Empire AND Nuclear War WITH Global pandemic.

And the 2020 revised forecast states…

  • Global pandemic, AND collapsing Military Empire, WITH war.
  • Global Military Empire AND Nuclear War WITH Global pandemic.

The only difference between the two (aside from the order of the wording) is HOW a nuclear exchange comes into being.

Either [1] America conducts a conventional attack against China or Russia (not realizing that it will be against both) and it evolving and escalating quickly into a nuclear war, or [2] A first strike against the out-of-control American government by Asia.

Looking at all the issues, we can make the following statements…

Statements of prediction

Including remote viewing into the calculus, and taking into account all the knowns…

  • The American leadership class does not contain diplomatic professionals. Instead there are unskilled political donors who are making life and death decisions.
  • The mRNA vaccination is a real mystery, and there HAS to be a reason behind using it instead of the traditional “Dead Host” vaccination.
  • The approved 2021 Federal budget includes an enormous military funding outlay that is obviously in preparation for a major war.
  • The American government, and their media are all talking about an upcoming major war with China.
  • American military is retreating from Afghanistan, and four bases in Korea, while making QUAD arrangements with Australia and Japan.

All of this is very disturbing, and considered alone would be cause enough to suggest that a major war is just on the horizon.

But…

America (The United States) is crumbling from rot from within…

  • Racial hate.
  • Proliferation of firearms, and the establishment of armed groups.
  • Balkanization.
  • Economic bubbles.
  • Social bubbles.
  • The wealth gap is enormous.
  • Infrastructure funding is too late.
  • Rules, regulations and laws are all off the charts.

Couple that with a failed bio-weapons attack on China, and the fiasco which was the Trump neocon administration, followed by the bumbling Biden administration… and hard-core Religious extremists, and industry interests desiring of conflict, war and strife (all for various reasons), and you have a poisonous stew.

The “Genie is out of the bottle”, and I do not think that the looming “mountains” on the horizon can be avoided. The inertia associated with the clustering of world-lines is way too strong. So my guess (and I hope that I am wrong) is that the United States will sleep-walk into a war with Asia, and then before it happens, Asia will strike preemptively.

No matter what the details are, the remote viewing forecast is quite clear.

The United States Military Empire is going to start another major war. It is intended to be a distraction from the domestic failures, and regardless as to how much money President Biden is plowing into the economy, it’s not going to make any difference.

America is toast.

Burnt to a crisp; blackened, burned toast.

America today.

And it’s only a matter of time…

And then when the moron, presses the button, flicks the switch, or twists the knob, all Hell will break loose.

All in all, the USA will suffer horribly, and the combination of everything else will only turn a fiasco into an Hellish nightmare.

But…

You can control YOUR reality. And maybe this mountain of turmoil is sitting off somewhere on your world-line template, you can still navigate around it. Remember, after all, for all the turmoil and strife during World War II, Canada, South America, and Africa was relatively left alone.

Maybe you don’t want to move to Greenland, Patagonia, or Zambia. But you don’t really need to. All you need to do is control your little bit of reality. And if you do that, then everything will work out just fine.

Some final thoughts

Keep in mind that the Deagel remote viewed the future correctly. They printed their results in 2012. 

They PREDICTED a bio-warfare induced pandemic. 
They PREDICTED an Australian alliance with the United States.
They PREDICTED that America would start entering a period of "popping" of the various economic bubbles.

All of which came true by 2020.

Deagel did NOT change their forecast for 2025. It still stands. They just changed their thinking on how it would come about.

They remote viewed 2025 in great detail.

There will be [1] a massive die off of people in America, and Australia. The rest of the world will fare much better. And, most importantly, a [2] bio-weapon or pandemic figured predominantly in their calculus.

In 2012, they believed that there would be some kind of bio-weapon or pandemic that would kill off so many Americans. But they couldn’t (for the life of them) answer why Australia of all places would also have a large die off. At that time they never could of imagined the QUAD set up by Mike Pompeo, and that the Morrison government would wholeheartedly want to declare war on China. Instead, they figured that it must be a very serious pandemic with some other mystery event that complicated things in a negative manner.

In 2020, in the midst of the (three agent) bio-weapon attacks on China, and the absolute failure of America in securing it’s homeland, as well as the strong alignment of the Australian Morrison government to the war-loving neocons in Washington DC, the revised reasoning became one of nuclear war. Thus they reasoned that since the 2020 pandemic wasn’t that bad, and the drums of war were beating so loudly, that it must be nuclear war and bio-weapons used simultaneously.

Whether there is a nuclear event, or a bio-weapon event, no matter who caused it, or who instigated it, America will be absolutely and totally devastated. A 70% kill off implies that America would indeed be thrown back to the bronze age.

My advice?

You cannot change what is going to happen. It is pretty much set in stone. The only thing that you can do is to save yourself.

Flee the United States as fast as you can.

Go to a nation with a safer rating on the Deagel scale.

Consider fleeing any nation that is allied with the United States as well. The UK, and those European nations that are part of NATO perform very poorly. Though you will probably have an easier time of it than being the United States, it will still be a very rough life in those places.

It will be a scene out of the movie “Threads“, and you all should get a copy of this movie and watch it right now. And when you watch it, keep in mind that what it portrays is EXACTLY what Deagal predicts will happen to America and it’s allies. Watch it and realize that you have two to three short years to save yourself and your family.

Bugging out.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
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Some videos of China discussing global politics, what is actually going on and other neato things

This article is going for a kind of minimalist look where I present some “meaty” videos for you all to watch and ponder. And of course, it’s going to include China, because (well, you know) it’s the dominant force in the world today.

My intention is to provide a broad swath of videos that give the reader a fuller, and better understanding of China in all the many aspects of it. From personal to Geo-political, to social to governing, to people. By watching all these videos (and some are from myself) you will see exactly what China is today, free of the bullshit that you would find elsewhere on the internet.

I try to describe what is going on in the videos, but you can come to your own conclusions. Each video is from 15 seconds to five minutes long. Not really prohibitively large, but long enough to make the necessary points. Most videos presented are either banned, censored, or otherwise prohibited in the United States, Australia and the UK today.

I strongly suggest you watch each video one by one, in the order presented. I tried hard to put them in a balanced order to make a more reasonable impression to you, the reader.

This is what China is today..

Bridge Building in China

It makes America look like the corrupt, un-Godly moronic group of misfit nincompoops that it is. Here’s what the rest of the world thinks of America. Soak it up, and this video was made in 2017, and it’s only gotten much, much worse since then. HERE.

Night Life in China.

Here’s an expat walking around China at night. To those of you who are unaware, when the sun sets, China comes alive with activity. Kids, retired folk, workers and everyone come out to play and enjoy. No, it’s not a holiday. It’s just a typical night on a typical day in a typical part of China. HERE.

Give Credit Where Credit is due

In America it’s Communism is evil and bad, so says the person who knows nothing at all about Chinese communism, and who ASSUMES that it “must be horrible” because, after all Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, FOX “news”, Rush Limbaugh and CNN say so. You can trust them, right? Here’s who gets the credit for the amazing transformation of China. HERE.

Pretty Chinese girl in her house

For the last five years, the American (and Western) “news” media has cultivated the idea that the Chinese are poor, downtrodden, and helpless under a repressive communist regime. Don’t believe me? Google “repressive Chinese communist regime“. There are millions of articles with this them. And you know what? It’s all fucking LIES! Here’s a typical girl, in her typical house, in a typical small town, in a typical part of China. HERE.

End of the Year bonuses

Unlike the United States, China has end-of-the-year bonuses, monthly bonuses, and year-around award programs. And no, this isn’t a coupon for a cup of coffee, or a $10 gift card at Walmart. These are substantial bonuses equal to one to more months of salary. And on top of that, with the one to two month annual vacation, the companies offer generous dinner meals for the staff, and often they play these bonus award games. Like this one. You drink the alcohol, and you keep the money that it sits upon. HERE.

Facial Recognition is everywhere

Not only has QR replaced dollar bills and coins, but facial recognition is replacing key fobs, which (of course) replaced  keys. China is advancing in leaps and bounds. Seriously. HERE.

American attacks against China has no plan or goal

One of the first things that any student in the STEM fields recognize is that you MUST have a goal. Then you construct a plan to achieve that goal. But people who haven’t had that training, such as people who inherited their positions through wealth, relatives, or “connections” have no idea or concepts of plans, goals and objectives. And these are exactly the kind of people running the United States today. HERE.

A visit to the local clinic down the street

This is an MM video. here I narrative what my (old) clinic is like. I walk in and about. I show the traditional medicine offices, the Western medicine offices, the lab, and the pharmacy as well as the unhurried, easy going lifestyle that is so common throughout China today. HERE.

Some more Scouts

Here’s another video of the scouts. In general the scouts are a voluntary organization, while the middle School military train is compulsory. Never the less, the core ideas of community, society, achievement, merit are all strong Chinese characteristics. HERE.

Living next to a factory has it’s advantages

The bulk of the world’s goods are manufactured in China. The direct close proximity of these factories and the resulting personal and business relationships makes it very easy for wanna-be young designers and clothing manufactures to make limited runs of clothing and then sell them on social media. Such as this gal. HERE.

America is a Military Empire

In the last nearly 250 years of it’s existence, it has been involved in wars every single year since when it was founded in 1776. Only five years out of that time was peace, and only while the military-industrial establishment was retooling for the next war. Up until this week, America is currently fighting eight simultaneous wars with over 500 military bases all over the world. China isn’t like that at all. Listen to what Xi Peng has to say. HERE.

Africa is a rising star

With China’s help, both Africa, and the Middle East will experience exceptional growth and measurable, and tangible increases in their quality of living. China has set forth to make this a reality, and are busy building rail lines, hospitals, roads and much needed infrastructure to the people in these often (American instigated) war-torn nations. HERE.

A pretty girl.

I do like pretty girls. Here’s a nice pretty Chinese girl. There’s a softness, and a pleasantness that comes with life inside of China that I haven’t felt in the United States for decades. HERE.

An American comic tells it like it is

This one is classic. It’s funny because it’s true. There’s only one error in the video. He said that California is spending $6 billion dollars to build the high-speed rail line in California. The actual number is $77 billion plus an additional $6 billion to finish it by making the train to ride on the rails. HERE.

Chinese High Speed Train

These are commonplace all over China. They are cheap, fast, clean, and comfortable. They are far better than taking a plane. And the Chinese are all very used to them. HERE.

No one should underestimate China

This following speech snippet was twisted and distorted by the New York Times, and the standard neocon publications out of the North East of the United States. Who used this speech to declare that China was going to invade the world and displace the Untied States. This speech said no such thing. Instead, Xi Peng made it very clear that they will only be pushed so for before they bite back, and believe you me, you do not want to be on their bad side. HERE.

In America we salute the flag and say the “Pledge of allegiance”…

Here’s what they do in China. This is in a pre-kindergarden school. You must take note that the Chinese are very relentless patriots and since they serve their community and society, they think nothing of dying for it either. Any bull-shit ideas that China will run into the arms of “American liberators” for freedom™ and democracy™ is a pure fantasy. Check this video out! HERE.

Old Grandmother gives a wedding present

Even those on tiny incomes want to participate in good, happy and joyous occasions. Here we have an old little old lady grandmother giving a “red envelope” full of cash to the bride as her way of welcoming her to marry her grandson. Cute. Precious. HERE.

In a society where everyone participates…

The difference between the USA and China couldn’t be starker. In China, everyone participates and helps and works together for the greater good. In America it’s the “lone wolf” being the biggest and the baddest hoarding up all the money, and vacuuming up all the change so that they can sit on top of the pile of money. Here is what happens in China when you break the law. HERE.

China growth compared to America’s growth

Ai! It’s stark. China has grown, and no (it’s not like the USA) where only the rich become filthy rich and the rest suffers. Everyone inside of China has experienced enormous, and amazing increases in their standards of living. It is profound, noticeable and stunning. HERE.

MM posts a video

I made this video as I walked near my house. It’s just a bunch of first and second grade students hanging out together and playing near one of the family shops. It’s a young biker gang. LOL. HERE.

Africa is modernizing.

Soft power from China. America has decades (if not centuries) of proving pallet loads of money to local war-lords to buy American guns and weapons, so that those on K-street in Washington DC get rich. China has a better idea. They are surrounding themselves with prosperity. Those nations that have a growing middle class, that shun war, and want to be productive will become great friends of China. And that is what we are seeing in Africa today. HERE.

Chinese space station I

Congress and successive American presidents have forbidden China to have any access to American technology. This includes all rocket and space and avionics technology. So China had to build everything from scratch and just like the United States did in the early 1960’s, so did China, and now China has met, and surpassed the United States technology markers in space exploration. HERE.

A sexy video

Here is a Chinese woman making her family a fine delicious and healthy meal in the kitchen. Not only are women far better cooks than men (well, maybe not all the time, but in my case they are certainly much better than me) but they are expert financiers. No one can budget a household, AND provide daily tasty delicious meals like a woman can. And that’s my strong opinion in this matter. If you want to be healthy in body and mind, and you want to be free of financial worries, put the woman of the house in charge of fiances and domestic issues. Your life would be so much better. And besides, it’s so sexy! HERE.

Chinese and Russia Space Station II

There is also another video that also shows just how much larger the joint Chinese and Russian space station will be when it is completed. Of course, this is nothing that you will find on any of the Western media outlets. HERE.

Pretty Chinese girl

I am constantly amazed that Americans believe that all the women in China look like pre-adolsescent children. In fact, this was the argument that was used against me by the DA in Little Rock, Arkansas who actually made the point that the sole reason that I lived, worked and traveled to China was to indulge my fantasies of having sex with little children, and the Chinese women would naturally, by their child-like bodies would satisfy me. Disgusting. HERE.

Everyone Participates

When someone gets unruly, and rude, the rest of China will take action. This is their nation; their country. And it’s up to them to police it. And people must behave. There are far too many people, to not take an active role in society. HERE.

Hong Kong official discusses the HK Riots

It is no secret that the United States funded, armed, taught, organized and pushed for the (so called) “pro-democracy” riots. These riots killed dozens, caused massive hardship, interrupted the flow of life inside of China and caused millions of dollars in damages. Who is the ultimate culprit? Why, it is clearly the United States. HERE.

Chinese Scouts

In America we have “Boy Scouts” and “Girl Scouts”. But in China there is just “The Scouts”. And they learn discipline, culture, working together, and some basics of para-military training. I am always amazed and glad that China trains their children to be parts of the community, than a bunch of couch-potatoes that demand “me, me, me”. HERE.

Be the Rufus

In a society that has people caring for each other you will start seeing Rufus activities. Not because of some kind of reward, but that it is what you do when you are about others in your society. Such as this quick video illustrates. HERE.

America speak with a forked tongue

Here’s an interesting side by side comparison of (then) Vice President Biden telling the Chinese that America is committed to a “rising China”. And then next to it we see President Biden announcing to the White house press corps that America must stop China from rising at all costs. Sheech! HERE.

Nice Chinese girl

Here’s a nice Chinese girl. According to Arkansas she looks young. They told me that “everyone” in China looks like children. That’s the ONLY reason why anyone would ever want to visit that slimy, filthy, oozing, cesspool of pollution, crime and corruption. Look at her ooze childish filth! HERE.

Rural Africa now has factories

The Chinese have spent the time building factories, and training workers to make basic items in the  very remote villages and settlements of Africa. These areas used to be poverty ridden, and controlled by war-lords who lived on United States funds and corruption. But with the investments of infrastructure and a market for manufactured goods, the money now flows to these workers who make these products inside of Africa. HERE.

This vblogger was attacked horrifically by the BBC

They claimed that he was only saying good things about China because the communist regime paid him to do so. And then they took frames from his video, used photoshop to darken them, turn the lush green trees grey, turn the blue sky grey and then produced it to their audience of millions. Never a retraction. HERE.

The BBC tries to attack China on Global Warming

It’s unsuccessful. Anyone who knows anything about China will now defend China and no longer take the bullshit narrative at face value. That game is over. And here’s a nice video that illustrates this spectacularly. HERE.

BBC Journalist admits his directives

Pretty ballsy. After all, his future as a “journalist” in the West is now over.  He pretty much admits that the primary directives in most (heck, all) Western media is to malign China, and to provide a very false image and picture for the viewers of the BCC of what China is and what is going on. HERE.

Chinese cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is real and it is present today inside of China. The rest of the world, hidden behind agendas and fear-mongering has lied itself into a box, and the rising China, and all of Asia makes the rest of the world look like ignorant psychopathic used car salesmen in comparison, with collapsing infrastructure, a lack of morals, and no accomplishments except the theft of money from others. HERE.

This fellow tells you why the USA was in Afghanistan…

And also explains why the neocons on K-street in Washington DC are all “up in arms” and enraged over the American troop withdrawal. But don’t worry, the UK “news” media is already spinning how unstable that region is and the Biden made a “power move”, and yada, yada, yada. HERE.

Comparison in starting a business

Here’s an American telling you how it is when you try to start a digital business int he United States compared to one in China. The difference is striking and he is right. America is the land with a million tiny, tiny hands in your wallet all taking a million little bites of your money. And why no one in America is doing well today (unless they are a super wealthy oligarch). HERE.

Look at all those volunteers

First day of school. All those in red are not all teachers, but actually many are volunteers for their community. A mother brings her handicapped child to the school. Being a little kid, scared, and frightened on top of having a handicap, must be really difficult. Not so, if the school welcomes you as one of their own. HERE.

China is showing the way forward…

…And the United States leadership are petrified of it. Their cushy lifestyle, the belief that they are the “kings” sitting all on the top of the money pile, only works as long as the downtrodden slave-serfs are happy in their lot. But increasingly they are not happy, and they want change. And China is showing them the answer out. HERE.

A show of kindness

In a “dog eat dog” kind of society, everyone is living in fear, and hiding from others. They never stick their neck out for anyone else other than themselves. But in a society where the well being of the community is important, then everyone has a role, as this little girl clearly shows. HERE.

The duty of government is for it’s people

And if the government stops doing that, and / or doesn’t care or is unable to help the citizenry of that nation, then it must be replaced. We have seen this in China with the events of the “cultural revolution”, and then the efforts of Mr. Deng. Now, we see with great surprise how well China prospers when it’s government cares for it’s people. But we see the opposite in the United States. What went wrong? HERE.

Will you marry me?

This just happened at the Olympics. I guess that you all weren’t aware of it because it showed China in a good light, and that (of course) goes against American (and UK) “news” guidelines. HERE.

A five minute overview of what the Chinese Communist Party is

Here it is in a “nutshell”. In five minutes you get a very good, thick and comprehensive overview of what the Chinese communist party is, and why it has been so successful inside of China. It’s really quite well stated, and tell you as it is. Like it or not. HERE.

Inner Mongolia

Well, when was the last time you have seen a picture of Inner Mongolia? Don’t remember? Well, that’s understandable. There’s hardly anything on this subject in the Western press. Here’s an absolutely great video that covers so many subject areas, from infrastructure, to beauty, to planning, to nature. HERE.

Trade Tariffs

Well, what about those 20% trade tariffs that President Trump put on American products, and that Biden decided to keep in place. You know, “to keep the pressure on China”. What is going on? I have to tell you guys, the American leadership is so moronic it defies description. HERE.

Built like a fish

In the United States, when we see a well-built woman, we say that she is “built like a battleship”. Another term is that she is “built like a brick house”. African-American men, who almost uniformly prefer huge asses on women like to say “she has a big caboose”, or “she has some fine booty”. In China, an attractive woman is one that has the lines and shape of a fish. And so people say that she “has a nice fish shape” as this woman HERE.

Chinese Military

I’ve got tons of videos on the Chinese military. But let me just say that the Chinese believe in using enormous quantities of AI guided robotic missiles to destroy everything in it’s path before unleashing hordes of tactically trained professional troops to take over a given area. China does not play. HERE.

Oh, but China cannot innovate

They can only copy. Right? That’s the narrative. Isn’t it? Who are they copying with their bridge building machines? Who are they copying with their nuclear systems? Who are they copying with their 6G? Or their HarmonyOS, or their QR codes, or their High Speed Rail. The lies are so outrageous that when I hear someone repeat them, I no longer get angry. Instead I look at the person as being one of the most out-of-touch and ill-informed ignoramuses on the planet. HERE.

Playing with fire

In the United States, we have an idiom called “playing with fire”. It means to do something dangerous or risky. These provocations that the United States Navy is doing in the South China Sea could end up getting people killed. It’s not so much that I worry about China. They have time and time again, proven themselves to be intimately capable. But I would hate to see the seventh fleet destroyed with all those lives lost. HERE.

Dancing at night

I have discussed this numerous times. It all started with the “dancing grandmothers”, and now with the government’s help and direction, it has become a national pastime. Everyone loves to dance in China, and if you want to go and dance, you just go and do it. Woo woo! HERE.

Senator Mikulski warns that going against China would be very, very dangerous

I normally don’t care for her (personally). but she is actually quite right here. Pushing China like the USA is currently doing is very, very dangerous. And the morons in the control of the nation of America haven’t a clue as to how dangerous it can actually get. HERE.

Who are the CPC Members?

Another very good, and short video that tells you exactly what is going on and just how absolutely insane the Neocon United Sates radical military-lovers are when they make such outrageous pronouncements and demands upon China. Crazy! HERE.

Going to help others

A scooter gets in an accident in the middle of an intersection of two six lane highways. What happens? Everyone gets out of their cars and runs over to help the poor guy in his overturned vehicle. This is what communities do. They don’t drive slowly by and gawk or take pictures like an American does. HERE.

Conclusion

In the $4 trillion dollar budget passed by President Biden are billions of dollars to “suppress” China, further censor media so that China is villainized and made out to be an evil “thing” to be destroyed. It is my hope that this little article helps put things in perspective.

Do you want more?

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You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

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China

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Some videos from Russia. Mostly concentrating on Moscow and nearby communities

Here’s some videos of Russia. Please kindly pay attention.

Throughout America, we have been filled with these lies and false narratives about how terrible dark and horrible Russia is. Many of us still believe it because in this age of Tiktoc and you-tube, very few Russian and Chinese videos are permitted inside the United States. We all know how President Trump clamped down on the dissemination of videos out of China, and Russia follows the same model. Keep Americans ignorant; feed them lies and other things to cause them to be fearful, and then tax them.

Those in Washington DC make the world a dark and fearful place. Tell Americans that they are the best, and to be afraid of the rest of the world. It’s one big nasty lie.

Here’s some videos out of Russia. Most are centered in Western Russia which is rather nice. Don’t you know. there are twenty short micro videos. Most under two minutes, and if you click on the link they will open up on a new tab.

Conclusion

Today, Russia and China are very, very close. Putin referred to the relationship as symbiotic.

Symbiotic.
Characterized by or being a close, cooperative, or interdependent relationship

The relationship is strong, tight, and mutually beneficial to each party. They work together on all levels, and with the new global realignments, it would be wise to pay attention to Russia. Yes. Not just China, but Russia as well.

For the last 100 years, the United States has been the force behind the vast bulk of wars, famine, diseases, turmoil, terror, suppression and everything else bad that you find in the world today. From mindless corporate drones, to drug-induced street walking zombies, to massive prison complexes, the the Coronavirus pandemic, the United States has been behind it all…

For the world to move forward and embrace a new and better reality, this evil will need to be vanquished. Just like in the Tolken stories about the dragon Smaug, you need to destroy the monster before the people can live life freely.

I cannot see into the future, but it appears quite clear to me that the destruction of this evil is necessary to make the world a better and safer place. How it will happen is unknown, but it will have to happen. Sooner or later.

America is like this mentally ill alcoholic that is repeatedly raping the children in the neighborhood, setting fires to all the houses, and shitting on the sidewalks in front of your house. Sooner or later, he must go. There simply isn’t any other alternative.

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Metallicman’s notes on dressing well if you are an older man

Here’s some notes that I collected over the years, and pulled together for myself. It’s just some thoughts, and some guidelines that I collected in a file that I promised myself that I would get to “one of these days”. On Saturday, I was going though a dusty old hard drive and found this collection. And so, I decided to “put it up there” for everyone to read and (perhaps) to scoff at. (Hopefully not.)

Now, I have gone in and out of fashions and styles all my life. There were times when I was truly fashionable. Such as the bell-bottom, long-haired 1970’s, and the cargo pants and layered pastel polo 1980’s. This evolved over time into the early 1990’s when I was wearing pencil thin neck-ties, double breasted suits and mullets. And so on and so forth.

But something happened to me.

Maybe it was prison.

Maybe it was no longer working in a corporate environment.

Maybe it was China.

Or maybe it was when my facial hair started to turn grey.

There comes a time, in every man’s life, where you take a step back and say, “well, I just want to wear clothes that are comfortable, and where I look good in them”. And that is what caused me to generate this collection of guidelines.

Don’t you know…

Introduction

There’s a joke that “we spend all our lives trying to look older, right up until we spend all our lives trying to look younger.”

Terrible idea, really.

The perfect age to be is always the one you are.

Although you all have to admit that being of legal age to do everything is always an improvement.

When you start seeing your hair turn grey (or white) is when a man should fully come into his own. You’re a gentleman with a firm idea of himself and his place in the world, and your wardrobe should reflect that.

Casual Attire

Your business wardrobe is your business wardrobe. Sigh. It’s dictated by the necessity of your profession. Whether you wear a uniform, or meet the company “dress code”. Do it well — but do your “casual” wardrobe better.

Your casual clothes are, quite simply, what you wear for yourself. It’s the most obvious outward expression of your taste, your attitude, and your place in life.

Don’t go on confusing “casual” with “sloppy”.

Big mistake.

Just because you’re not at the office is no reason to look like you don’t care. Your clothes should still look like a deliberate choice and a conscious statement — a powerful one, too, at this age.

Here are some things an older man wants to keep in mind when choosing his casual wardrobe:

[1] Fit

Wear ONLY clothes that fit you well.

Do not wear clothes that don’t fit.

Do not wear clothes that are too tight. Or clothes that are too big. You wear clothes that fit you well. I know that you all probably have nice clothes that cost some money, but you never wear because they don’t fit you well. But you keep them anyways.

Throw them out or give them away.

Fitting well on a man’s frame.

By this decade of your life, you should have a very good sense of your body.

[2] Tailoring clothes to fit you well

I go on the internet, and especially on English websites, they talk about having a tailor make some perfectly fitting clothes for you. How wonderful! But let’s face it, most men don’t have a few thousand dollars to dedicate to this. And having clothes that fit is not on the main list.

Instead, it is on a secondary list that includes chores, repairs, and special purchases for the family. And at that, unless you are single, it’s at the bottom of that list.

But think a minute.

If you had no other issues; no other attachments, wouldn’t clothing rank as your top priority after food? (Fine, delicious food, by the way.)

The guy (or gal) you go to doesn’t have to be someone who actually creates tailor-made clothing, though they’re often the best. There are perfectly good tailors at basic clothing repair shops and even some dry cleaners that can do adjustments. The point is that you should be getting those adjustments done.

They don’t cost a lot of money.

In the days when I worked for a massive automotive electronics company, our dress code was a white shirt and a red tie. But I made sure that I would buy off-the-shelf high quality shirts, and then spend a few dollars having each one tailored to fit me exactly. It did make a difference on how I looked and felt about myself.

Get everything trimmed to fit you.

Shirts, and trousers are mandatory. Suits and jackets go without saying. About the only thing you should be leaving unadjusted at this age are your socks, underwear, and gym/chore clothing. Everything else gets a tailored fit.

Oh, and don’t be afraid to toss old underwear, too. And, ladies… this includes old bras. Toss those fancy wire things that you love that never wear, and those bras that are old, and frayed. Go get yourself a nice VERY WELL fitting bra. Make sure that you have the right cup size, and the right under boob width. Wearing a comfortable bra makes all the difference in the world.

Or, so I am told.

This has a twofold benefit: it makes your body look better, flattering the best parts of your figure, and it also makes you more comfortable.

A big part of looking good when you get old is looking relaxed and at ease with yourself — hard to pull off when you’re constantly re-tucking your shirt or tugging the crotch of your pants into place. (It’s a guy thing, don’t you know.)

[3] Comfort

I wear black tee-shirts all the time.

But that’s just me. When they get old I toss them and get a newer one. These are plain black shirts that fit me well, and that either have a small logo on my left chest, or an embroidered pattern. I rarely wear large garish patterns, or designs.

Again, that is just me.

Look good. feel good.

And remember that I live in the tropics. Zhuhai temperatures are much like Singapore. We have two seasons. Warm, and very Hot and very humid.

On that note, an older man really should look comfortable, and even relaxed, at nearly all times. Leave the hard-edged, high-strung look to the younger guys.

A lot of looking comfortable in your clothes comes down to actually being comfortable in your clothes, but you can do a lot with tailoring and styling too.

For those of you who still wear suits, and even I do from time to time, this is a good time of life to be moving away from aggressively fitted “power suits” and sharp-edged European cuts. The American, slightly looser suit was made with the middle-aged man in mind — give it a try.

For less dressy styles, try relaxed looks like sweaters and knitted tee-shirts, or other more relaxed shirts. You just need to move away from the business-standard dress shirt and its turn-down collar (and tie) ensemble. (Burrr.) Handsome, well-fitted clothing that’s obviously made for leisure tells people that you’re prioritizing your own pleasures.

A man who is comfortable, will look comfortable.

A man who is happy, and confident, will look happy and confident.

The key here is to have stylish comfortable options. Yeah, stretch-waist sweatpants are comfortable, but there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. Buy clothes that fit your personality; grown-up clothes, just buy them in soft fabrics, relaxed cuts, and a nice casual variety of colors.

[4] Luxury

Not to be confused with comfort, though it often provides it, luxury in clothing is the province of the older gentleman.

This mostly comes about as increased discretionary income intersects with a life’s worth of dressing experience. Even if you never got that serious about your wardrobe, decades of putting fabric on your body gives you some idea of what feels good and what feels cheap. And of course you know this. Don’t you?

Look good and feel good.

Rich wools, soft cottons, light linens — live ’em all up.

The texture and “drape” of a good fabric are more noticeable, even at a distance, than we often think.

It’s the reason a bunch of men in $99 blazers from the sale rack at Men’s Wearhouse all look vaguely insubstantial — and the reason a man in the middle of them wearing a $599 blazer made from top-notch worsted wool stands out like a lighthouse.

Buy less frequently than you did when you were younger, but more expensively.

Decades of accumulation should have your wardrobe in decent shape for the staples. That frees up your clothing budget to add a couple really nice things for yourself.

Whatever you like to wear most, buy it in the best quality you can get…

…Then wear the hell out of it.

[5] Some “Looks”

When you were younger, your style perhaps could have been summed up in one or two words: “urban cowboy,” “power exec,” “thrift-store hipster,” whatever.

By now you should be past that.

Your clothing should just be you, defying categories. It should look like what you wanted to wear, not like what a “style blog” told you to wear.

Maybe the most important thing at this age is for everything to look like an outfit, rather than a collection of unrelated clothes all thrown on together.

Look good and feel good.

You should put some time and care into selecting not just the big pieces (trousers, shirt, jacket), but the accents as well (everything from the necktie and shoes to things like scarves, watches, hats, pocket squares; even your eyeglasses if you wear them).

For me, I tend to wear (and keep in mind that I am in the topics), a nice well fitting black tee-shirt, and long well made (hiking) trousers. I wear with a special kind of canvas loafer local to China, and accessorize with my (good will energy) bracelet, watch, and belt.

With that in mind, here are a couple of looks that will always look good on a man in his older years…

The Sunday Best

We’ll start at the top end of your casual wardrobe: the social suit and tie.

For most men, especially younger men, this doesn’t exist anymore. Suits are strictly business wear, and not even then are they a necessity for a lot of professions.

That just makes it even easier for you to stand apart from the crowd when you dapper it up don’t you know. A suit in a casual color and pattern offers all the things we talked about above: luxury, comfort, and, if your tailor did his job right, a perfect fit as well.

But what ever you do, don’t look like a used car salesman!

The traditional time for a man to wear his social suit was on Sunday, to church and then to the inevitable social activities afterward, but don’t let that middle-American habit limit you. A casual suit, with or without a necktie, is always good daytime wear when you want to look sharp.

When I wear a suit, I always simply wear a black blazer over my black tee-shirt. It’s simple. I’m dressed up. Ya gotta problem with that?

For a real impression, I buy a brand new crisp white tee shirt. Then wear it instead of a black one. You gotta break out of your mold every now and then, don’t you know.

Shirts. I do wear them from time to time. Especially when the temperature drops below 90C (30C or so).

After 5:00 or so be sure to skip the necktie — you don’t want to be mistaken for a businessman with dubious professionalism coming home from work. Leave the collar open unless you’re going somewhere very fancy (and if you are, maybe wear a darker, more somber suit).

The Stroller

A “stroller” is an older phrase for daytime semi-formal wear, especially for being out and about — truly strolling somewhere.

It’s really a cool thing to do. But what ever you do, don’t clasp your hands behind your back, carry a boom-box playing forty-year old pop music, or wear pristine white tennis shoes as you do so.

Not recommended.

You should own a good walking outfit, or several, because frankly a man in his silvering years needs to be walking from time to time. It keeps you in good shape — and strolling down Main Street, taking in the crowd for no reason other than personal pleasure is both a perk and a tradition of the silver-haired years.

So own some simple, comfortable trousers and nice clean top, and a good pair of walking shoes, and then…  Suddenly you’re a respectable gentleman of means out for a stroll.

A couple of good accents help with this one.

Own some scarves, hats, and gloves with a little flavor to them. Yes, you could wear a baseball cap and stick your hands in your pockets, but (come on!) you can do better than that.

Besides, if a fine attractive lady and you strike a nice conversation, take it inside and enjoy their company over some delicious food!

The Silverback Badass

Style in your older years (not ancient years) is all about not trying too hard. You don’t want to look like a rebel without a cause. That was silly when you were 20, and now it’s really silly.

But can you still be a bit of a rebel from time to time?

Sure. An older gentleman can still wear a leather jacket and jeans, or a denim coat and cords. He just has to make it a little more dignified.

This is a great age for plain-fronted leather jackets — think stripped-down bomber or fatigue styles, not too heavy on the details and fitted close but not hyper-streamlined. Don’t be shy of a little surface weathering; it goes well with gray hairs (assuming you have those — some guys don’t, even in their fifties).

If leather’s not your thing, show some attitude with mix-and-match levels of formality instead. Wear a plush velvet suit jacket over a pair of jeans and let people like it or lump it. You do what you want, right? You gotta problem with that?

It’s important not to get too experimental — you don’t want to look like a runway designer’s latest vision. That’s for younger men. If you can’t wear the look with casual confidence, skip it. But if you can, go ahead and be a rebel now and again.

Here’s some things that an older man should own by now…

Given your environment, obviously.

A Wool Cardigan

No, it’s not a grandpa sweater.

Did Steve McQueen wear grandpa sweaters? No. He wore cardigans, and he looked rugged as hell doing it. So did John Wayne. So does Daniel Craig. They’re awesome, and you should have one.

Look good; feel good.

A good cardigan should be knit wool, heavy enough to be your outer layer for much of the fall and spring. An inner lining of something like flannel makes it warmer and can minimize dry cleaning needs as well. Stay away from hugely oversized floppy collars or really big buttons — those are a little feminine — but otherwise feel free to play around with styles.

Gray is always a reliable color if you don’t feel like experimenting. For the more adventurous man in his fifties, try a cardigan in deep shades of bright primary and secondary colors — burgundy red, forest green, burnt goldenrod.

You can throw a good cardigan over almost anything and be ready for everything from brunch to a cozy late night coffee date. Expect to, once you’ve bought one you like.

A Good Scarf Collection

Scarves?

Yeah. I tend to dress in dark colors and when I am wearing a black blazer over my black tee-shirt, a few nice black scarves really makes the outfit “pop”! And it’s a great conversation piece with the ladies.

Scarves as a style piece rather than a functional necessity are a direct descendant of early airmen and fighter pilots. That made them popular during the interwar years in America, and worn well they still lend you a little of that old-fashioned, dashing appeal, like a gentleman who goes about in something called a “motorcar.”

Start with the basics (black and brown) and then start adding color and pattern. A scarf can be an eye-popping centerpiece or it can blend right into your jacket until the moment when the wind catches the end and whisks it about. Both are good.

Look good, feel good.

While you’re at it, practice a few different ways of looping/tying your scarf. There’s no reason to use the same knot every time. Thin materials look better in different knots than thick materials, and you may want a more or less structured look depending on the rest of your outfit.

So are you fully scarf literate yet? If not, that’s a good project for your later years.

Suede / Canvas topped Shoes or Boots

I have been told that I’m done with sneakers and court shoes at this point in life, except for on the actual court. But that is ok. Suede / Canvas toppers are your new casual, comfortable footwear default.

For the classically-styled man, bluchers in white, gray, blue, and brown are the way to go. If your style is more modern, suede skate-style shoes with contrast lacing make a nice grown-up alternative to teenager’s footgear.

And if you’ve never tried the look, go ahead and get yourself a pair of high-ankled boots in suede. They’ll serve you from about the time it gets too cold for sandals to when the snow starts falling, and the reverse in the spring.

Skin Care Lotion That You Respect

Ignore the commercials; there’s nothing wrong with wrinkles. Your face ought to have some creases after fifty years of well-lived life. If it doesn’t, you weren’t using it enough.

But…

But you want your skin to feel good, and as you age that means taking a little more care of it than you did when you were younger. Find a product or two that keeps your hide feeling supple and healthy. I use moisturizing cream twice daily, and I live in the tropics. If I didn’t my face would probably look like the grand canyon with all sorts of deep crevasses and wrinkles from my days of working the chain-gain at Brickey’s East Arkansas Regional Unit’s Hoe Squad.

If it makes you feel artificially slick or dried out, it’s the wrong product. A really basic moisturizing cream made from natural ingredients if often all a man needs. Lightly scented if you please — you don’t want it to clash with your cologne.

(You are putting a splash of subtle cologne on when you get dressed up at this point in your life, aren’t you? Work on that if you’re not.)

Looks to avoid

There are no completely hard and fast rules in fashion. Someone, somewhere, has probably pulled one of these off in his later years. But you’re not him, and you’ll probably just look bad if you try. So don’t.

  • Sneakers/trainers. You’re done with ’em. Give it up and get over it. A pair for the gym or other athletic endeavors is fine, but unless you’re in a rock band and on stage, you shouldn’t be wearing athletic shoes as a style choice.
  • Neckties without jackets. This is a look men should avoid in general, but once you get into your fifties it can only make you look like a depressed, mid-salary cubicle worker with nothing left to live for. Very Death of a Salesman. Throw a jacket on if you’re wearing a necktie. For that matter, throw a jacket on if you’re wearing a dress shirt in general, even without the tie.
  • Sleeveless shirts. Even on the beach. Tank tops, especially the scoop-neck kind, should be firmly left behind as soon as your hair starts receding and/or going gray. And if you’re in your fifties and it hasn’t, good for you, but still don’t wear sleeveless shirts as your only upper-body covering. (Though, I do wear them in the house as house clothing in the impossibly hot Summers of the South China Sea.)

Also worth avoiding is anything with too much of an “advancing age” feel to it — the really chunky orthopedic shoes, thick, dated eyeglasses, worn-out sweatshirts, or elastic-waist trousers. Oh, and don’t forget to toss that Alice Cooper Tee-Shirt from 1971.

If there’s something you need for your physical health, do it, and don’t ever let anyone make you feel ashamed of it. But go ahead and keep the element small and surrounded by other, purely aesthetic accents, so that it’s not defining who you are the moment people look your way.

Youth is almost always wasted on the young, but with a bit of sharp dressing, middle age can be made to work great for the man in his fifties. Have fun with it. You might be surprised how well you feel, how well you look, and the kinds of people you will meet and strike up conversations with. You never know.

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Chapter 1, Part 4, of the 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene titled “Create a sense of urgency and desperation; The Death Ground Strategy”

This is a full reprint in HTML of the fourth chapter (Chapter 4) of the first part (Part I) of the massive volume titled "The 33 Strategies of War". Written by Robert Greene (with emotional support from his cats). I read this book while in prison, and found much of what was written to be interesting, enjoyable, and pertinent to things going on in my life. I think that you will as well.

You are your own worst enemy. You waste precious time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Cut your ties to the past; enter unknown territory. Place yourself on “death ground,” where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out alive.

Part I

Chapter 4

Create a sense of urgency and desperation; The Death Ground Strategy

You are your own worst enemy. You waste precious time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Since nothing seems urgent to you, you are only half involved in what you do. The only way to change is through action and outside pressure. Put yourself in situations where you have too much at stake to waste time or resources–if you cannot afford to lose, you won’t. Cut your ties to the past; enter unknown territory where you must depend on your wits and energy to see you through. Place yourself on “death ground,” where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out alive.

Cortes ran all that aground with the ten ships. Cuba, to be sure, was still there, in the blue sea, with its farms, its cows and its tame Indians; but the way to Cuba was no longer through sunny blue waves, rocked in soft idleness, oblivious of danger and endeavor; it was through Motecucuma's court, which had to be conquered by ruse, by force, or by both; through a sea of warlike Indians who ate their prisoners and donned their skins as trophies; at the stroke of their chief's masterly hand, the five hundred men had lost that flow of vital memories and hopes which linked up their souls with their mother-island; at one stroke, their backs had been withered and had lost all sense of life. Henceforward, for them, all life was ahead, towards those forbidding peaks which rose gigantically on the horizon as if to bar all access to what was now not merely their ambition, but their only possible aim--Mexico, mysterious and powerful behind the conflicting tribes. 

- HERNAN CORTES: CONQUEROR OF MEXICO, SALVADOR DE MADARIAGA, 1942

THE NO-RETURN TACTIC

In 1504 an ambitious nineteen-year-old Spaniard named Hernan Cortes gave up his studies in law and sailed for his country’s colonies in the New World. Stopping first in Santo Domingo (the island today comprising Haiti and the Dominican Republic), then in Cuba, he soon heard about a land to the west called Mexico–an empire teeming with gold and dominated by the Aztecs, with their magnificent highland capital of Tenochtitlan. From then on, Cortes had just one thought: someday he would conquer and settle the land of Mexico.

Over the next ten years, Cortes slowly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming secretary to the Spanish governor of Cuba and then the king’s treasurer for the island. In his own mind, though, he was merely biding his time. He waited patiently while Spain sent other men to Mexico, many of them never to return.

Finally, in 1518, the governor of Cuba, Diego de Velazquez, made Cortes the leader of an expedition to discover what had happened to these earlier explorers, find gold, and lay the groundwork for the country’s conquest. Velazquez wanted to make that future conquest himself, however, so for this expedition he wanted a man he could control, and he soon developed doubts about Cortes–the man was clever, perhaps too much so. Word reached Cortes that the governor was having second thoughts about sending him to Mexico. Deciding to give Velazquez no time to nurse his misgivings, he managed to slip out of Cuba in the middle of the night with eleven ships. He would explain himself to the governor later.

The expedition landed on Mexico’s east coast in March 1519. Over the next few months, Cortes put his plans to work–founding the town of Veracruz, forging alliances with local tribes who hated the Aztecs, and making initial contact with the Aztec emperor, whose capital lay some 250 miles to the west. But one problem plagued the conquistador: among the 500 soldiers who had sailed with him from Cuba were a handful who had been placed there by Velazquez to act as spies and make trouble for him if he exceeded his authority. These Velazquez loyalists accused Cortes of mismanaging the gold that he was collecting, and when it became clear that he intended to conquer Mexico, they spread rumors that he was insane–an all-too-convincing accusation to make about a man planning to lead 500 men against half a million Aztecs, fierce warriors known to eat their prisoners’ flesh and wear the skins as trophies. A rational man would take the gold they had, return to Cuba, and come back later with an army. Why stay in this forbidding land, with its diseases and its lack of creature comforts, when they were so heavily outnumbered? Why not sail for Cuba, back home where their farms, their wives, and the good life awaited them?

Cortes did what he could with these troublemakers, bribing some, keeping a close eye on others. Meanwhile he worked to build a strong enough rapport with the rest of his men that the grumblers could do no harm. All seemed well until the night of July 30, when Cortes was awoken by a Spanish sailor who, begging for mercy, confessed that he had joined in a plot to steal a ship and return that very evening to Cuba, where the conspirators would tell Velazquez about Cortes’s goal of conquering Mexico on his own.

Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, bring struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. 

- HAGAKURE: THE BOOK OF THE SAMURAI, YAMAMOTO TSUNETOMO, 1659-1720

Cortes sensed that this was the decisive moment of the expedition. He could easily squash the conspiracy, but there would be others. His men were a rough lot, and their minds were on gold, Cuba, their families–anything but fighting the Aztecs. He could not conquer an empire with men so divided and untrustworthy, but how to fill them with the energy and focus for the immense task he faced?Thinking this through, he decided to take swift action. He seized the conspirators and had the two ringleaders hanged. Next, he bribed his pilots to bore holes in all of the ships and then announce that worms had eaten through the boards of the vessels, making them unseaworthy.

Pretending to be upset at the news, Cortes ordered what was salvageable from the ships to be taken ashore and then the hulls to be sunk. The pilots complied, but not enough holes had been bored, and only five of the ships went down. The story of the worms was plausible enough, and the soldiers accepted the news of the five ships with equanimity. But when a few days later more ships were run aground and only one was left afloat, it was clear to them that Cortes had arranged the whole thing. When he called a meeting, their mood was mutinous and murderous.

This was no time for subtlety. Cortes addressed his men: he was responsible for the disaster, he admitted; he had ordered it done, but now there was no turning back. They could hang him, but they were surrounded by hostile Indians and had no ships; divided and leaderless, they would perish. The only alternative was to follow him to Tenochtitlan. Only by conquering the Aztecs, by becoming lords of Mexico, could they get back to Cuba alive. To reach Tenochtitlan they would have to fight with utter intensity. They would have to be unified; any dissension would lead to defeat and a terrible death. The situation was desperate, but if the men fought desperately in turn, Cortes guaranteed that he would lead them to victory. Since the army was so small in number, the glory and riches would be all the greater. Any cowards not up to the challenge could sail the one remaining ship home.

There is something in war that drives so deeply into you that death ceases to be the enemy, merely another participant in a game you don't wish to end. 

- PHANTOM OVER VIETNAM, JOHN TROTTI, USMC, 1984

No one accepted the offer, and the last ship was run aground. Over the next months, Cortes kept his army away from Veracruz and the coast. Their attention was focused on Tenochtitlan, the heart of the Aztec empire. The grumbling, the self-interest, and the greed all disappeared. Understanding the danger of their situation, the conquistadors fought ruthlessly. Some two years after the destruction of the Spanish ships, and with the help of their Indian allies, Cortes’s army laid siege to Tenochtitlan and conquered the Aztec empire.

You don't have time for this display, you fool," he said in a severe tone. "This, whatever you're doing now, may be your last act on earth. It may very well be your last battle. There is no power which could guarantee that you are going to live one more minute...." "...Acts have power," he said, "Especially when the person acting knows that those acts are his last battle. There is a strange consuming happiness in acting with the full knowledge that whatever one is doing may very well be one's last act on earth. I recommend that you reconsider your life and bring your acts into that light.... Focus your attention on the link between you and your death, without remorse or sadness or worrying. Focus your attention on the fact you don't have time and let your acts flow accordingly. Let each of your acts be your last battle on earth. Only under those conditions will your acts have their rightful power. Otherwise they will be, for as long as you live, the acts of a timid man." "Is it so terrible to be a timid man?" "No. It isn't if you are going to be immortal, but if you are going to die there is not time for timidity, simply because timidity makes you cling to something that exists only in your thoughts. It soothes you while everything is at a lull, but then the awesome, mysterious world will open its mouth for you, as it will open for every one of us, and then you will realize that your sure ways were not sure at all. Being timid prevents us from examining and exploiting our lot as men." 

-JOURNEY TO IXTLAN: THE LESSONS OF DON JUAN, CARLOS CASTANEDA, 1972

Interpretation

On the night of the conspiracy, Cortes had to think fast. What was the root of the problem he faced? It was not Velazquez’s spies, or the hostile Aztecs, or the incredible odds against him. The root of the problem was his own men and the ships in the harbor. His soldiers were divided in heart and mind. They were thinking about the wrong things–their wives, their dreams of gold, their plans for the future. And in the backs of their minds there was always an escape route: if this conquest business went badly, they could go home. Those ships in the harbor were more than just transportation; they represented Cuba, the freedom to leave, the ability to send for reinforcements–so many possibilities.

For the soldiers the ships were a crutch, something to fall back on if things got ugly. Once Cortes had identified the problem, the solution was simple: destroy the ships. By putting his men in a desperate place, he would make them fight with utmost intensity.

A sense of urgency comes from a powerful connection to the present. Instead of dreaming of rescue or hoping for a better future, you have to face the issue at hand. Fail and you perish. People who involve themselves completely in the immediate problem are intimidating; because they are focusing so intensely, they seem more powerful than they are. Their sense of urgency multiplies their strength and gives them momentum. Instead of five hundred men, Cortes suddenly had the weight of a much larger army at his back.

Like Cortes you must locate the root of your problem. It is not the people around you; it is yourself, and the spirit with which you face the world. In the back of your mind, you keep an escape route, a crutch, something to turn to if things go bad. Maybe it is some wealthy relative you can count on to buy your way out; maybe it is some grand opportunity on the horizon, the endless vistas of time that seem to be before you; maybe it is a familiar job or a comfortable relationship that is always there if you fail. Just as Cortes’s men saw their ships as insurance, you may see this fallback as a blessing–but in fact it is a curse. It divides you. Because you think you have options, you never involve yourself deeply enough in one thing to do it thoroughly, and you never quite get what you want. Sometimes you need to run your ships aground, burn them, and leave yourself just one option: succeed or go down. Make the burning of your ships as real as possible–get rid of your safety net. Sometimes you have to become a little desperate to get anywhere.

The ancient commanders of armies, who well knew the powerful influence of necessity, and how it inspired the soldiers with the most desperate courage, neglected nothing to subject their men to such a pressure. 

- Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

THE DEATH-AT-YOUR-HEELS TACTIC

In 1845 the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, then twenty-four, shook the Russian literary world with the publication of his first novel, Poor Folk. He became the toast of St. Petersburg society. But something about his early fame seemed empty to him. He drifted into the fringes of left-wing politics, attending meetings of various socialist and radical groups. One of these groups centered on the charismatic Mikhail Petrashevsky.

Three years later, in 1848, revolution broke out all across Europe. Inspired by what was happening in the West, Russian radical groups like Petrashevsky’s talked of following suit. But agents of Czar Nicholas I had infiltrated many of these groups, and reports were written about the wild things being discussed at Petrashevsky’s house, including talk of inciting peasant revolts. Dostoyevsky was fervent about freeing the serfs, and on April 23, 1849, he and twenty-three other members of the Petrashevsky group were arrested.

After eight months of languishing in jail, the prisoners were awakened one cold morning and told that today they would finally hear their sentences. A few months’ exile was the usual punishment for their crime; soon, they thought, their ordeal would be over.

They were bundled into carriages and driven through the icy streets of St. Petersburg. Emerging from the carriages into Semyonovsky Square, they were greeted by a priest; behind him they could see rows of soldiers and, behind the soldiers, thousands of spectators. They were led toward a scaffold covered in black cloth at the center of the square. In front of the scaffold were three posts, and to the side was a line of carts laden with coffins.

Lord Naoshige said, "The Way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate." 

- HAGAKURE: THE BOOK OF THE SAMURAI, YAMAMOTO TSUNETOMO, 1659-1720

Dostoyevsky could not believe what he saw. “It’s not possible that they mean to execute us,” he whispered to his neighbor. They were marched to the scaffold and placed in two lines. It was an unbelievably cold day, and the prisoners were wearing the light clothes they’d been arrested in back in April. A drumroll sounded. An officer came forward to read their sentences: “All of the accused are guilty as charged of intending to overthrow the national order, and are therefore condemned to death before a firing squad.” The prisoners were too stunned to speak.

As the officer read out the individual charges and sentences, Dostoyevsky found himself staring at the golden spire of a nearby church and at the sunlight bouncing off it. The gleams of light disappeared as a cloud passed overhead, and the thought occurred to him that he was about to pass into darkness just as quickly, and forever. Suddenly he had another thought: If I do not die, if I am not killed, my life will suddenly seem endless, a whole eternity, each minute a century. I will take account of everything that passes–I will not waste a second of life again.

The prisoners were given hooded shirts. The priest came forward to read them their last rites and hear their confessions. They said good-bye to one another. The first three to be shot were tied to the posts, and the hoods were pulled over their faces. Dostoyevsky stood in the front, in the next group to go. The soldiers raised their rifles, took aim–and suddenly a carriage came galloping into the square. A man got out with an envelope. At the last second, the czar had commuted their death sentences.

It had long been known, of course, that a man who, through disciplined training, had relinquished any desire or hope for survival and had only one goal--the destruction of his enemy--could be a redoubtable opponent and a truly formidable fighter who neither asked nor offered any quarter once his weapon had been unsheathed. In this way, a seemingly ordinary man who, by the force of circumstances rather than by profession, had been placed in the position of having to make a desperate choice, could prove dangerous, even to a skilled fencing master. One famous episode, for example, concerns a teacher of swordsmanship who was asked by a superior to surrender a servant guilty of an offense punishable by death. This teacher, wishing to test a theory of his concerning the power of that condition we would call "desperation," challenged the doomed man to a duel. Knowing full well the irrevocability of his sentence, the servant was beyond caring one way or the other, and the ensuing duel proved that even a skilled fencer and teacher of the art could find himself in great difficulty when confronted by a man who, because of his acceptance of imminent death, could go to the limit (and even beyond) in his strategy, without a single hesitation or distracting consideration. The servant, in fact, fought like a man possessed, forcing his master to retreat until his back was almost to the wall. At last the teacher had to cut him down in a final effort, wherein the master's own desperation brought about the fullest coordination of his courage, skill, and determination. 

- SECRETS OF THE SAMURAI, OSCAR RATTI AND ADELE WESTBROOK, 1973

Later that morning, Dostoyevsky was told his new sentence: four years hard labor in Siberia, to be followed by a stint in the army. Barely affected, he wrote that day to his brother, “When I look back at the past and think of all the time I squandered in error and idleness,…then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift…every minute could have been an eternity of happiness! If youth only knew! Now my life will change; now I will be reborn.”

A few days later, ten-pound shackles were put on Dostoyevsky’s arms and legs–they would stay there for the length of his prison term–and he was carted off to Siberia. For the next four years, he endured the most abysmal prison conditions. Granted no writing privileges, he wrote novels in his head, memorized them. Finally, in 1857, still serving the army period of his sentence, he was allowed to start publishing his work. Where before he would torture himself over a page, spend half a day idling it away in thought, now he wrote and wrote. Friends would see him walking the streets of St. Petersburg mumbling bits of dialogue to himself, lost in his characters and plots. His new motto was “Try to get as much done as possible in the shortest time.”

Some pitied Dostoyevsky his time in prison. That made him angry; he was grateful for the experience and felt no bitterness. But for that December day in 1849, he felt, he would have wasted his life. Right up until his death, in 1881, he continued writing at a frantic pace, churning out novel after novel–Crime and Punishment, The Possessed, The Brothers Karamazov–as if each one were his last.

Interpretation

Czar Nicholas had decided to sentence the Petrashevsky radicals to hard labor soon after their arrest. But he wanted to teach them a harsher lesson as well, so he dreamed up the cruel theater of the death sentence, with its careful details–the priest, the hoods, the coffins, the last-second pardon. This, he thought, would really humble and humiliate them. In fact, some of the prisoners were driven insane by the events of that day. But the effect on Dostoyevsky was different: he had been afflicted for years with a sense of wandering, of feeling lost, of not knowing what to do with his time. An extremely sensitive man, that day he literally felt his own death deep in his bones. And he experienced his “pardon” as a rebirth.

The effect was permanent. For the rest of his life, Dostoyevsky would consciously bring himself back to that day, remembering his pledge never to waste another moment. Or, if he felt he had grown too comfortable and complacent, he would go to a casino and gamble away all his money. Poverty and debt were for him a kind of symbolic death, throwing him back on the possible nothingness of his life. In either case he would have to write, and not the way other novelists wrote–as if it were a pleasant little artistic career, with all its attendant delights of salons, lectures, and other frills. Dostoyevsky wrote as if his life were at stake, with an intense feeling of urgency and seriousness.

Death is impossible for us to fathom: it is so immense, so frightening, that we will do almost anything to avoid thinking about it. Society is organized to make death invisible, to keep it several steps removed. That distance may seem necessary for our comfort, but it comes with a terrible price: the illusion of limitless time, and a consequent lack of seriousness about daily life. We are running away from the one reality that faces us all.

As a warrior in life, you must turn this dynamic around: make the thought of death something not to escape but to embrace. Your days are numbered. Will you pass them half awake and halfhearted or will you live with a sense of urgency? Cruel theaters staged by a czar are unnecessary; death will come to you without them. Imagine it pressing in on you, leaving you no escape–for there is no escape. Feeling death at your heels will make all your actions more certain, more forceful. This could be your last throw of the dice: make it count.

While knowing that we will die someday, we think that all the others will die before us and that we will be the last to go. Death seems a long way off. Is this not shallow thinking? It is worthless and is only a joke within a dream.... In sofar as death is always at one's door, one should make sufficient effort and act quickly.

--Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1720)

KEYS TO WARFARE

Quite often we feel somewhat lost in our actions. We could do this or that–we have many options, but none of them seem quite necessary. Our freedom is a burden–what do we do today, where do we go?Our daily patterns and routines help us to avoid feeling directionless, but there is always the niggling thought that we could accomplish so much more. We waste so much time. Upon occasion all of us have felt a sense of urgency. Most often it is imposed from outside: we fall behind in our work, we inadvertently take on more than we can handle, responsibility for something is thrust into our hands. Now everything changes; no more freedom. We have to do this, we have to fix that. The surprise is always how much more spirited and more alive this makes us feel; now everything we do seems necessary. But eventually we go back to our normal patterns. And when that sense of urgency goes, we really do not know how to get it back.

Leaders of armies have thought about this subject since armies existed: how can soldiers be motivated, be made more aggressive, more desperate? Some generals have relied on fiery oratory, and those particularly good at it have had some success. But over two thousand years ago, the Chinese strategist Sun-tzu came to believe that listening to speeches, no matter how rousing, was too passive an experience to have an enduring effect. Instead Sun-tzu talked of a “death ground”–a place where an army is backed up against some geographical feature like a mountain, a river, or a forest and has no escape route. Without a way to retreat, Sun-tzu argued, an army fights with double or triple the spirit it would have on open terrain, because death is viscerally present. Sun-tzu advocated deliberately stationing soldiers on death ground to give them the desperate edge that makes men fight like the devil. That is what Cortes did in Mexico, and it is the only sure way to create a real fire in the belly. The world is ruled by necessity: People change their behavior only if they have to. They will feel urgency only if their lives depend on it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, they began to question Han Hsin. "According to The Art of War , when one fights he should keep the hills to his right or rear, and bodies of water in front of him or to the left," they said. "Yet today you ordered us on the contrary to draw up ranks with our backs to the river, saying 'We shall defeat Chao and feast together!' We were opposed to the idea, and yet it has ended in victory. What sort of strategy is this?" "This is in The Art of War too," replied Han Hsin. "It is just that you have failed to notice it! Does it not say in The Art of War : 'Drive them into a fatal position and they will come out alive; place them in a hopeless spot and they will survive'? Moreover, I did not have at my disposal troops that I had trained and led from past times, but was forced, as the saying goes, to round up men from the market place and use them to fight with. Under such circumstances, if I had not placed them in a desperate situation where each man was obliged to fight for his own life, but had allowed them to remain in a safe place, they would have all run away. Then what good would they have been to me?" "Indeed!" his generals exclaimed in admiration. "We would never have thought of that." 

-RECORDS OF THE HISTORIAN, SZUMA CHIEN, CIRCA 145 B.C.-CIRCA 86 B.C.

Death ground is a psychological phenomenon that goes well beyond the battlefield: it is any set of circumstances in which you feel enclosed and without options. There is very real pressure at your back, and you cannot retreat. Time is running out. Failure–a form of psychic death–is staring you in the face. You must act or suffer the consequences.

Understand: we are creatures who are intimately tied to our environment–we respond viscerally to our circumstances and to the people around us. If our situation is easy and relaxed, if people are friendly and warm, our natural tension unwinds. We may even grow bored and tired; our environment is failing to challenge us, although we may not realize it. But put yourself in a high-stakes situation–a psychological death ground–and the dynamic changes. Your body responds to danger with a surge of energy; your mind focuses. Urgency is forced on you; you are compelled to waste no more time.

The trick is to use this effect deliberately from time to time, to practice it on yourself as a kind of wake-up call. The following five actions are designed to put you on a psychological death ground. Reading and thinking about them won’t work; you must put them into effect. They are forms of pressure to apply to yourself. Depending on whether you want a low-intensity jolt for regular use or a real shock, you can turn the level up or down. The scale is up to you.

Stake everything on a single throw. In 1937 the twenty-eight-year-old Lyndon B. Johnson–at the time the Texas director of the National Youth Administration–faced a dilemma. The Texas congressman James Buchanan had suddenly died. Since loyal Texan voters tended to return incumbents to office, a Texan congressional seat generally came available only every ten or twenty years–and Johnson wanted to be in Congress by the time he was thirty; he did not have ten years to wait. But he was very young and was virtually unknown in Buchanan’s old district, the tenth. He would be facing political heavyweights whom voters would heavily favor. Why try something that seemed doomed to failure? Not only would the race be a waste of money, but the humiliation, if Johnson lost badly, could derail his long-term ambitions.

Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man; if they existed, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man's life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is. 

-THE I CHING, CHINA, CIRCA EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

Johnson considered all this–then decided to run. Over the next few weeks, he campaigned intensely, visiting the district’s every backwater village and town, shaking the poorest farmer’s hand, sitting in drugstores to meet people who had never come close to talking to a candidate before. He pulled every trick in the book–old-style rallies and barbecues, newfangled radio ads. He worked night and day–and hard. By the time the race was over, Johnson was in a hospital, being treated for exhaustion and appendicitis. But, in one of the great upsets in American political history, he had won.

By staking his future on one throw, Johnson put himself in a death-ground situation. His body and spirit responded with the energy he needed. Often we try too many things at one time, thinking that one of them will bring us success–but in these situations our minds are diffused, our efforts halfhearted. It is better to take on one daunting challenge, even one that others think foolish. Our future is at stake; we cannot afford to lose. So we don’t.

Act before you are ready. In 49 B.C. a group of Roman senators, allied with Pompey and fearing the growing power of Julius Caesar, ordered the great general to disband his army or be considered a traitor to the Republic. When Caesar received this decree, he was in southern Gaul (modern-day France) with only five thousand men; the rest of his legions were far to the north, where he had been campaigning. He had no intention of obeying the decree–that would have been suicide–but it would be weeks before the bulk of his army could join him. Unwilling to wait, Caesar told his captains, “Let the die be cast,” and he and his five thousand men crossed the Rubicon, the river marking the border between Gaul and Italy. Leading troops onto Italian soil meant war with Rome. Now there was no turning back; it was fight or die. Caesar was compelled to concentrate his forces, to not waste a single man, to act with speed, and to be as creative as possible. He marched on Rome. By seizing the initiative, he frightened the senators, forcing Pompey to flee.

Death is nothing, but to live defeated is to die every day 

-NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821
When danger is greatest.--It is rare to break one's leg when in the course of life one is toiling upwards--it happens much more often when one starts to take things easy and to choose the easy paths. 

-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900

We often wait too long to act, particularly when we face no outside pressure. It is sometimes better to act before you think you are ready–to force the issue and cross the Rubicon. Not only will you take your opponents by surprise, you will also have to make the most of your resources. You have committed yourself and cannot turn back. Under pressure your creativity will flourish. Do this often and you will develop your ability to think and act fast.

Enter new waters. The Hollywood studio MGM had been good to Joan Crawford: it had discovered her, made her a star, crafted her image. By the early 1940s, though, Crawford had had enough. It was all too comfortable; MGM kept casting her in the same kinds of roles, none of them a challenge. So, in 1943, Crawford did the unthinkable and asked out of her contract.

Be absolute for death; either death or life Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life: If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art, Servile to all the skyey influences, That dost this habituation, where thou keep'st, Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death's fool; For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun And yet runn'st toward him still. Thou art not noble; For all the accommodations that thou bear'st Are nursed by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant; For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep, And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear'st Thy death, which is no more. 

-MEASURE FOR MEASURE, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564-1616

The consequences for Crawford could have been terrible; to challenge the studio system was considered highly unwise. Indeed, when she then signed up with Warner Brothers, predictably enough she was offered the same mediocre sorts of scripts. She turned them down. On the verge of being fired, she finally found the part she had been looking for: the title role in Mildred Pierce, which, however, she was not offered. Setting to work on the director, Michael Curtiz, she managed to change his mind and land the role. She gave the performance of her life, won her only Best Actress Oscar, and resurrected her career.

In leaving MGM, Crawford was taking a big chance. If she failed to succeed at Warner Brothers, and quickly, her career would be over. But Crawford thrived on risk. When she was challenged, when she felt on edge, she burst with energy and was at her best. Like Crawford, you sometimes have to force yourself onto death ground–leaving stale relationships and comfortable situations behind, cutting your ties to the past. If you give yourself no way out, you will have to make your new endeavor work. Leaving the past for unknown terrain is like a death–and feeling this finality will snap you back to life.

Make it “you against the world.” Compared to sports like football, baseball is slow and has few outlets for aggression. This was a problem for the hitter Ted Williams, who played best when he was angry–when he felt that it was him against the world. Creating this mood on the field was difficult for Williams, but early on, he discovered a secret weapon: the press. He got into the habit of insulting sportswriters, whether just by refusing to cooperate with them or by verbally abusing them. The reporters returned the favor, writing scathing articles on his character, questioning his talent, trumpeting the slightest drop in his batting average. It was when Williams was hammered by the press, though, that he played best. He would go on a hitting tear, as if to prove them wrong. In 1957, when he carried on a yearlong feud with the papers, he played perhaps his greatest season and won the batting title at what for a baseball player is the advanced age of forty. As one journalist wrote, “Hate seems to activate his reflexes like adrenaline stimulates the heart. Animosity is his fuel!”

For Williams the animosity of the press and, with the press, of the public, was a kind of constant pressure that he could read, hear, and feel. They hated him, they doubted him, they wanted to see him fail; he would show them. And he did. A fighting spirit needs a little edge, some anger and hatred to fuel it. So do not sit back and wait for people to get aggressive; irritate and infuriate them deliberately. Feeling cornered by a multitude of people who dislike you, you will fight like hell. Hatred is a powerful emotion. Remember: in any battle you are putting your name and reputation on the line; your enemies will relish your failure. Use that pressure to make yourself fight harder.

Keep yourself restless and unsatisfied. Napoleon had many qualities that made him perhaps history’s greatest general, but the one that raised him to the heights and kept him there was his boundless energy. During campaigns he worked eighteen to twenty-hour days. If necessary, he would go without sleep for several days, yet sleeplessness rarely reduced his capacities. He would work in the bath, at the theater, during a dinner party. Keeping his eye on every detail of the war, he would ride endless miles on horseback without tiring or complaining.

O gentlemen, the time of life is short! To spend that shortness basely were too long, If life did ride upon a dial's point, Still ending at the arrival of an hour. An if we live, we live to tread on kings; If die, brave death, when princes die with us! 

-KING HENRY IV, PART I, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564-1616

Certainly Napoleon had extraordinary endurance, but there was more to it than that: he never let himself rest, was never satisfied. In 1796, in his first real position of command, he led the French to a remarkable victory in Italy, then immediately went on another campaign, this time in Egypt. There, unhappy with the way the war was going and with a lack of political power that he felt was cutting into his control over military affairs, he returned to France and conspired to become first consul. This achieved, he immediately set out on his second Italian campaign. And on he went, immersing himself in new wars, new challenges, that required him to call on his limitless energy. If he did not meet the crisis, he would perish.

When we are tired, it is often because we are bored. When no real challenge faces us, a mental and physical lethargy sets in. “Sometimes death only comes from a lack of energy,” Napoleon once said, and lack of energy comes from a lack of challenges, comes when we have taken on less than we are capable of. Take a risk and your body and mind will respond with a rush of energy. Make risk a constant practice; never let yourself settle down. Soon living on death ground will become a kind of addiction–you won’t be able to do without it. When soldiers survive a brush with death, they often feel an exhilaration that they want to have again. Life has more meaning in the face of death. The risks you keep taking, the challenges you keep overcoming, are like symbolic deaths that sharpen your appreciation of life.

Authority: When you will survive if you fight quickly and perish if you do not, this is called [death] ground.... Put them in a spot where they have no place to go, and they will die before fleeing. If they are to die there, what can they not do? Warriors exert their full strength. When warriors are in great danger, then they have no fear. When there is nowhere to go, they are firm, when they are deeply involved, they stick to it. If they have no choice, they will fight. 

-The Art of War, Sun-tzu (fourth century B.C.)

REVERSAL

If the feeling of having nothing to lose can propel you forward, it can do the same for others. You must avoid any conflict with people in this position. Maybe they are living in terrible conditions or, for whatever reason, are suicidal; in any case they are desperate, and desperate people will risk everything in a fight. This gives them a huge advantage. Already defeated by circumstances, they have nothing to lose. You do. Leave them alone.

Conversely, attacking enemies when their morale is low gives you the advantage. Maybe they are fighting for a cause they know is unjust or for a leader they do not respect. Find a way to lower their spirits even further. Troops with low morale are discouraged by the slightest setback. A show of force will crush their fighting spirit.

Always try to lower the other side’s sense of urgency. Make your enemies think they have all the time in the world; when you suddenly appear at their border, they are in a slumbering state, and you will easily overrun them. While you are sharpening your fighting spirit, always do what you can to blunt theirs.

Conclusion

The world is in the midst of World War III right now. It is being fought with things that are strange and unusual, and it is not being reported. In fact, the “news” is instead sending everyone off on “wild goose chases” down “rabbit holes”. No one actually knows what is going on.

It is critically important that you secure yourself and your family, and maintain a calm head through all of this. Let those around you make rash, foolish decisions, panic, and worry. That is not for you.

Recognize who you are, and where you are. Then, steely and calmly conduct your affirmation campaigns to wrest control of the reality that surrounds you and bend it to your will. You have this ability. Make it so.

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[daegonmagus] – Part 1 – Exploration of the Non-Physical Reality

The following is the first part from a series of articles describing the adventure that a follower who goes by the handle "daegonmagus" has experienced since reading MM. They are very interesting and fascinating. I hope that you all learn from his journey and maybe learn a thing or two as he relates his unique experiences to the readership here. 

-MM

Part 1 – With the Elder Guardians

Daegonmagus Contact With the Elder Guardians Part One:

This is a preliminary background on who I am and how I came to know about the “spiritual amnesia”. Although I have provided a more complete and in depth description of these circumstances in my autobiography, this will provide some context to future articles that will be dealing with these issues. I have deliberately left out much information as it is too cumbersome to include in an article of this nature.

I had my first sleep paralysis experience when I was 8 years old, and it terrified me.

These became a regular occurrence to the point I would be having them every couple of days. I’d be paralyzed, unable to move anything but my eyes, and I would be this way for what seemed like an eternity.

I’d try calling out for my dad, but all that I could ever muster was a faint squeak.

When the paralysis did eventually stop, I’d throw my blankets off and run out of the room to him; he’d tell me they were just nightmares and to go back to sleep. It was beyond frustrating. I simply knew there was much more to them.

I became curious.

I wanted to know what the hell was going on with these paralysis episodes; I wanted to know why everything was so chthonic whilst in them; the noises, the feeling like my soul was being sucked away. The strange entities that would always stand at the end of my bed.

Grandmother and family

My grand mother used to live only a few short kilometers away.

Every Friday we would go there and eat curry lunch. If I was at school that day, I‘d walk there afterwards instead of venturing home, knowing my mother would still be there. It was a nice little tradition we had going on.

But chicken curry wasn’t the only thing I was treated to.

My mother and grandmother were self proclaimed psychics who had a few stories to tell. These were nothing really that special, but they did offer intriguing conversation that couldn’t be found at school.

So in my quest for understanding my sleep paralysis, I listened probably a little too enthusiastically for my own good. Not that I learnt anything valuable in regards to that subject. It did, however, eventually get me interested in Rene Descartes and his philosophies on consciousness.

René Descartes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Down the back of my grandmother’s property was an old abandoned house that she and her family used to live in many years prior to my mother being born.

It was derelict and falling to pieces. The inside walls had massive holes smashed through them. The concrete padding had turned to dust in places. Electrical wiring hung from the exposed roof rafters. The front door had become so overgrown with grass that it wouldn’t open. The only way in was to scale the small chimney that poked out the side of the wall and climb down it. One would come out through the open fireplace facing what used to be a living room, and it was here that I found my treasure.

Boxes and boxes full of books had been left to rot in the middle of the living room, some of them left untouched on a small book shelf.

After sitting here exposed to the elements for the better part of 30 years, a lot of them had decayed beyond readability.

But in amongst the mulch pile, I did find a few gems that had somehow survived the ravages of time. Aleister Crowley’s Moonchid, The predictions of Nostradamus, Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain and Atlantis were just a few of the ones that were still in a decent, readable condition.

However, the true treasure came in the form of a complete four volume encyclopaedia set that explored the idea of magic through different world cultures.

It was a real magical library one would expect to find in some sort of fantasy novel about sorcerers, and I had access to it every Friday.

Naturally, I took these books home with me, saving them from becoming mulch like all the rest. I read through the encyclopaedia front to back.

I was trying to find any scrap of information I could on sleep paralysis.

Once again I was met with much frustration, as there didn’t seem to be much beyond a few vague mentions of tribal shamans using “dreaming” to obtain mystical visions.

Adaptation

Time slipped by, and my sleep paralysis became such a regular occurrence, that I ultimately became bored of it.

I realized that it wasn’t harming me, and it became somewhat annoying. I learnt to relax through it all, and that is when I truly began to learn the power of lucid dreaming and how to control one’s dreams. I suddenly had a new found appreciation for the tribal shamans I’d read about and why they were so into it.

I began unlocking parts of my mind that I otherwise would have been denied access to.

By the time I turned 12 my proficiency in lucid dreaming had reached its peak. I was able to remain conscious during the transition of being awake and asleep, and bypass the sleep paralysis stage altogether.

This became a regular occurrence.

School became a somewhat secondary necessity . I’d play the game and get good grades, but deep down I was more interested in the metaphysical than what the physical had to offer me.

I was too involved in my dream worlds that I would visit on such a regular basis that the physical world became dull by comparison.

I was using study time in the library meant for science and maths tests on researching occult concepts and ideologies such as astral projection.  I started wondering why everyone was so content in the idea they must work themselves to death, rather than study consciousness via the avenue of lucid dreaming. To me, the latter was much more exciting and pointed to a much better sense of purpose than the former.

By the time I reached high school, I had become extremely proficient at creating my own dreams.

I became so good, that I was able to simulate sensations within my dream environments including touch, taste and smell, and generate entire environments just by thinking of them.

It was because of these “simulations” that I was also able to explore my own sexuality and solve problems that I was having in the “real world”. It was then that I started really experimenting with consciousness whilst in this dreaming state, using Descartes’ philosophies as a starting point.

Exploration

I began to frequent several places in the lucid domain that appeared to be completely separate to my mind’s fabrication.

One of these places was a tropical island that I used to go on regular “lucid holidays” to.

It was here that I discovered the existence of these portals that could be used to traverse the “other worlds”. Thus I started learning how ones consciousness could be projected through these portals to access other realms/ dimensions.

Projection of consciousness

It was around about the age of 14, I had my first real breakthrough in regards to the projection of my consciousness outside of my body.

I had somehow found myself on another planet watching a tribal Elder of a humanoid race of people talking to his tribe.

I was completely lucid, in that I could remember my body being asleep back in my bed on earth. These people, although completely alien to any human species on earth, had a very Native American vibe to them.

All of a sudden the Elder realized I was there, observing them.

I heard his voice within my mind, telling me not to be afraid and to come closer – to move within him.

He knew I was a curious consciousness, and took the opportunity to give me a lesson in how multiple consciousness can inhabit one body.

I obliged, and immediately felt myself go within him. It was an incredible feeling; an entire lifetime’s worth of his memories came flooding into my mind, and yet I still remembered my physical, sleeping body.

I knew he could have kicked me out from within him any time he chose, but he allowed me to stay for several minutes as an apprentice to the mysteries of consciousness.

It was one of the most humbling moments of my life.

He then spoke to his tribe, and announced that they had a guest. They looked around, somewhat confused, and he explained that my consciousness was residing within him.

When they asked where I was from, he pointed to a very specific star in the sky without hesitation and said “from there”. Soon after this I thanked him for his hospitality and departed, waking back up in my body on earth.

Second Breakthrough

My next breakthrough came about a year later when I first astral projected. I had been curious about the subject for several years after seeing a story about it on a show called The Extraordinary.

My purpose was to try and contact my grandfather who had passed away from lung cancer when I was nine.

My meditations, as a result got to the point where I could sit for hours on end in one pose, completely un-moving, whilst I tried to project.

I had been utilizing the Monroe Institute technique for several months and then one night it finally happened.

I was lying in bed meditating, and heard this loud popping noise. Suddenly, I felt as light as a feather, and I watched as I floated out of my body. I turned around and saw my physical body lying on the bed. I was so bewildered by the experience all I did was go outside and sit on the couch to just take it all in.

Death in the family

Shortly after that I was hit with grief as my brother was killed in a car accident right near our house, on the main drag going out of town. I had been suffering from severe depression and this was a kick in the guts I could have done without.

I started becoming uncaring in regards to my attitude towards life, and this bled over into the lucid realm.

The part of my mind that would sense danger became deactivated. I started going to dangerous places and messing with dangerous things not really caring if it resulted in my becoming permanently detached from my physical body.

Bad behaviors

I summoned all the “malevolent entities” that had taunted me during sleep paralysis into my dreamscapes and taunted them back, in an effort to take out my grievances on something that I considered deserved it.

Often times I was being chased by things that any rational person would have been terrified of, and I knew if they caught me it was game over.

What can I say; my depression and adventures in lucid dreaming had numbed me to the idea the physical body was important. I was at that point almost entirely disassociated from my body.

War!

It was around this time I became aware of my involvement in an “astral war”. I would become lucid in dream scenarios that I knew were not of my own devising.

In many of these scenarios it was like I had been drugged with a substance that was able to affect consciousness, and consciousness alone.

My “assignments” revolved around voluntarily going into compounds where this drug and other tortures were being administered to try and figure out why.

It seemed very much like my astral body was being utilized as an infiltration agent for inter dimensional warfare. I would write little poems mentioning this war and vaguely mentioning my role within it.

I knew I was not like other kids my age, and I knew it was because I had embraced the lucid and astral worlds as being as real, if not more, as the physical world.

Assignments

At first these appeared as standard dreams – fragmented memories even– but as the years wore on, I would become more and more lucid in them.

I would “appear” at my assignment location, get doped or tortured, return to my handlers for debriefing, then wake up and go to school the next day as if nothing ever happened.

This was what about a third of my youth entailed from the age of 15 all the way up to adulthood.

The more I lucid dreamed, the more I would remember my roles in these scenarios that thing were to trying to “drug me” out of remembering.

I became the weird kid that would talk about lucid dreaming and the worlds I’d visited like it was a normal part of existence.

My peers just didn’t know how to handle it and would often shy away from after giving each other a weird look. The funny thing was, my brother was part of the popular crowd, which meant by default I ended up in the social circle of kids. The whole thing was laughable.

Leaving School

I left school at the age of 16, a whole year before graduation. My close friends were starting to dabble a little too liberally in hard substances like methamphetamine, and I had – due to my severe depression, and genetic tendacies – had picked up an unhealthy addiction to alcohol even by that age.

I decided this sort of lifestyle wasn’t getting me anywhere.

If I stayed around these people I was going to end up dead, or worse, addicted to the same drugs they were taking (I’d never dabbled in anything stronger than marijuana).

I enrolled to do a music course at college, and that is where I met Storme.

Meeting the Girl of your dreams

When I first saw her I had the whole “I am going to marry that girl” thought pop into my head. I found out that she too was into the metaphysical and believed in things like astral projection and lucid dreaming. Plus, she was into the exact same music I was into – this was a very big deal for me.

The last thing I wanted to do was end up with someone who listened to Justin Bieber in their spare time. Nope; my ideal woman needed to have at least some sort of idea of what constituted musical talent. She also lived the next town over from me, which was a bonus.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Storme had just escaped a period of homeless and what appeared to be a very real sex trafficking operation.

She had experienced things very few people would believe.

Things like communications from both physical and non physical entities about our world and its “true” history. She was the only other person I had ever come across who knew about the astral war, and the reason she knew about it was because it had been directly told to her by one of these entities.

I decided to do a lucid dreaming experiment on Storme to see if I could “hack” into her dreamscape, replacing it with my own, and to both of our astonishment, it actually worked.

I pressed her on her dreams the next day and she told me the exact scenario I had dreamed up; a meeting at college.

I had made sure to include very specific points in the conversation, and she hit these with accuracy.

This marked my next breakthrough in my experiments with consciousness whilst in the dream state.

Dating

We ended up dating. I would help drive her band around to gigs and semi manage them.

These guys were into taking things like LSD to “expand their minds”, but Storme and I never obliged.

Like her, they also were curious about astral projection, but had never experienced it.

Their drummer, Damien, was big on conspiracy theories, and would always talk about people like Icke, mind invading reptilians and the NWO that I thought was a complete load of bullshit.

This is where I first came across the Isaac CARET program; the other guitarist, Sean, sent me a link to the original website. I ended up writing it off as some sort university experiment in psychology.

Occult Studies

My occult studies had continued on and off through these years. Somewhere along the lines I had come across a secret society called the Hell Fire Club based out of West Wycombe, England.

I had only really joined the club to gain access to their catalogue of rare esoteric books.

I was big on trying to find the most original documents I could find when conducting my research.

It was through this club that I scored a copy of both the Greater and Lesser keys of Solomon; these books were rumored to be very powerful books on spirit conjuration, though I only wanted them for study purposes. I had no intention of ever summoning anything.

The Steward of its English chapter seemed impressed with my knowledge of occult ideologies and asked me to open my own Chapter here in Western Australia.

Though I didn’t really know what I was doing, I obliged.

He sent me books on his interpretations of the club and its link to alchemical concepts. That is how I got into spiritual alchemy.

I was put in contact with the other Australian Stewards, and these turned out to be an even bigger source of occult information for me; they were very well respected in regards to their ideologies and were a treat away from the many charlatans I had come across on the internet.

Marriage

Storme and I moved in with each other and, after a rocky few years at the hands of other people , we eventually got married in a little grove out in the middle of the state forest with a small gathering of our families.

We both weren’t big on traditional weddings and opted for a more pagan hand fastening ceremony instead.

After a fall out with my family, we dropped off the radar and became hermits moving from one rental to the next until we found a house that seemed to be haunted by a ghost that was actually quite pleasant to be around. This thing would open and close doors at night , but there was never a feeling a malice from it.

It was in this house that I began reworking the concepts of Alchemy I picked up in the HFC into my own meditations. Though the Steward’s ideologies were profound, I felt they were lacking in some areas and left much to be desired.

I began spending hours researching many allegories and writings of alchemy with the idea that the philosopher’s stone was the higher self.

I noticed from old alchemist texts I had in my possession that those particular Alchemists were using alchemy as a model for understanding the soul.

Thus my attention at that point was wholly devoted towards reconnecting with my higher self and hopefully making contact with the ascended masters.

Pay Off

On May 11th 2012 my meditations in alchemy paid off, and I was granted an audience with the very “people” I was seeking.

I was engaged in a lucid dream when I was “abducted” out of it into what I can only describe was a more “complete and real reality”. In fact it was so real, that I was forced to the conclusion that the physical world was the lesser of two “reals”.

I was standing in what appeared to be a courtyard a few acres in size, amidst a very large gathering of other people.

Based on the many music festivals I had been to in my youth, I estimated this group to be at least 20 000. We were all crammed into this courtyard that appeared to just be floating on its own out in the middle of space; you could actually see a nearby moon that was circling it, and this was pretty damned large; probably 10 to 20 times the size of our moon.

There was this gnawing sense of confusion going through me, and I noticed that same confusion present on the faces of the 20 000 others. It was a confusion born from knowing that I knew this place, but also knowing that I had forgotten it, and couldn’t work out why.

Over at the edge of the courtyard was a stone altar, and on the other side of this alter was what looked alike a small, curved amphitheater of an Ancient Greek like architecture where a bunch of beings in hooded robes sat, watching us 20 000.

I got the immediate impression that these beings were extremely old “Elders” and extremely powerful, unlike anything we know on earth.

Between us 20 000 and the amphitheater stood one of these Elders watching us in our confusion.

There were other people in this crowd that appeared to be our celestial families and they were hugging us, in tears, saying how they had missed us all and we’d been away for too long.

Remembrance

The Elder who stood between us and the other Elders, slowly approached me waiting for me to remember where I was.

Once he was satisfied my memory of this place was sufficient he began to speak to me, and that is when my mind began opening up and processing information at an incredible speed. I started operating from a state of awareness far above that of what is used whilst in a physical body.

The “Grand Elder” – as I called him – told me there was a sort of spiritual amnesia affecting mankind.

He said that the human brain had been deliberately engineered to cut them off from this state of awareness that I was now experiencing.

He told me that this amnesia had been created by a race of beings that did not want humans reconnecting with this power, and that they were the same ones responsible for the Ancient Egyptian Slave trade.

He referred to them as the “slave gods”.

This Grand Elder expressed concern that this amnesia would see the end of human life if it was left to continue unimpeded.

He told me my soul was over 40 000 years old and that I had been an active participant in trying to eradicate the amnesia for much of that time.

The reason, he said, that I had been summoned before them, was because of my abilities at lucid dreaming.

Apparently what I had learned through years of experimentation was considered so advanced by them, that very few people on earth possessed these same abilities; the amount of other who apparently possessed these abilities could be counted on one hand.

Nick-name

I was told that they (the Elders) had nick-named me “trick and trip” in salutation of these abilities; trick because of my abilities at evading the unseen enemy presence responsible for the amnesia, and trip for my abilities to “travel” to other worlds.

Apparently, according to these Elders, anyone who demonstrated these abilities were held in high regard by them, as it allowed them the opportunity to communicate with those back on the physical plane without it being compromised by external forces.

I was also told that I had been part of a “hive consciousness” that had tracked this amnesia to a black hole anomaly.

This black hole anomaly existed at the edge of this physical universe and was where the device causing the amnesia was being hidden.

The Grand Elder took me to its edge to help boost my memory, then brought me back before the gathering.

Put in Charge

It was here I was put in charge of the 20 000 other souls by the same grand Elder.

He gave me the task of rewriting their “soul code” to provide an unlocking mechanism so they could more easily wake up from the amnesia once they came back here to earth.

My assignment upon returning here was to regather them as one fighting force against the amnesia and its operators from within the earth plane.

I was to spread the message of everything he told me to anyone who would listen in an effort to reawaken these 20 000 consciousnesses to their own tasks.

After this I projected to the anomaly to try and get an understanding of it, much to the advice of the Grand Elder.

Somehow it was able to completely disintegrate my consciousness even though it was functioning from this higher state.

Within minutes I was reduced to an insane, incoherent mess.

I struggled to comprehend even the simplest of words as I tried crying out for my wife and telling her I was sorry I would not “be coming back to earth”. Shortly after this, everything went black and I woke up in my bed.

This was the first time out of several that the Grand Elder would contact me in relation to this amnesia.

To Be Continued…

 

MM Thoughts

This is obviously fascinating and an easy read. It touches and broaches a number of related MAJestic subject areas and approaches it from a different angle and view point. I must admit that while I am aware of much of what DM discusses, my actual exposure to the occult teachings, and methodology is of a different nature entirely.

That is neither good, nor bad.

It is neutral.

To be open and willing to take this information in, absorb it and learn from it is a valid and important step for us to understand our true natures and role on this planet. I cannot vouch whether it is true or not, but I can vouch that it is sincere and that it is an accurate description of something that is obviously personal and private.

I, for one, look forward to many more contributions.

As well as looking forward to your thoughts in this matter.

You can visit the daegonmagus Index here…

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You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

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Forget Pearl harbor, 9-11, or the Gulf of Tonkin, The United States is going to blame China for Coronavirus as an excuse to start world war III

It’s pretty obvious. Don’t you know. The propaganda onslaught. The “classified” documents, the full spread of dis-info plummeting the American citizenry to hate China as the great evil. Yeah. You have to be a blind moron not to see what is coming.

Now, I have repeatedly argued that the American government is a wreck, that it’s leadership are “brain dead”, and somehow the entire crooked mess is running on auto-pilot straight towards the abyss. Since I have been making these accusations, not one single person has been able to come forward and prove to me otherwise.

What we do know is that America is following a well documented historical progressing that leads towards a major war.

  • Massive propaganda campaign.
  • Hybrid warfare at all levels.
  • A setting up of where the fields of conflict will occur.
  • A manipulation of “allies” to engage conflict as proxies.

And finally…

  • A trigger event or “incident” that will set everything in motion.

I argue that this trigger event is the Coronavirus pandemic. With a secondary excuse for a “fall back” contingency to be Taiwan.

There is a full wide “shotgun approach” to provide a wide selection of potential incident vectors from with the Untied States can capitalize upon to use as an excuse to generate a war.

But, it’s proven that the Coronavirus was in the USA months before China…

Yes. That is very true.

But it does not matter.

The lies and the narrative is being driven top down in favor of a war, and it “ain’t stopping for shit”. Never the less, the “safe” inoculation strain was released in the United States a full six months before the deadly lethal version COVID-19B was released on CNY in China. As this video clearly states…

Yup, released in the USA months before the bio-weapons attack on China.

Lies, Lies, and then more lies…

If is functionally the case that every single article in the “West” must contain negative things about China. But this is wrong and it is really rather counter-productive. As China is spending it’s resources to make Asia successful, and to help everyone associated with it.

The only things that America can point to as accomplishments are wars and things that happened fifty years ago. There has been ZERO positive, good, supporting efforts in any ways, shape of form originating out of the Untied States for a long, long, LONG time.

If China buys a steel factory, the American media is all aghast and in hysterics!

How about hearing the other side of the story…

China buys a steel mill.

Some history

Who or what is driving all the things that I have listed above? China, Iran? Russia? Nope every single one has a direct budget path that is directly traced to the United States Federal Budget out of the Untied States Congress.

This looming fiasco is being driven by the United States Congress.

  • Now, I have gone into great detail about the bio-weapons carpet bombing of China by the (then) head of the Bio-Weapons office, John Bolton.
  • I have also covered, also in great detail the failure of the Hong Kong “Color Revolution”.
  • As well as the Uighur Muslim insurgency in XinJiang.
  • Not to mention the collapse of the United States NGO-backed Tibet movement.
  • I have also spent time discussing what happened when the Trump assault flotilla / armada entered the South Pacific Sea in late 2020, and sailed home “with it’s tail between it’s legs”.
  • As well as the realities of what is going on in Taiwan.

Well, you know that these idiots in the United States Congress don’t read MM. Have no concept of anything other than their echo chambers, have never fought in a real war, and have no concept of who the fuck they are threatening.

A quick and dirty summary of some of the major elements…

Here’s a simple map of what has been going on regarding China. There are many more efforts involved, but if I put them all on the map it would be unreadable. So I greatly simplified it to this simple diagram.

A look at the results so far…

And now, here is the state of affairs. The United States was able to install “puppet military regimes” in both Myanmar, and Thailand, but was unsuccessful with Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. All the NGO and “color revolutions” inside of China failed. All of the bio-weapons attacks inside of China failed. All of the insurgency efforts inside of China failed.

It’s like a sickness

There is nothing that can stop this massive anti-China effort from coming to it’s natural conclusion. America will find an excuse. An “incident” will be triggered, and then Congress will declare war, and then all Hell is going to break out.

Though, in truth all the preparations will be in place long before Congress “rubber stamps” the war. Congressional approval will only be a formality.

But China is not run by morons, and idiots. It is meritocracy. You can we well assured that China will not wait to be attacked before making it’s own very substantial moves.

And it can really get you down.

All this negatively, the hopelessness of it, and your singular ability to do anything about it is frustrating and so very stressful.

America is so frustrating right now.

War is like a board-game I

So while (in the game of chess) the United States side is moving it’s rooks, pawns, knights and bishops in play for a check-mate…

America is playing Chess.

…the Chinese see this, and are playing Go. And they are moving their pieces in a very complex and intricate manner.

The Chinese play Go.

You know…

…there are so many interesting facets to this entire Geo-political arena right now, that we really need to sit down and look at things in a far simpler way. Like the games mentioned above, they cut away all those details and just look at the kinds of people who are pushing for war, and those who are pushing back.

Thus we have this substantially simplified narrative.

Never the less, if you really want to get down into the dirt and details, references abound. No, I am not talking about the flood of anti-China bullshit cascading out of the government mouthpieces in America. That is all just bullshit.

Instead, I am talking about writings from third party, supposedly (mainly) “disinterested parties” look at the entire thing askance from a distance. Like this article, for instance…

COVID-19, Hillary Clinton’s “mission” and neo-Lysenkoism. Column by Gennady Onishchenko

The main political outcome of the anthrax controversy story after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack was more than serious. The well-known Hillary Clinton, then a senator from New York, then Secretary of State and candidate for President of the United States, came to Geneva after the events of September 2001 to attend a meeting of the working group on the development of a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention. She came not just like that, but with a very specific “mission”.

Let me remind you that the origins of this convention, which was adopted in 1972 and then ratified by almost all UN countries, were the USSR, the United States and the United Kingdom. It was the first international disarmament treaty to prohibit the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological and toxin weapons, as well as their destruction.

But after the ratification of this document, an important issue remained unresolved — a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the convention was needed. At that time, this mechanism was being developed by extremely reputable experts, including from Russia. And so Hillary Clinton, under the pretext that her country was the target of an attack using biological weapons, said that the United States is withdrawing from work on a control mechanism. And without their participation, this document could not be adopted. At the same time, Hillary knew perfectly well that it was in the United States that biological weapons were used against her people, even a congressional commission came to this conclusion, although their conclusions were half-truths.

And the truth was that in the United States, which considers itself a beacon of democracy and freedom, the first terrorist act using biological weapons in the third millennium was committed. And with a high degree of probability, the US military and, possibly, some politicians were behind this terrorist attack. And this was done solely to address political issues, including to justify US military operations abroad.

An investigation conducted in the United States itself proved conclusively that the anthrax strain used in mailings was developed back in the 1950s as a combat formulation. The research was conducted in the same military laboratory at Fort Detrick, from where, as the investigation found out, the most dangerous strain was leaked. Although Washington claimed that Fort Detrick had not been engaged in offensive biological weapons programs since the mid-1960s, from what we know, there is great doubt that this secret military laboratory has switched to flower breeding.

In addition, it was simply impossible to carry out an operation to distribute combat anthrax spores alone: the pathogen had to be not only isolated, but also cultivated, accumulated a sufficient amount of it, packaged, and so on. All of this was even theoretically impossible to do without anyone noticing.

Realizing that in the event of any international investigation, all this will come out, the United States decided to torpedo the creation of a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the convention. It was with this “mission” that Hillary Clinton came to Geneva. The Americans were very afraid that everything would come out: if there was a mechanism, they would have to host an international working group, which would not have representatives of the United States and which would have full authority to request any documents, question all witnesses, and so on. This is what the Americans were so afraid of. It was important for them to hide the fact that sending out spores was not the act of a lone terrorist, but the result of a conspiracy.

And now, in 2021, the United States is trying to get out of the situation in which it drove itself and the whole world in 2001. Everyone understands that today there is a danger not of biological warfare (this is still unlikely), but of what is much more terrible — biological terrorism. But in the absence of a legitimate internationally recognized control mechanism, which was never developed due to the fault of the United States, today this area is completely uncontrolled.

When a World Health Organization (WHO) commission arrived in China earlier this year to investigate where the COVID-19 pandemic started, it had no real authority. WHO tried to simulate the control mechanism, but they did not succeed. Well, there were market experts in Wuhan, interviewed someone, but they were not allowed in any laboratories, and China had every right to do so. As a result, the WHO published a helpless four-page report, on the basis of which no serious conclusions about the origin of the pandemic are simply impossible.

Russia sees all these dangers, so back in 2006 at the G8 summit, which was held in St. Petersburg, at the initiative of our country, a document was adopted concerning the spread of infectious diseases. The document emphasized that we are aware of all the risks in this area, including those associated with possible man-made cases of the spread of dangerous infections.

So all the accusations against China from the United States about the origin of COVID-19 are attempts by the Americans to regain priority in research in the field of the use of the most uncontrolled weapons of mass destruction to date — biological weapons. Two decades after the events of September 2001, the United States is trying to take revenge, which is why it is so actively “hitting” China.

At the same time, let’s not forget that the United States deliberately delayed the development of science in this area for two decades in order to conceal its crimes, which in its consequences is comparable to the famous Lysenkoism.

In fact, we are dealing with the phenomenon when the American civilization, which considers itself the greatest and most powerful, actually demonstrates a primitive conceit.

For no reason at all, the United States has assumed the right to decide everything for everyone, interfering in the affairs of other countries.

At the same time, for two decades now, they have been demonstrating their helplessness in terms of their willingness to bear responsibility even to their own people.

(Lysenkoism is a recognized anti-scientific concept, the founder of which is considered an academician Trofim Lysenko, which existed in the USSR in the 1930s-1960s. The consequence of this concept was the persecution of scientists, as well as the denial of the science of genetics, which had a detrimental effect on Soviet agriculture. In a figurative sense, the persecution of scientists for their "politically incorrect" scientific views is now called Lysenkoism or neo-Lysenkoism. — Approx. FAN).

Complex eh?

Yes, it is always so easy to get all caught up in the interesting details. When none of them really matter at all.

They do not matter.

What is actually going on is really quite simple. The American leadership is panicking. They have run the nation into the ground, and the people are very, very restless. The entire nation is coming apart at the seams, and the leadership must find some way to place blame. Because if they accept the blame, they will be hanging from nooses on light posts.

They chose China.

America is falling apart at the seams, and today the police must ride around in tanks and armored cars, as America is ripe for an explosion of anger as this video plainly shows…

America is falling apart at the seams.

America is a mess….

It is undeniable. America is a fucking mess. It really is. The people are brain dead either on drugs or electronic manipulation feeding a steady diet of hate, fear, and addiction. The oligarchy live inside well guarded and protected enclaves like the castles of yore. And when you see the reality it slaps you right in the face.

As in this reality video… go ahead watch it. I double-dare you.

America is a mess.

Blame it all on China…

The Chinese leadership is not having any of this, and knows full well where this is all leading towards.

They have had centuries of strife, hunger, starvation, looting and war. If you think that they will not fight for their place on the earth, you are sadly mistaken.

What China had to go through for the past 100 years is beyond imagination.

For a big part of it, China had to suffer shameless looting from Western imperialists, had land and resources stolen, and saw millions of its people massacred by Japanese invaders. All these atrocities left the China obliterated and the repercussions rung on for decades and set China into years of poverty and famine.

For a big part of the past 100 years China had been working their arse off to repair the damage and get their people out of poverty, increase the literacy rate and restore prosperity to the country.

And for 90 of the past 100 years you hardly hear the West talk about “human rights”, but all of a sudden when China’s economy seem to be threatening Western dominance of the world, the Western countries started to gang up on them with fabricated claims of human rights violation.

Only those countries who have been in the same boat as China, those who have been bullied, looted and taken advantage of by the shameless Western powers understand all the BS that China is getting.

-Jong Mun Goh

Distill everything

So really, if you want to distill everything into it’s simplest components, its really American Leaders want a war where the Chinese leaders die.

Sounds harsh. But it's accurate. 

Trump era policy papers list specifics about targeting the Chinese leadership to institute a USA favorable "regime change".

It’s difficult to see any hope…

It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?

No hope in America these days.

And now we have to cope with the reality…

These millions of dollars that is pouring towards Hate-hate-hate-china will manifest into something one way or the other. You simply do not irradiate the minds of 330 million people and not have something happen as a result of it.

Such as shown in this video.

Hate-hate-hate-China

And this hate is manifesting…

Black on Asian crime is up in triple digits, and it is horrible. And what is the American government doing? Why it is funding more and more hate. Well, sure it’s going to result in people getting hurt, but it’s going to also result in other things as well. Be careful what you wish for.

Check out this video…

This is the Internet MEME about the United States (out of China)…

A mere four years ago, everyone in China had a good opinion of America. That started to change under Trump, and Biden has just kicked that opinion to the ground and stomped on it. To most Americans it doesn’t matter. But the truth is that it DOES matter.

If America is ever going to catch up to the rest of the world it just cannot isolate and threaten. It just looks like some kind of sick mentally retarded psychopath prison escapee. Check out this video meme.

Video Meme

But you know…

Life, real life is nothing like the brain-dead, zombies that are trying to cope in America today. The reality is that the rest of the world is actually doing pretty well, and China is doing great. Precisely because they concentrate on the needs of the people and not grabbing everything for personal profit and fighting wars to make money. Which is the USA model.

I want to ram this idea home with a “bitch slap” of reality. Here’s a sexy “everyday” video of a typical Chinese girl, in her house, making delicious typical healthy Chinese food for her Chinese family.

You wonder why the Chinese are happy, and healthy? Well it is because they eat well, live a stress free life, and are not taxed and regulated into oblivion. To either die, want to die or quiver in nervous exhaustion on some street corner. That’s why!

Check out this great sexy video! There’s few things sexier than a happy woman and food, glorious food!

Typical Chinese housewife.

And in Russia

It’s not like the “entire world is going down the tubes”. the rest of the world is doing well. None of those “new” “progressive” ideas where everyone can be a slob and do “their own thing” as a sign of “freedom”. People elsewhere, outside of the “bastions of freedom” are living quite well.

Check out this article, translated from Russian HERE.

“Still then go to bed” Why an American is surprised how a Russian woman makes a bed (says an American)

In everyday moments, residents of Russia often surprise me, probably because they are more demanding of cleanliness in the house. Still, for an American, some habits that are unacceptable for a Russian at all are quite normal, for example, walking around the house in shoes or collecting dirty dishes. Yes, a lot depends on the person, but the mentality is also very influenced. Therefore, in this publication I want to write about a rather curious difference in such a simple action as making a bed.

To be honest, every time I was surprised that my girlfriend, even living alone, kept the bed made. But I attributed it to the fact that she does not want to look in front of me inappropriately, women 🙂 However, the other day I realized that making a bed is a routine thing. In the morning, the girl insistently asked me to get out of bed, because it was time to bring me to a “decent look”.

With this process, I helped, but in my head I wondered: “Why complicate it so much?” Before that, I did not even notice that many Russians have a bed made quite difficult. That is, it is not enough just to carefully lay the blanket on top and throw a few pillows on top. Russians are serious about this matter, so you need to perfectly lay the blanket evenly, use a blanket or blanket on top, decorate it with pillows.

Again, I wonder how picky the Russians are sometimes, especially when compared to the Americans. The fact is that most People in America do not fill the bed at all, because the bedroom is a personal space. If the owner does not want to carefully bring the bed in perfect order every day, then he will not do this. And overall, I also don’t see anything wrong with not making the bed, especially if there is a bedroom. But before you go to bed, you do not need to prepare a place for bed.

But I was much more amazed when the girl told how in childhood Russians were taught to make beds. In kindergarten, time was necessarily allocated after an hour of sleep, when children had to independently bring the beds to the desired appearance. It’s funny that the beloved shared the story with some discontent. Because even in kindergarten there were certain requirements, the blanket was folded in a certain way, the blanket was flat, and the pillow had to stand, while a little at an angle.

I listened, and I felt sorry and funny at the same time. So that’s where all this desire to perfectly make a bed before you have breakfast comes from. When, if not from an early age to accustom the child to order? Probably, there would be a similar practice in America, then maybe I would also not be able to safely leave the bed “as it happens”. Although there is an interesting observation about Americans, the older, the more likely the bed is to be made.

And in the Middle East…

Isn’t this just wonderful?

Life in the Middle East.

And back in China…

Han traditional period clothing has really become a fashion statement. China, being traditional and conservative in culture has embraced these styles. You cannot go a day without seeing someone wear these clothes, and the little girls love to wear them. Not only are they cool appearing, but they are super comfortable, and very elegant.

Chinese little girls.

Why is the rest of the world doing far better, being far happier while (on a GDP level) making far less money, and obeying social rules of “normal” behaviors and roles? What is going on?

The Western Financial Empire is collapsing

The financial empire that the “West” has created is a “house of cards”.

A plan, organization, or other entity that is destined to fail due to a weak structure or foundation (likened to a literal house of cards, which is built by balancing playing cards against one another, and is very easily toppled).

-House of Cards Idiom

To keep it running, there must be inflation. As long as the inflation isn’t too bad (read: too noticeable; Keeping up with yearly employee raises of 2%) it is tolerated, and the entire corrupt system runs.

But when the leadership is incompetent, or crazy, or a disaster hits, and they make gargantuan sized budgets with no oversight, then inflation expands past this 2% marker. And it becomes noticeable.

Congress has authorized nearly $4 trillion in spending over the past year to help address the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but only about $3 trillion of it has been spent.Roughly a third of that money went directly to struggling families through stimulus checks, expanded unemployment payments and food stamps.

-Congress has already approved $4 trillion

Initially, the way to control the “rabble” is to lie. The media would report that inflation is under control and not that bad. Such as this Forbes Article (always a mouth piece for the Federal Government).

Aug 11, 2021 · Is Inflation Under Control? The price of a number of products has been on the rise since the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020. However, despite the 500% increase in the cost of freight from China, the consumer price index for the 12 months ending June 2021 stood at 2.2% compared to 1.8% for the 12 months ending June 2020.

-Is Inflation Under Control?

Ah.

But it’s all just another puzzle piece in this large playing-board.

War is like a board-game II…

Well, Perhaps to better illustrate what is going on, we should consider that the Chinese are actually playing a layered strategy game such as Mahjong. Instead of Go (as I suggested earlier).

So maybe it’s better to visualize the Chinese playing Mahjong. Both Go and Mahjong are very simple games, that get very complex, very quickly with layers upon layers of strategic moves.

The Chinese play Mahjong.

And that while the United States have many very capable people, those in positions of power are actually simpletons drunk on power.

So by all observation, America is actually just playing checkers…

America is actually playing checkers.

And China is playing it expertly.

China has allied with China with the tightest relationship ever, and the agreements and the joint efforts are simply astounding. Right now units are being cross trained in use of each other’s equipment. So that Russian military  can use Chinese equipment and the Chinese can use Russian equipment. Not to mention that the leaders of both nations are in the supreme military headquarters of each nation.

As is illustrated in this video. Not that any American would ever see it. These videos are banned in America. Well, they are, but luckily MM is a “small potatoes” operation.

China has allied with China with the tightest relationship ever, and the agreements and the joint efforts are simply astounding.

In this clamorous kaleidoscope of United States centered insanity…

We can see elements of reason from those who lie outside of irradiated, and bombarded nation. We can see that calm heads, and minds exist. We can see that thoughtful intentions are being manifested. We can see that  there is a changing and a turning of the world towards something better. And over time, seriously, the USA looks more an more like a real cesspool.

Don’t believe me? Look at this video from the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana…

New Orleans

And this video of New York City. This is the largest and most prized American cities. It is “the shining city on the hill”.

New York City

And this video from Boston, Massachusetts. Even in the safe “bedroom communities” guns are being fired. Robberies are being committed and no one is safe.

Boston, Massachusetts

And this video. I believe that it is Chicago, Illinois. Mob rule. Very little support of the government. Hatred abounds. Crime is normal.

Chicago, Il.

And this video from New York City. The police must go out in mass, as the people, all unemployed, mostly on drugs, are always in danger. It is mob or crime rule and those that desire safety and security have moved out of the city.

New York City

As you all can see, the United States is a mess. The government has very little control over the nation. It is falling apart at the seams, and the smart people are fleeing to safer areas where they can have some degree of control over their personal lives.

Meanwhile the government is demanding the rest of the world be like the Untied States because it is the “shining city on the hill”. It cannot get any more bizzaro than this!

War is like a board-game III

Yet, you know, judging from the just insane actions that we observe happening in the United States today, perhaps the game of checkers is really giving the Washington DC leadership more credit than what is due. By all accounts and purposes, it looks like America is playing a different kind of game. No, it’s not chess. No, it’s not checkers. It’s Tic-tac-toe.

Game of Tik-tac-toe.

And China, well they are far more sophisticated.  No, they are not playing Go. Nor are they playing Mahjong. They are engaged in a competitive Sudoku puzzle.

Sudoku puzzle.

What the West Gets Wrong About China

Three fundamental misconceptions by Rana Mitter and  Elsbeth Johnson. From the Harvard Business Review Magazine (May–June 2021)

When we first traveled to China, in the early 1990s, it was very different from what we see today. Even in Beijing many people wore Mao suits and cycled everywhere; only senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials used cars. In the countryside life retained many of its traditional elements. But over the next 30 years, thanks to policies aimed at developing the economy and increasing capital investment, China emerged as a global power, with the second-largest economy in the world and a burgeoning middle class eager to spend.

One thing hasn’t changed, though: Many Western politicians and business executives still don’t get China. Believing, for example, that political freedom would follow the new economic freedoms, they wrongly assumed that China’s internet would be similar to the freewheeling and often politically disruptive version developed in the West. And believing that China’s economic growth would have to be built on the same foundations as those in the West, many failed to envisage the Chinese state’s continuing role as investor, regulator, and intellectual property owner.

Why do leaders in the West persist in getting China so wrong? In our work we have come to see that people in both business and politics often cling to three widely shared but essentially false assumptions about modern China. As we’ll argue in the following pages, these assumptions reflect gaps in their knowledge about China’s history, culture, and language that encourage them to draw persuasive but deeply flawed analogies between China and other countries.

[  Myth 1  ]

Economics and Democracy Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

 Many Westerners assume that China is on the same development trajectory that Japan, Britain, Germany, and France embarked on in the immediate aftermath of World War II—the only difference being that the Chinese started much later than other Asian economies, such as South Korea and Malaysia, after a 40-year Maoist detour. According to this view, economic growth and increasing prosperity will cause China to move toward a more liberal model for both its economy and its politics, as did those countries.

It’s a plausible narrative. As the author Yuval Noah Harari has pointed out, liberalism has had few competitors since the end of the Cold War, when both fascism and communism appeared defeated. And the narrative has had some powerful supporters. In a speech in 2000 former U.S. President Bill Clinton declared, “By joining the WTO, China is not simply agreeing to import more of our products, it is agreeing to import one of democracy’s most cherished values: economic freedom. When individuals have the power…to realize their dreams, they will demand a greater say.”

But this argument overlooks some fundamental differences between China and the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, and France. Those countries have since 1945 been pluralist democracies with independent judiciaries. As a result, economic growth came in tandem with social progress (through, for example, legislation protecting individual choice and minority rights), which made it easy to imagine that they were two sides of a coin. The collapse of the USSR appeared to validate that belief, given that the Soviet regime’s inability to deliver meaningful economic growth for its citizens contributed to its collapse: Russia’s eventual integration into the global economy (perestroika) followed Mikhail Gorbachev’s political reforms (glasnost).

In China, however, growth has come in the context of stable communist rule, suggesting that democracy and growth are not inevitably mutually dependent. In fact, many Chinese believe that the country’s recent economic achievements—large-scale poverty reduction, huge infrastructure investment, and development as a world-class tech innovator—have come about because of, not despite, China’s authoritarian form of government. Its aggressive handling of Covid-19—in sharp contrast to that of many Western countries with higher death rates and later, less-stringent lockdowns—has, if anything, reinforced that view.

China has also defied predictions that its authoritarianism would inhibit its capacity to innovate. It is a global leader in AI, biotech, and space exploration. Some of its technological successes have been driven by market forces: People wanted to buy goods or communicate more easily, and the likes of Alibaba and Tencent have helped them do just that.

But much of the technological progress has come from a highly innovative and well-funded military that has invested heavily in China’s burgeoning new industries. This, of course, mirrors the role of U.S. defense and intelligence spending in the development of Silicon Valley.

But in China the consumer applications have come faster, making more obvious the link between government investment and products and services that benefit individuals. That’s why ordinary Chinese people see Chinese companies such as Alibaba, Huawei, and TikTok as sources of national pride—international vanguards of Chinese success—rather than simply sources of jobs or GDP, as they might be viewed in the West.

Thus July 2020 polling data from the Ash Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government revealed 95% satisfaction with the Beijing government among Chinese citizens. Our own experiences on the ground in China confirm this.

Most ordinary people we meet don’t feel that the authoritarian state is solely oppressive, although it can be that; for them it also provides opportunity. A cleaner in Chongqing now owns several apartments because the CCP reformed property laws. A Shanghai journalist is paid by her state-controlled magazine to fly around the world for stories on global lifestyle trends. A young student in Nanjing can study propulsion physics at Beijing’s Tsinghua University thanks to social mobility and the party’s significant investment in scientific research.

Many Chinese believe that the country’s recent economic achievements have actually come about because of, not despite, China’s authoritarian form of government.

The past decade has, if anything, strengthened Chinese leaders’ view that economic reform is possible without liberalizing politics. A major turning point was the financial crisis of 2008, which in Chinese eyes revealed the hollowness of the “Washington consensus” that democratization and economic success were linked. In the years since, China has become an economic titan, a global leader in technology innovation, and a military superpower, all while tightening its authoritarian system of government—and reinforcing a belief that the liberal narrative does not apply to China.

That, perhaps, is why its current president and (more crucially) party general secretary, Xi Jinping, has let it be known that he considers Gorbachev a traitor to the cause for liberalizing as he did, thereby destroying the Communist Party’s hold on the USSR. And when Xi announced, in 2017, that the “three critical battles” for China’s development would fall in the areas of reducing financial risk, addressing pollution, and alleviating poverty, he also made it clear that the objective of these reforms was to solidify the system rather than to change it. The truth, then, is that China is not an authoritarian state seeking to become more liberal but an authoritarian state seeking to become more successful—politically as well as economically.

In much Western analysis the verb most commonly attached to China’s reforms is “stalled.” The truth is that political reform in China hasn’t stalled. It continues apace. It’s just not liberal reform. One example is the reinvention in the late 2010s of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Empowered by Xi to deal with the corruption that had become so prevalent early in that decade, the commission can arrest and hold suspects for several months; its decisions cannot be overturned by any other entity in China, not even the supreme court.

The commission has succeeded in reducing corruption in large part because it is essentially above the law—something unimaginable in a liberal democracy. These are the reforms China is making—and they need to be understood on their own terms, not simply as a distorted or deficient version of a liberal model.

One reason that many people misread China’s trajectory may be that—particularly in the English-language promotional materials the Chinese use overseas—the country tends to portray itself as a variation on a liberal state, and therefore more trustworthy. It often compares itself to brands with which Westerners are familiar. For example, in making the case for why it should be involved in the UK’s 5G infrastructure rollout, Huawei styled itself the “John Lewis of China,” in reference to the well-known British department store that is regularly ranked as one of the UK’s most trusted brands.

China is also often at pains to suggest to foreign governments or investors that it is similar to the West in many aspects—consumer lifestyles, leisure travel, and a high demand for tertiary education. These similarities are real, but they are manifestations of the wealth and personal aspirations of China’s newly affluent middle class, and they in no way negate the very real differences between the political systems of China and the West.

Which brings us to the next myth.

[  Myth 2  ]

Authoritarian Political Systems Can’t Be Legitimate

Many Chinese not only don’t believe that democracy is necessary for economic success but do believe that their form of government is legitimate and effective. Westerners’ failure to appreciate this explains why many still expect China to reduce its role as investor, regulator, and, especially, intellectual property owner when that role is in fact seen as essential by the Chinese government.

Part of the system’s legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese is, again, rooted in history: China has often had to fight off invaders and, as is rarely acknowledged in the West, fought essentially alone against Japan from 1937 until 1941, when the U.S. entered World War II. The resulting victory, which for decades the CCP spun as its solo vanquishing of an external enemy, was reinforced by defeat of an internal one (Chiang Kai-shek in 1949), establishing the legitimacy of the party and its authoritarian system.

Seventy years on, many Chinese believe that their political system is now actually more legitimate and effective than the West’s. This is a belief alien to many Western business executives, especially if they’ve had experience with other authoritarian regimes. The critical distinction is that the Chinese system is not only Marxist, it’s Marxist-Leninist. In our experience, many Westerners don’t understand what that means or why it matters. A Marxist system is concerned primarily with economic outcomes.

That has political implications, of course—for example, that the public ownership of assets is necessary to ensure an equal distribution of wealth—but the economic outcomes are the focus. Leninism, however, is essentially a political doctrine; its primary aim is control. So a Marxist-Leninist system is concerned not only with economic outcomes but also with gaining and maintaining control over the system itself.

That has huge implications for people seeking to do business in China. If China were concerned only with economic outcomes, it would welcome foreign businesses and investors and, provided they helped deliver economic growth, would treat them as equal partners, agnostic as to who owned the IP or the majority stake in a joint venture. But because this is also a Leninist system, those issues are of critical importance to Chinese leaders, who won’t change their minds about them, however effective or helpful their foreign partners are economically.

This plays out every time a Western company negotiates access to the Chinese market. We have both sat in meetings where business executives, particularly in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, expressed surprise at China’s insistence that they transfer ownership of their IP to a Chinese company. Some have expressed optimism that China’s need for control will lessen after they’ve proved their worth as partners. Our response? That’s not likely, precisely because in China’s particular brand of authoritarianism, control is key.

A Leninist approach to selecting future leaders is also a way the CCP has maintained its legitimacy, because to many ordinary Chinese, this approach produces relatively competent leaders: They are chosen by the CCP and progress through the system by successfully running first a town and then a province; only after that do they serve on the Politburo.

You can’t become a senior leader in China without having proved your worth as a manager.

China’s leaders argue that its essentially Leninist rule book makes Chinese politics far less arbitrary or nepotistic than those of many other, notably Western, countries (even though the system has its share of back-scratching and opaque decision-making).

Familiarity with Leninist doctrine is still important for getting ahead. Entry to the CCP and to a university involves compulsory courses in Marxist-Leninist thought, which has also become part of popular culture, as evidenced by the 2018 TV talk show Marx Got It Right. And with handy apps such as Xuexi Qiangguo (“Study the powerful nation” and a pun on “Study Xi”) to teach the basics of thinkers including Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Xi Jinping, political education is now a 21st-century business.

The Leninist nature of politics is also evidenced by the language used to discuss it. Political discourse in China remains anchored in Marxist-Leninist ideas of “struggle” (douzheng) and “contradiction” (maodun)—both seen as attributes that force a necessary and even healthy confrontation that can help achieve a victorious outcome. In fact, the Chinese word for the resolution of a conflict (jiejue) can imply a result in which one side overcomes the other, rather than one in which both sides are content. Hence the old joke that China’s definition of a win-win scenario is one in which China wins twice.

China uses its particular authoritarian model—and its presumed legitimacy—to build trust with its population in ways that would be considered highly intrusive in a liberal democracy. The city of Rongcheng, for example, uses big data (available to the government through surveillance and other data-capturing infrastructure) to give people individualized “social credit scores.” These are used to reward or punish citizens according to their political and financial virtues or vices.

The benefits are both financial (for example, access to mortgage loans) and social (permission to buy a ticket on one of the new high-speed trains). Those with low social-credit scores may find themselves prevented from buying an airline ticket or getting a date on an app. For liberals (in China and elsewhere), this is an appalling prospect; but for many ordinary people in China, it’s a perfectly reasonable part of the social contract between the individual and the state.

Such ideas may appear very different from the outward-facing, Confucian concepts of “benevolence” and “harmony” that China presents to its international, English-speaking audience. But even those concepts lead to considerable misunderstanding on the part of Westerners, who often reduce Confucianism to cloying ideas about peace and cooperation. For the Chinese, the key to those outcomes is respect for an appropriate hierarchy, itself a means of control. While hierarchy and equality may appear to the post-Enlightenment West to be antithetical concepts, in China they remain inherently complementary.

Recognizing that the authoritarian Marxist-Leninist system is accepted in China as not only legitimate but also effective is crucially important if Westerners are to make more-realistic long-term decisions about how to deal with or invest in the country. But the third assumption can also mislead those seeking to engage with China.

[  Myth 3  ]

The Chinese Live, Work, and Invest Like Westerners

China’s recent history means that Chinese people and the state approach decisions very differently from Westerners—in both the time frames they use and the risks they worry about most. But because human beings tend to believe that other humans make decisions as they do, this may be the most difficult assumption for Westerners to overcome.

Let’s imagine the personal history of a Chinese woman who is 65 today. Born in 1955, she experienced as a child the terrible Great Leap Forward famine in which 20 million Chinese starved to death. She was a Red Guard as a teenager, screaming adoration for Chairman Mao while her parents were being re-educated for being educated. By the 1980s she was in the first generation to go back to university, and even took part in the Tiananmen Square demonstration.

Then, in the 1990s, she took advantage of the new economic freedoms, becoming a 30-something entrepreneur in one of the new Special Economic Zones. She bought a flat—the first time anyone in her family’s history had owned property. Eager for experience, she took a job as an investment analyst with a Shanghai-based foreign asset manager, but despite a long-term career plan mapped out by her employer, she left that company for a small short-term pay raise from a competitor.

By 2008 she was making the most of the rise in disposable incomes by buying new consumer goods that her parents could only have dreamt about. In the early 2010s she started moderating her previously outspoken political comments on Weibo as censorship tightened up. By 2020 she was intent on seeing her seven-year-old grandson and infant granddaughter (a second child had only recently become legal) do well.

Had she been born in 1955 in almost any other major economy in the world, her life would have been much, much more predictable. But looking back over her life story, one can see why even many young Chinese today may feel a reduced sense of predictability or trust in what the future holds—or in what their government might do next.

When life is (or has been within living memory) unpredictable, people tend to apply a higher discount rate to potential long-term outcomes than to short-term ones—and a rate materially higher than the one applied by people living in more-stable societies. That means not that these people are unconcerned with long-term outcomes but, rather, that their risk aversion increases significantly as the time frame lengthens. This shapes the way they make long-term commitments, especially those that entail short-term trade-offs or losses.

Thus many Chinese consumers prefer the short-term gains of the stock market to locking their money away in long-term savings vehicles. As market research consistently tells us, the majority of individual Chinese investors behave more like traders. For example, a 2015 survey found that 81% of them trade at least once a month, even though frequent trading is invariably a way to destroy rather than create long-term fund value.

That figure is higher than in all Western countries (for example, only 53% of U.S. individual investors trade this frequently); it’s also even higher than in neighboring Hong Kong—another Han Chinese society with a predilection for gambling and a similar, capital-gains-tax-free regime. This suggests that something distinctive to mainland China influences this behavior: long-term unpredictability that’s sufficiently recent to have been experienced by or passed on to those now buying stocks.

That focus on securing short-term gain is why the young asset manager in Shanghai left a good long-term job for a relatively small but immediate pay raise—behavior that still plagues many businesses trying to retain talent and manage succession pipelines in China. People who do take long-term career risks often do so only after fulfilling their primary need for short-term security. For example, we’ve interviewed couples in which the wife “jumps into the sea” of starting her own business—becoming one of China’s many female entrepreneurs—because her husband’s stable but lower-paid state-sector job will provide the family with security.

The one long-term asset class in which increasing numbers of Chinese are invested—that is, residential property, ownership of which grew from 14% of 25-to-69-year-olds in 1988 to 93% by 2008—is driven also by the need for security: Unlike all other assets, property ensures a roof over one’s head if things go wrong, in a system with limited social welfare and a history of sudden policy changes.

China’s rulers see foreign engagement as a source less of opportunity than of threat, uncertainty, and even humiliation.

In contrast, the government’s discount rate on the future is lower—in part because of its Leninist emphasis on control—and explicitly focused on long-term returns.

The vehicles for much of this investment are still the CCP’s Soviet-style five-year plans, which include the development of what Xi has termed an “eco-civilization” built around solar energy technology, “smart cities,” and high-density, energy-efficient housing. Ambition like that can’t be realized without state intervention—relatively fast and easy but often brutal in China. By comparison, progress on these issues is for Western economies extremely slow.

Decisions—by both individuals and the state—about how to invest all serve one purpose: to provide security and stability in an unpredictable world. Although many in the West may believe that China sees only opportunity in its 21st-century global plans, its motivation is very different. For much of its turbulent modern history, China has been under threat from foreign powers, both within Asia (notably Japan) and outside it (the UK and France in the mid 19th century). China’s rulers, therefore, see foreign engagement as a source less of opportunity than of threat, uncertainty, and even humiliation.

They still blame foreign interference for many of their misfortunes, even if it occurred more than a century ago. For example, the British role in the Opium Wars of the 1840s kicked off a 100-year period that the Chinese still refer to as the Century of Humiliation. China’s history continues to color its view of international relations—and in large part explains its current obsession with the inviolability of its sovereignty.

That history also explains the paradox that the rulers and the ruled in China operate on very different time frames. For individuals, who’ve lived through harsh times they could not control, the reaction is to make some key choices in a much more short-term way than Westerners do. Policy makers, in contrast, looking for ways to gain more control and sovereignty over the future, now play a much longer game than the West does. This shared quest for predictability explains the continuing attractiveness of an authoritarian system in which control is the central tenet.

. . .

 Many in the West accept the version of China that it has presented to the world: The period of “reform and opening” begun in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping, which stressed the need to avoid the radical and often violent politics of the Cultural Revolution, means that ideology in China no longer matters. The reality is quite different. At every point since 1949 the Chinese Communist Party has been central to the institutions, society, and daily experiences that shape the Chinese people. And the party has always believed in and emphasized the importance of Chinese history and of Marxist-Leninist thought, with all they imply. Until Western companies and politicians accept this reality, they will continue to get China wrong.

Maybe, so says the Harvard Elite…

Here’s an article out of China. Commenting on Bloomberg saying that China WILL BE ISOLATED from the rest of the world. Yeah.As if you can isolate the world’s factory. Sure….

Dynamic zero-case route won’t get China ‘isolated’: Global Times editorial

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Bloomberg reported that China’s zero-tolerance strategy of COVID-19 “risks leaving it isolated for years.” But on Tuesday, statistics published by China’s Ministry of Commerce showed that China’s foreign trade in the first seven months of this year reached a high compared with the same period last year, and last year saw a surge in China’s foreign trade. This is a slap on the face of the “China isolation” theory.

China did not close its door due to the pandemic. Economic exchanges are the core of the current international exchanges, which is proven by the growth in China’s foreign trade. As for people-to-people exchanges, there has been a major decline at the global level. China has done a good job in controlling its borders and explored a set of methods to achieve safe international exchanges during the pandemic. This set of methods is worth being improved and is expected to be valued by other countries.

China will host the Winter Olympic Games six months from now. It could be another peak of the infections of coronavirus. Beijing is determined to host the Games well – it will not allow large-scale infections in Chinese society, and ensure the pandemic does not spread among delegates from all the participating countries. We believe given China’s tight prevention and control, athletes for the Games will not fear coming to China.

US media outlets, represented by Bloomberg, have been holding a twisted mentality toward China’s anti-virus achievements. China has avoided serious losses of life, and its economic recovery is leading the world. They pretend not seeing these and are reluctant to admit them. Not long ago, Bloomberg released a wired COVID Resilience Ranking that put the US on top of the list, which has become the laughing stock of the international community.

China is capable of carrying on the dynamic zero-case route. With the development of vaccines, strong mobilization and organization ability has turned into welfare for the Chinese people. Many Western countries also want to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – zero-case is better. The US once suspended flights with all European countries, and Australia has recently deployed defense force to help enforce lockdown. But they cannot reach the status of zero-case. Thus, it was a forced choice of them to downplay the pandemic.

Although the US has registered over 617,000 coronavirus deaths so far, the country still undertook a recent rebound in daily new cases – a daily average of over 124,000 new cases were reported in the past week. If Washington has the opportunity to put the number of new case down to zero, it will inject all efforts to tout about it.

We can hardly rule out the possibility that some American elites are jealous of China’s capability of having dynamic zero cases. They’d rather see China toppled by the COVID-19 epidemic just like the US. Then they would get a chance to clamor that China’s vaccines are not effective. Anyway, they don’t want to see any good from China. And when China does good, they will spare no efforts to mislead the international community to neutralize the influence of China’s success in fighting the virus.

China is a country that seeks truth from facts. The success of its dynamic zero-case policy has laid a solid foundation for China’s fight against the epidemic in the future. With the high rate of vaccination and a better preparation of the medical service system, China will have the ability to adjust its defensive strategy based on future needs. Many people have taken for granted that China fears getting back in touch with the rest of world because Chinese society has been accustomed to zero cases.

What China will do is to adapt to the world’s new normal due to an increase of global interactions while ensuring its domestic line of defense is robust enough against imported infections. The US has done nothing on this. But China has accumulated abundant experiences in the past year and beyond. Chinese people have managed what seemed impossible for Americans, and Chinese people will continue doing so.

Instead, it is hard to predict if the US – a super spreader of the pandemic – will face up to external pressure to hinder it from opening to the world. If the same number of Chinese and American people are traveling in a third country where the epidemic is mild, which group is more concerning to local people? Fortunately, the recent summer and winter Olympic games are not held in the US, or else how many countries dare to send delegations?

As China and the US follow their respective paths – taking into account their respective adjustment capabilities – time will tell which country will open up to the world more smoothly with better overall results. Time is neutral and its answer will be unbiased.

Meanwhile, while the United States screams and hollers and threatens…

Updated 19:13, 11-Aug-2021

Three Chinese think tanks published a joint research report on Monday criticizing the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University, the Taihe Institute and Intellisia gathered dozens of former politicians, intellectuals, scholars, policy- and decision-makers and practitioners to contribute to the report.

According to the report titled “‘America Ranked First’?! The Truth about America’s Fight against COVID-19,” the United States deserves to be the world’s No. 1 anti-pandemic failure, the world’s No. 1 political-blaming country, the world’s No. 1 pandemic spreader, the world’s No. 1 politically-divisive country, the world’s No. 1 currency-abusing country, the world’s No. 1 turbulent country during the pandemic, the world’s No. 1 disinforming country, and the world’s No. 1 country advocating origin tracing terrorism.

The report said the U.S. failed to contain the virus and had the most COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. As of August 7, 2021, the United States had reported 35,530,951 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 613,658 deaths while some U.S. media still rated the country number one in the world for its pandemic response.

“The latest absurd example is the Bloomberg reporting on a ranking, COVID resilience ranking, the United States comes No. 1, this can’t be taken seriously,” Martin Jacques, a senior fellow from Cambridge University, said at a presser about the report via video link.

Jacques also argued if the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t happen amid fraying China-U.S. relations, the story could’ve been much different, adding, “COVID-19 is probably the greatest test of governance the world has seen since the Second World War, the United States and the West failed miserably.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen U.S. business closures and waves of unemployment occurring faster and on a larger scale than expected. The lower class and other vulnerable groups are facing higher risks of unemployment. The gap between rich and poor further widened as wealth flowed into the hands of a few more quickly, said the report.

It also noticed that social unrest is a “chronic disease” in the United States as the pandemic is acting as an “amplifier” to further exacerbate social tensions. This year, the U.S. topped the list of crime rates in developed countries, much higher than countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Spain, as well as many developing countries. Social unrest manifests itself in three main ways: guns out of control, hate crimes and political chaos.

The report found that lack of common sense and scientific knowledge were direct causes for the U.S. failing to constrain the pandemic’s impact, and pointed the finger at former U.S. President Donald Trump for spreading fake news about the virus.

“Donald Trump might be the strongest driving force on creating fake COVID-19 information,” it said.

The report blamed the pandemic for tearing up U.S. society, with conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus exacerbating bully attitudes and discrimination towards Asian Americans.

Democrats and Republicans were divided on virus containment measures, especially mask mandates and America’s laissez-faire on containing the virus had also had a ripple effect on other countries. “After the outbreak of the pandemic, over 20 million U.S. citizens went abroad, accelerating the spread of the virus,” the report said.

Wang Wen, executive dean from Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University, said: “When it comes to issues like vaccination, social distancing, and almost any policies regarding COVID-19 containment, U.S. politicians have barely reached a consensus. This is the tragedy of America’s political and social system.”

It also identified a lack of responsibility from the U.S. in terms of providing COVID-19 vaccines to other countries. Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center estimated that by the summer of 2021, the United States may have a surplus of 300 million or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The Wall Street Journal reported on May 17 that the United States had exported only 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

“Exported vaccines from the U.S. take up less than one percent of its total vaccine production,” said the report.

Do you all know what this reminds me of?

Seriously. It reminds me of this…

Appearing on The Moment podcast, Tarantino shared a childhood story about how his mother used to side with his teachers after they called him out for writing screenplays in school.

According to Tarantino: "In the middle of her little tirade, she said, 'Oh, and by the way, this little 'writing career,' with the finger quotes and everything. This little 'writing career' that you're doing? That shit is over."

"When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I go, 'OK, lady, when I become a successful writer, you will never see one penny from my success. There will be no house for you. There's no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing. Because you said that.'"

As for a true emergency? "Yeah. I helped her out with a jam with the IRS," Tarantino admitted. "But no house. No Cadillac, no house."

He added, "There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children. Remember, there are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what's meaningful to them."

Tarantino is absolutely right about that. 

Negative comments parents make can have a lifelong impact on their children's lives — no matter how small they may seem to those hurling them. Consider this another reminder that you should always support your kids' dreams, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

And that’s the USA today. It was a cocky arrogant, bullshit nation, ruled by psychopathic personalities that have done everything in it’s power to put the rest of the world down. Now it is collapsing and still being a jack-ass.

Here’s a golden gem from the old Seinfield television show…

No soup for you!

“No Soup For You” or “NO SOUP 4 U” is a catchphrase that was initially uttered in a 1995 episode of the American comedic sitcom Seinfeld. Online, the phrase is often used in the context of message boards and forums in reply to other users who have made requests or demands that are denied or cannot be fulfilled.

No Soup for You / Soup Nazi | Know Your Meme

So the world is a mess!

Well it appears that way, but it really is not.

The USA is a mess. The UK is a mess. The South Africa is a mess. Israel is a mess. And the degree of how much of a mess it is is directly tied to how closely that nation is connected to the Untied States.

So Australia wants to be connect to the United States hip to hip, then you can expect Australia to collapse just like America is collapsing. Iceland, which isn’t, is not collapsing. Sweden which is following the EU led American directives, is a mixed bag. Like I said. The closer the nation is tied to America, the more of a fucked up mess it is today.

So what?

Well, to see what is actually going on, you have to take a couple of steps back and look at the Big BIG picture.

And how can you deal with this?

Well, you really don’t need to get into the details. You just need to concentrate on your life, and your family life selfishly. The only things that you have any control over is your immediate reality.

Guys, guys, guys. It seems like the world is coming apart at the seams. So what can you do?

You turn off the “news”. You walk outside. You listen to the birds. You go into a restaurant and have a delicious meal. You smell the air. You hop on a bicycle and ride. You play with your kitties, or romp with your dog.

After a few days of this, then you take in MEASURED “news”.

If you live in Idaho, what the Hell is going on in New York should be of no concern to you. If you read anything about China, but haven’t been there in the last two years, then discard it as noise. Who gives a fuck of Mr. XXXXX says YYYYY that will do ZZZZZ? It’s all just a blimp on the big picture.

People! The ONLY way for you all to get through this period of strife is to be a Rufus.

That’s the ONLY way.

How do you control your reality?

You be a Rufus.

Listen to me.

You center your mind. You shut down the “news”. You kick away all the negative influences in your life. You stop eating processed food and replace it with good delicious home cooked fresh foods. You perform meditations. You operate your affirmation campaigns. You spend time with loved ones and pets. You smile. You help people in your community. You make friends and associations in your community and you cultivate them. Be the best you can be. And you be a Rufus.

Or in an easier to read format…

  • You center your mind.
  • You shut down the “news”.
  • You kick away all the negative influences in your life.
  • You stop eating processed food and replace it with good delicious home cooked fresh foods.
  • You perform meditations.
  • You operate your affirmation campaigns.
  • You spend time with loved ones and pets.
  • You smile.
  • You help people in your community.
  • You make friends and associations in your community and you cultivate them.
  • Be the best that you can be.
  • And you be a Rufus.

Be the Rufus?

Be the Rufus. This is what I mean when I say that you must be part of something larger; be part of your community. Be a giver. Not a taker. Lord knows there are far too many money-grubbing taker in this world. Contribute. Help. Make the day of someone just a little bit better. Buy a coffee for a coworker. Smile.

Be the Rufus.

Yes. We must be the Rufus. Sure this guy would probably get in trouble for being late. Maybe his boss will dock his pay. If it was America, he might even lose his job. But not here. Not now. He’s a Rufus, and he “felt” that something was amiss. He did not wait. he did not call the police. He took action.

He selflessly helped others in need.

Be the Rufus.

In a world that is seemingly “off the rails”, with a terribly inefficient, corrupt and moronic government, where everything is going wrong and you are being pinched by all sides with a crazy media shouting at you “it’s China’s fault!”…

Be the Rufus.

A Rufus saves others.

That’s it really.

You must be the Rufus.

Be part of something bigger than yourself. Be the Rufus.

It doesn’t take much. All it takes is to be aware and contribute to the general well being of your community. If there is trash on the road in front of your house, you clean it up. You don’t wait for the government to do so. If your grass needs cut, you cut it. If your neighbor needs a hand you give it to him. If your mailbox is an eyesore, then spruce it up.

When an emergency happens, you as the Rufus, spring into action. Be the Rufus.

A Rufus is helpful.

Be the Rufus!

When an emergency happens, you take part and be helpful.

Be the Rufus.

Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s hard. Like preventing an infant from having seizures. But a Rufus does what ever is necessary. Be that Rufus. Be the best you can be.

A Rufus does what ever it takes.

So yeah, the United States is collapsing. The leadership are a group of self-centered ignoramuses. And you might be stuck, trapped and inside this massive cesspool on fire. What can you do?

Again.

Focus on you. Be part of your community. Smile. Make other feel good about themselves and want to see you. Be helpful. Devote good efforts to make your house good, calm, strong and cohesive. Spend time with pets and loved ones. Eat healthy food. Do your affirmation campaigns. Be the Rufus.

Just being helpful is all it takes.

Just be helpful.

Sometimes you have to take extraordinary measures.

Here’s a military soldier abandoning his post to rescue a three year old from getting squashed by an income horde or cars and trucks. Yikes!

Save the baby!

A Rufus is there to help others.

A Rufus is part of the community. They are appreciated. They are loved. They are the organized person that everyone know that they can count on. They are the guiding light that everyone in need turns to.

A Rufus is there.

You see, once you change your mind and decide to participate within a community, and be helpful to others you change. Your mind; and then your entire being, becomes a service to others sentience. STO.

The madness in the United States today is mostly and primarily affecting three other sentience’s;

  • Service to self (STS).
  • Service for another (SFA).
  • Disjointed Sentience (DJS).

By changing your being, and by doing your prayer affirmation campaigns you are able to create a kind of “non-physical” zone around you and your family and community. It’s not ironclad, though. But it is certainly strong enough to take most of the hits and pings from the society that surrounds yours.

Certainly brute force assaults, and intentional disruptive attacks can damage what ever you can throw up, but if you just follow the basic format that I have provided, you all will be fine. You all will be just fine. You will be just fine.

The False Flag Event

The American “leadership” (whatever it leads is another question) seems to be intent in generating a false flag event to trigger a war with China. We all can prevent that within our affirmation campaigns, and we can isolate our communities from any successful chaos that might result as an effect of it.

Do not fear the insanity.

Just focus on you, your family and friends, and your community. Stick to the basics, and play the “long game”. Everything will be quite different one decade from now. All you all want to do is “ride it out” unscathed. To do this, just follow MM advice and Be The Rufus.

You don’t have to rescue anyone. You just need to be extra considerate. You need to be more humane and understanding. You need to be sensitive to the needs of those around you and be helpful to them.

Be the helpful Rufus.

A Rufus makes it his job to help others. To keep his community clean, and patrolled and away from crime. A Rufus holds his society responsible for what ever happens to it, and works to correct wrongs, and punish those who are selfish or corrupt at all levels. A Rufus participates…

A Rufus contributes.

A Rufus lends a hand to those in need.

A Rufus goes and visits a dying friend, no matter what the law says, and comforts him as only a meat-pie lady could A Rufus cares about the feeling of others. A Rufus helps the children; the animals; the cats; and the dogs. A Rufus is always there to make the community a better place to live in.

A Rufus helps others.

A Rufus doesn’t drive past an gawk at a car accident. They get out of their car and help. They do what ever they can. They are the people that make the community and their actions are attractive and contagious. All it takes is a few Rufus’s in the community and soon, others will start acting that way too.

Be the Rufus.

Make the world a better place.

Help others. Be the Rufus.

A Rufus volunteers.

When there is a need in the community, the Rufus doesn’t complain. They don’t bitch and moan, they go out and work. They volunteer, and if there isn’t any kind of organization to correct the problems, they set one up themselves.

A Rufus makes a difference.

Even if it is hot, and you are suffering from heat exhaustion. A Rufus “takes it on the chin”. A Rufus makes a difference in their community.

A Rufus is the person that you can count on.

A Rufus is not perfect, and is jut a human. But the Rufus strives to be more than just a user; a complainer, a parasite on society. A Rufus contributes.

A Rufus contributes.

Here’s some unpaid volunteers in China. They are working long, long days, and then collapse in the public areas to get some sleep before they begin again. A Rufus makes the world a better place.

Be the Rufus.

You can make the world a better place.

..

Be the Rufus.

Final words

You are never alone if you are part of a community. You might be weak in some areas, but the community will compensate. And your strengths can be used to make the community strong. Remember the rule of three. Three people make a community. Be part of your community. And the bigger; the better.

You WILL BE appreciated. As this video clearly shows.

Be part of your community.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

[ANONYMOUS] – Part 1 – MM unlocked an Adventure

The following is a series of articles describing the adventure that a follower who goes by the handle "ANONYMOUS" has experienced since reading MM. They are very interesting and fascinating. I hope that you all learn from his journey and maybe learn a thing or two as he relates his unique experiences to the readership here. 

A quick note. When I first posted this article I confused two contributors. This caused me some headaches and all should be resolved by now.

-MM

Preamble

MM,
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Seeing you suffer under DOS and database attack and the drop in visitations has really effected me as well, so I wanted to send you a big, heartfelt intention-bump. Without any exaggeration, your website has completely and irrevocably changed my entire life. My general way of living, mentality, and many other aspects have changed forever.
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The tale here is odd to say the least.
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Your blog basically “unlocked” me in January of this year, and prompted a very bizarre, incredibly frightening, but ultimately useful transformation including the unlocking of a number of new “abilities” which still has me totally stunned.
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I was waiting for this moment…..

How it all started

I am a middle aged man in Canada.
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During some unrelated web surfing in September of 2020, I was directed to one of your SHTF articles which was referred to on Reddit.
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As someone very prep-oriented, nothing you wrote there shocked me at all, but I enjoyed your style, grit and honesty.
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I had no idea at the time you had other experiences elsewhere, but upon return (to the MM site) I discovered your MAJ and all over documents, not to mention other hosted works in Bibliotech etc.
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As a quick backgrounder on me, I am a Spectrum-learner, with virtually no subject that I do not enjoy knowing more about, but with a huge focus on Science, ExoBiology, Planetary Sciences, Astronomy, Physics, Botany, and many more.
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But I am also a musician, artist, and I’ve worked as a professional Sous Chef before, so food is a huge thing for me.
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For what its worth, I brew my own beer, grow my own food, and so on. Where I live, I am very unusual.
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My professional background includes banking, high tech security and surveillance, and other technology related elements. I have also run my own business twice, and taken a company to the stock market here publicly. I understand computers, networks, and so on.

The Change

Before discovering you I was agnostic. One of those extremely skeptical types who values everything based on return on investment….. a “show me” kind of guy.
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This doesn’t mean I was closed. Dear Lord, no, I am voracious in learning and understanding in anything I can, and ET/UFOLOGY etc was all part of my general interest.
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For the record, I never believed we were “alone” and since I was 9 years old I took it for granted we would discover countless worlds and meet/interact with countless entities. Much of my childhood was spiritual, but that can be saved for another time.
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Sept 2020 I began reading your material, alongside my reading at the time which included Roger Penrose / Hawking but as well as a number of UFO related channeling websites and other such material.
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Nonetheless I kept coming back to MM over and over again.
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Something in the back of my mind started what I can only describe as a “rising agitation” as I consumed your material.
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I got the distinct impression I was being watched, and I hope that doesn’t sound too nuts, but it grew over time.
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As I continued reading the material, I became very very focused upon it, studying the Base 8 Number system, Functional Diagrams, Comments on Brown Dwarfs etc. It was like I had imagined a website built just for me, by you! Every article was incredible!
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But what started my experience was the growing realization that multidimensionally we were indeed being watched, every single moment of every day.
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I had a very frightening “oh shit!” moment when I finally accepted what I was learning.
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Studying Quantum Physics and other related topics for 20 years brought me to this one moment.
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I can tell you it was personally very shocking to realize everything I had ever done, every thought, every action, every Sin, every Rufus moment, was known. Also, I felt pretty stupid for not coming to this knowing earlier.
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Then something very dramatic happened, and I hope you can both understand and possibly shed light.

The Event

During a five-day period in January of 2021 I was really pushing hard to continue to read as much as possible from your site while maintaining my busy corporate life.
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Each day, I felt a rising wave of energy in me, like waves of “chills” beginning from the bottom of my feet and rising up my spine, spreading like energetic wings left and right, and then culminating in my head/crown.
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Keep in mind, I had very limited esoteric/spiritual background. I had no idea this was leading somewhere…..
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Each day the sensation grew, but it got weirder.
..
Suddenly, and without any prompting or training, I had a very serious interest suddenly in sitting down on the ground, and breathing by inhaling through my nose (tongue on roof of mouth) and then exhaling as I digested your materials and revelations.
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I would pray in place (keep in mind I had prayed ZERO times for my entire life prior), and consider my own errors and successes as well as the nature of consciousness, the soul, etc.
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During this breathing, the energy would increase.
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Whilst my eyes were closed, I started to see what seemed to be a “field” of dimensionality I hadn’t seen, which was lit up. Then, shimmering light from the top of my field of view (with eyes closed).
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By the third day, I was sleeping less and less and less and reading more and more and more.
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Also, during my circular breathing moments, I started to notice all of my hair would stand on end, and massive goosebumps would show up along the entire length of my body.
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I felt pressure at the top of my head in the shape of a torus, and then soon, the sensation of a DOT roaming around on my forehead, then “fixing” in place between my eyes.
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Another sensation was at the exact center of the top of my skull, like a “pulling” upwards from my body to somewhere above me, so to speak.
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On the fifth day, I had slept less than 3 hours, and was meditating, breathing and praying a LOT. Yet, for whatever reason, even though this was totally bizarre and unprecedented behavior, I felt bliss.
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On that day, I mentally said the words “God I know believe in you, and I want to Serve Others”.
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I knew personally, that being a mixed Sentience was NOT what I was, and not the man I knew I could be.
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MM, this was nuts. I was pulled to the tips of my toes and what felt like lightning ripped through my body. The feeling was akin to a bizarre ecstasy and I knew I was a different person.
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I said “thank you” out loud.

Follow though…

During my intense meditations afterwards I began projecting block letters in my mind, and i didn’t know why, but they had themes like “Unity” “Peace” “Co-Operate” “UNITY MIND to MIND” and other ideas.
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But it got even crazier.
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I started seeing visions in my mind of our civilization in the future, and I knew it was 500 years from now approx, but I didn’t know how I knew.
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In it I saw thousands and thousands of people gathering, as I hovered over the landscape watching them assemble. These people assembled first in one triangle, and then another overlapping triangle. The Double-Tetrahedron Star of David.
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In the middle of the grouping there were elders or seers with hands outstretched. Then the entire crowd (tens of thousands of people) began to sing in a way I’ve never heard.
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Now please don’t think I am certifiable but for some reason I could sense why this was being done.
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It was a massive prayer and intention ritual used to bring Earth to a Zero-Point in a different pocket universe to allow for planetary healing and a reset as humanity began to graduate into STO Sentience and Sovereignty.
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We were growing up…..finally.
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There is so much more insane detail here I can barely begin, but it included Psychic Colleges, Parent-Child classes from birth and all kinds of incredible outcomes from this new Way. It was very detailed and incredibly inspirational….
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…and alien.

End of part 1

Pretty exciting? Right? Well this is one man's experience. And everyone will have their own personal experience that will be just as profound and just as amazing. From seeing faeries to breathless communication with cherished pets, to mind-boggling breakthroughs in understandings and realizations. It's all the same thing. - MM
What to expect in future articles…
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…an encounter with an Entity and a terrifying “debate” where I was mentally crushed by this entity. Afterwards, and to this very moment, I have the ability to pull “source/prana/energy/whatever” at will, and this seems to have a massive impact on my prayers and intentions.
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In other words, I am starting to see very noticeable manifestations.
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I have also seen many many different shapes, diagrams (which I can interact with sort of), and other images in my meditative mind.
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The synchronicities in my life are off the chart, sometimes 8 to 10 jaw dropping events in a single day. Its like living in my own Movie now, and its a trip.
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My entire life has changed. I mediate often and pray often. I am single for the first time in decades and without a solid footing.
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The MM website is a touchstone for sanity. I am becoming the Rufus……slowly. I will say, that changing ones Sentience from Mixed (which I absolutely was) to STO is the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Ever.
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You can visit the ANONYMOUS Index here…

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MM Articles & Links

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How to meet our beloved pets (dogs, cats, horses) after we die and go to Heaven

This article is about something that is very close and dear to me. It is about meeting our pals; our little buddies after we die and go to Heaven… or wherever we go. It’s a very neglected subject, yet I consider it to be a very important one.

Now, it’s going to get a bit obtuse, but hold on. I know all you who visit here are hurting. Don’t worry. I have some answers.

Where do I get this information?

Recognize that I relate from my background in MAJestic, and my readings of “Alien Interview”. If you do not know what I am referring to, then you will have to go to the About Me to discover what I mean about MAJestic. And to understand what I am talking about regarding “Alien Interview” you can go HERE. Additionally, I can confirm that much of what I relate is in accordance with the Geography of Heaven as described by Dr. Newton.

Recognize that [1] I was part of an organization, and that I had tasks and operations that had tangential associations with this subject. So, to put it another way, I’m the closest thing you are going to have to an “expert” on these matters.

And that [2] the discovery, reading, parsing of Alien Interview helped me to clarify some experiences that I was exposed to. It will be the elements from “Alien Interview” in this narrative that will help clarify some issues. As I think that it might clean up some issues.

Let’s begin with some basics…

There are different kinds of heavens.

A "Heaven" is a "Universe". There are many of them.

Our normal, day to day lives, is within a universe. We, not knowing any better, think that this universe is all that there is. It's not.

When we, or our pets, die we (as consciousness in wave form) float around. We can stay in this (physical) universe in the spirit form, or we can leave it. And if we leave it, we will go to a completely different universe.

Cats tend to go to a "Cat Universe". Also known as a "Cat Heaven".

Dogs tend to go to a "Dog Universe". Also known as a "Dog Heaven".

Horses tend to go to a "Horse Universe". Also known as a "Horse Heaven".

Humans tend to go to a "Human Universe". Also known as a "Human Heaven".

There is one thing that is in mutual agreement with my MAJestic “training” and the “Alien Interview” dialog is that there are many Heavens.

And Heavens are the same thing as Universes.We as humans have inherited these general words and phrases without understanding what they represent.

So  when we talk about Heaven we must be specific. We cannot be general.

There is a “Human Heaven”. And there are Heavens for other species.

So…

There is a cat heaven. There is a dog heaven. There is a horse heaven. There is an eagle heaven. There is a parakeet heaven. And so on and so forth.

All this has to do with the idea that (way back, early on when the very first mega-universe was created), the other universes sublimated naturally by specific quanta associated with the species that developed and came into being.

Or, in other words, there is one Heaven for each species, and this is a natural consequence of the nature of the overall “mega-universe”.

If you do not want to believe this you can leave.

There is NOT one singular Heaven where every single life exists in once you die. That is a fantasy based on ignorance of quantum physics.

Summary:

Within "all that exists" (which I refer to as a the mega-universe) are bubbles. These bubbles are universes.

Every life that exists is attuned, by it's quantum makeup, to one specific universe. This association is called "soul". 

Thus, we are on this "physical-universe", and when we die our consciousness travels back to "soul" which exists within our species universe. We call this "going to Heaven".

But the Earth is unique…

Further, apparently, and I am now pretty convinced of it, is that there is a specific “Earth Human Heaven”.

Sounds OK, really.

Doesn’t it?

Or better stated, a Human Heaven that is geographically located that services the “Sentience Nurseries” (Prison planets) in this geographic section of the galaxy.

What this means is that there is an overall “Heaven” for all humans all over the universe. But also that there is a very “special” Heaven for humans that reside in the earth or in associated other “sentience nurseries”.

And  you can refer to them as being “Prison Planet” if you like.

But I like to think of it as a “sentience nursery” for the purposes of reforming the “inmates” forced to live and exist int his environment.

Now, to be honest, I was unaware of this during the entire time that I was active in MAJestic. However, the narrative in Alien Interview has clarified so many points, and then when this issue came up, I achieved an “Ah ha” moment. And then so many other things feel into place.

Now, this idea that there is an “Earth Human Heaven” that is separate from a “General Human Heaven” is very profound. But we won’t get too bogged down in it here.

  • General Human Heaven
  • Specific “special” Earth Heaven.
Summary:

Humans have two "Human Universes". One is the "General Human Heaven", and the other is a special area. This other one is just for our physical geographic area only. So I refer to it as "Earth Human Heaven".

Most Earth Humans have a "soul" that is part of the "Earth Human Heaven".

OK.

Let’s stick to the issue at hand…

Humans need a guide to visit those other Heavens

According to everything that I have experienced and what I have read, we all need a guide or a person to help us to enter into different Heavens.

I refer to this guide as a “Mantid”, but other might known them as “guardian angels” or “angels”.

Basically, it is a non-human entity that helps you meet with your friends who might belong to a different species as you do.

Now, from what I understand from Alien Interview, this entity is utilized to assist in the meeting of two different species in a neutral environment. While it might appear that it is is in one heaven or the next the reality is that is is something else.

You see, different universes operate differently from a Human Universe, and the Physical Universe. And we need to be “configured” to visit there. It isn’t automatically easy. If you wanted to visit a “Cat Heaven” you would need to temporarily conform your consciousness to fit in a Cat Heaven.

Think of it like a key.

If you want to open a door, you have to have a key of the right shape.

But earth humans, we don’t even know how to do that, let alone what it is. So we get help from someone who does know. And we can refer to these entities as “guides”, “angels”, “assistants”, or what ever you want to refer to them as. In my experience they tend to be other humans in the spirit form. And / or Mantids (Angels).

However, knowing what I do know, most earth Humans do not have the memories, the skills or the abilities to perform these things. Maybe we once did. But now, today, the vast numbers of humans no longer can do this, and thus needs a “guide” or a person to help them.

Summary:

When a creature dies, is floats around in spirit form (wave form), and then migrates up to it's Heaven. This is natural.

Your pet will be in it's Heaven. And you will be elsewhere. Typically, you will be in your Heaven.

To visit each other, you will need a "guide", an "assistant" to help you two meet. This person will be able to "key you" to the kind of configuration that will allow you two to meet.

But according to Alien Interview you should not need a guide at all

The thing is that you should not need a guide to accompany you to visit your friends. Being consciousness that is all knowing and all capable, that you should (theoretically) be able to see and visit these other Heavens (universes) as you will.

Unfortunately, for a host of reasons, the ideal no longer exists.

Somehow, along the way, humans on the earth ended up getting their very own “special” Heaven. This Heaven is different from the normal Human Heaven that the rest of the universe has.

Alien Interview calls this area a “Prison Planet”.

MAJestic refers to this portion of space (and five other solar systems) as a “Sentience Nursery”.

What ever it is, and why it is, is a vast and huge subject. It’s covered elsewhere, and we will not dwell in it too much here. Instead we will just simplify things and say that if you are on the earth, then chances are that your Heaven is the “special” Heaven constructed for this region.

And those of us associated with this Heaven have erased skills, memories and abilities. And that is the way it is.

Summary:

Ideally, we should not need assistance to visit other universes. But most humans here in this geographical region of space is associated with a "special" Earth Human Heaven. This association is one with erased memories, skills and abilities. And thus we need help to perform most tasks.

This suggests that the “guide” is actually something else

Since we are associated with a soul with this “Earth Human Heaven”, and we need a “guide” or “expert” to accompany us when we exit our Heaven to go to another one, what does this tell you?

What is the closest analog in our physical reality universe?

Corrections officers escorting a prisoner outside of Jail.

Summary:

The easiest way to understand how Earth Human Heaven works is to imagine it as a big prison. This may or may not be true. However, the aspects of it that requires...

[1] Memory wipe to enter a physical body. (Parole)
[2] Escorts when you leave the Earth Human Heaven. (Jail transport) 

...is strongly indicative, and most easily imagined, as a minimum security prison.

As far as I know, and from all of my experiences, only humans have these limitations. Other species do not have these limitations.

But, you know, it can’t be really bad…

The idea that we can get help to visit other Heavens, and the idea that we are supported to return back to Earth (abet with our memories erased), does indicate that there seems to be a freedom of movement in the non-physical Heavens. Though this freedom is monitored, and supervised, it does appear that there is a great degree of latitude of where you can go.

Certainly a Cat Heaven or a Dog Heaven is so unlike a Earth Human Heaven, and that we as consciousness can visit it, certainly says that there are some freedoms that we are permitted.

I wonder if we can visit the General Human Heaven?

Why are we earth (and the other local solar systems) segregated from this General Human Heaven? What is the problem? Do we have some kind on non-physical virus, sickness, bad behavior or anything like that?

For, and the reason why I mention this, is that (by all accounts) the General Human Heaven is substantially older, larger, involves far more souls than the Earth Human Heaven.

With this in mind, it must also have resources, places, abilities and functionality that our Earth Human Heaven does not have.

Summary:

There are two Heavens (two universes) for Humans. Maybe there are more. But in general there is a local, regional to this section of the galaxy that services the earth solar system, and five others that service other solar systems. This Heaven, known as the Earth Human Heaven, is much smaller (though quite enormous) and younger (while still old) compared to the General Human Heaven.

Were the consciousness, you for example, wanted to have unrestricted access to do anything, you would need to go to the General Human Heaven to do so. Otherwise, you would suffer through the realities and restrictions of the Earth Human Heaven.

Tunnel of Light

Everyone knows what the “tunnel of light” is. Right?

When you die, you are compelled or instructed to “follow the light” and enter in this nice long tunnel,

My experiences strongly supports the notion that this “Tunnel of Light” actually exists in the non-physical realms. And that it is not some kind of biological event that occurs when your body starts to shut down when you die.

Dr. Lakhmir Chawla, an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at George Washington University, asserts that near-death experiences are simply caused by a surge of electrical activity as the brain runs out of oxygen before death. However, the oxygen-depletion theory is only one of many classical neurophysiological theories challenged by people who have undergone near-death experiences.

I argue that it is a real event that you may or may not experience.

This “Tunnel of Light” has nothing to do with your consciousness leaving your (now deceased) body, but rather that it is a secondary “step” that many human consciousnesses experience upon death.

  • First you leave the body.
  • Your consciousness remains in close proximity to the physical world, but being in wave form is unable to interact with it.
  • You can move about by thought.
  • You may encounter things, creatures and events that are not apparently present in the physical reality.
  • The world-line travel, as part of the MWI stops.
  • Your consciousness resides as part of your final egress world-line.

At some point in time, you might encounter “old family”, “former friends”, “guides”, or “Angels” that introduce you to this “Tunnel of Light”.

And 99.999% of Earth Humans enter this tunnel. They go to Earth Human Heaven, and exist in that place.

This does NOT happen to other animals that I know of. It only happens to Earth Humans.

What is the closest analog to a “Tunnel of Light” in the physical realms?

In prison is a very special room called a “Sally Port”. It is essentially a long hallway with a door at each end. You enter in the hallway, and line up. Then the door behind you is closed. The corrections officers then make sure that everything is in order, and the inmates are all secure. When everything is fine, you then proceed to the end of the hallway. There, that door will open up and you will be inside the prison proper.

A sally port is protected point of entry into a secure location, such as a prison or a military fortification. Often, a sally port consists of an enclosed area with a solitary gate on either side, only one of which can be opened at any given time.

-My Law

Here is a photo of a prison sally port…

A prison sally port.

Summary:

Cats, Dogs, Horses and other species do not appear to have a "Tunnel of Light" for them to enter their respective Heavens. Only earth Humans have one.

The closest earth analog to a Tunnel of Light is a Prison Sally Port.

Following the models laid out by the other species, it appears that it is a very natural and easy thing to move towards your species Heaven (Universe). Your quantum make up attracts you to it naturally.

You do not have to be "guided", "directed", "led" or "taught" to enter this tunnel. If left to our own designs, our consciousnesses would naturally move towards the General Human Heaven instead. 

Thus, no matter how much love, beauty and attractiveness that you feel emulating from this "Tunnel of Light", if you allow yourself to migrate to the true nature of your species you would naturally move towards the General Human Heaven.

Hard Labor

There are many kinds of prisons. In the ADC they had…

  • Diagnostic Prisons.
  • Maximum security prisons.
  • Minimum security prisons.
  • Prisons for behavioral modification.
  • Prisons for Hard Labor Punishment.
  • Prisons for Boot Camp Punishment.
  • Work / Factory Prisons.

I spent time in both the behavioral modification prisons and in the Hard Labor Prisons.

In the Hard Labor Prison (East Arkansas Regional Unit at Brickeys) we would transit the Sally port four times a day. We would go to and from the prison to the fields where we would work on the “chain gang”. Better known as “Hoe Squad”. In Arkansas, prison is the “punishment” portion of the criminal sentence. While parole is the “rehabilitation” portion of the criminal sentence.

In a like way, Earth Human Heaven appears to work the same way.

You enter and leave the “Tunnel of Light” to transit between the locked-down security of Earth Human Heaven, and the Physical Earth MWI. In this analogy, the Physical Earth MWI appears to be the “Hard Labor Punishment” aspect of a prison sentence.

However…

The physical reality MWI is much larger than the Earth Human Heaven. And it has a great diversity of life, and species. There are plants, animals, creatures, and all manner of interactions. While the Earth Human Heaven is a specific Heaven that contains only two (as far as I can discern) species.

These are;

  • Human consciousnesses that comes from the Earth.
  • Mantids (Angels).

I can positively state, unequivocally, that I have never seen or encountered any other species in the Earth Human Heaven. That includes the Type-1 greys,  dogs, cats or horses.

Summary:

Earth Human Heaven access of all species other than Earth Humans, and Mantids is prevented. The only way in and out of the Earth Human Heaven is via the "Tunnel of Light". It acts as a secure gateway to and from the MWI.

Earth Humans are issued a Pre-Birth World-Line Template upon birth. This is a set of instructions (like like those on parole have) that prevents them for straying too far off from their assigned pre-planned experiences.

Since the MWI and all the world-lines are jointly shared with all species, physical and non-physical, it serves as a great staging area for meeting up with our non-physical pets, and to move away from any "parole restrictions". The key is in Affirmation Prayer Campaigns that slides you off this pre-birth world-line template onto one that you can control.

So there are multiple ways to visit our friends

So you all need not despair. You will certainly be able to meet up with long lost friends, family and pals. And what’s more, there are different ways to do so. Now that you have a butter understanding of what Earth Human Heaven is, we can look at some of these methods.

Method [1] in the non-physical realms associated with the MWI

Once you die, your consciousness naturally stays in wave form. It’s impossible to return to particle form as your physical body no longer functions. And being in wave form, you are initially trapped on the final egress world-line that your body was on in the MWI.

You can move about, explore, and check out everything. It’s just that you are in spirit. You are in the wave form.

By using the power of thought, you can “will yourself” to a beloved pet. And you will appear next to it in what ever form or shape, or condition that it is in.

Dogs will know that you are there, but are unlikely to join you in wave form. They will try to interact with you in their physical form.

Cats, well they can enter and leave the physical body at will. They can join you in the non-physical form. And you and your bud can have many fun times and adventures together.

Depending on the consciousness components of the species, you ability to interact with them will vary. Dogs will differ from cats. And horses are a completely different “ball game”.

In any case, I can confirm that upon your death, it will be profoundly easy for you to visit your lost beloved pets.

Method [2] in their specific pet Heaven

Once you have migrated into wave form, you are free to go anywhere. For most casts, they tend to want to hang out on the MWI, while Dogs prefer to spend some periods of time in Dog Heaven. Depending on your time of death there may or may not be your beloved pet in the MWI with you. Instead their consciousness might reside in their particular Heaven.

The technique is a simple one. You must “will” yourself to that beloved friend. And you will go as far as you can. If you are unable to enter their particular Heaven due to your quantum alignments, then you must vocalize a request for help. Alternatively, you can wait them out, until they return back to the MWI.

Asking for help is a very effective mechanism to help you during this period while you are in wave form. However, you must be especially cautious on who is offering it.

In my opinion, I would suggest a Type-1 grey as a valid source of help. While a Mantid (Angel) would project love, care and concern to and would arrange to have your help and assistance realized. Only, you would have to Enter The Earth Human Heaven first.

Method [3] Via a guide from the Earth Human Heaven

What is well understood is that you will be able to meet your beloved pets while you go to the Earth Human Heaven. The local Mantid will arrange help and  generate parole that will take you to the pet Heaven for your visit.

This is what you do if you want to visit your loved ones in Heaven

In all cases, to the best things to prepare for this kind of activity once you die is right now. I would add some specific affirmation prayers in your campaigns. Not much. Just one or two, that would manifest upon your death. Even if your death takes place fifty years from now, they will have actual potency upon your final death.

Might I suggest;

  • Upon my death, I will be able to meet with my beloved XXXXXXX.
  • My beloved XXXXXX will meet me and be near me when I die.

Another Opinion

Here’s another opinion.

We are deeply concerned about the growing information circulating on Internet about avoiding at all costs the tunnel of light that many go into when their incarnation on Earth ends.

As we have explained, when that moment arrives, a number of events that leads a person to Heaven can occur.

Quite often, a loved one, a friend or a member of the family arrives to escort the newly liberated person to the Heavenly spheres.

Equally, the person may find himself, seconds before his demise, in this beautiful tunnel of light that will conduct him to the light.
This light is heaven and when he steps into this bright area he is met by a noble soul that is there to greet him and explain his change of status.

Now, for various reasons, people are spreading a message on social media that this is a trap and the person will be captured and sent back for another incarnation.

Equally, they say that if the person, who is coming to the end of his incarnation, is visited by loved ones, this also is a trap and those loved ones are in fact demons pretending to be loved ones and the object is, once again, to entrap the person dying and push him into incarnation again.

These are dangerous lies and one should not listen to them and, certainly, one should not try to avoid going to Heaven whether it be by the tunnel of light or by friends or family guiding them.

We cannot express too strongly that one should, at all costs, reject this dangerous mis-information.

The origin of the message is Archonic.

Some people promote this false information quite innocently, as they just quote “collective wisdom”, but others are under the influence of negative entities and promote these lies because of that influence controlling their speech and actions.

If a person avoids taking the path to Heaven he has to go somewhere when he is liberated from his physical body. So, he goes to a place called Limbo.

This is an area full of lost souls and, generally, the people there are deeply unhappy.
This unhappiness is food for the evil ones who thrive on unhappiness.

Therefore, we have this conflict going on that must be stopped as soon as possible.

On one hand we have evil or misguided people promoting this false idea of avoiding going to heaven and on the other hand we have the workers for salvation trying to educate the public to act in a loving, peaceful fashion to help the Ascension process.

So, people must choose.

Either to follow this evil, Archon based concept of avoiding the tunnel of light, or avoiding being taken to Heaven by loved ones in which case the person will end up in limbo, or to reject that Archon based information and accept our advice which is to go into the tunnel with the assurance that you will end up in Heaven or go with your loved ones who, also, will guide you to Heaven.

We repeat, you have a choice.
Either to reject the tunnel of light and reject the loved ones who come to assist, or to enter the tunnel, accept to be guided by loved ones, and be taken to your home in Heaven.

You have free will. What you decide to do will happen.

So, choose to be guided by our Archon information or choose to be guided by God’s angels.

Conclusion

I am sorry to spend so much time getting involved in some of the geographic aspects of the nature of Heaven and the mega-universe. But that understanding is necessary to flush out the true and real options available to us when we wish to meet up with our beloved pets.

I can positively and absolutely confirm that it will be absolutely possible for you and your beloved pets to be together upon your death. I sincerely tell you this. In any event, the bond between you and your beloved pet is a strong one and that bond will never disappear. It will still exist. Even when you die. So have hope. Good things will occur.

Do you want more?

I have more posts like this in my Heaven Index;

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Taiwan, Japan, China, Russia and the United States; what is next?

Oh man! I was hoping that the fantasy that “America will regain it’s power and strength and continue to rule the world” will dissipate.

Not so.

Over the weekend, I have been bombarded with articles talking about how America is ready to fight for democracy™ and freedom™ again! This time against China.

And that, all that is needed is a few billions of dollars, and some pluck from “Allies”, and then China would “be toast“.

Bombarded. Non-stop cascade of news “articles” (disguised propaganda pieces) and comments (often with a sizable portion of ‘bots – there just can’t be that many brain-dead people in the United States, can there?)

As in what the fuck?

Can’t I just get a break.

I guess not. Sigh.

And then you have these gung-ho “patriots” who think that everyone else outside of America are rats that need to be stepped on and killed, like some kind of vermin.

Generational warrior culture, eh?

Ever hear of Genghis Khan?

Dude, I just and to enjoy my day. I want to walk, and relax. I want to eat fine delicious food. I want to drink some nice wine. I want to play with the pets, smell the lush moist air, and cavort with pretty girls.

But noooo…

I have to endue a flood of anti-China bullshit and endure comments on how America is going to kick-some -Chinese-ass. Sheech!

I know. I know. I KNOW.

You fund half a billion dollars in anti-China propaganda, of course it’s going to materialize. The only thing that I am surprised about is that there’s no Hollywood movies depicting Rambo-like American soldiers gloriously bayoneting the evil Chinese in a war picture.

Maybe. Soon.

Proud American soldiers to fight communism for liberty, freedom and democracy!

First off, let’s recognize the fact that the United States Military Empire believes that it can use nuclear weapons while avoiding a MAD all-out nuclear response.

Yup! That’s true.

These fucking moron “geniuses” in Washington DC actually believe that they can use nuclear weapons against either Russia or China, and that they will NOT shoot nuclear weapons back.

Can you fucking believe it?

Let’s look at this article to flush out this curious fantasy…

Dr. Strangelove’s Spoon Benders: How the U.S. Military Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Cynthia Chung is the President of the Rising Tide Foundation and a writer at Strategic Culture Foundation, consider supporting her work by making a donation and subscribing to her substack page for free.

“MindWar must be strategic in emphasis, with tactical applications playing a reinforcing, supplementary role. In its strategic context, MindWar must reach out to friends, enemies, and neutrals alike across the globe…

...through the media possessed by the United States which have the capabilities to reach virtually all people on the face of the Earth…

State of the art developments in satellite communication, video recording techniques, and laser and optical transmission of broadcasts make possible a penetration of the minds of the world such as would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. 

Like the sword of Excalibur, we have but to reach out and seize this tool; and it can transform the world for us if we have the courage and integrity to enhance civilization with it. 

If we do not accept Excalibur, then we relinquish our ability to inspire foreign cultures with our morality. 

If they can then desire moralities unsatisfactory to us, we have no choice but to fight them on a more brutish level.”

– “From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory” by Col. Paul Vallely and Maj. Michael Aquino, a document written to increase the influence of the “spoon-benders” in the U.S. military.

About one year ago, the U.S. military conducted a simulation of a “limited” nuclear exchange with…

…Russia.

This was strange news on several accounts.

For one, this sort of thing is not typically announced in the candid detail U.S. defense secretary Mark Esper described to journalists, giddy that he got to “play himself” in this war game scenario.

It was as if he were preparing for a Hollywood movie doing his best John Wayne impression:

If you got them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow.”

However, the most concerning revelation of this simulated exercise was the announcement to the American people that;

“it might be very possible to fight, and win, a battle with nuclear weapons, without the exchange leading to an all-out-world-ending conflict.”

In other words, throw your cares to the wind, that is, the “spirit wind” known as kamikaze, because…

…America is going for it.

In the transcript of a background briefing on the war game exercise, senior Pentagon officials described their tactic further.

They explained that their confident calculation on being “victorious” in this exercise completely relied on the supposition that such a confrontation would remain “limited” in its nuclear exchange.

“It’s a very reasonable response to what we saw was a Russian nuclear doctrine and nuclear capability that suggested to us that they might use nuclear weapons in a limited way,”

…a senior official stated.

It seems what senior Pentagon officials are really saying here about the predictability of the Russians, is that there seems to be a line the Russians won’t cross in the case of a nuclear conflict…

…but the Americans sure will.

Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists tried to play down the “rodeo circus” and reduce the high profile announcement of the U.S. military exercise.

Instead Hans stated it was simply a marketing gimmick to “justify” the new nuclear weapons since we are entering the new budget phase. “So all of this has been played up to serve that process.” stated Kristensen.

I don’t know about you but I am getting some serious déjà vu.

Didn’t we already go through all of this with the disastrous JIC-502 spookery?

JIC-502 intelligence report titled “Implications of Soviet Possession of Atomic Weapons” drafted in Jan 20th 1950, turned out not to be an intelligence report at all but rather a sales pitch.

It began in a dangerous manner, claiming that a nuclear-armed Soviet Union had introduced the notion that;

a tremendous military advantage would be gained by the power that struck first and succeeded in carrying through an effective surprise attack.

For more on this refer to my paper.

It was JIC-502 which would be the first to put forward [1] a justification for the preventive first strike concept, supported by [2] a massive military buildup under the pretense of pre-emptive war.

NSC-68 would be drafted the same year and called for a massive military buildup to be completed by 1954 dubbed the “year of maximum danger,” the year JIC-502 claimed the Soviets would achieve military superiority and be able to launch war against the U.S.

But the Soviets never did launch such a war, and all claims of their capabilities let alone their intentions turned out to be entirely fraudulent

…so what was it all for?

  • Did the U.S. have to put everything into expanding their military, turning away from the concept of a nation at peace made up of citizen soldiers and instead towards a nation in perpetual war?
  • Isn’t this a made up of the Nietzschean fantasy of Übermensch (Beyond-Man) super soldiers, the very thing that Eisenhower warned against?
  • Did this all have to happen in defense of “peace and security” of the free world?
  • Why were the predictions of the JIC-502 completely unfounded?
  • Were the predictions based off of corrupted data?
  • Did the Soviets simply change their mind?

…Or was it never about a pre-emptive war but rather was always about global dominance.

What would the American people think if they knew the truth, that their entire military industrial complex was never built for the protection of the “free world” in opposition to dictators and despots but rather the very opposite? That it simply thought its ideology the superior one, the only lawful dictatorship that had the right to rule, even if it meant by force.

In the words of Vallely/Aquino:

“If we do not accept Excalibur, then we relinquish our ability to inspire foreign cultures with our morality. If they can then desire moralities unsatisfactory to us, we have no choice but to fight them on a more brutish level.”

This may look like just a “rodeo circus” but it is far far worst.

As Edgar Poe elaborated in his “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether”, the asylum is quite literally being run by the lunatics.

What do Jedi Warriors, Spoon-benders, the First Earth Battalion and Men Who Stare at Goats Have in Common?

For those who need a refresher of the film Dr. Strangelove’s synopsis, it is about what could happen if a lunatic had the authority to bypass the U.S. president and cause a nuclear escalation between the U.S. and USSR.

In the movie, it is U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper who initiates a nuclear attack to destroy the USSR under the premise that once the U.S. government is briefed on the situation, they would have no choice but to commit 100% towards a hostile attack against the USSR, in order to prevent nuclear retaliation.

Air Force General Jack Ripper

The reason why General Jack Ripper is fully convinced that it is absolutely necessary to destroy the USSR is because he believes that the communists are conspiring to pollute the “precious bodily fluids” of the American people.

Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face. 

-General Jack D. Ripper

Gen. Jack Ripper

Gen. Jack Ripper goes on to describe how he first discovered this Soviet ploy, after sexual relations with a woman and how he felt empty inside but that luckily he was astute enough to be able to accurately deduce the cause of this feeling of emptiness as due to being drained of his “life essence”, all part of the communist conspiracy for sure.

General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: [very nervous] Lord, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I... no, no. I don't, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Uh, Jack, Jack, listen... tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first... become... well, develop this theory?

General Jack D. Ripper: [somewhat embarassed] Well, I, uh... I... I... first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.

General Jack D. Ripper: Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue... a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I... I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.

General Jack D. Ripper: I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid women, Mandrake.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: No.

General Jack D. Ripper: But I... I do deny them my essence.

--  General Jack D. Ripper 

In other words, Gen. Jack Ripper is unequivocally insane.

Gen. Jack Ripper is absolutely insane. Much like Washington DC is today.

Unfortunately, this type of thinking in the U.S. military is not reserved to pure fiction.

Sometime in the late 1980s then Col. Paul Vallely, Commander of the 7th Psychological Operations Group and then Maj. Michael Aquino, PSYOP Research & Analysis Team Leader authored a paper titled “From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory”, which discusses the necessity to wage perpetual psychological warfare against friend and enemy populations alike, and even against the American people.

As stated in the paper:

MindWar must target all participants to be effective. 

It must not only weaken the enemy; it must strengthen the United States. 

It strengthens the United States by denying enemy propaganda access to our people, and by explaining and emphasizing to our people the rationale for our national interest in a specific war…

There are some purely natural conditions under which minds may become more or less receptive to ideas, and MindWar should take full advantage of such phenomena as atmospheric electromagnetic activity, air ionization, and extremely low frequency waves.”

Of course the terms “enemy” and “national interest” are not elaborated on, nor is the matter of free will even considered but rather that mind control is not only “natural”, it is essential.

Besides the overtly fascist and occultist content in the paper, the proposal had a disturbing similarity to the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program launched by the Donald Rumsfeld Pentagon.

TIA was a global propaganda and mega-data-mining plan that was supposedly scraped after a series of negative news stories.

On Aug 17th, 2005 The New York Times published an article that discussed how “a military intelligence team repeatedly tried to contact the FBI in 2000 to warn about the existence of an American-based terrorist cell that included the ring leader of the Sept. 11 attacks” as reported by veteran Army intelligence officer Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer.

The information came from the highly classified intelligence program “Able Danger”, which had successfully identified the terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers of the 9/11 terrorist attack in mid-2000, well over a year before the actual 9/11 attack.

According to New York Times article, Shaffer learned later that lawyers associated with the Special Operations Command of the Defense Department had canceled the FBI meetings “because they feared controversy if Able Danger was portrayed as a military operation that had violated the privacy of civilians who were legally in the United States.” (Able Danger was linked in its function to the TIA program)

However, this is only part of the truth, the by far uglier truth is that they were already fully aware of the 9/11 terrorist ring and didn’t want a wrench thrown into the gears so to speak.

What The Fuck?

Gen. Vallely, Lt. Col. Aquino and Col. Alexander (author of “The New Mental Battlefield: Beam Me Up, Spock”) are leading figures within the Special Operations community.

In addition, Gen. Stubblebine III, Gen. Schoomaker, Gen. Downing and Gen. Boykin are the four names most often cited as promoters of programs like the “Goat Lab,” “Jedi Warriors,” “Grill Flame,” “Task Force Delta,” (aka the spoon-benders) and the “First Earth Battalion,” and have held top posts within the military intelligence and Special Operations commands.

Gen. Stubblebine III, Gen. Schoomaker, Gen. Downing and Gen. Boykin are the four names most often cited as promoters of programs like the “Goat Lab,” “Jedi Warriors,” “Grill Flame,” “Task Force Delta,” (aka the spoon-benders) and the “First Earth Battalion,” and have held top posts within the military intelligence and Special Operations commands.

These were the programs that promoted the idea that one could learn to bend a metal spoon, walk through walls, and burst the hearts of goats with the use of “mind over matter” techniques.

In 1979, Lt. Col. Channon presented a 125 page document called “The First Earth Battalion,” which outlined “non-lethal” techniques that would soon be adopted by the military.

These techniques were many and included the use of atonal noises as a form of combat psychological warfare and widespread experimentation with psychoelectronics and other means of debilitation.

On March 10th, 1991, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz while serving as chief policy advisor to then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, wrote the memo “Do We Need a Non-Lethal Defense Initiative?” in which he wrote, “A U.S. lead in non-lethal technologies will increase our options and reinforce our position in the post-Cold War world.”

American military are strongly influenced by Washington DC politics.

Though no mention was made of Col. Alexander, who spear-headed the non-lethal weaponry campaign, Alexander at the time of the memo had retired from active duty and was heading the Non-Lethal Weapons Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In 1990, Col. Alexander published “The Warrior’s Edge” and states its goal as to:

unlock the door to the extraordinary human potentials inherent in each of us. To do this, we, like governments around the world, must take a fresh look at non-traditional methods of affecting reality. 

We must raise human consciousness of the potential power of the individual body/mind system – the power to manipulate reality. 

We must be willing to retake control of our past, present, and ultimately, our future.” (emphasis added)

Investigative journalist Jon Ronson, in his book “The Men Who Stare at Goats”, goes through how ‘psychic warriors’ such as Uri Geller and Jim Channon were called back into government service after 9/11, and that a series of meetings in 2004 were held between Gen. Schoomaker and Jim Channon to start a think tank which would utilize “First Earth Battalion” techniques in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Non-Lethal Techniques of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and al-Qa’im

According to a 1998 International Committee of the Red Cross presentation before the European parliament intended on evaluating how “non-lethal” the non-lethal technologies promoted by Alexander, Channon et al. actually are in reality, it was found that non-lethal weapons are simply defined as weapons with a less-than 25% fatality rate.

Perhaps this is what the senior Pentagon officials were referring to in their “limited” nuclear exchange scenarios.

Perhaps this is what the senior Pentagon officials were referring to in their “limited” nuclear exchange scenarios.

Included in the list of non-lethal weapons now widely used in the U.S. military are lasers, extremely low frequency (ELF) weapons, and various chemical, biological and audio stun weapons that can cause permanent damage such as blindness, deafness and destruction of the gastrointestinal system.

Sigh.

According to Ronson and The New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, many of the torture techniques employed at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the less-well-known al-Qa’im near the Syrian border in Iraq, are based on Channon and Alexander’s non-lethal conceptions.

Jim Channon actually confirmed this in an email correspondence with Ronson.

At one point in his investigation, Ronson asks Stuart Heller, friend of Jim Channon, if he could name one soldier who was “the living embodiment” of the First Earth Battalion, to which Heller responds unhesitatingly “Bert Rodriguez.”

Ronson continues in his book, “In April 2001, Bert Rodriguez took on a new student. His name was Ziad Jarrah.”

Rodriguez taught Jarrah “the choke hold and the kamikaze spirit. You need a code you’d die for, a do-or-die desire.” Rodriguez added, “Ziad was like Luke Skywalker. You know when Luke walks the invisible path? You have to believe it’s there…

Yeah, Ziad believed it.

He was like Luke Skywalker.”

Rodriguez trained Ziad Jarrah for six months.

On Sept 11, 2001, Ziad Jarrah took control of the United Airlines flight 93 as part of the orchestrated 9/11 terrorist attack.

On Sept 11, 2001, Ziad Jarrah took control of the United Airlines flight 93 as part of the orchestrated 9/11 terrorist attack. Trained by the United States military.

Meet Dr. Strangelove

At the end of the film Dr. Strangelove we are finally confronted with the “top lunatic” so to speak who was really in charge this whole time.

For all the “top brass” in the war room, nobody was really in control of the situation this entire time since the entire “war scenario” was set-up as a positive feedback loop within the doomsday plan of a lunatic.

Dr. Strangeglove.

You see, the belief that one can bend spoons, walk through walls, and burst the hearts of goats is not the problem.

It is the belief held by top officials within the U.S. military industrial complex that their ideology of appropriate morality is to prevail.

Therefore, one must use these mind-over-matter techniques to achieve the ultimate goal, “the power to manipulate reality”, that global dominance can be achieved without wiping out the world.

Therefore, one must use these mind-over-matter techniques to achieve the ultimate goal, “the power to manipulate reality”, that global dominance can be achieved without wiping out the world.

That somehow “it might be possible to fight, and win, a battle with nuclear weapons, without the exchange leading to an all-out-world-ending conflict,” and if not…

…we may all die for a lunatic’s dream in the process.

Sweet Jesus!

Oh, but that’s only an appetizer. You see, not only is the entire city of Washington DC bat-shit crazy but they have corrupted the military rank and file. These once-brave soldiers now have become psychopathic “yes men” to mad-men.

And they are playing with dangerously power weapons.

  • Weapons that could launch a global pandemic (been there – done that.)
  • Weapons that could destroy and collapse trade (been there – done that.)
  • Weapons that could alter the reality of America (been there – done that.)
  • Weapons that could devastate entire nations …

pending..

Here is an uber lucid article by Christopher Black on what  the PBCs (Psychopathic Barbarian Crusaders) truly want.
.
I like that. Psychopathic Barbarian Crusaders. Sounds so apt.
I’m aware that I might be unfair because the vast majority of Western people don’t qualify to be PBCs (Psychopathic Barbarian Crusaders)…
.
…but unhappily, most of the western movers & shakers (either in a leadership position or being cowardly and ignorant sidekicks) qualify for such an inglorious denomination.
.
We are at a crossroad. Everyone reading this should be perfectly aware of the geopolitical Damocles’ sword hanging on us all.
.
It’s impossible for anyone to be fully disconnected from geopolitics, the one guided by philosophy and ethics but also the Real Politik one because living in a fantasy world (un monde de bisounours, as they say in France or un monde de câlinours as said in Quebec) never helped anybody living on Earth.
.
But having principles and at the same time being aware of the ruts of the world is maybe the Middle Way.
.
At least it might help us deal with the events that unfold due to the madness of men.
.

The madness of men.

General Jack D. Ripper: Your Commie has no regard for human life, not even his own. And for this reason, men, I want to impress upon you the need for extreme watchfulness. The enemy may come individually, or he may come in strength. He may even come in the uniform of our own troops. But however he comes, we must stop him. We must not allow him to gain entrance to this base. Now, I'm going to give you THREE SIMPLE rules: First, trust NO one, whatever his uniform or rank, unless he is known to you personally; Second, anyone or anything that approaches within 200 yards of the perimeter is to be FIRED UPON; Third, if in doubt, shoot first then ask questions afterward. I would sooner accept a few casualties through accidents rather losing the entire base and its personnel through carelessness. Any variation of these rules must come from me personally. Any variation on these rules must come from me personally. Now, men, in conclusion, I would like to say that, in the two years it has been my privilege to be your commanding officer, I have always expected the best from you, and you have never given me anything less than that. Today, the nation is counting on us. We're not going to let them down. Good luck to you all.

--  General Jack D. Ripper 

The US-Japanese Alliance Against China Risks World War

.

In 2003, when several lawyers, including myself, visited North Korea to learn more about socialism there, we were shown US Army documents captured in 1950 by the communist forces.

In 1950, the communist forces seized control of Seoul and overran the American Army headquarters.There, they secured all the documents, cypher’s, and data that they found.

The documents confirmed that it was the US and its puppets in South Korea that invaded the north, not the other way round.

Their objective was to crush the local communist forces. Set up strongly fortified launching zones, and then attacking China.

Their plan failed and ended in an American rout.

Battle for Seoul.

But what did surprise me was the evidence in the documents that the Americans also had the help and advice of Japanese Army officers who had remained in Korea at the end of the war between the US and Japan that ended in 1945.

Two growing empires went to war in the Pacific against each other but in the end the defeated and occupied Japanese soon joined the growing American empire.

And it was its drive for world domination and Korea was the first proof of their fealty to the US.

A fealty tolerated not only because of their defeat but also because American capital and Japanese capital have the same interest; the subjugation and exploitation of China.

The Japanese worked with the American military to take over Korea and launch towards China for eventual capture and domination.

On July 6, 2021 the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister stated at a Liberal Democratic Party function, that if China acted to take control of Taiwan…

… as is its right to do since it is an integral part of China…

… then Japan would defend Taiwan.

Why?

Well, because because such an action by China would represent an “existential threat to Japan.”

“If a major incident happened, it’s safe to say it would be related to a situation threatening the survival of Japan. 

If that is the case, Japan and the US must defend Taiwan together.” 

Why it would be an “existential threat to Japan” ?

He did not explain.

The Chinese will never forget what the Japanese did to China. They have never forgiven.

That he spoke for the leadership of Japan is clear.

Now keep in mind…

That any interference (by anyone) in China’s actions regarding the Chinese Provence of Taiwan…

…would be an aggression against China…

…and would be in absolute violation of the Japanese Constitution.

For this constitution prohibits Japanese Self-Defense Forces from taking any offensive actions.

And this is a quite clear violation of the UN Charter.

In response China has stated time and again that it is prepared to defeat both the US and Japan…

if they try to interfere when China retakes control of Taiwan.

Which (unfortunately) every action by the Americans and Taiwanese is provoking them to do.

Of course…

The Americans recognize that they do not have enough strength in the region to interfere alone.

And so they have lured Britain, France, and Germany, as well as the ever-eager Australians, to send in naval forces to the South China Sea to support the American and Japanese assault plans.

It is more than ironic to see four nations that were bitter enemies of Imperial Japan in World War II, now colluding with Japan.

Not only that, but to once again attack China and that Germany, an ally of Japan in the Second World War, once again is attempting to throw its weight around in the world.

What is the matter with these people?

The Chinese have a long and bitter memory of the Japanese invasion and occupation of their lands in the 1930s and 40’s just as the Koreans have the same bitter memories of Japanese occupation.

The Chinese have a long and bitter memory of the Japanese invasion.

The Chinese have a long and bitter memory of the Japanese invasion.

But we realize now that the defeat of the fascists and militarists in Germany and Japan in 1945 was not their final defeat.

The governments who fought those two nations also had fascist elements within them.

These elements, these people, hoped that the Nazis would crush communism in the USSR and the Japanese would do the same in China.

Instead, the elements of world capital that supported or tolerated fascism and relied on imperialism to increase their profits.

And they quickly reorganized.

And, led by the far right in Washington, created the NATO military alliance to continue the assault on the USSR and now on Russia, China and other independent nations.

They wear different clothes now.

American neocons pushing for war.

But they use the same lies and techniques of propaganda as the Nazis and Japanese militarists as they prepare for another war against China and Russia.

On July 30, 2021 the Chinese government had to warn the British government and its naval task force, led by the new British aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth, to keep away from its territorial waters or face the consequences.

British aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth.

Yet, at the same time the US and France conducted military exercise with dozens of US F22s and French Rafale aircraft near Hawaii.

All this while the French beef up their forces in Tahiti.

And while the Americans have dispersed their fleet of bombers and fighters including F35s from their big base on Guam, which the Chinese can destroy quickly, to smaller bases, making it more difficult for China to destroy those aircraft.

This type of dispersal is usually seen in war settings, when war is on going or imminent.

At the same time the Germans announced that they will be sending a frigate to the South China Sea in support of the Americans and Japanese.

While the Americans sent more ships into the Taiwan Strait this week. Some may see all this as sabre rattling.

But that is a lot of sabres, and they are doing a lot more than just rattling them.

As Hans Rudiger Minow stated in German Foreign Policy,

“The intensification of western manoeuvres and their growing focus on combat missions, which are highly realistic under current circumstances, coincide with prognoses by high-ranking US military officials, predicting that a war between the United States and China is probable in the near future. 

For example, recently NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Ret. Adm. James G. Stavridis, was quoted with the prognosis that “our technology, network of allies and bases in the region, still overmatch China” – for now. 

However, “by the end of the decade – if not sooner” the People’s Republic “will be in a position” to “challenge the US” at least “in the South China Sea.” 

Recently Stavridis published a novel in which he depicted a fictional war erupting between the USA and China in 2034. 

In the meantime, he considers “we may not have until 2034 to prepare for this battle – it may come much sooner.” 

Some of his colleagues in the military are predicting that “it is not about 2034,” the Big War could come earlier – possibly even “2024 or 2026.”

But it is not China that is seeking a war.

So who is pushing this insanity?

American neocons.

Who is pushing for war…?

The propaganda machines in the west, all part of the military-industrial complex, are legion.

But one of the worst is the Hudson Institute.

Founded in 1961 by Herman Khan, formerly of the Rand Institute, who was famous for playing nuclear war games and theorizing on the possibilities of using nuclear weapons in war.

Its current leadership and membership include fascists like Mike Pompeo, Seth Cropsey and many others who served in various US government regimes or the US military establishment.

Seth Cropsey’s bio states,

“Cropsey began his career in government at the US Department of Defense as assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and subsequently served as deputy undersecretary of the Navy in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, where he was responsible for the Navy’s position on efforts to reorganize DoD, development of the maritime strategy, the Navy’s academic institutions, naval special operations, and burden-sharing with NATO allies. 

In the Bush administration, Cropsey moved to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to become acting assistant secretary, and then principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. Cropsey served as a naval officer from 1985 to 2004.
“From 1982 to 1984, Cropsey directed the editorial policy of the Voice of America (VOA) on the solidarity movement in Poland, Soviet treatment of dissidents, and other issues. Returning to public diplomacy in 2002 as director of the US government’s International Broadcasting Bureau, Cropsey supervised the agency as successful efforts were undertaken to increase radio and television broadcasting to the Muslim world.” 

In other words…

Cropsey penned a recent article published in The Hill, a US right wing journal covering events in Washington entitled ,“Japan Signals An Opening for US in Countering China”.

In it he praised the statement by Taro Aso that Japan will support Taiwan (in case of China acting to take control of its island).

The justification being [1] that China seeks “world dominance” and [2] that there will be a war with the USA in the near future (and Japan wants to be on the winning side).

LOL.

He further states that the Japanese have now made a “decisive shift” in foreign and military policy.

Is Japan an independent nation, or a proxy vassal of the United States?

He dismisses the Japanese constitutional prohibition on Japanese offensive actions and calls for Japan to increase it military forces and support to “counter” China.

He wrote:

“Defending Taiwan is a difficult proposition. The PLA is at its strongest within the First Island Chain, particularly around Taiwan, given Beijing’s concentration of naval, air, and missile forces. 

To defend the island, the US and its allies would have to operate squarely within China’s missile range, jeopardizing the high-value capital assets upon which American combat power depends.

“However, Japan and the US both field significant submarine fleets — Japan’s small but quiet battery-powered boats are an effective counterpart to America’s larger nuclear-powered attack submarines. 

Submarines are immune to the missiles upon which the PLA would rely to gain sea and air control over Taiwan. 

If supported by a sufficient fast-boat mining effort, and a robust enough network of mobile ground-launched anti-ship and anti-air missiles, a Japanese-American submarine surge could defeat a PLA invasion of Taiwan, or at minimum prevent the fait accompli for which China hopes.

Given this strategic reality.”

He calls for more military exercises with the US and Japan, France, and Britain and their other allies to “prepare for war.”

He then adds the lie that “preparing for war is essential to deterring it” when what he really means is that America is preparing for war in order to wage war.

Come on! 

Everyone knows that America is planning to attack China. Destroy it. Invade it,  Conquer it, and then convert it into a vassal state. Let's be real. Please!

The forces of peace and reason in the world must denounce these war preparations as a danger to the entire world for a war on China…

….will bring in Russia…

…and others (nations that no one is thinking about)…

… it will lead to world war…

…then to nuclear war…

… and (possibly) the end of humanity.

And the author goes on to say…

We must denounce these criminals and demand the International Criminal Court prosecutor take action to warn the Americans, and indict the leaders of the US allies over which it has jurisdiction, their propagandists like Seth Cropsey, and all the rest who are conspiring to commit aggression, the supreme war crime, the final act of insanity, because it seems to me that is what war with China will be, the final act in the human drama.

We wont have to wait for abrupt climate change to finish us off.

But the ICC says nothing about all this and the UN Security Council is rendered impotent.

So who then is left to object, to say enough is enough, to hell with the criminals and their wars, except us, the people, But what can we the people do?

Yes, protest, petition, write, shout, cry, join peace groups like the one I belong to, the Canadian Peace Congress, do anything you can but get up, stand up, as Bob Marley called for us to do, and as John Lennon demanded, Give Peace A Chance.

Give peace a chance.

Noble thoughts, but it ain’t gonna happen.

Obviously he has been sleeping under a rock for the last 75 years. You cannot write letter or petition anyone. They are above all this. They are a run-away locomotive and it is fast approaching a rickety old bridge that is long in need of repair.

It will not go well.

What about Russia?

All the time all this “saber rattling” is going on by the United States Military Empire, and the hate-hate-hate narratives are flooding the “news” media, what else is going on that isn’t being reported?

Remember boys and girls. To know what is really going on, look for what IS NOT being reported.

Well, Russian and Chinese troops and military have been practicing and coordinating their military strategies ALL YEAR.

Of course you would NEVER hear about this on FOX “news”, CNN, BBC, or any other mainstream “news” website. Check out some of these videos…

Russian troops training in XinJiang and then eating fine Uighur food.

And then here’s another.

Russian and Chinese commanders address their troops.

Here’s a great movie showing how Russian soldiers are being trained to use Chinese weapon systems, while the Chinese are also being trained to use the Russian weapons systems.

Here’s a great movie showing how Russian soldiers are being trained to use Chinese weapon systems, while the Chinese are also being trained to use the Russian weapons systems.

Let’s dig a little deeper. Shall we?

This next article is from a pro-Japan, pro-American author that tries to rationalize Japan going to war with China over Taiwan. He comes to the conclusion that ABSOLUTELY Japan would go fight the Chinese…

…and with help from the USA, probably would win.

How Far Would Japan Really Go to Defend Taiwan?

Japan defense report says Taiwan's 'stability' is integral to its 'security', putting Tokyo's pacifist forces on a new collision course with Beijing

When Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said on July 5, 2021 that Tokyo would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of a Chinese invasion, Beijing’s sharp response was predictable.

“We will never allow anyone to meddle in the Taiwan question in any way,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the day after Aso made his surprise remark.

“No one should underestimate the resolve, the will, and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

But Aso’s statement was no slip of the tongue. A week later, on July 13, Japan released its annual defense report, which for the first time mentioned the importance of maintaining “stability” around Taiwan because it “is important for Japan’s security.”

China’s response, again, was sharp and immediate.

The Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times ran an op-ed stating that “Japan will ‘lose badly’ if it defends Taiwan secessionists.”

China does not play. Do not take the warning lightly.

Chinese DF-41 armed with ten (x10) nuclear warheads well within the range of Japan. One missile launch of these independently directed, AI controlled, hypervelocity MIRV’s will completely destroy ten of Japan’s largest cities, and if not send Japan into the Iron age, will thrash it’s economy to zero.

The piece quoted an anonymous Beijing-based military analyst as saying, “Even the US could not defeat China militarily in the West Pacific region now, so what makes Japan believe it’s able to challenge China with force?”

Good question.

While the motivations behind Tokyo’s recent statements are unclear, Japan and Taiwan are openly on the same side.

In Asia’s intensifying new Cold War, where an increasingly assertive and militarily powerful China is the obvious but usually unspoken adversary.

Japan and Taiwan do not share official diplomatic relations — Tokyo recognizes Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China.

However, the two sides are known to share intelligence through back channels.

In May last year, as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen began her second term in office, then-chief Cabinet secretary, now prime minister, Yoshihide Suga said that Japan is eager to develop its ties with Taiwan.

Eager.

(I wonder if American money played a role? Hum.)

Japan’s annual foreign policy report, known as the Diplomatic Bluebook, describes Taiwan in its latest edition released on April 27 this year as an “important partner and friend.”

It also said Japan backs Taiwan’s campaign to attend the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Bluebook stated diplomatically that Taiwan had been successful in fighting the Covid-19 virus and “there should be no blank spaces on the world map.” China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province that should be “reunited” with the mainland, strongly opposes Taiwan’s participation in any international bodies.

The Bluebook also said that Japan would cooperate with “more countries” to promote freedom of navigation and the rule of law in the Asia-Pacific region.

In matters of geostrategic importance, Japan already works closely with the US, India and Australia under the so-called “Quad.”

Yup. This is the Pacific "NATO" that was set up by neocon Mike Pompeo.

Taiwan could be seen as a silent partner, or at least an ally, to the strategic grouping because it is a vital link in the China-focused island chain of defense which stretches from Japan’s main islands to Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines and the Malaysian part of Borneo.

The so called “First Island Chain”.

The First Island Chain.

But you know, The control of the “First Island Chain” is a “pipe Dream”. It’s under Chinese control now.

America Is Betting Big on the Second Island Chain | RAND
Sep 08, 2020 · The United States has deep and abiding interests in the Second Island Chain. But China's growing influence in the region could complicate U.S. plans. Washington will almost certainly seek to strengthen security cooperation with Pacific Island states in the Second Island Chain and bolster defensive positions on U.S. territories in the region.

However, the bigger question remains: what exactly would Japan be prepared to do if China did try to invade Taiwan?

What would Japan do?

Whatever the anonymous military analyst quoted in the Global Times might think, Japan certainly has the means to challenge China militarily.

On December 21, 2020, the Japanese government approved the ninth consecutive rise in military spending, marking a historic record of 5.34 trillion yen (US$51.7 billion.)

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), as they are formally known, are comprised of nearly 250,000 active personnel and another 50,000 in reserve, and are equipped with the latest weaponry and technology procured mainly from the US.

Hum. China has the world’s largest army, with more than 2 million active personnel

The Japanese Navy is believed by military analysts to be the strongest in the region after America’s…

…and thus superior to China’s still underdeveloped but steadily growing naval forces.

LOL. Don't be so sure.

China’s underdeveloped military forces…

Um. Sure. What ever you want to believe.

Some history

Do not negotiate with the United States.

I want to remind you all that when it seems like America is “losing”, then “the gloves come off”, and real nasty things will take place.

Like in Korea when the Chinese Army routed the American forces…

In late 1950 American forces suffered a series of disastrous defeats in Korea at the hands of Chinese troops, and the report from a Pentagon committee in early December emphasized the importance of accelerating the development of bioweapons such as Q Fever, plague, and anthrax together with the necessary delivery mechanisms for covert use, while especially praising the CIA for its effectiveness in that regard. This secret report was eventually declassified by a FOIA request in 1996.

Around the same time that report was being written, a British sergeant retreating through a deserted North Korean village before advancing Chinese troops observed American military personnel, masked and gloved, carefully removing large quantities of feathers from special containers and flinging them into the empty houses before he was warned away by American MPs. He later stated that he had obviously witnessed “a clandestine operation” of some sort and mentioned that a few days afterward he was required to take an unspecified vaccine. This curious vignette appears in Unit 731, a 1989 historical account of Japan’s biowarfare program written by two BBC journalists, but oddly enough the incident was removed from the American edition of that same book.

Months later, the North Korean foreign minister issued a formal complaint to the United Nations that America had used illegal biological warfare, attacking his own troops and those of China with smallpox. These mysterious outbreaks had occurred a few months earlier, but only in areas recently occupied by retreating American forces. The accusations briefly appeared in the Western media, but were ridiculed and hotly denied by American government spokesmen.

Around the same time that Communist troops were sickening and dying, around two hundred American soldiers in the same theater had also been suddenly stricken by a mysterious outbreak of Songo fever, never before seen in Korea but with symptoms quite similar to smallpox and a specialty of America’s Japanese biowarfare mentors. Strict censorship prevented these stories from reaching the American media until many months later, at which point our government claimed that the illnesses had been spread by Chinese troops. But the disease seemed entirely absent from the hundreds of miles of Korean territory the enemy forces had traversed, and only appeared in a narrow belt along the front lines, with our stricken servicemen believing that they seemed to be spread by infected field mice or voles. Voles had long been regarded by American researchers as an excellent vector for their bioweapons, and when interviewed years later for a history of the Korean War, one of the leaders of our local CIA efforts explained that his covert operations had created a defensive belt along the front lines.

The use of bio-weapons, chemical weapons, and nuclear weapons will be the direct result if the United States is unable to achieve it’s objectives.

Thus, we see WHY after eight (8x) bio-weapons targeting livestock in China, John Bolton, the head of the Bio-Warfare office under President Trump) launched COVID-19B against the Chinese. As well as the two follow up bio-weapons in July and late August.

So now…

The “drums of war” are beating again. And they are louder than ever. They are so loud that it is giving me a headache.

What’s China (and Russia) to do?

According to the Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Beijing has made substantial progress in the construction of a third aircraft carrier as Type 003, which is …

“slated to become the largest surface combatant in the Chinese People’s Army Navy (PLAN) and significantly upgrade China’s naval capabilities.”

Type-003.

But the crux of the strategic matter is that Article 9 of Japan’s supposedly pacifist, post-World War II constitution.

it specifically outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes.

And the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) are therefore legally only allowed to defend the country if it comes under attack.

Only if it comes under attack.

But Mr. Aso has argued that Taiwan is situated only 112 kilometers from some islands that are part of Okinawa prefecture and therefore a Chinese invasion could represent an “existential threat” to Japan’s security.

You know. Too close for comfort.

It's like having a restaurant next to a gas station. The gas station is robbed, so the restaurant owner gets his gun and goes over to the gas station to shoot everyone. You know. Just in case.

In that direction, the Japanese navy’s first aircraft carrier since World War II is nearly ready to deploy. It is designed to carry up to 28 light or 14 larger aircraft.

Woo woo.

Jeffrey Hornung, a political scientist at the US-based Rand Corporation, wrote in a May 10 paper that Japan would not need to get directly involved in a military conflict over Taiwan.

But, he suggests, if Washington sought to defend the democratic, self-ruled island, “at a minimum, the United States would require access to its bases in Japan, which would execute combat operations in, over and around Taiwan.”

Yada. Yada. Yada.

The JSDF would in that way “act as a force multiplier for any US-led operation. That means US requests for Japanese involvement would be almost certain.” In other words, Japan’s involvement would be limited to “non-combatant, rear-area support roles” in fields such as “supply, maintenance, transportation, engineering and medical services,” Hornung writes.

Okinawa is proximal to Taiwan and the US base there would be at the front of any military action against China.

….

If Japan wanted to get involved.

If China decided to attack Okinawa, or for argument’s sake any base on Japanese territory, such an attack could be interpreted as an act of aggression and Japan would have the right to act in self-defense.

But that scenario also raises another important question: would the US be prepared to intervene and defend Taiwan? The US and Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, shared a defense treaty before Washington established diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979.

..

On that day, the US withdrew its recognition of the Republic of China and terminated the 1955 “Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China.” Because either party had to notify the other about the termination a year in advance, the treaty remained in place – at least nominally – until January 1, 1980.

Then it ENDED.

The now null-and-void 1955 treaty, which stipulated that if one country came under attack the other would provide military support, was in certain aspects replaced by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

Under the Act, the US was no longer be obliged to defend Taiwan, the US embassy in Taiwan was closed and relations were maintained through a non-profit corporation registered in the District of Columbia known as the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which functions as a de facto embassy.

The ambiguity of the relationship is evident in a Taiwan Relations Act clause that says that “the United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”

The Act’s intention appears to be to dissuade Taiwan from declaring independence from China, while at the same time discouraging China from invading Taiwan. But that all came into force when Jimmy Carter was America’s president and China was still a fairly poor country, not the regional superpower it has become today.

As Beijing celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1, President Xi Jinping reiterated his pledge to incorporate Taiwan into the mainland.

“Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the Chinese Communist Party and the common aspiration of all Chinese people,” Xi said in a speech.

Every Chinese must work together, “resolutely smashing any ‘Taiwan independence plots,’” the Chinese leader added. China has recently flexed its muscles in that direction with air force jets and bombers making frequent incursions into Taiwan’s airspace.

In this new geopolitical environment, it would be impossible for the US to stay idle if Xi turned his tough rhetoric into military action and actually sent forces to invade Taiwan.

In that scenario, Japan could and would not stay neutral.

To be sure, Deputy Defense Minister Aso is known for his public gaffes, which are often corrected or denied by the government after being uttered.

But as Corey Wallace, a foreign policy expert at Kanagawa University in Yokohama was quoted saying in the July 12 issue of Foreign Policy, the slip this time may have been deliberate and reflect what Japanese officials have long believed privately.

Either way, Xi is playing with certain fire by talking about Taiwan’s “reunification” with the mainland.

LOL. Taiwan is PART of China. Xi Peng can say anything he wants about his nation. And the rest of the world can howl. He's not playing with fire. Just like Joe Biden is not playing with fire when he announces a new road project in West Virginia.

Even with China’s recent military and naval build-up, Beijing still faces formidable odds in invading Taiwan, which would almost inevitably result in a wider conflict – one Japan could inevitably play a crucial, military role.

Do not be so sure…

Don’t be so sure. Seriously. There are MANY things in play here. Keep in mind that a war with China, in such close proximity would devastate that nation to a point that it might turn into such a churned up mass of radioactive rubble that it would need to be renamed “Commode”.

Let’s keep in mind WHO we are talking about…

China is not some nation filled with bicycle riding peasants who were issued a cheap SKS clone. China is a fierce strong proud, and patriotic nation. Their children speak both English and Chinese by the time they are in middle school. Everyone attends scouts, and gets full-military training in elementary school. It is a nation that promotes STEM graduates by demonstrated merit, punishes those who violate the rules with extreme harshness, and never bluffs.

Chinese boy scouts… Check out the videos.

Chinese boy scouts 1

And, here’s another…

Chinese boy scouts 2

Still not convinced…

Scot training focuses on group communication, working together as a team, and mastery of fighting skills.

How about this one…

Chinese scouts are coed.

It is so easy to forget who the Chinese actually are…

With a non-stop anti-China barrage hitting everyone 24-7, all year it is so easy to villainize  people who you only know by the two dimensional cardboard cut out that Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and Tom Collins created. It’s not even remotely true.

Do not lulled into believing that the Chinese are backwards, and ill-prepared. Or that they are starving and cannot wait to be “liberated” for democracy™.

Not only are the Chinese skilled, work as a team (automatically) but there are BILLIONS of them, all working together for the common good. Anyone who wants to tangle with this dragon is seriously in need of a lobotomy.

There’s billions of Chinese. Don’t piss them off!

China is not a third-world military. They are peer-capable with the best that America has. What’s more they outnumber everything that the United States can compile against it. And never forget, they WILL USE nuclear weapons if attacked.

Count on it.

You are a fucking idiot if you don’t realize this.

China is a serious, serious nation that does not play.

It’s so easy to think that China would be an “easy kill”, if all you see and read in within your own bubble of isolation. Much like those kings who “pooh-pooh” the offers by Genghis Khan for trade. But then they found out that their large army of 20,000 knights on white horses were no match for 5,000,000 angry, pissed off, huns riding in at dawn.

Chinese soldiers.

And let’s not forget that the vast bulk of technology comes from China. China posses the vast number of factories, and consists of thousands of design centers. No, not the “technology centers” that you see in the USA which is really a nice building, and staffed with one or two engineers that outsource to China, the rest being marketing, finance, attorneys and IT folk. No, China is the place where the real things are designed and made.

Stuff that isn’t advertised. Like robotic “hand grenades”. How would you like your base or complex over-run with these little guys each one a bomb?

Cute robot hand-grenades.

.

Trying to avoid war…

Let’s look at how China is trying to avoid war. Let’s look at what they are doing to make any war with China a very, very costly mistake….

While China has not publicly released a new nuclear posture statement that supersedes the 2006 White Paper, the construction of new missile silos configured to hold solid-fuel ICBMs possessing multiple warheads changes the nuclear posture options for China. 

The most likely change is to transition from a pure retaliatory strike capability (“counterattack in self-defense”) to a launch-on-warning posture.

This posture means the Chinese missiles would leave their silos when an attack was detected.

This differs from the previous posture, where the missiles would be waiting for a nuclear attack to actually occur. 

Given China’s declared nuclear policy, a launch-on-warning posture allows China to retain its no-first-use policy while simultaneously ensuring the survivability of its nuclear forces.

A US-Sino nuclear arms race is already underway – and we know who the winner will be

Scott Ritter is a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and author of 'SCORPION KING: America's Suicidal Embrace of Nuclear Weapons from FDR to Trump.' He served in the Soviet Union as an inspector implementing the INF Treaty, in General Schwarzkopf’s staff during the Gulf War, and from 1991-1998 as a UN weapons inspector. 

Follow him on Twitter @RealScottRitter
Since the 1960’s, China has maintained a no-first-use nuclear policy and pledged never to engage in an arms race. However, thanks to the destabilizing impact of US nuclear policy, it has begun an arms race – and it plans on winning.

A quick history lesson: China detonated its first atomic weapon on October 16, 1964. In doing so, it became the fifth country – after the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France – to possess nuclear weapons. Since then, China has developed and deployed a modest arsenal of strategic nuclear weapons delivery systems, with the goal of maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrent against other nuclear-armed powers, with a particular focus on the US.

The 2006 Defense White Paper, issued by China’s State Council Information Office, provides the most authoritative description of the country’s nuclear strategy.

China’s fundamental goal, the White Paper states,

“is to deter other countries from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against China.” 

This deterrence comes from

“principles of counterattack in self-defense” (i.e., “assured retaliation”.) China “remains firmly committed to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances.” 

Moreover, it

“unconditionally undertakes not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones.”

The White Paper goes on to declare that China

“stands for the comprehensive prohibition and complete elimination of nuclear weapons,” and that it believes in the “limited development of nuclear weapons” while aiming “at building a lean and effective nuclear force capable of meeting national security needs.” In conclusion, the White Paper notes, “China exercises great restraint in developing its nuclear force,” and “it has never entered into and will never enter into a nuclear arms race with any other country.”

From its inception in 1966, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has relied upon a single missile – the DF-5 – as its primary strategic nuclear delivery system.

A massive, two-stage liquid-fuel rocket which, depending on what variant one is talking about, can deliver a single warhead (DF-5A), three warheads (DF-5B) or 10 warheads (DF-5C) to targets 12,000 km (7,456 miles) from the point of launch.

Chinese silo-based, liquid fueled, MIRV, ICBM’s the DF-5B and DF-5C.

The DF-5, based in hardened concrete silos, was designed to be able to survive a nuclear attack in sufficient numbers to enable China to deliver a country-killing nuclear counter-strike.

The DF-5, however, had several operational drawbacks which, as the strategic nuclear capabilities of potential adversaries (i.e., the United States) improved, made its survivability in a nuclear conflict more problematic.

First and foremost, as a liquid-fuel rocket, it is loaded into its silo with empty fuel tanks (the fuel and oxidizer used are highly corrosive, and if stored in the missile, would make it unusable in a matter of months.) Before it can be launched, therefore, the DF-5 must be fueled, a process that can take several hours.

The Chinese also stored the DF-5 without its warheads. As such, while the missile is being refueled, special teams would be bringing the nuclear warheads from nearby storage shelters and mounting them on the missile body.

The DF-5 is extremely vulnerable during this time, and as the accuracy and time of flight capabilities of US nuclear forces (in particular the Trident D5 system) improved, the Chinese assessed that their DF-5 nuclear deterrent was vulnerable to being taken out by a first strike.

Beginning in the 1970’s, China began developing solid-fuel rockets for use as mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The first of these, the DF-31, was deployed in 2006, as a road-mobile system.

DF-31 mobile solid fueled ICBM.

By 2013, the Chinese produced and fielded an improved version, the DF-31A. The DF-31 is armed with a single nuclear warhead.

In 2016, China completed testing for a more modern solid-fuel ICBM, the DF-41, which has begun to enter service as a mobile missile. The DF-41 carries 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads.

DF-41 MIRV ICBM. This is the mainstay of the Chinese ICBM fleet. All have ten nuclear warheads, can reach anywhere in the globe, and can be launched in minutes.

Between the DF-5, DF-31, and DF-41 missile systems, China was assessed, as of 2019, of possessing around 218 nuclear warheads (It has an additional 68 nuclear warheads carried on submarines and manned bombers.)

But even with this mix of silo-based DF-5s and mobile DF-31/41 missiles, China believed its forces remained vulnerable to a pre-emptive strike by American nuclear and, increasingly, conventional forces.

After all, that is what all the military policy planners in Washington DC are discussing right now. A first strike attack against China prior to an invasion.

This concern appeared to be magnified in the aftermath of the American withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, and the emerging threat of intermediate-range missiles appearing on the periphery of China’s borders.

The first sign that China was adapting to this new reality came in the form of significant improvements and additions to its massive Jilantai training area, located near the city of Jilantai in China’s Inner Mongolia province.

Constructed in 2013, the Jilantai training area was the premier training grounds for the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, with specialized training constructed for both silo- and mobile-missile operations.

Around 2016, however, China began constructing new silos that appeared to be too small to hold the massive DF-5, leading Western analysts to assess that the Chinese were preparing to house their solid-fuel ICBMs, either the DF-31, DF-41 or both, in a silo configuration.

The importance of this distinction is that, while mobility provides for an element of survivability in a classic nuclear exchange scenario, the mobile missiles are vulnerable to loiter weapons.

Loiter weapons are in great use by the United States, such as armed drones, or precision stand-off weapons, such as the kind of ground-launched cruise missiles being developed by the US in the post-INF treaty era.

By placing some of its solid fuel ICBMs in silos, China virtually eliminates the threat from drones and cruise missiles, and because these missiles don’t have to be fueled, reduces the vulnerability to US strategic nuclear weapons such as the Trident D5.

The scope and scale of the silo construction led some analysts to conclude that perhaps the Jilantai training area was going to assume a limited operational posture, based upon the number of silos under construction.

This assessment was made moot, however, by the discovery of what many analysts believe is a massive missile base, containing 120 silos, under construction near Yumen in Gansu province, and another, containing a potential 110 additional silos, near the city of Hami in Eastern Xinjiang province.

Gansu province in China.

These silos appear to be similar to the new ones seen at the Jilantai training area, leading analysts to assess that the Chinese intend to load them with either the DF-31, DF-41 or both.

Many analysts believe that China may opt only to load a few of these silos with missiles, creating the potential for a “shell game” defense that would complicate nuclear targeting by the US.

But even if only 80 of these silos were loaded with DF-41 ICBMs, China’s warhead total would expand considerably, adding up to 800 new warheads to their arsenal.

Chinese nuclear weapons as understood by the West.

While China has not publicly released a new nuclear posture statement that supersedes the 2006 White Paper, the construction of new missile silos configured to hold solid-fuel ICBMs possessing multiple warheads changes the nuclear posture options for China.

The most likely change is to transition from a pure retaliatory strike capability (“counterattack in self-defense”) to a launch-on-warning posture.

This means the Chinese missiles would leave their silos when an attack was detected instead of waiting for a nuclear attack to actually occur.

Given China’s declared nuclear policy, a launch-on-warning posture allows China to retain its no-first-use policy while simultaneously ensuring the survivability of its nuclear forces.

However, if one is an American strategic nuclear planner, one cannot ignore the reality that China is edging close to having a legitimate first-strike capability, especially if it places missiles in every one of the silos under construction.

Faced with a potential first-strike capability from both Russia and China…

… and in light of the growing cooperation between Russia and China on defense issues…

…regarding what both nations view as the growing threat from the United States…

… the US may be compelled to look at increasing its nuclear arsenal, or dramatically altering its own nuclear force posture and composition, in order to match this emerging threat.

This, however, would be a prohibitively expensive proposition.

Which leaves arms control.

The Biden administration is currently trying to tie US arms control talks about reducing the strategic nuclear arsenals of the US and Russia to China.

Russia has rejected this out of hand, noting that it has nothing to do with the Chinese nuclear arsenal, and therefore the US should be approaching China directly on this matter.

US-China nuclear reduction talks, however, are impractical when one compares the relative threat posed by 200-plus Chinese ground-based ICBMs.

While the US arsenal of several thousand strategic warheads housed in a nuclear triad consisting of silo-based ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and air-delivered nuclear weapons.

The level of reductions in the US arsenal that would make any strategic nuclear forces reduction talks viable for China could not be matched by China, and as such would be politically impossible for the US to agree to.

If, however, the Chinese were to complete the two new silo bases and fill them with DF-41s, each of which armed with 10 warheads, then the US and China could negotiate mutually acceptable reductions based on strategic parity.

Such negotiations would be complicated by the need to factor in not only Russia, but also the nuclear arsenals of France and the UK (as American NATO allies), as well as the nuclear arsenals of lesser powers such as Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.

The bottom line, however, is that China appears to have breached its commitment “never to engage in a nuclear arms race of any kind.”

The facts show that China entered this new phase of nuclear weapons development and deployment as a reaction to developments by potential adversaries (i.e., the US).

However, let there be no doubt – this is an arms race.

The placement of the Chinese silo bases appears, by intent, to be outside the range of anticipated US intermediate-range weapons, such as cruise missiles.

This means that there will be increased pressure placed on the States to field a new generation of silo-based ICBMs to replace the aging Minuteman III missiles.

As well as a new generation of submarine-launched missiles…

And missile-carrying submarines…

And a new generation of manned bomber…

… all in numbers greater than current forecasts call for.

The US cannot afford to enter this kind of arms race with China. Simply put, China has out Ronald Reagan-ed the US, flipping the Cold War theory that the US outspent the Soviet Union, bankrupting it, and accelerating its collapse on its head…

… so that it’s the US that’s being outspent, bankrupting itself, and pushing itself closer to collapse.

Hopefully, the US leadership is wiser than their Soviet counterparts before them. But, if history has shown us anything, the US is addicted to the power it believes it accrues by possessing a large nuclear weapons arsenal, and like any addict, liberating oneself from its drug of choice is difficult, if not impossible.

And keep in mind that the Chinese and the Russians possess hyper-velocity missile technology

From MoA. Worth the reprint.

Why Hypersonic Missiles Are Real Game Changers – by Gordog

A Technical Look at the Science Behind the Headlines

by Gordog

The Americans are now crying ‘uncle’ about Russia’s hypersonic weapons. After the most recent flight test of the scramjet-powered Zircon cruise missile, the Washington Post on July 11 carried a Nato statement of complaint:

"Russia’s new hypersonic missiles are highly destabilizing and pose significant risks to security and stability across the Euro-Atlantic area," the statement said.

At the same time, talks have begun on the ‘strategic dialog’ between the US and Russia, as agreed at the June 16 Geneva Summit of the two presidents. The two sides had already agreed to extend the START treaty on strategic weapons that has been in effect for a decade, but, notably, it was the US side that initiated the summit—perhaps spurred by the deployment of the hypersonic, intercontinental-range Avangard missile back in 2019, when US weapons inspectors were present, as per START, to inspect the Avangard as it was lowered into its missile silos.

But what exactly is a hypersonic missile—and why is it suddenly such a big deal?

We all remember when Vladimir Putin announced these wonder weapons in his March 2018 address to his nation [and the world]. The response from the US media was loud guffaws about ‘CGI’ cartoons and Russian ‘wishcasting.’ Well, neither Nato nor the Biden team are guffawing now. Like the five stages of grief, the initial denial phase has slowly given way to acceptance of reality—as Russia continues deploying already operational missiles, like the Avangard and the air-launched Kinzhal, now in Syria, as well as finishing up successful state trials of the Zircon, which is to be operationally deployed aboard surface ships and submarines, starting in early 2022. And in fact, there are a whole slew of new Russian hypersonic missiles in the pipeline, some of them much smaller and able to be carried by ordinary fighter jets, like the Gremlin aka GZUR.

The word hypersonic itself means a flight regime above the speed of Mach 5. That is simple enough, but it is not only about speed. More important is the ability to MANEUVER at those high speeds, in order to avoid being shot down by the opponent’s air defenses. A ballistic missile can go much faster—an ICBM flies at about 6 to 7 km/s, which is about 15,000 mph, about M 25 high in the atmosphere. [Mach number varies with temperature, so it is not an absolute measure of speed. The same 15,000 mph would only equal M 20 at sea level, where the temperature is higher and the speed of sound is also higher.]

But a ballistic missile flies on a straightforward trajectory, just like a bullet fired from a barrel of a gun—it cannot change direction at all, hence the word ballistic.

This means that ballistic missiles can, in theory, be tracked by radar and shot down with an interceptor missile. It should be noted here that even this is a very tough task, despite the straight-line ballistic trajectory. Such an interception has never been demonstrated in combat, not even with intermediate-range ballistic missiles [IRBMs], of the kind that the DPRK fired off numerous times, sailing above the heads of the US Pacific Fleet in the Sea of Japan, consisting of over a dozen Aegis-class Ballistic Missile Defense ships, designed specifically for the very purpose of shooting down IRBMs.

Such an interception would have been a historic demonstration of military technology—on the level of the shock and awe of Hiroshima! But no interception was ever attempted by those ‘ballistic missile defense’ ships, spectating as they were, right under the flight paths of the North Korean rockets!

The bottom line is that hitting even a straight-line ballistic missile has never been successfully demonstrated in actual practice. It is a very hard thing to do.

Consider that a modern combat rifle with a high-velocity cartridge can fire a bullet at a speed of about 1,200 meters per second [1.2 km/s]. That is barely one fifth the speed of an ICBM warhead, and only about half the speed of a short or intermediate-range ballistic missile. Clearly, intercepting anything that flies double or even five times the speed of a rifle bullet is going to be a daunting task. [Note from our previous discussion on the space race and the technicalities of orbital flight, that the ICBM does not reach orbital velocity, but flies on a suborbital trajectory—although it does exit the atmosphere].

Between the two, speed and maneuvering, the latter is much more effective in evading defensive interception.

We know this from many actual battlefield results. When the US launched large salvoes of subsonic Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in 2017 and again in 2018, a number of them were intercepted by Syrian air defenses. But not nearly all. Many did get through despite the T-Hawk’s relatively slow speed of about 500 mph, which is only about M 0.7. But the cruise missile’s ability to fly low to the ground and maneuver in flight, changing direction constantly, make it a tough target to hit. Likewise in the Falklands War, the Argentines used subsonic and fairly short-range, French-made Exocet sea-skimming cruise missiles to sink several large British warships, including a then-state-of-the-art Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Sheffield.

Even bird hunters know this, and will use a shotgun that scatters many pellets over a wide area rather than a bullet-firing rifle to take down slow-flying, but maneuvering, land and waterfowl! Obviously, if you combine high speed WITH maneuvering, you will have a missile that is going to be very difficult to stop. [If not impossible, with something like the Avangard, which reaches ICBM speeds of up to M 25!].

But let’s lower our sights a little from ICBMs and IRBMs [and even subsonic cruise missiles] to a quite ancient missile technology, the Soviet-era Scud, first introduced into service in 1957! A recent case with a Houthi Scud missile fired at Saudi Arabia in December 2017 shows just how difficult missile interception really is:

At around 9 p.m…a loud bang shook the domestic terminal at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

‘There was an explosion at the airport,’ a man said in a video taken moments after the bang. He and others rushed to the windows as emergency vehicles streamed onto the runway.

Another video, taken from the tarmac, shows the emergency vehicles at the end of the runway. Just beyond them is a plume of smoke, confirming the blast and indicating a likely point of impact.

The Houthi missile, identified as an Iranian-made Burqan-2 [a copy of a North Korean Scud, itself a copy of a Chinese copy of the original Russian Scud from the 1960s], flew over 600 miles before hitting the Riyadh international airport. The US-made Patriot missile defense system fired FIVE interceptor shots at the missile—all of them missed!

Laura Grego, a missile expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, expressed alarm that Saudi defense batteries had fired five times at the incoming missile.

‘You shoot five times at this missile and they all miss? That’s shocking,’ she said. ‘That’s shocking because this system is supposed to work.’

Ms Grego knows what she’s talking about—she holds a physics doctorate from Caltech and has worked in missile technology for many years. Not surprisingly, American officials first claimed the Patriot missiles had done their job and shot the Scud down. This was convincingly debunked in the extensive expert analysis that ran in the NYT: Did American Missile Defense Fail in Saudi Arabia?

This was not the first time that Patriot ‘missile defense’ against this supposedly obsolete missile failed spectacularly:

On February 25, 1991, an Iraqi Scud hit the barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 soldiers from the U.S. Army's 14’th Quartermaster Detachment.

A government investigation revealed that the failed intercept at Dhahran had been caused by a software error in the system's handling of timestamps. The Patriot missile battery at Dhahran had been in operation for 100 hours, by which time the system's internal clock had drifted by one-third of a second. Due to the missile's speed this was equivalent to a miss distance of 600 meters.

Whether this explanation is factual or not, the Americans’ initial claims of wild success in downing nearly all of the 80 Iraqi Scuds launched, was debunked by MIT physicist Theodore Postol, who concluded that no missiles were in fact intercepted!

As the missile experts in the NYT point out:

Shooting down Scud missiles is difficult, and governments have wrongly claimed success against them in the past.

Governments have overstated the effectiveness of missile defenses in the past, including against Scuds. During the first Gulf War, the United States claimed a near-perfect record in shooting down Iraqi variants of the Scud. Subsequent analyses found that nearly all the interceptions had failed.

Why is shooting down Scuds so difficult? Because this was arguably the world’s first hypersonic missile [it flies at M 5 and does MANEUVER]!

If we take a closer look at this missile, we see that it is propelled nearly throughout its entire flight. This is the key. The warhead only separates from the missile body a few miles [mere seconds], before reaching its target. That missile body contains a means for maneuvering the missile, by means of thrust vector—using graphite paddles that move into and out of the rocket engine exhaust stream, as seen here. So it will be jinking and jibing as it enters the terminal phase of flight—making it a very hard target to radar track and shoot down!

Once the warhead separates, the spent missile body falls harmlessly to the ground, as it did just outside the Riyadh airport, landing on a nearby street. It is this now uselessly falling body that could be locked onto by air defense radars and hit by interceptor missiles—while the warhead itself sails unobstructed overhead.

The only real problem with those ancient Scuds was their accuracy. They could be off by hundreds of meters. But of course, accuracy and missile guidance systems have come a long way since then. The modern successor to the Scud, the Russian truck-launched Iskander, has an accuracy of about 5 meters! It too, is really a hypersonic missile that reaches M 7, but has a range of only 500 km—which was dictated by the now-defunct INF treaty, from which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew.

The Russian Iskander-M cruises at hypersonic speed of 2,100–2,600 m/s [Mach 6–7] at a height of 50 km. The Iskander-M weighs 4,615 kg carries a warhead of 710–800 kg, has a range of 480 km and achieves a CEP [circular error probable] of 5–7 meters. During flight it can maneuver at different altitudes and trajectories to evade anti-ballistic missiles.

Iskander is generally described, at least in the west, as a ‘quasi-ballistic’ missile. But ‘quasi’ or not, the US considers the Iskander a very dangerous weapon, and a type of weapon which it does not yet possess. In fact, the US’ attempts to develop its very first hypersonic missile have been rather slow out of the blocks. Its first flight test attempt with the proposed Lockheed-Martin AGM183 [aka ARRW] in April of this year, did not even manage to release the rocket from the wing of the B52 carrier! The second attempt, on July 29, managed to get the rocket to release, but the engine failed to fire!

Clearly the US is many years away from fielding a working hypersonic missile. These early tests were only supposed to test the rocket, and carried a dummy ‘glide vehicle’ which is supposed to separate from the rocket once it reaches a speed of about M 6 or so, and then glide to its target while maneuvering.

The prototype missile would carry a frangible surrogate for that [glide] vehicle that would disintegrate after release.

However, it is unclear how an unpowered gliding body is going to accomplish aerodynamic maneuvering INSIDE the atmosphere. The concept of boost-glide, which is used by Avangard, works by hoisting the glide vehicle up above the atmosphere, at ICBM speed, where the ‘glider’ can then skip off the upper layers of the atmosphere like a flat pebble skipping over the surface of a still pond.

The overall flight range of AGM183 is a claimed 1,000 miles [1,600 km]. Clearly such a short-range missile, and reaching a speed of only about M 8 at most [based on statements of reaching its target in a flight time of 10 to 12 minutes] is not going to be able to use the boost-glide means of maneuvering, which requires exiting the atmosphere.

The Technical Deep Dive (If you are not inclined to follow technical details jump to the conclusions.)

So let’s look at Russian hypersonic technology in a little more detail, so that we may understand more than just what the technically-challenged media are telling us. From what the Russian military has already fielded, we can see that hypersonic missiles come in all shapes and sizes. Some, like Avangard, are launched by powerful ICBM rockets and have ICBM-like striking range. Others, like Zircon, are more like a Tomahawk or Kalibr cruise missile, powered by an air-breathing engine, and able to aerodynamically maneuver throughout their flight to the target—but flying about ten times faster.

Others, like Kinzhal, which appears to be an evolution of the Iskander [itself an evolution of the Scud] are powered by relatively small rockets and are designed to maneuver gas-dynamically [thrust vectoring], again, during all phases of flight, right up to the target.

These are the three primary types for purposes of basic classification. They all fly very fast [up to M 25 for Avangard], but they use different propulsion systems, and different means of maneuvering. Let’s begin with the Kinzhal, since we already understand the basics of how a Scud or Iskander works. In the case of Kinzhal, it is launched from a very high speed and height by a MiG31 interceptor aircraft, which is designed to fly up to 1,500 km at a cruising speed of M 2.4, at a height of about 20 km.

By carrying even an unmodified Iskander up to this speed and height, its range could easily double, to about 1,000 km—since the rocket chemical energy required to reach that height and speed would be saved, and could be expended on increasing its flight range.

The range given for Kinzhal is 2,000 km, but it is not clear if that includes the flight range of the MiG31 carrier aircraft. My guess would be that it does. The MiG has a combat radius of over 700 km at its M 2.4 cruise speed. That means that after release, the Kinzhal would need to fly for about 1,300 km before hitting its target—for an overall system range of 2,000 km. In fact, the MiG could fly a significant portion of its flight subsonically, saving fuel, and accelerate up to supersonic cruise speed, or even its top speed of M 2.8, only in the last couple of hundred km, before launching Kinzhal. It would then circle back and return to base subsonically again. This would increase range even more.

Either way, it is a safe bet that the overall range to a target, say a US aircraft carrier, from the takeoff point of the MiG [now deployed in Syria], is realistically going to be no less than the stated 2,000 km, if not more. This is certainly a game-changer for US naval dominance! Carrier-based aircraft would have no chance to fly far enough from their floating airfield to intercept a MiG31 launching a Kinzhal at 1,000 km or more distance from the ship. The F/A-18 has a combat radius for air-to-air missions of only 740 km. Obviously, it is not going to be able to reach the MiG launching from outside of 1,000 km.

Now let us look at the Zircon cruise missile that Nato is complaining about. So far, this missile has been successfully test-flown at target distances of up to about 450 km. The Russian MoD says its range is actually in excess of 1,000 km, and that flight tests to maximum range will be forthcoming.

This too is a game-changer. The Zircon will be carried by Russia’s new class of surface warships in the frigate or ‘small destroyer’ size, as well as on the new Yasen-class cruise missile nuclear subs that are now coming into service. These state-of-the-art subs will also carry subsonic Kalibr cruise missiles with a maximum range of 4,500 km! Combined with the air-launched Kinzhal, the US Navy will face some very stiff challenges—from the air, from the sea, and even from under the sea. It should be noted that both the Zircon and Kinzhal are not exclusively anti-ship missiles. They can just as readily target land objects, including Nato command and control centers—which Putin has said Russia will do, in the event of any kind of western aggression!

But Zircon is also a technological tour de force. The unique feature of the Zircon is its scramjet engine. This is the first time that the world has a production engine of this type—something which has long been a goal for both the US and Russia.

Not surprisingly, the Russians flew the world’s first scramjet prototype back in 1991—the Kholod, which means ‘cold’ in Russian. Remarkably, in the Yeltsin détente atmosphere of the early nineties, the Russian developers of the world’s first functional scramjet engine, the Central Institute of Aviation Motors [CIAM] invited Nasa to participate in the flight tests at the Sary Shagan test range in Kazakhstan. The results were published in the US professional literature, here, and here.

But despite this technology boost from Russia, the US has not been able to keep up. Its experiments with scramjet engines, although wildly hyped in the media, have been dormant for several years. It appears that the US has given up on the idea of building a working scramjet engine for the time being—much as they gave up, decades ago, on the idea of building a closed-cycle rocket engine, having deemed the technology ‘impossible.’

So what is a scramjet engine anyway? To fully understand this, let’s first look at how a turbojet engine works. Here is a picture that is worth a thousand words. Air enters the front of the engine and is then compressed by a number of rotating blades on a series of wheels, similar to a fan or propeller. The compressed air is then passed into the burner, or combustion chamber, where fuel is squirted in and the result is a high temperature and high-pressure gas that then drives the turbine wheels—which are bladed in a way similar to the compressor wheels up front.

The turbine wheels and compressor are on a single shaft and rotate at the same speed—so it is the energy of the gas driving the turbines, that drives the compressors. The remaining energy in the gas is squeezed out through a nozzle, which accelerates the gas flow, which, in turn, creates thrust—on the principle of Newton’s Third Law, action-reaction. The force of the fast-moving mass flow of gas out the nozzle, must be compensated by a REACTION force in the opposite direction [forward thrust], as per the conservation of momentum principle. Hence all jet engines, whether air-breathing or rocket, are called reaction engines.

[Incidentally, the heart of any liquid-fuel rocket engine is a turbopump, which is basically a gas turbine engine. It has a burner, where some amount of the fuel and oxidizer are burned, supplying gas to drive a turbine wheel or wheels, which then drive two ‘compressor’ pumps [also wheels], that pressurize the oxidizer and fuel, which is then delivered to the main combustion chamber under great pressure.]

Now what happens when you want to go very fast with a turbojet engine? Well, you basically hit a wall, due to the physics of airflow]. The faster you go, the greater the ram pressure on the front of the engine. This ram pressure [technically called dynamic pressure, or ‘Q’] is like kinetic energy—it increases by the square of speed. [KE = M x V^2 / 2; Q = rho x V^2 / 2; they are the same except mass is replaced by density, rho, since we are dealing with a flowing fluid instead of a solid particle!]

In simple terms, dynamic pressure [aka ram pressure] is what you feel on your hand when you stick your hand out the window of your car while driving on the highway.

The results of this quadratic pressure rise with speed are profound! At a typical passenger jet cruise speed of 450 knots, or M 0.8, the pressure increase from ram effect, at the front of the engine fan, is about 1.5. Also, the engine inlet must SLOW the airflow down to about M 0.5, so that the rotating blades can work efficiently.

If you increase flight speed to M 2, the pressure rise at the engine face due to ram effect is seven-fold! At this speed, you don’t even need a compressor or turbines.

This is the idea of the ramjet engine—you need no moving parts, just an air inlet that is designed to slow down the airflow to below sonic velocity, turning kinetic energy into pressure energy. The combustion chamber is simply a pipe with fuel squirters, where that compressed air is burned with fuel, and then expelled through a nozzle, exactly as on the turbojet. In fact the afterburner on supersonic fighter jets works exactly like a ramjet engine—fuel is squirted in and combusts with air that was used for cooling the combustion chamber walls upstream [only a small amount of air is burned in a turbojet engine, with air to fuel ratios of over 50, compared to about 15 for a car engine.] An illustration of an afterburner shows the simple basic geometry.

But the ramjet hits a speed limit too, just like the turbojet. In both cases it has to do with the falling efficiency of the engine inlet at higher speeds: more of the kinetic energy of the high-speed airflow is converted into heat, rather than usable pressure. In a turbojet, the heat limit is reached by about Mach 3, when the heat of that incoming air exceeds the materials limit of the compressor blades. In the ramjet, eliminating those unneeded blades and all the other moving parts raises the temperature limit to a much higher value—so flight up to about Mach 5 is possible.

Above those speeds, the Ramjet faces a different kind of problem. As flight speeds continue to increase, the efficiency of turning that kinetic energy into pressure continues to decrease steeply. This pressure loss is due to a series of shockwaves generated by slowing down the airflow in the engine inlet passage, upstream of the combustion chamber. The biggest shockwave and biggest pressure loss happens when the flow finally transitions to below sonic velocity. This is called the normal shockwave, because it is perpendicular [normal] to the inlet wall, as seen in this illustration of a supersonic inlet and its shockwaves.

So the speed limit comes because most of that ram pressure is not recoverable—it is simply dissipated into heat by the inlet shockwaves.

Enter the scramjet. Here, the flow is never actually slowed to below sonic velocity. That’s why it’s called a SCramjet, for supersonic combustion—the airflow through the combustion chamber is well above Mach 1, perhaps closer to Mach 2. By comparison, the flow in a turbojet enters the burner at just M 0.2, ten times slower—and in the afterburner and ramjet, it is about M 0.5.

This solves the speed limit issue of not having any more pressure energy available. But it comes with HUGE challenges. At a flight speed of M 6 or 7, the craft is moving at a speed of about 2,000 m/s. The main challenge is the flame front speed of combustion. Even if it took only one hundredth of a second to combust the air-fuel mixture, it would require a combustion chamber 20 meters long! That is hardly practical of course, but is in line with the flame propagation speed of aviation kerosene. That is why the afterburner jetpipes on supersonic aircraft are several meters long.

So we see that each type of airbreathing engine, turbojet, ramjet and scramjet, has its own speed limit, as shown graphically here. Even the scramjet will run into a wall at some point. The vertical measure is specific impulse [ISP], which is engine efficiency, per mass of fuel burned. We see that ISP decreases the faster we go, in any type of engine—it simply means that fuel use rises much faster than flight speed!

But back to the main challenge of the scramjet, which is flame speed. This is strictly a limit of the chemical physics of fuel combustion. Hydrogen burns ten times as fast as kerosene, but is not a practical fuel—it must be cooled to near absolute zero to be liquid, and so is not storable, and cannot be launched at will without time-consuming fueling. All of the previous scramjet experimental prototypes, both US and Russian, used cryogenic liquid hydrogen fuel. But the Zircon uses a kerosene-based fuel innovation that the Russians call Detsilin-M.

The exact means by which the Russians have achieved this fuel chemistry is of course a tightly held secret, but it is clearly a remarkable breakthrough in chemical engineering—comparable to the breakthrough in materials science that led to the closed-cycle, oxygen-rich staged combustion rocket engine in the 1960s [which the US still has not demonstrated].

In a previous discussion here, the technically-inclined commenter and longtime gyroplane pilot PeterAU1, dug up some interesting material about ‘doping’ kerosene with certain additives to enhance flame front speed. But the technicalities of that subject are beyond the scope of this relatively brief introductory discussion. [Although I’m sure we may hear more in the comments section!]

Conclusions:

The bottom line is that the Zircon represents not only a formidable and very deadly weapon—but it is indicative of the engineering capabilities of the Russian aerospace industry. It is an impressive achievement that is in fact groundbreaking. As mentioned already, Zircon is only the beginning of scramjet engine use by the Russian military. The next generation of such missiles, like the already mentioned Gremlin, will be even smaller and more capable in range and speed. At some point in the future, we may even see scramjet engines on superfast civil aircraft—but that is probably a long way off yet.

An even bigger engineering accomplishment is the astonishing Avangard boost-glide vehicle. But I will leave that remarkable story for another discussion.

The bottom line is that these new Russian technologies are in fact tilting the global military balance going forward. They are game-changing because they are UNSTOPPABLE with today’s air defense technology. Just like the Plains Indians couldn’t hope to stop, with their bows and arrows, the US cavalry with their repeating rifles.

Even more profound may be the psychological effect that Russia’s engineering accomplishments must be exerting on the American psyche, which is used to assuming that they have the smartest engineers and make the best military hardware.

That is demonstrably NOT the case anymore.

And that may be the biggest game-changer of all!

China’s hyper-velocity missile.

The smart thing…

Knowing the Chinese, it’s just a simple matter of treating the Taiwanese as brothers and sisters. Inviting them over to China (as they can travel easily back and forth now) and let the Taiwanese decide for themselves if they want to reunify with China or not.

Face it.

China is doing so much better than Taiwan is.

Oh, sure, Taiwan is wealthy. But it is Western wealth. All the money is concentrated in the hands of a few greedy oligarchs. It’s not spread out among the people. And when the Taiwanese come into China they see the life that they SHOULD be living in Taiwan. They see what COULD happen in Taiwan, if the nation unified together.

Like in this amazing video here… A Taiwanese girl comes to China for the first time and here’s her impressions…

Taiwanese girl comes to China for the first time. These are her impressions.

Conclusion

If America “jumps the gun” and initiates hostilities before 2023, it will quickly escalate and go nuclear and Russia and China together would level America. The QUAD allies might talk big, but one the nuclear detonations start to happen, you can pretty much expect them to sit “the game” out.

If the United States holds off on hostilities past into 2023, what we would see is an economic contraction in the United States and the Western client states. A decline in the value of the US dollar and rampant inflation. Depending on American actions, the military budget will be seen as bankrupting the country, and meanwhile China is prospering and looking like some kind of space-age utopia. This comparison between the two would be strikingly obvious, and exacerbated with the 2022 Olympic games. This would be a very dangerous time indeed. This is the time where it is difficult to predict.

If the hostilities delay to 2025 or later, then there won’t be much that America can do. It has shot it’s last wad, and spent up all it’s fuel. The nation is running on vapors right now, and whatever advantages it once had, it has been squandered away by the greedy and evil.

Now matter how you look at it, China is clearly the superior governance model…

This is America in 2021. This is it. Look closely at the video…

America in 2021.

And this is China in 2021. Watch the video…

Quick Summary

Technology has completely changed the balance of forces globally. Yet the evil, corrupt and powerful somehow believe that they can prevent this new reality, and capitalize upon it for personal profit. By all accounts, they are about two decades too late, and they understanding of reality is inaccurate.

How the world adjusts to this new reality is open to conjecture, as it could go very bad to just a minor discomfort. It all depends on a number of variables that are in play right now. Stay tuned.

And keep in mind…

Next time you read some gung-ho neocon advocating war because America is strong, and has perfected small unit warfare…

… remember this video of Chinese boy and girl scouts…

Chinese boy and girl scouts.

And this one too…

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
  • You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
  • You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
  • You can find out more about the author HERE.
  • If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
  • If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

 

Master List of Heirloom Tomatoes

Here’s a “master list” of heirloom tomatoes that I have collected off the internet. I have extracted the data from heavy advertisement saturated websites, and other pay-wall blocked for-profit venues. Whether or not you enjoy heirloom tomatoes, I hope that this list will be beneficial to you.

What is a Heirloom Tomato…

An heirloom tomato (also called heritage tomato in the UK) is an open-pollinated, non-hybrid heirloom cultivar of tomato. They are classified as: family heirlooms, commercial heirlooms, mystery heirlooms, or created heirlooms. They usually have a shorter shelf life and are less disease resistant than hybrids. They are grown for a variety of reasons: for food, historical interest, access to wider varieties, and by people who wish to save seeds from year to year, as well as for their taste.

Wikipedia

But first…

I wish that I was as talented as some of the women that I know. They have a real understanding, or a “feel” on how food comes together and mates with other foods. And they have this kind of innate ability that I seem so very clumsy with. And they seem to know which is the right tomato for the right application.

Never the less, I do know that I like to eat. I know that when I go to a store, I like to smell the produce, and if I am growing things, I am always smelling the tomatoes on the vine. There’s a real connection between scent and taste. Seriously.

Here’s some pictures to illustrate what you can do with heirloom tomatoes…

The best thing about heirloom tomatoes is the taste.

I strongly argue that the best thing to do with heirloom tomatoes is to eat them. After all, they are so very delicious.

Tomatoes are meant to be eaten.

Not a full sandwich, but tasty never the less…

Good eating.

A recipe

Here’s a great heirloom tomato sandwich recipe. Yum!

A very delicious heirloom tomato sandwich.

And the details…

A story…

When I was around 12 years old, I was given free reign in the family garden, and there, every day I would how the ground, pull the weeds, water the plants and so forth. I developed a real love for the plants. With tomatoes, and zucchini being my favorites. Peppers and cucumbers grew too slowly for my tastes, while onions and carrots remained hidden under the ground.

There, every day during the middle to late summer I would pick my tomatoes and was amazed at the enormous big bounty and delicious flavor that they provided.

I remember my mother coming in to the kitchen one day and asking what “the heck” I was doing. Why, I had made a thick, fresh, tomato sandwich with mayonnaise, salt and pepper on plain white (store bought) bread. And I was busily smunching down on it over the sink, with the tomato drippings falling into the sink. I guess she must have thought me to be so silly.

But it was glorious.

And I still remember that day. I still remember how great it tasted. I still remember how wonderful it was.

In China…

Chinese stir fry tomatoes and eggs 番茄炒蛋.

One of the top favorite foods is this dish called eggs and tomatoes. It’s not prepared American style, where you simply scramble the tomatoes in with the eggs. No NO. Instead, there is a certain procedure and the results are glorious.

Here’s what the dish looks like…

Chinese stir fried tomatoes with eggs.

Here’s a video of how it is done…

…So sexy! So delicious! So wonderful!

Here’s a recipe…

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup optional
  • 4 medium/large tomatoes
  • Steamed rice for serving
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch mix in 2 teaspoon water, optional

Instructions

  • In a bowl, beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon of salt.
  • At the bottom of each tomato, use a knife to cut the skin to make a cross opening.
  • In a large pot, add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the tomatoes with the bottom side down into the hot water.
  • Cut them into 1/2-inch wide wedges. Make sure to reserve the core as much as possible for the sauce later.
  • Heat a wok/pan over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the eggs, stir well with a spatula, about 30 seconds. Use the spatula to cut up the curds for stir fry. Transfer the eggs to a plate.
  • Heat the wok over high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste; give it a stir and cover with a lid for 2 minutes. Cook until the flesh is softened. Use a the spatula to break up the big tomato pieces so that the flesh would quickly form a sauce.
  • Add salt, sugar and ketchup (optional) and mix well. Return the eggs to the wok. Stir until it’s well incorporated.
  • Optional: If the sauce is too watery, you can mix the cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl until well combined. Add the cornstarch slurry to the wok and cook for a few more seconds and transfer to a plate.
  • Serve with rice.

Some comments

From HERE.

Because of the many different regions in China, defining a Chinese national dish is nearly impossible. But if you ask Chinese people their favorite childhood dish, stir fried tomatoes and eggs is THE ONE that everyone will agree on!

There’re a few variations of this dish. I sometimes stir fry the tomatoes with tofu or beef.

You won’t find this dish in American-Chinese restaurants often, but it’s definitely a staple dish served with rice at home.

Hint: In China, just about every restaurant will serve this dish on the menu.

If you are just starting to learn how to cook in a wok, this is a great recipe for a beginner.

Back in Guangzhou, China, there’re fresh fruits and vegetables all year long and tomatoes are in season most of the time. My mom usually doesn’t add ketchup to this dish, but I do that when tomatoes are out of season in Cleveland. This helps enrich the flavor of the tomato sauce and enhance the color of the dish.

Here’re a few things to know when cooking this dish:

    • Tomatoes must be fresh, ripe and soft. Ripe tomatoes make the sauce flavorful and juicy.
    • Pealing off the tomato skin will help soften the flesh and make them melt in your mouth.
    • Serving the dish with rice is a must.

The Heirloom Tomato list…

Ace 55

These determinate tomatoes grow in abundant crops. They come with low acidity.

Alaska

The semi-determinate tomatoes are characterized by bushy plants. Originating in Russia, they are suited to colder environments.

Alaskan Fancy

These are the earliest semi-determinate plum-shaped tomatoes. They are suitable for colder weather.

Allerbest

The indeterminate tomatoes come from Germany. They are characterized by fruits with few seeds.

Alicante

The tomatoes are indeterminate. They take up to 70 days to mature and at the moment, they are popular across the UK.

Amber Colored

With Ukrainian roots, the semi-determinate tomatoes are characterized by a sweet flavor.

Amish Paste

The indeterminate heirloom tomatoes are known for their juicy flesh. They are used for sauces and fresh eating.

Anahu

These determinate tomatoes were bred by De. Jim Gilbert of Hawaii. They have a deep red color and they are known for their sweet flavor.

Andes

With French origins, the semi-determinate tomatoes are recognizable with their long pointed shape. They are suitable for sauces.

Ananas Noire

These bi-color tomatoes have an indeterminate profile. The yellow-red tomatoes come with fruit sizes of 16oz.

Aunt Ginny

With rich pink color, the indeterminate tomatoes are suitable for sandwiches and salads. They resist cracking.

Aunt Ruby

With a distinct green look, the indeterminate tomatoes take at least 80 days to mature. They were first introduced in 1993 in Wisconsin.

Aussie

With a rich flavor, the indeterminate tomatoes are meaty. They are suited to warmer climates.

Anna Russian

The indeterminate tomatoes have a sweet taste. Their fruits can grow up to 1 pound.

Arkansas Traveler

The indeterminate tomatoes are made for hot and humid climates. The tomatoes have disease resistance.

Aunt Ruby

The green indeterminate tomatoes are sweet. The beefsteaks also have a yellow tint.

Aurora

Named after the Aurora Borealis, these Russian determinate tomatoes produce heavy crops. They are suitable for colder environments.

Austin Red Pear

As their name suggests, the indeterminate tomatoes come are shaped like pears.  They are known to be very productive.

Azoychka

The indeterminate tomatoes come from Russia. When they are ripe, they have a pale orange color.

B

Backa

These determinate tomatoes come from Yugoslavia. They are used in sauces, sandwiches or canning.

Banana Legs

These determinate tomatoes come in 4-inch fruits. Their name comes from their light banana color.

Basket Vee

The red determinate tomatoes have a size of 9in for the fruit and 4feet for the plant. They are resistant to Verticillium.

Beaverlodge Slicer

The determinate tomatoes come from the Beaverlodge Research Center in Canada. With only 54 days to reach maturity, the tomatoes are suitable for colder environments.

Besser

Dating back hundreds of years, the indeterminate cherry tomatoes have a sweet taste. The tomatoes originate in Germany.

Big Brandy

The indeterminate tomatoes have a pink color. They have a tangy flavor.

Big Rainbow

The yellow and red indeterminate tomatoes have low acidity. They are shaded by large leaves.

Big Red

The indeterminate vines are suitable for sandwich tomatoes. The fruits have a deep red color.

Big Zac

The meaty indeterminate tomatoes are rich in taste. The fruits are large and suitable for slicing.

Big Zebra

The indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes have a mildly sweet flavor. They have a distinct red-green color.

Bison

Developed by North Dakota University, the determinate tomatoes produce dwarf compact plants. They are suited to damp cold weather.

Black From Tula

The indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 14 ounces. They were exported from Ukraine by Marina Danilenko.

Black Cherry

The indeterminate tomatoes ripen through the season. They can take up to 75 days to reach maturity.

Black Krim

Bearing the name of the Crimean Peninsula, the indeterminate tomatoes reach maturity within 80 days.

Black Plum

Black Plum indeterminate tomatoes come from Russia’s Marina Danilenko. They can be used for a rich pasta sauce.

Black Prince

The indeterminate tomatoes have a red-black color. They are known for their juicy profile.

Black Sea Man

With attractive marble flesh, the tomatoes come from seed woman Marina Danilenko. The determinate tomatoes are medium in size.

Black Trifele

Known as Japanese or Russian Black Trifele, the indeterminate tomatoes take between 70 and 80 days to mature.

Blondkopfchen

The 1-in yellow indeterminate tomatoes have a sweet flavor. They come from Germany.

Bloody Butcher

The indeterminate tomatoes are known for their rich crops. The fruits have a rich flavor.

Beam’s Yellow Pear

The indeterminate tomatoes were first introduced in 1983 in Indiana. They are known for their bright yellow color.

Beefsteak

These tomatoes are known for the size. They can reach a weight of up to 4lbs. The indeterminate tomatoes are common in the US.

Boondocks

With a beefsteak profile, the indeterminate tomatoes have a deep pink-red color. The fruit size can reach 16oz.

Big Rainbow

The indeterminate tomatoes take up to 85 days to mature. They have a distinct yellow look with red swirls.

Bonny Best

The indeterminate Bonny Best produces fruits of up to 8 ounces. The fruits are suitable for all purposes.

Box Car

The red indeterminate tomatoes come in weights of up to 16 ounces. The color of the fruits is red with dark undertones.

Brandywine

The indeterminate tomatoes were first introduced in 1889. They were offered to Johnson and Stokes by a customer in Ohio.

Brandywine Pink

With a pink color, the indeterminate tomatoes are rich in flavor. They are not heavy producers.

Brandywine Yellow

The indeterminate tomatoes come with a distinct yellow color. The fruits weight from 12 ounces to 2 pounds.

Brandywine Sudduth’s Strain

Popularly called Pink Brandywine, the tomatoes are rich in flavor. Their indeterminate fruits ripen through the season.

Burbank Slicing

The determinate tomatoes were introduced by Luther Burbank. They are high in amino acids.

Burgess Stuffing

The indeterminate tomatoes are small at 4 inches. The hollow interior makes them look similar to peppers.

Bush Beefsteak

These determinate red tomatoes are already popular for shorter growing regions. The plant grows up to 3 feet.

C

Campbell 33

The determinate tomatoes are suitable for salads and sandwiches. They have a deep red color.

Chef’s Choice Orange

The indeterminate tomatoes come with a distinct bright orange color. They are used in soups and sauces.

Cherokee Chocolate

With red-black color, the indeterminate tomatoes are ripe late in the season. They are suitable for slicing.

Cherokee Green

With a distinct green color, the juicy indeterminate tomatoes are best served fresh.

Cherokee Purple

The indeterminate tomatoes come with a brownish red color. The tomatoes have regular leaves.

Cherry Brandywine

With a dark red color, the indeterminate tomatoes grow in clusters. The plant height reaches 6 feet.

Cherry Roma

The indeterminate tomatoes are great fresh or dried. They are considered very productive.

Chianti Rose

The beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes have a deep pink color. The fruit size varies between 1 and 2 lbs.

Copia

With an orange color with red stripes, the indeterminate tomatoes have a distinct look. They originate in the US.

Cosmonaut Volkov

The determinate tomatoes have a rich flavor. They are suitable for areas with a short growing period.

Costoluto Genovese

Originating in Italy, the indeterminate tomatoes have a slight tart flavor. Their color is bright red.

Cream Sausage

The determinate tomatoes are very productive. They were introduced by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in 2004.

Crimson Cushion

The indeterminate Crimson Cushion takes 95 days to mature. The fruits can reach up to 2 pounds in weight.

Crnkovic Yugoslavian

The indeterminate tomatoes have a delicious flavor. They were introduced to the US by Yasha Crnkovic.

Cuostralee

Rich in production, the indeterminate tomatoes can measure up to 4 inches.

Czech’s Bush

The red indeterminate tomatoes have a juicy profile. The tomatoes can be traced back to Czechoslovakia.

D

David Davidson

The tomatoes fruits come in variable shapes. The indeterminate tomatoes grow in clusters of 7 fruits.

Dester

The tomatoes are believed to come from Germany. The indeterminate tomatoes grow pink fruits of up to 1lbs.

Dixie Golden

Going back to the 1930s, the indeterminate yellow tomatoes have a mild taste. They are suitable for slicing.

Djena Lee

With a yellow-orange color, the indeterminate tomatoes can be traced back to 1929.

Druzba

Originating in Bulgaria, the indeterminate tomatoes have a bright red color. They have a robust tomato flavor.

Dr. Wyche

With a distinct golden color, the indeterminate tomatoes have a meaty flesh.

Dutchman

Growing up to 3 pounds, the indeterminate tomatoes have a mild flavor. They can be traced back to 1920.

Dwarf Pink Passion

As a result of the Dwarf Tomato Project, the determinate tomatoes have a hybrid profile. They are a cross between Roza Vetrov and Anna Banana Russian. The tomatoes have a balanced sweet flavor.

Dwarf Purple Heart

Developed by the Dwarf Tomato Project, the determinate tomatoes are a cross between Dwarf Wild Fred and Brad’s Black Heart. They have a purple-black color.

E

Earliana

Introduced in New Jersey in 1900, the indeterminate tomatoes grow come in clusters of 4-5 ounce fruits.

Early Annie

With few seeds, the determinate tomatoes are suitable for canning. They take 60 days to mature.

Early Wonder

These determinate tomatoes were first introduced in 1950. They are suitable for container-based growing.

Elbe

The indeterminate tomatoes originate in the Elbe River’s area in Germany. They come with a sweet and tart flavor.

Ethiopia Roi Humbert

The red determinate tomatoes are suitable for canning or snacking. They can grow up to 2”.

Eva Purple Ball

Believed to come from Germany, these indeterminate tomatoes are recommended for humid areas. They have a distinct vivid red color.

F

Fargo

The semi-determinate tomatoes come in a pear shape form with a yellow-orange color. They are suitable for specialty salads.

Federle

With fruits of up to 7 inches, the indeterminate tomatoes can easily be processed. They can be the base for salsa sauces.

Ferris Wheel

Up to 90 days is needed for the tomatoes to reach maturity. The indeterminate tomatoes have been developed in 1894.

First Pick

Traced back to France, the indeterminate tomatoes can be grown in colder climates. The fruits have a deep red color.

Fireworks

The pointed tomatoes are available early in the season. The indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 6oz.

Fox Cherry

The indeterminate tomatoes come with fruit sizes of up to 1oz. They are suitable for salads.

G

Garden Peach

The tomatoes come in a yellow color. They are indeterminate and distinctly fuzzy, as their name suggests.

Gardener’s Delight

The indeterminate tomatoes take up to 65 days to mature.

German Pink

The meaty fruits of the tomato can grow up to 2 pounds. The indeterminate tomatoes take up to 85 days to mature.

German Johnson

The indeterminate tomatoes come with low acidity. The fruits have a pink color.

German Red

The indeterminate German heirloom has a strawberry color. They come with a rich flavor.

Glacier

The semi-determinate tomatoes are suitable for early season harvest. They are consumed fresh.

Glamour

With a slightly flattened shape, the tomatoes grow up to 10oz. The indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 4 feet.

Gold Medal

With larger orange-yellow fruits, the indeterminate tomatoes are known for their large size and good flavor.

Giant Beefsteak

The indeterminate tomatoes have a meaty profile. The fruits can reach up to 2 pounds in weight.

Giant Belgium

With a sweet taste, the tomatoes have a deep pink color. The tomatoes can vary from 1 to 3 pounds.

Giant Syrian

The meaty tomatoes are flavorful. The indeterminate tomatoes are suitable for salads and sandwiches.

Gill’s All Purpose

Suitable for canning, juicing or slicing, the semi-determinate tomatoes are a cross between Wasatch Beauty and Pepper tomatoes.

Gold Medal

The yellow-red tomatoes have a rich flavor. Their juicy profile recommends them for fresh eating.

Gold Nugget Cherry

The determinate cherries have a yellow to orange color. They are suitable for snacking.

Gold Rush Currant

With up to 80 days needed to reach maturity, the indeterminate tomatoes offer hundreds of fruits per plant.

Grandma Freida’s

The indeterminate ribbed tomatoes come in sizes from 8 to 16 ounces. They have an old-fashioned taste.

Great White

The average flavor tomatoes are indeterminate. They are average in flavor intensity.

Green Grape

The determinate tomatoes have a distinct olive yellow color. The fruit ripens within 2 weeks.

Green Sausage

With a distinct look, the determinate tomatoes have a green color with yellow stripes. They have a long pointed shape.

Green Thumb

The determinate yellow-orange tomatoes ripen slowly. They are suitable for high altitudes.

Green Zebra

The indeterminate tomatoes are known to be very productive. They were first bred in 1983 by Thomas Wagner.

Grushova

These determinate heirloom tomatoes come from Siberia. They produce 2-3 inch fruits.

H

Hartman’s Yellow Gooseberry

With a mildly sweet profile, the indeterminate tomatoes come from a seed company in Indianapolis. They are used in salads.

Hawaiian Pineapple

The beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes are known for their pineapple resemblance. The tomatoes are mildly sweet.

Healani

The determinate tomatoes are bred to resist hot water. They are tolerant of the tobacco mosaic virus.

Heinz

The determinate red tomatoes are suitable for canning. They take 76 days to mature.

Heinz 1350

The mid-season determinate tomatoes are used for sauced and canning. They were developed for Eastern Canada and Northeast U.S.

Heinz 9129

The determinate heirloom tomatoes are used for canning and sauces. They are slightly larger than other Heinz varieties.

Hillbilly

The large beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes can reach weights of up to 2 pounds. They have a yellow-orange color.

Homestead 24

The determinate tomatoes are thriving in hot and humid areas. They are resistant to cracking.

Hillbilly Potato Leaf

With yellow and red, the tomatoes look distinctly juicy. The tomatoes are indeterminate, originating from Ohio.

Hungarian Heart

The indeterminate tomatoes resist cracking. They originate from a village near Budapest.

I

Ildi

Growing in clusters, the indeterminate tomatoes reach fruit sizes of 0.5oz. They are suitable for salads and decoration.

Igleheart Yellow Cherry

The yellow indeterminate tomatoes ripen through the season. They are rich in flavor with moderate acidity.

Isis Candy Cherry

The red tomatoes come with a sweet flavor. These indeterminate tomatoes take between 70 to 80 days to ripe.

Italian Heirloom

The indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 1lbs. They are suitable for slicing and sandwiches.

Italian Beefsteak

The Italian indeterminate heirlooms have a meaty flesh. They are suitable for sandwiches or served fresh.

Italian Roma

The determinate vines bear elongated fruits. They are larger than Roma tomatoes. The tomatoes are also higher in sugar.

J

Japanese Black

Shaped as pears, the tomatoes have a red-black color. They are resistant to cracking.

Japanese Trifele

With distinct potato leaves, the indeterminate tomatoes are rich in flavor. They are often canned.

Jaune Flamme

Great for drying or roasting, the indeterminate tomatoes are known for their deep orange color. They come from France.

John Baer

Rich in flavor, the indeterminate tomatoes are eaten fresh. The tomatoes were introduced in 1914.

Jubilee

The indeterminate heirloom tomatoes were released in 1943 by the Burpee Seed Company.

K

Kewalo

The determinate tomatoes are a bred of the University of Hawaii. With a sweet flavor, the tomatoes were bred to resist bacteria and viruses.

Kanner Hoell

Probably originating from Germany, the indeterminate tomatoes have red beefsteak fruits which can grow up to 1.5 pounds. Double fruit is common with the low acidity tomatoes.

Kellog’s Breakfast

The indeterminate tomatoes have a distinct orange glowing color. They can take up to 90 days to mature.

Kentucky Beefsteak

With an oval shape, the indeterminate tomatoes have a meaty flesh. They are recognized due to their distinct orange color.

Kolb

Originating in the Kolb Greenhouse of Storm Lake, the indeterminate tomatoes have a pink color. They are rich in flavor.

L

Large Red Cherry

These tomatoes are very productive. With fruits between 1 and 2 inches, the indeterminate tomatoes are used in salads or eaten fresh.

Lemon Drop

With a transparent yellow-green color, the tomatoes are indeterminate. They are known for their resilience in cold and wet weather.

Lillian’s Yellow

These potato leaf indeterminate tomatoes were first collected by Lillian Bruce in Tennessee.

Lime Green Salad

The determinate tomatoes stay small. As a result, they can be grown in containers.

Livingston Paragon

These red tomatoes have an indeterminate growth habit. They are named after Alexander Livingston’s seed trade.

Long Keeper

These semi-determinate tomatoes were introduced in 1979. They are suitable for winter storage.

M

Mamie Brown

These pink tomatoes are indeterminate. They are sweet in flavor.

Mama Leone

With meaty fruits, the indeterminate tomatoes are plum-shaped. The tomatoes reach up to 6 feet in height.

Manitoba

With a red color, the determinate tomatoes are suitable for small gardens in cooler climates.

Marglobe

The juicy indeterminate tomatoes come with an orange-red skin. They are suitable for canning.

Marion

The indeterminate tomatoes are resistant to disease. They come in a dark red color.

Martino’s Roma

With a distinct Italian profile, the determinate tomatoes are known to fall off when fully ripe.

Marizol Magic

Similar to beefsteaks but smaller in size, the indeterminate tomatoes can grow up to 2oz.

Matt’s Wild Cherry      

Smaller than regular indeterminate cherry tomatoes, Matt’s Wild Cherry come from Mexico’s wild tomatoes.

Marvel Stripe

These indeterminate orange tomatoes also feature distinct orange stripes. They have juicy flesh.

Milano Plum

The determinate tomatoes have a sweet flavor. They are suitable for sauces.

Mexico Midget

Bering very productive, the indeterminate tomatoes are rich in flavor. Their size varies between ½-¾ inches.

Mini Orange

The indeterminate smooth tomatoes grow in clusters of 4 to 6. The tomatoes have a rich flavor.

Missouri Pink Love

As their name suggests, the tomatoes come in a pink color. The indeterminate tomatoes have a juicy profile.

Moneymaker

With inexpensive seeds, the indeterminate tomatoes take 80 days to mature.

Moonglow

With a bright orange color, the indeterminate tomatoes ripen through the season. They have a distinctly-solid flesh.

Mortgage Lifter

These beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes used to pay off a mortgage.

Moskovich

These indeterminate tomatoes have a rich taste and slightly flattened shape. They are suitable for cold climates.

Mr. Stripey

The indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 1lbs. They come with high sugar content and with a yellow color with red stripes.

Mule Team

The red indeterminate tomatoes resist drought. They are also disease-resistant.

N

Napoli

The determinate tomatoes are suitable for sauces and soups. They have a tangy flavor.

Nebraska Wedding

These determinate tomatoes ripen over a two-week period. They can be traced back to 1983.

Neves Azorean Red

The beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes are rich in flavor. Their fruits grow large, up to 16oz per piece.

New Big Dwarf

The determinate tomatoes were introduced in 1919. They are a cross between Ponderosa and Dwarf Champion.

New Hampshire Red Pickling

The determinate tomatoes are small but pear-shaped. Their fruits grow up to 0.7oz.

New Yorker

The determinate tomatoes are suitable for cooler climates. They mature in 63 days.

Northern Delight

With a determinate profile, the tomatoes are sweet and suitable for early crops for cooler seasons.

Nyagous

Free from blemishes, the indeterminate tomatoes have a brown-red color. They are very productive.

O

Old German

The indeterminate red and yellow tomatoes come with few seeds. The color of the skin is also visible in the flesh of the tomatoes.

Old Virginia

The indeterminate tomatoes are suitable for hot climates. They come with thick skin which resists cracking.

Omar Lebanese

The indeterminate beefsteaks have a rich sweet flavor. The fruits reach up to 2 pounds.

Opalka

Growing between 3 and 6 inches, the fruits of the tomatoes have few seeds. The indeterminate tomatoes hold well on the vine.

Orange Banana

With a distinct orange color, the indeterminate tomatoes have fruits of up to 6oz. They are plum-shaped.

Orange Minsk

The beefsteak indeterminate tomatoes have a dark orange color. They grow up to 12 oz per fruit.

Oregon Spring

The determinate vines are recommended for early growth. The fruits come with a low number of seeds.

P

Pantano Romanesco

With a rich flavor, the indeterminate tomatoes take 80 days to mature.

Paul Robeson  

With a dark red to black color, the indeterminate tomatoes mature in 90 days. They come from Russia.

Peach Jaune

With a pink look and a fuzzy skin, the indeterminate tomatoes have a refreshingly sweet flavor.

Pearson Improved

The determinate wines can be grown in dry regions. The tomatoes are juicy and used for canning.

Persimmon

Originating in Russia, the orange tomatoes can reach 1lbs in weight. The indeterminate tomatoes are blemish-free.

Picardy

Traced back to the 1890’s France, the indeterminate vines produce until frost. They have a meaty texture.

Pineapple

The yellow skin with red streaks is what inspired the names of these indeterminate tomatoes. They come in large sizes.

Pink Accordian

These distinct indeterminate tomatoes are suitable for slicing. They come in a light pink color.

Pink Oxheart

The indeterminate vines are known for their 1-2 pound size. They come with a firm texture.

Pink Ping Pong

At 3oz, the indeterminate tomatoes have the size of a ping pong ball. The tomatoes are suitable for salads.

Plum Lemon

The indeterminate tomatoes look similarly to lemons. Their taste is mild-citrusy.

Polish Pastel

The ribbed indeterminate tomatoes come with a 1-pound weight. The tomatoes have a rich flavor.

Ponderosa

The indeterminate tomatoes can be traced to 1891. They usually come in sizes between 1 and 2 pounds.

Porter

With rich red color, the indeterminate tomatoes are crack-resistant. They are suitable for canning.

Principe Borghese

The plum-shaped indeterminate tomatoes have a rich taste. They are suitable for drying.

Prudens Purple

With a dark pink-purple color, the indeterminate tomatoes are rich in taste. They have firm flesh.

Purple Calabash

With a dark marooned color, the indeterminate tomatoes have a complex flavor. They grow in crops of 3-inch tomatoes.

Purple Russian

The red indeterminate tomatoes have a sweet flavor. They are distinctly pear-shaped.

Powers

Probably originating in Mexico, the indeterminate tomatoes come with a translucent yellow color. They are very productive.

Prescott

These determinate heirloom tomatoes are suitable for higher altitudes and colder climates. They are used for canning and salads.

Pride of Flanders

These black determinate tomatoes were developed by Tom Wagner. The cherry tomatoes still have a novelty profile as they were introduced around 2.000.

Principe Borghese

The Italian tomatoes are suitable for drying. They are determinate and they produce plum-shaped fruits.

R

RAF

The semi-determinate round tomatoes have a red color. They mature in 75 days.

Red Currant

The miniature tomatoes take at least 65 days to mature. Their indeterminate profile also comes with regular leaves.

Redfield Beauty

The indeterminate tomatoes originate in Florida. They are characterized by productive plants.

Red Fig

With pear-shaped fruits, the indeterminate tomatoes originate in Philadelphia. They are suitable for drying.

Red Oxheart

The heart-shaped indeterminate tomatoes are recommended for slicing. They have a rich fruity taste.

Red Pear

Dating back to the 1700s, the indeterminate tomatoes can deal with early blight. Their fruits are distinctly blemish-free.

Red Robin

With 54 days needed to reach maturity, the determinate tomatoes have a sweet flavor. They are consumed fresh.

Red Rose

The indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes can be consumed fresh. They reach 10oz per fruit.

Red Sweet Pea Currant

The small ¼in indeterminate tomatoes come with a rich taste. They are consumed fresh.

Red Zebra

Discovered on the fields of California, the indeterminate tomatoes come with a distinct red look with orange stripes.

Redfield Beauty

Selected from Livingston’s Beauty, the indeterminate tomatoes have a pink color. The plant reaches 6 feet.

Riesentraube

Originating in Germany, the indeterminate tomatoes can bear fruits of up to 1in.

Rowdy Red

Suitable for hot climates, the indeterminate tomatoes have a red color. They make fruits of up to 8oz.

Roma

The indeterminate tomatoes are known for making good sauces. Their fruits weigh between 2 and 3 ounces.

Rose

The indeterminate tomatoes have an Amish origin. They are rich in flavor.

Rosella Crimson

These pink determinate tomatoes have a balanced flavor. They are a cross between Budai Torpe and Stump and one of the results of the Dwarf Tomato Project.

Rosso Sicilian

These bright red tomatoes can grow up to 6 ounces. The indeterminate fruits are used for sauces.

Rounghwood Golden Plum

The semi-determinate yellow-orange tomatoes were developed by William Woys Wearer. They are suitable for salads.

Rutgers

The indeterminate heirloom tomatoes are a cross. They come from Marglobe and J.T.D.

S

Salvaterra Select

With a sweet flavor, the indeterminate tomatoes are used for sauces. They have average productivity.

San Marzano

The indeterminate tomatoes take 85 days to mature. Their seeds are available for purchase.

Santorini

Originating from Greece’s Santorini, the indeterminate tomatoes are small by nature.

Sasha Altai

The indeterminate tomatoes were gifted in 1989’s Siberia by a man called Sasha. They have been seen as one of the best early producing tomatoes in the world.

Sausage

The indeterminate vines are very productive. They are known for heavy crops and banana-like shape.

Sheboygan

With a pink color, the plum-shaped indeterminate tomatoes are used in pasta. Their fruits vary between 4 and 6 inches.

Scarlet Beefsteak

With a meaty texture, the indeterminate tomatoes come with weights of up to 1 pound. They can be grown in small gardens.

Schellenberg Favorite

The oval red-orange indeterminate tomatoes come from Germany’s Manheim family. The tomatoes resist cracking.

Sean’s Yellow Dwarf

The yellow-orange determinate tomatoes are medium-sized. They mature in 80 days.

Sheboygan

Growing up to 6 ounces, the indeterminate tomatoes originate in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  They are very productive.

Siberian

These determinate tomatoes have fruits of up to 3 inches. They are not to be confused with Siberia tomatoes.

Siletz

The determinate red tomatoes are acclimatized to cooler climates. They are used as slicing tomatoes.

Silvery Fir

These determinate tomatoes grow on 24” plants. They have Russian roots.

Soldacki

The indeterminate tomatoes are believed to originate in Poland. They have thin skin susceptible to cracking.

Sophie’s Choice

The determinate tomatoes were introduced in Edmonton, Canada. They are suitable for cooler areas.

Southern Night

With a rich tomato flavor, the indeterminate plant grows to 4 feet producing 10oz fruits.

Speckled Roman

The indeterminate tomatoes are red with orange stripes. The tomatoes are a cross between Antique Roman and Banana Legs.

Speckled Siberian

The determinate red tomatoes produce 2-inch fruits. They are suitable for salads.

Slava

Producing well in Northern climates, the indeterminate tomatoes are believed to originate from former Czechoslovakia.

Sprite

Made for salads or eating fresh, the determinate tomatoes produce until frost. They have thin skins.

Stripped German

The distinct red-yellow indeterminate tomatoes are made for slicing. They have a tart flavor.

Stupice

With 62 days needed to reach maturity, the indeterminate tomatoes have distinct potato-type leaves.

Sub-Arctic Plenty

With upright stems, the determinate vines are made for colder environments. They are recommended for early harvests.

Sugar Lump

Growing in clusters of 12 fruits, the indeterminate German tomatoes have a sweet taste. They are characterized by vivid red color.

Super Italian

The elongated Italian indeterminate tomatoes are used for sauces and canning. The fruits can reach weights of 10 ounces.

Super Sioux

The globe-shaped indeterminate tomatoes are suitable for hot weather. They are used for canning or consumed fresh.

Sweetie

With high sugar content, the indeterminate tomatoes are sweet. The sweet tomatoes grow in clusters of up to 20.

Swiss Alpine

The small 5-ounce tomatoes originate in Switzerland. They are suitable for cold weather.

Surrender’s Indian Curry

The red determinate tomatoes have regular leaves. They come from Indian gardener Surender Katta.

Sweet Israeli

The determinate red tomatoes have bushy, regular leaves. They come from Israel.

Sweet Pea Currant

With an indeterminate profile, they are used as a garnish. They are considered one of the best red currant tomatoes.

T

Tangerine

With a distinct tangerine shape, the indeterminate tomatoes have a tart-citrus flavor. The fruits grow up to 7 ounces.

Tasty Evergreen

The tomatoes have a green color. The indeterminate tomatoes are very sweet.

Taxi

The determinate yellow-orange tomatoes are suitable for hot and humid regions. They are good for slicing and sandwiches.

Thessaloniki

The Greek indeterminate tomatoes have medium acidity. They resist cracking and high temperatures.

Tigerella

With a distinct look with yellow stripes, the tomatoes measure up to 2 inches. They have a tangy-tart taste.

Ten Fingers of Naples

The red determinate tomatoes have an Italian elongated shape. They have a rich flavor and they can be used for canning.

Tiny Tim

With only 45 days needed to reach maturity, the determinate tomatoes were developed by the University of New Hampshire.

Tondino di Manduria

The semi-determinate tomatoes originate from Southern Italy. They are suitable for dryer regions.

Tommy Toe

Being indeterminate, the cherry tomatoes are considered to be very productive. The plants are very vigorous.

Trophy

These round tomatoes can grow up to 7 ounces. The indeterminate tomatoes are used for slicing as a result.

Traveler

Originating from Arkansas, the indeterminate tomatoes come with regular leaves.

Trip-L-Crop

The meaty indeterminate vines grow up to 25 feet. The fruits are used for slicing and canning.

Tomaccio

The round indeterminate tomatoes come with a distinct red color. They were developed in Israel.

Trucker’s Favorite Pink

The 3” pink tomatoes are known for their strong flavor. The indeterminate tomatoes have good blight resistance.

U

Ukrainian Purple

The indeterminate tomatoes are resistant to cracking. They might also be available under the name of Purple Russian.

V

Variegated

With fruits growing all season, the indeterminate tomatoes have variegated coloration. The tomato fruits can reach a size of 2 inches in diameter.

Velvet Red

These tomatoes are easy to recognize with due to the silvery-grey foliage. The indeterminate tomatoes can grow up to an inch.

Viktorina

The determinate tomatoes have a pink color. They take 68 days to mature.

Vintage Vine

With a pale-pink color, the indeterminate tomatoes have a sweet taste. They can be served fresh.

W

Watermelon Beefsteak

The indeterminate vines grow in heavy crops. The meat of the fruit is purple-red, similar to the flesh of a watermelon.

Wapsipinicon Peach

As most Peach tomatoes, Wapsipinicons have a fuzzy skin texture. These indeterminate tomatoes can be recognized due to their distinct yellow color.

White Cherry

These indeterminate tomatoes mature early. Their color is pale yellow to ivory.

White Tomesol

With a distinct color combination of pale yellow and pink, the indeterminate tomatoes have a sweet flavor.

White Wonder

With high sugar content, the indeterminate vines are white when fully ripe. Fruits weigh up to 4 ounces each.

Window Box

The oval 3-ounce red fruits are planted in the fall. The determinate vines grow oval tomatoes.

Whittemore

With deep ribbings, these indeterminate tomatoes grow fruits of up to 2 pounds.

Wisconsin 55

With a distinct bright red color, the indeterminate tomatoes are seen on rich soils. They are used for canning.

Wisconsin Chief

Developed by the University of Wisconsin, the semi-determinate tomatoes are good for all purposes. They are not as red as Wisconsin 55.

Y

Yellow Pear

The indeterminate tomatoes come with a lemony-yellow color. With smaller seed cavities and lower acidity, they are used in salads and sandwiches.

42 Days

The openly-pollinated determinate tomatoes come with a plant size of up to 2 feet. The fruits have very few seeds.

Want to learn more about heirloom tomatoes?

See these helpful resources:

Heirloom Tomato & Goat Cheese Napoleon

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
4 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese
2 tablespoons cream (or half and half)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato jam (or apricot or other light colored jam)
1-1/2 pounds heirloom or vine-ripened tomatoes, cored and sliced 1/3-inch thick

Method
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

2. Unfold puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut along the fold lines into three strips. Place on baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Cut in half with a serrated knife, creating a top and bottom.

3. Stir the cream, herbs and pepper into the goat cheese.

4. Spread the goat cheese on the top and bottom of two of the puff pastries. (The third top and bottom will become the middle layer of the other two.)

5. Spread the middle layer with the jam (just 1 side of each, it doesn’t matter if you do the inside or the outside.)

6. Layer 1/4 of the sliced tomatoes on each of the two bottom halves with the goat cheese. Top each with the jam smeared layer. Layer with the remaining tomatoes and place the tops on. Cut into thirds, crosswise, to create six pieces and serve.

Law 24 of the 48 Laws of Power; Play the perfect courtier

This is law 24 of the “48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green. Reprinted in it’s entirety. I hope that you all enjoy it.

According to Law 24 of the 48 Laws of Power, to thrive in whatever court or environment you’re playing for power in, learn the rules and know how to manipulate them. Even in modern times, a skilled courtier or functionary who can successfully navigate and thrive in the world of power has great power himself.

LAW 24

PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER

JUDGMENT

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

COURT SOCIETY

It is a fact of human nature that the structure of a court society forms itself around power. In the past, the court gathered around the ruler, and had many functions: Besides keeping the ruler amused, it was a way to solidify the hierarchy of royalty, nobility, and the upper classes, and to keep the nobility both subordinate and close to the ruler, so that he could keep an eye on them. The court serves power in many ways, but most of all it glorifies the ruler, providing him with a microcosmic world that must struggle to please him.

To be a courtier was a dangerous game. A nineteenth-century Arab traveler to the court of Darfur, in what is now Sudan, reported that courtiers there had to do whatever the sultan did: If he were injured, they had to suffer the same injury; if he fell off his horse during a hunt, they fell, too. Mimicry like this appeared in courts all over the world. More troublesome was the danger of displeasing the ruler—one wrong move spelled death or exile. The successful courtier had to walk a tightrope, pleasing but not pleasing too much, obeying but somehow distinguishing himself from the other courtiers, while also never distinguishing himself so far as to make the ruler insecure.

Great courtiers throughout history have mastered the science of manipulating people. They make the king feel more kingly; they make everyone else fear their power. They are magicians of appearance, knowing that most things at court are judged by how they seem. Great courtiers are gracious and polite; their aggression is veiled and indirect.

Masters of the word, they never say more than necessary, getting the most out of a compliment or hidden insult. They are magnets of pleasure—people want to be around them because they know how to please, yet they neither fawn nor humiliate themselves. Great courtiers become the king’s favorites, enjoying the benefits of that position. They often end up more powerful than the ruler, for they are wizards in the accumulation of influence.

Many today dismiss court life as a relic of the past, a historical curiosity. They reason, according to Machiavelli, “as though heaven, the sun, the elements, and men had changed the order of their motions and power, and were different from what they were in ancient times.” There may be no more Sun Kings but there are still plenty of people who believe the sun revolves around them. The royal court may have more or less disappeared, or at least lost its power, but courts and courtiers still exist because power still exists. A courtier is rarely asked to fall off a horse anymore, but the laws that govern court politics are as timeless as the laws of power. There is much to be learned, then, from great courtiers past and present.

THE TWO DOGS

Barbos, the faithful yard-dog who serves his master zealously, happens to see his old acquaintance Joujou, the curly lapdog, seated at the window on a soft down cushion. 

Sidling fondly up to her, like a child to a parent, he all but weeps with emotion; and there, under the window. he whines, wags his tail, and bounds about.

“What sort of life do you lead now, Joujoutka, ever since the master took you into his mansion?

You remember, no doubt, how we often used to suffer hunger out in the yard. What is your present service like?


“It would be a sin in me to murmur against my good fortune, ” answers Joujoutka.

“My master cannot make enough of me. I live amidst riches and plenty, and I eat and drink off silver. I frolic with the master, and, if I get tired, I take my ease on carpets or on a soft couch.

And how do you get on?” “I?” replies Barbos, letting his tail dangle like a whip, and hanging his head.

“I live as I used to do. I suffer from cold and hunger; and here, while guarding my master’s house, I have to sleep at the foot of the wall, and I get drenched in the rain.

And if I bark at the wrong time, I am whipped. But how did you, Joujou, who were so small and weak, get taken into favor, while I jump out of my skin to no purpose?


What is it you do?” “‘What is it you do?’ A pretty question to ask!” replied Joujou, mockingly. “I walk upon my hind legs.”

FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844

THE LAWS OF COURT POLITICS

Avoid Ostentation. It is never prudent to prattle on about yourself or call too much attention to your actions. The more you talk about your deeds the more suspicion you cause. You also stir up enough envy among your peers to induce treachery and backstabbing. Be careful, ever so careful, in trumpeting your own achievements, and always talk less about yourself than about other people. Modesty is generally preferable.

Practice Nonchalance. Never seem to be working too hard. Your talent must appear to flow naturally, with an ease that makes people take you for a genius rather than a workaholic. Even when something demands a lot of sweat, make it look effortless— people prefer to not see your blood and toil, which is another form of ostentation. It is better for them to marvel at how gracefully you have achieved your accomplishment than to wonder why it took so much work.

Be Frugal with Flattery. It may seem that your superiors cannot get enough flattery, but too much of even a good thing loses its value. It also stirs up suspicion among your peers. Learn to flatter indirectly—by downplaying your own contribution, for example, to make your master look better.

It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and wilful incivility, is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a counteran avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy. A sensible man will be generous in the use of it.... Wax, a substance naturally hard and brittle, can be made soft by the application of a little warmth, so that it will take any shape you please. In the same way, by being polite and friendly, you can make people pliable and obliging, even though they are apt to be crabbed and malevolent. Hence politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860

Arrange to Be Noticed. There is a paradox: You cannot display yourself too brazenly, yet you must also get yourself noticed. In the court of Louis XIV, whoever the king decided to look at rose instantly in the court hierarchy. You stand no chance of rising if the ruler does not notice you in the swamp of courtiers. This task requires much art. It is often initially a matter of being seen, in the literal sense. Pay attention to your physical appearance, then, and find a way to create a distinctive—a subtly distinctive—style and image.

Alter Your Style and Language According to the Person You Are Dealing With. The pseudo-belief in equality—the idea that talking and acting the same way with everyone, no matter what their rank, makes you somehow a paragon of civilization—is a terrible mistake. Those below you will take it as a form of condescension, which it is, and those above you will be offended, although they may not admit it. You must change your style and your way of speaking to suit each person. This is not lying, it is acting, and acting is an art, not a gift from God. Learn the art. This is also true for the great variety of cultures found in the modern court: Never assume that your criteria of behavior and judgment are universal. Not only is an inability to adapt to another culture the height of barbarism, it puts you at a disadvantage.

Never Be the Bearer of Bad News. The king kills the messenger who brings bad news: This is a cliche but there is truth to it. You must struggle and if necessary lie and cheat to be sure that the lot of the bearer of bad news falls on a colleague, never on you. Bring only good news and your approach will gladden your master.

Never Affect Friendliness and Intimacy with Your Master. He does not want a friend for a subordinate, he wants a subordinate. Never approach him in an easy, friendly way, or act as if you are on the best of terms—that is his prerogative. If he chooses to deal with you on this level, assume a wary chumminess. Otherwise err in the opposite direction, and make the distance between you clear.

Never Criticize Those Above You Directly. This may seem obvious, but there are often times when some sort of criticism is necessary—to say nothing, or to give no advice, would open you to risks of another sort. You must learn, however, to couch your advice and criticism as indirectly and as politely as possible. Think twice, or three times, before deciding you have made them sufficiently circuitous. Err on the side of subtlety and gentleness.

Be Frugal in Asking Those Above You for Favors. Nothing irritates a master more than having to reject someone’s request. It stirs up guilt and resentment. Ask for favors as rarely as possible, and know when to stop. Rather than making yourself the supplicant, it is always better to earn your favors, so that the ruler bestows them willingly. Most important: Do not ask for favors on another person’s behalf, least of all a friend’s.

Never Joke About Appearances or Taste. A lively wit and a humorous disposition are essential qualities for a good courtier, and there are times when vulgarity is appropriate and engaging. But avoid any kind of joke about appearance or taste, two highly sensitive areas, especially with those above you. Do not even try it when you are away from them. You will dig your own grave.

Do Not Be the Court Cynic. Express admiration for the good work of others. If you constantly criticize your equals or subordinates some of that criticism will rub off on you, hovering over you like a gray cloud wherever you go. People will groan at each new cynical comment, and you will irritate them. By expressing modest admiration for other people’s achievements, you paradoxically call attention to your own. The ability to express wonder and amazement, and seem like you mean it, is a rare and dying talent, but one still greatly valued.

Be Self-observant. The mirror is a miraculous invention; without it you would commit great sins against beauty and decorum. You also need a mirror for your actions. This can sometimes come from other people telling you what they see in you, but that is not the most trustworthy method: You must be the mirror, training your mind to try to see yourself as others see you. Are you acting too obsequious? Are you trying too hard to please? Do you seem desperate for attention, giving the impression that you are on the decline? Be observant about yourself and you will avoid a mountain of blunders.

Master Your Emotions. As an actor in a great play, you must learn to cry and laugh on command and when it is appropriate. You must be able both to disguise your anger and frustration and to fake your contentment and agreement. You must be the master of your own face. Call it lying if you like; but if you prefer to not play the game and to always be honest and upfront, do not complain when others call you obnoxious and arrogant.

Fit the Spirit of the Times. A slight affectation of a past era can be charming, as long as you choose a period at least twenty years back; wearing the fashions of ten years ago is ludicrous, unless you enjoy the role of court jester. Your spirit and way of thinking must keep up with the times, even if the times offend your sensibilities. Be too forward- thinking, however, and no one will understand you. It is never a good idea to stand out too much in this area; you are best off at least being able to mimic the spirit of the times.

Be a Source of Pleasure. This is critical. It is an obvious law of human nature that we will flee what is unpleasant and distasteful, while charm and the promise of delight will draw us like moths to a flame. Make yourself the flame and you will rise to the top. Since life is otherwise so full of unpleasantness and pleasure so scarce, you will be as indispensable as food and drink. This may seem obvious, but what is obvious is often ignored or unappreciated. There are degrees to this: Not everyone can play the role of favorite, for not everyone is blessed with charm and wit. But we can all control our unpleasant qualities and obscure them when necessary.

A man who knows the court is master of his gestures, of his eyes and of his face; he is profound, impenetrable; he dissimulates bad offices, smiles at his enemies, controls his irritation, disguises his passions, belies his heart, speaks and acts against his feelings.

Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696

SCENES OF COURT LIFE: Exemplary Deeds and Fatal Mistakes

Scene I

Alexander the Great, conqueror of the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East through to India, had had the great Aristotle as his tutor and mentor, and throughout his short life he remained devoted to philosophy and his master’s teachings. He once complained to Aristotle that during his long campaigns he had no one with whom he could discuss philosophical matters. Aristotle responded by suggesting that he take Callisthenes, a former pupil of Aristotle’s and a promising philosopher in his own right, along on the next campaign.

Aristotle had schooled Callisthenes in the skills of being a courtier, but the young man secretly scoffed at them. He believed in pure philosophy, in unadorned words, in speaking the naked truth. If Alexander loved learning so much, Callisthenes thought, he could not object to one who spoke his mind. During one of Alexander’s major campaigns, Callisthenes spoke his mind one too many times and Alexander had him put to death.

Interpretation

In court, honesty is a fool’s game. Never be so self-absorbed as to believe that the master is interested in your criticisms of him, no matter how accurate they are.

Scene II

Beginning in the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, Chinese scholars compiled a series of writings called the 21 Histories, an official biography of each dynasty, including stories, statistics, census figures, and war chronicles. Each history also contained a chapter called “Unusual Events,” and here, among the listings of earthquakes and floods, there would sometimes suddenly appear descriptions of such bizarre manifestations as two-headed sheep, geese flying backward, stars suddenly appearing in different parts of the sky, and so on. The earthquakes could be historically verified, but the monsters and weird natural phenomena were clearly inserted on purpose, and invariably occurred in clusters. What could this mean?

The Chinese emperor was considered more than a man—he was a force of nature. His kingdom was the center of the universe, and everything revolved around him. He embodied the world’s perfection. To criticize him or any of his actions would have been to criticize the divine order. No minister or courtier dared approach the emperor with even the slightest cautionary word. But emperors were fallible and the kingdom suffered greatly by their mistakes. Inserting sightings of strange phenomena into the court chronicles was the only way to warn them. The emperor would read of geese flying backward and moons out of orbit, and realize that he was being cautioned. His actions were unbalancing the universe and needed to change.

Interpretation

For Chinese courtiers, the problem of how to give the emperor advice was an important issue. Over the years, thousands of them had died trying to warn or counsel their master. To be made safely, their criticisms had to be indirect—yet if they were too indirect they would not be heeded. The chronicles were their solution: Identify no one person as the source of criticism, make the advice as impersonal as possible, but let the emperor know the gravity of the situation.

Your master is no longer the center of the universe, but he still imagines that everything revolves around him. When you criticize him he sees the person criticizing, not the criticism itself. Like the Chinese courtiers, you must find a way to disappear behind the warning. Use symbols and other indirect methods to paint a picture of the problems to come, without putting your neck on the line.

Scene III

Early in his career, the French architect Jules Mansart received commissions to design minor additions to Versailles for King Louis XIV. For each design he would draw up his plans, making sure they followed Louis’s instructions closely. He would then present them to His Majesty.

The courtier Saint-Simon described Mansart’s technique in dealing with the king: “His particular skill was to show the king plans that purposely included something imperfect about them, often dealing with the gardens, which were not Mansart’s specialty. The king, as Mansart expected, would put his finger exactly on the problem and propose how to solve it, at which point Mansart would exclaim for all to hear that he would never have seen the problem that the king had so masterfully found and solved; he would burst with admiration, confessing that next to the king he was but a lowly pupil.” At the age of thirty, having used these methods time and time again, Mansart received a prestigious royal commission: Although he was less talented and experienced than a number of other French designers, he was to take charge of the enlargement of Versailles. He was the king’s architect from then on.

Interpretation

As a young man, Mansart had seen how many royal craftsmen in the service of Louis XIV had lost their positions not through a lack of talent but through a costly social blunder. He would not make that mistake. Mansart always strove to make Louis feel better about himself, to feed the king’s vanity as publicly as possible.

Never imagine that skill and talent are all that matter. In court the courtier’s art is more important than his talent; never spend so much time on your studies that you neglect your social skills. And the greatest skill of all is the ability to make the master look more talented than those around him.

Scene IV

Jean-Baptiste Isabey had become the unofficial painter of the Napoleonic court. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, after Napoleon, defeated, had been imprisoned on the island of Elba, the participants in these meetings, which were to decide the fate of Europe, invited Isabey to immortalize the historic events in an epic painting.

When Isabey arrived in Vienna, Talleyrand, the main negotiator for the French, paid the artist a visit. Considering his role in the proceedings, the statesman explained, he expected to occupy center stage in the painting. Isabey cordially agreed. A few days later the Duke of Wellington, the main negotiator for the English, also approached Isabey, and said much the same thing that Talleyrand had. The ever polite Isabey agreed that the great duke should indeed be the center of attention.

Back in his studio, Isabey pondered the dilemma. If he gave the spotlight to either of the two men, he could create a diplomatic rift, stirring up all sorts of resentment at a time when peace and concord were critical. When the painting was finally unveiled, however, both Talleyrand and Wellington felt honored and satisfied. The work depicts a large hall filled with diplomats and politicians from all over Europe. On one side the Duke of Wellington enters the room, and all eyes are turned toward him; he is the “center” of attention. In the very center of the painting, meanwhile, sits Talleyrand.

Interpretation

It is often very difficult to satisfy the master, but to satisfy two masters in one stroke takes the genius of a great courtier. Such predicaments are common in the life of a courtier: By giving attention to one master, he displeases another. You must find a way to navigate this Scylla and Charybdis safely. Masters must receive their due; never inadvertently stir up the resentment of one in pleasing another.

Scene V

George Brummell, also known as Beau Brummell, made his mark in the late 1700s by the supreme elegance of his appearance, his popularization of shoe buckles (soon imitated by all the dandies), and his clever way with words. His London house was the fashionable spot in town, and Brummell was the authority on all matters of fashion. If he disliked your footwear, you immediately got rid of it and bought whatever he was wearing. He perfected the art of tying a cravat; Lord Byron was said to spend many a night in front of the mirror trying to figure out the secret behind Brummell’s perfect knots.

One of Brummell’s greatest admirers was the Prince of Wales, who fancied himself a fashionable young man. Becoming attached to the prince’s court (and provided with a royal pension), Brummell was soon so sure of his own authority there that he took to joking about the prince’s weight, referring to his host as Big Ben. Since trimness of figure was an important quality for a dandy, this was a withering criticism. At dinner once, when the service was slow, Brummell said to the prince, “Do ring, Big Ben.” The prince rang, but when the valet arrived he ordered the man to show Brummell the door and never admit him again.

Despite falling into the prince’s disfavor, Brummell continued to treat everyone around him with the same arrogance. Without the Prince of Wales’ patronage to support him, he sank into horrible debt, but he maintained his insolent manners, and everyone soon abandoned him. He died in the most pitiable poverty, alone and deranged.

Interpretation

Beau Brummell’s devastating wit was one of the qualities that endeared him to the Prince of Wales. But not even he, the arbiter of taste and fashion, could get away with a joke about the prince’s appearance, least of all to his face. Never joke about a person’s plumpness, even indirectly—and particularly when he is your master. The poorhouses of history are filled with people who have made such jokes at their master’s expense.

Scene VI

Pope Urban VIII wanted to be remembered for his skills in writing poetry, which unfortunately were mediocre at best. In 1629 Duke Francesco d‘Este, knowing the pope’s literary pretensions, sent the poet Fulvio Testi as his ambassador to the Vatican. One of Testi’s letters to the duke reveals why he was chosen: “Once our discussion was over, I kneeled to depart, but His Holiness made a signal and walked to another room where he sleeps, and after reaching a small table, he grabbed a bundle of papers and thus, turning to me with a smiling face, he said: ‘We want Your Lordship to listen to some of our compositions.’ And, in fact, he read me two very long Pindaric poems, one in praise of the most holy Virgin, and the other one about Countess Matilde.”

We do not know exactly what Testi thought of these very long poems, since it would have been dangerous for him to state his opinion freely, even in a letter. But he went on to write, “I, following the mood, commented on each line with the needed praise, and, after having kissed His Holiness’s foot for such an unusual sign of benevolence [the reading of the poetry], I left.” Weeks later, when the duke himself visited the pope, he managed to recite entire verses of the pope’s poetry and praised it enough to make the pope “so jubilant he seemed to lose his mind.”

Interpretation

In matters of taste you can never be too obsequious with your master. Taste is one of the ego’s prickliest parts; never impugn or question the master’s taste—his poetry is sublime, his dress impeccable, and his manner the model for all.

Scene VII

One afternoon in ancient China, Chao, ruler of Han from 358 to 333 B.C., got drunk and fell asleep in the palace gardens. The court crown-keeper, whose sole task was to look after the ruler’s head apparel, passed through the gardens and saw his master sleeping without a coat. Since it was getting cold, the crown-keeper placed his own coat over the ruler, and left.

When Chao awoke and saw the coat upon him, he asked his attendants, “Who put more clothes on my body?” “The crown-keeper,” they replied. The ruler immediately called for his official coat-keeper and had him punished for neglecting his duties. He also called for the crown-keeper, whom he had beheaded.

Interpretation

Do not overstep your bounds. Do what you are assigned to do, to the best of your abilities, and never do more. To think that by doing more you are doing better is a common blunder. It is never good to seem to be trying too hard—it is as if you were covering up some deficiency. Fulfilling a task that has not been asked of you just makes people suspicious. If you are a crown-keeper, be a crown-keeper. Save your excess energy for when you are not in the court.

Scene VIII

One day, for amusement, the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) and some friends went sailing in a small boat off Ancona. There they were captured by two Moorish galleys, which hauled them off in chains to Barbary, where they were sold as slaves. For eighteen long months Filippo toiled with no hope of returning to Italy.

On several occasions Filippo saw the man who had bought him pass by, and one day he decided to sketch this man’s portrait, using burnt coal—charcoal—from the fire. Still in his chains, he found a white wall, where he drew a full-length likeness of his owner in Moorish clothing. The owner soon heard about this, for no one had seen such skill in drawing before in these parts; it seemed like a miracle, a gift from God. The drawing so pleased the owner that he instantly gave Filippo his freedom and employed him in his court. All the big men on the Barbary coast came to see the magnificent color portraits that Fra Filippo then proceeded to do, and finally, in gratitude for the honor in this way brought upon him, Filippo’s owner returned the artist safely to Italy.

Interpretation

We who toil for other people have all in some way been captured by pirates and sold into slavery. But like Fra Filippo (if to a lesser degree), most of us possess some gift, some talent, an ability to do something better than other people. Make your master a gift of your talents and you will rise above other courtiers. Let him take the credit if necessary, it will only be temporary: Use him as a stepping stone, a way of displaying your talent and eventually buying your freedom from enslavement.

Scene IX

Alfonso I of Aragon once had a servant who told the king that the night before he had had a dream: Alfonso had given him a gift of weapons, horses, and clothes. Alfonso, a generous, lordly man, decided it would be amusing to make this dream come true, and promptly gave the servant exactly these gifts.

A little while later, the same servant announced to Alfonso that he had had yet another dream, and in this one Alfonso had given him a considerable pile of gold florins. The king smiled and said, “Don’t believe in dreams from now on; they lie.”

Interpretation

In his treatment of the servant’s first dream, Alfonso remained in control. By making a dream come true, he claimed a godlike power for himself, if in a mild and humorous way. In the second dream, however, all appearance of magic was gone; this was nothing but an ugly con game on the servant’s part. Never ask for too much, then, and know when to stop. It is the master’s prerogative to give—to give when he wants and what he wants, and to do so without prompting. Do not give him the chance to reject your requests. Better to win favors by deserving them, so that they are bestowed without your asking.

Scene X

The great English landscape painter J. M. W Turner (1775-1851) was known for his use of color, which he applied with a brilliance and a strange iridescence. The color in his paintings was so striking, in fact, that other artists never wanted his work hung next to theirs: It inevitably made everything around it seem dull.

The painter Sir Thomas Lawrence once had the misfortune of seeing Turner’s masterpiece Cologne hanging in an exhibition between two works of his own. Lawrence complained bitterly to the gallery owner, who gave him no satisfaction: After all, someone’s paintings had to hang next to Turner’s. But Turner heard of Lawrence’s complaint, and before the exhibition opened, he toned down the brilliant golden sky in Cologne, making it as dull as the colors in Lawrence’s works. A friend of Turner’s who saw the painting approached the artist with a horrified look: “What have you done to your picture!” he said. “Well, poor Lawrence was so unhappy,” Turner replied, “and it’s only lampblack. It’ll wash off after the exhibition.”

Interpretation

Many of a courtier’s anxieties have to do with the master, with whom most dangers lie.

Yet it is a mistake to imagine that the master is the only one to determine your fate. Your equals and subordinates play integral parts also. A court is a vast stew of resentments, fears, and powerful envy. You have to placate everyone who might someday harm you, deflecting their resentment and envy and diverting their hostility onto other people.

Turner, eminent courtier, knew that his good fortune and fame depended on his fellow painters as well as on his dealers and patrons. How many of the great have been felled by envious colleagues! Better temporarily to dull your brilliance than to suffer the slings and arrows of envy.

Scene XI

Winston Churchill was an amateur artist, and after World War II his paintings became collector’s items. The American publisher Henry Luce, in fact, creator of Time and Life magazines, kept one of Churchill’s landscapes hanging in his private office in New York.

On a tour through the United States once, Churchill visited Luce in his office, and the two men looked at the painting together. The publisher remarked, “It’s a good picture, but I think it needs something in the foreground—a sheep, perhaps.” Much to Luce’s horror, Churchill’s secretary called the publisher the next day and asked him to have the painting sent to England. Luce did so, mortified that he had perhaps offended the former prime minister. A few days later, however, the painting was shipped back, but slightly altered: a single sheep now grazed peacefully in the foreground.

Interpretation

In stature and fame, Churchill stood head and shoulders above Luce, but Luce was certainly a man of power, so let us imagine a slight equality between them. Still, what did Churchill have to fear from an American publisher? Why bow to the criticism of a dilettante?

A court—in this case the entire world of diplomats and international statesmen, and also of the journalists who court them—is a place of mutual dependence. It is unwise to insult or offend the taste of people of power, even if they are below or equal to you. If a man like Churchill can swallow the criticisms of a man like Luce, he proves himself a courtier without peer. (Perhaps his correction of the painting implied a certain condescension as well, but he did it so subtly that Luce did not perceive any slight.) Imitate Churchill: Put in the sheep. It is always beneficial to play the obliging courtier, even when you are not serving a master.

THE DELICATE GAME OF COURTIERSHIP: A Warning

Talleyrand was the consummate courtier, especially in serving his master Napoleon. When the two men were first getting to know each other, Napoleon once said in passing, “I shall come to lunch at your house one of these days.” Talleyrand had a house at Auteuil, in the suburbs of Paris. “I should be delighted, mon général,” the minister replied, “and since my house is close to the Bois de Boulogne, you will be able to amuse yourself with a bit of shooting in the afternoon.”

“I do not like shooting,” said Napoleon, “But I love hunting. Are there any boars in the Bois de Boulogne?” Napoleon came from Corsica, where boar hunting was a great sport. By asking if there were boars in a Paris park, he showed himself still a provincial, almost a rube. Talleyrand did not laugh, however, but he could not resist a practical joke on the man who was now his master in politics, although not in blood and nobility, since Talleyrand came from an old aristocratic family. To Napoleon’s question, then, he simply replied, “Very few, mon général, but I dare say you will manage to find one.”

It was arranged that Napoleon would arrive at Talleyrand’s house the following day at seven A.M. and would spend the morning there. The “boar hunt” would take place in the afternoon. Throughout the morning the excited general talked nothing but boar hunting. Meanwhile, Talleyrand secretly had his servants go to the market, buy two enormous black pigs, and take them to the great park.

After lunch, the hunters and their hounds set off for the Bois de Boulogne. At a secret signal from Talleyrand, the servants loosed one of the pigs. “I see a boar,” Napoleon cried joyfully, jumping onto his horse to give chase. Talleyrand stayed behind. It took half an hour of galloping through the park before the “boar” was finally captured. At the moment of triumph, however, Napoleon was approached by one of his aides, who knew the creature could not possibly be a boar, and feared the general would be ridiculed once the story got out: “Sir,” he told Napoleon, “you realize of course that this is not a boar but a pig.”

Flying into a rage, Napoleon immediately set off at a gallop for Talleyrand’s house. He realized along the way that he would now be the butt of many a joke, and that exploding at Talleyrand would only make him more ridiculous; it would be better to make a show of good humor. Still, he did not hide his displeasure well.

Talleyrand decided to try to soothe the general’s bruised ego. He told Napoleon not to go back to Paris yet—he should again go hunting in the park. There were many rabbits there, and hunting them had been a favorite pastime of Louis XVI. Talleyrand even offered to let Napoleon use a set of guns that had once belonged to Louis. With much flattery and cajolery, he once again got Napoleon to agree to a hunt.

The party left for the park in the late afternoon. Along the way, Napoleon told Talleyrand, “I’m not Louis XVI, I surely won’t kill even one rabbit.” Yet that afternoon, strangely enough, the park was teeming with rabbits. Napoleon killed at least fifty of them, and his mood changed from anger to satisfaction. At the end of his wild shooting spree, however, the same aide approached him and whispered in his ear, “To tell the truth, sir, I am beginning to believe these are not wild rabbits. I suspect that rascal Talleyrand has played another joke on us.” (The aide was right: Talleyrand had in fact sent his servants back to the market, where they had purchased dozens of rabbits and then had released them in the Bois de Boulogne.)

Napoleon immediately mounted his horse and galloped away, this time returning straight to Paris. He later threatened Talleyrand, warned him not to tell a soul what had happened; if he became the laughingstock of Paris, there would be hell to pay.

It took months for Napoleon to be able to trust Talleyrand again, and he never totally forgave him his humiliation.

Interpretation

Courtiers are like magicians: They deceptively play with appearances, only letting those around them see what they want them to see. With so much deception and manipulation afoot, it is essential to keep people from seeing your tricks and glimpsing your sleight of hand.

Talleyrand was normally the Grand Wizard of Courtiership, and but for Napoleon’s aide, he probably would have gotten away completely with both pleasing his master and having a joke at the general’s expense. But courtiership is a subtle art, and overlooked traps and inadvertent mistakes can ruin your best tricks. Never risk being caught in your maneuvers; never let people see your devices. If that happens you instantly pass in people’s perceptions from a courtier of great manners to a loathsome rogue. It is a delicate game you play; apply the utmost attention to covering your tracks, and never let your master unmask you.

Conclusion

Do not be in error to think that couriers are a thing of the past. They exist. And the only way that can accurately explain the strange behaviors in Washington DC these days. But you do not need to be a courier to a royal family or a leader to be effective. Anytime you are subservient to another, by position, or career, you must be forced to play the role of a courier. Be advised.

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Time in Thy Flight by Ray Bradbury (Full text)

This is a nice story by Ray Bradbury. I like it because it reminds me of the treasures of being a kid in the 1960’s / 1970’s. There things that our communities and parents provided for us that are now seemingly absent in America today. But in those days were simply precious treasures. Ray Bradbury captures these ideas and images so well.

Time in Thy Flight

A wind blew the long years away past their hot faces.

The Time Machine stopped.

“Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight,” said Janet. The two boys looked past her.

Mr. Fields stirred. “Remember, you’re here to observe the behavior of these ancient people. Be inquisitive, be intelligent, observe.”

“Yes,” said the girl and the two boys in crisp khaki uniforms. They wore identical haircuts, had identical wristwatches, sandals, and coloring of hair, eyes, teeth, and skin, though they were not related.

“Shh!” said Mr. Fields.

They looked out at a little Illinois town in the spring of the year. A cool mist lay on the early morning streets.

Far down the street a small boy came running in the last light of the marble-cream moon. Somewhere a great clock struck 5 A.M. far away.

Leaving tennis-shoe prints softly in the quiet lawns, the boy stepped near the invisible Time Machine and cried up to a high dark house window.

The house window opened. Another boy crept down the roof to the ground. The two boys ran off with banana-filled mouths into the dark cold morning.

“Follow them,” whispered Mr. Fields. “Study their life patterns.

Quick!”

Janet and William and Robert ran on the cold pavements of spring, visible now, through the slumbering town, through a park. All about, lights flickered, doors clicked, and other children rushed alone or in gasping pairs down a hill to some gleaming blue tracks.

“Here it comes!” The children milled about before dawn. Far down the shining tracks a small light grew seconds later into steaming thunder.

“What is it?” screamed Janet.

“A train, silly, you’ve seen pictures of them!” shouted Robert.

And as the Time Children watched, from the train stepped gigantic gray elephants, steaming the pavements with their mighty waters, lifting question-mark nozzles to the cold morning sky. Cumbrous wagons rolled from the long freight flats, red and gold. Lions roared and paced in boxed darkness.

“Why— this must be a—circus!” Janet trembled.

“You think so? Whatever happened to them?”

“Like Christmas, I guess. Just vanished, long ago.”

Janet looked around. “Oh, it’s awful, isn’t it.”

The boys stood numbed. “It sure is.”

Men shouted in the first faint gleam of dawn. Sleeping cars drew up, dazed faces blinked out at the children. Horses clattered like a great fall of stones on the pavement.

Mr. Fields was suddenly behind the children. “Disgusting, barbaric, keeping animals in cages. If I’d known this was here, I’d never let you come see. This is a terrible ritual.”

“Oh, yes.” But Janet’s eyes were puzzled. “And yet, you know, it’s like a nest of maggots. I want to study it.”

“I don’t know,” said Robert, his eyes darting, his fingers trembling.

“It’s pretty crazy. We might try writing a thesis on it if Mr. Fields says it’s all right …”

Mr. Fields nodded. “I’m glad you’re digging in here, finding motives, studying this horror. All right—we’ll see the circus this afternoon.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” said Janet.

The Time Machine hummed.

“So that was a circus,” said Janet, solemnly.

The trombone circus died in their ears. The last thing they saw was candy-pink trapeze people whirling while baking powder clowns shrieked and bounded.

“You must admit psychovision’s better,” said Robert slowly.

“All those nasty animal smells, the excitement.” Janet blinked. “That’s bad for children, isn’t it? And those older people seated with the children.

Mothers, fathers, they called them. Oh, that was strange.”

Mr. Fields put some marks in his class grading book.

Janet shook her head numbly. “I want to see it all again. I’ve missed the motives somewhere. I want to make that run across town again in the early morning. The cold air on my face—the sidewalk under my feet—the circus train coming in. Was it the air and the early hour that made the children get up and run to see the train come in? I want to retrace the entire pattern.

Why should they be excited? I feel I’ve missed out on the answer.”

“They all smiled so much,” said William.

“Manic-depressives,” said Robert.

“What are summer vacations? I heard them talk about it.” Janet looked at Mr. Fields.

“They spent their summers racing about like idiots, beating each other up,” replied Mr. Fields seriously.

“I’ll take our State Engineered summers of work for children anytime,” said Robert, looking at nothing, his voice faint.

The Time Machine stopped again.

“The Fourth of July,” announced Mr. Fields. “Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight. An ancient holiday when people blew each other’s fingers off.”

They stood before the same house on the same street but on a soft summer evening. Fire wheels hissed, on front porches laughing children tossed things out that went bang!

“Don’t run!” cried Mr. Fields. “It’s not war, don’t be afraid!”

But Janet’s and Robert’s and William’s faces were pink, now blue, now white with fountains of soft fire.

“We’re all right,” said Janet, standing very still.

“Happily,” announced Mr. Fields, “they prohibited fireworks a century ago, did away with the whole messy explosion.”

Children did fairy dances, weaving their names and destinies on the dark summer air with white sparklers.

“I’d like to do that,” said Janet, softly. “Write my name on the air.

See? I’d like that.”

“What?” Mr. Fields hadn’t been listening.

“Nothing,” said Janet.

“Bang!” whispered William and Robert, standing under the soft summer trees, in shadow, watching, watching the red, white, and green fires on the beautiful summer night lawns. “Bang!”

October.

The Time Machine paused for the last time, an hour later in the month of burning leaves. People bustled into dim houses carrying pumpkins and corn shocks. Skeletons danced, bats flew, candles flamed, apples swung in empty doorways.

“Halloween,” said Mr. Fields. “The acme of horror. This was the age of superstition, you know. Later they banned the Grimm Brothers, ghosts, skeletons, and all that claptrap. You children, thank God, were raised in an antiseptic world of no shadows or ghosts. You had decent holidays like William C. Chatterton’s Birthday, Work Day, and Machine Day.”

They walked by the same house in the empty October night, peering in at the triangle-eyed pumpkins, the masks leering in black attics and damp cellars. Now, inside the house, some party children squatted telling stories, laughing!

“I want to be inside with them,” said Janet at last.

“Sociologically, of course,” said the boys.

“No,” she said.

“What?” asked Mr. Fields.

“No, I just want to be inside, I just want to stay here, I want to see it all and be here and never be anywhere else, I want firecrackers and pumpkins and circuses, I want Christmases and Valentines and Fourths, like we’ve seen.”

“This is getting out of hand …” Mr. Fields started to say.

But suddenly Janet was gone. “Robert, William, come on!” She ran.

The boys leaped after her.

“Hold on!” shouted Mr. Fields. “Robert! William, I’ve got you!” He seized the last boy, but the other escaped. “Janet, Robert—come back here!

You’ll never pass into the seventh grade!

You’ll fail, Janet, Bob— Bob! ”

An October wind blew wildly down the street, vanishing with the children off among moaning trees.

William twisted and kicked.

“No, not you, too, William, you’re coming home with me. We’ll teach those other two a lesson they won’t forget. So they want to stay in the past, do they?” Mr. Fields shouted so everyone could hear. “All right, Janet, Bob, stay in this horror, in this chaos! In a few weeks you’ll come sniveling back here to me. But I’ll be gone! I’m leaving you here to go mad in this world!”

He hurried William to the Time Machine. The boy was sobbing.

“Don’t make me come back here on any more Field Excursions ever again, please, Mr. Fields, please—”

“Shut up!”

Almost instantly the Time Machine whisked away toward the future, toward the underground hive cities, the metal buildings, the metal flowers, the metal lawns.

“Good-bye, Janet, Bob!”

A great cold October wind blew through the town like water. And when it had ceased blowing it had carried all the children, whether invited or uninvited, masked or unmasked, to the doors of houses which closed upon them. There was not a running child anywhere in the night. The wind whined away in the bare treetops.

And inside the big house, in the candlelight, someone was pouring cold apple cider all around, to everyone, no matter who they were.

 

The End

Conclusion

This story takes me back to a time when things were simpler and reminds me of how precious the moments were that we possessed. Don’t let the preciousness of the moments that you have today slip from your hands.

Whether it is the 1950’s or the 1990’s, or even today. Treasure what you have now. For it is all fleeting….

Treasure what you have now.

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Never been to a Russian village? Check out this simulator!

Oh, I tire of all this anti-China bullshit and all the rest. I just want to live my life in peace and smunch. So here, we are going to digress a spell on something that will “hit you out of left field”…

A Russian simulator.

Who’d figure? Right? There’s some outstanding simulations. One of which is the DF-31 simulator that was developed by one of the MM influencers here. Here’s another one. It’s fun.

Well it is true.

I found this cool and relaxing simulation on a Russian website, HERE, and copied it with my own comments and interjections. All credit to the author, and note that it was edited to fit this venue.

A  rural Russian simulator…

Imagine you’re alone in a small wooden hut, not a soul around, only your plot of land, abandoned barns and vast swathes of forest.
.
It’s the closest thing to actually being there.
.

I open my eyes — outside it’s already light. I get out of bed, cover it with a khokhloma throw blanket, admire the dresser with porcelain dinnerware and go downstairs to have breakfast. On the way, I make sure to glance at the candle-lit icon and thank God before tucking in.

It takes you there.

Downstairs, there is a stove and a dining table with a samovar, cherry pie and cabbage pirozhkis. Only, for some reason, I can’t eat them — only pick things up and throw them at the wooden wall.

I really think that there is something really calming about exploring abandoned rural Russia.

There is no TV, let alone a computer, so, out of boredom, I go outside to the sound of birds singing and grasshoppers chirping. On the plot of land, I am greeted by the sight of an empty well, an old barn and the only living creature besides myself — a bull, gazing mournfully into the distance.

This is a description of the video game ‘Симулятор Одиночества В Русской Деревне’ (‘Simulator of Loneliness in a Russian Village’), released by Russian indie developer Flex Entertainment on Steam on April 9, 2021.

It has no monsters (save perhaps for a few rats in the derelict buildings), complex storyline or quests — only an abandoned village in an unknown Russian province and the chance to feel the atmosphere as the sole inhabitant.

“Once there was a bustling life, however, the lack of work, entertainment and generally any prospects forced all the residents to leave.

You are the only one who did not exchange wide fields, dense forests and a morning swim in the river for office work and a dull life in a nine-story panel house. From the point of view of the gameplay, this is a classic walking simulator in recognizable Russian scenery.

Just relax and spend time wandering through the sun-drenched forest and misty swamps, or explore the interiors of the canonical Russian hut, which has realistic graphics and the entire environment is worked out to the smallest detail,” reads the description on the game’s Steam page.

It is, indeed, a classic walking simulator.

The only objective in the game is to explore your own property, study scrawled messages on the walls of the abandoned buildings, or wander through the dense forest, crossing swamps, rivers and small wooden bridges.

If you max up the volume, it might seem you’re not alone in the village — every now and then what seems like footsteps and eerie creaking sounds can be heard.

You can, like your erstwhile neighbors, try to escape to the city, but the mission is impeded by endless forest and no map. You might not even make it back home…

Unsurprisingly, some players complain that the game lacks action — you can’t climb on the stove, drink vodka or go to the banya.

But the developers don’t promise entertainment, just total immersion in the atmosphere of an abandoned Russian backwater.

“The game’s creators highlight the acute topic of the dying Russian countryside, as well as the problem of loneliness and disconnection between people and their own inability and unwillingness to overcome these barriers,” the player by the name of ‘krtdn’ reflects philosophically in his review.

‘Simulator of Loneliness in the Russian Village’ is available on Steam in Russian only for 59 rubles (approx. $0.80).

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Pillar of Fire by Ray Bradbury (Full text)

This is a nice story by Ray Bradbury. Three hundred years after his death, William Lantry awakes from his coffin. One thing is very clear to him – this sterile world without superstition, fear, or imagination must be destroyed. Ray Bradbury was one of the best-known writers of our time. He was a master storyteller, a champion of creative freedom, and a space-age visionary.

Pillar of Fire

I

He came out of the earth, hating. Hate was his father; hate was his mother.

It was good to walk again. It was good to leap up out of the earth, off of your back, and stretch your cramped arms violently and try to take a deep breath!

He tried. He cried out.

He couldn’t breathe. He flung his arms over his face and tried to breathe. It was impossible. He walked on the earth, he came out of the earth.

But he was dead. He couldn’t breathe. He could take air into his mouth and force it half down his throat, with withered moves of long-dormant muscles, wildly, wildly! And with this little air he could shout and cry! He wanted to have tears, but he couldn’t make them come, either. All he knew was that he was standing upright, he was dead, he shouldn’t be walking! He couldn’t breathe and yet he stood.

The smells of the world were all about him. Frustratedly, he tried to smell the smells of autumn. Autumn was burning the land down into ruin. All across the country the ruins of summer lay; vast forests bloomed with flame, tumbled down timber on empty, unleafed timber. The smoke of the burning was rich, blue, and invisible.

He stood in the graveyard, hating. He walked through the world and yet could not taste nor smell of it. He heard, yes. The wind roared on his newly opened ears. But he was dead. Even though he walked he knew he was dead and should expect not too much of himself or this hateful living world.

He touched the tombstone over his own empty grave. He knew his own name again. It was a good job of carving.

WILLIAM LANTRY

That’s what the gravestone said.

His fingers trembled on the cool stone surface.

BORN 1898—DIED 1933

Born again…?

What year? He glared at the sky and the midnight autumnal stars moving in slow illuminations across the windy black. He read the tiltings of centuries in those stars. Orion thus and so, Aurega here! and where Taurus?

There!

His eyes narrowed. His lips spelled out the year:

“2349.”

An odd number. Like a school sum. They used to say a man couldn’t encompass any number over a hundred. After that it was all so damned abstract there was no use counting. This was the year 2349! A numeral, a sum. And here he was, a man who had lain in his hateful dark coffin, hating to be buried, hating the living people above who lived and lived and lived, hating them for all the centuries, until today, now, born out of hatred, he stood by his own freshly excavated grave, the smell of raw earth in the air, perhaps, but he could not smell it!

“I,” he said, addressing a poplar tree that was shaken by the wind, “am an anachronism.” He smiled faintly.

He looked at the graveyard. It was cold and empty. All of the stones had been ripped up and piled like so many flat bricks, one atop another, in the far corner by the wrought iron fence. This had been going on for two endless weeks. In his deep secret coffin he had heard the heartless, wild stirring as the men jabbed the earth with cold spades and tore out the coffins and carried away the withered ancient bodies to be burned. Twisting with fear in his coffin, he had waited for them to come to him.

Today they had arrived at his coffin. But—late. They had dug down to within an inch of the lid. Five o’clock bell, time for quitting. Home to supper.

The workers had gone off. Tomorrow they would finish the job, they said, shrugging into their coats.

Silence had come to the emptied tombyard.

Carefully, quietly, with a soft rattling of sod, the coffin lid had lifted.

William Lantry stood trembling now, in the last cemetery on Earth.

“Remember?” he asked himself, looking at the raw earth. “Remember those stories of that last man on Earth? Those stories of men wandering in ruins, alone? Well, you, William Lantry, are a switch on the old story. Do you know that? You are the last dead man in the whole world!”

There were no more dead people. Nowhere in any land was there a dead person. Impossible! Lantry did not smile at this. No, not impossible at all in this foolish, sterile, unimaginative, antiseptic age of cleansings and scientific methods! People died, oh my God, yes. But— dead people?

Corpses? They didn’t exist!

What happened to dead people?

The graveyard was on a hill. William Lantry walked through the dark burning night until he reached the edge of the graveyard and looked down upon the new town of Salem. It was all illumination, all color. Rocket ships cut fire above it, crossing the sky to all the far ports of Earth.

In his grave the new violence of this future world had driven down and seeped into William Lantry. He had been bathed in it for years. He knew all about it, with a hating dead man’s knowledge of such things.

Most important of all, he knew what these fools did with dead men.

He lifted his eyes. In the center of the town a massive stone finger pointed at the stars. It was three hundred feet high and fifty feet across. There was a wide entrance and a drive in front of it.

In the town, theoretically, thought William Lantry, say you have a dying man. In a moment he will be dead. What happens? No sooner is his pulse cold when a certificate is flourished, made out, his relatives pack him into a car-beetle and drive him swiftly to—

The Incinerator!

That functional finger, that Pillar of Fire pointing at the stars.

Incinerator. A functional, terrible name. But truth is truth in this future world.

Like a stick of kindling your Mr. Dead Man is shot into the furnace.

Flume!

William Lantry looked at the top of the gigantic pistol shoving at the stars. A small pennant of smoke issued from the top.

There’s where your dead people go.

“Take care of yourself, William Lantry,” he murmured. “You’re the last one, the rare item, the last dead man. All the other graveyards of Earth have been blasted up. This is the last graveyard and you’re the last dead man from the centuries. These people don’t believe in having dead people about, much less walking dead people. Everything that can’t be used goes up like a matchstick. Superstitions right along with it!”

He looked at the town. All right, he thought, quietly, I hate you. You hate me, or you would if you knew I existed. You don’t believe in such things as vampires or ghosts. Labels without referents, you cry! You snort. All right, snort! Frankly, I don’t believe in you, either! I don’t like you! You and your Incinerators.

He trembled. How very close it had been. Day after day they had hauled out the other dead ones, burned them like so much kindling. An edict had been broadcast around the world. He had heard the digging men talk as they worked!

“I guess it’s a good idea, this cleaning up the graveyards,” said one of the men.

“Guess so,” said another. “Grisly custom. Can you imagine? Being buried, I mean! Unhealthy! All them germs!”

“Sort of a shame. Romantic, kind of. I mean, leaving just this one graveyard untouched all these centuries. The other graveyards were cleaned out, what year was it, Jim?”

“About 2260, I think. Yeah, that was it, 2260, almost a hundred years ago. But some Salem Committee, they got on their high horse and they said,

‘Look here, let’s have just one graveyard left, to remind us of the customs of the barbarians.’ And the government scratched its head, thunk it over, and said, ‘Okay. Salem it is. But all other graveyards go, you understand, all!’”

“And away they went,” said Jim.

“Sure, they sucked out ’em with fire and steam shovels and rocket-cleaners. If they knew a man was buried in a cow pasture, they fixed him!

Evacuated them, they did. Sort of cruel, I say.”

“I hate to sound old-fashioned,but still there were a lot of tourists came here every year, just to see what a real graveyard was like.”

“Right. We had nearly a million people in the last three years visiting.

A good revenue. But—a government order is an order. The government says no more morbidity, so flush her out we do! Here we go. Hand me that spade, Bill.”

William Lantry stood in the autumn wind, on the hill. It was good to walk again, to feel the wind and to hear the leaves scuttling like mice on the road ahead of him. It was good to see the bitter cold stars almost blown away by the wind.

It was even good to know fear again.

For fear rose in him now, and he could not put it away. The very fact that he was walking made him an enemy. And there was not another friend, another dead man, in all of the world, to whom one could turn for help or consolation. It was the whole melodramatic living world against one. William Lantry. It was the whole vampire-disbelieving, body-burning, graveyard-annihilating world against a man in a dark suit on a dark autumn hill. He put out his pale cold hands into the city illumination. You have pulled the tombstones, like teeth, from the yard, he thought. Now I will find some way to push your Incinerators down into rubble. I will make dead people again, and I will make friends in so doing. I cannot be alone and lonely. I must start manufacturing friends very soon. Tonight.

“War is declared,” he said, and laughed. It was pretty silly, one man declaring war on an entire world.

The world did not answer back. A rocket crossed the sky on a rush of flame, like an Incinerator taking wing.

Footsteps. Lantry hastened to the edge of the cemetery. The diggers, coming back to finish up their work? No. Just someone, a man, walking by.

As the man came abreast the cemetery gate, Lantry stepped swiftly out. “Good evening,” said the man, smiling.

Lantry struck the man in the face. The man fell. Lantry bent quietly down and hit the man a killing blow across the neck with the side of his hand.

Dragging the body back into shadow, he stripped it and changed clothes with it. It wouldn’t do for a fellow to go wandering about this future world with ancient clothing on. He found a small pocket knife in the man’s coat; not much of a knife, but enough if you knew how to handle it properly.

He knew how.

He rolled the body down into one of the already opened and exhumed graves. In a minute he had shoveled dirt down upon it, just enough to hide it.

There was little chance of it being found. They wouldn’t dig the same grave twice.

He adjusted himself in his new loose-fitting metallic suit. Fine, fine.

Hating. William Lantry walked down into town, to do battle with the Earth.

II

The Incinerator was open. It never closed. There was a wide entrance, all lighted up with hidden illumination, there was a helicopter landing table and a beetle drive. The town itself was dying down after another day of the dynamo. The lights were going dim, and the only quiet, lighted spot in the town now was the Incinerator. God, what a practical name, what an unromantic name.

William Lantry entered the wide, well-lighted door. It was an entrance, really; there were no doors to open or shut. People could go in and out, summer or winter, the inside was always warm. Warm from the fire that rushed whispering up the high round flue to where the whirlers, the propellors, the air jets pushed the leafy gray ashes on away for a ten-mile ride down the sky.

There was the warmth of the bakery here. The halls were floored with rubber parquet. You couldn’t make a noise if you wanted to. Music played in hidden throats somewhere. Not music of death at all, but music of life and the way the sun lived inside the Incinerator; or the sun’s brother, anyway. You could hear the flame floating inside the heavy brick wall.

William Lantry descended a ramp. Behind him he heard a whisper and turned in time to see a beetle stop before the entranceway. A bell rang. The music, as if at a signal, rose to ecstatic heights. There was joy in it.

From the beetle, which opened from the rear, some attendants stepped carrying a golden box. It was six feet long and there were sun symbols on it.

From another beetle the relatives of the man in the box stepped and followed as the attendants took the golden box down a ramp to a kind of altar. On the side of the altar were the words, “WE THAT WERE BORN OF THE SUN RETURN TO THE SUN.” The golden box was deposited upon the altar, the music leaped upward, the Guardian of this place spoke only a few words, then the attendants picked up the golden box, walked to a transparent wall, a safety lock, also transparent, and opened it. The box was shoved into the glass slot.

A moment later an inner lock opened, the box was injected into the interior of the flue, and vanished instantly in quick flame.

The attendants walked away. The relatives without a word turned and walked out. The music played.

William Lantry approached the glass fire lock. He peered through the wall at the vast, glowing never-ceasing heart of the Incinerator. It burned steadily, without a flicker, singing to itself peacefully. It was so solid it was like a golden river flowing up out of the earth toward the sky. Anything you put into the river was borne upward, vanished.

Lantry felt again his unreasoning hatred of this thing, this monster, cleansing fire.

A man stood at his elbow. “May I help you, sir?”

“What?” Lantry turned abruptly. “What did you say?”

“May I be of service?”

“I—that is—” Lantry looked quickly at the ramp and the door. His hands trembled at his sides. “I’ve never been in here before.”

“Never?” The Attendant was surprised.

That had been the wrong thing to say, Lantry realized. But it was said, nevertheless. “I mean,” he said. “Not really. I mean, when you’re a child, somehow, you don’t pay attention. I suddenly realized tonight that I didn’t really know the Incinerator.”

The Attendant smiled. “We never know anything, do we, really? I’ll be glad to show you around.”

“Oh, no. Never mind. It—it’s a wonderful place.”

“Yes, it is.” The Attendant took pride in it. “One of the finest in the world, I think.”

“I—” Lantry felt he must explain further. “I haven’t had many relatives die on me since I was a child. In fact, none. So, you see I haven’t been here for many years.”

“I see.” The Attendant’s face seemed to darken somewhat.

What’ve I said now, thought Lantry. What in God’s name is wrong?

What’ve I done? If I’m not careful I’ll get myself shoved right into that monstrous firetrap. What’s wrong with this fellow’s face? He seems to be giving me more than the usual going-over.

“You wouldn’t be one of the men who’ve just returned from Mars, would you?” asked the Attendant.

“No. Why do you ask?”

“No matter.” The Attendant began to walk off. “If you want to know anything, just ask me.”

“Just one thing,” said Lantry.

“What’s that?”

“This.”

Lantry dealt him a stunning blow across the neck.

He had watched the fire-trap operator with expert eyes. Now, with the sagging body in his arms, he touched the button that opened the warm outer lock, placed the body in, heard the music rise, and saw the inner lock open.

The body shot out into the river of fire. The music softened.

“Well done, Lantry, well done.”

Barely an instant later another Attendant entered the room. Lantry was caught with an expression of pleased excitement on his face. The Attendant looked around as if expecting to find someone, then he walked toward Lantry.

“May I help you?”

“Just looking,” said Lantry.

“Rather late at night,” said the Attendant.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

That was the wrong answer, too. Everybody slept in this world.

Nobody had insomnia. If you did you simply turned on a hypnoray, and, sixty seconds later, you were snoring. Oh, he was just full of wrong answers. First he had made the fatal error of saying he had never been in the Incinerator before, when he knew that all children were brought here on tours, every year, from the time they were four, to instill the idea of the clean fire death and the Incinerator in their minds. Death was a bright fire, death was warmth and the sun. It was not a dark, shadowed thing. That was important in their education.

And he, pale, thoughtless fool, had immediately gabbled out his ignorance.

And another thing, this paleness of his. He looked at his hands and realized with growing terror that a pale man also was nonexistent in this world. They would suspect his paleness. That was why the first attendant had asked, “Are you one of those men newly returned from Mars?” Here, now, this new Attendant was clean and bright as a copper penny, his cheeks red with health and energy. Lantry hid his pale hands in his pockets. But he was finally aware of the searching the Attendant did on his face.

“I mean to say,” said Lantry, “I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to think.”

“Was there a service held here a moment ago?” asked the Attendant, looking about.

“I don’t know, I just came in.”

“I thought I heard the fire lock open and shut.”

“I don’t know,” said Lantry.

The man pressed a wall button. “Anderson?”

A voice replied. “Yes.”

“Locate Saul for me, will you?”

“I’ll ring the corridors.” A pause. “Can’t find him.”

“Thanks.” The Attendant was puzzled. He was beginning to make little sniffing motions with his nose. “Do you— smell anything?”

Lantry sniffed. “No. Why?”

“I smell something.”

Lantry took hold of the knife in his pocket. He waited.

“I remember once when I was a kid,” said the man. “And we found a cow lying dead in the field. It had been there two days in the hot sun. That’s what this smell is. I wonder what it’s from?”

“Oh, I know what it is,” said Lantry quietly. He held out his hand.

“Here.”

“What?”

“Me, of course.”

“You?”

“Dead several hundred years.”

“You’re an odd joker.” The Attendant was puzzled.

“Very.” Lantry took out the knife. “Do you know what this is?”

“A knife.”

“Do you ever use knives on people any more?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean—killing them, with knives or guns or poison?”

“You are an odd joker!” The man giggled awkwardly.

“I’m going to kill you,” said Lantry.

“Nobody kills anybody,” said the man.

“Not any more they don’t. But they used to, in the old days.”

“I know they did.”

“This will be the first murder in three hundred years. I just killed your friend. I just shoved him into the fire lock.”

That remark had the desired effect. It numbed the man so completely, it shocked him so thoroughly with its illogical aspects that Lantry had time to walk forward. He put the knife against the man’s chest. “I’m going to kill you.”

“That’s silly,” said the man, numbly. “People don’t do that.”

“Like this,” said Lantry. “You see?”

The knife slid into the chest. The man stared at it for a moment.

Lantry caught the falling body.

III

The Salem flue exploded at six that morning. The great fire chimney shattered into ten thousand parts and flung itself into the earth and into the sky and into the houses of the sleeping people. There was fire and sound, more fire than autumn made burning in the hills.

William Lantry was five miles away at the time of the explosion. He saw the town ignited by the great spreading cremation of it. And he shook his head and laughed a little bit and clapped his hands smartly together.

Relatively simple. You walked around killing people who didn’t believe in murder, had only heard of it indirectly as some dim gone custom of the old barbarian races. You walked into the control room of the Incinerator and said, “How do you work this Incinerator?” and the control man told you, because everybody told the truth in this world of the future, nobody lied, there was no reason to lie, there was no danger to lie against. There was only one criminal in the world, and nobody knew HE existed yet.

Oh, it was an incredibly beautiful setup. The Control Man had told him just how the Incinerator worked, what pressure gauges controlled the flood of fire gases going up the flue, what levers were adjusted or readjusted.

He and Lantry had had quite a talk. It was an easy, free world. People trusted people. A moment later Lantry had shoved a knife in the Control Man also and set the pressure gauges for an overload to occur half an hour later, and walked out of the Incinerator halls, whistling.

Now even the sky was palled with the vast black cloud of the explosion.

“This is only the first,” said Lantry, looking at the sky. “I’ll tear all the others down before they even suspect there’s an unethical man loose in their society. They can’t account for a variable like me. I’m beyond their understanding. I’m incomprehensible, impossible, therefore I do not exist. My God, I can kill hundreds of thousands of them before they even realize murder is out in the world again. I can make it look like an accident each time. Why, the idea is so huge, it’s unbelievable!”

The fire burned the town. He sat under a tree for a long time, until morning. Then, he found a cave in the hills, and went in, to sleep.

He awoke at sunset with a sudden dream of fire. He saw himself pushed into the flue, cut into sections by flame, burned away to nothing. He sat up on the cave floor, laughing at himself. He had an idea.

He walked down into the town and stepped into an audio booth. He dialed OPERATOR. “Give me the Police Department,” he said.

“I beg your pardon?” said the operator.

He tried again. “The Law Force,” he said.

“I will connect you with the Peace Control,” she said, at last.

A little fear began ticking inside him like a tiny watch. Suppose the operator recognized the term Police Department as an anachronism, took his audio number, and sent someone out to investigate? No, she wouldn’t do that.

Why should she suspect? Paranoids were nonexistent in this civilization.

“Yes, the Peace Control,” he said.

A buzz. A man’s voice answered. “Peace Control. Stephens speaking.”

“Give me the Homicide Detail,” said Lantry, smiling.

“The what? ”

“Who investigates murders?”

“I beg your pardon, what are you talking about?”

“Wrong number.” Lantry hung up, chuckling. Ye gods, there was no such a thing as a Homicide Detail. There were no murders, therefore they needed no detectives. Perfect, perfect!

The audio rang back. Lantry hesitated, then answered.

“Say,” said the voice on the phone. “Who are you?”

“The man just left who called,” said Lantry, and hung up again.

He ran. They would recognize his voice and perhaps send someone out to check. People didn’t lie. He had just lied. They knew his voice. He had lied. Anybody who lied needed a psychiatrist. They would come to pick him up to see why he was lying. For no other reason. They suspected him of nothing else. Therefore—he must run.

Oh, how very carefully he must act from now on. He knew nothing of this world, this odd straight truthful ethical world. Simply by looking pale you were suspect. Simply by not sleeping nights you were suspect. Simply by not bathing, by smelling like a—dead cow?—you were suspect. Anything.

He must go to a library. But that was dangerous, too. What were libraries like today? Did they have books or did they have film spools which projected books on a screen? Or did people have libraries at home, thus eliminating the necessity of keeping large main libraries?

He decided to chance it. His use of archaic terms might well make him suspect again, but now it was very important he learn all that could be learned of this foul world into which he had come again. He stopped a man on the street. “Which way to the library?”

The man was not surprised. “Two blocks east, one block north.”

“Thank you.”

Simple as that.

He walked into the library a few minutes later.

“May I help you?”

He looked at the librarian. May I help you, may I help you. What a world of helpful people! “I’d like to ‘have’ Edgar Allan Poe.” His verb was carefully chosen. He didn’t say ‘read.’ He was too afraid that books were passé, that printing itself was a lost art. Maybe all ‘books’ today were in the form of fully delineated three-dimensional motion pictures. How in blazes could you make a motion picture out of Socrates, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Freud?

“What was that name again?”

“Edgar Allan Poe.”

“There is no such author listed in our files.”

“Will you please check?”

She checked. “Oh, yes. There’s a red mark on the file card. He was one of the authors in the Great Burning of 2265.

“How ignorant of me.”

“That’s all right,” she said. “Have you heard much of him?”

“He had some interesting barbarian ideas on death,” said Lantry.

“Horrible ones,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Ghastly.”

“Yes. Ghastly. Abominable, in fact. Good thing he was burned.

Unclean. By the way, do you have any of Lovecraft?”

“Is that a sex book?”

Lantry exploded with laughter. “No, no. It’s a man.”

She riffled the file. “He was burned, too. Along with Poe.”

“I suppose that applies to Machen and a man named Derleth and one named Ambrose Bierce, also?”

“Yes.” She shut the file cabinet. “All burned. And good riddance.” She gave him an odd warm look of interest. “I bet you’ve just come back from Mars.”

“Why do you say that?”

“There was another explorer in here yesterday. He’d just made the Mars hop and return. He was interested in supernatural literature, also. It seems there are actually ‘tombs’ on Mars.”

“What are ‘tombs’?” Lantry was learning to keep his mouth closed.

“You know, those things they once buried people in.”

“Barbarian custom. Ghastly!”

“Isn’t it? Well, seeing the Martian tombs made this young explorer curious. He came and asked if we had any of those authors you mentioned. Of course we haven’t even a smitch of their stuff.” She looked at his pale face.

“You are one of the Martian rocket men, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he said. “Got back on the ship the other day.”

“The other young man’s name was Burke.”

“Of course. Burke! Good friend of mine!”

“Sorry I can’t help you. You’d best get yourself some vitamin shots and some sun lamps. You look terrible, Mr.—?”

“Lantry. I’ll be good. Thanks ever so much. See you next Hallows’

Eve!”

“Aren’t you the clever one.” She laughed. “If there were a Hallows’

Eve, I’d make it a date.”

“But they burned that, too,” he said.

“Oh, they burned everything,” she said. “Good night.”

“Good night.” And he went on out.

Oh, how carefully he was balanced in this world! Like some kind of dark gyroscope, whirling with never a murmur, a very silent man. As he walked along the eight o’clock evening street he noticed with particular interest that there was not an unusual amount of lights about. There were the usual street lights at each corner, but the blocks themselves were only faintly illuminated. Could it be that these remarkable people were not afraid of the dark? Incredible nonsense! Every one was afraid of the dark. Even he himself had been afraid, as a child. It was as natural as eating.

A little boy ran by on pelting feet, followed by six others. They yelled and shouted and rolled on the dark cool October lawn, in the leaves. Lantry looked on for several minutes before addressing himself to one of the small boys who was for a moment taking a respite, gathering his breath into his small lungs, as a boy might blow to refill a punctured paper bag.

“Here, now,” said Lantry. “You’ll wear yourself out.”

“Sure,” said the boy.

“Could you tell me,” said the man, “why there are no street lights in the middle of the blocks?”

“Why?” asked the boy.

“I’m a teacher, I thought I’d test your knowledge,” said Lantry.

“Well,” said the boy, “you don’t need lights in the middle of the block, that’s why.”

“But it gets rather dark,” said Lantry.

“So?” said the boy.

“Aren’t you afraid?” asked Lantry.

“Of what?” asked the boy.

“The dark,” said Lantry.

“Ho ho,” said the boy. “Why should I be?”

“Well,” said Lantry. “It’s black, it’s dark. And after all, street lights were invented to take away the dark and take away fear.”

“That’s silly. Street lights were made so you could see where you were walking. Outside of that there’s nothing.”

“You miss the whole point—” said Lantry. “Do you mean to say you would sit in the middle of an empty lot all night and not be afraid?”

“Of what?”

“Of what, of what, of what, you little ninny! Of the dark!”

“Ho ho.”

“Would you go out in the hills and stay all night in the dark?”

“Sure.”

“Would you stay in a deserted house alone?”

“Sure.”

“And not be afraid?”

“Sure.”

“You’re a liar!”

“Don’t you call me nasty names!” shouted the boy. Liar was the improper noun, indeed. It seemed to be the worst thing you could call a person.

Lantry was completely furious with the little monster. “Look,” he insisted. “Look into my eyes …”

The boy looked.

Lantry bared his teeth slightly. He put out his hands, making a clawlike gesture. He leered and gesticulated and wrinkled his face into a terrible mask of horror.

“Ho ho,” said the boy. “You’re funny.”

“What did you say?”

“You’re funny. Do it again. Hey, gang, c’mere! This man does funny things!”

“Never mind.”

“Do it again, sir.”

“Never mind, never mind. Good night!” Lantry ran off.

“Good night, sir. And mind the dark, sir!” called the little boy.

Of all the stupidity, of all the rank, gross, crawling, jelly-mouthed stupidity! He had never seen the like of it in his life! Bringing the children up without so much as an ounce of imagination! Where was the fun in being children if you didn’t imagine things?

He stopped running. He slowed and for the first time began to appraise himself. He ran his hand over his face and bit his fingers and found that he himself was standing midway in the block and he felt uncomfortable. He moved up to the street corner where there was a glowing lantern. “That’s better,” he said, holding his hands out like a man to an open warm fire.

He listened. There was not a sound except the night breathing of the crickets. Finally there was a fire-hush as a rocket swept the sky. It was the sound a torch might make brandished gently on the dark air.

He listened to himself and for the first time he realized what there was so peculiar to himself. There was not a sound in him. The little nostril and lung noises were absent. His lungs did not take nor give oxygen or carbon dioxide; they did not move. The hairs in his nostrils did not quiver with warm combing air. That faint purling whisper of breathing did not sound in his nose.

Strange. Funny. A noise you never heard when you were alive, the breath that fed your body, and yet, once dead, oh how you missed it!

The only other time you ever heard it was on deep dreamless awake nights when you wakened and listened and heard first your nose taking and gently poking out the air, and then the dull deep dim red thunder of the blood in your temples, in your eardrums, in your throat, in your aching wrists, in your warm loins, in your chest. All of those little rhythms, gone. The wrist beat gone, the throat pulse gone, the chest vibration gone. The sound of the blood coming up down around and through, up down around and through.

Now it was like listening to a statue.

And yet he lived. Or, rather, moved about. And how was this done, over and above scientific explanations, theories, doubts?

By one thing, and one thing alone.

Hatred.

Hatred was a blood in him, it went up down around and through, up down around and through. It was a heart in him, not beating, true, but warm.

He was—what? Resentment. Envy. They said he could not lie any longer in his coffin in the cemetery. He had wanted to. He had never had any particular desire to get up and walk around. It had been enough, all these centuries, to lie in the deep box and feel but not feel the ticking of the million insect watches in the earth around, the moves of worms like so many deep thoughts in the soil.

But then they had come and said, “Out you go and into the furnace!”

And that is the worst thing you can say to any man. You cannot tell him what to do. If you say you are dead, he will want not to be dead. If you say there are no such things as vampires, by God, that man will try to be one just for spite. If you say a dead man cannot walk, he will test his limbs. If you say murder is no longer occurring, he will make it occur. He was, in toto, all the impossible things. They had given birth to him with their practices and ignorances. Oh, how wrong they were. They needed to be shown. He would show them! Sun is good, so is night, there is nothing wrong with dark, they said.

Dark is horror, he shouted, silently, facing the little houses. It is meant for contrast. You must fear, you hear! That has always been the way of this world. You destroyers of Edgar Allan Poe and fine big-worded Lovecraft, you burner of Halloween masks and destroyer of pumpkin jack-o-lanterns! I will make night what it once was, the thing against which man built all his lanterned cities and his many children!

As if in answer to this, a rocket, flying low, trailing a long rakish feather of flame. It made Lantry flinch and draw back.

IV

It was but ten miles to the little town of Science Port. He made it by dawn, walking. But even this was not good. At four in the morning a silver beetle pulled up on the road beside him.

“Hello,” called the man inside.

“Hello,” said Lantry, wearily.

“Why are you walking?” asked the man.

“I’m going to Science Port.”

“Why don’t you ride?”

“I like to walk.”

“Nobody likes to walk. Are you sick? May I give you a ride?”

“Thanks, but I like to walk.”

The man hesitated, then closed the beetle door. “Good night.”

When the beetle was gone over the hill, Lantry retreated into a nearby forest. A world full of bungling, helping people. By God, you couldn’t even walk without being accused of sickness. That meant only one thing. He must not walk any longer, he had to ride. He should have accepted that fellow’s offer.

The rest of the night he walked far enough off the highway so that if a beetle rushed by he had time to vanish in the underbrush. At dawn he crept into an empty dry water drain and closed his eyes.

The dream was as perfect as a rimed snowflake.

He saw the graveyard where he had lain deep and ripe over the centuries. He heard the early morning footsteps of the laborers returning to finish their work.

“Would you mind passing me the shovel, Jim?”

“Here you go.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!”

“What’s up?”

“Look here. We didn’t finish last night, did we?”

“No.”

There was one more coffin, wasn’t there?”

“Yes.”

“Well, here it is, and open!”

“You’ve got the wrong hole.”

“What’s the name say on the gravestone?”

“Lantry. William Lantry.”

“That’s him, that’s the one! Gone!”

“What could have happened to it?”

“How do I know. The body was here last night.”

“We can’t be sure, we didn’t look.”

“God man, people don’t bury empty coffins. He was in his box. Now he isn’t.”

“Maybe this box was empty.”

“Nonsense. Smell that smell? He was here all right.”

A pause.

“Nobody would have taken the body, would they?”

“What for?”

“A curiosity, perhaps.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. People just don’t steal. Nobody steals.”

“Well, then, there’s only one solution.”

“And?”

“He got up and walked away.”

A pause. In the dark dream, Lantry expected to hear laughter. There was none. Instead, the voice of the grave-digger, after a thoughtful pause, said, “Yes. That’s it, indeed. He got up and walked away.”

“That’s interesting to think about,” said the other.

“Isn’t it, though!”

Silence.

Lantry awoke. It had all been a dream, but, how realistic. How strangely the two men had carried on. But not unnaturally, oh, no. That was exactly how you expected men of the future to talk. Men of the future. Lantry grinned wryly. That was an anachronism for you. This was the future. This was happening now. It wasn’t three hundred years from now, it was now, not then, or any other time. This wasn’t the twentieth century. Oh, how calmly those two men in the dream had said, “He got up and walked away.” “—

interesting to think about.” “Isn’t it, though?” With never a quaver in their voices. With not so much as a glance over their shoulders or a tremble of spade in hand. But, of course, with their perfectly honest, logical minds, there was but one explanation; certainly nobody had stolen the corpse. “Nobody steals.” The corpse had simply got up and walked off. The corpse was the only one who could have possibly moved the corpse. By the few casual slow words of the gravediggers Lantry knew what they were thinking. Here was a man that had lain in suspended animation, not really dead, for hundreds of years. The jarring about, the activity, had brought him back.

Everyone had heard of those little green toads that are sealed for centuries inside mud rocks or in ice patties, alive, alive oh! And how when scientists chipped them out and warmed them like marbles in their hands the little toads leapt about and frisked and blinked. Then it was only logical that the gravediggers think of William Lantry in like fashion.

But what if the various parts were fitted together in the next day or so?

If the vanished body and the shattered, exploded Incinerator were connected?

What if this fellow named Burke, who had returned pale from Mars, went to the library again and said to the young woman he wanted some books and she said, “Oh, your friend Lantry was in the other day.” And he’d say, ‘Lantry who? Don’t know anyone by that name.’ And she’d say, “Oh, he lied.” And people in this time didn’t lie. So it would all form and coalesce, item by item, bit by bit. A pale man who was pale and shouldn’t be pale had lied and people don’t lie, and a walking man on a lonely country road had walked and people don’t walk any more, and a body was missing from a cemetery, and the Incinerator had blown up and and and—

They would come after him. They would find him. He would be easy to find. He walked. He lied. He was pale. They would find him and take him and stick him through the open fire lock of the nearest Burner and that would be your Mr. William Lantry, like a Fourth of July set-piece!

There was only one thing to be done efficiently and completely. He arose in violent moves. His lips were wide and his dark eyes were flared and there was a trembling and burning all through him. He must kill and kill and kill and kill and kill. He must make his enemies into friends, into people like himself who walked but shouldn’t walk, who were pale in a land of pinks. He must kill and then kill and then kill again. He must make bodies and dead people and corpses. He must destroy Incinerator after Flue after Burner after Incinerator. Explosion on explosion. Death on death. Then, when the Incinerators were all in thrown ruin, and the hastily established morgues were jammed with the bodies of people shattered by the explosion, then he would begin his making of friends, his enrollment of the dead in his own cause.

Before they traced and found and killed him, they must be killed themselves. So far he was safe. He could kill and they would not kill back.

People simply do not go around killing. That was his safety margin. He climbed out of the abandoned drain, stood in the road.

He took the knife from his pocket and hailed the next beetle.

It was like the Fourth of July! The biggest firecracker of them all. The Science Port Incinerator split down the middle and flew apart. It made a thousand small explosions that ended with a greater one. It fell upon the town and crushed houses and burned trees. It woke people from sleep and then put them to sleep again, forever, an instant later.

William Lantry, sitting in a beetle that was not his own, tuned idly to a station on the audio dial. The collapse of the Incinerator had killed some four hundred people. Many had been caught in flattened houses, others struck by flying metal. A temporary morgue was being set up at—

An address was given.

Lantry noted it with a pad and pencil.

He could go on this way, he thought, from town to town, from country to country, destroying the Burners, the Pillars of Fire, until the whole clean magnificent framework of flame and cauterization was tumbled. He made a fair estimate—each explosion averaged five hundred dead. You could work that up to a hundred thousand in no time.

He pressed the floor stud on the beetle. Smiling, he drove off through the dark streets of the city.

The city coroner had requisitioned an old warehouse. From midnight until four in the morning the gray beetles hissed down the rain-shiny streets, turned in, and the bodies were laid out on the cold concrete floors, with white sheets over them. It was a continuous flow until about four-thirty, then it stopped. There were about two hundred bodies there, white and cold.

The bodies were left alone; nobody stayed behind to tend them. There was no use tending the dead; it was a useless procedure; the dead could take care of themselves.

About five o’clock, with a touch of dawn in the east, the first trickle of relatives arrived to identify their sons or their fathers or their mothers or their uncles. The people moved quickly into the warehouse, made the identification, moved quickly out again. By six o’clock, with the sky still lighter in the east, this trickle had passed on, also.

William Lantry walked across the wide wet street and entered the warehouse.

He held a piece of blue chalk in one hand.

He walked by the coroner who stood in the entranceway talking to two others. “… drive the bodies to the Incinerator in Mellin Town, tomorrow …”

The voices faded.

Lantry moved, his feet echoing faintly on the cool concrete. A wave of sourceless relief came to him as he walked among the shrouded figures. He was among his own. And—better than that! He had created these! He had made them dead! He had procured for himself a vast number of recumbent friends!

Was the coroner watching? Lantry turned his head. No. The warehouse was calm and quiet and shadowed in the dark morning. The coroner was walking away now; across the street, with his two attendants; a beetle had drawn up on the other side of the street, and the coroner was going over to talk with whoever was in the beetle.

William Lantry stood and made a blue chalk pentagram on the floor by each of the bodies. He moved swiftly, swiftly, without a sound, without blinking. In a few minutes, glancing up now and then to see if the coroner was still busy, he had chalked the floor by a hundred bodies. He straightened up and put the chalk in his pocket.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party, now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party, now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party, now is the time …

Lying in the earth, over the centuries, the processes and thoughts of passing peoples and passing times had seeped down to him, slowly, as into a deep-buried sponge. From some death-memory in him now, ironically, repeatedly, a black typewriter clacked out black even lines of pertinent words: Now is the time for all good men, for all good men, to come to the aid of—

William Lantry.

Other words—

Arise my love, and come away—

The quick brown fox jumped over … Paraphrase it. The quick risen body jumped over the tumbled Incinerator…

Lazarus, come forth from the tomb …

He knew the right words. He need only speak them as they had been spoken over the centuries. He need only gesture with his hands and speak the words, the dark words that would cause these bodies to quiver, rise and walk!

And when they had risen he would take them through the town, they would kill others, and the others would rise and walk. By the end of the day there would be thousands of good friends, walking with him. And what of the naïve, living people of this year, this day, this hour? They would be completely unprepared for it. They would go down to defeat because they would not be expecting war of any sort. They wouldn’t believe it possible, it would all be over before they could convince themselves that such an illogical thing could happen.

He lifted his hands. His lips moved. He said the words. He began in a chanting whisper and then raised his voice, louder. He said the words again and again. His eyes were closed tightly. His body swayed. He spoke faster and faster. He began to move forward among the bodies. The dark words flowed from his mouth. He was enchanted with his own formulae. He stooped and made further blue symbols on the concrete, in the fashion of long-dead sorcerers, smiling, confident. Any moment now the first tremor of the still bodies, any moment now the rising, the leaping up of the cold ones!

His hands lifted in the air. His head nodded. He spoke, he spoke, he spoke. He gestured. He talked loudly over the bodies, his eyes flaring, his body tensed. “Now!” he cried, violently. “Rise, all of you!”

Nothing happened.

“Rise!” he screamed, with a terrible torment in his voice.

The sheets lay in white blue-shadow folds over the silent bodies.

“Hear me, and act!” he shouted.

Far away, on the street, a beetle hissed along.

Again, again, again he shouted, pleaded. He got down by each body and asked of it his particular violent favor. No reply. He strode wildly between the even white rows, flinging his arms up, stooping again and again to make blue symbols!

Lantry was very pale. He licked his lips. “Come on, get up,” he said.

“They have, they always have, for a thousand years. When you make a mark

—so! and speak a word—so! they always rise! Why not now, why not you!

Come on, come on, before they come back!”

The warehouse went up into shadow. There were steel beams across and down. In it, under the roof, there was not a sound, except the raving of a lonely man.

Lantry stopped.

Through the wide doors of the warehouse he caught a glimpse of the last cold stars of morning.

This was the year 2349.

His eyes grew cold and his hands fell to his sides. He did not move.

Once upon a time people shuddered when they heard the wind about the house, once people raised crucifixes and wolfbane, and believed in walking dead and bats and loping white wolves. And as long as they believed, then so long did the dead, the bats, the loping wolves exist. The mind gave birth and reality to them.

But …

He looked at the white sheeted bodies.

These people did not believe.

They had never believed. They would never believe. They had never imagined that the dead might walk. The dead went up flues in flame. They had never heard superstition, never trembled or shuddered or doubted in the dark. Walking dead people could not exist, they were illogical. This was the year 2349, man, after all!

Therefore, these people could not rise, could not walk again. They were dead and flat and cold. Nothing, chalk, imprecation, superstition, could wind them up and set them walking. They were dead and knew they were dead!

He was alone.

There were live people in the world who moved and drove beetles and drank quiet drinks in little dimly illumined bars by country roads, and kissed women and talked much good talk all day and every day.

But he was not alive.

Friction gave him what little warmth he possessed.

There were two hundred dead people here in this warehouse now, cold upon the floor. The first dead people in a hundred years who were allowed to be corpses for an extra hour or more. The first not to be immediately trundled to the Incinerator and lit like so much phosphorus.

He should be happy with them, among them.

He was not.

They were completely dead. They did not know nor believe in walking once the heart had paused and stilled itself. They were deader than dead ever was.

He was indeed alone, more alone than any man had ever been. He felt the chill of his aloneness moving up into his chest, strangling him quietly.

William Lantry turned suddenly and gasped.

While he had stood there, someone had entered the warehouse. A tall man with white hair, wearing a light weight tan overcoat and no hat. How long the man had been nearby there was no telling.

There was no reason to stay here. Lantry turned and started to walk slowly out. He looked hastily at the man as he passed and the man with the white hair looked back at him, curiously. Had he heard? The imprecations, the pleadings, the shoutings? Did he suspect? Lantry slowed his walk. Had this man seen him make the blue chalk marks? But then, would he interpret them as symbols of an ancient superstition? Probably not.

Reaching the door, Lantry paused. For a moment he did not want to do anything but lie down and be coldly, really dead again and be carried silently down the street to some distant burning flue and there dispatched in ash and whispering fire. If he was indeed alone and there was no chance to collect an army to his cause, what, then, existed as a reason for going on? Killing? Yes, he’d kill a few thousand more. But that wasn’t enough. You can only do so much of that before they drag you down.

He looked at the cold sky.

A rocket went across the black heaven, trailing fire.

Mars burned red among a million stars.

Mars. The library. The librarian. Talk. Returning rocket men. Tombs.

Lantry almost gave a shout. He restrained his hand, which wanted so much to reach up into the sky and touch Mars. Lovely red star on the sky.

Good star that gave him sudden new hope. If he had a living heart now it would be thrashing wildly, and sweat would be breaking out of him and his pulses would be stammering, and tears would be in his eyes!

He would go down to wherever the rockets sprang up into space. He would go to Mars, one way or another. He would go to the Martian tombs.

There, there were bodies, he would bet his last hatred on it, that would rise and walk and work with him! Theirs was an ancientculture, much different from that of Earth, patterned on the Egyptian, if what the librarian had said was true. And the Egyptian—what a crucible of dark superstition and midnight terror that culture had been. Mars it was, then. Beautiful Mars!

But he must not attract attention to himself. He must move carefully.

He wanted to run, yes, to get away, but that would be the worst possible move he could make. The man with the white hair was glancing at Lantry from time to time, in the entranceway. There were too many people about. If anything happened he would be outnumbered. So far he had taken on only one man at a time.

Lantry forced himself to stop and stand on the steps before the warehouse. The man with the white hair came on onto the steps also and stood, looking at the sky. He looked as if he was going to speak at any moment. He fumbled in his pockets and took out a packet of cigarettes.

V

They stood outside the morgue together, the tall, pink, white-haired man, and Lantry, hands in their pockets. It was a cool night with a white shell of a moon that washed a house here, a road there, and farther on, parts of a river.

“Cigarette?” The man offered Lantry one.

“Thanks.”

They lit up together. The man glanced at Lantry’s mouth. “Cool night.”

“Cool.”

They shifted their feet. “Terrible accident.”

“Terrible.”

“So many dead.”

“So many.”

Lantry felt himself some sort of delicate weight upon a scale. The other man did not seem to be looking at him, but rather listening and feeling toward him. There was a feathery balance here that made for vast discomfort.

He wanted to move away and get out from under this balancing, weighing.

The tall white-haired man said, “My name’s McClure.”

“Did you have any friends inside?” asked Lantry.

“No. A casual acquaintance. Awful accident.”

“Awful.”

They balanced each other. A beetle hissed by on the road with its seventeen tires whirling quietly. The moon showed a little town farther over in the black hills.

“I say,” said the man McClure.

“Yes.”

“Could you answer me a question?”

“Be glad to.” He loosened the knife in his coat pocket, ready.

“Is your name Lantry?” asked the man at last.

“Yes.”

“William Lantry?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re the man who came out of the Salem graveyard day before yesterday, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Good Lord, I’m glad to meet you, Lantry! We’ve been trying to find you for the past twenty-four hours!”

The man seized his hand, pumped it, slapped him on the back.

“What, what?” said Lantry.

“Good Lord, man, why did you run off? Do you realize what an instance this is? We want to talk to you!”

McClure was smiling, glowing. Another handshake, another slap. “I thought it was you!”

The man is mad, thought Lantry. Absolutely mad. Here I’ve toppled his incinerators, killed people, and he’s shaking my hand. Mad, mad!

“Will you come along to the Hall?” said the man, taking his elbow.

“Wh-what hall?” Lantry stepped back.

“The Science Hall, of course. It isn’t every year we get a real case of suspended animation. In small animals, yes, but in a man, hardly! Will you come?”

“What’s the act!” demanded Lantry, glaring. “What’s all this talk.”

“My dear fellow, what do you mean?” the man was stunned.

“Never mind. Is that the only reason you want to see me?”

“What other reason would there be, Mr. Lantry? You don’t know how glad I am to see you!” He almost did a little dance. “I suspected. When we were in there together. You being so pale and all. And then the way you smoked your cigarette, something about it, and a lot of other things, all subliminal. But it is you, isn’t it, it is you!”

“It is I. William Lantry.” Dryly.

“Good fellow! Come along!”

The beetle moved swiftly through the dawn streets. McClure talked rapidly.

Lantry sat, listening, astounded. Here was this fool, McClure, playing his cards for him! Here was this stupid scientist, or whatever, accepting him not as a suspicious baggage, a murderous item. Oh no! Quite the contrary!

Only as a suspended animation case was he considered! Not as a dangerous man at all. Far from it!

“Of course,” cried McClure, grinning. “You didn’t know where to go, whom to turn to. It was all quite incredible to you.”

“Yes.”

“I had a feeling you’d be there at the morgue tonight,” said McClure, happily.

“Oh?” Lantry stiffened.

“Yes. Can’t explain it. But you, how shall I put it? Ancient Americans? You had funny ideas on death. And you were among the dead so long, I felt you’d be drawn back by the accident, by the morgue and all. It’s not very logical. Silly, in fact. It’s just a feeling. I hate feelings but there it was. I came on a, I guess you’d call it a hunch, wouldn’t you?”

“You might call it that.”

“And there you were!”

“There I was,” said Lantry.

“Are you hungry?”

“I’ve eaten.”

“How did you get around?”

“I hitchhiked.”

“You what? ”

“People gave me rides on the road.”

“Remarkable.”

“I imagine it sounds that way.” He looked at the passing houses. “So this is the era of space travel, is it?”

“Oh, we’ve been traveling to Mars for some forty years now.”

“Amazing. And those big funnels, those towers in the middle of every town?”

“Those. Haven’t you heard? The Incinerators. Oh, of course, they hadn’t anything of that sort in your time. Had some bad luck with them. An explosion in Salem and one here, all in a forty-eight-hour period. You looked as if you were going to speak; what is it?”

“I was thinking,” said Lantry. “How fortunate I got out of my coffin when I did. I might well have been thrown into one of your Incinerators and burned up.”

“Quite.”

Lantry toyed with the dials on the beetle dash. He wouldn’t go to Mars. His plans were changed. If this fool simply refused to recognize an act of violence when he stumbled upon it, then let him be a fool. If they didn’t connect the two explosions with a man from the tomb, all well and good. Let them go on deluding themselves. If they couldn’t imagine someone being mean and nasty and murderous, heaven help them. He rubbed his hands with satisfaction. No, no Martian trip for you, as yet, Lantry lad. First, we’ll see what can be done boring from the inside. Plenty of time. The Incinerators can wait an extra week or so. One has to be subtle, you know. Any more immediate explosions might cause quite a ripple of thought.

McClure was gabbling wildly on.

“Of course, you don’t have to be examined immediately. You’ll want a rest. I’ll put you up at my place.”

“Thanks. I don’t feel up to being probed and pulled. Plenty of time in a week or so.”

They drew up before a house and climbed out.

“You want to sleep, naturally.”

“I’ve been asleep for centuries. Be glad to stay awake. I’m not a bit tired.”

“Good.” McClure let them into the house. He headed for the drink bar.

“A drink will fix us up.”

“You have one,” said Lantry. “Later for me. I just want to sit down.”

“By all means sit.” McClure mixed himself a drink. He looked around the room, looked at Lantry, paused for a moment with the drink in his hand, tilted his head to one side, and put his tongue in his cheek. Then he shrugged and stirred the drink. He walked slowly to a chair and sat, sipping the drink quietly. He seemed to be listening for something. “There are cigarettes on the table,” he said.

“Thanks.” Lantry took one and lit it and smoked it. He did not speak for some time.

Lantry thought, I’m taking this all too easily. Maybe I should kill and run. He’s the only one that has found me, yet. Perhaps this is all a trap.

Perhaps we’re simply sitting here waiting for the police. Or whatever in blazes they use for police these days. He looked at McClure. No. They weren’t waiting for police. They were waiting for something else.

McClure didn’t speak. He looked at Lantry’s face and he looked at Lantry’s hands. He looked at Lantry’s chest a long time, with easy quietness.

He sipped his drink. He looked at Lantry’s feet.

Finally he said, “Where’d you get the clothing?”

“I asked someone for clothes and they gave these things to me. Darned nice of them.”

“You’ll find that’s how we are in this world. All you have to do is ask.”

McClure shut up again. His eyes moved. Only his eyes and nothing else. Once or twice he lifted his drink.

A little clock ticked somewhere in the distance.

“Tell me about yourself, Mr. Lantry.”

“Nothing much to tell.”

“You’re modest.”

“Hardly. You know about the past. I know nothing of the future, or I should say ‘today’ and day before yesterday. You don’t learn much in a coffin.”

McClure did not speak. He suddenly sat forward in his chair and then leaned back and shook his head.

They’ll never suspect me, thought Lantry. They aren’t superstitious, they simply can’t believe in a dead man walking. Therefore, I’ll be safe. I’ll keep putting off the physical checkup. They’re polite. They won’t force me.

Then, I’ll work it so I can get to Mars. After that, the tombs, in my own good time, and the plan. God, how simple. How naïve these people are.

McClure sat across the room for five minutes. A coldness had come over him. The color was very slowly going from his face, as one sees the color of medicine vanishing as one presses the bulb at the top of a dropper. He leaned forward, saying nothing, and offered another cigarette to Lantry.

“Thanks.” Lantry took it. McClure sat deeply back into his easy chair, his knees folded one over the other. He did not look at Lantry, and yet somehow did. The feeling of weighing and balancing returned. McClure was like a tall thin master of hounds listening for something that nobody else could hear. There are little silver whistles you can blow that only dogs can hear. McClure seemed to be listening acutely, sensitively for such an invisible whistle, listening with his eyes and with his half-opened, dry mouth, and with his aching, breathing nostrils.

Lantry sucked the cigarette, sucked the cigarette, sucked the cigarette, and, as many times, blew out, blew out, blew out. McClure was like some lean red-shagged hound listening and listening with a slick slide of eyes to one side, with an apprehension in that hand that was so precisely microscopic that one only sensed it, as one sensed the invisible whistle, with some part of the brain deeper than eyes or nostril or ear.

The room was so quiet the cigarette smoke made some kind of invisible noise rising to the ceiling. McClure was a thermometer, a chemist’s scales, a listening hound, a litmus paper, an antennae; all these. Lantry did not move. Perhaps the feeling would pass. It had passed before. McClure did not move for a long while and then, without a word, he nodded at the sherry decanter, and Lantry refused as silently. They sat looking but not looking at each other, again and away, again and away.

McClure stiffened slowly. Lantry saw the color getting paler in those lean cheeks, and the hand tightening on the sherry glass, and a knowledge come at last to stay, never to go away, into the eyes.

Lantry did not move. He could not. All of this was of such a fascination that he wanted only to see, to hear what would happen next. It was McClure’s show from here on in.

McClure said, “At first I thought it was the first psychosis I have ever seen. You, I mean. I thought, he’s convinced himself, Lantry’s convinced himself, he’s quite insane, he’s told himself to do all these little things.”

McClure talked as if in a dream, and continued talking and didn’t stop.

“I said to myself, he purposely doesn’t breathe through his nose. I watched your nostrils, Lantry. The little nostril hairs never once quivered in the last hour. That wasn’t enough. It was a fact I filed. It wasn’t enough. He breathes through his mouth, I said, on purpose. And then I gave you a cigarette and you sucked and blew, sucked and blew. None of it ever came out your nose. I told myself, well, that’s all right. He doesn’t inhale. Is that terrible, is that suspect? All in the mouth, all in the mouth. And then, I looked at your chest. I watched. It never moved up or down, it did nothing. He’s convinced himself, I said to myself. He’s convinced himself about all this. He doesn’t move his chest, except slowly, when he thinks you’re not looking.

That’s what I told myself.”

The words went on in the silent room, not pausing, still in a dream.

“And then I offered you a drink but you don’t drink and I thought, he doesn’t drink, I thought. Is that terrible? And I watched and watched you all this time.

Lantry holds his breath, he’s fooling himself. But now, yes, now, I understand it quite well. Now I know everything the way it is. Do you know how I know?

I do not hear breathing in the room. I wait and I hear nothing. There is no beat of heart or intake of lung. The room is so silent. Nonsense, one might say, but I know. At the Incinerator I know. There is a difference. You enter a room where a man is on a bed and you know immediately whether he will look up and speak to you or whether he will not speak to you ever again. Laugh if you will, but one can tell. It is a subliminal thing. It is the whistle the dog hears when no human hears. It is the tick of a clock that has ticked so long one no longer notices. Something is in a room when a man lives in it. Something is not in the room when a man is dead in it.”

McClure shut his eyes a moment. He put down his sherry glass. He waited a moment. He took up his cigarette and puffed it and then put it down in a black tray.

“I am alone in this room,” he said.

Lantry did not move.

“You are dead,” said McClure. “My mind does not know this. It is not a thinking thing. It is a thing of the senses and the subconscious. At first I thought, this man thinks he is dead, risen from the dead, a vampire. Is that not logical? Would not any man, buried as many centuries, raised in a superstitious, ignorant culture, think likewise of himself once risen from the tomb? Yes, that is logical. This man has hypnotized himself and fitted his bodily functions so that they would in no way interfere with his self-delusion, his great paranoia. He governs his breathing. He tells himself, I cannot hear my breathing, therefore I am dead. His inner mind censors the sound of breathing. He does not allow himself to eat or drink. These things he probably does in his sleep, with part of his mind, hiding the evidences of this humanity from his deluded mind at other times.”

McClure finished it. “I was wrong. You are not insane. You are not deluding yourself. Nor me. This is all very illogical and—I must admit—

almost frightening. Does that make you feel good, to think you frighten me? I have no label for you. You’re a very odd man, Lantry. I’m glad to have met you. This will make an interesting report indeed.”

“Is there anything wrong with me being dead?” said Lantry. “Is it a crime?”

“You must admit it’s highly unusual.”

“But, still now, is it a crime?” asked Lantry.

“We have no crime, no criminal court. We want to examine you, naturally, to find out how you have happened. It is like that chemical which, one minute is inert, the next is living cell. Who can say where what happened to what. You are that impossibility. It is enough to drive a man quite insane.”

“Will I be released when you are done fingering me?”

“You will not be held. If you don’t wish to be examined, you will not be. But I am hoping you will help by offering us your services.”

“I might,” said Lantry.

“But tell me,” said McClure. “What were you doing at the morgue?”

“Nothing.”

“I heard you talking when I came in.”

“I was merely curious.”

“You’re lying. That is very bad, Mr. Lantry. The truth is far better. The truth is, is it not, that you are dead and, being the only one of your sort, were lonely. Therefore you killed people to have company.”

“How does that follow?”

McClure laughed. “Logic, my dear fellow. Once I knew you were really dead, a moment ago, really a—what do you call it—a vampire (silly word!) I tied you immediately to the Incinerator blasts. Before that there was no reason to connect you. But once the one piece fell into place, the fact that you were dead, then it was simple to guess your loneliness, your hate, your envy, all of the tawdry motivations of a walking corpse. It took only an instant then to see the Incinerators blown to blazes, and then to think of you, among the bodies at the morgue, seeking help, seeking friends and people like yourself to work with—”

“Blast you!” Lantry was out of the chair. He was halfway to the other man when McClure rolled over and scuttled away, flinging the sherry decanter. With a great despair Lantry realized that, like an idiot, he had thrown away his one chance to kill McClure. He should have done it earlier. It had been Lantry’s one weapon, his safety margin. If people in a society never killed each other, they never suspected one another. You could walk up to any one of them and kill him.

“Come back here!” Lantry threw the knife.

McClure got behind a chair. The idea of flight, of protection, of fighting, was still new to him. He had part of the idea, but there was still a bit of luck on Lantry’s side if Lantry wanted to use it.

“Oh, no,” said McClure, holding the chair between himself and the advancing man. “You want to kill me. It’s odd, but true. I can’t understand it.

You want to cut me with that knife or something like that, and it’s up to me to prevent you from doing such an odd thing.”

“I will kill you!” Lantry let it slip out. He cursed himself. That was the worst possible thing to say.

Lantry lunged across the chair, clutching at McClure.

McClure was very logical. “It won’t do you any good to kill me. You know that.” They wrestled and held each other in a wild, toppling shuffle.

Tables fell over, scattering articles. “You remember what happened in the morgue?”

“I don’t care!” screamed Lantry.

“You didn’t raise those dead, did you?”

“I don’t care!” cried Lantry.

“Look here,” said McClure, reasonably. “There will never be any more like you, ever, there’s no use.”

“Then I’ll destroy all of you, all of you!” screamed Lantry.

“And then what? You’ll still be alone, with no more like you about.”

“I’ll go to Mars. They have tombs there. I’ll find more like myself!”

“No,” said McClure. “The executive order went through yesterday. All of the tombs are being deprived of their bodies. They’ll be burned in the next week.”

They fell together to the floor. Lantry got his hands on McClure’s throat.

“Please,” said McClure. “Do you see, you’ll die.”

“What do you mean?” cried Lantry.

“Once you kill all of us, and you’re alone, you’ll die! The hate will die. That hate is what moved you, nothing else! That envy moves you.

Nothing else! You’ll die, inevitably. You’re not immortal. You’re not even alive, you’re nothing but a moving hate.”

“I don’t care!” screamed Lantry, and began choking the man, beating his head with his fists, crouched on the defenseless body. McClure looked up at him with dying eyes.

The front door opened. Two men came in.

“I say,” said one of them. “What’s going on? A new game?”

Lantry jumped back and began to run.

“Yes, a new game!” said McClure, struggling up. “Catch him and you win!”

The two men caught Lantry. “We win,” they said.

“Let me go!” Lantry thrashed, hitting them across their faces, bringing blood.

“Hold him tight!” cried McClure.

They held him.

“A rough game, what?” one of them said. “What do we do now? ”

The beetle hissed along the shining road. Rain fell out of the sky and a wind ripped at the dark green wet trees. In the beetle, his hands on the half-wheel, McClure was talking. His voice was susurrant, a whispering, a hypnotic thing. The two other men sat in the back seat. Lantry sat, or rather lay, in the front seat, his head back, his eyes faintly open, the glowing green light of the dash dials showing on his cheeks. His mouth was relaxed. He did not speak.

McClure talked quietly and logically, about life and moving, about death and not moving, about the sun and the great sun Incinerator, about the emptied tombyard, about hatred and how hate lived and made a clay man live and move, and how illogical it all was, it all was, it all was. One was dead, was dead, was dead, that was all, all, all. One did not try to be otherwise. The car whispered on the moving road. The rain spattered gently on the windshield. The men in the back seat conversed quietly. Where were they going, going? To the Incinerator, of course. Cigarette smoke moved slowly up on the air, curling and tying into itself in gray loops and spirals. One was dead and must accept it.

Lantry did not move. He was a marionette, the strings cut. There was only a tiny hatred in his heart, in his eyes, like twin coals, feeble, glowing, fading.

I am Poe, he thought. I am all that is left of Edgar Allan Poe, and I am all that is left of Ambrose Bierce and all that is left of a man named Lovecraft.

I am a gray night bat with sharp teeth, and I am a square black monolith monster. I am Osiris and Bal and Set. I am the Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead. I am the house of Usher, falling into flame. I am the Red Death. I am the man mortared into the catacomb with a cask of Amontillado … I am a dancing skeleton. I am a coffin, a shroud, a lightning bolt reflected in an old house window. I am an autumn-empty tree, I am a rapping, flinging shutter. I am a yellowed volume turned by a claw hand. I am an organ played in an attic at midnight. I am a mask, a skull mask behind an oak tree on the last day of October. I am a poison apple bobbling in a water tub for child noses to bump at, for child teeth to snap … I am a black candle lighted before an inverted cross. I am a coffin lid, a sheet with eyes, a foot-step on a black stairwell. I am Dunsany and Machen and I am the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I am The Monkey’s Paw and I am The Phantom Rickshaw. I am the Cat and the Canary, the Gorilla, the Bat. I am the ghost of Hamlet’s father on the castle wall.

All of these things am I. And now these last things will be burned.

While I lived they still lived. While I moved and hated and existed, they still existed. I am all that remembers them. I am all of them that still goes on, and will not go on after tonight. Tonight, all of us, Poe and Bierce and Hamlet’s father, we burn together. They will make a big heap of us and burn us like a bonfire, like things of Guy Fawkes’ day, gasoline, torches, cries, and all!

And what a wailing will we put up. The world will be clean of us, but in our going we shall say, oh what is the world like, clean of fear, where is the dark imagination from the dark time, the thrill and the anticipation, the suspense of old October, gone, never more to come again, flattened and smashed and burned by the rocket people, by the Incinerator people, destroyed and obliterated, to be replaced by doors that open and close and lights that go on and off without fear. If only you could remember how once we lived, what Halloween was to us, and what Poe was, and how we gloried in the dark morbidities. One more drink, dear friends, of Amontillado, before the burning. All of this, all, exists but in one last brain on earth. A whole world dying tonight. One more drink, pray.

“Here we are,” said McClure.

The Incinerator was brightly lighted. There was quiet music nearby.

McClure got out of the beetle, came around to the other side. He opened the door. Lantry simply lay there. The talking and the logical talking had slowly drained him of life. He was no more than wax now, with a small glow in his eyes. This future world, how the men talked to you, how logically they reasoned away your life. They wouldn’t believe in him. The force of their disbelief froze him. He could not move his arms or his legs. He could only mumble senselessly, coldly, eyes flickering.

McClure and the two others helped him out of the car, put him in a golden box, and rolled him on a roller table into the warm glowing interior of the building.

I am Edgar Allan Poe, I am Ambrose Bierce, I am Halloween, I am a coffin, a shroud, a Monkey’s Paw, a Phantom, a Vampire …

“Yes, yes,” said McClure, quietly, over him. “I know. I know.”

The table glided. The walls swung over him and by him, the music played. You are dead, you are logically dead.

I am Usher, I am the Maelstrom, I am the MS Found In A Bottle, I am the Pit and I am the Pendulum, I am the Telltale Heart, I am the Raven nevermore, nevermore.

“Yes,” said McClure, as they walked softly. “I know.”

“I am in the catacomb,” cried Lantry.

“Yes, the catacomb,” said the walking man over him.

“I am being chained to a wall, and there is no bottle of Amontillado here!” cried Lantry weakly, eyes closed.

“Yes,” someone said.

There was movement. The flame door opened.

“Now someone is mortaring up the cell, closing me in!”

“Yes, I know.” A whisper.

The golden box slid into the flame lock.

“I’m being walled in! A very good joke indeed! Let us be gone!” A wild scream and much laughter.

“We know, we understand …”

The inner flame lock opened. The golden coffin shot forth into flame.

“For the love of God, Montresor! For the love of God !”

The End

Conclusion

It’s a nice little story to read. A bit on the horrific side, but a good read never the less. I hope that you all enjoyed it.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Ray Bradbury Index here…

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Chrysalis by Ray Bradbury (Full text)

This is a nice story by Ray Bradbury. I dedicate it to the many, many MM readers that tell me that they have changed by visiting this site, and that they are all the better for it. They tell me stories, and adventures, and just amazing events that confirm that everyone is on the right track. This story is about a man who changes.

Chrysalis.

This story  is dedicated to youse guys. It’s my way of telling you that I recognize what you are tying to ell me, and that I am so gladdened by your stories. It’s just a fictional story, and you all, well, you all are the “real deal”.  But Ray Bradbury has such a way with the words, and he conjures up such imagery, that I think that this is a treasure.

A treasure that is worthy for you all.

Chrysalis

Rockwell didn’t like the room’s smell. Not so much McGuke’s odor of beer, or Hartley’s unwashed, tired smell—-but the sharp insect tang rising from Smith’s cold green-skinned body lying stiffly naked on the table. There was also a smell of oil and grease from the nameless machinery gleaming in one comer of the small room.

The man Smith was a corpse. Irritated, Rockwell rose from his chair and packed his stethoscope. “I must get back to the hospital. War rush. You understand, Hartley. Smith’s been dead eight hours. If you want further information call a post-mortem—”

He stopped as Hartley raised a trembling, bony hand. Hartley gestured at the corpse—this corpse with brittle hard green shell grown solid over every inch of flesh. “Use your stethoscope again, Rockwell. Just once more. Please.”

Rockwell wanted to complain, but instead he sighed, sat down, and used the stethoscope. You have to treat fellow doctors politely. You press your stethoscope into cold green flesh, pretending to listen—

The small, dimly lit room exploded around him. Exploded in one green cold pulsing. It hit Rockwell’s ears like fists. It hit him. He saw his own fingers jerk over the recumbent corpse.

He heard a pulse.

Deep in the dark body the heart beat once. It sounded like an echo in fathoms of sea water.

Smith was dead, unbreathing, mummified. But at the core of that deadness—his heart lived. Lived, stirring like a small unborn baby!

Rockwell’s crisp surgeon’s fingers darted rapidly. He bent his head. In the light it was dark-haired, with flecks of gray in it. He had an even, level, nice-looking face. About thirty-five. He listened again and again, with sweat coming cold on his smooth cheeks. The pulse was not to be believed.

One heartbeat every thirty-five seconds.

Smith’s respiration—how could you believe that, too one breath of air every four minutes. Lungcase movement imperceptible.

Body temperature?

Sixty degrees.

Hartley laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh. More like an echo that had gotten lost. “He’s alive,” he said tiredly. “Yes, he is. He almost fooled me many times. I injected adrenalin to speed that pulse, but it was no use. He’s been this way for twelve weeks. And I couldn’t stand keeping him a secret any longer. That’s why I phoned you, Rockwell. He’s—unnatural.

The impossibility of it overwhelmed Rockwell with an inexplicable excitement. He tried to lift Smiths’ eyelids. He couldn’t. They were webbed with epidermis. So were the lips. So were the nostrils. There was no way for Smith to breathe—

“Yet, he’s breathing.” Rockwell’s voice was numb. He dropped his stethoscope blankly, picked it up, and saw his fingers shaking.

Hartley grew tall, emaciated, nervous over the table. “Smith didn’t like my calling you. I called anyway. Smith warned me not to. Just an hour ago.”

Rockell’s eyes dilated into hot black circles. “How could he warn you? He can’t move.”

Hartley’s face, all razor-sharp bone, hard jaw, tight squinting gray eyes, twitched nervously. Smith— thinks. I know his thoughts. He’s afraid you’ll expose him to the world. He hates me. Why? I want to kill him, that’s why. Here.” Hardey fumbled blindly for a blue-steel revolver in his rumpled, stained coat. “Murphy. Take this. Take it before I use it on Smith’s foul body!”

Murphy pulled back, his thick red face afraid. “Don’t like guns. You take it, Rockwell.”

Like a scalpel, Rockwell made his voice slash. “Put the gun away, Hartley. After three months tending one patient you’ve got a psychological blemish. Sleep’ll help that.” He licked his lips. “What sort of disease has Smith got?”

Hartley swayed. His mouth moved words out slowly. Falling asleep on his feet, Rockwell realized. “Not diseased,” Hartley managed to say. “Don’t know what. But I resent him, like a kid resents the birth of a new brother or sister. He’s wrong. Help me. Help me, will you?”

“Of course.” Rockwell smiled. “My desert sanitarium’s the place to check him over, good. Why—why Smith’s the most incredible medical phenomenon in history. Bodies just don’t act this way!”

He got no further. Hartley had his gun pointed right at Rockwell’s stomach. “Wait. Wait. You—you’re not going to bury Smith! I thought you’d help me. Smith’s not healthy. I want him killed! He’s dangerous! I know he is!”

Rockwell blinked. Hartley was obviously psychoneurotic. Didn’t know what he was saying. Rockwell straightened his shoulders, feeling cool and calm inside. “Shoot Smith and I’ll turn you in for murder. You’re overworked mentally and physically. Put the gun away.”

They stared at one another.

Rockwell walked forward quietly and took the gun, patted Hartley understandingly on the shoulder, and gave the weapon to Murphy, who looked at it as if it would bite him. “Call the hospital. Murphy. I’m taking a week off. Maybe longer. Tell them I’m doing research at the sanitarium.”

A scowl formed in the red fat flesh of Murphy’s face. “What do I do with this gun?”

Hartley shut his teeth together, hard. “Keep it. You’ll want to use it—

later.”

Rockwell wanted to shout it to the world that he was sole possessor of the most incredible human in history. The sun was bright in the desert sanitarium room where

Smith lay, not saying a word, on his table; his handsome face frozen into a green, passionless expression.

Rockwell walked into the room quietly. He used the stethoscope on the green chest. It scraped, making the noise of metal tapping a beetle’s carapace.

McGuire stood by, eyeing the body dubiously, smelling of several recently acquired beers.

Rockwell listened intently. “The ambulance ride may have jolted him.

No use taking a chance—”

Rockwell cried out.

Heavily, McGuire lumbered to his side. ‘What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” Rockwell stared about in desperation. He made one hand into a fist. “Smith’s dying!”

“How do you know? Hartley said Smith plays possum. He’s fooled you again—”

“No!” Rockwell worked furiously over the body, injecting drugs. Any drugs. Swearing at the top of his voice. After all this trouble, he couldn’t lose Smith. No, not now.

Shaking, jarring, twisting deep down inside, going completely liquidly mad. Smith’s body sounded like dim volcanic tides bursting.

Rockwell fought to remain calm. Smith was a case unto himself.

Normal treatment did nothing for him. What then? What?

Rockwell stared. Sunlight gleamed on Smith’s hard flesh. Hot sunlight. It flashed, glinting off the stethoscope tip. The sun. As he watched, clouds shifted across the sky outside, taking the sun away. The room darkened. Smith’s body shook into silence. The volcanic tides died.

“McGuire! Pull the blinds! Before the sun comes back!”

McGuire obeyed.

Smith’s heart slowed down to its sluggish, infrequent breathing.

“Sunlight’s bad for Smith. It counteracts something. I don’t know what or why, but it’s not good—” Rockwell relaxed. “Lord, I wouldn’t want to lose Smith. Not for anything. He’s different, making his own standards, doing things men have never done. Know something, Murphy?”

“What?”

“Smith’s not in agony. He’s not dying either. He wouldn’t be better off dead, no matter what Hartley says. Last night as I arranged Smith on the stretcher, readying him for his trip to this sanitarium, I realized, suddenly, that Smith likes me.”

“Gah. First Hartley. Now you. Did Smith tell you that?”

“He didn’t tell me. But he’s not unconscious under all that hard skin.

He’s aware. Yes, that’s it. He’s aware.”

“Pure and simply—he’s petrifying. He’ll die. It’s been weeks since he was fed. Hartley said so. Hartley fed him intravenously until the skin toughened so a needle couldn’t poke through it.”

Whining, the cubicle door swung slowly open. Rockwell started.

Hartley, his sharp face relaxed after hours of sleep, his eyes still a bitter gray, hostile, stood tall in the door. “If you’ll leave the room,” he said, quietly, “I’ll destroy Smith in a very few seconds. Well?”

“Don’t come a step closer.” Rockwell walked, feeling irritation, to Hartley’s side. “Every time you visit, you’ll have to be searched. Frankly, I don’t trust you.” There were no weapons. “Why didn’t you tell me about the sunlight?”

“Eh?” Soft and slow Hartley said it. “Oh—yes. I forgot. I tried shifting Smith weeks ago. Sunlight struck him and he began really dying.

Naturally, I stopped trying to move him. Smith seemed to know what was coming, vaguely. Perhaps he planned it; I’m not sure. While he was still able to talk and eat ravenously, before his body stiffened completely, he warned me not to move him for a twelve-week period. Said he didn’t like the sun.

Said it would spoil things. I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. He ate like an animal, a hungry, wild animal, fell into a coma, and here he is—” Hartley swore under his breath. “I’d rather hoped you’d leave him in the sun long enough to kill him inadvertently.”

McGuire shifted his two hundred fifty pounds. “Look here, now.

What if we catch Smith’s disease?”

Hartley looked at the body, his pupils shrinking. “Smith’s not diseased. Don’t you recognize degeneration when you see it? It’s like cancer.

You don’t catch it, you inherit a tendency. I didn’t begin to fear and hate Smith until a week ago when I discovered he was breathing and existing and thriving with his nostrils and mouth sealed. It can’t happen. It mustn’t happen.”

McGuire’s voice trembled. “What if you and I and Rockwell all turn green and a plague sweeps the country—what then?”

“Then,” replied Rockwell, “if I’m wrong, perhaps I am, I’ll die. But it doesn’t worry me in the least.”

He turned back to Smith and went on with his work.

A bell. A bell. Two bells, two bells. A dozen bells, a hundred bells.

Ten thousand and a million clangorous, hammering metal dinning bells. All born at once in the silence, squalling, screaming, hurting echoes, bruising ears!

Ringing, chanting with loud and soft, tenor and bass, low and high voices. Great-armed clappers knocking the shells and ripping air with the thrusting din of sound!

With all those bells ringing, Smith could not immediately know where he was. He knew that he could not see, because his eyelids were sealed tight, knew he could not speak because his lips had grown together. His ears were clamped shut, but the bells hammered nevertheless.

He could not see. But yes, yes, he could, and it was like inside a small dark red cavern, as if his eyes were turned inward upon his skull. And Smith tried to twist his tongue, and suddenly, trying to scream, he knew his tongue was gone, that the place where it used to be was vacant, an itching spot that wanted a tongue but couldn’t have it just now.

No tongue. Strange. Why? Smith tried to stop the bells. They ceased, blessing him with a silence that wrapped him up in a cold blanket. Things were happening. Happening.

Smith tried to twitch a finger, but he had no control. A foot, a leg, a toe, his head, everything. Nothing moved. Torso, limbs—immovable, frozen in a concrete coffin.

A moment later came the dread discovery that he was no longer breathing. Not with his lungs, anyway.

 

“BECAUSE I HAVE NO LUNGS!” he screamed. Inwardly he screamed and that mental scream was drowned, webbed, clotted, and journeyed drowsily down in a red, dark tide. A red drowsy tide that sleepily swathed the scream, garroted it, took it all away, making Smith rest easier.

I am not afraid, he thought. I understand that which I do not understand. I understand that I do not fear, yet know not the reason.

No tongue, no nose, no lungs.

But they would come later. Yes, they would. Things were—

happening.

Through the pores of his shelled body air slid, like rain needling each portion of him, giving life. Breathing through a billion gills, breathing oxygen and nitrogen and hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and using it all. Wondering.

Was his heart still beating?

But yes, it was beating. Slow, slow, slow. A red dim susurrance, a flood, a river surging around him, slow, slower, slower. So nice.

So restful.

The jigsaw pieces fitted together faster as the days drifted into weeks.

McGuire helped. A retired surgeon-medico, he’d been Rockwell’s secretary for a number of years. Not much help, but good company.

Rockwell noted that McGuire joked gruffly about Smith, nervously; and a lot. Trying to be calm. But one day McGuire stopped, thought it over, and drawled, “Hey, it just came to me! Smith’s alive. He should be dead. But he’s alive. Good God!”

Rockwell laughed. “What in blazes do you think I’m working on? I’m bringing an X-ray machine out next week so I can find out what’s going on inside Smith’s shell.” Rockwell jabbed with a hypo needle. It broke on the hard shell.

Rockwell tried another needle, and another, until finally he punctured, drew blood, and placed the slides under the microscope for study. Hours later he calmly shoved a serum test under McGuire’s red nose, and spoke quickly.

“Lord, I can’t believe it. His blood’s germicidal. I dropped a streptococci colony into it and the strep was annihilated in eight seconds! You could inject every known disease into Smith and he’d destroy them all, thrive on them!”

It was only a matter of hours until other discoveries. It kept Rockwell sleepless, tossing at night, wondering, theorizing the titanic ideas over and over. For instance—

Hartley’d fed Smith so many cc’s of blood-food every day of his illness until recently. NONE OF THAT FOOD HAD EVER BEEN

ELIMINATED. All of it had been stored, not in bulk-fats, but in a perfectly abnormal solution, an x-liquid contained in high concentrate form in Smith’s blood. An ounce of it would keep a man well fed for three days. This x-liquid circulated through the body until it was actually needed, when it was seized upon and used. More serviceable than fat. Much more!

Rockwell glowed with his discovery. Smith had enough x-liquid stored in him to last months and months more. Self-sustaining.

McGuire, when told, contemplated his paunch sadly.

“I wish I stored my food that way.”

That wasn’t all. Smith needed little air. What air he had he seemed to acquire by an osmotic process through his skin. And he used every molecule of it. No waste.

“And,” finished Rockwell, “eventually Smith’s heart might even take vacations from beating, entirely!”

“Then he’d be dead,” said McGuire.

“To you and I, yes. To Smith—maybe. Just maybe. Think of it, McGuire. Collectively, in Smith, we have a self-purifying blood stream demanding no replenishment but an interior one for months, having little breakdown and no elimination of wastes whatsoever because every molecule is utilized, self-evolving, and fatal to any and all microbic life. All this, and Hartley speaks of degeneration!”

Hartley was irritated when he heard of the discoveries. But he still insisted that Smith was degenerating. Dangerous.

McGuire tossed his two cents in. “How do we know that this isn’t some super microscopic disease that annihilates all other bacteria while it works on its victim. After all—malarial fever is sometimes used surgically to cure syphilis; why not a new bacillus that conquers all?”

“Good point,” said Rockwell. “But we’re not sick, are we?”

“It may have to incubate in our bodies.”

“A typical old-fashioned doctor’s response. No matter what happens to a man, he’s ‘sick’—if he varies from the norm. That’s your idea, Hartley,”

declared Rockwell, “not mine. Doctors aren’t satisfied unless they diagnose and label each case. Well, I think that Smith’s healthy; so healthy you’re afraid of him.”

“You’re crazy,” said McGuire.

“Maybe. But I don’t think Smith needs medical interference. He’s working out his own salvation. You believe he’s degenerating. I say he’s growing.’*

“Look at Smith’s skin,” complained McGuire.

“Sheep in wolfs clothing. Outside, the hard, brittle epidermis. Inside, ordered regrowth, change. Why? I’m on the verge of knowing. These changes inside Smith are so violent that they need a shell to protect their action. And as for you. Hartley, answer me truthfully, when you were young, were you afraid of insects, spiders, things like that?”

“Yes.”

“There you are. A phobia. A phobia you use against Smith. That explains your distaste for Smith’s change.”

In the following weeks, Rockwell went back over Smith’s life carefully. He visited the electronics lab where Smith had been employed and fallen ill. He probed the room where Smith had spent the first weeks of his

“illness” with Hartley in attendance. He examined the machinery there.

Something about radiations

While he was away from the sanitarium, Rockwell locked Smith tightly, and had McGuire guard the door in case Hartley got any unusual ideas.

The details of Smith’s twenty-three years were simple. He had worked for five years in the electronics lab, experimenting. He had never been seriously sick in his life.

And as the days went by Rockwell took long walks in the dry-wash near the sanitarium, alone. It gave him time to think and solidify the incredible theory that was becoming a unit in his brain.

And one afternoon he paused by a night-blooming jasmine outside the sanitarium, reached up, smiling, and plucked a dark shining object off of a high branch. He looked at the object and tucked it in his pocket. Then he walked into the sanitarium.

He summoned McGuire in off the veranda. McGuire came. Hartley trailed behind, threatening, complaining. The three of them sat in the living quarters of the building.

Rockwell told them.

“Smith’s not diseased. Germs can’t live in him. He’s not inhabited by banshees or weird monsters who’ve ‘taken over’ his body. I mention this to show I’ve left no stone untouched. I reject all normal diagnoses of Smith. I offer the most important, the most easily accepted possibility of—delayed hereditary mutation.”

“Mutation?” McGuire’s voice was funny.

Rockwell held up the shiny dark object in the light.

“I found this on a bush in the garden. It’ll illustrate my theory to perfection. After studying Smith’s symptoms, examining his laboratory, and considering several of these”—he twirled the dark object in his fingers— “I’m certain. It’s metamorphosis. It’s regeneration, change, mutation after birth.

Here. Catch. This is Smith.”

He tossed the object to Hartley. Hartley caught it.

“This is the chrysalis of a caterpillar,” said Hartley.

Rockwell nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“You don’t mean to infer that Smith’s a— chrysalis?”

“I’m positive of it,” replied Rockwell.

Rockwell stood over Smith’s body in the darkness of evening. Hartley and McGuire sat across the patient’s room, quiet, listening. Rockwell touched Smith softly. “Suppose that there’s more to life than just being born, living seventy years, and dying. Suppose there’s one more great step up in man’s existence, and Smith has been the first of us to make that step.

“Looking at a caterpillar, we see what we consider a static object. But it changes to a butterfly. Why? There are no final theories explaining it. It’s progress, mainly. The pertinent thing is that a supposedly unchangeable object weaves itself into an intermediary object, wholly unrecognizable, a chrysalis, and emerges a butterfly. Outwardly the chrysalis looks dead. This is misdirection. Smith has misdirected us, you see. Outwardly, dead. Inwardly, fluids whirlpool, reconstruct, rush about with wild purpose. From grub to mosquito, from caterpillar to butterfly, from Smith to—?”

“Smith a chrysalis?” McGuire laughed heavily.

“Yes.”

“Humans don’t work that way.”

“Stop it, McGuire. This evolutionary step’s too great for your comprehension. Examine this body and tell me anything else. Skin, eyes, breathing, blood flow. Weeks of assimilating food for his brittle hibernation.

Why did he eat all that food, why did he need that x-liquid in his body except for his metamorphosis? And the cause of it all was—eradiations. Hard radiations from Smith’s laboratory equipment. Planned or accidental I don’t know. It touched some part of his essential gene-structure, some part of the evolutionary structure of man that wasn’t scheduled for working for thousands of years yet, perhaps.”

“Do you think that some day all men—?”

“The maggot doesn’t stay in the stagnant pond, the grub in the soil, or the caterpillar on a cabbage leaf. They change, spreading across space in waves.

“Smith’s the answer to the problem ‘What happens next for man, where do we go from here?’ We’re faced with the blank wall of the universe and the fatality of living in that universe, and man as he is today is not prepared to go against the universe. The least exertion tires man, overwork kills his heart, disease his body. Maybe Smith will be prepared to answer the philosophers’ problem of life’s purpose. Maybe he can give it new purpose.

“Why, we’re just petty insects, all of us, fighting on a pinhead planet.

Man isn’t meant to remain here and be sick and small and weak, but he hasn’t discovered the secret of the greater knowledge yet.

“But—change man. Build your perfect man. Your— your superman, if you like. Eliminate petty mentality, give him complete physiological, neurological, psychological control of himself: give him clear, incisive channels of thought, give him an indefatigable blood stream, a body that can go months without outside food, that can adjust to any climate anywhere and kill any disease. Release man from the shackles of flesh and flesh misery and then he’s no longer a poor, petty little man afraid to dream because he knows his frail body stands between him and the fulfillment of dreams, then he’s ready to wage war, the only war worth waging—the conflict of man reborn and the whole confounded universe!”

Breathless, voice hoarse, heart pounding, Rockwell tensed over Smith, placed his hands admiringly, firmly on the cold length of the chrysalis and shut his eyes. The power and drive and belief in Smith surged through him. He was right. He was right. He knew he was right. He opened his eyes and looked at McGuire and Hartley who were mere shadows in the dim shielded light of the room.

After a silence of several seconds. Hartley snuffed out his cigarette. “I don’t believe that theory.”

McGuire said, “How do youknow Smith’s not just a mess of jelly inside? Did you X-ray him?”

“I couldn’t risk it, it might interfere with his change, like the sunlight did.”

“So he’s going to be a superman? What will he look like?”

“We’ll wait and see.”

“Do you think he can hear us talking about him now?”

 

“Whether or not he can, there’s one thing certain— we’re sharing a secret we weren’t intended to know. Smith didn’t plan on myself and McGuire entering the case. He had to make the most of it. But a superman doesn’t like people to know about him. Humans have a nasty way of being envious, jealous, and hateful. Smith knew he wouldn’t be safe if found out. Maybe that explains your hatred, too. Hartley.”

They all remained silent, listening. Nothing sounded. Rockwell’s blood whispered in his temples, that was all. There was Smith, no longer Smith, a container labeled Smith, its contents unknown.

“If what you say is true,” said Hartley, “then indeed we should destroy him. Think of the power over the world he would have. And if it affects his brain as I think it will affect it—he’ll try to kill us when he escapes because we are the only ones who know about him. He’ll hate us for prying.”

Rockwell said it easily. “I’m not afraid.”

Hartley remained silent. His breathing was harsh and loud in the room.

Rockwell came around the table, gesturing.

“I think we’d better say good-night now, don’t you?”

The thin rain swallowed Hartley’s car. Rockwell closed the door, instructed McGuire to sleep downstairs tonight on a cot fronting Smith’s room, and then he walked upstairs to bed.

Undressing, he had time to conjure over all the unbelievable events of the passing weeks. A superman. Why not? Efficiency, strength—

He slipped into bed.

When. When does Smith emerge from his chrysalis? When?

The rain drizzled quietly on the roof of the sanitarium.

McGuire lay in the middle of the sound of rain and the earthquaking of thunder, slumbering on the cot, breathing heavy breaths. Somewhere, a door creaked, but McGuire breathed on. Wind gusted down the hall.

McGuire granted and rolled over. A door closed softly and the wind ceased.

Footsteps tread softly on the deep carpeting. Slow footsteps, aware and alert and ready. Footsteps. McGuire blinked his eyes and opened them.

In the dim light a figure stood over him.

Upstairs, a single light m the hall thrust down a yellow shaft near McGuire’s cot.

An odor of crashed insect filled the air. A hand moved. A voice started to speak.

McGuire screamed.

Because the hand that moved into the light was green.

Green.

“Smith!’

McGuire flung himself ponderously down the hall, yelling.

“He’s walking! He can’t walk, but he’s walking!”

The door rammed open under McGuire’s bulk. Wind and rain shrieked in around him and he was gone into the storm, babbling.

In the hall, the figure was motionless. Upstairs a door opened swiftly and Rockwell ran down the steps. The green hand moved back out of the light behind the figure’s back.

“Who is it?” Rockwell paused halfway.

The figure stepped into the light.

Rockwell’s eyes narrowed.

“Hartley! What are you doing back here?”

“Something happened,” said Hartley. “You’d better get McGuire. He ran out in the rain babbling like a fool.”

Rockwell kept his thoughts to himself. He searched Hartley swiftly with one glance and then ran down the hall and out into the cold wind.

“McGuire! McGuire, come back you idiot!” The rain fell on Rockwell’s body as he ran. He found McGuire about a hundred yards from the sanitarium, blubbering,

“Smith—Smith’s walking .. .” “Nonsense. Hartley came back, that’s all.”

“I saw a green hand. It moved.”

“You dreamed.”

“No. No.” McGuire’s face was flabby pale, with water on it. “I saw a green hand, believe me. Why did Hartley come back? He—”

At the mention of Hartley’s name, full comprehension came smashing to Rockwell. Fear leaped through his mind, a mad blur of warning, a jagged edge of silent screaming for help.

“Hartley!”

Shoving McGuire abruptly aside, Rockwell twisted and leaped back toward the sanitarium, shouting. Into the hall, down the hall—

Smith’s door was broken open.

Gun in hand, Hartley was in the center of the room. He turned at the noise of Rockwell’s running. They both moved simultaneously. Hartley fired his gun and Rockwell pulled the light switch.

Darkness. Flame blew across the room, profiling Smith’s rigid body like a flash photo. Rockwell jumped at the flame. Even as he jumped, shocked deep, realizing why Hartley had returned. In that instant before the lights blinked out Rockwell had a glimpse of Hartley’s fingers.

They were a brittle mottled green.

Fists then. And Hartley collapsing as the lights came on, and McGuire, dripping wet at the door, shook out the words, “Is—is Smith killed?”

Smith wasn’t harmed. The shot had passed over him.

“This fool, this fool,” cried Rockwell, standing over Hartley’s numbed shape. “Greatest case in history and he tries to destroy it!”

Hartley came around, slowly. “I should’ve known. Smith warned you.”

“Nonsense, he—” Rockwell stopped, amazed. Yes. That sudden premonition crashing into his mind. Yes. Then he glared at Hartley. “Upstairs with you. You’re being locked in for the night. McGuire, you, too. So you can watch him.”

McGuire croaked. “Hartley’s hand. Look at it. It’s green. It was Hartley in the hall—not Smith!”

Hartley stared at his fingers. “Pretty, isn’t it?” he said, bitterly. “I was in range of those radiations for a long time at the start of Smith’s illness. I’m going to be a—creature—like Smith. It’s been this way for several days. I kept it hidden. I tried not to say anything. Tonight, I couldn’t stand it any longer, and I came back to destroy Smith for what he’s done to me …”

A dry noise racked, dryly, splitting the air. The three of them froze.

Three tiny flakes of Smith’s chrysalis flicked up and then spiraled down to the floor.

Instantly, Rockwell was to the table, and gaping.

“It’s starting to crack. From the collar-bone to the navel, a miscroscopic fissure! He’ll be out of his chrysalis soon!”

McGuire’s jowls trembled. “And then what?”

Hartley’s words were bitter sharp. “We’ll have a superman. Question: what does a superman look like? Answer: nobody knows.”

Another crust of flakes crackled open.

McGuire shivered. “Will you try to talk to him?”

“Certainly.”

“Since when do—butterflies—speak?”

“Oh, Good God, McGuire!”

With the two others securely imprisoned upstairs, Rockwell locked himself into Smith’s room and bedded down on a cot, prepared to wait through the long wet night, watching, listening, thinking.

Watching the tiny flakes flicking off the crumbling skin of chrysalis as the Unknown within struggled quietly outward.

Just a few more hours to wait. The rain slid over the house, pattering.

What would Smith look like? A change in the earcups perhaps for greater hearing; extra eyes, maybe; a change in the skull structure, the facial setup, the bones of the body, the placement of organs, the texture of skin, a million and one changes.

Rockwell grew tired and yet was afraid to sleep. Eyelids heavy, heavy. What if he was wrong? What if his theory was entirely disjointed?

 

What if Smith was only so much moving jelly inside? What if Smith was mad, insane—so different that he’d be a world menace?

No. No. Rockwell shook his head groggily. Smith was perfect.

Perfect. There’d be no room for evil thought in Smith. Perfect.

The sanitarium was death quiet. The only noise was the faint crackle of chrysalis flakes skimming to the hard floor …

Rockwell slept. Sinking into the darkness that blotted out the room as dreams moved in upon him. Dreams in which Smith arose, walked in stiff, parched gesticulations and Hartley, screaming, wielded an ax, shining, again and again into the green armor of the creature and hacked it into liquid horror.

Dreams in which McGuire ran babbling through a rain of blood. Dreams in which—

Hot sunlight. Hot sunlight all over the room. It was morning.

Rockwell rubbed his eyes, vaguely troubled by the fact that someone had raised the blinds. Someone had—he leaped! Sunlight! There was no way for the blinds to be up. They’d been down for weeks! He cried out.

The door was open. The sanitarium was silent. Hardly daring to turn his head, Rockwell glanced at the table. Smith should have been lying there.

He wasn’t.

There was nothing but sunlight on the table. That— and a few remnants of shattered chrysalis. Remnants.

Brittle shards, a discarded profile cleft in two pieces, a shell segment that had been a thigh, a trace of arm, a splint of chest—these were the fractured remains of Smith!

Smith was gone. Rockwell staggered to the table, crushed. Scrabbling like a child among the rattling papyrus of skin. Then he swung about, as if drunk, and swayed out of the room and pounded up the stairs, shouting:

“Hartley! What did you do with him? Hartley! Did you think you could kill him, dispose of his body, and leave a few bits of shell behind to throw me off trail?”

The door to the room where McGuire and Hartley had slept was locked. Fumbling, Rockwell unlocked it. Both McGuire and Hartley were there.

“You’re here,” said Rockwell, dazed. “You weren’t downstairs, then.

Or did you unlock the door, come down, break in, kill Smith and—no, no.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Smith’s gone! McGuire, did Hartley move out of this room?”

“Not all night.’*

“Then—there’s only one explanation—Smith emerged from his chrysalis and escaped during the night! I’ll never see him, I’ll never get to see him, damn it! What a fool I was to sleep!”

“That settles it!” declared Hartley. “The man’s dangerous or he would have stayed and let us see him! God only knows what he is.”

“We’ve got to search, then. He can’t be far off. We’ve got to search then! Quick now. Hartley. McGuire!”

McGuire sat heavily down. “I won’t budge. Let him find himself. I’ve had enough.”

Rockwell didn’t wait to hear more. He went downstairs with Hartley close after him. McGuire puffed down a few moments later.

Rockwell moved wildly down the hall, halted at the wide windows that overlooked the desert and the mountains with morning shining over them.

He squinted out, and wondered if there was any chance at all of finding Smith. The first superbeing. The first perhaps in a new long line. Rockwell sweated. Smith wouldn’t leave without revealing himself to at least Rockwell.

He couldn’t leave. Or could he?

The kitchen door swung open, slowly.

A foot stepped through the door, followed by another. A hand lifted against the wall. Cigarette smoke moved from pursed lips.

“Somebody looking for me?”

Stunned, Rockwell turned. He saw the expression on Hartley’s face, heard McGuire choke with surprise. The three of them spoke one word together, as if given their cue:

“Smith.”

Smith exhaled cigarette smoke. His face was red-pink as he had been sunburnt, his eyes were glittering blue.

He was barefoot and his nude body was attired in one of Rockwell’s old robes.

“Would you mind telling me where I am? What have I been doing for the last three or four months? Is this a—hospital or isn’t it?”

Dismay slammed Rockwell’s mind, hard. He swallowed.

“Hello. I. That is— Don’t you remember—anything?”

Smith displayed his fingertips. “I recall turning green, if that’s what you mean. Beyond that—nothing.” He raked his pink hand through his nut-brown hair with the vigor of a creature newborn and glad to breathe again.

Rockwell slumped back against the wall. He raised his hands, with shock, to his eyes, and shook his head. Not believing what he saw he said,

“What time did you come out of the chrysalis?’*

“What time did I come out of—what?”

Rockwell took him down the hall to the next room and pointed to the table.

“I don’t see what you mean,” said Smith, frankly sincere. “I found myself standing in this room half an hour ago, stark naked.”

“That’s all?” said McGuire, hopefully. He seemed relieved.

Rockwell explained the origin of the chrysalis on the table.

Smith frowned. “That’s ridiculous. Who are you?”

Rockwell introduced the others.

Smith scowled at Hartley. “When I first was sick you came, didn’t you. I remember. At the radiations plant. But this is silly. What disease was it?”

Hartley’s cheek muscles were taut wire. “No disease. Don’t you know anything about it?”

“I find myself with strange people in a strange sanitarium. I find myself naked in a room with a man sleeping on a cot. I walk around the sanitarium, hungry. I go to the kitchen, find food, eat, hear excited voices, and then am accused of emerging from a chrysalis. What am I supposed to think?

Thanks, by the way, for this robe, for food, and the cigarette I borrowed. I didn’t want to wake you at first, Mr. Rockwell. I didn’t know who you were and you looked dead tired.”

“Oh, that’s all right.’ Rockwell wouldn’t let himself believe it.

Everything was crumbling. With every word Smith spoke, his hopes were pulled apart like the crumpled chrysalis. “How do you feel?”

“Fine. Strong. Remarkable, when you consider how long I was under.”

“Very remarkable,” said Hartley.

“You can imagine how I felt when I saw the calendar. All those months—crack—gone. I wondered what I’d been doing all that time.”

“So have we.”

McGuire laughed. “Oh, leave him alone, Hartley. Just because you hated him—”

“Hated?” Smith’s brows went up. “Me? Why?”

“Here. This is why!” Hartley thrust his fingers out “Your damned radiations. Night after night sitting by you in your laboratory. What can I do about it?”

“Hartley,” warned Rockwell. “Sit down. Be quiet.”

“I won’t sit down and I won’t be quiet! Are you both fooled by this imitation of a man, this pink fellow who’s carrying on the greatest hoax in history? If you had any sense you’d destroy Smith before he escapes!”

Rockwell apologized for Hartley’s outburst.

Smith shook his head. “No, let him talk. What’s this about?”

“You know already!” shouted Hartley, angrily. “You’ve lain there for months, listening, planning. You can’t fool me. You’ve got Rockwell bluffed, disappointed. He expected you to be a superman. Maybe you are. But whatever you are, you’re not Smith any more. Not any more. It’s just another of your misdirections. We weren’t supposed to know all about you, and the world shouldn’t know about you. You could kill us, easily, but you’d prefer to stay and convince us that you’re normal. That’s the best way. You could have escaped a few minutes ago, but that would have left the seeds of suspicion behind. Instead, you waited, to convince us that you’re normal.”

“He is normal,” complained McGuire.

“No he’s not. His mind’s different. He’s clever.’*

“Give him word association tests then,” said McGuire.

“He’s too clever for that, too.”

“It’s very simple, then. We take blood tests, listen to his heart, and inject serums into him.”

Smith looked dubious. “I feel like an experiment, but if you really want to. This is silly.”

That shocked Hartley. He looked at Rockwell. “Get the hypos,” he said.

Rockwell got the hypos, thinking. Now, maybe after all, Smith was a superman. His blood. That super-blood. Its ability to kill germs. His heartbeat.

His breathing. Maybe Smith was a superman and didn’t know it. Yes. Yes, maybe—

Rockwell drew blood from Smith and slid it under a microscope. His shoulders sagged. It was normal blood. When you dropped germs into it the germs took a normal length of time to die. The blood was no longer super germicidal. The x-liquid, too, was gone. Rockwell sighed miserably. Smith’s temperature was normal. So was his pulse. His sensory and nervous system responded according to rule.

“Well, that takes care of that,” said Rockwell, softly.

Hartley sank into a chair, eyes widened, holding his head between bony fingers. He exhaled. “I’m sorry. I guess my—mind—it just imagined things. The months were so long. Night after night. I got obsessed, and afraid.

I’ve made a fool out of myself. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He stared at his green fingers. “But what about myself?”

Smith said, “I recovered. You’ll recover, too, I guess. I can sympathize with you. But it wasn’t bad … I don’t really recall anything.”

Hartley relaxed. “But—yes I guess you’re right. I don’t like the idea of my body getting hard, but it can’t be helped. I’ll be all right.”

Rockwell was sick. The tremendous letdown was too much for him.

The intense drive, the eagerness, the hunger and curiosity, the fire, had all sunk within him.

So this was the man from the chrysalis? The same man who had gone m. All this waiting and wondering for nothing.

He gulped a breath of air, tried to steady his innermost, racing thoughts. Turmoil. This pink-cheeked, fresh-voiced man who sat before him smoking calmly, was no more than a man who had suffered some partial skin petrification, and whose glands had gone wild from radiation, but, nevertheless, just a man now and nothing more. Rockwell’s mind, his overimaginative, fantastic mind had seized upon each facet of the illness and built it into a perfect organism of wishful thinking. Rockwell was deeply shocked, deeply stirred and disappointed.

The question of Smith’s living without food, his pure blood, low temperature, and the other evidences of superiority were now fragments of a strange illness. An illness and nothing more. Something that was over, down and gone and left nothing behind but brittle scraps on a sunlit tabletop.

There’d be a chance to watch Hartley now, if his illness progressed, and report the new sickness to the medical world.

But Rockwell didn’t care about illness. He cared about perfection.

And that perfection had been split and ripped and torn and it was gone. His dream^ was gone. His supercreature was gone. He didn’t care if the whole world went hard, green, brittle-mad now.

Smith was shaking hands all around. “I’d better get back to Los Angeles. Important work for me to do at the plant. I have my old job waiting for me. Sorry I can’t stay on. You understand.”

“You should stay on and rest a few days, at least,” said Rockwell. He hated to see the last wisp of his dream vanish.

“No thanks. I’ll drop by your office in a week or so for another checkup, though. Doctor, if you like? I’ll drop in every few weeks for the next year or so so you can check me, yes?”

“Yes. Yes,’smith. Do that, will you please? I’d like to talk your illness over with you. You’re lucky to be alive.”

McGuire said, happily, “I’ll drive you to L.A.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll walk to Tujunga and get a cab. I want to walk. It’s been so long, I want to see what it feels like.”

Rockwell lent him an old pair of shoes and an old suit of clothes.

“Thanks, Doctor. I’ll pay you what I owe you as soon as possible.”

“You don’t owe me a penny. It was interesting.”

“Well, good-bye, Doctor. Mr. McGuire. Hartley.”

“Good-bye, Smith.”

“Good-bye.”

Smith walked down the path to the dry wash, which was already baked dry by the late afternoon sun. He walked easily and happily and whistled. I wish I could whistle now, thought Rockwell tiredly.

Smith turned once, waved to them, and then he strode up the hillside and went on over it toward the distant city.

Rockwell watched him go as a small child watches his favorite sand castle eroded and annihilated by the waves of the sea. “I can’t believe it,” he said, over and over again. “I can’t believe it. The whole thing’s ending so soon, so abruptly for me. I’m dull and empty inside.”

“Everything looks rosy to me!” chuckled McGuire happily.

 

Hartley stood in the sun. His green hands hung softly at his side and his white face was really relaxed for the first time in months, Rockwell realized. Hartley said, softly,

“I’ll come out all right. I’ll come out all right. Oh, thank God for that.

Thank God for that. I won’t be a monster. I won’t be anything but myself.” He turned to Rockwell. “Just remember, remember, don’t let them bury me by mistake. Don’t let them bury me by mistake, thinking I’m dead. Remember that.”

Smith took the path across the dry wash and up the hill. It was late afternoon already and the sun had started to vanish behind blue hills. A few stars were visible. The odor of water, dust, and distant orange blossoms hung in the warm air.

Wind stirred. Smith took deep breaths of air. He walked.

Out of sight, away from the sanitarium, he paused and stood very still. He looked up at the sky.

Tossing away the cigarette he’d been smoking, he mashed it precisely under one heel. Then he straightened his well-shaped body, tossed his brown hair back, closed his eyes, swallowed, and relaxed his fingers at his sides.

With nothing of effort, just a little murmur of sound, Smith lifted his body gently from the ground into the warm air.

He soared up quickly, quietly—and- very soon he was lost among the stars as Smith headed for outer space …

The End

Conclusion

When you all tell me your stories, about how you have changed since arriving at MM… well, this is always what comes to mind.

And this is only the beginning.

Who knows what greatness lies in the futures ahead of you?

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Ray Bradbury Index here…

Ray Bradbury

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Why the United States QUAD will crumble and disappear once a war begins between the USA and China

Somehow, everyone is assuming that those nations that “signed up to support the United States in the “containment” of China, would actually do so. And, I have argued “don’t be so sure”.

And while there might be a few “hanger’s on” such as Australia (only if the Morrison government remains in power), the chances are slim that the QUAD would exist and remain viable.

I argue that there is a very strong likelihood that most (if not all) of the QUAD would “high tail it back home” and leave the United States hanging “with it’s dick in it’s hands“…

…Were there to be a conflict between the USA and China.

To Americans, it seems that America is still strong and powerful and has a trio of “toadies” (nations that it can “push around”) and who will “stand by the United States” and do what ever it wants.

This is not true.

It’s not 1980.

No matter what the American mainstream and alternative media wants to say. The truth is that the rest of the world really doesn’t give a shit about America. They don’t care about Americans. They want America bullshit out of their lives, and are only going along with America now, out of survival. Once America shows signs that it can no longer punish these people, they will abandon America faster than you can shake a leg.

Asia has united into one enormous and powerful group. And all the nations bordering on this entity either wants to be part of it, or be independently respected by it. They most certainly do not want to piss off this massive, enormous united Asia.

The rest of the world is not at all like it is portrayed in the American media.

It’s an exciting period full of CHANGE.

The United States Military Empire is collapsing in upon itself. And this is creating voids where the rest of the world can rejoice and start living “normal” lives again. This is not just some nice phrases. It’s the absolute truth. The United States has become the world’s captor, torturer and all-around bully. Americans call this “policing the world for democracy”.

As shown in this micro-video…

In this article, we look at the probable alignments with the United States Military Empire construction known as “The QUAD”. And we put it in context with the great global realignments that are taking place.

How the USA views China

But this narrative is for American consumption. It is a fantasy. It is a lie. And it will end up getting a lot of Americans killed.

This isn’t your standard BBC or CNN, or FOX “news” fare.

This is the real deal and what is actually going on.

The following is from Fred Reed, and judging from the comments in the comments section, about 75% of the American commenters are indigent and aghast that Fred would write something other than “American Rambo can kick anyone’s ass”. It’s a great read. Check it out…

How Taiwan Will Fall Into Beijing’s Lap, Like an Overripe Mango

by Alfred Thayer Fred, a True Son of Tsu
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I will now explain war, or some of it. If you wonder how some mutt in Mexico with a computer thinks he knows about strategy, well, look at what we have in Washington. How could I be worse?

In geopolitical circles, blather swirls over whether the United States can defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion in a regional war. Sez I, it doesn’t matter whether it can if it won’t, and China will likely get the island without invading. The key is to think about how things look from Taiwan.

Washington is vague about whether it would militarily defend Taiwan. Taiwan presumably has noticed. Further, America does not recognize Taiwan as an independent country. More waffling. The implication is that Washington might, or might not, do something, or something else, depending on unspecified things, probably or at least possibly.

This sounds like hedging, a disguised American recognition that this isn’t 1955, and China is no longer a bamboo republic that makes pencils and cheap plastic buckets for Walmart. As China’s military power grows, and thus the cost of a war, America’s equivocation will likely become more equivocal. Throw in that America does $550 billion in commerce annually with the Middle Kingdom, including countless things America doesn’t make but can’t do without, and war with China doesn’t look real feasible. This too has probably occurred to Taipei.

The fashion in naval circles is to talk about the First Island Chain, which is a sort of barrier along the coast of China, the Kuriles, Japan, Okinawa in the Ryukyus, Taiwan, the Philippines, and even Borneo. The idea, apart from some fairly silly notions about “containing China,” is that these islands will want to join with Washington, which is somewhere else, to fight China, which is right there, to defend Taiwan, which also is right there.

Now, who would actually defend Taiwan—that is, go to war with China? Japan? Note that Japan is within missile range of China, and probably does not want missiles of large warhead raining down on Tokyo. Japan gets ninety percent of its petroleum from the Persian Gulf and, If Tokyo’s reserves of oil run out, Japan stops. All of it. China has pretty good submarines these days. The beltway Hawklets might say, “Don’t worry. We have magic anti-submarine stuff, no prob.” Given America’s military record, would you buy a used car from these people?

Do you suppose the Japanese have thought of this?

Washington might say, not to worry, we have antimissile gadgets, THAAD, and Patriot, and Aegis, and we can escort your tankers. But none of these weapons has much of a track record, and neither does America.

Further energizing Japan’s likely unenthusiasm for fighting Washington’s wars is that trade with China is crucial to the Japanese economy, and that Taiwan isn’t all that valuable to Tokyo. Today Japan trades with Taiwan, and with China. If Taiwan became part of China, this trade would probably continue with nothing changing but the letterhead.

Lastly, Japan may have noticed America’s propensity for getting its vassals (or allies, clients, or poodles, take your choice) into wars and then leaving them in the lurch. Think Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan and, soon, Syria and Iraq. This would leave Japan in a shooting war with China, all by itself. If the gringos lose a war, they can just go home. Japan is not mobile.

The Japanese might whisper into American ears, “All cool, Round Eye. But it’s just your empire on the line. It’s our ass. we’ll sit this one out.”

South Korea might think similar thoughts regarding use of its air bases, especially given that the Korean peninsula has a land border with China. Washington doesn’t. Seoul needs a war with the Middle Kingdom like it needs smallpox. “Tell you what, Round Eye, bugger off….”

Taiwan would get wind of this through back channels if not by sheer deduction.

How would a regional war over the Taiwan Strait look to an adult commander of an aircraft carrier? He might think, “Hmmm. Squinty-eyed rascals good engineers. Make’m Mars probe, worke’m. Train go three hundred sixty miles hour. Work’em. Maybe make’m missiles work’em good too. Hmmmm. Bad juju.”

The Navy’s PR operation will say that Chinese missiles don’t really amount to anything, this to protect the budget for its favorite bathtub toys and the only surface ship that justifies the existence of the Navy. But of course China can build swarms of missiles to arrive simultaneously.

Further, realists in Washington might ask themselves what would happen if the war didn’t go as planned, as wars usually don’t, and a carrier and three destroyers became marine barbecues before sinking. War games and Pentagon studies suggest that this is quite likely. To save face, the hawks would have to turn a regional war into a world war, which America would win. “Win.” Millions would die and the world economy stop. Never underestimate the influence of vanity in world affairs.

Taiwan could divine all of this. It could also divine that the Navy had divined it.

In recent years China has shown itself to be very good at engineering all manner of things, and has emphasized antiship missiles, including but not limited to terminally guided ballistic missiles of range far greater than that of carrier aviation. Do they work as advertised? We don’t know. A carrier captain would probably want someone else to find out.

Despite growly aphasic pronunciamientos from the White House, and chirpy assurance from Navy PR, grownups in the Pentagon might think, “You know…maybe a war with China isn’t a great idea. How about lunch instead at a really good rib joint on the Hill?”

Taiwan would know of these doubts. This would further undermine hope of American defense.

Now, suppose that China keeps on doing what to all appearances it is doing: increasing its amphibious- assault assets, improving and enlarging its already highly non-negligible air force, building missiles and increasing its number of marines. Meanwhile the Chinese navy grows like kudzu on a Georgia road cut. China can increase its forces across the Strait virtually without limit. The US cannot. At some point, past or future, Taiwan will face assault forces it has no chance whatever of repelling by itself. Taipei would notice this.

Further suppose that China keeps doing what else it has been doing for some time: practicing amphibious assaults that could at any moment become real assaults. Thus no one—read, America—would know whether the attack would come in two months, five years, or never. This would require keeping defensive forces, such as carriers, on station constantly and at a high state of readiness. Militaries do not do this well, and it is expensive. Moreover, after long periods of peace militaries do not mobilize quickly as it is discovered that there aren’t many of things there ought to be lots of because of some budget cut, or something, and the whole enterprise turns into a gargantuan goat-rope.

What kind of attack might Taiwan expect? I haven’t talked to the Chinese General Staff for weeks now, and so am making this up. But the goal would probably be to get the war over before America had time to react. Keeping invaders out is one thing, getting them out another. So, maybe a sudden attack with ballistic missiles to crater runways with simultaneous mass missile attack on air defenses with amphib ships simultaneously setting sail. At fifteen knots it would take about eight hours to reach the island. With heavy air support from China’s highly non-negligible air force, Chinese troops might well get ashore and into cities before America’s hypergalactic indomitable military could get its thumb out of…well, never mind. The Americans would be caught flatfooted by a fait accompli. Washington would face the joyful choice of bombing Chinese soldiers inside Taiwanese cities, or—this is Saturday Night Live territory—undertaking a land war in Asia against China.

It may be that Taiwan has thought of this.

Finally, there is TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. While little known in America, TSMC makes most of the world’s high-end chips, including those of Apple and…the Pentagon. America currently is not able to make its own.

This throws a fascinating wild card into things. If in an attack, TSMC were destroyed, by either side, or captured and held hostage, the effects would be no end entertaining. Today’s world, perhaps more than most people know, depends on chips. An astonishing proportion of advanced chips come from the island. Replacing its fab lines somewhere else would take years. The other, though lesser, source of chips is Samsung in South Korea, also in Chinese missile range. Washington is trying to cripple China’s tech by not allowing it access to advanced chips. Presumably this increases Beijing’s incentive to annex Taiwan.

Anyway, Biden couldn’t risk losing Taiwan as it would affect the midterms. But what it comes to is that with China being the largest trading partner of something like 165 countries, war isn’t real practical. The Taiwanese have probably figured this out.

So what does Taiwan do, seeing an overwhelming invasion force looming and not believing that Washington is really going to go to war to defend it? The choice would be to fight, be devastated as it lost, and face harsh conditions after—or to come to the best agreement it could and surrender without fighting. Anyone want to make bets?

Correction: Last week, in a moment of brainlock, I said that Pompeo was in the Navy. No, the Army. Mea culpa.

Some selected comments…

I’ve a hunch that, that is a key factor in China’s desire in getting its “lost province” back?. Taiwan integrated into China proper would then have a huge share, even a near monopoly on certain high capacity chips. 

Since we’ve allowed a great bulk of our industrial/infrastructure base to be outsourced, we’ve become dangerously dependent on others to maintain this menagerie. 

We could eventually (maybe) rebuild our capacity but is the skill set even here anymore to do that or sustain it?. 

We may go berserk & launch a war against China but if China does indeed have those hypersonic missiles available then they could send much of the pacific fleet to Davy Jones’ locker. And since it takes years to build those naval vessels we, out of desperation may go nuclear?. Then it’s Adios Muchachos..

So, me thinks that we’re rapidly approaching a scenario that there is very little we can do about it. Accept that we screwed the pooch big time in allowing so much our productivity base to be so gutted & in doing so, hamstrung our very future (we’ll never admit that!). 

We can swallow our pride & acknowledge what we’ve done to ourselves? (fat chance!). 

Gracefully accept we’re a waning power? (fat chance!). 

Or, freak out & go berserk that we’re no longer the top dog & launch a conflagration that’ll turn this world into a charnel house? (Most likely).

I really don’t think most Americans realize how completely batsh*t insane & evil their leaders & the psychos in the Pentagon truly are?. Maybe sanity will prevail, but looking at the zio-America lunatic asylum, it doesn’t bode well..

-BluEidDvl
The ‘junk’ sold in Walmart and Target, most of which are now being sourced OUTSIDE of China, are ‘AMERICAN’ goods, albeit made in foreign countries such as Vietnam. 

Chinese companies hardly sell to the US market which has become marginal to the Chinese economy, as ‘Chinese’ exports now account for less than a few percent of China’s GDP. 

Those so-called ‘Chinese’ exports to the USA consist mostly of ‘AMERICAN’ goods such as Apple’s iPhones, manufactured in China by Asian contract manufacturers like Foxconn. But those contract factories are now being relocated to lower-cost countries such as Vietnam. 

The rest of ‘Chinese’ exports which consist of industrial commodities such as LED panels are now being routed to Mexico where OEMs assemble them into final products such as TVs. 

In a few more years, ‘Chinese’ exports to the USA, while still large, in total volume will nevertheless decline further to less than 1% of China’s GDP which will be driven more by domestic consumption and internal demand over the next few decades.

The days when China was the ‘factory of the world’ is over.

-antibeast
What this author misses is that many Chinese-based manufacturers have their plants in Taiwan. The companies are headquartered in Beijing or Shanghai, and use Taiwan for manufacturing because labor is actually cheaper and more skilled than many places in China.

So, would China bomb the crap out of Taiwan, knowing they’re destroying their own factories? 

How about another thought – would China bomb the crap out of Taiwan in an effort to control it’s government – only to then turn around and rebuild it? 

Look at what happened in Hong Kong; China assimilated the former colony almost without a fight.

As much as I hate to do this – I sort of agree with Alfred Thayer Fred, I think. Once the real pressure is on, Taiwan will come to an “agreement” with the PRC and allow itself to be subsumed into greater China. Thereby ending the “Two-China” position that’s lasted since the early 1950s.

-RonCharest

Let someone in one of the QUAD nations explain…

The issue is whether or not the QUAD nations will stick with the USA and go against China. It’s so easy to find armchair strategists. Especially in America where they have been fed a steady diet of “American exceptionalism” and “military might”.

Let’s see what some of the more influential people (who speak English) in these QUAD nations have to say…

And then there’s Russia

Of course, the Ignorant Americans are all thinking that Russia and China are somehow enemies…

Russia has no love for China so don’t be so sure about them coming to China’s aid. 

-MarkinLA

Hardly.

The Russian-China Alliance

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year, from China and Russia with love! This analysis by “Larchmonter” in 2014. Written seven years ago. He’s a contributor of the site, “The Vineyard of the Saker”, a describes what may be a game-changer in terms of the geopolitical status quo. In short, The American Empire dying a fast death, and Russia and China may be able to pick up the pieces and create a system not based on cold, brutal, myopic psychopathy.

Article HERE. All credit to him, and realize that it is very dated. China and Russia have make considerable joint progress since this was written.

Vladimir Putin said it clearly: “Russia and China will have a significant effect on the entire system of international relations. The relationship will be a significant factor in world politics and will affect the contemporary architecture of international relations . . .” And to state precisely what this relationship means in geopolitical sea change, President Putin continued: “Russia and China have never had such trusting relations in the military field as they do now. Military exercises have been in joint war games at sea and ground both in Russia and China.” (1)

Update: Russia and China have vastly increased the strength of their relationship.

Russia and China are celebrating their “strategic partnership”, and have been vastly expanding their cooperation since 2014. Their close alliance is based on economic and geopolitical considerations. While it is mutually beneficial, it also has its limitations. However, in the mid-term, both China and Russia appear to be willing to overlook potential fields of tension, for instance in Central Asia.

-Russia and China: The Potential of Their Partnership

The mega trade deals we have seen this year and military exercises are more than normal cross-border trade or cooperative events between neighbors or partners. (2) The ‘relationship’ is affecting the global order. The two nations are forming a resistance front against destabilization and the weapons of chaos of a unipolar system.

Update: China and Russia has vastly increased military cooperation; to include military liaison in each military headquarter, trade in the latest military weapons systems, and avionics, and engines.

The closeness of China and Russias cybersecurity relationship is not dependent on their ties with each other, but is defined in relation to the US. Just as China and Russia advocate for multipolarity to challenge the perceived US’s unipolar world view and values, their cooperation in cyberspace demonstrates the same focus on the US.

-China-RussiaCybersecurityCooperation

Russia and China are working together to stabilize international trade, diplomacy and military balances; yet, ironically, this is disruptive.

Russia and China are sovereign nation resistance fighters against the Hegemon. The Hegemon is the unipolar Empire of the United States.

Hegemon = United States Military Empire

This context of geopolitical strategies is paramount to bear in mind. The Hegemon is threatening to contain both Russia and China economically with exclusionary trade agreements (TPP and TTIP) that leave China and Russia out or marginalized as second tier members, while each is bordered militarily with nuclear weapons on missiles of the trade partners, Hegemon’s allies and vassals. (This is the so-called missile defense shield of the West.)

Update: This United States effort has failed and collapsed.

These hegemonic trade agreements will shut out China and Russia from further integration with the two groups. Limits for growth, suppression of development due to monopoly of intellectual properties, oppressive clean energy and pollution control regimes, limits on construction and sale or purchase and use of certain commodities will slow infrastructure projects, not only within both nations, but constrict each nation from contracting for projects in other nations (their own partners that are emerging or developing nations).

Update: The Trump efforts to conduct these suppressive actions have all collapsed completely.

Thus, the Hegemon has the strategic intention to limit the elimination of poverty in the world, and control trade everywhere on the globe. The unipolar world will be finalized and secured by the Hegemon. There will be Elites and there will be poverty forever for most of the remaining nations.

Update: This was written during President Obama's term in office, and before President's Trump and Biden. Today in August 2021, it is clear that the attempt to create a unipolar world has utterly and completely failed.

Of course, the resistance and evolutionary partnering by Russia and China has made this hegemonic outcome impossible, unless one or both Russia and China are destabilized and/or regime change ensues. Therefore, what both nations face is an economic and military challenge that clearly is existential in threat level. Russia is first, and China is next on the hegemonic hit list.

Update: The United States Military Empire has attacked both Russia and China using every weapon at it's disposal, short of direct military engagement. Including bio-weapons authorized by John Bolton, who tried to induce starvation in China, and then the three lethal viruses unleashed in China in 2020. All efforts have so far, failed dramatically.

Full Spectrum Battlefield

The threat against China and Russia is a full spectrum battlefield: they are facing potential AirSeaSpaceCyberElectromagnetic warfare, not exempting chemical, biological and nuclear; soon to include laser and hypersonic weapons; economic warfare; and war by proxy armies, NGO organizations, covert operators and agents, with global media demonization and propaganda in psyops mode.

Update:  China has perfected shutting down all these expensive systems. I have written extensively on it. And it is the primary reason why the Trump 8-carrier battle armada went home in 2020 in defeat.

Each nation in the resistance partnership had to permit the other to look, touch and feel deeply into one another’s most treasured defense secrets, once armed against the other, now united with a new partner.

Update: This is true, and partially the reason why Russia and China are so close right now.

They knew they were in the same ‘foxhole’ facing the same enemy. And they both understood, that in time, neither would survive without the other. There had never been a hegemon so desperate or so fundamentally weak, yet so powerfully equipped to destroy all normalcy, perhaps, most of humanity, if need be, for it to survive. China-Russia had to protect one another and then try to save humanity and world order.

The initial United States attack was economic, not military. It hit Russia.

Background of the Resistance to the United States Military Empire

Neither Russia nor China presented themselves as rivals to the Hegemon, and both considered they had trade partnerships, geopolitical cooperative relationships and multitudinous common interests with the Hegemon. There were some irritations at the edges, but nothing was truly confrontational, except that which was instigated, paid for, planned and managed by the Hegemon with its vassals.

Update: This was the case in 2014. From 2016 to present, it's been a full-spectrum hybrid-war against both China and Russia. With China taking the brunt of the assaults.

So, economy, military and terrorism are the main battlefields in this full spectrum containment and destabilization against the Hegemon’s two greatest resistors. (This resistance is to unipolar domination in all its manifestations.)

Thus, we came to 2014. Because of the Sochi Olympics, the year 2014 became the focus of the color revolution rebirth in Ukraine. The ‘planners’ in the State Department and CIA had eight years to aim a two-prolonged destabilization that turned the failed Orange Revolution in Kiev into the Maidan. We all are very aware that this transformation was evil at its core, illegal, murderous, unconstitutional and had only one aim – to present Russia with an armed, psychologically-tuned, xenophobic Ukrainian force that would, first sweep away the Russian language, then the Russian speakers, i.e., Ukrainian citizens, in East Ukraine, next to Rostov and along a virtual open border, with nominally few defenses, merely, formal ‘crossings’ with no vestige of militarization on either side.

This violent upheaval was timed perfectly while President Putin presided over a $50 Billion investment in developing Sochi, hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics, eight years of stewardship identifiable as his greatest public project and intended to lift the internal spirits of his people, while demonstrating, as the Chinese had in 2008 with a Summer Olympics, that Russia, too, was back to greatness, accomplished and peaceful, a tourist attraction year-round in Sochi, and all troubles were in the past.

President Xi had announced he would attend the opening ceremonies. China and Russia were coming of age and were proud to show support in all matters of interest to both. They had voted as one to stop the American air attack on Syria, vetoing the resolution in the Security Council, and demanding resolution of the conflict by diplomatic means. So, in peace and war, sports and commerce, the two leaders scheduled six meetings for 2014. Some would be bi-lateral, some within the context of multi-lateral groups in which both held membership.

Update: Over the last seven years since this article was written both Russia and China operated as a singular block to oppose any United States Military Empire moves against each other. This block has been largely successful.

But Ukraine and the Maidan coup also attacked China in its pocketbook and its plans for East Ukraine and Crimea. China has a long history of interaction with Ukraine. Not just the modern ‘state’ of Ukraine, peeled off from the Russian Federation, in 1991, by Yeltsin in the Belovezha Accords. They were linked by technology and science study in the days before the Soviet Union threatened China and the two had hot shooting border wars, 1960-1989.

In December 2013, the Chinese and Ukraine had signed a strategic partnership agreement that was inclusive of guarantees of a shield against nukes because Ukraine has signed the non-proliferation treaty. China was guaranteeing Ukraine protection from any aggressor, quite unusual in China’s foreign policy actions. This was signed on December 5, 2013.

Update: Contrary to what the American "news" media says, President Putin says Russians and the Ukraine are "brothers". Here.

Chinese scientists and technicians trained in Ukraine, studied in Ukraine, and purchased from Ukraine when it was the home base of rockets, missiles, aircraft engines, and other software and metallurgically-supported systems.

Ukraine was where Russia (Soviet Union) had invested hundreds of billions of dollars in institutes and industries for computation, mathematics and weapons development. Ukraine was from whom the Chinese bought the incomplete aircraft carrier that China has since finished and called the Liaoning.

The Chinese recently were coming back to Ukraine and the Black Sea wealthier than ever, and desiring to help Ukraine with infrastructure while getting food from the fertile fields, grains, vegetables and fruits.

In Crimea, the Chinese were interested in the Kerch Bridge project and possible tunnel from Russia to Crimea.

These are China’s strengths today – infrastructure, roads, rail, fibre optic, ports, bridges, and building what they saw as the western depot for the Eurasian Economic Belt, and New Silk Road.

China understood Ukraine was Russian, at least the east and south were Russian. They had the contracts with Ukraine in Russian and Chinese. These contracts and diplomatic partnerships were part and parcel the Chinese connecting the dream of President Xi’s Eurasian Silk Road with the Putin Eurasian Union dream.

Ukraine was crucial because both dreams had merged into one gigantic Eurasia Development concept to be powered with Russian energy sources and Chinese wealth.

Update: This week.

Aug 05, 2021 · On June 30, China and the Ukraine signed a major agreement regarding the financing and construction of transport infrastructure. China-Ukraine relations have improved considerably since the blocking by Kyiv of a Chinese takeover of the Motor Sich company in March 2021.

-A new China-Ukraine partnership - OBOReurope

Ukraine was to function as the turntable to Europe, north, west, east and south. Ukraine benefited from the gas pipeline to Europe. It could have become a very rich transit point. Instead, Kiev chose suicide and began to kill its own citizens, going into virtual bankruptcy, losing its sovereignty, and festering into freakish and zombified ghoulery. Ukraine embraced fascism and Nazism, as it waged a war of attrition upon its entire nation. So far, Ukraine is losing the war against Ukraine, predictably, logically and tragically. However, it did stop China’s investments, forestalled the Ukrainian development projects, and does not permit itself to trade with anyone the Hegemon does not approve. (We all remember ‘Czech apples’, a sad consequence of similar vassal behaviour by the Czechs.)

Update: Substantial changes in the Ukraine has made most of this ancient history.

As events developed in late winter, two things happened on Feb. 23, 2014: Kiev fell to the junta’s snipers and the Olympics ended. The Sochi Olympics were a huge, resplendent success, despite the unprecedented West’s media campaign to disparage and nullify the actuality. The media might as well have declared the sun gone from the sky and all the oceans had dried.

Sochi and Putin had triumphed, no disaster, no terrorism, just a brilliant project with a superb display of Russian culture and expertise. The Russians also dominated the winter sports and competitively defeated American athletes in most venues. Sochi has since hosted the Formula 1 race in August.

The facility has been declared by the racers and the industry as the best racetrack facility in the world. Again, you can’t make this stuff up. Putin was on a roll. The more the West demonized him the greater Russia looked, the higher his approval ratings and the more China wanted him as a partner, a unique partner.

China’s Unique Partnership

China has 58 or so partnership agreements with various nations. There are many categories. They created a new definition for its supreme category with Russia: Comprehensive Strategic Collaborative Partnership.

Since there is this unique partnership that sets it apart, we should look closer at what is going on since 2014.

This should be seen an evolutionary event, not merely a resistance movement against the United States Military Empire.

Update: Call it what you may, the Russia and China alliance is much stronger than other other treaty and relationship in the history of the world.

Nature provides what it needs for a species to survive. Humanity is seeing this within the relationship of China and Russia.

I call it the Double Helix, merely because it is apt as a metaphor, not because every biologic or chemical fact in DNA is represented in the relationship. But similarities exist and Double Helix depicts this evolution nicely.

Update: President Putin has referred to the relationship between Russia and China as "symbiotic". A symbiosis is an evolved interaction or close living relationship between organisms from different species, usually with benefits to one or both of the individuals involved.

To decode the DNA of the relationship in this Double Helix of Bear and Dragon, we can look closer at the ‘base pair molecules’ of each strand.

First, there are the ‘helices’ that each strand comprises. These are the complimentary characteristics that make this new genetic partnership work. They are what we would normally evaluate to decode any single nation’s ‘DNA’.

Some nations have similar, some less.

But none have as much as or as profoundly essential to sustain continued growth and development and separation from the United State Military Empire.

Helices

Geography that spans thousands of miles of common borders (2,607 mi.), natural resources and multi-ethnic masses of peoples, large defensive militaries, recent emergence as developing economies, self-reliant market capitalist systems with state-managed controls, millionaires and billionaires and relatively modest middle class tiers, deep distrust of Communism as an economic solution, and massive state-owned enterprises in the key industries.

  • What one nation lacks, the other has.
  • What one nation excels in, the other aspires.
  • What one nation needs immediately, the other is ready to deliver.
  • What one nation needs over time, the other is prepared to supply or access for the duration.

And most clearly, both nations have the same existential threat from the same source, using the same means to threaten both. Ergo, the unique partnership.

A quote from Lu Shiwei, a senior research fellow with the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University: “The close relationship between China and Russia is not only out of economic concerns, as the two complement each other’s economy. These active efforts are also a reflection of political necessity and desire.” (emphasis mine)

Wealth, energy, military, finance, banking, Space, satellites, education, IT, chemicals, microelectronics, water, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, and a common dream, while confronting a common enemy are the significant molecules. Upon these markers, the Double Helix was formed. It was a process, not a sudden event. But it was evident in 2014 as a repeated event. It was to geopolitics as Sochi was to sport. It was unique and it happened.

Let’s visit these ‘molecules’ and look at what has transpired just in this momentous year of 2014.

Molecules

We’ll turn on the lights with energy molecules. Oil, gas and coal, nuclear and LNG acquisition, provisioning, transport, pipelines, storage, exploration, resource development, innovation and technological development, and, probably, reverse engineering of Western tools, as well as investment, loans, advanced payments, equity purchases, and job creation. The following ‘deals’ are ‘base paired’, not merely supply-purchase deals. This is far beyond vendor-customer in nature.

Gas: Two gigantic projects, the Power of Siberia and the Altai Pipeline.

The first is in Eastern Siberia. It will is delivering gas from terminal in Vladivostok to China, and at Blagoveshchensk across Amur River. It was signed May 21, 2014 between Gazprom and CNPC. It is a 30-year deal, later extended 5 years by agreement in October.

The second project is in Western Siberia and will bring is bringing gas to North-western China. Gazprom and CNPC signed the deal originally in 2006, it was put on hold, restarted in 2014 at APEC by Putin, November 9th.

What is key to these are the establishment of infrastructure, manufacture and supply of pipe, construction crews, job creation in support of two of the largest projects in mankind’s history, simultaneously. This along a border that historically has been a hotspot, where wars have been fought between the two nations.

Presidents Putin and Xi said do it.

And, it is done.

September, it began with Russian shovels and Chinese advance payments, $25 Billion. Once connected, the two nations will are receiving ‘marrow’ transfers each requires to continue growth. Siberia and the Far East come alive as viable sectors of the Russian economy; China receives clean energy and moves people into its Northwest and North, and some into Far East Russia.

Its foreign investments in Russia pay dividends, and Chinese capital grows. The plans go deeper, and involve more than finance, acquisition of commodities and exploitation of natural resources. More, later, in this energy section.

Update: It appears that Russia will be supplying all the gas needs of China.

The Russian energy project, "Power of Siberia", one of the largest gas pipeline projects on the planet, will begin by the end of 2019, expected to not only meet China’s heavy demand for gas but also benefit both sides as a large amount of jobs will be created.

-China-Russia energy cooperation deepens - CGTN

Someone had best tell this ill-informed commenter;

You are perhaps forgetting that China imports nearly all of its oil, and about 40% of its food (mostly from the U.S.) It also imports a great deal of coal from the U.S. for its coal-fired generators. And most of its alfalfa hay for feeding livestock. (Yes, really.)

Cut off China’s oil imports, and stop exporting food, hay, and coal to China (and freeze its U.S. assets, like Smithfield pork) and suddenly China is no longer in a position to wage war against anyone.

-The Scarlet Pimpernel

Oil: Rosneft has access to Chinese ‘advance payments’ and is accessing them to pay its off-shored loans coming due in December and first quarter 2015.

This mechanism is a product of deals signed in early 2014. The loans were to buy TNK-BP for $31 Billion and are not a result of falling prices.

The acquisition deal was encouraged by China, and China indicated at the time it would buy equity in Rosneft so the liquidity to complete the deal was in Rosneft’s hands in timely fashion. These agreements now seem prescient as the economic war ensues using oil price collapse, off-shore credit denial and rubble shorting in Forex trading.

China has now received much greater supplies of Russian oil and an increased involvement with Rosneft shares and has an alliance to develop technologies in exploration, drilling, extraction and transport. Rosneft and CNPC, likewise, are seen to be less rivals for oil and more partners. This has been indicated in the works for Arctic exploration and development and off-shore Crimea for oil and gas.

Update: Oil and Gas are flowing from Russia into China.
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China, Japan and South Korea are major buyers of Russian oil, various long pipelines, then, are built to transport the oil from Europe to East Asia.

With more than 4,800 kilometers, the ESPO pipeline, also known as the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline, starts from Tayshet central-south Russia to northeast China's oil city of Daqing, able to supply about 15 million tons of oil every year.

The Yamal LNG is China's first large-scale energy cooperation project with Russia under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China also built tankers to ship LNG through sea routes thanks to China-Russia cooperation on Arctic exploration.

China and Russia are poised to further deepen their energy cooperation as their top leaders both pledged provide policy support during a bilateral energy business forum in June.

As comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, China and Russia enjoy deepening cooperation in all spheres, which has forcefully promoted the two nations' common development and revitalization, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

Describing energy cooperation as the "most significant, most fruitful and most wide-ranging" area of bilateral cooperation, Xi said the two sides' close coordination has played a positive role in safeguarding the fair, just, reasonable and orderly international energy order.

To consolidate and deepen their energy cooperation, Xi made four proposals.

Firstly, business entities should lead the cooperation and stick to the principles of mutual benefits, win-win results and being commercially viable. Financial insurance and energy cooperation should be enhanced for mutual support and mutual promotion.

Secondly, new potentials should be tapped to upgrade the cooperation. Cooperation in energy technical standard should be strengthened for mutual recognition and synergy. Technological innovation, the integration of information technology with the energy sector, and cooperation in energy research and development (R&D) should all be deepened. Experience sharing, capacity building and think tank exchanges should be enhanced for mutual learning.

Thirdly, the cooperation should promote the integration of interests, and aim for a more comprehensive and integrated cooperation along the whole industrial chain. The two sides should focus on the present while looking into the future, stick to complementary advantages and win-win results to expand and deepen their cooperation.

Fourthly, cooperation in global energy governance should be stepped up for the sustainable development of energy. The two sides should work together to firmly safeguard multilateralism and actively conduct multilateral cooperation to play a constructive role in the global energy governance system.

Xi said China and Russia enjoy broad prospects and tremendous potentials in energy cooperation. "I would like to work with President Putin to lead and promote our governments in creating an even better business environment for our enterprises and provide more comprehensive policy support."

He expressed belief that companies of the two countries, under the shield of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, will work together to further promote their cooperation to benefit the two peoples.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the energy business forum was jointly initiated by him and Xi last year as a platform for the two sides to explore expanding cooperation in oil and gas, electric power and renewable energy.

Energy cooperation has become an important and integral part of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, and the fastest growing area of bilateral cooperation, and it is mutually beneficial, Putin said.

The two countries have made positive progress in energy cooperation in infrastructure construction, trade, and technological R&D, Putin said, adding that important oil and gas pipelines and large-scale cooperation projects are making headway as scheduled.

"The Russian government will improve related laws, regulations and policies to create a favorable market environment for foreign companies to invest and operate in Russia," he said.

-China-Russia energy cooperation deepens

Coal: Siberian and Far East coal development, Rostech and Shenhua Group agreed to are exploring and develop coal deposits in Siberia and Far East. They will are constructing coal-fired plants that will sell electricity in Russia, China and other Asian countries.

The two companies will also build has built a marine coal terminal at Port Vera in the Primorsky Territory, Far East. That project begins 2015, operational 2018-2019.

Update: Russia helps China when the Australian Morrison government stops coal exports.

Mar 11, 2021 · In December, Elgaugol, the company behind the Elga coal project in the Russian Far East, agreed to launch a joint venture with China’s Fujian Guohang Ocean Shipping Group that will export metallurgical coal to China. The Elga project aims to ship 30 million tons of coal to China in 2023, almost doubling Russia’s total coal exports to China, which stood at around 33 million tons in 2019.

-Russia looks to replace banned Australian coal exports to China.

They will build are building high voltage transmission lines to China. Social and transport infrastructure will be are being developed concurrently.

So, this coal ‘deal’ is not a typical commodity deal. It is long-term, and builds the Far East and North China. It brings a permanent electrical utility produced in Russia to the people and industries of China. It expands a port; it uses trucks, rail, and GPS systems that are co-developed.

Update: More agreements and treaties between Russia and China on coal.

In December 2020, Russia’s Elgar Coal Company and China’s Fujian Air China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., Ltd. signed an agreement to establish a joint venture to export coking coal to China. The related project is expected to supply 30 million tons of coal to China from 2023-this will nearly double Russia's total coal exports to China from about 33 million tons in 2019.

-Russia wants to increase coal exports to China and replace ...

Nuclear: Rosatom will is building the Tianwan NPP (nuclear power plant), 7th and 8th power blocks. They are already building have completed the 3rd and 4th power blocks.

They will build have built in Harbin two power units.

Rosatom may will participate in VVER reactors (pressurized water) with two fast breeder reactors, floating nuclear power plants.

Presently, China has deals with Westinghouse for 26 nuclear units. Clearly, the Chinese would prefer to have their inland reactors Russian-design and supplied than locked into Westinghouse technology. (The two are different and fuel sources are particularly mutually exclusive, as Ukraine is finding out as it turns to the U.S. for refueling.)

Update: China and Russia are increasing their nuclear technology exchanges.
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May 20, 2021 · The Tianwan plant in Jiangsu Province is the biggest such project between China and Russia, which is a joint venture by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation and Atomstroy, a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear power giant Rosatom. The Xudapu plant in Liaoning Province is a new joint project between the two countries.

-China-Russia cooperation: A new type of major-country ...

LNG: Construction of a plant in Northern Russia. Yamal LNG and CNPC and development of South Tambeiskoye field. Equity stake for China in Vladivostok LNG is part of the deal.

Update: Ever since Trump and Biden initiated a hybrid-war against China, Russia has stepped in and forged strong relationships with China all across the board.
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Jun 02, 2021 · Russian energy giant Novatek and China's Zhejiang Energy signed an agreement on long-term liquified natural gas (LNG) supplies from the Arctic LNG 2 project at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Wednesday.

-Russia’s Novatek agrees long-term Arctic LNG supplies to China

Things That Fly

Some military, some dual use, some civilian.

But we’ll begin with GPS and see how the ‘Double Helix’ is working in Space.

Satellites: Both China and Russia have GPS satellite systems. GLONASS is the Russia system. Beidou is the Chinese system. The Russian system is larger, more mature and covers the entire globe. The Chinese system is new, limited in coverage and not mature nor densely accurate and improving every month.

The Chinese often do things in measured, metric, stages. An agreement to place ground stations inside China by Russia will gives China a global GPS capability for its defense and second strike weapons, as well as for its commercial use for the world’s soon to be largest navy and the world’s largest most diverse ocean and fishing fleet. (Two teens swapping kisses couldn’t get closer.)

Update: Russia and China will explore space together.

With their agreement, the partners are signaling an alternative to a U.S.-led order in space. On March 9, 2021, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Russian Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint construction of an autonomous lunar permanent research base. 

-The Strategic Implications of the China-Russia Lunar Base

Russia will has put GLONASS stations in one of China’s airfields and on a navigable river as pilot projects to develop cooperation in the field of navigation.

The airport project will currently aids landing and signal monitoring systems using zonal-navigation methods that will be working on GLONASS and Beidou constellations. (It should be noted that most airfields in China are dual-use military-civilian and the PLA controls most traffic in the air.)

Russia’s advanced systems and experience will enable provide training for Chinese air traffic controllers and aero navigation teams to learn modern satellite technologies. The river navigation project will currently monitors and correct and track boats on internal water routes.

Auspiciously, Beidou was named for the Great Bear constellation.

Space: Roscosmos Federal Space agency. China is interested engaged in building Russian rocket engines and joining manned space exploration, navigation satellite and remote sensing projects.

Production of electronic component parts, materials science, construction of spacecraft and rocket engines are in the works in process.

Exchange of manned spacecraft visits to Russian and Chinese orbiting stations and joint expeditions to deep space are beginning talks mature. Space is a battlefield according to the U.S. defense doctrine.

The Double Helix sees dual use potential.

Update: China and Russia are both going to be part of the Chinese space station, and the Lunar Moon Base.

Aircraft: Nov. 11, 2014, Aviation Industry Corp China and Rostec signed an agreement. Russia and China are forming possess a working group to carry out a project to distribute products, and prepare and implement projects in Russia, China, and 3rd countries, and to provision for warranty servicing and ensuring post-warranty service of equipment.

Update: China and Russia are forming a massive joint aerospace industry. It is trans-borders, and will have the strengths of both nations participating.

The China-Russia International Aircraft Cooperation, or CRAIC, wants to begin constructing the first CR929 before the end of the year. The collaboration has already shortlisted several subcontractors, most of whom are reportedly subsidiaries of China’s state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). 

-China And Russia Want To Start Building The 1st CR929

This creates strategic cooperation in development of aircraft, helicopters, engines, aircraft materials, avionics and radar equipment. This brings a new phase and transition to comprehensive cooperation between two state-owned corporations.

Long haul aircraft: Joint venture, similar to Russian-Italian JV for Sukhoi SuperJet 100. $10 Billion project to compete with Boeing and Airbus.

Update: In process. Mature.

May 30, 2016 · The project is part of a reported $13 billion aviation cooperation deal signed in 2014 during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China. The long-haul plane will be developed in Russia and assembled in China. A special engineering center will be created in Russia to undertake technical and electronics production.

-Russian-Chinese passenger jet to take on Boeing & Airbus

Dual use aircraft heavy helicopter: Russia and China will build is building a heavy helicopter probably based on the Mi-26 from Russian Helicopoter-Rostvertol. It will be for China and third parties, initially.

Update: Mature and in process.

Aug 30, 2019 · China and Russia have fully agreed upon and signed a commercial contract on a joint heavy helicopter development project, said Miao Wei, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, on Wednesday. "For the next step, the Chinese government will accelerate the progress for a project approval and finish it as… 

-China, Russia Sign Heavy Helicopter Deal | DefenceTalk

S400: Triumf air defense missile systems; six battalions. Delivery will be started in 2016, $3 Billion. Rosboronexport and Chinese Defense Ministry signed on 11-26-14.

China gets state of the art missile defense. This nullifies Japan’s air power, U.S. air power, and protects the Double Helix’s Asian Pacific flank. Nothing in the missile defense arsenal of any nation is as important as this system, and now, China will get it.

Russia is was building the S500 for itself. That is the nature of technology capacity intrinsic to Russia. It has marched for forty years with derivations, updates, refinements and new systems that have protected the Motherland and the territories of its allies. Russian defense is the world standard.

Update: Forget about the S400. Already these systems have been delivered to China and are in operation. It seems that the production of the S400 has stopped, and it looks like the most advanced S500 systems are now being supplied to China. Especially since the United State Military Empire is Hell-bent on a war.

Apr 08, 2021 · Pondering whether China should consider the S-500 for its own air and space defense arsenal, Lin recalled the long history of Russian-Chinese cooperation …

- Chinese Media Impressed by Russia’s S-500

Now, from the Arctic to Vietnam, Russia and China will have has a defense system facing the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force missile command. Similarly, these systems will proliferate along the New Silk Road as Eurasia infrastructure develops. Force multiplication for Russia’s southern underbelly on China’s investment means a safer more secure Russia.

Submarines: AIP technology, propulsion acoustic stealth and long duration submergence technology transfer with the sale of an Amur 1650.

Update: Amazing developments in submarine technology and massive shipbuilding events have placed substantially modernized and capable submarines in both the Russia and Chinese fleets.
According to RIA Novosti, a state-controlled Russian news agency, Russia and China are collaborating on a new submarine design (in Russian). The project is being coordinated by Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.

-China And Russia In Mysterious New Submarine Project

Air-independent propulsion using electrochemical generators and new combat systems for electronic warfare, a passive antenna sonar to detect silent targets at long range make this a submarine platform for defensive second strike (MAD).

Update: Amazing developments in submarine systems age going on in response to the belligerence of the United States Military Empires desire for war.

Aug 25, 2020 · On Tuesday, Russia's Sputnik news agency quoted an official as saying Russia was designing a 'non-nuclear' submarine with China. Viktor Kladov, Director for International Cooperation and Regional Policy of the state arms export corporation 

- Russia working with China to design submarine, missile ...

Russia is pursuing this sea-based deterrence and China also is expanding its extensive submarine fleet for a second deterrence platform system.

Tests of Russian Bulava ICBM from submerged sub, the Vladimir Monomakh, signaled this capability for Russia back in 2013.

Update: Amazing developments in submarine systems age going on in response to the belligerence of the United States Military Empires desire for war.

Aug 27, 2020 · According to RIA Novosti, a state-controlled Russian news agency, Russia and China are collaborating on a new submarine design (in Russian). The project is being coordinated by Russia's … 

- China And Russia In Mysterious New Submarine Project

This transfer of technology assures that China will have it also.

An Amur 1650 would be equipped with 18 missiles. China has been testing  MIRV-ed warheads for its missiles since 2010.

Update: Amazing developments in submarine systems age going on in response to the belligerence of the United States Military Empires desire for war.

Aug 26, 2020 · "We are currently cooperating with the Chinese side on a joint project of a new generation non-nuclear submarine," Viktor Kladov, a director of Russian state-owned defense corporation Rostec, told... 

- Russia and China Working Together on Advanced Weaponry ...

This deal calls for 4 submarines, joint development and construction, to begin 2015, 2 built in Russia, 2 built in China.

Update: Amazing developments in submarine systems age going on in response to the belligerence of the United States Military Empires desire for war.

Aug 20, 2020 · That cooperation in air and missile defense could also support the submarine component of Russia-China strategic cooperation in the Arctic is reasonably clear, but the analyst then makes the most...

- China and Russia Might Be Headed Towards Naval Supremacy …

IT and Microelectronics: Russian rocket, space and defense enterprises will buy electronic components from China worth $1 Billion.

Update: Russia and Chinese trade, agreements and research in the high-technology fields are astounding in their scope and breadth.

While Russia and China are signing joint agreements to develop high-tech research centers and initiatives, the outlook is more complex beneath the surface. These trends reflect the result of mutual interests and alignment of technological imperatives, which have contributed to the expansion of high-tech efforts between the two countries. 

- The Resilience of Sino-Russian High-Tech Cooperation ...

Working with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp for dozens of items as alternatives to U.S.-sourced parts.

Update: Russia and Chinese trade, agreements and research in the high-technology fields are astounding in their scope and breadth.

In our new report, A new Sino-Russian high-tech partnership: authoritarian innovation in an era of great-power rivalry, published today by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre, we map out the unique ecosystem underpinning expanding technology cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. China and Russia have not only expanded their military cooperation but are also undertaking more extensive technological cooperation, including in 5G, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, new media and the digital economy 

-A new Sino-Russian high-tech partnership emerges as US tensions mou…

Russia will need to purchase these alternative items for 2-2.5 years until their own industry can manufacture electronic components that are radiation-resistant for Space and match military standards for mil systems. This has been a $2 billion American supply in the past.

No Longer.

China is now supplying those parts.

Update: Russia and Chinese trade, agreements and research in the high-technology fields are astounding in their scope and breadth.

May 25, 2021 · Russia is developing an array of autonomous weapons platforms utilizing artificial intelligence as part of an ambitious push supported by high-tech cooperation with neighboring China. 

- Russia Is Building an Army of Robot Weapons, and China's ...

Technology Parks: October 14, 2014 a memorandum to jointly build high-tech parks in each country to further innovation in science and technology. In Shaanxi, China, in the town of Xixian Fendong, a technology park of four square kilometers, and in Moscow, at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, 200,000 sq. meters of buildings will be built.

China and Russia are deepening and expanding their ties — economic, military, technological — as external pressures limit their access to overseas markets and technology. Both countries hope the collaboration will help to compensate for domestic deficiencies and to compete successfully with the United States in today’s critical technologies.  

This bilateral relationship, currently celebrating its 70th anniversary, has ebbed and flowed in the decades since the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China opened diplomatic relations. This relationship, now upgraded to and characterized as a “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era,” is continuing to evolve amid today’s great power rivalry. 

For Moscow, certain Chinese products, services and experience may be the lifeline for its industry, government, and military need to wean themselves from high-tech Western imports. 

For Beijing, Russia’s skilled engineers and mathematicians are a valuable resource for tech and defense industry giants that are hungry for talent and faced with increasingly unfavorable conditions in the United States and Europe. And its military hopes to draw on Russian proficiency in designing advanced weapons and experience using emerging capabilities on today’s battlefields.

Consequently, the Sino-Russian strategic partnership has increasingly concentrated on technology and innovation. In the wake of Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in May 2015, the Chinese and Russian governments have signed a series of agreements to develop new realms of cooperation. In June 2016, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on Launching Cooperation in the Domain of Innovation.” The notion of these nations as linked in a “science and technology cooperation partnership for shared innovation” has been elevated as a major pillars of this relationship.

-Defense One

Satellite offices for the Chinese park in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Heilongjiang will follow on.

In Russia, offices in Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and the Russian republic of Tatarstan. Two sovereign wealth funds, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and the Chinese Investment Corporation are leading the investments.

Cyber Security: International cyber security agreement is set for was set up during the first half 2015. Prevention of cyber incidents developing into full-scale conflict, collaboration in the operation of nation Internet segments, closer interaction on international platforms dedicated to cyber security issues.

It is going to be broader than a cyber non-aggression pact.

The Russians and Chinese are discussing a new Internet to break the monopoly and intrusion by the U.S. and NSA, CIA, etc.

Update: Russia and China are both working together to fight the United States Military Empire's control of cyber-warfare and blaming it on them. Remarkable progress is being made to this end.

Dec 16, 2020 · Russia and China concluded a bilateral cybersecurity agreement in May 2015, described by some media as a „non-aggression pact.“ While the framework of the pact was largely borrowed from its previous agreement under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the effectiveness of implementing its „commitment not to hack fighting each other“ remains in question.

- Russia China Cybersecurity Agreement

Education: 100,000 student exchange program. Already 25,000 Chinese in Russian higher education, 15,000 Russians in Chinese education and internships.

Far Eastern Federal University will teach Russian to Chinese students.

Joint University in China will have Moscow State University curriculum as core. Already Moscow State and Beijing University of Technology opened a university in the city of Shenzhen. It opened in Sept. 2016.

Update: The centers for education, research, technology and development are located inside of both Russia and China.

Jun 20, 2019 · The agreement between Tsinghua and Saint Petersburg will lead to the creation of a Russian Research Institute at the Beijing university, which will conduct research on Russia-China relations in areas such as industrial development, education, science and technology.

-Academic ties grow between Russia and China

China as Russia’s Bank

It is evident from the nature and size of interactions between China and Russia, China has determined to construct a floor for the Russian economy. Just as the Federal Reserve secretly saved the EU banking systems by QE and passage of funds to select banks in the EU, China is doing similarly with Russia during the sanctions regime.

Update; Apr 09, 2021 · China and Russia each scaled back their U.S. Treasury holdings, with Russia channeling cash into renminbi holdings. And China has ramped up the digital currency drive it began in 2014, with the ...

-Analysis | China and Russia announced a joint pledge to ...

Instead of creating debt, it is swapping currencies and keeping corporations liquid, taking equity positions in state-owned enterprises, making loans and advances on deals both within Russia and between Russia and China.

Update: China, Russia move to unseat the dollar as the No.1 currency. China is not slackening its pace in mounting Beijing’s challenge to the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Now that the International Monetary Fund has included the yuan (renminbi) in the Special Drawing Rights (the currency basket that provides additional support to ...

-China, Russia move to unseat the dollar as the No.1 currency

There were three wounds to the Russian economy.

First, prior to United States sanctions there was heavy flight of foreign investment out of Russia.

Second, United States sanctions brought on more of that loss of capital investment and a credit crunch.

Third, the drop in the price of oil affected the ruble. So, credit loss, liquidity loss, tax revenue loss and a battered currency has slowed growth and caused inflation inside Russia.

Not so today.

Update: Jul 14, 2021 · China cheers Russia’s move away from US dollar in favor of yuan. Beijing has welcomed Russia’s decision to cut the US currency from its National Wealth Fund and give the yuan a bigger role, China’s Foreign Ministry has announced. Last week, Russia fully eliminated the US dollar from its National Wealth Fund, reducing its share from 35% to ...

-China cheers Russia’s move away from US dollar in favor of ...

Both Russia and China have invested heavily in gold, manufacturing capability, and discharging the American debt that they have acquired over the last few decades. The end result has not only make their economies stronger, but enabled them to implement electronic currency, and in China this is a mature technology that 99.5% of the people use.

China’s Capacity

China has the wealth to manage these issues in the short term. Russia’s reserves and gold cache, natural resources and intellectual property are collateral for any contingency.

Russia’s economic size (GDP) is comparable to the sum of 3 provinces in China – Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai taken as one economy. The Chinese have 31 provinces and autonomous regions. So, managing a floor for Russia economically as a reserve force is easy for the Chinese.

Premier Li indicated that, “China may be able to help reduce the damage (of sanctions) as Russia looks east for business and financing, but it is far from a total offset.” Oct. 13, 2014

The intention is clear. China needs Russia, not just Russian gas and oil.

Update: Mar 27, 2020 · China and Russia have used the new coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to lead efforts at the United Nations to lift American and European sanctions against a number of countries, including Syria. They have sized on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent call for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria to demand sanctions relief. 

-Exclusive - China, Russia Lead Campaign to Avoid ...

Currency: Currency swap agreement signed by Premier Li Oct.13, 2014, duration 3 years, extendable.Yuans and rubbles will be used as settlements of trade. This deal is empowering for the yuan as an international currency, likewise Russia’s rubble. It also empowers the BRICS nations to have more input in international finance as it diminishes the dollar’s use for settlements.

Update: Jun 06, 2019 · Russia and China sign deals worth US$20 billion as Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin’s growing friendship bears fruit ... security and trade. After six years' working overseas in Brussels and ...

-Russia and China sign deals worth US$20 billion as Xi ...

Sberbank financing letters of credit in yuans with Russian companies. Provides safety through diversification of currencies. Pairing on the Moscow and Shanghai stock exchanges since Dec. 2010. Russian firms have been using HKD and yuan.

Banking: Agreement between Russian VTB Bank and Bank of China.

Another deal is VTB, VEB and Russian Agriculture Bank, all hit by sanctions, signed framework agreement with Export-Import Bank of China to open credit lines.

Update: Jun 17, 2019 · Another alternative is China’s CIPS (China International Payments System), which several Russian banks have also connected to, especially to ease banking operations between the two countries, according to Vladimir Shapvalov, also of the CBR, who said at last week’s SPIEF conference: “As for the cooperation on payment systems, a range of banks are already connected to CIPS, …

-Russian & Chinese Alternatives For SWIFT Global Banking ...

Credit Card: Union Pay of China has replaced Visa and Mastercard, while Russia develops its own national brand credit card system. The Russian credit card system UEC (universal electronic card) was implemented in 2017. Both Russia and China “leapfrogged” the credit card system with QR based electronic e-payments.

Update: The China National Advanced Payment Systems (CNAPS) 中国人民银行现代化支付系统 is the primary domestic electronic payment system in China. Unlike the separation of ACH and wire payment systems in the United States., CNAPS encompasses both ACH-type (low-value) payments and wire-type (Real Time Gross Settlement “RTGS”) payments. 

-Treasurer’s Guide to China Payments | PNC Insights

Finance: China Development Bank (CDB) agreed to financing $500 million for Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon. CDB also agreed on annual financing of $1 Billion to the Russian Grid.

FDI Equity stakes: A stake in Gazprom’s Vladivostok liquid natural gas terminal, and shares purchased by CNPC in oil producer Rosneft. New privatization of part of Rosneft, maybe up to 9%. Already China holds 0.6% since 2006. Not only state-owned enterprises, but large private corporations and entrepreneurs are poised with capital investment in Russia.

Russia is rated one of the top economies (despite sanctions, ruble drop, threats and vodka weaknesses) by leading analysts and investment gurus. Russia should begin to show GDP growth rates that seem unthinkable today (5-6%) in 4-5-6 years. China will pump-prime large sectors of this, and get excellent returns on its investments. Further out, 10-15 years, Russia will be robust and stable with a growth outlook and diversified line-up of products and services and a nearby Eurasian market easy to service.

Motor Vehicles: Great Wall Motors plant in central Russian Tula Region to build 150,000 Haval four-wheel drive vehicles/yr. $522 million per year investment, 2500 jobs.

Petrochemical Technologies: Joint venture construction of a rubber production plant between petrochemical companies Sibur and Sinopec, oil company, to be based on Russian technologies located in Shanghai. Rus-China split 25.1-74.9. Technology transfer. The two have previously worked together in Rasnoyarsk for rubber production in Siberia. Split is reversed in Russia’s favour there. Rubber produced will be supplied to China.

Construction: Bridges and transport links across Russian-Chinese border. Rail companies Russian Railways and China Railway Corp. have agreed on logistics centres, development of passenger traffic and reduction of tariffs.

Update: Apr 28, 2021 · Three of the six ‘economic corridors’ of the BRI pursue this goal: the New Eurasia Land Bridge aims to connect China to Poland by rail links through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, the China, Mongolia, Russia Economic Corridor aims to build rail and road links through Russia to Estonia and Finland, and the China, Central Asia, West Asia Economic Corridor would link Central Asia to Turkey, … 

-Ambivalent partners: The complex Russia-China relationship

Infrastructure: High Speed Rail project: Moscow to Kazan 770 kilometers. It will ultimately link to Beijing. The China side is Beijing to Urumqi, Xinjiang.

Moscow subway extensions to be built by Chinese investors, New Moscow district. Total deal for $10 Billion, signed May 19, 2014; 93 miles, 70 stations.

This is a key foreign investment partnership project. Deal between Mosinzhproekt and China Railway and Construction and China International Fund.

Housing: 460,000 housing units (25 million sq. meters of housing) to be built for Russian Family Housing program of the Construction, Housing and Utilities Ministry, June 25, 2014. Talks began in China in May 2014.

Kostroma Region: China’s interest in jewellery industry, agriculture and wood processing. Investors and manufacturers form Shandong and Guangdong provinces have made tours. Work on organizing modern agriculture enterprises, developing agritourism and logistics.

Thus, there was organic necessity for the evolutionary change in the relationship of China and Russia. The commodities and energy deals between the two are annual at $40 Billion, but now will go to $200 Billion/yr. Trade between the two is at $90 Billion. Comparatively, the EU trade is $413 Billion. China is in danger with EU dependency. China’s own economic slowdown is completely the result of the EU being generally in recession.

As Russia develops and trade expands, China will have an economy it can influence and, partially, remotely manage, especially in its growth sectors and technological innovations. These sectors and innovations will spur China’s internal growth, and that follows its five-year plan to substitute export dependence with internal development.

It helps stabilize China’s economy.

SCO Eurasian Security

Barely known to most people, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will become the key Eurasian organization through which the diverse national interests of India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, and Vietnam are served in a cooperative environment.

United in their economic development through the reality of Eurasia Economic Belt, all their security issues versus terrorism, separatism and criminal drug and human trafficking are handled within SCO. Though it is not a military alliance, it uses joint military and policing activities in an interesting array.

Ultimately, SCO is a defensive layer against destabilization proxies (think ISIS, Taliban, AQ, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, PKK, PUK Kurds) that may be mounted against any one or more member states. Should Turkey finally come into the fold of SCO, along with Iran, NATO will be neutralized against member states. These SCO developments are in the cards. It takes time, but India and Pakistan are in line to full membership in 2015, and then Iran and Turkey will complete a powerhouse of SCO members, all with the same interests, no matter how diverse the cultures and ideologies.

There is a generally unspoken tool of destabilization – Islamic terror in the form of direct Wahhabi-driven conflict (AQ, ISIS, Taliban, etc.) and the more covert separatist programs that affect both nations (and in Russia’s case, its Middle East allies and customers, who just happen to be investment partners with China for oil and infrastructure projects).

China was susceptible to destabilization in Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and, perhaps, Inner Mongolia, though unlikely in any to be remotely eventful while China is a vibrant economy. Full bellies and fat wallets don’t arm rebellions.

  • Xinjiang. China has won the hearts and minds of the Uighur Muslims there. And have located enormous military presence there designed to counter any United States Military Empire NGO / CIA efforts there.
  • Tibet. China has crushed the Untied States backed insurgency and terrorist cells, and have increased trade and travel to that once isolated region with high speed trains, and generous investments to the local indigenous peoples there.
  • Taiwan. Still in play, but it is unlikely that the desire for independence will survive in the next decades.
  • Hong Kong. China completely suppressed the United States Military Empire backed NGO’s and terror cells. IN 2020, Donald Trump threw up his hands and announced “We lost Hong Kong”.

It was so generally peaceful in Xinjiang, that up until 2012, unarmed police were the rule for security forces in the Province (Autonomous Region). Until several unarmed policewomen and men were stabbed to death by terrorists-separatists trained by AQ and Taliban in Pakistan, the Chinese never used repression or harsh tactics. Now that the terrorists get Syria-based training by off-shoot Wahhabi fanatics, the PLA military is being used, specially trained police teams and a regime of control is being brought to parts of Xinjiang.

China is using Chechnyan Republic President Kadyrov’s tactics with terrorists. They are killing them on sight in large numbers whenever possible. Those who go to trial, if violent or plotters of violence, get the death penalty.

Actually, three years of organ harvesting while doing hard labor and then killed with a single bullet to the back of the head after you eat a McDonald's Happy Meal.

Eurasia development faces embedded potential ethnic, tribal, Islamic and criminal forces that will have to be dealt with as China pushes into Central Asia and works with Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Rubbing their “hands together”, the U.S. and NATO remnants and paid allies in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been planning to stir security problems.

Update. All this has failed. The United States Military Empire has pulled out of Afghanistan, and all the neighboring nations are enthusiastically embracing the BRI.

Not Global Military Alliance

Most profoundly, the Double Helix is not a global military alliance. Both nations eschew military alliances beyond regional.

However, the test of the double helix bonding had to work out the military affinities, or the existential threat would not be blunted and turned away. Both militaries had to be able to imagine a force structure and force protection that conjoined their defenses, systems, intelligence, communication and command integration if needed.

This unity might take years, but they had no time to waste. This could not be superficial, so they had to permit intrusive sharing. This might be difficult because their languages were so different. They overcame all obstacles because of necessity and leadership. President Putin and President Xi had identical needs. Their nations were subjects of containment by the United States Military Empire with its allies who surrounded their nations with an array of full spectrum platforms and systems that challenged them 24/7, any weather, any phase of the moon.

China and Russia were growing rich while the United States Military Empire was growing poor, and China and Russia were growing, while the United States Military Empire was shriveling its once-great economy with endless wars, debt, waste and corrupt practices.

Surprise

The great expanse of Russia from the Baltic and Black and Caspian seas to the Pacific, Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan as an east-west territory now had an East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia adjunct – China.

Russia could be seen as even larger than largest geographically. Her pipelines, highways, airports, seaports and weapons systems would be connecting and protecting nations from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean, as well as from the Eastern Europe borders to the Kurill Islands and Vladivostok, touching China for border crossings at Zabikalsk-Manzhouli and Pogranichy-Suifenhe in Heilongjiang Province along the Black Dragon/Amur River.

This unity is about much more than Harbin’s massive ice sculptures or Russia’s massive oil and gas reserves buried deep below snow, ice and frozen rock. This Double Helix was going to be about strategic surprise.

China had surprised the United States Military Empire twice before with weapons.

One was its satellite killer (kinetic hit-to-kill vehicle) that took out one of its own old satellites in 2007. Another more advanced test was launched in 2013. What made this tough for the Intel agencies to know in advance was the missile carrying the ASAT weapon was launched from a road mobile launcher.

The other surprise was China’s carrier killer missile, land based, that could take out a carrier from one thousand miles away. The Mach 10 DF-21D is indefensible except by electronic countermeasures and luck.

Both weapons were exactly what China needed to shock the U.S. Space command and the U.S. Navy. They are still stunned and worried by the Chinese capacity and their own Intel failure. Both weapons are land-based and mobile, making the Chinese defenses agile and elusive.

While threats abound, the Double Helix grows

On the Chinese side are people, masses of people, one third of whom have been raised from serfdom to middle class in just 30-plus years. The Chinese have also mastered ‘opening up’ their economy to venture capital, industrialization and service sector organizations, without losing control to foreign interests.

They have kept a central bank separated from IMF and from the Federal Reserve and western central bank systems.

They have kept state management control of all strategic industries.

They have used foreign direct investment to spectacular advantage, forcing joint ventures to ultimately share intellectual property, patents and design copyrights.

The Chinese have forced technology transfers wherever they needed to have state-of-the-art and could not reverse engineer it.

They learned every capitalist trick from studiously analyzing the American rise from frontier agricultural nation to the greatest global economic power. The Chinese admire America’s rise into an economic behemoth while fearing its government and global hegemony.

Most importantly, the Chinese protected the RMB, the yuan, from manipulation.

They carefully introduced the yuan to trading partners, but never allowed their currency to fully trade as a Forex currency. China pegs its yuan to the U.S. dollar, thus restricting manipulation and speculation. There is no float rate and interest rates are state-controlled. The yuan gradually became convertible from dollars, yens, Swiss francs, Euros, Hong Kong dollars and rubbles. The Chinese use RMB for bilateral settlement, case by case.

The China-Russia plan for international reserved currency is to propose a bundle of currencies, not one, as the dollar serves today. If the IMF does not act favorably, there may be turmoil coming to that system.

China has many allies for such a move. This clearly signals, though they are the largest economy, they do not desire or plan for dominance or to expose themselves to the concept of being the unipolar nation by replacing the United States. They want influence and cooperative leadership positions in new international institutions, and the Chinese signal that policy in every way. The Dragon prefers to be the Panda, most of the time.

Rise of Shanghai

The Chinese shrewdly used the Hong Kong dollar and Hong Kong stock exchange and the former royal colony’s banks for their own flexibility until they were ready to dwarf what once was thought to be Asia’s financial heart.

Shenzhen, next door to Hong Kong, had been selected by Deng Xiaoping for the initial showcase of ‘opening up’ for a good reason. Hong Kong was the enormous port for imports and exports, and Hong Kong was the last ‘western’ banking centre that capitalists trusted doing business with Beijing.

Now that center of finance and banking would be Shanghai; a Shanghai stock market and the RMB that would soon rule Asia because Beijing had the scale to do it. One of the unmentioned realities of the recent Occupy Central and the ‘yellow umbrella’ circus in Hong Kong is the city will be second to Shanghai soon, and it will be at the economic mercy of Beijing. Shanghai will be the new world center of banking and finance in a decade or two. This is now assured with Eurasia development, New Silk Road, Maritime Silk Road and the Double Helix.

London, desperately grasped a piece of the Chinese currency action just in time. It will be a RMB clearing house, an offshore RMB center. New York’s financial industry may not yet understand that it, too, will succumb to the Dragon’s wealth creation sometime in the coming decades.

These are reasons for containment and destabilization by the United States Military Empire and the Elites who do understand this inevitability. But, Eurasia tips the globe to the East. And the ‘Double Helix’ is one centrifugal force spinning the power toward Asia and Eurasia.

Scale–Size Matters

Scale matters if a nation knows how to use it (for example, China does, India doesn’t). Scale in factory output, cheap labor, high savings rate, massive infrastructure development, and logistics were things never seen on earth until China.

Even the U.S. during WWII could not match what China was now doing.

And all the while, the earnings were piling up by the trillions in the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the People’s Bank of China (Central Bank of PRC).

In terms of cash on hand, China’s horde of cash and U.S. Treasury Bills and purchases of gold was unprecedented.

The dynamics has changed the Dragon not only into ‘the factory of the world’. China became one of the shrewdest bankers of the world.

China’s state-managed economy enables it to do things other countries don’t do. China can direct its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to invest in projects domestically or in foreign projects.

This is actually another form of geopolitical financial power.

The treasuries of those SOEs are like bank accounts at the disposal of the Central Government. The Premier, presently, Li Keqiang, is the economic Czar, so to speak. The seven members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo execute the five-year plans, with President Xi Jinping setting the targets philosophically and Premier Li directing the government bureaucracy, banks and SOEs to achieve the goals.

Growth Matters

Growth is everything to Chinese new-born capitalists.  Growth is a word and event that is not happening in the Empire of the United States Military Empire .

EU is in reverse and the U.S. is a phantom economy, sucking assets from the middle class and expanding a dependent base in a highly vertical reformation of the economy.

Elites have it all.

The good jobs and careers are gone. Social conflict is rising. America has lost its way. No five-year plan for growth, no one-year plan, not even a plan for the next quarter.

The U.S. economy has been built to serve the Elites and their need for greed.

All processes serve that need well.

The markets are rigged in dark pools, derivatives and criminality that goes unchecked, save a few ‘insider trading prosecutions’ and ‘big bank fines’ that feed the government with ‘revenues’ or transfers of wealth from stockholders (middle class) that are not direct taxes.

Wealth Matters

In China, the wealth is in the control and management of the state. Savings are used for the wealth development of the nation and its people.

Yes, one million millionaires and hundreds of billionaires have done well in the rapid growth of China.

However, they do not have elite control of the economy.

They play their role in the public and private sectors, and in foreign investments and tourism, but they don’t alter the public plans or manipulate the public markets (though they try, as it is human nature to be greedy or criminal or irresponsible).

The revenues in the coffers of capitalist China enable President Xi to make any project in any country happen.

He is bankrolling the BRICS development bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Eurasian Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road development.

These are like multiple Marshall Plans without the military conquest.

They are meant to transform other trading partners from dirt poor into middle class economies capable of buying Chinese products, using Chinese expertise, and ultimately, purchasing services from China.

It is elementary economics. Invest in a nation, build its infrastructure, expand trade with it, educate their young; then that nation emerges from poverty, develops its own production capacity, and matures.

All the while, the trade partner climbs the value chain of products and services China offers.

China can do this on a scale unlike any nation ever.

It does it in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East (except the U.S. has pushed back with ISIS to destroy Iraq and Syria, and with AQ in Libya where China has massive infrastructure and oil investments. Likewise, China has previously agreed upon Ukraine and Crimea development investments pre-the junta coup.)

So, with Russia so close and in need of what China can do on such large scales, the gigantic natural resources exploitation and infrastructure needs of Russia have met the gigantic financial capacity and commodity needs of China. The resolution of the hegemonic threat through peaceful means was logical and a product of the minds of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Thus, the Double Helix.

The Result facing the United States Military Empire

The U.S. and NATO would need Michael the Archangel to defeat China-Russia, and from all signs, he’s aligned with the Bear and its Orthodox culture.

There is no weapon, no strategy, no tactic conceivable in the near future (which is all the Double Helix needs) to damage either of these rising economies now that they are ‘base pairs’.

China will get stronger and bigger.

Russia will get stronger and bigger.

And within the next three to five years, the international systems of finance and banking and trade settlement, currencies and credit ratings and development loans will be thoroughly changed.

It is tantamount to disarmament of the United States Military Empire ‘s most dangerous weapons.

Ironically, only the United States Military Empire ‘s military will remain.

The United States Military Empire will lose its most devastating weapons that enslave, subject, humiliate, ruin and change regimes – its economic weapons.

Future

The better part of the world’s nations will have moved on to solving problems. Nations will think in different terms and relationships. Sovereignty and regions will matter again. Cooperation will regulate competition.

Win-win will replace domination.

What was once ‘honorable and necessary’ will be looked at as criminal, if war and chaos is the only solution a former United States Military Empire or alliance can offer.

Perhaps, some form of NATO and its Islamic Wahhabi terror forces it has been cultivating with the Saudis, Qataris and other devils with billions of dollars will persist. But they will ultimately grow cold and brittle and not be viable unless they become pirate marauders. There will be no economic sustenance available for such forces.

China acting in its own interests?

Of course, China is acting in its own interests.

But any organism – and a nation is not an edifice, it is an organism – has life-sustaining needs. And the China organism needs blood.

That blood is oil and gas.

The China organism needs a nervous system that can’t be shut down by shock wave or sabotage. IT security and radars, satellites and on-ground defense systems are imperative components of such a nervous system.

And the organism of China, huge as it is, packed densely with people, needs stability for sleep, for rest, for meditation.

Russia, as powerful a nuclear force in the world, has China’s enormous back, adds to its blue water defenses, mans the digital and electronic turrets, and changes and hardens the geographic, economic and financial targets that the United States Military Empire could use to contain, destabilize and cause regime change in Beijing, thereby, toppling the state governance by the Communist Party of China.

There are no substitutes for the decades ahead of such a vital molecular bonding as the Double Helix.

Equality of Effect

So, the double helix metaphor works for both in equanimous ways.

Russia receives its blood through yuans, loans, use of Union Pay credit card system, joint ventures, advance payments, dependable contracts and logistical solutions.

China provides a territorial shield and additional force multiplication for Russia’s nervous system.

Finally, stability, too, is necessary for Russia to breathe and get forward momentum in critical areas of development.

There will always be housing for Russians in Russia now that China is close.

China can put up tens of thousands of housing units in a few months, if not days.

There will be alternate sources of food.

The most basic needs of Russian people are secured with the double helix pairing. China bought the largest pork producer in America and is already shipping pork to Russia.

China is so efficient in some food processes that American scallops are shipped to China for cleaning, then come back to U.S.

Foreign Policies and Societies

Metaphor or not, the Double Helix is real.

It serves as the new DNA structure but does not change the external policies or internal societies of either nation. It merely is the new organism architecture against which the United States Military Empire will flail.

Now the two sovereign nations will be presenting themselves as one double helix.

This ‘one’ is not a merger, not an alliance, not even a commonality of interests.

Those are represented through SCO, APEC, etc.

This ‘one’ is force multiplication and projection of power within a fourth dimension of geopolitics. It multiplies all the molecules or magnifies them. To attack or target the IT or satellites of either is to strike both.

Destabilize either, and both are struck.

Contain one, both are contained. Demonize one, both are vilified.

Custer found that it was not just Lakota Sioux he faced. He faced Arapaho, Arikara, Cheyenne, Crow, Santee and seven bands of Lakota (Blackfeet, Brule, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Minniconju, Sans Arc and Two Kettle).

This was an object lesson.

Historically, on the plains of America, Native Americans had done the same as China and Russia. Their error was not to do it much sooner and everywhere long before they were overwhelmed by the invading immigrants.

China and Russia have acted in timely fashion.

Dragon-Bear

China-Russia have become impossible to defeat militarily, impregnable to sanctions and economic destabilization, and have created a unique partnership.

China and Russia are co-ventures into a new international architecture built on sovereign states’ responsiveness to each nation’s own people.

Looking across the Black Sea from Romania or across Ukraine from Poland, Lithuania or Germany, or from across the Atlantic like Canada or the United States, you see the Bear-Dragon.

Likewise, looking across the Pacific or the East China Sea or South China Sea at China you will see the Dragon-Bear.

The United States Military Empire and its vassals will understand that attacking one is an attack on both.

The Double Helix cannot be undone. Russia and China are the founders of the Eurasian Economic Marketplace of 3.5 billion (half the world). It has a thirty-year initial mission.

And during those thirty years they will have built the New Silk Road, the Maritime Silk Road, the Eurasian Economic Belt, and lifted Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Stans of Central Asia, Mongolia, the Southeast Asian nations and probably, fixed parts of Ukraine, and parts of Eastern Europe, some southern European nations and, maybe, some North African nations in the meanwhile.

China and Russia are unified as one.

Geopolitical Surprise

Now, let’s return to the Shoigu in Zhongnanhai mystery. And let’s think of geopolitical surprise. Imagine if General Shoigu and Premier Li Keqiang were discussing North Korea. Background: Putin has been reaching out to Glorious Leader Kim’s regime, and we know the deal Putin would want to get done with Pyongyang’s regime: Give up the nukes, and the Double Helix will protect you.

Give up the nukes and we’ll force the U.S. to leave the Korean peninsular.

Give up the nukes and China and Russia will develop your infrastructure.

Give up the nukes and begin integration with the South economically and that process will include Russia and China.

Give up the nukes and you will never walk alone.

North Korea could look at Iran and see that Russia and China have shielded Iran. And if Iran moves away from nukes, the Double Helix protects her. Syria has given up chemical weapons and Syria, for all the ISIS and NATO chaos, stands because of Russia and China.

Let us take a look again at General Shoigu’s itinerary. Who did Shoigu go to after Beijing? Pakistan. Who aids North Korean nuke program? Pakistan. Shoigu was not traveling this route in this sequence by happenstance.

China is drawing Pakistan away from the U.S. and wants to coordinate anti-terror operations with Islamabad. There also is the withdrawal of NATO and the U.S. from Afghanistan. Russia, China and Pakistan will take on this burden in order to get development of the Eurasian Silk Road and Economic Belt established. Everything is changing in South Asia. China and Russia will fill the vacuum.

It is quite the nature of China to encourage Russia to send symbolic messages to those who might need another tap on the head. Iran and North Korea are regional and global threats that the Double Helix wants to turn into partners and markets.

Tough Cop?

Shoigu went forward with that “portfolio”. He represented ‘the base-paired one’. The Chinese know their limits and their weaknesses. They might bully the Southeast neighboring fishermen and even cut off an American naval ship. But they are not the tough cop Russia is.

The Chinese are the soft interlocutor, the mollifier. The only time China gets tough is in business negotiations or if you insult the Party or the People.

However, this nuclear disarming or chemical weapons disarming small regimes is the rough and tumble of the street and alleys, something Russia knows and China does not aspire to.

It takes a 8th Dan martial arts President who destroys opponents with his armed forces in real world combat to get the focused attention of Pyongyang and Islamabad. He did in Syria and is doing it in Iran. He generally uses military protective shield with economic development deals.

North Korea is desperately trying to weaponize their atomic devices. Pakistan would be the bearer of this technology. It is conceivable Pakistan’s military assistance deal with Russia, signed by Shoigu, would have ‘rewards’ for staying out of North Korea’s nuclear program.

The meeting in Beijing just may have been to assure Shoigu that all the financing needed to stabilize the Korean peninsula will be available if and when Putin gets Kim to join with the sovereignists and force the Hegemon off the Korean Peninsula.

Regional Effect

What this would mean for China and Russia beyond safety and security is a new market, more easily exploited mineral resources, a fast developing economy that can use what both nations have.

North Korea can add additional military as regional reserve forces should the Hegemon linger in Asian Pacific.

Nuclear disarmament automatically means South Korea is actively drawn into the Eurasian Economic Belt. It leaves the region with no threat against the Hegemon’s allies, Japan and Philippines. America’s Pacific Century ends when the nukes go away in North Korea.

Vladimir Putin might think this way. For what is North Korean’s regime but a criminal gang (oligarchs wrapped in dead communist rhetoric and delusional arrogance)? Putin knows this species and how to deal with it. Only the Double Helix could make this transformation happen. Neither nation alone has been able to influence the Kim dynasty by itself.

The Chinese have been insulted by Pyongyang and frustrated by Kim. The Chinese public laughs at the buffoonery of the North Korean regime. Beijing only wants him around so the U.S. does not move closer up the Peninsula. But the new reality of Eurasia emerging changes the outlook for Kim. Opportunity and advantage turn his way. A mortal threat to his regime can be removed, and he can still have sovereign security. Win-win-win in a deft surprise move.

Such a cataclysmic geopolitical event of Pyongyang surrendering its nukes would force the U.S. to concede its raison d’etre for a presence on the landmass in the Asia Pacific region. South Korean public pressure for U.S. forces to leave would be rising. Okinawa would want the U.S. out. Eventually, the U.S. would be merely ‘one of several’ using the blue waters of the Western Pacific and Asian coastal seas. The U.S. would logically have to return to Hawaii as its most western outpost. After all, it would be protecting no one from any threat any longer.

Russia and China would be the regional defenders of peace and stability, and further south, India and Vietnam would join, not the U.S. Navy.

The U.S. may be an Asian Pacific nation, but no more so than Chile or Mexico. What the U.S is not is an Asian nation, nor a Eurasian nation. What the U.S. would become is what it always should have constrained itself to – a North American nation.

Japan

Everything becomes harmonized economics after such an event. Japan needs Eurasian assistance. The West has used up two generations of young people in Japan, manipulating its economy and government. Its dynamic innovation and growth is moribund. They cannot even manufacture a safe vehicle airbag or run a nuclear power plant safely.

It’s all manufactured, designed, and packaged in China.

Philippines

Perhaps, the Philippines would remain close to the U.S., but it will be a singular Asian vassal in the South China Sea.

Manila may align with Australia, but eventually the Maritime Silk Road and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will entice them to choose progress with Asia or perpetual colonization by the United States Military Empire.

Update: Jul 27, 2021 · In her brief remarks, Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio expressed to the Chinese guests the Filipino people’s commitment to their centuries-old friendship with the Chinese people, and she explained that, inspired by a popular Filipino song, the Embassy chose the theme “Hawak Kamay” to convey how Filipinos will not abandon their Chinese friends in their time of need.

-Philippines - China Friendship Day: A Day of Smiles in Beijing

What happens in Taiwan?

Taiwan will remain the last Chinese choke bone if China is foolish enough to open wide the Dragon’s mouth and take the bait. The latest local Taiwan city elections which damaged the KMT powerbase heightens the U.S. ‘Free China’ agitators. It certainly sets back Cross-Straits progress. However, if that means Xi will have to play rough, he has the economic leverage as the tool to use, not his military.

Taiwan is in perpetual recession. The once great ‘grey box’ and pirate copyist economy of the 80’s and 90’s has been eclipsed by South Korean semi-conductor, device and chip manufacturing and soon will feel the rise of Vietnam, Malaysia and other South-east and South Asia players in Taiwan’s national electronic sport. Most Taiwanese investment capital seems to be heading to the Mainland, Brazil or Taiwan’s nearby competitors. Foxconn is everywhere but Taiwan, including Brazil.

This leaves angry Taiwanese students for the U.S. to manipulate. And perhaps there will be strident resistance groups against Cross-Straits unification, but hunger and despondency will change the dynamics once the U.S. retreats and all those young minds see Eurasia develop as China has on the other side of the narrow straits. They can Skype and Tweet for revolution, even hold coloured umbrellas, but that does not bring in foreign investment to rebuild their own economy.

The Dragon typically has endless patience. Taiwan will test President Xi’s patience for certain. He hoped to see Taiwan in a Hong Kong-like arrangement of ‘One China-Two systems’. That is not going to happen before the U.S. retreats to Hawaii.

The U.S. has infinite capacity to inflict pain and suffering on its most loyal vassals. No one in America, except Taiwanese-Americans, will even know of the pain suffered in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan until the U.S lets go.

North Korea changes everything.

The Far East and Siberia, the North of China, Mongolia, the Arctic, the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan become a zone of trade, tourism and growth when North Korea steps down from the precipice. If Iran with nukes is unacceptable to Russia and China, certainly North Korea is worse. Both nations, Russia and China, have worked assiduously to prevent proliferation. And they have immediately rewarded nations that give up WMDs.

The Sony False Flag

Sony is hacked! It has to be the North Koreans! Demonization of North Korea is predictable. The FBI says so. However, nearly all independent hacking experts, those with vast experience in government security of IT and anti-hacking work, agree the Sony hack is not North Korean.

First, understand the Internet connections in Asia. North Korea has one ISP. Just as China has second tier status on the Internet and all connections go through only Shanghai, North Korea can get on and off the Internet only through one route. Easy for NSA to monitor. Easy to prove. But we get no hard proof, easy to provide. We get a short form handout white paper-like slice of FBI baloney. So, unless the hack came from a 3G phone network, it had one port of entry to the Internet, namely Star Joint Venture Co.

The U.S. must make certain North Korea remains nuclear. And it is swiftly moving to put ‘terror status’ back on Pyongyang. The hope within the Hegemon’s brain trust, to use the term lightly, is that this will stop Russia and China from offering economic help in return for the nukes. But the result will be whatever the double helix can arrange if they can arrange it with Kim.

What would follow?

With North Korea emptied of its arsenal, the Double Helix may move next to expose the secret program the Japanese have for nukes. Fukishima melt down was a double disaster, because like Dimona in Israel, the nuclear secrets leaked out for the world to know that what Japan, like Israel, was desperate to cover up was a weapons program abetted by the U.S. and France.

Whatever comes from the Double Helix of China-Russia, it will be a surprise that stuns the Hegemon, for certain. That is the style of both nations. The world has gotten closer to ‘better’ in 2014, while it has gotten ‘worse’. That is because, though bad things will always happen, better things will always happen, also. Flames and death in Ukraine and the Middle East are terrible, but the emergence of Eurasia is a budding flower, and it is poison only to the Hegemon.

Civilizations Win

Most of us will live to see a new international, global dynamic. Some of us will feel its nourishment. Some of us will be stuck in the cavern of Elites who have run the world for centuries. Just as the North Pole shifts, geopolitical poles shift. Economic poles shift, also. A containment policy or exclusionary trade treaty or covert destabilization program cannot stop 3.5 billion people inspired by two enlightened leaders who have the same metaphorical DNA. The tectonic shift is too much for mere mortals of the West who have run out of ideas, lies, bullets, bombs, false flags and proxies to win and control mankind. The Hegemon has bad DNA that cannot adapt to the fresh air and sunlight of the truth. Humanity will win its freedom and civilizations will prosper.

Russians and Chinese Win

Russians and Chinese citizens will look within their own civilizations for solutions to the challenges and threats cast at them by the United States Military Empire. The motivations exist to create wise solutions that are not martial, nor dominant, nor exploitative nor unjust.

Relying on experts and NGOs of the West will be understood as opening the doors to the enemy and housing the terrorists and saboteurs sent by the United States Military Empire.

The resistance to United States Military Empire is an historic lesson to the civilizations of Russia and China. The allure of the West is stripped off once-empowering words, models and ideals like ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’, ‘friendship’, ‘allies’, ‘partners’, ‘success’, and ‘security’. The patina of ‘exceptional’ and ‘greatness’ has worn away.

The peoples of Russia and China are heirs to great civilizations. They have cultures and institutions that are grounded in sage principles and centuries of profound accomplishments in art, science, technology and human endeavors. They need not emulate any other nation or culture or educational system.

Sovereignty, like individuality, is the unique identity that must be cherished. Then, international cooperation and partnership is grounded on strengths of those choosing to join with others out of free choice not coercion.

What to look forward to…

The events to look forward to in Russia-China relations in 2021 include the continued growth of Russian-Chinese trade, the signing of a docking agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and China, Chinese investments in the Russian Far East, and the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in the process of solving international problems.

Strategic partnership

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the most accurate commentary on the relations between the two countries at his annual press conference in December.

There is a national consensus in Russia on the development of relations with China and that regardless of the election results, Russia and China will be strategic partners in the long historical period ahead. The logic of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and China has been formed, and relations between the two countries are moving forward in all spheres.

Common challenges and threats in the international arena

In 2021, Russia and China will maintain the same position on major global issues, including the resolution of the Korean crisis and the Syrian conflict. 2020 saw the joint initiative of Russia and China on the ‘double pause’. This position is constructive and is the only initiative that so far promises to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Korean crisis.

Cooperation between the two countries on the situation on the Korean Peninsula is the most successful example of foreign policy coordination between independent and sovereign powers in the world today. The two countries can use this experience to develop a consistent policy on Syria and focus on the settlement of the situation in that country after the conflict.”

The U.S. Factor

Foreign policy factors will also help strengthen Russian-Chinese relations, while both countries will have to encounter tough challenges.

In the U.S. National Security Strategy announced by Biden, Russia and China are described as countries that issue serious challenges to Washington. This means that the U.S. will develop a corresponding strategy for our two countries and those regions in which we are interested.”

The U.S. will try to prevent China and Russia from consolidating their positions in these regions. However, that factor will only contribute to the strengthening of Russian-Chinese relations.

Investment in the Far East

The trend of steady growth in the volume of trade between the two countries is seen as one of the achievements of Russian-Chinese relations in 2017. According to data from China’s General Administration of Customs, in the first 11 months of 2017, the trade volume between Russia and China grew by 21.8% compared to last year, reaching $76.06 billion.

It should be noted that our trade volume is less significant today and more attention should be paid to the structure of trade. At the moment that structure has not changed and is dominated by energy.”

Trade volume may grow in 2021 due to an increase in Russian exports of non-raw materials to China, including electronic platforms.

There is demand in the Chinese market for Russian sunflower oil, as well as for expanded trade in flour and flour products. There is a need for dialogue with China on the issue of expanding quotas for Russian producers.” Cooperation in the Far East could also be a driver for the development of Russian-Chinese trade and economic relations in 2021.

Chinese investments currently amount to $4 billion, accounting for 7% of total investments in the region and 85% of total foreign investments.

The increase in Chinese investments in the region is likely to come from the development of LNG projects, cross-border infrastructure development, the development of over-development zones, and the active participation of Chinese companies in housing construction.”

Eurasian Economic Union agreement with China

The Eurasian Economic Union’s economic partnership agreement with China is almost ready to be signed, probably in early 2022.

One of the most anticipated events is the agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and China. However, the agreement still needs to be improved in terms of its practical content. For a long time, the significance of the docking has remained only at the political level and should involve specific economic projects.”

This is a non-preferential agreement, i.e. it does not provide for reduction of tariffs. But it is very important for the Eurasian Economic Union, because the integration union needs to be legitimized, including for the World Trade Organization and the integration process in the Asia-Pacific region. This is politically important.

Increased tourist traffic

The Russian tourism industry is very much looking forward to the 2018 group travel visa-free agreement being modified due to current conditions. Under the new agreement, the minimum group size will be reduced to three people and the possible in-country stay was extended to 21 days, and no Russian invitation is required.

With the introduction of electronic document delivery methods, the work of tour companies will be simplified. Russian tourists will be able to travel to China in small groups without individual visas, and Chinese tourists will be able to recuperate and treat in sanatoriums in Russia that offer a 21-day course of treatment.

Much of the growth of Chinese tourists is being pinned on electronic visas. The system was introduced within the Vladivostok Free Port in 2020. It is expected that the system will be extended to eight regions from 2021. The system is most popular among Chinese citizens: 2,300 Chinese tourists have already used it to travel to Vladivostok.

E-visa is an important initiative to attract individual tourists to Russia. It is expected that the electronic visa system will be introduced in Kaliningrad, the westernmost point of Russia, and in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, which are popular with Chinese tourists.

Finally, let’s summarize…

Asia has united. America is not the “bright and shining city on the hill” that stands for freedom and “democracy”, but rather a corrupt military empire that is thrashing about as it collapses.

The entire world can see this.

And while the United States Military Empire has been trying to set up the QUAD, and a list of vassal states to fight it’s wars for them, the leaders who agree to do so, can kiss their sweet nations good-by. A unified Russia-china alliance would render their entire nations into radioactive rubble.

Thus my argument that (for the most part) the QUAD would collapse, and what ever military effort that the United States Military Empire would cobble together would be lost in quick flashes of light and enormous causalities.

But I could be wrong…

Finally to quote UNZ..

Finally, the state of decay of the US state might already be so advanced that we can consider it as profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed.

The first option (soft landing) is unlikely, yet highly desirable.

The second option (chaos-induced retreat) is more likely, but much less desirable as it is only a single step back to then make several steps forward again.

The last option (profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed) is, alas, the most likely, and it is also, by far, the most perilous one.

For one thing, options #2 and #3 will make US actions very unpredictable and, therefore, potentially extremely dangerous. Unpredictable chaos can also quickly morph into a major war, or even several major ones, so the potential danger here is very real (even if totally unreported in Zone A).

This, in turn, means that Russia, China, Iran, the DPRK, Venezuela or Cuba all have to keep their guard up and be ready for anything, even the unthinkable (which is often what total chaos generates).

What do you think?

Of course, the Ignorant Americans are all thinking that Russia and China are somehow enemies…

Russia has no love for China so don’t be so sure about them coming to China’s aid. 

-MarkinLA

Hardly.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

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Law 34 of the 48 Laws of Power; Be royal in your own fashion: act like a king to be treated like one

This is law 34 of the “48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green. Reprinted in it’s entirety. I hope that you all enjoy it.

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

LAW 34

BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE

JUDGMENT

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In July of 1830, a revolution broke out in Paris that forced the king, Charles X, to abdicate. A commission of the highest authorities in the land gathered to choose a successor, and the man they picked was Louis-Philippe, the Duke of Orléans.

From the beginning it was clear that Louis-Philippe would be a different kind of king, and not just because he came from a different branch of the royal family, or because he had not inherited the crown but had been given it, by a commission, putting his legitimacy in question. Rather it was that he disliked ceremony and the trappings of royalty; he had more friends among the bankers than among the nobility; and his style was not to create a new kind of royal rule, as Napoleon had done, but to downplay his status, the better to mix with the businessmen and middle-class folk who had called him to lead. Thus the symbols that came to be associated with Louis-Philippe were neither the scepter nor the crown, but the gray hat and umbrella with which he would proudly walk the streets of Paris, as if he were a bourgeois out for a stroll. When Louis-Philippe invited James Rothschild, the most important banker in France, to his palace, he treated him as an equal. And unlike any king before him, not only did he talk business with Monsieur Rothschild but that was literally all he talked, for he loved money and had amassed a huge fortune.

As the reign of the “bourgeois king” plodded on, people came to despise him. The aristocracy could not endure the sight of an unkingly king, and within a few years they turned on him. Meanwhile the growing class of the poor, including the radicals who had chased out Charles X, found no satisfaction in a ruler who neither acted as a king nor governed as a man of the people. The bankers to whom Louis-Philippe was the most beholden soon realized that it was they who controlled the country, not he, and they treated him with growing contempt. One day, at the start of a train trip organized for the royal family, James Rothschild actually berated him—and in public—for being late. Once the king had made news by treating the banker as an equal; now the banker treated the king as an inferior.

Eventually the workers’ insurrections that had brought down Louis-Philippe’s predecessor began to reemerge, and the king put them down with force. But what was he defending so brutally? Not the institution of the monarchy, which he disdained, nor a democratic republic, which his rule prevented. What he was really defending, it seemed, was his own fortune, and the fortunes of the bankers—not a way to inspire loyalty among the citizenry.

Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external precepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority. Come to hold yourself in awe, and you will have no need of Seneca’s imaginary tittor.

BALIASAR GRACIAN. 1601-1658

In early 1848, Frenchmen of all classes began to demonstrate for electoral reforms that would make the country truly democratic. By February the demonstrations had turned violent. To assuage the populace, Louis-Philippe fired his prime minister and appointed a liberal as a replacement. But this created the opposite of the desired effect: The people sensed they could push the king around. The demonstrations turned into a full-fledged revolution, with gunfire and barricades in the streets.

On the night of February 23, a crowd of Parisians surrounded the palace. With a suddenness that caught everyone by surprise, Louis-Philippe abdicated that very evening and fled to England. He left no successor, nor even the suggestion of one—his whole government folded up and dissolved like a traveling circus leaving town.

Interpretation

Louis-Philippe consciously dissolved the aura that naturally pertains to kings and leaders. Scoffing at the symbolism of grandeur, he believed a new world was dawning, where rulers should act and be like ordinary citizens. He was right: A new world, without kings and queens, was certainly on its way. He was profoundly wrong, however, in predicting a change in the dynamics of power.

The bourgeois king’s hat and umbrella amused the French at first, but soon grew irritating. People knew that Louis-Philippe was not really like them at all—that the hat and umbrella were essentially a kind of trick to encourage them in the fantasy that the country had suddenly grown more equal. Actually, though, the divisions of wealth had never been greater. The French expected their ruler to be a bit of a showman, to have some presence. Even a radical like Robespierre, who had briefly come to power during the French Revolution fifty years earlier, had understood this, and certainly Napoleon, who had turned the revolutionary republic into an imperial regime, had known it in his bones. Indeed as soon as Louis-Philippe fled the stage, the French revealed their true desire: They elected Napoleon’s grand-nephew president. He was a virtual unknown, but they hoped he would re-create the great general’s powerful aura, erasing the awkward memory of the “bourgeois king.”

Powerful people may be tempted to affect a common-man aura, trying to create the illusion that they and their subjects or underlings are basically the same. But the people whom this false gesture is intended to impress will quickly see through it. They understand that they are not being given more power—that it only appears as if they shared in the powerful person’s fate. The only kind of common touch that works is the kind affected by Franklin Roosevelt, a style that said the president shared values and goals with the common people even while he remained a patrician at heart. He never pretended to erase his distance from the crowd.

Leaders who try to dissolve that distance through a false chumminess gradually lose the ability to inspire loyalty, fear, or love. Instead they elicit contempt. Like Louis- Philippe, they are too uninspiring even to be worth the guillotine—the best they can do is simply vanish in the night, as if they were never there.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

When Christopher Columbus was trying to find funding for his legendary voyages, many around him believed he came from the Italian aristocracy. This view was passed into history through a biography written after the explorer’s death by his son, which describes him as a descendant of a Count Colombo of the Castle of Cuccaro in Montferrat. Colombo in turn was said to be descended from the legendary Roman general Colonius, and two of his first cousins were supposedly direct descendants of an emperor of Constantinople. An illustrious background indeed. But it was nothing more than illustrious fantasy, for Columbus was actually the son of Domenico Colombo, a humble weaver who had opened a wine shop when Christopher was a young man, and who then made his living by selling cheese.

Columbus himself had created the myth of his noble background, because from early on he felt that destiny had singled him out for great things, and that he had a kind of royalty in his blood. Accordingly he acted as if he were indeed descended from noble stock. After an uneventful career as a merchant on a commercial vessel, Columbus, originally from Genoa, settled in Lisbon. Using the fabricated story of his noble background, he married into an established Lisbon family that had excellent connections with Portuguese royalty.

Through his in-laws, Columbus finagled a meeting with the king of Portugal, Joao II, whom he petitioned to finance a westward voyage aimed at discovering a shorter route to Asia. In return for announcing that any discoveries he achieved would be made in the king’s name, Columbus wanted a series of rights: the title Grand Admiral of the Oceanic Sea; the office of viceroy over any lands he found; and 10 percent of the future commerce with such lands. All of these rights were to be hereditary and for all time. Columbus made these demands even though he had previously been a mere merchant, he knew almost nothing about navigation, he could not work a quadrant, and he had never led a group of men. In short he had absolutely no qualifications for the journey he proposed. Furthermore, his petition included no details as to how he would accomplish his plans, just vague promises.

When Columbus finished his pitch, João II smiled: He politely declined the offer, but left the door open for the future. Here Columbus must have noticed something he would never forget: Even as the king turned down the sailor’s demands, he treated them as legitimate. He neither laughed at Columbus nor questioned his background and credentials. In fact the king was impressed by the boldness of Columbus’s requests, and clearly felt comfortable in the company of a man who acted so confidently. The meeting must have convinced Columbus that his instincts were correct: By asking for the moon, he had instantly raised his own status, for the king assumed that unless a man who set such a high price on himself were mad, which Columbus did not appear to be, he must somehow be worth it.

Herodotus

In the next generation the family became much more famous than before through the distinction conferred upon it by Cleisthenes the master of Sicyon. Cleisthenes... had a daughter, Agarista, whom he wished to marry to the best man in all Greece. So during the Olympic games, in which he had himself won the chariot race, he had a public announcement made, to the effect that any Greek who thought himself good enough to become Cleisthenes’ son-in-law should present himself in Sicyon within sixty daysor sooner if he wishedbecause he intended, within the year following the sixtieth day, to betroth his daughter to her future husband. Cleisthenes had had a race-track and a wrestling-ring specially made for his purpose, and presently the suitors began to arrive—every man of Greek nationality who had something to be proud of either in his country or in himself.... Cleisthenes began by asking each [of the numerous suitors] in turn to name his country and parentage; then he kept them in his house for a year, to get to know them well, entering into conversation with them sometimes singly, sometimes all together, and testing each of them for his manly qualities and temper, education and manners.... But the most important test of all was their behaviour at the dinner-table. All this went on throughout their stay in Sicyon, and all the time he entertained them handsomely. For one reason or another it was the two Athenians who impressed Cleisthenes most favourably, and of the two Tisander’s son Hippocleides came to be preferred.... At last the day came which had been fixed for the betrothal, and Cleisthenes had to declare his choice. He marked the day by the sacrifice of a hundred oxen, and then gave a great banquet, to which not only the suitors but everyone of note in Sicyon was invited. When dinner was over, the suitors began to compete with each other in music and in talking in company. In both these accomplishments it was Hippocleides who proved by far the doughtiest champion, until at last, as more and more wine was drunk, he asked the flute-player to play him a tune and began to dance to it. Now it may well be that he danced to his own satisfaction; Cleisthenes, however, who was watching the performance, began to have serious doubts about the whole business. Presently, after a brief pause, Hippocleides sent for a table; the table was brought, and Hippocleides, climbing on to it, danced first some Laconian dances, next some Attic ones, and ended by standing on his head and beating time with his legs in the air The Laconian and Attic dances were bad enough; but Cleisthenes, though he already loathed the thought of having a son-in-law like that, nevertheless restrained himself and managed to avoid an outburst; but when he saw Hippocleides beating time with his legs, he could bear it no longer. “Son of Tisander, ”he cried, “you have danced away your marriage. ”

THE HISTORIES, Herodotus, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

A few years later Columbus moved to Spain. Using his Portuguese connections, he moved in elevated circles at the Spanish court, receiving subsidies from illustrious financiers and sharing tables with dukes and princes. To all these men he repeated his request for financing for a voyage to the west—and also for the rights he had demanded from João II. Some, such as the powerful duke of Medina, wanted to help, but could not, since they lacked the power to grant him the titles and rights he wanted. But Columbus would not back down. He soon realized that only one person could meet his demands: Queen Isabella. In 1487 he finally managed a meeting with the queen, and although he could not convince her to finance the voyage, he completely charmed her, and became a frequent guest in the palace.

In 1492 the Spanish finally expelled the Moorish invaders who centuries earlier had seized parts of the country. With the wartime burden on her treasury lifted, Isabella felt she could finally respond to the demands of her explorer friend, and she decided to pay for three ships, equipment, the salaries of the crews, and a modest stipend for Columbus. More important, she had a contract drawn up that granted Columbus the titles and rights on which he had insisted. The only one she denied—and only in the contract’s fine print—was the 10 percent of all revenues from any lands discovered: an absurd demand, since he wanted no time limit on it. (Had the clause been left in, it would eventually have made Columbus and his heirs the wealthiest family on the planet. Columbus never read the fine print.)

Satisfied that his demands had been met, Columbus set sail that same year in search of the passage to Asia. (Before he left he was careful to hire the best navigator he could find to help him get there.) The mission failed to find such a passage, yet when Columbus petitioned the queen to finance an even more ambitious voyage the following year, she agreed. By then she had come to see Columbus as destined for great things.

Interpretation

As an explorer Columbus was mediocre at best. He knew less about the sea than did the average sailor on his ships, could never determine the latitude and longitude of his discoveries, mistook islands for vast continents, and treated his crew badly. But in one area he was a genius: He knew how to sell himself How else to explain how the son of a cheese vendor, a low-level sea merchant, managed to ingratiate himself with the highest royal and aristocratic families?

Columbus had an amazing power to charm the nobility, and it all came from the way he carried himself. He projected a sense of confidence that was completely out of proportion to his means. Nor was his confidence the aggressive, ugly self-promotion of an upstart—it was a quiet and calm self-assurance. In fact it was the same confidence usually shown by the nobility themselves. The powerful in the old-style aristocracies felt no need to prove or assert themselves; being noble, they knew they always deserved more, and asked for it. With Columbus, then, they felt an instant affinity, for he carried himself just the way they did—elevated above the crowd, destined for greatness.

Understand: It is within your power to set your own price. How you carry yourself reflects what you think of yourself. If you ask for little, shuffle your feet and lower your head, people will assume this reflects your character. But this behavior is not you—it is only how you have chosen to present yourself to other people. You can just as easily present the Columbus front: buoyancy, confidence, and the feeling that you were born to wear a crown.

With all great deceivers there is a noteworthy occurrence to which they owe their power. In the actual act of deception they are overcome by belief in themselves: it is this which then speaks so miraculously and compellingly to those around them.

Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900

KEYS TO POWER

As children, we start our lives with great exuberance, expecting and demanding everything from the world. This generally carries over into our first forays into society, as we begin our careers. But as we grow older the rebuffs and failures we experience set up boundaries that only get firmer with time. Coming to expect less from the world, we accept limitations that are really self-imposed. We start to bow and scrape and apologize for even the simplest of requests. The solution to such a shrinking of horizons is to deliberately force ourselves in the opposite direction—to downplay the failures and ignore the limitations, to make ourselves demand and expect as much as the child. To accomplish this, we must use a particular strategy upon ourselves. Call it the Strategy of the Crown.

The Strategy of the Crown is based on a simple chain of cause and effect: If we believe we are destined for great things, our belief will radiate outward, just as a crown creates an aura around a king. This outward radiance will infect the people around us, who will think we must have reasons to feel so confident. People who wear crowns seem to feel no inner sense of the limits to what they can ask for or what they can accomplish. This too radiates outward. Limits and boundaries disappear. Use the Strategy of the Crown and you will be surprised how often it bears fruit. Take as an example those happy children who ask for whatever they want, and get it. Their high expectations are their charm. Adults enjoy granting their wishes—just as Isabella enjoyed granting the wishes of Columbus.

Throughout history, people of undistinguished birth—the Theodoras of Byzantium, the Columbuses, the Beethovens, the Disraelis—have managed to work the Strategy of the Crown, believing so firmly in their own greatness that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is simple: Be overcome by your self-belief. Even while you know you are practicing a kind of deception on yourself, act like a king. You are likely to be treated as one.

The crown may separate you from other people, but it is up to you to make that separation real: You have to act differently, demonstrating your distance from those around you. One way to emphasize your difference is to always act with dignity, no matter the circumstance. Louis-Philippe gave no sense of being different from other people—he was the banker king. And the moment his subjects threatened him, he caved in. Everyone sensed this and pounced. Lacking regal dignity and firmness of purpose, Louis-Philippe seemed an impostor, and the crown was easily toppled from his head.

Regal bearing should not be confused with arrogance. Arrogance may seem the king’s entitlement, but in fact it betrays insecurity. It is the very opposite of a royal demeanor.

Haile Selassie, ruler of Ethiopia for forty or so years beginning in 1930, was once a young man named Lij Tafari. He came from a noble family, but there was no real chance of him coming to power, for he was far down the line of succession from the king then on the throne, Menelik II. Nevertheless, from an early age he exhibited a self-confidence and a royal bearing that surprised everyone around him.

At the age of fourteen, Tafari went to live at the court, where he immediately impressed Menelik and became his favorite. Tafari’s grace under fire, his patience, and his calm self-assurance fascinated the king. The other young nobles, arrogant, blustery, and envious, would push this slight, bookish teenager around. But he never got angry— that would have been a sign of insecurity, to which he would not stoop. There were already people around him who felt he would someday rise to the top, for he acted as if he were already there.

Years later, in 1936, when the Italian Fascists had taken over Ethiopia and Tafari, now called Haile Selassie, was in exile, he addressed the League of Nations to plead his country’s case. The Italians in the audience heckled him with vulgar abuse, but he maintained his dignified pose, as if completely unaffected. This elevated him while making his opponents look even uglier. Dignity, in fact, is invariably the mask to assume under difficult circumstances: It is as if nothing can affect you, and you have all the time in the world to respond. This is an extremely powerful pose.

A royal demeanor has other uses. Con artists have long known the value of an aristocratic front; it either disarms people and makes them less suspicious, or else it intimidates them and puts them on the defensive—and as Count Victor Lustig knew, once you put a sucker on the defensive he is doomed. The con man Yellow Kid Weil, too, would often assume the trappings of a man of wealth, along with the nonchalance that goes with them. Alluding to some magical method of making money, he would stand aloof, like a king, exuding confidence as if he really were fabulously rich. The suckers would beg to be in on the con, to have a chance at the wealth that he so clearly displayed.

Finally, to reinforce the inner psychological tricks involved in projecting a royal demeanor, there are outward strategies to help you create the effect.

First, the Columbus Strategy: Always make a bold demand. Set your price high and do not waver. Second, in a dignified way, go after the highest person in the building. This immediately puts you on the same plane as the chief executive you are attacking. It is the David and Goliath Strategy: By choosing a great opponent, you create the appearance of greatness.

Third, give a gift of some sort to those above you. This is the strategy of those who have a patron: By giving your patron a gift, you are essentially saying that the two of you are equal. It is the old con game of giving so that you can take. When the Renaissance writer Pietro Aretino wanted the Duke of Mantua as his next patron, he knew that if he was slavish and sycophantic, the duke would think him unworthy; so he approached the duke with gifts, in this case paintings by the writer’s good friend Titian. Accepting the gifts created a kind of equality between duke and writer: The duke was put at ease by the feeling that he was dealing with a man of his own aristocratic stamp. He funded Aretino generously. The gift strategy is subtle and brilliant because you do not beg: You ask for help in a dignified way that implies equality between two people, one of whom just happens to have more money.

Remember: It is up to you to set your own price. Ask for less and that is just what you will get. Ask for more, however, and you send a signal that you are worth a king’s ransom. Even those who turn you down respect you for your confidence, and that respect will eventually pay off in ways you cannot imagine.

Image: The Crown. Place it upon your head and you assume a different pose—tranquil yet radiating assurance. Never show doubt, never lose your dignity beneath the crown, or it will not fit. It will seem to be destined for one more worthy. Do not wait for a coronation; the greatest emperors crown themselves.

Authority: Everyone should be royal after his own fashion. Let all your actions, even though they are not those of a king, be, in their own sphere, worthy of one. Be sublime in your deeds, lofty in your thoughts; and in all your doings show that you deserve to be a king even though you are not one in reality. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

The idea behind the assumption of regal confidence is to set yourself apart from other people, but if you take this too far it will be your undoing. Never make the mistake of thinking that you elevate yourself by humiliating people. Also, it is never a good idea to loom too high above the crowd—you make an easy target. And there are times when an aristocratic pose is eminently dangerous.

Charles I, king of England during the 1640s, faced a profound public disenchantment with the institution of monarchy. Revolts erupted throughout the country, led by Oliver Cromwell. Had Charles reacted to the times with insight, supporting reforms and making a show of sacrificing some of his power, history might have been different. Instead he reverted to an even more regal pose, seeming outraged by the assault on his power and on the divine institution of monarchy. His stiff kingliness offended people and spurred on their revolts. And eventually Charles lost his head, literally. Understand: You are radiating confidence, not arrogance or disdain.

Finally, it is true that you can sometimes find some power through affecting a kind of earthy vulgarity, which will prove amusing by its extreme-ness. But to the extent that you win this game by going beyond the limits, separating yourself from other people by appearing even more vulgar than they are, the game is dangerous: There will always be people more vulgar than you, and you will easily be replaced the following season by someone younger and worse.

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Bus Driver Stories – Dramatized true stories of fine Rufus Behaviors

Here’s a mixtures of videos describing Rufus behaviors.  They all occur on a public bus inside of China. There’s a few actual videos, and a number of dramatized videos. In almost every incidence, the dramatized event actually happened.

While it might be confusing for those who cannot read or understand Chinese, the videos themselves are easy enough to understand. They are presented here to show everyone to remember our humanity.

We are all part of something.

Never forget that. We are not isolated and alone.

We are part of something.

We belong. Be the Rufus that keeps the world happy, safe, and good.

Helping a young blind girl learn how to use a cane…

This is an actual video taken on a bus. The mother is helping the daughter learn how to use a walking-cane to navigate using the public bus transport system.

Mind your own business. Don’t get involved.

For the last fifty years of so there has been an assault in the West (and especially in America) of not to get involved. If you see someone being rude, you ignore it. If you see someone taking mistreatment, you look the other way.

In a real community, we treat others as family.

If you are an older man or woman, just saying “Why do you take this shit?” is often just enough to make the much needed point. As in this dramatization of an actual event that happened.

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Another dramatization that actually happened.

What happens when you lose your life (as in a fireman) to help others, and your spouse is heavy with an unborn child? What happens when others, not knowing your story, treat your family rudely and crudely?

We are all part of one great society and we all need to support each other. We need to stand up for each other, and support the weak. And we should have no tolerance for the rude and crude.

Here’s another true story in dramatized form.

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Be the Light for others to look up towards

This one is not a dramatization. It’s the real deal. A young “boy scout” is playing on the bus when a soldier boards the bus. And there is an exchange of respect and saluting. But notice what the soldier does afterwards with the young boy…

There is no excuse for being rude.

Age is not an excuse. Nor is color, race, wealth, or knowledge. We must start to accept that everyone has a story, a background and a life. And we are not the only ones with issue sand problems. This is a dramatization, but based on a true event.

Here’s what sometimes happens to a Rufus…

It can be an uncaring world out there. This is a dramatization of an actual event. A Rufus saves a little girl and then is abused by his boss, old people on the bus, and parents. Do not expect to get awards, or metals for being a Rufus. It can be very unrewarding.

Rufus event in the small town

A mother with her infant are driving down the road and she loses control. Luckily there are Rufus’s all around. Watch what happens. What would you do, if you were there?

Rufus saves girl from maniac arsonist

This video happens so quickly. The fire department are called in to put out a blaze in a house. They find a man who set fire to the house, beat up some elderly people, and is now holding a little girl hostage. Seconds count. Only a Rufus can save the day…

Show some humanity

And why not. True or false, this next video is a great example of how we all must work to make the world a better place. Titles, wealth and position is society are meaningless unless we contribute helping others. Be the Rufus.

And on the light side…

Ah. Kitties. I love them.

I hope that all of you are having a fine day today.  Thank you for reading this. -MM

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You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

  • You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
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Intention Campaign affirmation tricks and techniques to maximize effectiveness

In this article we will look at different techniques, tricks and things that you can do to improve your affirmation campaigns. These are things that will concentrate on how you perform your affirmation campaigns with an idea to improve the “purity”, implementation, and successful implementation of it. All the time trying to control the relative distress associated with change.

These are easy additions for you all. It won’t take too much extra effort to incorporate these items.

Multiple daily affirmations

Yes, of course you can run your campaign multiple times in a day.You can have a prayer affirmation period (say) in the morning, and then another at the end of the day. You can run them three times a day. You can run them four times a day. Heck! You can run them ten times a day if you want and you have the time.

Just remember that when you go into your pause phase that it must be absolute. During the pause, you must come to a full and complete stop. No exceptions. Do not even think about it. Stop and move on with your life. Then when the pause time is completed, you can run your follow-up campaign.

A place to pray.

Now, running multiple daily affirmations most certainly strengthens the affirmations. You are spending more time thinking and dwelling on the affirmations. So the effects are doubled if you run two affirmation groups a day. Tripled if you run three affirmation groups a day, and quadruped if you run four groups a day.

The trade off is that things will happen more aggressively; more saturated. And, obviously, it will take up more of your time to do so. So with everything there are tradeoffs. If you have the time to run two campaign groups a day (say once in the morning and once in the afternoon) then you will have stronger effects.

Good things happen faster. The old peels away sooner. The discord associated with change increases. Everything is magnified.

So doing your affirmation prayer campaigns in this manner will [1] certainly speed up the implementation of your affirmations. However, it will [2] take up more of your time, and [3] would result in an increase in personal discord (as the old life peels away quicker).

Talisman

Those MM readers who have read the post on “The Intention Experiment” will understand the benefits of having “blessed” items in and around their home and person.

While a person can, themselves, bless an item and empower it with energy, in this case we will refer to things that were blessed by a local religious figure.

It does not matter who this person is, what religion they belong to, or where they are. What matters is that they create a charm; a talisman, that you pay for. Then you take that item and place it near you.

Here’s some blessed Buddha charms…

Blessed Buddha charms.

The procedure is simple…

  • Go to a local religious church, temple, shrine or monastery.
  • Provide an item for them to bless, or purchased an already blessed item.
  • Compensate them for their efforts either financially or through a donation.

I have had numerous things blessed in my life.

  • Catholic rosary beads.
  • A Catholic medallion of a Saint that I wore around my neck.
  • A string of small beads that I wrapped around my wrist. Blessed by Buddha. 
  • A bracelet of large wooden balls that was blessed by a shaman.
  • A special talisman made by a follower of the Golden Dawn occult society.
Examples of Catholic medallions.

The effect is like adding an octane additive to your gasoline in your car. It improves the quality of your gas and your automobile runs better. It no longer hesitates. It is quicker in response, smoother in operation, and quieter.  As well as the engine running cooler.

For a given prayer affirmation campaign, it will act like an “oil” or a “softener”. It will take off the “rough sharp edges” of the jagged hills and mountains that you might encounter in your MWI template.

The effect of a talisman.

In today’s profit oriented culture, it is easy to find “blessed” items on the internet that may or may not actually be blessed.

I suggest that you can buy what ever item you want off the internet, but assume that it is not blessed. Then take it to your local religious temples, church or shrine and ask for it to be blessed.

Blessed rosary beads.

If you go to a church or a temple, and they are selling something that has been blessed, then that is fine as well. The idea is that it MUST be actually blessed. Not simply advertised as blessed.

Finally, keep in mind that blessed items “lose their charge” over time. Depending on who you are, and the person performing the blessing, the “power” and effectiveness of the charm has a half-life. Some charms might dissipate over a period of months, while others might take decades. I would advise a new talisman every year based upon your individual situation, needs and present on-going affirmation campaign.

A place to pray

It is critically important that you perform and conduct your affirmations in a quiet place where you can concentrate and not be interrupted. For some people [A] this is the shower. No kidding. They put the affirmations in a waterproof sleeve, tape it to the wall and read it out loud while they shower.

For other people [B], being alone in their car (or truck) as they to and from work is perfect. They just fire the up the engine than then when they are at a place where no one can bother them, they park the vehicle and sit there and read off the affirmations out loud.

MM [C] likes to read his affirmations in the early morning when no one else is around and he has the peace and quiet to concentrate.

Some people [D] like to go into Catholic churches, and just go there and pray. The churches are open all the time and people go in to pray. The only thing with this is that you must whisper your prayers. You cannot say them out loud.

You can go into a temple with your affirmations, and read them in front of the image of the deity there. Most people will not question you. You can do this without being self conscious.

The good thing about this is that you can perform your prayer affirmations anywhere as long as you left alone in peace without being disturbed. Heck, this can even be [E] in a restaurant. You just park yourself at a booth in the back and focus reading your affirmations in a low voice.

You CANNOT multitask affirmations.

It requires your full, undistracted attention. Many people are already doing this. However, if you are not, and your affirmation campaigns are subject to interruption, then you might feel hurried or rushed.

You cannot allow this. You cannot hurriedly rush through your affirmation list. You need to read it slowly and savoring each word for maximum effect.

Never, ever, rush your affirmation readings. Never.

Remember; the longer it takes you to read your affirmation sentence, the stronger the effect. It means that you are spending more time switching from wave to particle form (and back again) while you are reading that affirmation statement.

So I want to stress that there are numerous people trying to multi-task affirmation campaigns, juggling them with the rest of their life. You just cannot do this and have a strong campaign. You need to focus on what you are doing at that time.

Why?

Imagine that you are typing to cook dinner, and reading your affirmations that are sitting there on the counter. Multitasking. You spouse walks in.  And the affirmation that you are trying to read is “I live a great, calm and peaceful life.”

This is what it would actually be like…

I live...

The boiling water is very vigorous now, and so you turn the temperature down.

... a great, and...

The Spouse asks you if you bought a new carton of milk, and you answer that no you didn’t.

...calm and...

You switch the water off and put some noodles in the hot water.

...peaceful...

The spouse comes in and goes out. Slamming the door behind. Bam!

...life.

In truth, you are not really running an affirmation statement this way. Instead all you are doing is adding disjointed words and phrases to your already hectic life. The end result would be that your life might mellow out a little bit, but the effects will not be the same as if you were to read off the entire affirmation sentence undisturbed.

Avoidance of places with “bad vibes”

Thoughts are “sticky”. They tend to fall to, and get absorbed by physical things. And like the talisman listed  up above, good pure thoughts and blessings are possible. As are curses, and negative thoughts.

We have all heard of “haunted houses”. Cursed cars. And damned places. These locations and physical items have “bad energy” or “bad vibes”.

Christine was a horror movie about a haunted automobile.

Some places are just THICK with the bad feelings and dearth of happy, positive energy. Go to any Family Dollar store in a distressed community. Go to a car lot in one of the poorer sections of town and sit in some of those cars. The hate, disgust, anger, and oily blackness can be tangible.

It can be felt.

You want to avoid these places, and you want to avoid purchasing anything from these places. You don’t want them to have anything to do with you or your family. Keep and stay away.

Reading affirmations after Hemi-Sync meditations

In today’s life, there are all sorts of distractions, and battles (for your mind) going on. These elements create a noise that jars your soul, and disrupts your being.  Being so “shaken”, it’s often difficult to feel calm when you are reading off your affirmations Sure, you read them, but somehow (it feels like) it’s not really getting any “traction”. You don’t feel like they are “fully released” to the universe.

The best way to avoid this is to meditate, or center yourself prior to reading the affirmations.

I have provided the Hemi-Sync systems to help you do this.

If you are not centered: your consciousness is not at the center, then your affirmation campaigns will not be operating effectively. Like an out of tune car engine, it might work, but not that well. You need to center yourself.

If you can have yourself centered most of the time, you don’t need to perform affirmations after a centering exercise. You just run Hemi-synci once a week, and do your affirmations normally. However, what I am seeing is this amazing level of strife and discord in the United States today. As well as in parts of Africa, and parts of Europe. You need to center your consciousness.

Physical Contact

Some cultures prevent physical contact, others allow it but only in the privacy in your own home. Having physical contact is a fundamental aspect of being a living, breathing, human being. You are NOT a machine.

When I was working in Boston, I was called in to the HR office because I had touched a fellow co-worker on the elbow. I personally believe that leaders need to transmit their intentions by tactile sensations. But that’s not in accordance with modern corporate culture. Instead humans are numbers that live in cubicles, perform tasks in front of machines, and obey strict behavioral and dress norms.

Anyways, when I talk to staff, co-workers and colleagues, as well as customers and other businessmen, I touch them. I give them handshakes. Some (from the West) I give hugs to. I touch the thigh, or knee cap. I touch the shoulder or the elbow.

Anyways, this touching is an important part of what being a human is all about. we connect with others.

It doesn’t matter if it is a dog, a cat, a horse, a spouse, a child, a friend… whatever. Do not be afraid of communicating though connections. Connect with others. When you do, you will find that your quantum network of connections expands. And for affirmation campaigns, you will discover that it acts as a kind of enhanced antenna or radar-dish.

So go forth and be a touchy-feely kind of person.

Humans biologically need touch, it’s built right into our physiology. When we are babies, touch is a crucial part of our ability to regulate our nervous systems and feel safe. When we’re very young, our bodies have not yet built the ability to self-regulate (feel safety and comfort), and thus our caregivers play the important role of not only touching to bring regulation and safety, but also using facial expressions to send the message that ‘all is OK.’

Further, humans thrive in a sense of community and connection. When we are too isolated, without a deep and dedicated practice like monk’s might do in a cave in Tibet, we begin to lose the benefits of co-regulation, and in turn our psychology can begin to suffer over time. Humans have built incredible things – together – when in community, and touch plays an important role in that.

It most cultures around the world, hugging is part of daily life. Other cultures might decide to greet one another with cheek kissing instead, but touch is often a common denominator. But it’s true, there are places that may be ‘less touch-y’ and will certainly find other ways to connect.

One thing I can say though, especially during this unprecedented time of isolation, make it a point to hug those close to you when you can. Make it a good one, 15 or 20 seconds! Pay attention to how you feel after.

As mentioned, hugging is not the only way we get a sense of co-regulation and connection. Looking into one another’s eyes, sensing facial movements and reactions are also important. We have millions of mirror neurons in our brains that are constantly reading what is happening in another person, and sending information to areas of our brain, subconsciously, that tell us how a person might be feeling, for example. When we witness someone taking an action, neurons in our brains respond to that action in the same way as if we were taking that action ourselves – hence ‘mirror neurons.’

This might mean that when we watch a nervous moment in sports for example, although we are not playing, we might take actions like covering our mouths or holding our chest, feeling the nerves the players are likely feeling. As you can imagine, this is not a perfect science. Sometimes we are nervous but the player is cool as a cucumber, but generally, mirror neurons tend to help us connect to what others are feeling or doing, giving us a sense of empathy.

It goes even deeper. Research from Institute of HeartMath has shown that the human heart emits a measurable electromagnetic field that contains information other people can pick up on and decode in their brains. Regardless of how ‘new-agey’ this might sound to some minds, it’s a reality of our physical bodies.

Just think, have you ever walked into a room with multiple people in it and noticed the energy of it? Perhaps you noticed right away it was very tense or very jovial. This sense likely comes from having an awareness of how our electro magnetic field is interacting with the collective field of the room.

What you’re feeling is how someone’s general emotional state is affecting the field they emit. The more we feel tension, anxiety, or depression for example, the more we also put that signal out into our communities. Now, this isn’t a call to get stressed out about how we’re affecting others, this is simply a realization of what’s going on.

In our current chaotic world, it’s quite common to feel anxious or uncertain about what’s happening, and acknowledging that is OK is perfectly fine. The next question becomes: how can I manage my emotional state and create a a felt sense of calm? (Which of course will change the field you emit as well.)

-Collective evolution

Conclusion

The majority of these suggestions are “add ons” to your current affirmation campaign that will enable you to fine-tune them to be more efficient and effective.

Some of the readership might already be incorporating these elements while others might have overlooked some key elements. But if you really start to implement all of them, you will be able to “turbo-charge” your affirmations for more efficient and effective implementation.

I hope that all of this will be beneficial.

Do you want more?

I have more posts related to this in my Affirmation Campaign index here…

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Beautiful Chinese girls modeling to Chinese pop music inside of China (1)

This is part of my “Beautiful girls of China” series. Here, we introduce the reader to China, and what it is today, by looking at the girls, women and ladies of China. In all cases the ladies are dancing, posing or just being themselves around their homes, businesses or city centers where they live. By looking at them, listening to the music, and paying attention to their surroundings you will end up getting a very clean and pristine vision of what China is, what it stands for and what it is actually like.

This is my own personal attempt to show others what I find so wonderful about China.

At the bare minimum you will at least get an opportunity to listen to contemporaneous Chinese pop music that plays all over the nation.

A beautiful Chinese woman in a wonderful flowing dress.

The girls and ladies come in all shapes and sizes. They all act and behave and dress differently. But the music selection and the short videos are wonderful in that it gives you a real idea what China is actually like. It’s the “feeling” that you get when you are here. And that is not easy to transmit. I hope that you all appreciate the images and visions that I present to you today.

Another lovely girl in China.

While I am showing images and videos of beautiful Chinese girls, I want to explain some of the great misconceptions about people, and relationships.

One thing that everyone doesn’t “get” (understand) is that when a couple wants to have sex, the Guy is always “ready to go”, and the woman “needs to warm up”. It’s not really accurate.

For men, watching a woman…

…being confident, looking good, smiling, acting cute; seductive, or just being playful is (de facto) foreplay. The mind, the thoughts and the emotions are engaged by watching the women be who they are. And when we say that it’s a “turn on”, we really meant it. Literally.

There’s few things more attractive to me than a confident woman, being herself, being clean, having a great conversation and eating delicious food. I think that many people don’t understand this. They think that being “sexy” is showing a lot of skin, and moving in provocative poses. That’s not true at all. Being sexy is just being yourself with all your faults and blemishes.

A normal, but very sexy girl. We all have to accept ourselves as we are, and be confident in that knowledge. That confidence makes us sexy.

In the following videos are girls being themselves, and showing their best images for the camera. And for me I think that it’s terribly sexy, and a great “turn on”. These ladies put the cream in my coffee if you get my mixed idioms, and they tenderize my meals. I like to believe that every single person on this planet, mean and women, are capable of being attractive.

All it requires is a good kind heart, and openness and willingness to be yourself. A kind of fearless acceptance of who you are. Smiling. Being open. And just engaging others. You are attractive.

Attractive Chinese girl on the escalator.

And while you are watching these ladies, please take note at the “feeling” you get. It’s a combination of imagery, motion, music, and environment. I can tell you that this “feeling” permeates all of China. From the smallest hamlets tot he largest cities. It’s a feeling of unity, of being one’s self, and pure unrestricted freedom. things that you really notice are missing in the United States today.

You do not need to show a lot of skin and wear skimpy clothing to be sexy. You just need to show personality.

When you watch the girls pay attention to the background. This is what China is. These are the homes that the Chinese live in. These are the buildings that they work in. These are the parks that they play in. These are the restaurants that they eat in.

Pay attention to the background. This is what China is actually like.

The video group A

I have broken down these videos into an easily downloaded zip file. HERE. Just download the file and open it up and start watching all the pretty girl videos.

Here’s a sample of part of the files…

Partial files from Pretty Girls 4AUG21.

Here’s Video Group B

You can access the files HERE.

And a quick display of what’s inside is here…

Pretty Chinese Girls part B 4AUG21

And some of these girls are…

Well, some you can just fall in love with them. Like this wonderful girl. She’s all about the delicious sundae (with a cherry on top) and coffee. Ahhhh!

And you do not need to be anything other than yourself…

There is nothing (to me) more attractive than a woman who is proud of herself, strong, yet oozing with kindness and softness. Like this lovely girl…

Do you want more?

I have more articles like this one in my Learning About China by Looking at Pretty Girls Index here…

Pretty Chinese Girls

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Law 40 of the 48 Laws of Power; Despise the free lunch

This is law 40 of the “48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green. Reprinted in it’s entirety. I hope that you all enjoy it.

What is offered for free is dangerous-it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price—there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

  • What is offered for free often has a psychological price tag – complicated feelings of obligation, compromises with quality, the insecurity those compromises bring, on and on.  By paying the full price, you keep your independence and room to maneuver.
  • Being open and flexible with money also teaches the value of strategic generosity.

Avoid these people who fail to use money creatively and strategically, or turn their inflexibility to your advantage:

  • The Greedy Fish. The greedy fish take the human side out of money. Cold and ruthless, they see only the lifeless balance sheet; viewing others solely as either pawns or obstructions in their pursuit of wealth, they trample on people’s sentiments and alienate valuable allies. No one wants to work with the greedy fish, and over the years they end up isolated, which often proves their undoing. Easy to deceive with promise of money.
  • The Bargain Demon. Powerful people judge everything by what it costs, not just in money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind. And this is exactly what Bargain Demons cannot do. Wasting valuable time digging for bargains, they worry endlessly about what they could have gotten elsewhere for a little less. Just avoid these types.
  • The Sadist. Financial sadists play vicious power games with money as a way of asserting their power. They believe the money they give you allows them to abuse your time.  Accept a financial loss instead of getting entangled.
  • The Indiscriminate Giver. These people give to everyone, and as a result no one feels special.  Appealing as a mark, but you will often feel burdened by their emotional need.
  • Never let lust for money lure you from true power.  Make power your goal and money will find it’s way to you.
  • Note: bait your deceptions with the possibility of easy money, and many will fall for it.

LAW40

DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH

JUDGMENT

What is offered for free is dangerous-it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full pricethere is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

BURIED TREASURE

Many weak-minded persons in cities hope to discover property under the surface of the earth and to make some profit from it. In the Maghrib there are many Berber “students” who are unable to make a living by natural ways and means. They approach well-to-do people with papers that have torn margins and contain either non-Arabic writing or what they claim to be the translation of a document written by the owner of buried treasures, giving the clue to the hiding place. In this way, they try to get their sustenance by [persuading the well-to-do] to send them out to dig and hunt for treasure. Occasionally, one of these treasure hunters displays strange information or some remarkable trick of magic with which he fools people into believing his other claims, although, in fact, he knows nothing of magic and its procedures.... The things that have been said about [treasure hunting] have no scientific basis, nor are they based upon [factual] information. It should be realized that although treasures are found, this happens rarely and by chance, not by systematic search.... Those who are deluded or afflicted by these things must take refuge in God from their inability to make a living and their laziness in this respect. They should not occupy themselves with absurdities and untrue stories.

THE MUQADDIMAH, IBN KHALDUN, 1332-1406

MONEY AND POWER

In the realm of power, everything must be judged by its cost, and everything has a price. What is offered for free or at bargain rates often comes with a psychological price tag— complicated feelings of obligation, compromises with quality, the insecurity those compromises bring, on and on. The powerful learn early to protect their most valuable resources: independence and room to maneuver. By paying the full price, they keep themselves free of dangerous entanglements and worries.

Being open and flexible with money also teaches the value of strategic generosity, a variation on the old trick of “giving when you are about to take.” By giving the appropriate gift, you put the recipient under obligation. Generosity softens people up— to be deceived. By gaining a reputation for liberality, you win people’s admiration while distracting them from your power plays. By strategically spreading your wealth, you charm the other courtiers, creating pleasure and making valuable allies.

Look at the masters of power—the Caesars, the Queen Elizabeths, the Michelangelos, the Medicis: Not a miser among them. Even the great con artists spend freely to swindle. Tight purse strings are unattractive—when engaged in seduction, Casanova would give completely not only of himself but of his wallet. The powerful understand that money is psychologically charged, and that it is also a vessel of politeness and sociability. They make the human side of money a weapon in their armory.

For everyone able to play with money, thousands more are locked in a self- destructive refusal to use money creatively and strategically. These types represent the opposite pole to the powerful, and you must learn to recognize them—either to avoid their poisonous natures or to turn their inflexibility to your advantage:

The Greedy Fish. The greedy fish take the human side out of money. Cold and ruthless, they see only the lifeless balance sheet; viewing others solely as either pawns or obstructions in their pursuit of wealth, they trample on people’s sentiments and alienate valuable allies. No one wants to work with the greedy fish, and over the years they end up isolated, which often proves their undoing.

Greedy fish are the con artist’s bread and butter: Lured by the bait of easy money, they swallow the ruse hook, line, and sinker. They are easy to deceive, for they spend so much time dealing with numbers (not with people) that they become blind to psychology, including their own. Either avoid them before they exploit you or play on their greed to your gain.

The Bargain Demon. Powerful people judge everything by what it costs, not just in money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind. And this is exactly what Bargain Demons cannot do. Wasting valuable time digging for bargains, they worry endlessly about what they could have gotten elsewhere for a little less. On top of that, the bargain item they do buy is often shabby; perhaps it needs costly repairs, or will have to be replaced twice as fast as a high-quality item. The costs of these pursuits—not always in money (though the price of a bargain is often deceptive) but in time and peace of mind—discourage normal people from undertaking them, but for the Bargain Demon the bargain is an end in itself.

These types might seem to harm only themselves, but their attitudes are contagious: Unless you resist them they will infect you with the insecure feeling that you should have looked harder to find a cheaper price. Don’t argue with them or try to change them. Just mentally add up the cost, in time and inner peace if not in hidden financial expense, of the irrational pursuit of a bargain.

The Sadist. Financial sadists play vicious power games with money as a way of asserting their power. They might, for example, make you wait for money that is owed you, promising you that the check is in the mail. Or if they hire you to work for them, they meddle in every aspect of the job, haggling and giving you ulcers. Sadists seem to think that paying for something gives them the right to torture and abuse the seller. They have no sense of the courtier element in money. If you are unlucky enough to get involved with this type, accepting a financial loss may be better in the long run than getting entangled in their destructive power games.

The Indiscriminate Giver. Generosity has a definite function in power: It attracts people, softens them up, makes allies out of them. But it has to be used strategically, with a definite end in mind. Indiscriminate Givers, on the other hand, are generous because they want to be loved and admired by all. And their generosity is so indiscriminate and needy that it may not have the desired effect: If they give to one and all, why should the recipient feel special? Attractive as it may seem to make an Indiscriminate Giver your mark, in any involvement with this type you will often feel burdened by their insatiable emotional needs.

THE MISER

A miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had and converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his master’s back was turned, went to the spot, and stole it away. When the miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it, said: “Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it. the one will do you as much good as the other.”

The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.

FABLES, AFSOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW

Transgression I

After Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru, in 1532, gold from the Incan Empire began to pour into Spain, and Spaniards of all classes started dreaming of the instant riches to be had in the New World. The story soon spread of an Indian chief to the east of Peru who once each year would ritually cover himself in gold dust and dive into a lake. Soon word of mouth transformed El Dorado, the “Golden Man,” into an empire called El Dorado, wealthier than the Incan, where the streets were paved and the buildings inlaid with gold. This elaboration of the story did not seem implausible, for surely a chief who could afford to waste gold dust in a lake must rule a golden empire. Soon Spaniards were searching for El Dorado all over northern South America.

In February of 1541, the largest expedition yet in this venture, led by Pizarro’s brother Gonzalo, left Quito, in Ecuador. Resplendent in their armors and colorful silks, 340 Spaniards headed east, along with 4,000 Indians to carry supplies and serve as scouts, 4,000 swine, dozens of llamas, and close to 1,000 dogs. But the expedition was soon hit by torrential rain, which rotted its gear and spoiled its food. Meanwhile, as Gonzalo Pizarro questioned the Indians they met along the way, those who seemed to be withholding information, or who had not even heard of the fabulous kingdom, he would torture and feed to the dogs. Word of the Spaniards’ murderousness spread quickly among the Indians, who realized that the only way to avoid Gonzalo’s wrath was to make up stories about El Dorado and send him as far away as possible. As Gonzalo and his men followed the leads the Indians gave them, then, they were only led farther into deep jungle.

The explorers’ spirits sagged. Their uniforms had long since shredded; their armor rusted and they threw it away; their shoes were torn to pieces, forcing them to walk barefoot; the Indian slaves they had set out with had either died or deserted them; they had eaten not only the swine but the hunting dogs and llamas. They lived on roots and fruit. Realizing that they could not continue this way, Pizarro decided to risk river travel, and a barge was built out of rotting wood. But the journey down the treacherous Napo River proved no easier. Setting up camp on the river’s edge, Gonzalo sent scouts ahead on the barge to find Indian settlements with food. He waited and waited for the scouts to return, only to find out they had decided to desert the expedition and continue down the river on their own.

The rain continued without end. Gonzalo’s men forgot about El Dorado; they wanted only to return to Quito. Finally, in August of 1542, a little over a hundred men, from an expedition originally numbering in the thousands, managed to find their way back. To the residents of Quito they seemed to have emerged from hell itself, wrapped in tatters and skins, their bodies covered in sores, and so emaciated as to be unrecognizable. For over a year and a half they had marched in an enormous circle, two thousand miles by foot. The vast sums of money invested in the expedition had yielded nothing—no sign of El Dorado and no sign of gold. Interpretation

Even after Gonzalo Pizarro’s disaster, the Spaniards launched expedition after expedition in search of El Dorado. And like Pizarro the conquistadors would burn and loot villages, torture Indians, endure unimaginable hardships, and get no closer to gold. The money they spent on such expeditions cannot be calculated; yet despite the futility of the search, the lure of the fantasy endured.

There is a popular saying in Japan that goes “Tada yori takai mono wa nai,” meaning: “Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge.”

THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988

MONEY

Yusuf Ibn Jafar el-Amudi used to take sums of money, sometimes very large ones, from those who came to study with him. A distinguished legalist visiting him once said: “I am enchanted and impressed by your teachings, and I am sure that you are directing your disciples in a proper manner. But it is not in accordance with tradition to take money for knowledge. Besides, the action is open to misinterpretation.” El-Amudi said: “I have never sold any knowledge. There is no Imoney on earth sufficient to pay for it. As for misinterpretation, the abstaining from taking money will not prevent it, for it will find some other object. Rather should you know that a man who takes money may be greedy for money, or he may not. But a man who takes nothing at all is under the gravest suspicion of robbing the disciple of his soul. People who say, ‘I take nothing,’ may be found to take away the volition of their victim.”

THE DERMIS PROBE, IDRIES SHAH, 1970

Not only did the search for El Dorado cost millions of lives—both Indian and Spanish—it helped bring the ruin of the Spanish empire. Gold became Spain’s obsession. The gold that did find its way back to Spain-and a lot did—was reinvested in more expeditions, or in the purchase of luxuries, rather than in agriculture or any other productive endeavor. Whole Spanish towns were depopulated as their menfolk left to hunt gold. Farms fell into ruin, and the army had no recruits for its European wars. By the end of the seventeenth century, the entire country had shrunk by more than half of its population; the city of Madrid had gone from a population of 400,000 to 150,000. With diminishing returns from its efforts over so many years, Spain fell into a decline from which it never recovered.

Power requires self-discipline. The prospect of wealth, particularly easy, sudden wealth, plays havoc with the emotions. The suddenly rich believe that more is always possible. The free lunch, the money that will fall into your lap, is just around the corner.

In this delusion the greedy neglect everything power really depends on: self-control, the goodwill of others, and so on.

Understand: With one exception—death—no lasting change in fortune comes quickly. Sudden wealth rarely lasts, for it is built on nothing solid. Never let lust for money lure you out of the protective and enduring fortress of real power. Make power your goal and money will find its way to you. Leave El Dorado for suckers and fools.

Transgression II

In the early eighteenth century, no one stood higher in English society than the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The duke, having led successful campaigns against the French, was considered Europe’s premier general and strategist. And his wife, the duchess, after much maneuvering, had established herself as the favorite of Queen Anne, who became ruler of England in 1702. In 1704 the duke’s triumph at the Battle of Blenheim made him the toast of England, and to honor him the queen awarded him a large plot of land in the town of Woodstock, and the funds to create a great palace there. Calling his planned home the Palace of Blenheim, the duke chose as his architect the young John Vanbrugh, a kind of Renaissance man who wrote plays as well as designed buildings. And so construction began, in the summer of 1705, with much fanfare and great hopes.

Vanbrugh had a dramatist’s sense of architecture. His palace was to be a monument to Marlborough’s brilliance and power, and was to include artificial lakes, enormous bridges, elaborate gardens, and other fantastical touches. From day one, however, the duchess could not be pleased: She thought Vanbrugh was wasting money on yet another stand of trees; she wanted the palace finished as soon as possible. The duchess tortured Vanbrugh and his workmen on every detail. She was consumed with petty matters; although the government was paying for Blenheim, she counted every penny. Eventually her grumbling, about Blenheim and other things too, created an irreparable rift between her and Queen Anne, who, in 1711, dismissed her from the court, ordering her to vacate her apartments at the royal palace. When the duchess left (fuming over the loss of her position, and also of her royal salary), she emptied the apartment of every fixture down to the brass doorknobs.

THE MAN WHO LOVED MONEY BETTER THAN LIFE

In ancient times there was an old woodcutter who went to the mountain almost every day to cut wood.

It was said that this old man was a miser who hoarded his silver until it changed to gold, and that he cared more for gold than anything else in all the world.

One day a wilderness tiger sprang at him and though he ran he could not escape, and the tiger carried him off in its mouth.

The woodcutter’s son saw his father’s danger, and ran to save him if possible. He carried a long knife, and as he could run faster than the tiger, who had a man to carry, he soon overtook them.

His father was not much hurt, for the tiger held him by his clothes. When the old woodcutter saw his son about to stab the tiger he called out in great alarm: “Do not spoil the tiger’s skin! Do not spoil the tiger’s skin! If you can kill him without cutting holes in his skin we can get many pieces of silver for it. Kill him, but do not cut his body.” While the son was listening to his father’s instructions the tiger suddenly dashed off into the forest, carrying the old man where the son could not reach him, and he was soon killed.

“CHINESE FABLE,” VARIOUS FABLES FROM VARIOUS PLACES, DIANE DI PRIMA, ED., 1960

Over the next ten years, work on Blenheim would stop and start, as the funds became harder to procure from the government. The duchess thought Vanbrugh was out to ruin her. She quibbled over every carload of stone and bushel of lime, counted every extra yard of iron railing or foot of wainscot, hurling abuse at the wasteful workmen, contractors, and surveyors. Marlborough, old and weary, wanted nothing more than to settle into the palace in his last years, but the project became bogged down in a swamp of litigation, the workmen suing the duchess for wages, the duchess suing the architect right back. In the midst of this interminable wrangling, the duke died. He had never spent a night in his beloved Blenheim.

After Marlborough’s death, it became clear that he had a vast estate, worth over £2 million—more than enough to pay for finishing the palace. But the duchess would not relent: She held back Vanbrugh’s wages as well as the workmen’s, and finally had the architect dismissed. The man who took his place finished Blenheim in a few years, following Vanbrugh’s designs to the letter. Vanbrugh died in 1726, locked out of the palace by the duchess, unable to set foot in his greatest creation. Foreshadowing the romantic movement, Blenheim had started a whole new trend in architecture, but had given its creator a twenty-year nightmare.

Interpretation

For the Duchess of Marlborough, money was a way to play sadistic power games. She saw the loss of money as a symbolic loss of power. With Vanbrugh her contortions went deeper still: He was a great artist, and she envied his power to create, to attain a fame outside her reach. She may not have had his gifts, but she did have the money to torture and abuse him over the pettiest details—to ruin his life.

This kind of sadism, however, bears an awful price. It made construction that should have lasted ten years take twenty. It poisoned many a relationship, alienated the duchess from the court, deeply pained the duke (who wanted only to live peacefully in Blenheim), created endless lawsuits, and took years off Vanbrugh’s life. Finally, too, posterity had the last word: Vanbrugh is recognized as a genius while the duchess is forever remembered for her consummate cheapness.

The powerful must have grandeur of spirit—they can never reveal any pettiness. And money is the most visible arena in which to display either grandeur or pettiness. Best spend freely, then, and create a reputation for generosity, which in the end will pay great dividends. Never let financial details blind you to the bigger picture of how people perceive you. Their resentment will cost you in the long run. And if you want to meddle in the work of creative people under your hire, at least pay them well. Your money will buy their submission better than your displays of power.

THE STORY OF MOSES AND PHARAOH

It is written in the histories of the prophets that Moses was sent to Pharaoh with many miracles, wonders and honors. Now the daily ration for Pharaoh’s table was 4,000 sheep, 400 cows, 200 camels, and a corresponding amount of chickens, fish, beverages, fried meats, sweets, and other things. All the people of Egypt and all his army used to eat at his table every day. For 400 years he had claimed divinity and never ceased providing this food. When Moses prayed, saying, “O Lord, destroy Pharaoh,” God answered his prayer and said, “I shall destroy him in water, and I shall bestow all his wealth and that of his soldiers on you and your peoples.” Several years passed by after this promise, and Pharaoh, doomed to rum, continued to live in all his magnificence. Moses was impatient for God to destroy Pharaoh quickly, and he could not endure to wail any longer. So he fasted for forty days and went to Mount Sinai, and in his communing with god he said, “O Lord. Thou didst promise that Thou wouldst destroy Pharaoh, and still he has forsaken none of his blasphemies and pretensions. So when wilt Thou destroy him?”

A voice came from The Truth saying, “O Muses, you want Me to destroy Pharaoh as quickly as possible, but a thousand times a thousand of My servants want Me never to do so, because they partake of his bounty and enjoy tranquillity under his rule. By My power I swear that as long as he provides abundant food and comfort for My creatures, I shall not destroy him.”

Moses said, “Then when will Thy promise be fulfilled?God said, “My promise will be fulfilled when he withholds his provision from My creatures. If ever he begins to lessen his bounty, know that his hour is drawing near.”

It chanced that one day Pharaoh said to Haman, “Moses has gathered the Sons of Israel about him and is causing us disquiet. We know not what will be the issue of his affair with us. We must keep our stores full lest at any time we be without resources. So we must halve our daily rations and keep the saving in reserve.” He deducted 2, 000 sheep, 200 cows, and a 100 camels, and similarly every two or three days reduced the ration. Moses then knew that the promise of The Truth was near to fulfillment, for excessive economy is a sign of decline and a bad omen. The masters of tradition say that on the day when Pharaoh was drowned only two ewes had been killed in his kitchen. Nothing is better than generosity.... If a man is rich and desires, without a royal charter, to act like a lord; if he wants men to humble themselves before him, to revere him and call him Lord and prince, then tell him every day to spread a table with victuals. All those who have acquired renown in the world, have gained it mainly through hospitality, while the miserly and avaricious are despised in both worlds.

THE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT OR RULES FOR KINGS, NIZAM AL-MULK, ELEVENTH CENTURY

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

Pietro Aretino, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted himself into fame as a writer of biting satires. But like every Renaissance artist, he needed to find a patron who would give him a comfortable lifestyle while not interfering with his work. In 1528 Aretino decided to attempt a new strategy in the patronage game. Leaving Rome, he established himself in Venice, where few had heard of him. He had a fair amount of money he had managed to save, but little else. Soon after he moved into his new home, however, he threw open its doors to rich and poor, regaling them with banquets and amusements. He befriended each and every gondolier, tipping them royally. In the streets, he spread his money liberally, giving it away to beggars, orphans, washerwomen. Among the city’s commoners, word quickly spread that Aretino was more than just a great writer, he was a man of power—a kind of lord.

Artists and men of influence soon began to frequent Aretino’s house. Within a few years he made himself a celebrity; no visiting dignitary would think of leaving Venice without paying him a call. His generosity had cost him most of his savings, but had bought him influence and a good name—a cornerstone in the foundation of power. Since in Renaissance Italy as elsewhere the ability to spend freely was the privilege of the rich, the aristocracy thought Aretino had to be a man of influence, since he spent money like one. And since the influence of a man of influence is worth buying, Aretino became the recipient of all sorts of gifts and moneys. Dukes and duchesses, wealthy merchants, and popes and princes competed to gain his favor, and showered him with all kinds of presents.

Aretino’s spending habits, of course, were strategic, and the strategy worked like a charm. But for real money and comfort he needed a great patron’s bottomless pockets. Having surveyed the possibilities, he eventually set his sights on the extremely wealthy Marquis of Mantua, and wrote an epic poem that he dedicated to the marquis. This was a common practice of writers looking for patronage: In exchange for a dedication they would get a small stipend, enough to write yet another poem, so that they spent their lives in a kind of constant servility. Aretino, however, wanted power, not a measly wage. He might dedicate a poem to the marquis, but he would offer it to him as a gift, implying by doing so that he was not a hired hack looking for a stipend but that he and the marquis were equals.

Aretino’s gift-giving did not stop there: As a close friend of two of Venice’s greatest artists, the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino and the painter Titian, he convinced these men to participate in his gift-giving scheme. Aretino had studied the marquis before going to work on him, and knew his taste inside and out; he was able to advise Sansovino and Titian what subject matter would please the marquis most. When he then sent a Sansovino sculpture and a Titian painting to the marquis as gifts from all three of them, the man was beside himself with joy.

Over the next few months, Aretino sent other gifts—swords, saddles, the glass that was a Venetian specialty, things he knew the marquis prized. Soon he, Titian, and Sansovino began to receive gifts from the marquis in return. And the strategy went further: When the son-in-law of a friend of Aretino’s found himself in jail in Mantua, Aretino was able to get the marquis to arrange his release. Aretino’s friend, a wealthy merchant, was a man of great influence in Venice; by turning the goodwill he had built up with the marquis to use, Aretino had now bought this man’s indebtedness, too, and he in turn would help Aretino when he could. The circle of influence was growing wider. Time and again, Aretino was able to cash in on the immense political power of the marquis, who also helped him in his many court romances.

Eventually, however, the relationship became strained, as Aretino came to feel that the marquis should have requited his generosity better. But he would not lower himself to begging or whining: Since the exchange of gifts between the two men had made them equals, it would not seem right to bring up money. He simply withdrew from the marquis’s circle and hunted for other wealthy prey, settling first on the French king Francis, then the Medicis, the Duke of Urbino, Emperor Charles V, and more. In the end, having many patrons meant he did not have to bow to any of them, and his power seemed comparable to that of a great lord.

Interpretation

Aretino understood two fundamental properties of money:

First, that it has to circulate to bring power. What money should buy is not lifeless objects but power over people. By keeping money in constant circulation, Aretino bought an ever-expanding circle of influence that in the end more than compensated him for his expenses.

Second, Aretino understood the key property of the gift. To give a gift is to imply that you and the recipient are equals at the very least, or that you are the recipient’s superior. A gift also involves an indebtedness or obligation; when friends, for instance, offer you something for free, you can be sure they expect something in return, and that to get it they are making you feel indebted. (The mechanism may or may not be entirely conscious on their part, but this is how it works.)

Aretino avoided such encumbrances on his freedom. Instead of acting like a menial who expects the powerful to pay his way in life, he turned the whole dynamic around; instead of being indebted to the powerful, he made the powerful indebted to him. This was the point of his gift-giving, a ladder that carried him to the highest social levels. By the end of his life he had become the most famous writer in Europe.

Understand: Money may determine power relationships, but those relationships need not depend on the amount of money you have; they also depend on the way you use it. Powerful people give freely, buying influence rather than things. If you accept the inferior position because you have no fortune yet, you may find yourself in it forever. Play the trick that Aretino played on Italy’s aristocracy: Imagine yourself an equal. Play the lord, give freely, open your doors, circulate your money, and create the facade of power through an alchemy that transforms money into influence.

Observance II

Soon after Baron James Rothschild made his fortune in Paris in the early 1820s, he faced his most intractable problem: How could a Jew and a German, a total outsider to French society, win the respect of the xenophobic French upper classes?

Rothschild was a man who understood power—he knew that his fortune would bring him status, but that if he remained socially alienated neither his status nor his fortune would last. So he looked at the society of the time and asked what would win their hearts.

Charity? The French couldn’t care less. Political influence? He already had that, and if anything it only made people more suspicious of him. The one weak spot, he decided, was boredom. In the period of the restoration of the monarchy, the French upper classes were bored.

So Rothschild began to spend astounding sums of money on entertaining them. He hired the best architects in France to design his gardens and ballroom; he hired Marie-Antoine Carême, the most celebrated French chef, to prepare the most lavish parties Paris had ever witnessed; no Frenchman could resist, even if the parties were given by a German Jew. Rothschild’s weekly soirees began to attract bigger and bigger numbers. Over the next few years he won the only thing that would secure an outsider’s power: social acceptance.

Interpretation

Strategic generosity is always a great weapon in building a support base, particularly for the outsider. But the Baron de Rothschild was cleverer still: He knew it was his money that had created the barrier between him and the French, making him look ugly and untrustworthy. The best way to overcome this was literally to waste huge sums, a gesture to show he valued French culture and society over money. What Rothschild did resembled the famous potlatch feasts of the American Northwest: By periodically destroying its wealth in a giant orgy of festivals and bonfires, an Indian tribe would symbolize its power over other tribes. The base of its power was not money but its ability to spend, and its confidence in a superiority that would restore to it all that the potlatch had destroyed.

In the end, the baron’s soirees reflected his desire to mingle not just in France’s business world but in its society. By wasting money on his pot-latches, he hoped to demonstrate that his power went beyond money into the more precious realm of culture. Rothschild may have won social acceptance by spending money, but the support base he gained was one that money alone could not buy. To secure his fortune he had to “waste” it. That is strategic generosity in a nutshell—the ability to be flexible with your wealth, putting it to work, not to buy objects, but to win people’s hearts.

Observance III

The Medicis of Renaissance Florence had built their immense power on the fortune they had made in banking. But in Florence, centuries-old republic that it was, the idea that money bought power went against all the city’s proud democratic values. Cosimo de’ Medici, the first of the family to gain great fame, worked around this by keeping a low profile. He never flaunted his wealth. But by the time his grandson Lorenzo came of age, in the 1470s, the family’s wealth was too large, and their influence too noticeable, to be disguised any longer.

THE FLAME-COLORED CLOCK

During the campaign of Carnbyses in Egypt, a great many Greeks visited that country for one reason or another: some, as was to be expected, for trade, some to serve in the army, others, no doubt, out of mere curiosity, to see what they could see. Amongst the sightseers was Aeaces’s son Syloson, the exiled brother of Polycrates of Samos. While he was in Egypt, Syloson had an extraordinary stroke of luck: he was hanging about the streets of Memphis dressed in a flame-colored cloak, when Darius, who at that time was a member of Cambyses’s guard and not yet of any particular importance, happened to catch sight of him and, seized with a sudden longing to possess the cloak, came up to Syloson and made him an offer for it.

His extreme anxiety to get it was obvious enough to Syloson, who was inspired to say: “I am not selling this for any money, but if you must have it, I will give it to you for free. Darius thererepon thanked him warmly and took it.

Syloson at the moment merely thought he had lost it by his foolish good nature; then came the death of Cambyses and the revolt of the seven against the Magus, and Darius ascended the throne.

Syloson now had the news that the man whose request for the flame-colored cloak he had formerly gratified in Egypt had become king of Persia. He hurried to Susa, sat down at the entrance of the royal palace, and claimed to be included in the official list of the king’s benefactors.

The sentry on guard reported his claim to Darius, who asked in surprise who the man might be. “For surely,” he said, “as I have so recently come to the throne, there cannot be any Greek to whom I am indebted for a service. Hardly any of them have been here yet, and I certainly cannot remember owing anything to a Greek. But bring him in all the same, that I may know what he means by this claim.”

The guard escorted Syloson into the royal presence, and when the interpreters asked him who he was and what he had done to justify the statement that he was the king’s benefactor, he reminded Darius of the story of the cloak, and said that he was the man who had given it him. “Sir,” exclaimed Darius, “you are the most generous of men; for while I was still a person of no power or consequence you gave me a presentsmall indeed, but deserving then as much gratitude from me as would the most splendid of gifts today.

I will give you in return more silver and gold than you can count, that you may never regret that you once did a favor to Darius the son of Hystaspes. ”

“My lord, ” replied Syloson, ”do not give me gold or silver, but recover Samos for me, my native island, which now since Oroetes killed my brother Polycrates is in the hands of one of our servants. Let Samos be your gift to mebut let no man in the island be killed or enslaved.”

Darius consented to Syloson’s request, and dispatched a force under the command of Otanes, one of the seven, with orders to do everything that Syloson had asked.

THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

Lorenzo solved the problem in his own way by developing the strategy of distraction that has served people of wealth ever since: He became the most illustrious patron of the arts that history has ever known. Not only did he spend lavishly on paintings, he created Italy’s finest apprentice schools for young artists. It was in one of these schools that the young Michelangelo first caught the attention of Lorenzo, who invited the artist to come and live in his house. He did the same with Leonardo da Vinci. Once under his wing, Michelangelo and Leonardo requited his generosity by becoming loyal artists in his stable.

Whenever Lorenzo faced an enemy, he would wield the weapon of patronage. When Pisa, Florence’s traditional enemy, threatened to rebel against it in 1472, Lorenzo placated its people by pouring money into its university, which had once been its pride and joy but had long ago lost its luster. The Pisans had no defense against this insidious maneuver, which simultaneously fed their love of culture and blunted their desire for battle.

Interpretation

Lorenzo undoubtedly loved the arts, but his patronage of artists had a practical function as well, of which he was keenly aware. In Florence at the time, banking was perhaps the least admired way of making money, and was certainly not a respected source of power. The arts were at the other pole, the pole of quasi-religious transcendence. By spending on the arts, Lorenzo diluted people’s opinions of the ugly source of his wealth, disguising himself in nobility. There is no better use of strategic generosity than that of distracting attention from an unsavory reality and wrapping oneself in the mantle of art or religion.

Observance IV

Louis XIV had an eagle eye for the strategic power of money. When he came to the throne, the powerful nobility had recently proven a thorn in the monarchy’s side, and seethed with rebelliousness. So he impoverished these aristocrats by making them spend enormous sums on maintaining their position in the court. Making them dependent on royal largesse for their livelihood, he had them in his claws.

Next Louis brought the nobles to their knees with strategic generosity. It would work like this: Whenever he noticed a stubborn courtier whose influence he needed to gain, or whose troublemaking he needed to squelch, he would use his vast wealth to soften the soil. First he would ignore his victim, making the man anxious. Then the man would suddenly find that his son had been given a well-paid post, or that funds had been spent liberally in his home region, or that he had been given a painting he had long coveted. Presents would flow from Louis’s hands. Finally, weeks or months later, Louis would ask for the favor he had needed all along. A man who had once vowed to do anything to stop the king would find he had lost the desire to fight. A straightforward bribe would have made him rebellious; this was far more insidious. Facing hardened earth in which nothing could take root, Louis loosened the soil before he planted his seeds. Interpretation

Louis understood that there is a deep-rooted emotional element in our attitude to money, an element going back to childhood. When we are children, all kinds of complicated feelings about our parents center around gifts; we see the giving of a gift as a sign of love and approval. And that emotional element never goes away. The recipients of gifts, financial or otherwise, are suddenly as vulnerable as children, especially when the gift comes from someone in authority. They cannot help opening up; their will is loosened, as Louis loosened the soil.

To succeed best, the gift should come out of the blue. It should be remarkable for the fact that a gift like it has never been given before, or for being preceded by a cold shoulder from the giver. The more often you give to particular people, the blunter this weapon becomes. If they don’t take your gifts for granted, becoming monsters of ingratitude, they will resent what appears to be charity. The sudden, unexpected, one- time gift will not spoil your children; it will keep them under your thumb.

Observance V

The antique dealer Fushimiya, who lived in the city of Edo (former name for Tokyo) in the seventeenth century, once made a stop at a village teahouse. After enjoying a cup of tea, he spent several minutes scrutinizing the cup, which he eventually paid for and took away with him. A local artisan, watching this, waited until Fushimiya left the shop, then approached the old woman who owned the teahouse and asked her who this man was. She told him it was Japan’s most famous connoisseur, antique dealer to the lord of Izumo. The artisan ran out of the shop, caught up with Fushimiya, and begged him to sell him the cup, which must clearly be valuable if Fushimiya judged it so. Fushimiya laughed heartily: “It’s just an ordinary cup of Bizen ware,” he explained, “and it is not valuable at all. The reason I was looking at it was that the steam seemed to hang about it strangely and I wondered if there wasn’t a leak somewhere.” (Devotees of the Tea Ceremony were interested in any odd or accidental beauty in nature.) Since the artisan still seemed so excited about it, Fushimiya gave him the cup for free.

The artisan took the cup around, trying to find an expert who would appraise it at a high price, but since all of them recognized it as an ordinary teacup he got nowhere. Soon he was neglecting his own business, thinking only of the cup and the fortune it could bring. Finally he went to Edo to talk to Fushimiya at his shop. There the dealer, realizing that he had inadvertently caused this man pain by making him believe the cup had great worth, paid him 100 ryo (gold pieces) for the cup as a kindness. The cup was indeed mediocre, but he wanted to rid the artisan of his obsession, while also allowing him to feel that his effort had not been wasted. The artisan thanked him and went on his way.

Money is never spent to so much advantage as when you have been cheated out of it; for at one stroke you have purchased prudence.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860

Soon word spread of Fushimiya’s purchase of the teacup. Every dealer in Japan clamored for him to sell it, since a cup he had bought for 100 ryo must be worth much more. He tried to explain the circumstances in which he had bought the cup, but the dealers could not be dissuaded. Fushimiya finally relented and put the cup up for sale.

During the auction, two buyers simultaneously bid 200 ryo for the teacup, and then began to fight over who had bid first. Their fighting tipped over a table and the teacup fell to the ground and broke into several pieces. The auction was clearly over. Fushimiya glued and mended the cup, then stored it away, thinking the affair finished. Years later, however, the great tea master Matsudaira Fumai visited the store, and asked to see the cup, which by then had become legendary. Fumai examined it. “As a piece,” he said, “it is not up to much, but a Tea Master prizes sentiment and association more than intrinsic value.” He bought the cup for a high sum. A glued-together work of less than ordinary craftsmanship had become one of the most famous objects in Japan.

Interpretation

The story shows, first, an essential aspect of money: That it is humans who have created it and humans who instill it with meaning and value. Second, with objects as with money, what the courtier most values are the sentiments and emotions embedded in them —these are what make them worth having. The lesson is simple: The more your gifts and your acts of generosity play with sentiment, the more powerful they are. The object or concept that plays with a charged emotion or hits a chord of sentiment has more power than the money you squander on an expensive yet lifeless present.

Observance VI

Akimoto Suzutomo, a wealthy adherent of the tea ceremony, once gave his page 100 ryo (gold pieces) and instructed him to purchase a tea bowl offered by a particular dealer. When the page saw the bowl, he doubted it was worth that much, and after much bargaining got the price reduced to 95 ryo. Days later, after Suzutomo had put the bowl to use, the page proudly told him what he had done.

“What an ignoramus you are!” replied Suzutomo. “A tea bowl that anyone asks 100 pieces of gold for can only be a family heirloom, and a thing like that is only sold when the family is pressed for money. And in that case they will be hoping to find someone who will give even 150 pieces for it. So what sort of fellow is it who does not consider their feelings? Quite apart from that, a curio that you give 100 ryo for is something worth having, but one that has only cost 95 gives a mean impression. So never let me see that tea bowl again!” And he had the bowl locked away, and never took it out.

Interpretation

When you insist on paying less, you may save your five ryo, but the insult you cause and the cheap impression you create will cost you in reputation, which is the thing the powerful prize above all. Learn to pay the full price—it will save you a lot in the end.

A GIFT OF FISH

Kung-yi Hsiu, premier of Lu, was fond of fish. Therefore, people in the whole country conscientiously bought fish, which they presented to him. However, Kung-yi would not accept the presents. Against such a step his younger brother remonstrated with him and said: “You like fish, indeed. Why don’t you accept the present of fish?” In reply, he said: “It is solely because I like fish that I would not accept the fish they gave me. Indeed, if I accept the fish, I will be placed under an obligation to them. Once placed under an obligation to them, I will some time have to bend the law. If I bend the law, I will be dismissed from the premiership. After being dismissed from the premiership, I might not be able to supply myself with fish. On the contrary, if I do not accept the fish from them and am not dismissed the premiership, however fond of fish, I can always supply myself with fish.”

HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.

Observance VII

Sometime near the beginning of the seventeenth century in Japan, a group of generals whiled away the time before a big battle by staging an incense-smelling competition. Each participant anted up a prize for the contest’s winners—bows, arrows, saddles, and other items a warrior would covet.

The great Lord Date Masamune happened to pass by and was induced to participate. For a prize, he offered the gourd that hung from his belt. Everyone laughed, for no one wanted to win this cheap item. A retainer of the host finally accepted the gourd.

When the party broke up, however, and the generals were chatting outside the tent, Masamune brought over his magnificent horse and gave it to the retainer. “There,” he said, “a horse has come out of the gourd.” The stunned generals suddenly regretted their scorn at Masamune’s gift.

Interpretation

Masamune understood the following: Money gives its possessor the ability to give pleasure to others. The more you can do this, the more you attract admiration. When you make a horse come out of a gourd, you give the ultimate demonstration of your power.

Image: The River. To protect yourself or to save the resource, you dam it up. Soon, however, the waters become dank and pestilent. Only the foulest forms of life can live in such stagnant waters; nothing travels on them, all commerce stops. Destroy the dam. When water flows and circulates, it generates abundance, wealth, and power in ever larger circles. The River must flood periodically for good things to flourish.

I took money only from those who could afford it and were willing to go in with me in schemes they fancied would fleece others. They wanted money for its own sake. I wanted it for the luxuries and pleasures it would afford me. They were seldom concerned with human nature. They knew little-and cared less-about their fellow men. If they had been keener students of human nature, if they had given more time to companionship with their fellows and less to the chase of the almighty dollar, they wouldn’t have been such easy marks.

“YELLOW KID” WEIL. 1875-1976

Authority: The great man who is a miser is a great fool, and a man in high places can have no vice so harmful as avarice. A miserly man can conquer neither lands nor lordships, for he does not have a plentiful supply of friends with whom he may work his will. Whoever wants to have friends must not love his possessions but must acquire friends by means of fair gifts; for in the same way that the lodestone subtly draws iron to itself, so the gold and silver that a man gives attract the hearts of men. (The Romance of the Rose, Guillaume de Lorris, c. 1200-1238)

REVERSAL

The powerful never forget that what is offered for free is inevitably a trick. Friends who offer favors without asking for payment will later want something far dearer than the money you would have paid them. The bargain has hidden problems, both material and psychological. Learn to pay, then, and to pay well.

On the other hand, this Law offers great opportunities for swindling and deception if you apply it from the other side. Dangling the lure of a free lunch is the con artist’s stock in trade.

No man was better at this than the most successful con artist of our age, Joseph Weil, a.k.a. “The Yellow Kid.” The Yellow Kid learned early that what made his swindles possible was his fellow humans’ greed. “This desire to get something for nothing,” he once wrote, “has been very costly to many people who have dealt with me and with other con men….

When people learn—as I doubt they will—that they can’t get something for nothing, crime will diminish and we shall all live in greater harmony.”

Over the years Weil devised many ways to seduce people with the prospect of easy money. He would hand out “free” real estate—who could resist such an offer?—and then the suckers would learn they had to pay $25 to register the sale.

Since the land was free, it seemed worth the high fee, and the Yellow Kid would make thousands of dollars on the phony registration. In exchange he would give his suckers a phony deed.

Other times, he would tell suckers about a fixed horse race, or a stock that would earn 200 percent in a few weeks. As he spun his stories he would watch the sucker’s eyes open wide at the thought of a free lunch.

The lesson is simple: Bait your deceptions with the possibility of easy money. People are essentially lazy, and want wealth to fall in their lap rather than to work for it. For a small sum, sell them advice on how to make millions (P. T. Barnum did this later in life), and that small sum will become a fortune when multiplied by thousands of suckers. Lure people in with the prospect of easy money and you have the room to work still more deceptions on them, since greed is powerful enough to blind your victims to anything.

And as the Yellow Kid said, half the fun is teaching a moral lesson: Greed does not pay.

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An assortment of videos from Russia. It gives non-Russians an interesting perspective in this wide country.

When I was doing time, during my retirement, I met another spook. I was in a holding facility inside of Pennsylvania while my transfer papers were being “processed”. All in all it took around six months to process me and sent me to Arkansas. It’s a long story that I really don’t want to get into right now.

Anyways, I met him while I was in this facility. He was on my block and we were able to talk during chow, and during the one hour that we were allowed outside to exercise.

He was going through the same kind of “retirement” as I was. He too was being retired as a “sex offender”. Anyways, he was not part of MAJestic. But rather was attached to an agency in lose association with the United States Army.

Anyways, to make a long story short, he had a role in the transport of people and illegal materials back and forth between the United States and Russia. Oh yeah. What is illegal, and what is the purview of the United States government is a grey area that is often open to interpretation.

Now all that being said, I have met many, many fine folk from Russia and the former Soviet Union block states of Eastern Europe inside of Russia. Russia and China have decades of mutual collaboration and similar interests. The idea that somehow they hate each other is a narrative constructed by the “five-eyes-network” and their Washington Neocon masters. Typically Russians and Chinese get along together fine. They are both in Asia after all.

You know, it’s silly when you think about it.

It’s like saying that the United States and Canada are going to have a war, any day now, because of the long standing dispute over maple syrup and beaver pelt harvesting.

Anyways, he would tell me about the life that he had inside of Russia; living as it was, unofficially and without documentation He picked up the language and became a rather adept pugilist.

So with that as a lead in, and realizing that (aside from one or two visits that I cannot speak about)  I would like to display some videos from “Mother Russia” to give you all a taste and feel for the nation, the country and the people there.

Russia is the land of ice and snow.

And people think nothing of interacting in it. As we see here. What I like about this particular video is the calmness of the scene. I can well imagine myself in a small skiff paddling down a snowy stream in the dead of Winter as well.

The video can be downloaded directly HERE.

Russians, and other Nordic folk love to swim.

I don’t really get it, but apparently the clash of ultra cold water, and then followed up with a warm sauna is supposedly very relaxing. Or is it the other way around, I’m not sure. In any event, there are many videos of people doing this particular ritual.

You can download the video directly HERE.

Frolic in the field of Sunflowers

This is typical of the Ukraine, Poland or other Eastern European nations. I like the image and the relaxed calmness of the entire rural community. This is a nice calming video that I am sure will resonate in the one or two Russians that visit MM.

The video is HERE.

A family party

Sure the language is different and maybe they are eating sausages and potatoes instead of hamburgers and potato chips, but are they all that really different from Americans? I don’t think so. People are people and I love how the family gets together and has a good time. It reminds me of what it used to be back in the Untied States, pre-1990 at least.

The video is HERE.

After the United States has kicked the living shit out of all the weak guys…

…over the last fifty years. The rest of the world has put their collective foot down with a big “stomp” and said “Enough is enough!”. Seriously if the Biden Administration wants to get involved in a war with Asia the only thing remaining of the USA, once the dust settles, will be smoldering embers. You don’t fuck with the Russians.

The video is HERE.

Russians having fun.

Nothing like punching each other for the fun of it. Arm wrestling… Russian style. In Russia you are either strong or you ain’t worth “Jack-shit”.

The video is HERE.

More family celebrations.

Seriously this reminds me of what it used to be like. Maybe forty to fifty years ago in the Untied States. You know, long before all the psychopathic morns took control of the government, and made laws, and rules to “improve” things. Fucking Idiots.

The video is HERE.

Boxing Russian Style

Just another common Russian pastime. You get in the ring and throw some punches. Sort of how Colorado bars used to be way back in the 1960’s.

The video is HERE.

Russian people eat good.

Here’s some fine delicious steaks done up Russian style. What’s not to love? I personally think that it’s great. Don’t you?

The video is HERE.

Dancing.

Russians like the Chinese love to dance and they have these huge get togethers where everyone dances. Just like in China. It’s nothing like you would see in the United States though. Everyone stays inside and huddles in front of televisions or computer monitors.

The video is HERE.

Conclusion

Today, Russia and China are very, very close. Putin referred to the relationship as symbiotic.

Symbiotic.
Characterized by or being a close, cooperative, or interdependent relationship

The relationship is strong, tight, and mutually beneficial to each party. They work together on all levels, and with the new global realignments, it would be wise to pay attention to Russia. Yes. Not just China, but Russia as well.

For the last 100 years, the United States has been the force behind the vast bulk of wars, famine, diseases, turmoil, terror, suppression and everything else bad that you find in the world today. From mindless corporate drones, to drug-induced street walking zombies, to massive prison complexes, the the Coronavirus pandemic, the United States has been behind it all…

For the world to move forward and embrace a new and better reality, this evil will need to be vanquished. Just like in the Tolken stories about the dragon Smaug, you need to destroy the monster before the people can live life freely.

I cannot see into the future, but it appears quite clear to me that the destruction of this evil is necessary to make the world a better and safer place. How it will happen is unknown, but it will have to happen. Sooner or later.

America is like this mentally ill alcoholic that is repeatedly raping the children in the neighborhood, setting fires to all the houses, and shitting on the sidewalks in front of your house. Sooner or later, he must go. There simply isn’t any other alternative.

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The art of Eero Järnefelt

There’s a flush, lush beauty in pastels. A long time ago, my High School art teacher suggested that I try using the medium. He gave me some basic colors, but no direction. And so the effort fell by the wayside. Now, I see that perhaps I should have continued.

There’s numerous great artists of this medium. And here is just one of them. His works speak to me. Maybe they will to you as well.

Eero Järnefelt

He used both oils and pastels, and the results are quite impressive.

46 artworks. Finnish. Born 11/8/1863 – Died 11/15/1937. Born in Vyborg, Russia. Died in Helsinki, Finland.

Kaislikkoranta

Lake Shore with Reeds.  95.5 x 75.5 cms | 37 1/2 x 29 1/2 ins. Oil on canvas

Dead calm. Dreary winter day. Lovely trees. You can almost hear the lone leaf or two rattling in the breeze.

Leena

One of the first things I learns, back when I was young, was to outline the work in heavy dark pencil and then color it in. Later, I discovered by painting and highlighting it emphasized the work and framed it. Much like this work.

.

Lady of the Island and Hero of the Sea

24.8 x 18.9 cms | 9 3/4 x 7 1/4 ins
Pastel

It’s unfinished, but I really do love this in it’s rough state.

Christ Calming the Waters

This, in itself is just beautiful. I love the colors and everything about this work. Even the simplicity of the sail is just beautiful. The ascetic is just wonderful.

He really has quite the way with the pastel medium.

Nude

1908. Oil painting. 23.6 x 21.7 cms | 9 1/4 x 8 1/2 ins

I love this work.

Though maybe others might not agree with me. It’s calming and lovely.

Jesus and the Fallen Woman

1908. Oil on canvas

Again, a wonderful allegory, and well painted and displayed.

After Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus left that area called Judea and was traveling back to Galilee. As he was traveling he went through Samaria and stopped at a city called Sychar. He stopped at what was called Jacob’s well. This was a well that his ancestor had dug himself and given to Joseph. 

Jesus sat at the well tired and hungry after a long walk. I picture the day that is talked about in the scripture as a hot day, the text tells us that it was about six in the evening. It was just about harvest time. I picture Jesus looking upward and seeing the famous Mt. Gerizim overshadowing that well. This mount would have been the home to the Samaritan temple. 

Jesus sat there by the well with only John with him, the other disciples were sent into the city to buy food. 

I picture our savior sitting down, tired, discouraged, and hungry. Then I picture this Samaritan woman coming into the picture to draw water from the well. I picture her looking timidly at Jesus because she would have recognized him as a Jew. She probably expected to be mocked because of her Samaritan roots. The woman realized quickly that Jesus was not the typical arrogant Jewish man. I want to look at the way in which Jesus dealt with this fallen woman from Samaria. 

Perhaps Jesus would respond in a similar way to us. We all though are forced to confront certain aspects of our lives when we hear and learn about Jesus. The Samaritan woman was forced to confront certain aspects of her life because of her encounter with Jesus and so must we.

-SermonCentral

Summer Night Moon

1889. Oil on canvas. 62 x 79.5 cms | 24 1/4 x 31 1/4 ins . Ateneum Hall, Finish National Gallery | Helsinki | Finland

Lovely. I really like how he did this. You know, it’s really difficult to paint these evening scenes, and when you do it right, well… it’s magical. This is a superb work, and I personally think it is wonderful.

Saimi in the Meadow

1892 . Oil on canvas. 70 x 100 cms | 27 1/2 x 39 1/4 ins. Järvenpää Art Museum | Järvenpää | Finland

Saimi means “lake” in Finland, and it is often used as a woman’s name. this is lovely yes? A nice day, lying in the grass and looking up towards the clouds. Quite wonderful.

Berry Pickers

45.4 x 69.7 cms | 17 3/4 x 27 1/4 ins
Oil on canvas

Again, this is a wonderful work. It’s a fine painting that would look good in a living room, a dining room, or even a well appointed bedroom. I love it.

And with that being said…

Let’s look at what life was like when these paintings and works were being made…

Historical Perspective

Just some photos. Here’s a bridge.

Bridges.

In those days, all was art.

Dining room on a steamer.

And then we have this…

Beautiful building.

And then we have this…

Library.

In those days, beauty was appreciated. Not for profit, or for sex, or for power and control (like we see in America and the West today), but rather simply for the sake of beauty itself. And isn’t that a valuable thing?

Conclusion

Art isn’t a singular painting that some wealthy patron buys and hoards inside his house. It is everything. It is the dew on the grass in the morning, to the sleek lines of your clothes iron. It is the smile on your pet’s face when it is napping after a meal, and the warmth of a pile of clothes out of the dryer on a cold, cold Winter day.

I just wanted to share these images with you all. I hope that you enjoyed them.

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Chapter 1, Part 3, of the 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene titled “Do not lose your presence of mind”

This is a full reprint in HTML of the third chapter (Chapter 3) of the first part (Part I) of the massive volume titled "The 33 Strategies of War". Written by Robert Greene (with emotional support from his cats). I read this book while in prison, and found much of what was written to be interesting, enjoyable, and pertinent to things going on in my life. I think that you will as well.

AMIDST THE TURMOIL OF EVENTS, DO NOT LOSE YOUR PRESENCE OF MIND

THE COUNTERBALANCE STRATEGY

 

In the heat of battle, the mind tends to lose its balance. Too many things confront you at the same timeunexpected setbacks,  doubts and  criticisms from your own allies.  There’s a  danger of responding emotionally, with fear, depression, or frustration.

It is vital to keep your presence of mind, maintaining your mental powers whatever the circumstances.

You must actively resist the emotional pull of the momentstaying decisive, confident, and aggressive no matter what hits you. Make the mind tougher by exposing it to adversity. Learn to detach yourself from the chaos of the battlefield. Let others lose their heads; your presence of mind will steer you clear of their influence and keep you on course.

[Presence of mind] must play a great role in war, the domain of the unexpected, since it is nothing but an increased capacity of dealing with the unexpected. We admire presence of mind in an apt repartee, as we admire  quick thinking in the  face of danger.... The  expression "presence of mind" precisely conveys the speed and immediacy of the help provided by the intellect.

ON WAR, CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, 1780-1831

THE HYPERAGGRESSIVE TACTIC

Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) had been through it all. He had lost his right eye in the siege of Calvi and his right arm in the Battle of Tenerife. He had defeated the Spanish at Cape St. Vincent in 1797 and had thwarted Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign by defeating his navy at the Battle of the Nile the following year. But none of his tribulations and triumphs prepared him for the problems he faced from his own colleagues in the British navy as they prepared to go to war against Denmark in February 1801.

Nelson, England’s most glorious war hero, was the obvious choice to lead the fleet. Instead the Admiralty chose Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson his second-in-command. This war was a delicate business; it was intended to force the disobedient Danes to comply with a British-led embargo on the shipping of military goods to France. The fiery Nelson was prone to lose his cool. He hated Napoleon, and if he went too far against the Danes, he would produce a diplomatic fiasco. Sir Hyde was an older, more stable, even-tempered man who would do the job and nothing more.

Nelson swallowed his pride and took the assignment, but he saw trouble ahead. He knew that time was of the essence: the faster the navy sailed, the less chance the Danes would have to build up their defenses. The ships were ready to sail, but Parker’s motto was “Everything in good order.” It wasn’t his style to hurry. Nelson hated his casualness and burned for action: he reviewed intelligence reports, studied maps, and came up with a detailed plan for fighting the Danes. He wrote to Parker urging him to seize the initiative. Parker ignored him.

More life may trickle out of men through thought than through a gaping wound.

THOMAS HARDY, 1840-1928

At last, on March 11, the British fleet set sail. Instead of heading for Copenhagen, however, Parker anchored well to the north of the city’s harbor and called a meeting of his captains. According to intelligence reports, he explained, the Danes had prepared elaborate defenses for Copenhagen. Boats anchored in the harbor, forts to the north and south, and mobile artillery batteries could blast the British out of the water. How to fight this artillery without terrible losses? Also, pilots who knew the waters around Copenhagen reported that they were treacherous, places of sandbars and tricky winds. Navigating these dangers under bombardment would be harrowing. With all of these difficulties, perhaps it was best to wait for the Danes to leave harbor and then fight them in open sea.

Nelson struggled to control himself. Finally he let loose, pacing the room, the stub of his lost arm jerking as he spoke. No war, he said, had ever been won by waiting. The Danish defenses looked formidable “to those who are children at war,” but he had worked out a strategy weeks earlier: he would attack from the south, the easier approach, while Parker and a reserve force would stay to the city’s north. Nelson would use his mobility to take out the Danish guns. He had studied the maps: sandbars were no threat. As for the wind, aggressive action was more important than fretting over wind.

Nelson’s speech energized Parker’s captains. He was by far their most successful leader, and his confidence was catching. Even Sir Hyde was impressed, and the plan was approved.

So Grant was alone; his most trusted subordinates besought him to change his plans, while his superiors were astounded at his temerity and strove to interfere. 

Soldiers of reputation and civilians in high places condemned, in advance, a campaign that seemed to them as hopeless as it was unprecedented. 

If he failed, the country would concur with the Government and the Generals. 

Grant knew all this, and appreciated his danger, but was as invulnerable to the apprehensions of ambition as to the entreaties of friendship, or the anxieties even of patriotism. 

That quiet confidence in himself which never forsook him, and which amounted indeed almost to a feeling of fate, was uninterrupted. Having once determined in a matter that required irreversible decision, he never reversed, nor even misgave, but was steadily loyal to himself and his plans. 

This absolute and implicit faith was, however, as far as possible from conceit or enthusiasm; it was simply a consciousness or conviction, rather, which brought the  very strength it believed in; which was itself strength, and which inspired others with a trust in him, because he was able thus to trust himself.

MILITARY HISTORY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT, ADAM BADEAU, 1868

The next morning Nelson’s line of ships advanced on Copenhagen, and the battle began. The Danish guns, firing on the British at close range, took a fierce toll. Nelson paced the deck of his flagship, HMS Elephant, urging his men on. He was in an excited, almost ecstatic state. A shot through the mainmast nearly hit him: “It is warm work, and this day may be the last to any of us at any moment,” he told a colonel, a little shaken up by the blast, “but mark you, I would not be elsewhere for thousands.”

Parker followed the battle from his position to the north. He now regretted agreeing to Nelson’s plan; he was responsible for the campaign, and a defeat here could ruin his career. After four hours of back-and-forth bombardment, he had seen enough: the fleet had taken a beating and had gained no advantage. Nelson never knew when to quit. Parker decided it was time to hoist signal flag 39, the order to withdraw. The first ships to see it were to acknowledge it and pass the signal on down the line. Once acknowledged there was nothing else to do but retreat.

The battle was over.

On board the Elephant, a lieutenant told Nelson about the signal. The vice-admiral ignored it. Continuing to pound the Danish defenses, he eventually called to an officer, “Is number sixteen still hoisted?” Number 16 was his own flag; it meant “Engage the enemy more closely.” The officer confirmed that the flag was still flying. “Mind you keep it so,” Nelson told him.

A few minutes later, Parker’s signal still flapping in the breeze, Nelson turned to his flag captain: “You know, Foley, I have only one eye–I have a right to be blind sometimes.” And raising his telescope to his blind eye, he calmly remarked, “I really do not see the signal.”

Torn between obeying Parker and obeying Nelson, the fleet captains chose Nelson. They would risk their careers along with his. But soon the Danish defenses started to crack; some of the ships anchored in the harbor surrendered, and the firing of the guns began to slow. Less than an hour after Parker’s signal to stop the battle, the Danes surrendered.

The next day Parker perfunctorily congratulated Nelson on the victory. He did not mention his subordinate’s disobedience. He was hoping the whole affair, including his own lack of courage, would be quietly forgotten.

Interpretation

When the Admiralty put its faith in Sir Hyde, it made a classical military error: it entrusted the waging of a war to a man who was careful and methodical. Such men may seem calm, even strong, in times of peace, but their self-control often hides weakness: the reason they think things through so carefully is that they are terrified of making a mistake and of what that might mean for them and their career.

This doesn’t come out until they are tested in battle: suddenly they cannot make a decision. They see problems everywhere and defeat in the smallest setback. They hang back not out of patience but out of fear. Often these moments of hesitation spell their doom.

There was once a man who may be called the "generalissimo" of robbers and who went by the name of Hakamadare. 

He had a strong mind and a powerful build. He was swift of foot, quick with his hands, wise in thinking and plotting. Altogether there was no one who could compare with him. 

His business was to rob people of their possessions when they were off guard. 

Once, around the tenth month of a year, he needed clothing and decided to get hold of some. 

He went to prospective spots and walked about, looking. 

About midnight when people had gone to sleep and were quiet, under a somewhat blurry moon he saw a man dressed in abundant clothes sauntering about on a boulevard. The man, with his trouser-skirt tucked up with strings perhaps and in a formal hunting robe which gently covered his body, was playing the flute, alone, apparently in no hurry to go to any particular place. 

Wow, here's a fellow who's shown up just to give me his clothes, Hakamadare thought. 

Normally he would have gleefully run up and beaten his quarry down and robbed him of his clothes. But this time, unaccountably, he felt something fearsome about the man, so he followed him for a couple of hundred yards. 

The man himself didn't seem to think, Somebody's following me. On the contrary, he continued to play the flute with what appeared to be greater calm. 

Give him a try, Hakamadare said to himself, and ran up close to the man, making as much clatter as he could with his feet. 

The man, however, looked not the least disturbed. He simply turned to look, still playing the flute. It wasn't possible to jump on him. Hakamadare ran off. 

Hakamadare tried similar approaches a number of times, but the man remained utterly unperturbed. Hakamadare realized he was dealing with an unusual fellow. When they had covered about a thousand yards, though, Hakamadare decided he couldn't continue like this, drew his sword, and ran up to him. 

This time the man stopped playing the flute and, turning, said, "What in the world are you doing?" Hakamadare couldn't have been struck with greater fear even if a demon or a god had run up to attack him when he was walking alone. 

For some unaccountable reason he lost both heart and courage. 

Overcome with deathly fear and despite himself, he fell on his knees and hands. "What are you doing?" the man repeated. 

Hakamadare felt he couldn't escape even if he tried. "I'm trying to rob you," he blurted out. "My name is Hakamadare." "

I've heard there's a man about with that name, yes. A dangerous, unusual fellow, I'm told," the man said. 

Then he simply said to Hakamadare, "Come with me," and continued on his way, playing the flute again. 

Terrified that he was dealing with no ordinary human being, and as if possessed by a demon or a god, Hakamadare followed the man, completely mystified. Eventually the man walked into a gate behind which was a large house. 

He stepped inside from the verandah after removing his shoes. While Hakamadare was thinking, He must be the master of the house, the man came back and summoned him. 

As he gave him a robe made of thick cotton cloth, he said, "If you need something like this in the future, just come and tell me. If you jump on somebody who doesn't know your intentions, you may get hurt." 

Afterward it occurred to Hakamadare that the house belonged to Governor of Settsu Fujiwara no Yasumasa. 

Later, when he was arrested, he is known to have observed, "He was such an unusually weird, terrifying man!" 

Yasumasa was not a warrior by family tradition because he was a son of Munetada. Yet he was not the least inferior to anyone who was a warrior by family tradition. 

He had a strong mind, was quick with his hands, and had tremendous strength. 

He was also subtle in thinking and plotting. So even the imperial court did not feel insecure in employing him in the way of the warrior. As a result, the whole world greatly feared him and was intimidated by him.

LEGENDS OF THE SAMURAI, HIROAKI SATO, 1995

Lord Nelson operated according to the opposite principle. Slight of build, with a delicate constitution, he compensated for his physical weakness with fierce determination. He forced himself to be more resolute than anyone around him. The moment he entered battle, he ratcheted up his aggressive impulses.

Where other sea lords worried about casualties, the wind, changes in the enemy’s formation, he concentrated on his plan. Before battle no one strategized or studied his opponent more thoroughly. (That knowledge helped Nelson to sense when the enemy was ready to crumble.) But once the engagement began, hesitation and carefulness were dropped.

Presence of mind is a kind of counterbalance to mental weakness, to our  tendency to get emotional and lose perspective in the heat of battle.

Our greatest weakness is losing heart, doubting ourselves, becoming unnecessarily cautious.

Being more careful is not what we need; that is just a screen for our fear of conflict and of making a mistake. What we need is double the resolve–an intensification of confidence. That will serve as a counterbalance.

In moments of turmoil and trouble, you must force yourself to be more determined. Call up the aggressive energy you need to overcome caution and inertia. Any mistakes you make, you can rectify with more energetic action still. Save your carefulness for the hours of preparation, but once the fighting begins, empty your mind of doubts. Ignore those who quail at any setback and call for retreat. Find joy in attack mode. Momentum will carry you through.

In moments of turmoil and trouble, you must force yourself to be more determined. Call up the aggressive energy you need to overcome caution and inertia.

The senses make a more vivid impression on the mind than systematic thought.... Even the man who planned the operation and now sees it being carried out may well lose confidence in his earlier judgment.... War has a way of masking the stage with scenery crudely daubed with fearsome apparitions. Once this is cleared away, and the horizon becomes unobstructed, developments will confirm his earlier convictions--this is one of the great chasms between planning and execution.

--Carl von Clausewitz, ON WAR (1780-1831)

THE DETACHED-BUDDHA TACTIC

Watching the movie director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) at work on a film set was often quite a surprise to those seeing it for the first time. Most filmmakers are wound-up balls of energy, yelling at the crew and barking out orders, but Hitchcock would sit in his chair, sometimes dozing, or at least with his eyes half closed.

On the set of Strangers on a Train, made in 1951, the actor Farley Granger thought Hitchcock’s behavior meant he was angry or upset and asked him if anything was wrong. “Oh,” Hitchcock replied sleepily, “I’m so bored.” The crew’s complaints, an actor’s tantrums–nothing fazed him; he would just yawn, shift in his chair, and ignore the problem. “Hitchcock…didn’t seem to direct us at all,” said the actress Margaret Lockwood. “He was a dozing, nodding Buddha with an enigmatic smile on his face.”

It was hard for Hitchcock’s colleagues to understand how a man doing such stressful work could stay so calm and detached. Some thought it was part of his character–that there was something inherently cold-blooded about him. Others thought it a gimmick, a put-on.

Few suspected the truth: before the filmmaking had even begun, Hitchcock would have prepared for it with such intense attention to detail that nothing could go wrong.

He was completely in control; no temperamental actress, no panicky art director, no meddling producer could upset him or interfere with his plans. Feeling such absolute security in what he had set up, he could afford to lie back and fall asleep.

Hitchcock’s process began with a story-line, whether from a novel or an idea of his own. As if he had a movie projector in his head, he would begin to visualize the film. Next, he would start meeting with a writer, who would soon realize that this job was unlike any other. Instead of taking some producer’s half-baked idea and turning it into a screenplay, the writer was simply there to put on paper the dream trapped in Hitchcock’s mind.

He or she would add flesh and bones to the characters and would of course write the dialog, but not much else.

When Hitchcock sat down with the writer Samuel Taylor for the first script meeting on the movie Vertigo (1958), his descriptions of several scenes were so vivid, so intense, that the experiences seemed almost to have been real, or maybe something he had dreamed. This completeness of vision foreclosed creative conflict. As Taylor soon realized, although he was writing the script, it would remain a Hitchcock creation.

Once the screenplay was finished, Hitchcock would transform it into an elaborate shooting script.

Blocking, camera positions, lighting, and set dimensions were spelled out in detailed notes. Most directors leave themselves some latitude, shooting scenes from several angles, for example, to give the film editor options to work with later on. Not Hitchcock: he essentially edited the entire film in the shooting script. He knew exactly what he wanted and wrote it down. If a producer or actor tried to add or change a scene, Hitchcock was outwardly pleasant–he could afford to pretend to listen–but inside he was totally unmoved.

Nothing was left to chance. For the building of the sets (quite elaborate in a movie like Rear Window), Hitchcock would present the production designer with precise blueprints, floor plans, incredibly detailed lists of props. He supervised every aspect of set construction.

He was particularly attentive to the clothes of  his leading actresses: according to Edith Head, costumer on many Hitchcock movies, including Dial M for Murder in 1954, “There was a reason for every color, every style, and he was absolutely certain about everything he settled on. For one scene he saw [Grace Kelly] in pale green, for another in white chiffon, for another in gold. He was really putting a dream together in the studio.” When the actress Kim Novak refused to wear a gray suit in Vertigo because she felt it made her look washed out, Hitchcock told her he wanted her to look like a woman of mystery who had just stepped out of the San Francisco fog. How could she argue with that?

She wore the suit.

Hitchcock’s actors found working with him strange yet pleasant. Some of Hollywood’s best– Joseph Cotten, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman–said that he was the easiest director to work for: his nonchalance was catching, and since his films were so carefully staged as not to depend on the actor’s performance in any particular scene, they could relax.

Everything went like clockwork.

As James Stewart told the cast of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), “We’re in the hands of an expert here. You can lean on him. Just do everything he tells you and the whole thing will be okay.”

As Hitchcock sat calmly on the set, apparently half asleep, the cast and crew could see only the small part each one played. They had no idea how everything fit into his vision. When Taylor saw Vertigo for the first time, it was like seeing another man’s dream. The film neatly duplicated the vision Hitchcock had expressed to him many months before.

Interpretation

The first film Hitchcock directed was The Pleasure Garden, a silent he made in 1925. The production went wrong in every conceivable way.

Hitchcock hated chaos and disorder; unexpected events, panicky crew members, and any loss of control made him miserable.

From that point on, he decided, he would treat filmmaking like a military operation.

He would give his producers, actors, and crew no room to mess up what he wanted to create. He taught himself every aspect of film production: set design, lighting, the technicalities of cameras and lenses, editing, sound. He ran every stage of the film’s making. No shadow could fall between the planning and the execution.

Establishing control in advance the way Hitchcock did might not seem like presence of mind, but it actually takes that quality to its zenith. It means entering battle (in Hitchcock’s case a film shoot) feeling calm and ready.

Setbacks may come, but you will have foreseen them and thought of alternatives, and you are ready to respond.

Your mind will never go blank when it is that well prepared. When your colleagues barrage you with doubts, anxious questions, and slipshod ideas, you may nod and pretend to listen, but really you’re ignoring them–you’ve out-thought them in advance. And your relaxed manner will prove contagious to other people, making them easier to manage in turn.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by everything that faces you in battle, where so many people are asking or telling you what to do. So many vital matters press in on you that you can lose sight of your goals and plans; suddenly you can’t see the forest for the trees.

Understand: presence of mind is the ability to detach yourself from all that, to see the whole battlefield, the whole picture, with clarity. All great generals have this quality. And what gives you that mental distance is preparation, mastering the details beforehand. Let people think your Buddha-like detachment comes from some mysterious source. The less they understand you the better.

Understand: presence of mind is the ability to detach yourself from all that, to see the whole battlefield, the whole picture, with clarity.

For the love of God, pull yourself together and do not look at things so darkly: the first step backward makes a poor impression in the army, the second step is dangerous, and the third becomes fatal.

--Frederick the Great (1712-86), letter to a general

KEYS TO WARFARE

We humans like to see ourselves as rational creatures. We imagine that what separates us from animals is the ability to think and reason. But that is only partly true: what distinguishes us from animals just as much is our capacity to laugh, to cry, to feel a range of emotions. We are in fact emotional creatures as well as rational ones, and although we like to think we govern our actions through reason and thought, what most often dictates our behavior is the emotion we feel in the moment.

We maintain the illusion that we are rational through the routine of our daily affairs, which helps us to keep things calm and apparently controlled. Our minds seem rather strong when we’re following our routines. But place any of us in an adverse situation and our rationality vanishes; we react to pressure by growing fearful, impatient, confused. Such moments reveal us for the emotional creatures we are: under attack, whether by a known enemy or unpredictably by a colleague, our response is dominated by feelings of anger, sadness, betrayal. Only with great effort can we reason our way through these periods and respond rationally–and our rationality rarely lasts past the next attack.

Understand: your mind is weaker than your emotions. But you become aware of this weakness only in moments of adversity–precisely the time when you need strength. What best equips you to cope with the heat of battle is neither more knowledge nor more intellect. What makes your mind stronger, and more able to control your emotions, is internal discipline and toughness.

Understand: your mind is weaker than your emotions. But you become aware of this weakness only in moments of adversity–precisely the time when you need strength.

No one can teach you this skill; you cannot learn it by reading about it. Like any discipline, it can come only through practice, experience, even a little suffering. The first step in building up presence of mind is to see the need for it–to want it badly enough to be willing to work for it. Historical figures who stand out for their presence of mind–Alexander the Great, Ulysses S. Grant, Winston Churchill–acquired it through adversity, through trial and error. They were in positions of responsibility in which they had to develop this quality or sink. Although these men may have been blessed with an unusual amount of personal fortitude, they had to work hard to strengthen this into presence of mind.

The first quality of a General-in-Chief is to have a cool head which receives exact impressions of things, which never gets heated, which never allows itself to be dazzled, or intoxicated, by good or bad news. 

The successive simultaneous sensations which he receives in the course of a day must be classified, and must occupy the correct places they merit to fill, because common sense and reason are the results of the comparison of a number of sensations each equally well considered. 

There are certain men who, on account of their moral and physical constitution, paint mental pictures out of everything: however exalted be their reason, their will, their courage, and whatever good qualities they may possess, nature has not fitted them to command armies, nor to direct great operations of war.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821

The ideas that follow are based on their experience and hard-won victories. Think of these ideas as exercises, ways to toughen your mind, each a kind of counterbalance to emotion’s overpowering pull.

Expose yourself to conflict. George S. Patton came from one of America’s most distinguished military families–his ancestors included generals and colonels who had fought and died in the American Revolution and the Civil War. Raised on stories of their heroism, he followed in their footsteps and chose a career in the military. But Patton was also a sensitive young man, and he had one deep fear: that in battle he would turn coward and disgrace the family name.

Patton had his first real taste of battle in 1918, at the age of thirty-two, during the Allied offensive on the Argonne during World War I. He commanded a tank division. At one point during the battle, Patton managed to lead some American infantrymen to a position on a hilltop overlooking a key strategic town, but German fire forced them to take cover. Soon it became clear that they were trapped: if they retreated, they would come under fire from positions on the sides of the hill; if they advanced, they would run right into a battery of German machine guns. If they were all to die, as it seemed to Patton, better to die advancing. At the moment he was to lead the troops in the charge, however, Patton was stricken by intense fear. His body trembled, and his legs turned to jelly. In a confirmation of his deepest fears, he had lost his nerve.

At that instant, looking into the clouds beyond the German batteries, Patton had a vision: he saw his illustrious military ancestors, all in their uniforms, staring sternly down at him. They seemed to be inviting him to join their company–the company of dead war heroes. Paradoxically, the sight of these men had a calming effect on the young Patton: calling for volunteers to follow him, he yelled, “It is time for another Patton to die!” The strength had returned to his legs; he stood up and charged toward the German guns. Seconds later he fell, hit in the thigh. But he survived the battle.

From that moment on, even after he became a general, Patton made a point of visiting the front lines, exposing himself needlessly to danger. He tested himself again and again. His vision of his ancestors remained a constant stimulus–a challenge to his honor. Each time it became easier to face down his fears. It seemed to his fellow generals, and to his own men, that no one had more presence of mind than Patton. They did not know how much of his strength was an effort of will.

The story of Patton teaches us two things. First, it is better to confront your fears, let them come to the surface, than to ignore them or tamp them down. Fear is the most destructive emotion for presence of mind, but it thrives on the unknown, which lets our imaginations run wild. By deliberately putting yourself in situations where you have to face fear, you familiarize yourself with it and your anxiety grows less acute. The sensation of overcoming a deep-rooted fear in turn gives you confidence and presence of mind. The more conflicts and difficult situations you put yourself through, the more battle-tested your mind will be.

There was a fox who had never seen a lion. But one day he happened to meet one of these beasts face to face. On this first occasion he was so terrified that he felt he would die of fear. He encountered him again, and this time he was also frightened, but not so much as the first time. But on the third occasion when he saw him, he actually plucked up the courage to approach him and began to chat. This fable shows that familiarity soothes our fears.

FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

Second, Patton’s experience demonstrates the motivating power of a sense of honor and dignity. In giving in to fear, in losing your presence of mind, you disgrace not only yourself, your self-image, and your reputation but your company, your family, your group. You bring down the communal spirit. Being a leader of even the smallest group gives you something to live up to: people are watching you, judging you, depending on you. To lose your composure would make it hard for you to live with yourself.

Be self-reliant. There is nothing worse than feeling dependent on other people. Dependency makes you vulnerable to all kinds of emotions–betrayal, disappointment, frustration–that play havoc with your mental balance.

Early in the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant, eventual commander in chief of the Northern armies, felt his authority slipping. His subordinates would pass along inaccurate information on the terrain he was marching through; his captains would fail to follow through on his orders; his generals were criticizing his plans. Grant was stoical by nature, but his diminished control over his troops led to a diminished control over himself and drove him to drink.

In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, "If discrimination is long, it will spoil." Lord Naoshige said, "When matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. 

A warrior is a person who does things quickly." When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and unde-laying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side.

HAGAKURE: THE BOOK OF THE SAMURAI, YAMAMOTO TSUNETOMO, 1659-1720

Grant had learned his lesson by the time of the Vicksburg campaign, in 1862-63. He rode the terrain himself, studying  it firsthand. He reviewed intelligence reports himself. He honed the precision of his orders, making it harder for his captains to flout them. And once he had made a decision, he would ignore his fellow generals’ doubts and trust his convictions. To get things done, he came to rely on himself. His feelings of helplessness dissolved, and with them all of the attendant emotions that had ruined his presence of mind.

Being self-reliant is critical. To make yourself less dependent on others and so-called experts, you need to expand your repertoire of skills. And you need to feel more confident in your own judgment. Understand: we tend to overestimate other people’s abilities–after all, they’re trying hard to make it look as if they knew what they were doing–and we tend to underestimate our own. You must compensate for this by trusting yourself more and others less.

It is important to remember, though, that being self-reliant does not mean burdening yourself with petty details. You must be able to distinguish between small matters that are best left to others and larger issues that require your attention and care.

Suffer fools gladly. John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, is one of history’s most successful generals. A genius of tactics and strategy, he had tremendous presence of mind. In the early eighteenth century, Churchill was often the leader of an alliance of English, Dutch, and German armies against the mighty forces of France. His fellow generals were timid, indecisive, narrow-minded men. They balked at the duke’s bold plans, saw dangers everywhere, were discouraged at the slightest setback, and promoted their own country’s interests at the expense of the alliance. They had no vision, no patience: they were fools.

On a famous occasion during the civil war, Caesar tripped when disembarking from a ship on the shores of Africa and fell flat on his face. With his talent for improvisation, he spread out his arms and embraced the earth as a symbol of conquest. By quick thinking he turned a terrible omen of failure into one of victory.

CICERO: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROME'S GREATEST POLITICIAN, ANTHONY EVERITT, 2001

The duke, an experienced and subtle courtier, never confronted his colleagues directly; he did not force his opinions on them. Instead he treated them like children, indulging them in their fears while cutting them out of his plans.

Occasionally he threw them a bone, doing some minor thing they had suggested or pretending to worry about a danger they had imagined.

But he never let himself get angry or frustrated; that would have ruined his presence of mind, undermining his ability to lead the campaign. He forced himself to stay patient and cheerful. He knew how to suffer fools gladly.

We mean the ability to keep one's head at times of exceptional stress and violent emotion.... But it might be closer to the truth to assume that the faculty known as self-control--the gift of keeping calm even under the greatest stress--is rooted in temperament. 

It is itself an emotion which serves to balance the passionate feelings in strong characters without destroying them, and it is this balance alone that assures the dominance of the intellect. 

The counter-weight we mean is simply the sense of human dignity, the noblest pride and deepest need of all: the urge to act rationally at all times. Therefore we would argue that a strong character is one that will not be unbalanced by the most powerful emotions.

ON WAR, CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, 1780-1831

Understand: you cannot be everywhere or fight everyone. Your time and energy are limited, and you must learn how to preserve them. Exhaustion and frustration can ruin your presence of mind. The world is full of fools–people who cannot wait to get results, who change with the wind, who can’t see past their noses. You encounter them everywhere: the indecisive boss, the rash colleague, the hysterical subordinate. When working alongside fools, do not fight them. Instead think of them the way you think of children, or pets, not important enough to affect your mental balance. Detach yourself emotionally. And while you’re inwardly laughing at their foolishness, indulge them in one of their more harmless ideas. The ability to stay cheerful in the face of fools is an important skill.

Crowd out feelings of panic by focusing on simple tasks. Lord Yamanouchi, an aristocrat of eighteenth-century Japan, once asked his tea master to accompany him on a visit to Edo (later Tokyo), where he was to stay for a while. He wanted to show off to his fellow courtiers his retainer’s skill in the rituals of the tea ceremony. Now, the tea master knew everything there was to know about the tea ceremony, but little else; he was a peaceful man. He dressed, however, like a samurai, as his high position required.

One day, as the tea master was walking in the big city, he was accosted by a samurai who challenged him to a duel. The tea master was not a swordsman and tried to explain this to the samurai, but the man refused to listen. To turn the challenge down would disgrace both the tea master’s family and Lord Yamanouchi. He had to accept,  though that meant certain death. And accept he did, requesting only that the duel be put off to the next day. His wish was granted.

In panic, the tea master hurried to the nearest fencing school. If he were to die, he wanted to learn how to die honorably. To see the fencing master ordinarily required letters of introduction, but the tea master was so insistent, and so clearly terrified, that at last he was given an interview. The fencing master listened to his story.

However, he perceived now that it did not greatly matter what kind of soldiers he was going to fight, so long as they fought, which fact no one disputed. There was a more serious problem. 

He lay in his bunk pondering upon it. 

He tried to mathematically prove to himself that he would not run from a battle.... A little panic-fear grew in his mind. As his imagination went forward to a fight, he saw hideous possibilities. 

He contemplated the lurking menaces of the future, and failed in an effort to see himself standing stoutly in the midst of them. He recalled his visions of broken-bladed glory, but in the shadow of the impending tumult he suspected them to be impossible pictures. 

He sprang from the bunk and began to pace nervously to and fro. "Good Lord, what's th' matter with me?" he said aloud. 

He felt that in this crisis his laws of life were useless. Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail. He was an unknown quantity. He saw that he would again be obliged to experiment as he had in early youth. He must accumulate information of himself, and meanwhile he resolved to remain close upon his guard lest those qualities of which he knew nothing should everlastingly disgrace him. 

"Good Lord!" he repeated in dismay.... For days he made ceaseless calculations, but they were all wondrously unsatisfactory. He found that he could establish nothing. 

He finally concluded that the only way to prove himself was to go into the blaze, and then figuratively to watch his legs to discover their merits and faults. He reluctantly admitted that he could not sit still and with a mental slate and pencil derive an answer. To gain it, he must have blaze, blood, and danger, even as a chemist requires this, that, and the other. So he fretted for an opportunity.

THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, STEPHEN CRANE, 1871-1900

The swordsman was sympathetic: he would teach the poor visitor the art of dying, but first he wanted to be served some tea. The tea master proceeded to perform the ritual, his manner calm, his concentration perfect.

Finally the fencing master yelled out in excitement, “No need for you to learn the art of death! The state of mind you’re in now is enough for you to face any samurai. When you see your challenger, imagine you’re about to serve tea to a guest. Take off your coat, fold it up carefully, and lay your fan on it just as you do at work.” This ritual completed, the tea master was to raise his sword in the same alert spirit. Then he would be ready to die.

The tea master agreed to do as his teacher said. The next day he went to meet the samurai, who could not help but notice the completely calm and dignified expression on his opponent’s face as he took off his coat. Perhaps, the samurai thought, this fumbling tea master is actually a skilled swordsman. He bowed, begged pardon for his behavior the day before, and hurried away.

When circumstances scare us, our imagination tends to take over, filling our minds with endless anxieties.

You need to gain control of your imagination, something easier said than done. Often the best way to calm down and give yourself such control  is to force the mind to concentrate on something relatively simple–a calming ritual, a repetitive task that you are good at. You are creating the kind of composure you naturally have when your mind is absorbed in a problem. A focused mind has no room for anxiety or for the effects of an overactive imagination. Once you have regained your mental balance, you can then face the problem at hand. At the first sign of any kind of fear, practice this technique until it becomes a habit. Being able to control your imagination at intense moments is a crucial skill.

Unintimidate yourself. Intimidation will always threaten your presence of mind. And it is a hard feeling to combat.

During World War II, the composer Dmitry Shostakovich and several of his colleagues were called into a meeting with the Russian ruler Joseph Stalin, who had commissioned them to write a new national anthem. Meetings with Stalin were terrifying; one misstep could lead you into a very dark alley. He would stare you down until you felt your throat tighten. And, as meetings with Stalin often did, this one took a bad turn: the ruler began to criticize one of the composers for his poor arrangement of his anthem. Scared silly, the man admitted he had used an arranger who had done a bad job. Here he was digging several graves: Clearly the poor arranger could be called to task. The composer was responsible for the hire, and he, too, could pay for the mistake. And what of the other composers, including Shostakovich? Stalin could be relentless once he smelled fear.

Shostakovich had heard enough: it was foolish, he said, to blame the arranger, who was mostly following orders. He then subtly redirected the conversation to a different subject–whether a composer should do his own orchestrations. What did Stalin think on the matter? Always eager to prove his expertise, Stalin swallowed the bait. The dangerous moment passed.

Shostakovich maintained his presence of mind in several ways. First, instead of letting Stalin intimidate him, he forced himself to see the man as he was: short, fat, ugly, unimaginative. The dictator’s famous piercing gaze was just a trick, a sign of his own insecurity. Second, Shostakovich faced up to Stalin, talking to him normally and straightforwardly. By his actions and tone of voice, the composer showed that he was not intimidated. Stalin fed off fear. If, without being aggressive or brazen, you showed no fear, he would generally leave you alone.

The key to staying unintimidated is to convince yourself that the person you’re facing is a mere mortal, no different from you–which is in fact the truth. See the person, not the myth. Imagine him or her as a child, as someone riddled with insecurities. Cutting the other person down to size will help you to keep your mental balance.

Develop your Fingerspitzengefuhl (fingertip feel). Presence of mind depends not only on your mind’s ability to come to your aid in difficult situations but also on the speed with which this happens. Waiting until the next day to think of the right action to take does you no good at all. “Speed” here means responding to circumstances with rapidity and making lightning-quick decisions. This power is often read as a kind of intuition, what the Germans call “Fingerspitzengefuhl” (fingertip feel).

Erwin Rommel, who led the German tank campaign in North Africa during World War II, had great fingertip feel. He could sense when the Allies would attack and from what direction. In choosing a line of advance, he had an uncanny feel for his enemy’s weakness; at the start of a battle, he could intuit his enemy’s strategy before it unfolded.

To Rommel’s men their general seemed to have a genius for war, and he did possess a quicker mind than most. But Rommel also did things to enhance his quickness, things that reinforced his feel for battle.

First, he devoured information about the enemy–from details about its weaponry to the psychological traits of the opposing general.

Second, he made himself an expert in tank technology, so that he could get the most out of his equipment.

Third, he not only memorized maps of the North African desert but would fly over it, at great risk, to get a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield.

Finally, he personalized his relationship with his men. He always had a sense of their morale and knew exactly what he could expect from them.

Rommel didn’t just study his men, his tanks, the terrain, and the enemy–he got inside their skin, understood the spirit that animated them, what made them tick. Having felt his way into these things, in battle he entered a state of mind in which he did not have to think consciously of the situation. The totality of what was going on was in his blood, at his fingertips.

He had Fingerspitzengefuhl.

Rommel

Whether or not you have the mind of a Rommel, there are things you can do to help you respond faster and bring out that intuitive feel that all animals possess. Deep knowledge of the terrain will let you process information faster than your enemy, a tremendous advantage. Getting a feel for the spirit of men and material, thinking your way into them instead of looking at them from outside, will help to put you in a different frame of mind, less conscious and forced, more unconscious and intuitive. Get your mind into the habit of making lightning-quick decisions, trusting your fingertip feel. Your mind will advance in a kind of mental blitzkrieg, moving past your opponents before they realize what has hit them.

Finally, do not think of presence of mind as a quality useful only in periods of adversity, something to switch on and off as you need it. Cultivate it as an everyday condition. Confidence, fearlessness, and self-reliance are as crucial in times of peace as in times of war. Franklin Delano Roosevelt showed his tremendous mental toughness and grace under pressure not only during the crises of the Depression and World War II but in everyday situations–in his dealings with his family, his cabinet, his own polio-racked body. The better you get at the game of war, the more your warrior frame of mind will do for you in daily life. When a crisis does come, your mind will already be calm and prepared. Once presence of mind becomes a habit, it will never abandon you.

The man with centre has calm, unprejudiced judgment. He knows what is important, what unimportant. He meets realilty serenely and with detachment keeping his sense of proportion. The Hara no aru hito [man with centre] faces life calmly, is tranquil, ready for anything.... Nothing upsets him. 

If suddenly fire breaks out and people begin to shout in wild confusion [he] does the right thing immediately and quietly, he ascertains the direction of the wind, rescues what is most important, fetches water, and behaves unhesitatingly in the way the emergency demands. 

The Hara no nai hito is the opposite of all this. 

The Hara no nai hito applies to the man without calm judgment. He lacks the measure which should be second nature. Therefore he reacts haphazardly and subectively, arbitrarily and capriciously. He cannot distinguish between important and unimportant, essential and unessential. 

His judgment is not based upon facts but on temporary conditions and rests on subjective foundations, such as moods, whims, "nerves." 

The Hara no nai hito is easily startled, is nervous, not because he is particularly sensitive but because he lacks that inner axis which would prevent his being thrown off centre and which would enable him to deal with situations realistically.... 

Hara [centre, belly] is only in slight measure innate. It is above all the result of persistent self-training and discipline, in fact the fruit of responsible, individual development. 

That is what the Japanese means when he speaks of the Hara no dekita hito , the man who has accomplished or finished his belly, that is, himself: for he is mature. If this development does not take place, we have the Hara no dekita inai hito, someone who has not developed, who has remained immature, who is too young in the psychological sense. The Japanese also say Hara no dekita inai hito wa hito no ue ni tatsu koto ga dekinai: the man who has not finished his belly cannot stand above others (is not fit for leadership).

HARA: THE VITAL CENTRE, KARLFRIED GRAF VON DURCKHEIM, 1962
Authority: A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82)

REVERSAL

It is never good to lose your presence of mind, but you can use those moments when it is under threat to know how to act in the future. You must find a way to put yourself in the thick of battle, then watch yourself in action. Look for your own weaknesses, and think about how to compensate for them. People who have never lost their presence of mind are actually in danger: someday they will be taken by surprise, and the fall will be harsh. All great generals, from Julius Caesar to Patton, have at some point lost their nerve and then have been the stronger for winning it back. The more you have lost your balance, the more you will know about how to right yourself.

You do not want to lose your presence of mind in key situations, but it is a wise course to find a way to make your enemies lose theirs. Take what throws you off balance and impose it on them. Make them act before they are ready. Surprise them–nothing is more unsettling than the unexpected need to act. Find their weakness, what makes them emotional, and give them a double dose of it. The more emotional you can make them, the farther you will push them off course.

Conclusion

The world is in the midst of World War III right now. It is being fought with things that are strange and unusual, and it is not being reported. In fact, the “news” is instead sending everyone off on “wild goose chases” down “rabbit holes”. No one actually knows what is going on.

It is critically important that you secure yourself and your family, and maintain a calm head through all of this. Let those around you make rash, foolish decisions, panic, and worry. That is not for you.

Recognize who you are, and where you are. Then, steely and calmly conduct your affirmation campaigns to wrest control of the reality that surrounds you and bend it to your will. You have this ability. Make it so.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my 33 Strategies of War index here..

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The origin of consciousness and how we got “here”

Now how about that for a title. Maybe if I’m lucky, it might end up on page 500 in a Google search ranking. LOL.

The other day, I had to go to the doctor.

You see I have been taking blood pressure medicine. Somehow, probably due to my age, and most people my age do take this medicine, I had to join the ranks. And it was a good thing too. Mine was pretty high. On a number of occasions I was just about ready to pop.

Systolic blood pressure readings at least 140 or diastolic blood pressure readings at least 90 usually indicate Stage 2 Hypertension , which puts you at high risk for life-threatening problems such as heart attack and stroke. Once you become 60+ in age, the normal range is 134/87.

Mine was 165/ 96 most of the time. Yikes!

So he prescribed some blood pressure medicine for me. It was a little white pill. Dirt cheap. He said that I would have to take it for the rest of my life. I told him “okey dokey”, and he just looked at me. Being Chinese, I don’t think that he knew what that meant.

So then I said “thank you” in Chinese, and he smiled and all was good.

And I started taking it, every morning when I got up. First thing. pop that little white pill and start the day. And you know, after a while my body adjusted and my blood pressure lowered and stabilized and all was good.

But then, I started to have some side effects.

Nothing too radical, don’t you know.

For one, I started to get “elephant ankles”. My ankles both swelled up and looked like tree trunks.I was embarrassed to show my legs. They looked awful.

And my heart seemed to act strangely. I began to be “aware of it”. Like I knew that it was there, when before I didn’t care. If any of that makes sense.

Then, one night, I woke up clutching my heart. It felt like someone was tickling it.

So the next day we went to the local clinic and went to the doctor there. He looked at my mouth. He looked at my ears. He felt my chest. He checked my spine, and the under-soles of my feet. Then he nodded, and said that “yes, of course I was having some issues.”

So I went and had some further tests done. And then brought the results to him.

Mind you, this was all in the local clinic here. In China, the government treats local medical care as a very important aspect of life. And so not only is it efficient and quick, but it is pretty inexpensive. All told, the total cost was around 600 RMB, or maybe $85 USD.

Anyways, he told me that my heart was perfectly fine. Not to worry. My heart was good. And then prescribed me a bunch of heart medicine. Maybe five different types of pills, and a big garbage bag full of the boxes.

Ah. China.

Anyways, I went and ate a delicious fish afterwards and pondered my life. You do this from time to time, you know. You look at your life and you wonder and compare. You look at what it was like when you were young, and what your life is now. Not in sadness. Just in contemplation.

So I drank some wine.

It’s good for the heart, don’t you know.

And I ate some fish. Tasty, delicious, Chinese fish.

And I thought about things.

Lao Hunan fish. A little bit spicy.

Why the Hell was I living this life?

Which brought me to this point, and to this article.

Today it is the origin of consciousness is what we are going to talk about. We are going to discuss how YOU… that is your consciousness… came into being. And what is going on right now as YOU (as consciousness) are reading this here.

To begin with let’s start with something that both the Alien Interview and MAJestic agrees with.

In the beginning…

There was nothing, and then there was an explosion of quanta / particles that started to group together. They formed clumps. And over many, many, MANY trillions of trillions of years consciousness developed.

Over time…

IS-BEs are not physical universe entities.  

They are a source of energy and illusion. 

IS- BEs are not located in space or time, but can create space, place particles in space, create energy, and shape particles into various forms, cause the motion of forms, and animate forms.

Any form that is animated by an IS-BE is called life.

In Alien Interview, the extraterrestrial referred to these consciousnesses as IS-BE. In MAJestic, we just refer to it as consciousness. Which is pretty much the reason why I stick with referring to consciousness rather than IS-BE. I guess that I am just an old guy, with old habits that die hard.

Anyways, over many trillions of years, these individual consciousnesses started to interact with each other.

They started to communicate with each other.

They started to organize and they started to create a non-physical reality from which they would dwell, work and live within.

Before the formation of the physical universe there was a vast period during which universes were not solid, but wholly illusionary.   

You might say that the universe was a universe of magical illusions which were made to appear and vanish at the will of the magician.

Then, after many, many more trillions of years, they decided to create a physical universe. And so they thought, organized, planned and then created a physical universe. Separate universes were brought together and unified to form one singular universe.

Each IS-BE entered into the physical universe when they lost their own, "home" universe. That is, when an IS-BE's "home" universe was overwhelmed by the physical universe, or when the IS-BE joined with other IS-BEs to create or conquer the physical universe.

We call that “the big bang”. And our “experts” have dated it to around 14 billion years ago.

The Creation of the Physical Reality

And of course, with the creation of the universe, we had the creation of all the planets, stars, galaxies and all of that.

And it took time.

And over many billions of years, these consciousnesses started to populate this physical universe with life.

Eventually creating archetypes that populated the universe. Each archetype had regional variations to live in certain environments. And the consciousness placed regional variants of these archetypes all over the universe.

The notion that human biological organisms evolved naturally from earlier ape-like forms is incorrect.     

No physical evidence will ever be uncovered to substantiate the notion that modern humanoid bodies evolved on this planet.

The reason is simple: the idea that human bodies evolved spontaneously from the primordial ooze of chemical interactivity in the dim mists of time is nothing more than a hypnotic lie.

(It was) instilled by the amnesia operation to prevent your recollection of the true origins of Mankind.  

Factually, humanoid bodies have existed in various forms throughout the universe for trillions of years.

So life abounded all over the universe. First with microbial life, then with plants, fishes, and so on and so forth.

Multiple Universes

Ah.

There are more than one universe. There are many, many universes. The physical universe (along with it’s non-physical universe components) is but one universe.

Or in other words,

[1] Physical universe + [2] non-physical universe = [3] “our” universe.

And yet there are many, many others. And we tend to refer to them as “Heaven”. Which tends to be confusing as many people confuse “Heaven for humans” with the non-physical reality that surround our MWI (in our universe).

In this fashion, all of the space, galaxies, suns, planets, and physical phenomena of this universe, including life forms, places, and events have been created by IS-BEs and sustained by mutual agreement that these things exist. 

There are as many universes as there are IS-BEs to imagine, build and perceive them, each existing concurrently within its own continuum.

Each universe is created using its own unique set of rules, as imagined, altered, preserved or destroyed by one or more IS-BEs who created it.

Time, energy, objects and space, as defined in terms of the physical universe, may or may not exist in other universes.

The Domain exists in such a universe, as well as in the physical universe.

Now, both the “Alien Interview” and the MAJestic discourses agree about all this, for the most part. As far as I can tell the general overview is identical. MAJestic agrees with Alien Interview and, vice versa.

But now we come to a “fork in the road”. For there is a difference in belief or understanding between the two “camps”. Well sort-of. Maybe the understanding is looking at the same thing from different angles.

A difference in belief – Alien Interview

I am going to simplify my thoughts on this matter, and I might be in error…

According to “Alien Interview”, all consciousness was created a long, long, long time ago.

Airl explained that IS-BEs have been around since before the beginning of the universe. The reason they are called "immortal", is because a "spirit" is not born and cannot die, but exists in a personally postulated perception of "is - will be".

And, the various consciousnesses entered “our” universe at different times.

IS-BEs arrival or invasion into the physical universe took place at different times, some 60 trillion years ago, and others only 3 trillion.

So to summarize, according to Alien Interview, consciousness comes from somewhere outside of time and space and it creates a universe to live in. Eventually, the universes merge with other universes, and the consciousness exists within this growing and expanding universe.

Now, let’s look at what I was instructed during my time in MAJestic…

A difference in belief – MAJestic

This is a compilation of <redacted> (not that it's secret, but the background is way too involved to get involved with at this time.) from a combination of sources that <redacted>.  EBP and ELF sourced.

Consciousness is constructed in “human Heaven”. It originates from Soul. It is built up through the collection of quanta obtained through experiences. And becomes more and more advanced over time.

Thus the purpose of reincarnation, over and over again, is to improve the soul, that consciousness derives from.

Thus, for the humans to learn, grow, mover forward to the “next big thing” they need to experience life, after life, after life, over and over again. Each time getting bigger, and better.

And eventually…

…some day, they will evolve into something else.

I made a graphic of this on one of my articles. How you start off as a microbe, obtain experiences, then are an insect. You obtain more experiences, then become a humans, etc.. etc.

The fundamental difference

The fundamental differences between what Alien Interview said, and MAJestic said can be classified as following…

  • Alien Interview – Consciousness came before the universe, and is perfect as is.
  • MAJestic – Consciousness is created in Heaven, and needs to experience reincarnation to evolve.

Both could be true simultaneously, or one could be true alone.

I suppose it is up to the reader to determine which one is most accurate.

MM thoughts

I suppose that the earliest consciousnesses from the start of everything could be considered part of “The Domain”. And other consciousnesses that formed piecemeal, and have formed in other universes, can also be existent.

And in a universe where anything is possible, the ability to create a consciousness must also be possible.

And if you are going to create a consciousness, wouldn’t it make sense to cultivate and “grow” it? And growth through the accumulation of quanta obtained by experiences does make sense.

But…

[1] Omniscient. According to Alien Interview, once you obtain consciousness, you automatically know everything. You are omniscient. Thus you don’t need to “learn anything”. You don’t need to grow and advance, and evolve.

So why do this?

[2] Reincarnation. There are many ways of obtaining knowledge, and experience. Yet, WHY do you need to reincarnate, back to earth, with your memories erased? Why not build upon what you learned from your previous life? Wouldn’t that be more efficient, and better for the consciousness? You do not NEED to forget things.

Cats don’t.

Dogs don’t.

Horses don’t.

What purpose does amnesia have? And what does it have with building quanta associations? It doesn’t make sense, as far as I can see.

These two points [1 and 2] seem to invalidate the MAJestic belief system. Now, maybe I am being wrong in all this…

But, to me, it seems that the idea that you MUST reincarnate over and over in the hope of some eventual reward smacks of fraud.

It’s like the USA election process. Every four years you have an election, and over and over and over, but nothing changes. You are given the illusion that you have some ability to change things, but in truth you don’t have any ability at all.

Let’s elaborate on this some…

For most of humanity, we are taught that there is one God, and that we must live our lives and fulfill certain requirements and then when we die will be rewarded with Heaven. Different religions have different terms, and different processes, and different laws, but the basic idea stays the same.

The basic idea stays the same.

Then there are “secret” organizations. Some like MAJestic, and occult studies teach (in their various ways) that the truth is something different.

You learn that when you die, you meet guides who will take you to a “tunnel of light”. When you pass through that tunnel you will arrive in Heaven. And there in Heaven, you will be judged.  Then for one reason or the other, you must “return to Earth” as part of some “mission”.

But Alien Interview says something quite different…

As consciousness…

No human being ever assumes personal responsibility for the fact that they, themselves -- individually and collectively -- are gods.   This fact alone is the source of entrapment for every IS-BE.

Thus there is no need for “secret missions”, “growth through suffering”, “reincarnation”, “learning or training” in regards to this belief system.

While the extraterrestrial stated that it did go through some specific training to operate various physical objects and roles, they pertained to interaction with the physical universe in one way or the other. While these other “secret societies” and geography of Heaven  refer to training to improve one’s being or improve one’s consciousness.

Yet, in Alien Interview we learn that once you are consciousness, you know everything. You transcend the universe.

So to me, it appears that this belief that you go through the “tunnel of light” will take you to Heaven is a trap. Instead it appears to be an elaborate system of reprogramming, memory erasure, and extraction of your experiences.

I wrote about this before.

How other species can farm your soul for experiences. Where you have to relive a Hellish life, over and over again, and then extract the quantum associations, and then re-inject you back into the environment.

In fact, it is just like this Bruce Willis movie… Vice (2015).

Bruce Willis stars in this Sci-Fi thriller about ultimate resort: VICE, where customers can play out their wildest fantasies with artificial inhabitants who look like humans.

It is about an artificial human-being (an android) that escapes from a place where people can play out their wildest fantasies. The android (say a woman) would go into this environment with no memories and live out her life, then she encounters a “customer” to the environment who she thinks is a normal guy. The guy brutally rapes her, tortures her, and then kills her. He leaves, a squad a people come into the facility, extract her. Download her memories. Erase her memories, clean her up and send her back in for the next “customer”.

Then, she would go into this environment with no memories and live out her life, then she encounters a “customer” to the environment who she thinks is a normal guy. The guy brutally rapes her, tortures her, and then kills her. He leaves, a squad a people come into the facility, extract her. Download her memories. Erase her memories, clean her up and send her back in for the next “customer”.

Then, she would go into this environment with no memories and live out her life, then she encounters a “customer” to the environment who she thinks is a normal guy. The guy brutally rapes her, tortures her, and then kills her. He leaves, a squad a people come into the facility, extract her. Download her memories. Erase her memories, clean her up and send her back in for the next “customer”.

The movie is about one android who regains her memories and does not want to return back to that world.

That is what the Earth sounds like to me. It’s relive Hell over and over again, and never retain any memories so that you can learn from the experiences.

Vice (2015)

Conclusion

The more that I look at it, the clearer it becomes. The Alien Interview is everything that the extraterrestrial said it was. And as elaborate as the idea of Heaven is, I simply cannot reconcile the need for amnesia as part of a reincarnation process to “improve” consciousness and soul.

It seems to me that the best thing to do is upon death not to go into the “tunnel of light” no matter how much that you are drawn towards it. Instead, you just say put where you are in the incorporeal state.

I will cover, in later articles, how to establish “beacons” to alert others to retrieve you. And some other tools that might be helpful

In the meantime, relax. Make sure you are good and healthy. Eat some fine delicious food, drink some fine beverages (of your choice), and spend time with loved ones. Maybe sit on the porch. Have some lemonade. Watch the sun set. Or perhaps sit in your truck alone on a dirt road near some corn fields. Or, maybe ride to a cemetery. Park there, and eat a sandwich.

Did you ever just sit in your truck…

It’s the little things in life that matter most.

Do you want more?

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Be the Rufus; Some more extreme examples of personal heroism.

More videos of personal heroism in China. This is the late Summer 2021 edition.

Here are some more videos of personal heroism. These videos all take place in China, and show examples of how average, normal, everyday people (or dogs and cats) can make a difference. When the calling strikes and an emergency occurs, will you be the one who turns their back, or will you run and offer help? Will you be the one who stays playing on the cell-phone, or will you lend a helping hand? Will you be the person who will make a difference in the lives of those around you, or are you just going to fade into the background.

Make a difference. Be like Rufus!

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

These are all micro-videos of very short duration. From ten seconds to three minutes. I would suggest that you, the reader, allow them to load to get the full Articles & Links

Man with disabilities gives all his money to help those from the flood

Sometimes people go way over and beyond their abilities. This man with disabilities was so upset about the deaths from the flooding during July 2021, that he took all of his money, all of his savings and bought food and sent it off to the victims to help them. A Rufus in every way…

Rescue

During the massive sudden flood in China in July 2021, everyone was caught off guard. Many people were swept away by the raging water, caught underground, in subways, and in basements, and inside of cars. Those that weren’t were out in full force helping others. When you are part of a community, you become a natural Rufus.

Singing in thanks

Sometimes you just cannot help others. But you should show your gratitude. Here we have a school singing after China has controlled the Coronavirus. This was repeated all over China. The Chinese are the most patriotic people on the planet.

Disrespectful behavior

In Chinese society, you either participate to make it better, or you are an outsider, worthy of scorn. Here we have a chap that is acting very bad. He’s pinching the bottom of a girl minding her own business. So she slaps him, and reports him, and guess what? He’s doing time.

There is no place for rudeness

Here is a rude driver that arrogantly splashes a puddle on a police officer. This kind of behavior is tolerated in America, as well as other anti-social behaviors. Not so in China. Anti-social behavior comes at a cost, and it does affect social credit scoring. If you are an ass-hole your position in society plummets.

Not so in America, where all the ass-holes thrive. They screech! Freedom!

Quick save on the escalator

You are just minding your own business and you hear some gasps and yells behind you. You look up and there is this hearing impaired grandmother standing on the steps while an enormous heavy piece of luggage tumbles straight for her. What are you going to do?

Construction crew rescues boy

The high-rise is on fire. A young boy is trapped inside. What to do? How to rescue him? Luckily, next door is a construction crew full of Rufus’s and they are going to help rescue him. You need not worry when there are Rufus’s around.

Even in the darkest American distraught cities, Rufus’s come to help

Here we have a young child and a worried mother trapped on a building. What to do? Well, as long as there is one Rufus around everyone will come to help. And look at them. They come from every corner of the street, and from every building. Rufus’s are everywhere.

A Rufus acts instinctively

You see someone in danger and you spring into action. You don’t sit there wondering what to do. A Rufus acts. No time for selfies. No time to finish your burger. No time to see what your friends think. You Act.

Baby in crisis!

When seconds count, who can you rely on? The police? The fire? the old lady down the street? Nope, you only have you and it is YOUR time to shine. Be the Rufus anything else is a waste.

The BRI in Africa

China is offering all sorts of free building projects to improve the lifestyles of the people that trade with it. As a result there are tons of good will, and open markets for trade and a growth in the middle class. Here is Nairobi. They have better rail than Americans do.

After a flood…

You are looking for survivors and see this! What are you going to do? Take a selfie, or run to see if he’s still alive? Lucky for him, this was a Rufus, not a self-absorbed psychopath.

Emergency!

Out of nowhere a flood engulfs your town. Cars, trucks float ways, bridges collapse, and everyone is helpless. You managed to get to safety, but you see someone flailing in the water…they are being carried far away. What will you do? Say safe, or be the Rufus?

There’s a reason…

Yes. There’s a reason why China has been enforcing noise and air pollution regulations, and the offenders are not treated lightly. The environment is everyone’s concern and everyone must contribute to make the world a good and just place to live. And if you aren’t with the program, well…

Rufus level innovation

All over China we have facial scanning being employed. No longer will you need to press those dirty buttons, and go through invasive pat downs. Things are getting to the point that in China everything is fast, quick and seamless. From digital money, to key locks on doors. It’s all non-contact.

Boy prevents abduction

Some guy, looks drunk, but can be a dangerous predator approaches two kids and tries to carry one away. But the young Rufus will have none of this, and attacks the man. A real Rufus! His parents should be so proud!

Society that cares

it used to be that the Chinese didn’t care about anything. Just themselves. But this has changed once the government proved time and time again, that they are working for the best interests of society. And it affects everyone and everything all across the board. Even the tiniest details are taken cared for. This is how a functional society works.

A car flies off the highway

So you are driving down the road and you don’t even see the car have the accident. But you see that the car is damaged, crashed, and that there are people inside screaming for help. What are you going to do?

Appreciation

You see this all the time. The Chinese are oh, so patriotic. They want to contribute and to help. When the government sends people into  THEIR communities, they give back generously. It’s just the way people act when they have a government that represents their interests.

Di Di driver says NO!

In China, the equivalent drive share APP to Uber is Didi. Here we have a DiDi driver kicking the passenger out of his car because the guy was rude and horrible. Good going Rufus!

Rufus times two

All of us working together can make this world a place worth living. This idea of being alone; the lone wolf is a terrible mistake. In Military Strategy it is desirable for the enemy to do this, because it is easy to exploit. But not so in a healthy, functioning society. You work together. you donate your time. You help others. You be the Rufus.

Just an average person

A Rufus is just an average person, like you and like me. We don’t want fame, payments or accolades. We just want to live our lives, be happy and have friends that we can share our time with. That’s all. But every now and then something goes wrong, and a real Rufus has to take action. Like this lass here…

Kindness is within reach

All over Asia, and most especially among the Chinese-friendly nations, there is a strong impetus to start caring for each other, your community, your society and your environment. And to this end there are commercials being promoted. This is one of them. You won’t see anything like this in America, the UK, or Australia. But you will in the rest of the world. It is all changing.

An argument

We don’t know what goes on in the lives and minds of others. What we do know is that when you hear someone crying in distress, a real Rufus springs into action. They do not care about the consequences. They take action!

A talented rescue

Wow. Obviously this fellow had some sort of training. Superman or Rufus? You judge. Whatever he is, he is wonderful and he saved a life in the process. We should all strive to be the best that we can be. And in the process the Rufus inside all of us shines through.

Showing appreciation

Not only are the Chinese hyper-patriotic, but they 100% support their government, their police and their firemen. This is the welcome that the firefighters received in the flood damaged areas of China in 2021.

A young Rufus

A man is having trouble paying for his bus fare. Lucky for him there is a young Rufus nearby that wants to help. We all need each other. It helps keep the stress of day to day unexpected problems down, and generates good feelings all around. Be that Rufus. Young man, I salute you!

Emergency!

You are giving a girl a ride in your DiDi and suddenly she starts going into trouble. What do you do? Well, you must be calm and be the Rufus, and you call the police and drive her to the hospital. You don’t stop. you don’t think. You don’t do anything else. You be the Rufus.

Coronavirus staff

So many people are volunteering in China to help others. All those people assisting with the inoculations are all volunteers. They are not paid for what they are doing. They are giving and contributing in their society.

Here’s a group of hot and thirsty volunteers. They all wanted to get some energy drinks. But the woman running the register is a Rufus. She would never allow them to pay. So she paid for their drinks herself. She says that it’s the least that she can do.

A Rufus adapts

An ambulance carrying an accident victim overturns in a second automobile accident. She needs immediate care. What are you going to do? Lucky there is a Rufus nearby who owns a flat-bed truck and he helps the entire crew make it to the hospital. Be the Rufus!

Soldier rescues a downing person

You don’t know when the call will strike. You cannot prepare for it. You cannot plan for it. You cannot forecast it. All you can do is be the best you can be and when you are needed you simply go forth and help in whatever way that you can. We all need others in our lives. Be that Rufus.

Electric trike turned over

A man and his electric trike scooter goes belly up right in front of you. What are you going to do? Honk your horn like a rude American, or get the heck out of your seat and go and help him? Well I can tell you that it is the Rufus’s in this world that make it worth living.

Helping the animals

We should always help the animals around us. We must help them, and guide them. Often they can get hurt and highways are terrible on animals. From cats and dogs to horses, pigs and birds, we must help when we can. Like this fine Rufus here.

Electric wheelchair stalled in the street

So here is a crippled man on his electric wheelchair stalled in the middle of the street in the middle of a storm. Aren’t you glad that you are not him? Or not. Maybe you are a Rufus, and you leave your dry spot and help the poor guy out. Be the Rufus. Only a Rufus is worthy.

The tunnels are flooded!

During the flood of July 2021, many people were trapped in their cars, in tunnels and in subways, and as the water rose their only escape was out through the sewer drains. Here we have some survivors making their way to the surface and the Rufus’s that helped them.

Grandmother stops a kidnapping

She’s going home. Minding her own business, when she hears a commotion behind her. What? That six year old is being absucted. Not on her watch! So she springs to action. SHe things of nothing else. You go grandma! You go! A full-on Rufus

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Chapter 1, Part 2, of the 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene titled “Do not fight the last war: Embrace Change”

This is a full reprint in HTML of the second chapter (Chapter 2) of the first part (Part I) of the massive volume titled "The 33 Strategies of War". Written by Robert Greene (with emotional support from his cats). I read this book while in prison, and found much of what was written to be interesting, enjoyable, and pertinent to things going on in my life. I think that you will as well.

PART I

2. DO NOT FIGHT THE LAST WAR

THE GUERRILLA-WAR-OF-THE-MIND STRATEGY

What most often weighs you down and brings you misery is the past, in the form of unnecessary attachments, repetitions of tired formulas, and the memory of old victories and defeats. You must consciously wage war against the past and force yourself to react to the present moment. Be ruthless on yourself; do not repeat the same tired methods. Sometimes you must force yourself to strike out in new directions, even if they involve risk. What you may lose in comfort and security, you will gain in surprise, making it harder for your enemies to tell what you will do. Wage guerrilla war on your mind, allowing no static lines of defense, no exposed citadelsmake everything fluid and mobile.

Theory cannot equip the mind with formulas for solving problems, nor can it mark the narrow path on which the sole solution is supposed to lie by planting a hedge of principles on either side. But it can give the mind insight into the great mass of phenomena and of their relationships, then leave it free to rise into the higher realms of action. There the mind can use its innate talents to capacity, combining them all so as to seize on what is right and true as though this were a single idea formed by their concentrated pressure--as though it were a response to the immediate challenge rather than a product of thought.

ON WAR, CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, 1780-1831

THE LAST WAR

No one has risen to power faster than Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). In 1793 he went from captain in the French revolutionary army to brigadier general. In 1796 he became the leader of the French force in Italy fighting the Austrians, whom he crushed that year and again three years later. He became first consul of France in 1801, emperor in 1804. In 1805 he humiliated the Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz.

For many, Napoleon was more than a great general; he was a genius, a god of war. Not everyone was impressed, though: there were Prussian generals who thought he had merely been lucky. Where Napoleon was rash and aggressive, they believed, his opponents had been timid and weak. If he ever faced the Prussians, he would be revealed as a great fake.

Among these Prussian generals was Friedrich Ludwig, prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1746- 1818). Hohenlohe came from one of Germany’s oldest aristocratic families, one with an illustrious military record. He had begun his career young, serving under Frederick the Great (1712-86) himself, the man who had single-handedly made Prussia a great power. Hohenlohe had risen through the ranks, becoming a general at fifty–young by Prussian standards.

To Hohenlohe success in war depended on organization, discipline, and the use of superior strategies developed by trained military minds. The Prussians exemplified all of these virtues. Prussian soldiers drilled relentlessly until they could perform elaborate maneuvers as precisely as a machine. Prussian generals intensely studied the victories of Frederick the Great; war for them was a mathematical affair, the application of timeless principles. To the generals Napoleon was a Corsican hothead leading an unruly citizens’ army. Superior in knowledge and skill, they would out-strategize him. The French would panic and crumble in the face of the disciplined Prussians; the Napoleonic myth would lie in ruins, and Europe could return to its old ways.

In August 1806, Hohenlohe and his fellow generals finally got what they wanted: King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, tired of Napoleon’s broken promises, decided to declare war on him in six weeks. In the meantime he asked his generals to come up with a plan to crush the French.

Hohenlohe was ecstatic.

This campaign would be the climax of his career. He had been thinking for years about how to beat Napoleon, and he presented his plan at the generals’ first strategy session: precise marches would place the army at the perfect angle from which to attack the French as they advanced through southern Prussia. An attack in oblique formation–Frederick the Great’s favorite tactic–would deliver a devastating blow. The other generals, all in their sixties and seventies, presented their own plans, but these too were merely variants on the tactics of Frederick the Great. Discussion turned into argument; several weeks went by. Finally the king had to step in and create a compromise strategy that would satisfy all of his generals.

He [Baron Antoine-Henri de Jomini] --often quite arbitrarily--presses [the deeds of Napoleon] into a system which he foists on Napoleon, and, in doing so, completely fails to see what, above all, really constitutes the greatness of this captain--namely, the reckless boldness of his operations, where, scoffing at all theory, he always tried to do what suited each occasion best.

FRIEDRICH VON BERNHARDI, 1849-1930

A feeling of exuberance swept the country, which would soon relive the glory years of Frederick the Great. The generals realized that Napoleon knew about their plans–he had excellent spies–but the Prussians had a head start, and once their war machine started to move, nothing could stop it.

On October 5, a few days before the king was to declare war, disturbing news reached the generals.

A reconnaissance mission revealed that divisions of Napoleon’s army, which they had believed was dispersed, had marched east, merged, and was massing deep in southern Prussia. The captain who had led the scouting mission reported that the French soldiers were marching with packs on their backs: where the Prussians used slow-moving wagons to provision their troops, the French carried their own supplies and moved with astonishing speed and mobility.

Before the generals had time to adjust their plans, Napoleon’s army suddenly wheeled north, heading straight for Berlin, the heart of Prussia. The generals argued and dithered, moving their troops here and there, trying to decide where to attack. A mood of panic set in. Finally the king ordered a retreat: the troops would reassemble to the north and attack Napoleon’s flank as he advanced toward Berlin. Hohenlohe was in charge of the rear guard, protecting the Prussians’ retreat.

On October 14, near the town of Jena, Napoleon caught up with Hohenlohe, who finally faced the battle he had wanted so desperately. The numbers on both sides were equal, but while the French were an unruly force, fighting pell-mell and on the run, Hohenlohe kept his troops in tight order, orchestrating them like a corps de ballet. The fighting went back and forth until finally the French captured the village of Vierzehnheiligen.

Hohenlohe ordered his troops to retake the village. In a ritual dating back to Frederick the Great, a drum major beat out a cadence and the Prussian soldiers, their colors flying, re-formed their positions in perfect parade order, preparing to advance. They were in an open plain, though, and Napoleon’s men were behind garden walls and on the house roofs. The Prussians fell like ninepins to the French marksmen. Confused, Hohenlohe ordered his soldiers to halt and change formation. The drums beat again, the Prussians marched with magnificent precision, always a sight to behold–but the French kept shooting, decimating the Prussian line.

Never had Hohenlohe seen such an army. The French soldiers were like demons. Unlike his disciplined soldiers, they moved on their own, yet there was method to their madness. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, they rushed forward on both sides, threatening to surround the Prussians. The prince ordered a retreat. The Battle of Jena was over.

Like a house of cards, the Prussians quickly crumbled, one fortress falling after another. The king fled east. In a matter of days, virtually nothing remained of the once mighty Prussian army.

THE BAT AND THE HOUSE-FERRETS

A bat fell to the ground and was caught by a house-ferret. Realizing that she was on the point of being killed, she begged for her life. The house-ferret said to her that she couldn't let her go, for ferrets were supposed to be natural enemies to all birds. The bat replied that she herself was not a bird, but a mouse. She managed to extricate herself from her danger by this means. Eventually, falling a second time, the bat was caught by another house-ferret. Again she pleaded to the ferret not to eat her. The second ferret declared that she absolutely detested all mice. But the bat positively affirmed that she was not a mouse but a bat. And so she was released again. And that was how she saved herself from death twice by a mere change of name. This fable shows that it is not always necessary to confine ourselves to the same tactics. But, on the contrary, if we are adaptable to circumstances we can better escape danger.

FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

Interpretation

The reality facing the Prussians in 1806 was simple: they had fallen fifty years behind the times. Their generals were old, and instead of responding to present circumstances, they were repeating formulas that had worked in the past.

Their army moved slowly, and their soldiers were automatons on parade. The Prussian generals had many signs to warn them of disaster: their army had not performed well in its recent engagements, a number of Prussian officers had preached reform, and, last but not least, they had had ten years to study Napoleon–his innovative strategies and the speed and fluidity with which his armies converged on the enemy. Reality was staring them in the face, yet they chose to ignore it. Indeed, they told themselves that Napoleon was the one who was doomed.

You might find the Prussian army just an interesting historical example, but in fact you are likely marching in the same direction yourself. What limits individuals as well as nations is the inability to confront reality, to see things for what they are. As we grow older, we become more rooted in the past. Habit takes over. Something that has worked for us before becomes a doctrine, a shell to protect us from reality. Repetition replaces creativity. We rarely realize we’re doing this, because it is almost impossible for us to see it happening in our own minds. Then suddenly a young Napoleon crosses our path, a person who does not respect tradition, who fights in a new way. Only then do we see that our ways of thinking and responding have fallen behind the times.

Never take it for granted that your past successes will continue into the future. Actually, your past successes are your biggest obstacle: every battle, every war, is different, and you cannot assume that what worked before will work today. You must cut yourself loose from the past and open your eyes to the present. Your tendency to fight the last war may lead to your final war.

When in 1806 the Prussian generals...plunged into the open jaws of disaster by using Frederick the Great's oblique order of battle, it was not just a case of a style that had outlived its usefulness but the most extreme poverty of the imagination to which routine has ever led. The result was that the Prussian army under Hohenlohe was ruined more completely than any army has ever been ruined on the battlefield.

--Carl von Clausewitz, ON WAR (1780-1831)

THE PRESENT WAR

In 1605, Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai who had made a name for himself as a swordsman at the young age of twenty-one, was challenged to a duel. The challenger, a young man named Matashichiro, came from the Yoshioka family, a clan itself renowned for swordsmanship. Earlier that year Musashi had defeated Matashichiro’s father, Genzaemon, in a duel. Days later he had killed Genzaemon’s younger brother in another duel. The Yoshioka family wanted revenge.

I never read any treatises on strategy.... When we fight, we do not take any books with us.

MAO TSE-TUNG, 1893-1976

Musashi’s friends smelled a trap in Matashichiro’s challenge and offered to accompany him to the duel, but Musashi went alone. In his earlier fights with the Yoshiokas, he had angered them by showing up hours late; this time, though, he came early and hid in the trees. Matashichiro arrived with a small army.

Musashi would “arrive way behind schedule as usual,” one of them said, “but that trick won’t work with us anymore!” Confident in their ambush, Matashichiro’s men lay down and hid in the grass. Suddenly Musashi leaped out from behind his tree and shouted, “I’ve been waiting long enough. Draw your sword!”

In one swift stroke, he killed Matashichiro, then took a position at an angle to the other men. All of them jumped to their feet, but they were caught off guard and startled, and instead of surrounding him, they stood in a broken line. Musashi simply ran down the line, killing the dazed men one after another in a matter of seconds.

Musashi’s victory sealed his reputation as one of Japan’s greatest swordsmen. He now roamed the country looking for suitable challenges. In one town he heard of an undefeated warrior named Baiken whose weapons were a sickle and a long chain with a steel ball at the end of it. Musashi wanted to see these weapons in action, but Baiken refused: the only way he could see them work, Baiken said, was by fighting a duel.

REFRESHING THE MIND When you and your opponent are engaged in combat which is dragging on with no end in sight, it is crucial that you should come up with a completely different technique. By refreshing your mind and techniques as you continue to fight your opponent, you will find an appropriate rhythm-timing with which to defeat him. Whenever you and your opponent become stagnant, you must immediately employ a different method of dealing with him in order to overcome him.

THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI, 1584-1645

Once again Musashi’s friends chose the safe route: they urged him to walk away. No one had come close to defeating Baiken, whose weapons were unbeatable: swinging his ball in the air to build up momentum, he would force his victim backward with a relentless charge, then hurl the ball at the man’s face. His opponent would have to fend off the ball and chain, and while his sword arm was occupied, in that brief instant Baiken would slash him with the sickle across his neck.

Ignoring the warnings of his friends, Musashi challenged Baiken and showed up at the man’s tent with two swords, one long, one short. Baiken had never seen someone fight with two swords. Also, instead of letting Baiken charge him, Musashi charged first, pushing his foe back on his heels. Baiken hesitated to throw the ball, for Musashi could parry it with one sword and strike him with the other. As he looked for an opening, Musashi suddenly knocked him off balance with a blow of the short sword and then, in a split second, followed with a thrust of the long one, stabbing him through and killing the once undefeated master Baiken.

A few years later, Musashi heard about a great samurai named Sasaki Ganryu, who fought with a very long sword–a startlingly beautiful weapon, which seemed possessed of some warlike spirit. This fight would be Musashi’s ultimate test. Ganryu accepted his challenge; the duel would take place on a little island near the samurai’s home.

It is a disease to be obsessed by the thought of winning. It is also a disease to be obsessed by the thought of employing your swordsmanship. So it is to be obsessed by the thought of using everything you have learned, and to be obsessed by the thought of attacking. It is also a disease to be obsessed and stuck with the thought of ridding yourself of any of these diseases. A disease here is an obsessed mind that dwells on one thing. Because all these diseases are in your mind, you must get rid of them to put your mind in order.

TAKUAN, JAPAN, 1573-1645

On the morning of the duel, the island was packed. A fight between such warriors was unprecedented. Ganryu arrived on time, but Musashi was late, very late. An hour went by, then two; Ganryu was furious.

Finally a boat was spotted approaching the island. Its passenger was lying down, half asleep, it seemed, whittling at a long wooden oar. It was Musashi. He seemed lost in thought, staring into the clouds. When the boat came to shore, he tied a dirty towel around his head and jumped out of the boat, brandishing the long oar–longer than Ganryu’s famous sword. This strange man had come to the biggest fight of his life with an oar for a sword and a towel for a headband.

Ganryu called out angrily, “Are you so frightened of me that you have broken your promise to be here by eight?” Musashi said nothing but stepped closer. Ganryu drew his magnificent sword and threw the sheath onto the sand. Musashi smiled: “Sasaki, you have just sealed your doom.” “Me? Defeated? Impossible!” “What victor on earth,” replied Musashi, “would abandon his sheath to the sea?” This enigmatic remark only made Ganryu angrier.

Then Musashi charged, aiming his sharpened oar straight for his enemy’s eyes. Ganryu quickly raised his sword and struck at Musashi’s head but missed, only cutting the towel headband in two. He had never missed before. In almost the same instant, Musashi brought down his wooden sword, knocking Ganryu off his feet. The spectators gasped. As Ganryu struggled up, Musashi killed him with a blow to the head. Then, after bowing politely to the men officiating over the duel, he got back into the boat and left as calmly as he had arrived.

From that moment on, Musashi was considered a swordsman without peer.

Anyone can plan a campaign, but few are capable of waging war, because only a true military genius can handle the developments and circumstances.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821

Interpretation

Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings, won all his duels for one reason: in each instance he adapted his strategy to his opponent and to the circumstances of the moment.

With Matashichiro he decided it was time to arrive early, which he hadn’t done in his previous fights. Victory against superior numbers depended on surprise, so he leaped up when his opponents lay down; then, once he had killed their leader, he set himself at an angle that invited them to charge at him instead of surrounding him, which would have been much more dangerous for him.

With Baiken it was simply a matter of using two swords and then crowding his space, giving him no time to react intelligently to this novelty.

With Ganryu he set out to infuriate and humiliate his haughty opponent– the wooden sword, the nonchalant attitude, the dirty-towel headband, the enigmatic remark, the charge at the eyes.

Musashi’s opponents depended on brilliant technique, flashy swords, and unorthodox weapons. That is the same as fighting the last war: instead of responding to the moment, they relied on training, technology, and what had worked before.

Musashi, who had grasped the essence of strategy when he was still very young, turned their rigidity into their downfall. His first thought was of the gambit that would take this particular opponent most by surprise. Then he would anchor himself in the moment: having set his opponent off balance with something unexpected, he would watch carefully, then respond with another action, usually improvised, that would turn mere disequilibrium into defeat and death.

Thunder and wind: the image of DURATION. Thus the superior man stands firm And does not change his direction. Thunder rolls, and the wind blows; both are examples of extreme mobility and so are seemingly the very opposite of duration, but the laws governing their appearance and subsidence, their coming and going, endure. In the same way the independence of the superior man is not based on rigidity and immobility of character. He always keeps abreast of the time and changes with it. What endures is the unswerving directive, the inner law of his being, which determines all his actions.

THE I CHING, CHINA, CIRCA EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

In preparing yourself for war, you must rid yourself of myths and misconceptions.  Strategy is not a question of learning a series of moves or ideas to follow like a recipe; victory has no magic formula. Ideas are merely nutrients for the soil: they lie in your brain as possibilities, so that in the heat of the moment they can inspire a direction, an appropriate and creative response. Let go of all fetishes–books, techniques, formulas, flashy weapons–and learn to become your own strategist.

Thus one's victories in battle cannot be repeated--they take their form in response to inexhaustibly changing circumstances.

--Sun-tzu (fourth century B.C.)

KEYS TO WARFARE

In looking back on an unpleasant or disagreeable experience, the thought inevitably occurs to us: if only we had said or done x instead of y, if only we could do it over.

Many a general has lost his head in the heat of battle and then, looking back, has thought of the one tactic, the one maneuver, that would have changed it all.

Even Prince Hohenlohe, years later, could see how he had botched the retaking of Vierzehnheiligen.

The problem, though, is not that we think of the solution only when it is too late. The problem is that we imagine that knowledge is what was lacking: if only we had known more, if only we had thought it through more thoroughly.

That is precisely the wrong approach.

What makes us go astray in the first place is that we are unattuned to the present moment, insensitive to the circumstances. We are listening to our own thoughts, reacting to things that happened in the past, applying theories and ideas that we digested long ago but that have nothing to do with our predicament in the present. More books, theories, and thinking only make the problem worse.

My policy is to have no policy.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 1809-1865

Understand: the greatest generals, the most creative strategists, stand out not because they have more knowledge but because they are able, when necessary, to drop their preconceived notions and focus intensely on the present moment. That is how creativity is sparked and opportunities are seized. Knowledge, experience, and theory have limitations: no amount of thinking in advance can prepare you for the chaos of life, for the infinite possibilities of the moment. The great philosopher of war Carl von Clausewitz called this “friction”: the difference between our plans and what actually happens. Since friction is inevitable, our minds have to be capable of keeping up with change and adapting to the unexpected. The better we can adapt our thoughts to changing circumstances, the more realistic our responses to them will be. The more we lose ourselves in predigested theories and past experiences, the more inappropriate and delusional our response.

It can be valuable to analyze what went wrong in the past, but it is far more important to develop the capacity to think in the moment. In that way you will make far fewer mistakes to analyze.

If you put an empty gourd on the water and touch it, it will slip to one side. No matter how you try, it won't stay in one spot. The mind of someone who has reached the ultimate state does not stay with anything, even for a second. It is like an empty gourd on the water that is pushed around.

TAKUAN, JAPAN, 1573-1645

Think of the mind as a river: the faster it flows, the better it keeps up with the present and responds to change. The faster it flows, also the more it refreshes itself and the greater its energy. Obsessional thoughts, past experiences (whether traumas or successes), and preconceived notions are like boulders or mud in this river, settling and hardening there and damming it up. The river stops moving; stagnation sets in. You must wage constant war on this tendency in the mind.

The first step is simply to be aware of the process and of the need to fight it. The second is to adopt a few tactics that might help you to restore the mind’s natural flow.

Reexamine all your cherished beliefs and principles. When Napoleon was asked what principles of war he followed, he replied that he followed none.  His genius was his ability to respond to circumstances, to make the most of what he was given–he was the supreme opportunist. Your only principle, similarly, should be to have no principles. To believe that strategy has inexorable laws or timeless rules is to take up a rigid, static position that will be your undoing. Of course the study of history and theory can broaden your vision of the world, but you have to combat theory’s tendency to harden into dogma. Be brutal with the past, with tradition, with the old ways of doing things. Declare war on sacred cows and voices of convention in your own head.

Our education is often a problem. During World War II, the British fighting the Germans in the deserts of North Africa were well trained in tank warfare; you might say they were indoctrinated with theories about it. Later in the campaign, they were joined by American troops who were much less educated in these tactics. Soon, though, the Americans began to fight in a way that was equal if not superior to the British style; they adapted to the mobility of this new kind of desert combat. According to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel himself, the leader of the German army in North Africa,

"The Americans...profited far more than the British from their experience in Africa, thus confirming the axiom that education is easier than reeducation."

What Rommel meant was that education tends to burn precepts into the mind that are hard to shake. In the midst of combat, the trained mind may fall a step behind–focusing more on learned rules than on the changing circumstances of battle.

When you are faced with a new situation, it is often best to imagine that you know nothing and that you need to start learning all over again. Clearing your head of everything you thought you knew, even your most cherished ideas, will give you the mental space to be educated by your present experience–the best school of all. You will develop your own strategic muscles instead of depending on other people’s theories and books.

Erase the memory of the last war. The last war you fought is a danger, even if you won it. It is fresh in your mind. If you were victorious, you will tend to repeat the strategies you just used, for success makes us lazy and complacent; if you lost, you may be skittish and indecisive.

Do not think about the last war; you do not have the distance or the detachment. Instead do whatever you can to blot it from your mind. During the Vietnam War, the great North Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap had a simple rule of thumb: after a successful campaign, he would convince himself that it had actually been a failure. As a result he never got drunk on his success, and he never repeated the same strategy in the next battle. Rather he had to think through each situation anew.

Ted Williams, perhaps baseball’s greatest pure hitter, made a point of always trying to forget his last at-bat. Whether he’d gotten a home run or a strikeout, he put it behind him. No two at-bats are the same, even against the same pitcher, and Williams wanted an open mind. He would not wait for the next at-bat to start forgetting: the minute he got back to the dugout, he started focusing on what was happening in the game taking place. Attention to the details of the present is by far the best way to crowd out the past and forget the last war.

Keep the mind moving. When we were children, our minds never stopped. We were open to new experiences and absorbed as much of them as possible. We learned fast, because the world around us excited us. When we felt frustrated or upset, we would find some creative way to get what we wanted and then quickly forget the problem as something new crossed our path.

All the greatest strategists–Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Musashi–were childlike in this respect. Sometimes, in fact, they even acted like children.

The reason is simple: superior strategists see things as they are. They are highly sensitive to dangers and opportunities. Nothing stays the same in life, and keeping up with circumstances as they change requires a great deal of mental fluidity. Great strategists do not act according to preconceived ideas; they respond to the moment, like children. Their minds are always moving, and they are always excited and curious. They quickly forget the past–the present is much too interesting.

Defeat is bitter. Bitter to the common soldier, but trebly bitter to his general. The soldier may comfort himself with the thought that, whatever the result, he has done his duty faithfully and steadfastly, but the commander has failed in his duty if he has not won victory--for that is his duty. 

He has no other comparable to it. He will go over in his mind the events of the campaign. "Here," he will think, "I went wrong; here I took counsel of my fears when I should have been bold; there I should have waited to gather strength, not struck piecemeal; at such a moment I failed to grasp opportunity when it was presented to me." He will remember the soldiers whom he sent into the attack that failed and who did not come back. 

He will recall the look in the eyes of men who trusted him. "I have failed them," he will say to himself, "and failed my country!" He will see himself for what he is--a defeated general. 

In a dark hour he will turn in upon himself and question the very foundations of his leadership and manhood. And then he must stop! For if he is ever to command in battle again, he must shake off these regrets, and stamp on them, as they claw at his will and his self-confidence. He must beat off these attacks he delivers against himself, and cast out the doubts born of failure. 

Forget them, and remember only the lessons to be learned from defeat--they are more than from victory.

DEFEAT INTO VICTORY, WILLIAM SLIM, 1897-1970

The Greek thinker Aristotle thought that life was defined by movement. What does not move is dead. What has speed and mobility has more possibilities, more life. We all start off with the mobile mind of a Napoleon, but as we get older, we tend to become more like the Prussians. You may think that what you’d like to recapture from your youth is your looks, your physical fitness, your simple pleasures, but what you really need is the fluidity of mind you once possessed.

Whenever you find your thoughts revolving around a particular subject or idea–an obsession, a resentment–force them past it. Distract yourself with something else. Like a child, find something new to be absorbed by, something worthy of concentrated attention. Do not waste time on things you cannot change or influence. Just keep moving.

Absorb the spirit of the times. Throughout the history of warfare, there have been classic battles in which the past has confronted the future in a hopeless mismatch. It happened in the seventh century, when the Persians and Byzantines confronted the invincible armies of Islam, with their new form of desert fighting; or in the first half of the thirteenth century, when the Mongols used relentless mobility to overwhelm the heavy armies of the Russians and Europeans; or in 1806, when Napoleon crushed the Prussians at Jena.

In each case the conquering army developed a way of fighting that maximized a new form of technology or a new social order.

You can reproduce this effect on a smaller scale by attuning yourself to the spirit of the times. Developing antennae for the trends that have yet to crest takes work and study, as well as the flexibility to adapt to those trends.

As you get older, it is best to periodically alter your style.

In the golden age of Hollywood, most actresses had very short careers. But Joan Crawford fought the studio system and managed to have a remarkably long career by constantly changing her style, going from siren to noir heroine to cult queen.

Instead of staying sentimentally attached to some fashion of days gone by, she was able to sense a rising trend and go with it. By constantly adapting and changing your style, you will avoid the pitfalls of your previous wars. Just when people feel they know you, you will change.

Reverse course. The great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky suffered from epilepsy. Just before  a seizure, he would experience a moment of intense ecstasy, which he described as a feeling of being suddenly flooded with reality, a momentary vision of the world exactly as it is.

Later he would find himself getting depressed, as this vision was crowded out by the habits and routines of daily life. During these depressions, wanting to feel that closeness to reality again, he would go to the nearest casino and gamble away all his money.

There reality would overwhelm him; comfort and routine would be gone, stale patterns broken. Having to rethink everything, he would get his creative energy back. This was the closest he could deliberately come to the sense of ecstasy he got through epilepsy.

Dostoyevsky’s method was a little extreme, but sometimes you have to shake yourself up, break free from the hold of the past.

This can take the form of reversing your course, doing the opposite of what you would normally do in any given situation, putting yourself in some unusual circumstance, or literally starting over. In those situations the mind has to deal with a new reality, and it snaps to life. The change may be alarming, but it is also refreshing–even exhilarating.

To know that one is in a certain condition, in a certain state, is already a process of liberation; but a man who is not aware of his condition, of his struggle, tries to be something other than he is, which brings about habit. So, then, let us keep in mind that we want to examine what is, to observe and be aware of exactly what is the actual, without giving it any slant, without giving it an interpretation. It needs an extraordinarily astute mind, an extraordinarily pliable heart, to be aware of and to follow what is; because what is is constantly moving, constantly undergoing a transformation, and if the mind is tethered to belief, to knowledge, it ceases to pursue, it ceases to follow the swift movement of what is. What is is not static, surely--it is constantly moving, as you will see if you observe it very closely. To follow it, you need a very swift mind and a pliable heart--which are denied when the mind is static, fixed in a belief, in a prejudice, in an identification; and a mind and heart that are dry cannot follow easily, swiftly, that which is.

JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI, 1895-1986

Relationships often develop a certain tiresome predictability. You do what you usually do, other people respond the way they usually do, and around it goes. If you reverse course, act in a novel manner, you alter the entire dynamic. Do this every so often to break up the relationship’s stale patterns and open it to new possibilities.

Think of your mind as an army.

Armies must adapt to the complexity and chaos of modern war by becoming more fluid and maneuverable. The ultimate extension of this evolution is guerrilla warfare, which exploits chaos by making disorder and unpredictability a strategy.

The guerrilla army never stops to defend a particular place or town; it wins by always moving, staying one step ahead. By following no set pattern, it gives the enemy no target.

The guerrilla army never repeats the same tactic. It responds to the situation, the moment, the terrain where it happens to find itself. There is no front, no concrete line of communication or supply, no slow-moving wagon.

The guerrilla army is pure mobility.

That is the model for your new way of thinking. Apply no tactic rigidly; do not let your mind settle into static positions, defending any particular place or idea, repeating the same lifeless maneuvers. Attack problems from new angles, adapting to the landscape and to what you’re given. By staying in constant motion you show your enemies no target to aim at. You exploit the chaos of the world instead of succumbing to it.

REVERSAL

There is never any value in fighting the last war. But while you’re eliminating that pernicious tendency, you must imagine that your enemy is trying to do the same–trying to learn from and adapt to the present.

Some of history’s worst military disasters have come not out of fighting the last war but out of assuming that that’s what your opponent will do.

When Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, he thought the United States had yet to recover from “Vietnam syndrome”–the fear of casualties and loss that had been so traumatic during the Vietnam period–and that it would either avoid war altogether or would fight in the same way it had, trying to win the fight from the air instead of on the ground.

He did not realize that the American military was ready for a new kind of war.

Remember: the loser in any battle may be too traumatized to fight again but may also learn from the experience and move on. Err on the side of caution; be ready. Never let your enemy surprise you in war.

Conclusion

My latest article (prior to this one) underlines this entire strategy. Which is WHY all the American Generals and Admirals are telling the politicians and neocons in Washington DC to “Stand Down”. They, those on K-street in Washington DC want to fight against China or Russia. But the generals strongly advise against it.

You can read about it here…

Personally, the United States is in need of a shake-up, and maybe it’s time for a serious “house cleaning” in Washington DC as well. Maybe it would be a good thing to see Washington DC erased from the map. I am sure that the world would be a much calmer and nicer world.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my 33 Strategies of War index here..

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Pentagon Leaders are starting to shout-down the neocon war-hawks on K-street in Washington DC

Every now and then, you come across an article that resonates. Not from some unknown blogger who writes about his opinions after reading the “news”, but a thoughtful article by an experienced professional discussing a subject that he knows well. And so when I came across this work, I just had to reproduce it here on MM.
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Granted, his title sucks. But the content is gold. All credit to him and the source found HERE.
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By Byron King

“It Failed Miserably” – What If the US Lost a War and Nobody Noticed?

I have a friend who teaches at the university level — at a U.S. service academy, no less.

The other day he was running a class and posed a short (but profound) question to a group of students. Namely, what was the most recent strategic disaster suffered by the U.S. military?

“Blank expressions,” noted my friend.

After a period of time, one student offered an answer… “Afghanistan?” (And yes, the student’s answer was in the form of a question.)

Dutifully, my professor-friend led the students in a discussion of what happened in a war that began before they were born and whose outcomes will affect them for the rest of their lives.

There’s a Whiskey tale to tell just based on this anecdote alone.

But wait, there’s more!

Because America’s loss in Afghanistan has already been overshadowed.

Indeed, the U.S. military has suffered an even greater strategic disaster than Afghanistan: an epic military defeat that already occurred, and you likely don’t know a thing about it.

I’ll skip to the takeaway here.

The U.S. should refrain from fighting the next war because we’ve already lost, long before even one shot has been fired.

The source for this ultra-defeatist news is not just a teacher at a sailor’s college, sited on a salty bay. No, the source is no less than a serving, 4-star general whose job title is Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Let’s dig in…

Here’s the long and short. The U.S. military conducted a major wargame last fall and “it failed miserably,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten earlier this week.

Hyten spoke at a conference sponsored by the Emerging Technologies Institute. It’s a think tank run by the National Defense Industrial Association, an industry group focused on military modernization. (You can watch it on YouTube here, about an hour and 18 minutes.)

“An aggressive red team that had been studying the United States for the last 20 years just ran rings around us,” he said. “They knew exactly what we’re going to do before we did it.”

According to a Pentagon spokesperson, one key scenario of this wargame involved U.S. forces battling with China over Taiwan. From Hyten’s summary, U.S. forces became sitting ducks and were destroyed piecemeal and systematically.

The overarching problem was, basically, everything.

It’s all fucked

That is, the problem for the U.S. was far beyond the shortcomings of any particular piece of equipment, or ship or airplane, let alone the willingness of U.S. and allied troops to fight. No, the issue was the very essence of how the U.S. military forms strategic concepts and conducts operations.

In other words, the problem was the entire belief system, architecture and construction of the Pentagon way of doing things — and certainly of waging war. By extension, it’s a political problem too, as we’ll address below.

“We always aggregate to fight, and aggregate to survive,” said Hyten.

That is, the U.S. military is built around massing people, equipment and munitions. Build up a huge complex of firepower. Then add massive levels of intelligence information, command and control, and targeting data to, as the saying goes, “take it downrange.”

This has been the U.S. approach to warfighting since World War II, with many of the roots extending back to the Civil War.

The war game fiasco

Per Hyten, in last fall’s war game, “We basically attempted an information-dominance structure, where information was ubiquitous to our forces. Just like it was in the first Gulf War, just like it has been for the last 20 years, just like everybody in the world, including China and Russia, have watched us do for the last 30 years.”

But the so-called “blue team” (meaning U.S. and allied forces) lost access to communications and data networks almost immediately. Satellites went away. Seafloor cables were cut. Bandwidth died. In general, it was impossible to utilize the electromagnetic environment, and within moments nobody could talk with anybody.

And “what happens if right from the beginning that information is not available?” asked Hyten, rhetorically. “That’s the big problem that we faced.”

According to Hyten, “in today’s world, with hypersonic missiles, with significant long-range fires coming at us from all domains, if you’re aggregated and everybody knows where you are, you’re vulnerable.”

And with an entire concept of operations poked in the proverbial eyes, red team easily defeated the blue side.

Not just a yearly exercise. It’s the planning run-on for something BIG…

Based on Hyten’s description, this wargame was not just another table-top exercise. No, this was a test of the all-up game plan for the “next” conflict, largely based on concepts of operations that have guided the American military process for three decades or more. And the outcome was a total disaster.

U.S. doctrine focuses on creating what is called a “kill box” for the opponent. But in this particular expedition, from the outset U.S. and allied forces walked into their own zones of destruction. They laid down in their own coffins, so to speak.

Opposing forces wrecked the entire complex of U.S. logistics. Rear bases came under fire, while aircraft and ships at sea were targeted by long-range missiles. There’s just no hiding anymore from people with sufficient technology to find you.

Even worse, most U.S. weapons were outranged by new systems recently deployed by China, much of it based on advanced Russian designs. It’s a long-term U.S. failure in research, development and procurement.

When the balloon went up, most U.S. forces near-immediately lost the ability to coordinate attacks and/or return fire. Much of the targeting data was worthless in any event, while systems used for aiming and guiding munitions also failed.

To the extent that communications worked at all, much of the data were corrupted or hacked.

It’s not overstating to say that, in this one wargame, far from home the U.S. lost vast numbers of people and equipment. In real world terms, think of casualty numbers in the tens of thousands. Of entire bases obliterated. Of hundreds of airplanes lost. Of dozens of ships sunk. And that’s just in the first few days.

The wargame ended with American forces defeated and devastated. U.S. allies were similarly shredded. And U.S. interests in the Western Pacific and Asia were annihilated.

Analysis

To mix a couple of metaphors, the U.S. suffered defeats in a nature that mirror a modern version of Pearl Harbor, the fall of Singapore and a saltwater Stalingrad.

And it gets worse. Because the devil is in the details, many of which have little or nothing to do with purely military matters. The downfall of American power begins at home, not far overseas.

Return to Gen. Hyten’s comment that potential adversaries have spent 30 years watching and learning from U.S. operations. Well, yes. Obviously.

Any reasonably intelligent counterparty — anyone, any country, anywhere on the face of this planet — would pay attention to what the U.S. has been doing and then figure out what to expect and how to deal with it.

Over three decades, people everywhere watched, learned, and totally went to school on the U.S. military. And it’s all because the America made a foolish political and economic choice, namely, to engage in so-called “long wars.”

And that has never been a good idea, going back to the days of Sun Tzu and before.

“Wars cost much silver,” wrote Sun Tzu in his classic book, “On War.” And of course, he meant money. But the subtleties of Sun Tzu’s writing also delve into how war affects both people and culture. Wars drive a certain negative ethic within a political system, and the longer any war lasts, the more negative is the tendency.

Meanwhile, it’s not as if America’s 30 years of war were battles of necessity. Certainly, it’s not as if the country was being invaded and overrun.

No, the three decades of war (Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Trump-Biden) were an era of forward presence coupled with routine military belligerence, oft to the ring of political trumpets at home.

The named wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) speak for themselves. Then there are other levels of warfare, like with Serbia, Libya and Syria, where the gunslinging showed up in a different manner, but still as destructive to entire societies.

In this sense — that sense of reaching out to bomb people far from U.S. shores — America’s long wars are not just a military issue, easily dismissed by civilians as some sort of niche problem for the Pentagon.

No, because closer to home, the long wars reveal seismic flaws in the very nature and character of U.S. governance. The long wars reveal a deep weakness in the American form of government itself.

Indeed, we’re a long way from the sage advice of President John Quincy Adams, that “Americans should not go abroad to slay dragons they do not understand in the name of spreading democracy.”

And look at it this way. It’s not as if the U.S. ever had a series of national referenda on 30 years of continuous warfare. In fact, the past three decades of war overseas were based on the geopolitical ideas of a relatively small, self-perpetuating cabal of elite elected players and policy wonks, in Washington and various brain-tanks. Many familiar names, to be sure.

Abysmal strategic ignorance and lack of conscience.

Through it all, as well, Congress (and the courts too) showed abysmal strategic ignorance and lack of conscience. Because evidently, the country’s voters place many truly wrong people into important positions.

Consider one key episode, the 9/11 attacks and attendant national outrage.

No doubt, for America 9/11 was the source of a widespread, limbic-level sense of wanting to go somewhere and totally smash things up. That’s entirely understandable. And in that sense, America’s attacks on Afghanistan in late 2001 should have been, at most, a punitive expedition concerning Osama bin Laden.

Instead, Afghanistan alone morphed and mission-crept into a foolish effort of so-called “nation building.” And not even the Chinese method of Belt-and-Road nation-building, with highways and power lines, etc.

No, America in Afghanistan was more of a Vietnam-redux. The idea was somehow to pacify people who didn’t want us to be there, and if that didn’t work then destroy the place in order to rebuild it. Meanwhile, one can almost hear the echoes of at least one old bromide from the 1960s, that, “If we don’t fight ‘em over there, we’ll have to fight ‘em here.”

Through it all, and again in a Vietnam-like manner, Afghanistan was not so much a 20-year war for America, as a one-year war fought 20 times by a corps of officers, senior non-commissioned officers and civilian government personnel and contractors who made careers out of it.

At the end of the day, is anyone really surprised that smart, well-resourced adversaries paid attention and came up with an entire spectrum of methods to confront U.S. warfighting?

The Next War…

Come the next real war, U.S. forces won’t own space or the skies. Won’t run the electromagnetic spectrum. Won’t have unfettered communications. Won’t control logistics. Won’t have good targeting data. Won’t have air supremacy, let alone sea supremacy or undersea dominance. And many of the expensive weapon systems simply won’t work in the degraded environment.

Apparently though, it took an internal wargame in the Department of Defense to drive home the point.

Or at least, to illustrate the problem such that no less than one of the most senior generals in the military came out of the closet to admit that America’s super-expensive military complex can’t win the next big war.

On the bright side, perhaps it’s a true wakeup call that translates to progress.

On that note, I rest my case.

That’s all for now… Thank you for subscribing and reading.

Best wishes…

Byron W. King

Conclusion

Ugh.

This article is saying what I have been saying for years now. America is not going to just lose a battle here, or a battle there. The entire military excursion will be a Waterloo event.

It will be the Stalingrad of all Pacific military forces.

And then, it will move to America.

China will not act alone. Russia will assist.

Then with total dominance of the air by the victorious Asian combined forces will turn all of America into a modern-day Syria. While I do not expect that China will give any mercy, they however, will realistically set up conditions where starving, armed Americans, will kill each other for moldy turnip rinds.

DF-41

And that’s only with conventional weapons.

Right now we are watching as the Pentagon experts and generals are telling the evil neocons in Washington DC to shut up.

Now, I don’t know if they will be successful…

…after all those evil psychopaths in Washington are crafty, deluded, and living in some kind of insanity (possibly drug induced) that gives this illusion of unaccountability.

Xu Guangyu, a retired major general and now a strategy researcher, said that DF-16 has a strike range of more than 1,000 kilometers, filling the gap that previously existed with the absence of a medium-range ballistic missile in the PLA’s arsenal. He said the missile also is able to reach Okinawa, a Japanese island about 400 km from China’s Diaoyu Islands.
Shi Hong, executive editor of Shipborne Weapons, said the DF-16 was developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp based on the DF-11 short-range ballistic missile and can carry a warhead of at least 500 kg. The missile has a strike accuracy as good as that of a cruise missile, Shi said. It is also able to maneuver in its final stage to penetrate enemy defensive firepower, he said.

Regardless to what those evil psychopathic war-monsters want, I can well imagine that a repeat of what happened last year in 2020.

This was when Trump ordered the Naval Armada to the South China Sea. Eight assault carrier steamed to China. They were intended to seize some outlying Chinese held islands in the inner island defensive chain.

But you know, nothing happened.

The commanders refused. They steamed home, and President Trump fired the leadership.

Again, we can expect, that reasonable leadership will refuse to engage either China or Russia or both.

They will refuse.

Just like late Summer 2020. And the sitting American President will fire his military staff for refusing to die.

The Chinese are subtle.

They speak softly and kindly and carefully.

During the “heat” of the anti Uighur Muslim “issue”, China responded with a video. It is below. Pay attention to the array of messages that are subtly embedded within it.

The video below is an Army unit located in Xingjiang to defend against insurgency movements by the United States to block the BRI. 

If you note, those are not SCUD missiles. Aside from a host of Medium Range ballistic missiles (DF-21 and DF-26), and if you look carefully, the DF-5C, additionally there are also DF-31A and DF-41 weapons presented as part of the defensive force. 

What is China trying to say?

Along with the destruction of nearby military bases, will be the simultaneous destruction of major American cities. These missiles are long range city-flatteners.

Look at the MESSAGE that China is telegraphing.

Those are nuclear (and neutron bomb) MIRV, hyper-velocity, (with artificial intelligence), long-range, ICBMs.  the DF-31A is capable of hitting every major American city on the West Coast. These are latest generation, decades ahead of America, nuclear missiles that America has no defense against.

If you start moving military against China, China will devastate the American heartland. Any surviving leadership will have to hide in the impoverished American ghettos to avoid the nuclear carpet bombing that will result.

The Chinese do not play.

A final comment

Chinese media has announced (last month), ever since the US pulled that aircraft landing stunt in Taiwan, that not only are military units fully armed with real munitions, and everything (EVERYTHING!) is out of storage, but they fly and run “HOT”.

There’s a high probably the next US / UK provocation will result in “accidental” deaths.

Nothing quite ruins your day like global thermonuclear war. Especially when you are on the losing side.

In America, it’s no longer an issue of “one day the common many will rise up against the evil leadership”.

Ai! It has become something else.

It has become “we need to hang these Washington DC bastards before they get everyone killed.”

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings

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