Ah…
"Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans." Robert Kennedy from a speech at the University of Kansas on March 18, 1968
Just a thought, from HERE.
Hardcore survivalists and preppers cherish the lone-wolf scenario. It goes something like this: The world is crumbling and cities collapse into mayhem. We,the preppers are well equipped for the end of the world. We are the last chance of humanity since we can withstand anything faith throws at us. Our society is no longer built on everyday trust and neighborly reliance, but do you want to be alone in the end?
Do you really want to be alone for the end of the world?
The world around us is full of unfriendly strangers and nobody cares anymore about the person next to him. If the other guy doesn’t take care of himself…well, then to hell with him and his legacy. It’s a dog eat dog world and only the fittest survive. The media keeps bombarding us with nothing but violence, tragedy and sadness. It’s us or them!
And it is true, in any major, long-term disaster, preppers and survivalists could face deadly threats from desperate and unprepared people. The only problem when it comes to “them” is that they are much more numerous than us and a lone-wolf scenario doesn’t work like in the movies. There’s no one to yell “Cut!” when a scene goes wrong and life doesn’t give you do-overs.
The fact is, for most of rural people, one of the biggest things they’re going to face in the event of SHTF is this: a need to join forces with others who are in the same boat and who share similar beliefs.
We need a circle of well-prepared friends more than we need five guns and a ton of ammo. We need to make connections with trust-worthy people for when the world crumbles. And, we need to do this because there is a preparedness truth that some of us chose to ignore: no matter how well prepared we think we are, we will always lack something. It may be something obvious or it may be something obscure, it may be something we had that got lost or damaged, or used up. Don’t fool yourself, we will lack something no matter how good we think we have it.
You can’t wait for FEMA or the National Guard when a disaster strikes and you can’t count on luck when the world becomes a dark place. Luck won’t prevent the grocery store to run out of food and luck won’t keep you safe for the end of the world.
You need to start preparing to count on each other. You need to get together with neighbors and friends and enhance each other’s preparedness. And it’s not something you have to do out of altruism, but out of pure practicality. In the end the goal is the same: we’ll all be better off when SHTF.
“What can I do to connect with my friends and neighbors when it comes to preparedness matters?”, you may ask.
Well, you shouldn’t go running and tell just anybody what do you stock, where do you keep it and what guns and ammo you have stockpiled, and then ask them” Now show me yours”.
You can start with small steps and if some real disaster has recently struck your area, the aftermath gives a perfect opportunity to go to your neighbors and do a mutual check. Find out what they run out of, where they screwed up and what they can do differently next time. You can get this info just by discussing with your neighbors without appearing to organize any sort of preparedness league. You can even make agreements with them: for example you could store some extra gasoline for them if they help you with medical emergencies or anything else that you might need during a disaster.
People are always worried about something because self-preservation is part of our nature. You have an opening to discuss about preparedness and you need to approach the people from your community. Don’t tell them you are preparing for the end of the world as they might think you are crazy. Bring up for debate topics related to disasters/threats that are happening or are most likely to happen.
You can start practicing mutual preparedness:
Instead of selling your farm produce to your neighbors, start seeing what those neighbors might have to barter for them. Barter will be more useful than money in a serious disaster. It gives you a chance to know the people you are bartering with.
Get involved in a food co-op because you can always establish a cooperative network based on the main element: food. They may be open to the idea of organically grown crops, hormone-free meats or bulk food purchases on a budget.
If somebody in your circle of preppers has a pick-up truck and others don’t, the truck owner can offer to transport goods for a small fee or for barter. The same goes with any other type of machines that can be used by the community.
You can find some neighbors and sign up for and commute to skill-building classes together. It doesn’t matter if you learn about first aid, home canning or defensive shotgun use as long as you do it with somebody else. It will help you stay committed and motivated to the activity but also to the people.
Start offering to do things for your neighbors and ask them to do things for you. Do this even if you can actually take care of everything yourself. It’s a good way of bonding and getting to know each other’s skills. It provides a good opportunity to learn whom you can trust and whether you yourself are trustworthy.
If somebody close to you, especially relatives, feels unable to prepare for a disaster, see how you can change that by helpfulness and gentle persuasion. When you talk with certain people about preparedness, they feel overwhelmed, too unskilled or too poor to handle it all. Everybody is vulnerable to something and being prepared doesn’t mean you have to become an expert prepper. You have to make sure you increase your odds of survival and you have a fighting chance. Having a bug-out bag will make a huge difference. Knowing how to fortify your home will keep your family safe. Everyone can start with small steps if the mindset is there.
Garage sales are good occasions to know your neighbors and to stock up on preparedness supplies. You will be able to discuss with people from your community and know more about their prepping plans. If someone sells a camp stove because he never used it and thinks he never will, then that person might not be into prepping. But if someone sells a similar item because he got a better model, you might have some common topics to discuss. It’s all about knowing your neighbors and you can tell a lot about a person based on the stuff he owns.
With those you must trust, talk openly about others in your community who might become a problem in harsh times. Those who are clueless about fending for themselves will get desperate and might become real troublemakers. Thieves or chronic freeloaders will bring down the community. Everyone deserves a chance, but I’m willing to consider it for people who ask for one in the first place and are willing to work for it, rather than for those who “make a mistake” and ask for forgiveness and a second chance. When SHTF, there will be no luxury such as second chances and you must act first in order to survive the fall.
Safety in numbers will save you and the community. Your home could be on a map outlining evacuation routes for your area, the government could make your propriety an assembly area just for the fact that it is situated above the flooding zone. Regardless the scenario, there could be many who will come your way and most of “them” won’t have peaceful intentions. What then? You can’t keep up your fort for long if you are all alone. Joining a militia or having a group of trustworthy friends will help you deal with the masses. If some will try their luck with a just one person, nobody will be foolish enough to go against a number of well-armed individuals.
Another aspect that we need to consider during a crisis is what to do with friends and family that come rushing in, knowing you’ve been prepping for anything and your home is a safe haven. I know a few people that said “if the end of the world comes we’ll just move in with you”. Although it sounds like a joke, I’m pretty sure it isn’t. There will always be someone who knocks at your door during a time of need and you just can’t turn your back on them. They are the “friendly freeloaders” and although you are well intended, odds are you won’t be able to take care of them forever. This is why they need to be integrated in your local community and here is where it gets tricky.
If you are a lone wolf you won’t be supported by your community. Even worse, you will be seen as a threat if you bring in outsiders when things turn bad. However, if you have a good reputation amongst your peers, if you have the same interests. If they know how the skills of someone can help the entire community, it will be much easier to integrate others and give them a job insides the community. It is important to show how the new arrivals can help everyone and it can be done much easier if there is room for debate.
A last word
No man is an island and we should make sure we have someone to spend our time with, when the world around us dies. The government will tell you to wait for their help, to be passive and rely on experts and outsiders. They will ask you to behave like dependent children and wait for big daddy when in reality, you have people you can trust around you. People, who can help us out or, if need be, take us in.
Would you rather wait alone or turn to others, your friends and neighbors, when the world ends?
What’s It Like To Have A Photographic Memory?
I have a semi-photographic memory in that I can remember the content of most anything I’ve read and sometimes visually remember where the information is on the page or how far into the book/article it is. I don’t generally remember the names of the author or possibly the article/book but can usually find it with the specific information I do remember. I have almost no autobiographical/experiential memory ability and that usually feels like an unfair price to pay
What is it like? It’s complicated.
There are certainly positive ramifications:
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- In college; I’ve never had to study as long as I took notes during lectures and I didn’t have to buy textbooks unless they were going to be used for independent reading and/or were interesting enough for me to want to buy them. I usually get 100% or thereabout on any test and if I miss any questions its usually because I missed a class or got lazy and didn’t take notes one day. I don’t experience any test anxiety because I know I will get an A. I can answer most people’s questions with some degree of certainty and back up my response with a reference to the research or source of my answer. I can write research papers more quickly than most people because I have the info in my head and know which references I need to collect in order to cite/back up my ideas. Professors tend to enjoy me as a student because I am knowledgeable about the topics and can participate in well-informed and interesting conversations about their work/research. I easily generate original ideas for projects and papers because I can remember and connect information from different fields and studies related to the topic.
- In regular life; I don’t get lost (photographic navigational memory). I can provide accurate information to friends and family about topics ranging from legal problems, medical problems, psychological problems, investments, business, parenting, nutrition, politics, fashion, etiquette, art, crafts, and anything else I’ve been interested enough to research (I research for fun and relaxation). I know how to fix things. I’m useful to have around and this helps me socially. I can generally come up with a relevant and amusing quote or anecdote from history or current events to amuse people with, I rock at karaoke, and no one can beat me at word games (except my brother whose strategy skills blow me out of the water during scrabble).
It’s not all good though, on a personal and emotional level its quite costly.
- In college; I feel guilty about getting As on tests I didn’t study for when really hard workers struggle to pass. I feel guilty about ruining the curve in classes that have one (and sometimes negotiate with the teacher to be removed from the curve equation, even if it might lower my scores). I hate working in groups because I end up doing more work when I have to not only carry more of the burden but also figure out how to make sure everyone looks like they’ve done an equal amount of work on the project. I hate working in groups because it takes me more time to complete projects when I generally have to spend a fair amount of time providing my group-mates with the information I have that they don’t. I am popular as a group member (particularly with average and below average peers) because working with me pretty much guarantees an A on the project– this is a disadvantage to me because I’d rather work alone but am afraid of hurting others’ feelings if I refuse to work with them. I am unpopular as a group member with better students (usually those who actually work hard to earn their grades) because I choose unconventional projects and make them very anxious with my disorganization and procrastination. I have TERRIBLE study skills because I’ve never had to develop them and I fear it will one day bite me in the ass. I am a crazy perfectionist because I know what I am capable of and will punish myself severely for failing to get an A on a test or project. I find it hard to make friends because many people dislike me since I have an “unfair” advantage and don’t have to work to get the grades they struggle to approach. I find it hard to make friends because many people who like me in spite of my “unfair” advantage find it difficult to relate to me on a personal level and seem to feel like I have super-powers or am otherwise alien. I find it hard to make friends because I don’t fit in with most other people and they find it hard to comprehend that I research for fun and would rather spend a Friday night intensely discussing potential solutions to unsolvable problems than going out to drink and socialize with random people.Some professors dislike me because I ask questions that they don’t have the answers to or related to research on the topic that they haven’t yet read. Some professors dislike me because they feel like I am “too big for my britches,” and I often feel guilty for asking questions during class (so many questions) that are related to the topic but beyond the scope of what is being presented and often beyond the ability of others to understand when they haven’t accumulated as much information as I have about the subject.
- At work: I get bored easily because I have an insatiable drive for new information and most jobs are repetitive. I piss off my managers because they often feel like I’m making them “look dumb” and I don’t know how to keep my mouth shut if I have pertinent information. I piss off my managers because my coworkers often come to me for information and assistance instead of them. I have trouble working in groups because I usually have too much more information and I can easily dominate the discussion or make people feel like I’m being pushy. I have trouble working with other people because I often have more knowledge about any given topic we’re working on and its not actually a good thing to “always be right” about things because you can’t not remember what you remember. I have trouble making friends at work because many peers find me odd, difficult to understand, and/or feel like I threaten their chances of advancing as much as they’d like.I have a lot of trouble even deciding on a career path because I am “really good at” (and really educated about) too many subjects and in order to choose one path I would have to give up my dreams and passion for the other paths I’m not taking. At 38 I haven’t yet been able to establish a track record or formal evidence of expertise in any particular field because my memory (and number of topics I’m passionate about) makes me have high aptitude for too many things and prevents me from being able to focus on one thing long enough to make tangible progress. Worst of all, I have difficulty following through on projects because my memory is such that thinking through the problem (and figuring it out) seems like having done it completely and I then find it hard to muster motivation to take the time to finish it in real life.
- The personal costs are what I hate the most: I have trouble in relationships because I’m “always right” when it comes to facts & information that I’ve accumulated knowledge about (non experiential) and have not yet figured out how to let other people “be right” without compromising my intellectual principles and/or unfairly hoarding information I could have shared. I have trouble finding people who connect with me intellectually because while many people are as or more informed than me in their particular domain of interest it seems impossible to find others who are equally informed in a wide range of domains of knowledge. I have trouble connecting with others because I often end up feeling guilty or becoming aware of the frightening potential of manipulating or unduly influencing others when they unquestioningly accept my input as fact due to my wealth of information about everything that I am compelled to learn about– It’s frightening to feel responsible for being infallible when you know you actually are not.I am disorganized because everything I experience internally or externally triggers a memory and demands that I contemplate the connection /relationship and I am rendered effectively incapable of reliably noticing the organization/cleanliness of my home or office. I lose track of time and days because I am distracted by associative memories triggered by anything; I forget to pay my bills & cannot properly manage money because I am usually stuck in my head and lose track of time or lose the bills in the clutter I’m failing to notice. Other problems associated with being constantly reminded of something that is potentially related to whatever: I can’t keep a schedule, I forget to eat, I forget to shower (or that I forgot to eat or shower), I forget important dates like birthdays and anniversaries, I often have insomnia, I lose everything (If I were a man I’d be very grateful not to have a detachable penis), and I am always anxious that I’ve forgotten some important deadline or other task I usually forget.I can’t remember experiences like my 21st birthday, special times with my daughter (I think its a trade off for my other kind of memory ability), my first kiss or the first time I had sex, friends and lovers I have fallen out of contact with (I somehow completely forget many people which makes me sad), or most any personal accomplishment that would probably look really good on my resume.
I feel really guilty about not being grateful for my “gifts.” I feel really guilty for not using my ability as much as I could or should have. From childhood, people have told me that I am responsible for using my gifts to improve the world, I don’t feel I have honored that responsibility and so feel guilty for letting “the world” down (irrational, I know). I fear I am arrogant; I fear that others think I’m arrogant. I struggle to achieve greater humility but have little success on that count. I sometimes worry that I’m a “bad person” because I have failed to use my abilities or live up to the potential this memory gives me.
The single worst thing for me, though, is that I feel like I’m not quite human. I don’t have many experiences others have, have not developed skills that others have developed because they require repetition or other tools to remember information, and I have many experiences that others do not have due to the differences in how my brain works. If I could feel like I “belong” somewhere or that I am really “connected” to another human being then I might feel like all the other negatives are worth it for the benefits I experience.
I don’t know if this actually answers “what it is like” to have this type of memory because it seems more like I’m simply listing the effects it has on my life. However, I don’t know what its like to NOT have this memory of mine and since this type of question requires a comparison between the two experiences… I think the question could only REALLY be answered by someone who has both had and not had this type of memory ability.
– Juliette Creech
Kartoffelkloese (Potato Dumplings)
Kartoffelklöße or kartoffelknödel are traditional German potato dumplings that are consumed all over the country but are especially popular in Bavaria, Thuringia, and the Rhineland area. Depending on the variation, the dumplings may consist of cooked potatoes, raw potatoes, or a combination of both.
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 pound butter, melted
- 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
Instructions
- Boil potatoes in their skins; drain, peel, and grate or put through a food mill or ricer.
- Beat eggs and add flour, onion and seasonings; beat mixture into the potatoes with a wire whisk to make them as fluffy as possible.
- Roll potato dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Drop them into boiling salted water and simmer about 10 minutes. Drain well.
- Pour the butter over the dumplings and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Serves 4 to 6.
Air Space Over Havre, Montana Closed for “National Defense” – Fighter Jets Scrambled from Multiple Bases
The Federal Aviation Administration has closed the air space over and around Havre, Montana under the designation “National Defense.” U.S. Fighter Jets have been scrambled from THREE separate military bases.
Flash traffic came in to me stating the following: “Portland based F-15s just scrambled out on a northbound heading”
Those jets were scrambled out of the Portland Air National Guard base.
Additional fighters scrambled out of McChord Field.
Shortly thereafter, the ALERT TANKERS were sent into the air from Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB).
Flights in/around Seattle-area appear to be operating as normal. Overflights appear to be unaffected as well.
RUM-INT (RUMOR) Another unidentified object over Vancouver — UNCONFIRMED
A new NOTAM has been issued by the FAA for an area over Havre, MT. The airspace has been defined as “National Defense Airspace.” Unclear if it is related to another “unknown” object. It appears below:
NEW: reports of fighters scrambled from Malmstrom AFB in Montana.
USAF KC-135R mid-air refueling craft is on task just outside Great Falls, MT. Took off from Fairchild AFB.
FAA statement: “The FAA closed some airspace in Montana to support Department of Defense activities. Contact NORAD for additional information.”
Aircraft on Billings Approach being notified of closed airports to the north to do “National Security”
The NOTAM issued in northern Montana are about 50 by 50 nautical miles
Rep. Rosendale confirmed an object in the airspace. They will observe and ground the object in the morning…
The NOTAM has been pulled, effective 0112 UTC.
Billings-Logan International Airport and Havre City Airport have reportedly been reopened to incoming and outgoing Commercial Aircraft.
Canada closes air space – fighter jets scrambled again – ANOTHER Unidentified Object – Ontario! ! !
Canada has closed a portion of its air space over Ontario for yet ANOTHER “Unidentified Object.” Fighter jets have been scrambled. . . live updates below . . .
Canada closes airspace near Tobermory in Ontario due to “active air defense operation”.
5:48 PM EST —
Canada has just Closed a section of Airspace over the Great Lakes and near the U.S/Canadian Border due to an “Active Air Defense Operation.”
The NOTAM over Lake Huron appears to quite large and cover almost 1/4th of the Lake
Just north east of Tobermory, Ontario is Canadian Armed Forces 22 Wing which is their Space surveillance unit which interacts with US Space counterparts
6:03 PM EST —
Air Refueling Tanker now circling over Lake Huron.
Turned around and now heading back north toward the NOTAM
US Military has just “Decommissioned” another object over Lake Huron. The U.S. military has shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron.
An F-16 shot down the object over Lake Huron, according to a congressional aid who says the object was octagon shaped and was at an altitude of 20,000ft, posing a threat to civilian air traffic.
Pentagon used an F-16 fighter jet, armed with a Sidewinder missile, the same missile used on the other three objects.
Four of these incident in eight days.
Three in just the last three days.
PENTAGON SAYS OBJECT SHOT DOWN ON SUNDAY WAS A THREAT “DUE TO ITS POTENTIAL SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITIES” PENTAGON SAYS OBJECT FLEW IN PROXIMITY TO SENSITIVE U.S. MILITARY SITES
Search Engine Sleuthing
How Tightly-Controlled is Your Favourite Media Outlet?
Most of us have a favourite media outlet that we browse from time to time to get a sense of what’s going on in the world.
I’ve found it useful to use a media outlet’s own search engine to determine a) how often that news outlet suppresses important stories, and b) what kind of stories get suppressed.
Some stories are easier to search than others.
To illustrate how this is so, let’s consider four important stories from the past week that often didn’t make it into the mainstream press, and how easy or hard it would be to search for them.
Seymour Hersh accused the United States of destroying the Nordstream pipelines. ‘Seymour Hersh’ is a name that is both unusual and famous. It’s likely that his name will be in any article title – so the search engine will find it. “Nordstream” is an excellent keyword – neither too wide nor too narrow.
Tom Jefferson was the lead researcher of a Cochrane Report meta-analysis of 67 random controlled trials that found that masks were essentially useless in preventing COVID or the flu. ‘Tom Jefferson’ and ‘Cochrane Report’ are both common enough names that the search engines will find a large number of articles completely unrelated to what you want. The key word ‘masks’ may find what you’re looking for, but will likely find a great number of unrelated stories.
Moonofalabama has reported that the ‘unidentified object’ the US shot down over Alaska last Friday with a $400,000 Sidewinder missile was likely a US weather balloon. This story has two strikes against it. It appears in a blog – which mainstream media only rarely use as a source. And the keywords ‘American weather balloon’ will generate a lot of garbage if the site looks separately for ‘American’, ‘weather,’ and ‘balloon’.
A New Pre-print correlation study from lead author Denis G. Rancourt published by ResearchGate has estimated that COVID vaccines have killed 13 million (mostly old and frail) people worldwide. Denis Rancourt has an unusual name, but he’s not famous enough to appear in a title. Notice also that it’s a pre-print – In my experience, the mainstream media won’t touch a finding that controversial with a ten-foot pole before it has been peer-reviewed.
Given the above, I think it is wise to limit your search for censored stories to those stories that search engines will likely find.
I would add the further caveat that I have found the search engines for print media to be more reliable than the search engines for TV networks. A good back-up check for TV networks is to search Youtube using a good keyword and the network’s name, e.g., searching Youtube with keywords ‘Foxnews + Nordstream’ will find a story when Foxnews’ own search engine does not.
Finally, if you can’t believe your favorite news channel has censored an important story, use the advanced search features on your favourite search engine, for example, search for stories which contain all of ‘CBC’ + ‘Hersh’ + ‘Nordstream’. (The caveat on this latter approach is that I’ve found that Google in particular sometimes has trouble finding materials which might embarrass either the CDC or the Biden administration.)
To find out how many stories your favorite media censors, you’ll first need to find some frequently censored stories.
My favourite source for such stories is Moonofalabama.org. Bernard is very careful about vetting carefully any stories he selects. (Today he gave Seymour Hersh hell for using unnamed sources, even though he acknowledges that Hersh’s past track record has been remarkably good) Bernard usually only does one story a day on a wide variety of geopolitical issues, so he won’t overload your inbox.
Dr. Robert Malone is good at covering medical issues jncluding COVID, and he usually only posts once a day. (Twice a week he sends out a post of cartoons – but you can ignore them.)
Some of the sources below will overload your inbox if you subscribe, but will often have important stories suppressed by the mainstream media:
Zerohedge is technically an alternative investment site, but they are probably your single best source of stories the mainstream has censored.
Matt Taibbi at Racket News is always interesting and often covers stories that others censor.
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism covers a wide range of stories about economics and geopolitics.
Larry Johnson at sonar21.com is an American veteran who covers Ukraine and geopolitics really well.
Caitlin Johnstone has good pieces about narrative control and geopolitics, and usually only does one post a day if you want to subscribe.
The Vigilant Fox covers health and COVID stories, as do Steve Kirsch, Dr. Vinay Prasad and Stephanie Brail at Wholistic.
For suppressed Canadian stories, try Rebel News.
My suggestion is you do a quick check of all these sites and bookmark the ones you find most interesting and/or trustworthy. After that, surf your chosen sites from time to time.
Each time you find a story you think is important but didn’t see on your usual news source, use the search engine from your favorite media site to see if they did cover the story. My suggestion is you keep a list of the stories they censored – in case you decide to send them a complaint letter at some point in the future.
It’s also useful to know your particular news outlet’s strengths and weaknesses. Some websites are great on alternative medical stories but lousy on geopolitics, or vice versa.
A second way you can use search engines is to do a survey of a wide selection of major media, either nationally or globally, and keep track of how often, and where, a major story got censored.
Let’s use the Seymour Hersh Nordstream posting as an example. Here’s a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who’s very first Substack post presents very detailed information on how the United States blew up the Nordstream pipelines. I would argue that when a journalist this esteemed makes a charge this important and this detailed, it clearly deserves media coverage, even if we can’t be sure that the charge is true.
In a way, it’s a good example to use to see how tightly a particular media outlet is controlled. If an outlet censors in only limited ways, the outlet will cover the story in a way that is highly skeptical or dismissive, perhaps describing Hersh as a ‘blogger.’ This at least lets the audience know that the story exists. A higher level of censorship is to suppress the story completely.
Looking at various media websites, you can see where, and how tightly this story has been censored by using the media websites’ own search engines. (Many media websites will often let you search their website even when they restrict site access to subscribers.)
So, if you’re wondering why more people aren’t upset about Seymour Hersh’s charges that the US blew up the Nordstream pipelines, the answer may be as simple as: THEY DON’T KNOW!
Having done a lot of search engine sleuthing, I would offer the feedback that the pattern seen in the table above is fairly typical of most controversial stories.
Countries of the former British Empire typically display a higher level of censorship than the rest of the world. (If one were to infer power relationships from censorship patterns, one could be forgiven for wondering if Canada, England, and Australia are American colonies!)
It’s also not surprising that the English language Indian websites Wion and Hindustan Times covered this story. I find that freedom of the press is an order of magnitude higher in India than it is in North America.
One important caveat on the above table is that many news outlets restrict their coverage of controversial subject to opinion columnists. About half of the news outlets above reported the Hersh story only in a single opinion column. I suspect the large majority of those audiences won’t have seen the story.
Even lousy media websites are not without value. I browse CBC News from time to time to remind myself that a good chunk of the Canadian population relies heavily on a highly-scripted and controlled news source.
Censoring the news impoverishes our map of reality. I suspect we may see some major anti-NATO protests in Europe over the next few weeks. If there’s a snap election in Germany any time soon, we can expect the anti-NATO AfD Party to do extremely well.
This will be surprising and confusing to most Americans, because most Americans will not have heard of Hersh’s charges of American covert military action against the Nordstream pipelines. The actions of Europeans would be much more comprehensible to Americans if Americans knew as much about the charges made against their Government as many Europeans do.
PS: I suspect a lot of readers of this site may find themselves dismissed as ‘conspiracy theorists’ by their more straitlaced friends. If you have friends who refuse to believe that the CBC, or CNN, or the New York Times would ever censor an important story, forward this post to them with a challenge.
Ask them to surf some of the alternate sites listed above, looking for stories that they find shocking but credible. Have them then do the search engine test to see if their preferred media is an trustworthy as they think it is.
Who knows, they might eventually admit to you that it probably is advisable to get your news of the world from more than one source.
NORAD Gives Notice of Air Defense Exercise Around Washington, DC, Set for Tuesday!
The announcement comes after a fourth “unidentified Object” is shot down over North America.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, (NORAD) will conduct an air defense exercise on Tuesday, February 14, between midnight and 2:30 a.m. EST, according to officials, around the Washington, D.C. area.
Officials said some flights may take place at 2,500 feet, making them visible from the ground, and if weather interferes with operations, they will commence the next day at the same time.
The agency said it conducts routine exercises that include a variety of scenarios, whether it is a hijacking, response to unknown aircraft, or airspace restriction violations, and that all exercises are controlled and planned out.
(HT Remark: I don’t recall them ever announcing these exercises around the White House before. Strange.)
U.S. Says Americans “SHOULD LEAVE RUSSIA IMMEDIATELY”
The US State Department has begun telling Americans they should “LEAVE RUSSIA IMMEDIATELY.”
The United States Embassy in Moscow has released a notice saying “US citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately. Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions. Do not travel to Russia” – US embassy in Moscow
Direct Link to this notice on official US Gov’t We Site HERE
Hal Turner Remark
This is a tripwire. This is what the US does when it knows military action (or Terrorist Attack) is planned against a specific country.
In fact, the notice specifically mentions terrorism by saying “Terrorist groups, both transnational and local terrorist organizations, and individuals inspired by extremist ideology continue plotting possible attacks in Russia. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs and systems, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.”
This has lead Russian Authorities to conclude the US is planning actual Terrorist attacks inside Russia — as was done in Syria.
All-in-all, today’s notice is among the worst developments possible for the situation. War approaches. Prepare.
UPDATE 9:17 AM EST —
“Ukrainian delegation left the negotiations and STOPPED communications [In Turkey] with Russia, at the command from above” – Dmitry Peskov
Confessions Of The Son Of A Billionaire
How much is your father worth?
My father is worth just shy of $2 Billion liquid, and he’s on a rapid trajectory be worth significantly more.
What do you do for a living?
As for my current job, I work a generic IT position with a standard salary – nothing that will produce the kind of fortune my father’s work has.
What kind of car do you drive?
A 2014 Subaru Outback. Prior to that, a very-used ’98 Outback. Probably not the answer you were expecting!
As for my parents, the primary cars at each property are a Mercedes GLS and SL Roadster; they have lots of others, but nothing too fancy. Mostly old Chevy and Ford cars primarily driven by the various employees they have.
What do you do for work and why did you go into that field?
I’m a computer systems adminsitrator for a small company because it’s what I enjoy and it doesn’t require a large amount of non-immediate work. I didn’t inherit my dad’s strong ambition and drive, unfortunately.
Do you think having the trust fund played a role in your lack of ambition and drive?
The truth is that I didn’t know about the trust fund until I got married, so it had little influence over my upbringing. I knew that my parents were well-off and perhaps assumed that that would come to us someday, but nothing was explicitly stated about it as a kid. So if it did affect my ambition and drive, it was more subconscious. It’s certainly possible, though it didn’t affect my siblings. I’m more inclined to think of it being how I’m neurologically wired, just as my dad is wired to be a workaholic but less emotionally engaging. But it’s hard to say. I certainly do blame myself for my lack of sustained ambition, most of the time.
Do your nearest and dearest know your worth, potential or otherwise?
Well obviously my wife knows! We have one pair of friends who at least know my parents are very wealthy, since they’ve stayed with us at one of their properties. Everyone else (hopefully) assumes we have little more than the middle-class lifestyle that we provide for ourselves.
Wait so does your father not share his wealth with you?
We enjoy their material assets, get awesome gifts for Christmas, and each have a trust fund of $28K/year. But to have a comfortable life and income, we have to have our own jobs. For now, at least.
Did your father insist on a prenup for your wife to sign before marriage?
They suggested a prenup, but it didn’t happen. My wife hates their wealth and wants no part in it so I’m not concerned about her trying to run away with it.
How is your relationship with your parents?
My relationship with them is complicated. I appreciate what they’ve provided, but the emotional connection has been poor. I wish I could feel closer to them, but I just don’t think they’re wired for that kind of relationship. Dad’s a workaholic, Mom’s a socialite, I’m the kid who didn’t do everything perfectly and felt like the pariah for a decade. Things are better now, but conversations are rarely more than business and small talk.
What kind of schools did you go to? Were your peers wealthy?
I went to a private school for grade school, a boarding school for high school, and then private university which I eventually dropped out of. Since the familial wealth grew as I did, the peer group evolved over time; but I never understood the extent of their or our worth until recently. My perspective was more than a bit off growing up.
At what point in your life did you realize that your parents are very, very rich?
Far later than I probably should have. I didn’t really realize just how out of touch I was until around 23 or 24. Granted, we were worth significantly less when I was younger, but still, many things that I took for granted were definitely not common.
Do you think you grew up in a bubble, so to speak, unaware of things those of more modest wealth take for granted? Any funny or embarrassing moments?
I think so. Generally I was more naïve than anything. I can’t think of any specifically funny moments, but there are a lot of things that I roll my eyes about where I was much more flippant about the price of things. I was just a kid who was excited by certain things, but I didn’t realize that talking about them so much was likely very awkward for others who were adults and yet had experienced far less. I remember asking the person who maintains some of our land what his favorite place to travel to was, and when he told me that he had never flown on a plane in his life, I suddenly realized that there was a very big difference in how we grew up. I felt quite awkward and guilty about that one.
Do your parents pressure you to want more? Make more money?
Well I do think that my anxiety comes from my dad wanting me to do better, in part. As I mentioned elsewhere, I dropped out of college; I did terribly in school – had high overall intelligence and tested well but just failed to put in the necessary sustained effort. I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD and the difference since starting treatment has been profound, but I wouldn’t dare tell my father that because a) he’s convinced that it’s a fake condition, and b) I doubt the diagnosis myself because it just feels like too convenient of an excuse. I’ve been taught that there’s no excuse for not succeeding other than not working hard enough, and by that metric, I’ve largely been a failure. My dad’s success and his hope for my success has been an enormous burden, but I think at this point he’s generally “given up” on me having the same drive as him.
Do you have other siblings?
I have siblings, and I get the feeling that they’ve been better-supported financially because they’ve lived their life much more in line with how my parents had planned.
What’s that -one thing- you never got as a kid?
A gaming console. Or as my dad affectionately referred to it, the “Super No-friend-o”. Somehow computer games didn’t fall into that purview though, so I had a top-end desktop and laptop anyway. Didn’t stop me from being obsessed with gaming; the PS2 was the first purchase I made when I started getting my own paycheck.
Seems like even though you had connections to wealth, it wasn’t used as a magic wand to get you shiny things all the time. Did you learn the value of money and earning, over just “having” money?
Sort of. We (my siblings and I) certainly didn’t have carte blanche, and I’m self-sufficient currently outside of a growing and accessible trust fund; but they have a “what’s mine is yours” mentality when it comes to enjoying their homes and possessions, which are plentiful. As we speak, my wife and I are staying in one of their massive homes for a stress-free weekend, and everything from the cars to the cook is at our disposal. These days I’ve never asked for something that they’ve said “no” to, but I’ve never tried to push the limits.
Are the other homes always “staffed” even if your family isn’t there, or is it a more “on-call” situation?
Some of the properties are quite large and require constant upkeep. One is on a farm and has a family living on the property – the husband and wife handle the land and home maintenance, respectively. Some of the properties are in city high-rises and have building staff to take care of them. Then they have their main guy (I have no idea what his official title is but he’s effectively a modern butler valet) who almost always travels with them and handles arrangements to keep their flow as uninterrupted as possible. He also lives in a home provided by my family, right next to one of their “hub” properties.
Do you have any “regular” friends now? What’s a Friday night like for you?
My wife and I are shut-ins and will spend most evenings just watching shows and playing video games together. When we meet up with friends, we meet at the pub or go to one of each others’ houses. A couple times we have taken some friends up to one of my parents’ properties, but only after we’ve come to know them quite well.
But generally, unless I’m with my parents at the time, I live a very standard middle-class lifestyle.
Thoughts on economics and/or politics? Libertarian free market, radical socialism, social democracy, liberal welfare state?
I generally lean conservative/libertarian on fiscal issues, which probably isn’t surprising.
Do you travel a lot ?
I did as a kid, less so now that I have my own income and my own job schedule. Starting around 12 or so, each spring break was spent on another Caribbean island and each summer was spent visiting another country or series of countries. My dad would increasingly joke that our hotels were picked by my mom Googling “Most expensive hotel in ____”; and those trips usually consisted of a private tour guide who would take us everywhere, get us behind velvet ropes at various museums, etc.
I didn’t appreciate how special those trips were as a kid, though I certainly did love them.
What games do you play?
We play special billionaire-only games that you wouldn’t have heard about.
Kidding. We just wrapped up Dishonored 2 and are currently replaying the Bioshock trilogy.
What type of hobbies do you have?
Technology, media, games. I have an awesome home theater which is my biggest piece of personal extravagance.
Please elaborate
Well we squeezed it into our relatively normal house, but it’s a 150″ screen with a 4K projector, seating for eight, Atmos 7.2.4 sound, and a whole lot of soundproofing to keep it contained 😉
I was so close to convincing my dad to put an amazing theater into his newest home, but regrettably he decided that a massive wine cellar was the more prudent option. But at least I get to say that I have a better home theater than him 🙂 Not much that I can beat out the billionaire in, so I’ll take what I can get!
What’s your favorite pop tarts flavor?
Nothing beats brown sugar!
Do you actually eat pop tarts? I don’t just mean pop tarts either. Like, when I imagine rich people eating, I always think of private chefs, or at very least having someone else cook for them in some way. Do you ever just open up the panty and grab something like a box of cereal, or pop tarts, or ramen noodles? Or do you always have other people prepare food for you?
Well at the house where I’m staying at right now, there’s a pantry with Tostitos and Skippy peanut butter, a freezer with Eggos, and there are always a half-dozen Oscar Meyer wieners available for cooking. Of course there are other fancy snacks as well and our freezer is actually mostly full of the meat from a cow and pig we won at a rodeo auction last year, but sometimes you need a quick breakfast or midday snack and it’s not worth having a professional always handling it. Depends on the circumstances.
What’s a problem that billionaires have that we plebians do not?
Child-of-a-billionaire problems include rock-bottom self-esteem and endless guilt.
As for my parents, their problems are a lack of time and a loss of perspective. Worst has probably been their focus on maintaining a social appearance which has come at a significant cost in regards to their relationship with me and my siblings. They spend so much time these days trying to make our family seem perfect that they forget to do the actual things that keep a relationship strong.
Is this more keeping up with the Jones’s or just being scheduled too much to make time? Running an empire is hard work, I don’t envy then the drudgery.
My dad lives to work. He knows he doesn’t need any more money, but it’s when he’s working hard that he’s having the most fun. So for him, it’s just keeping busy. My mom, on the other hand, took our class status as an opportunity to become a major socialite. I participated in literally over a half-dozen debutante events. I felt like a trophy being paraded around, the illusion of our familial excellence masking the superficial relationships we had underneath.
Things are a bit better now since I confronted them on all of this a couple years ago, but still, our relationship is so-so at best and I expect the wealth was a catalyst in that.
You mention that you live a middle class life now and work in a normal job. Are you content with this or do you have plans to get independently wealthy?
I’m not a strong worker. There are things that I’d love to excel at, but I lack the patience and focus to accomplish them. There are many causes and industries which I look forward to financially supporting once I am afforded that lifestyle, but I would be content to just live out my life as I currently do (with more perks, of course) and leave the ambitions to those who are cut out for it.
Why do you work, particularly in mid-range IT? You could be doing anything. Does working feel like waste of time?
The trust is only $28,000/year for the time being. That’s the maximum non-taxable amount and is enough to provide a nice boost without letting us get away comfortably with doing nothing. That will change in the future, but for now, my parents strongly encourage a good work ethic and the value of earning your self-sufficiency. Not to scoff at how valuable that $28,000 has been, of course.
Are you any less miserable than we are?
I have emotional problems like everyone else. But I don’t have to worry about my paycheck, I don’t have to worry about my retirement, I don’t have to worry about supporting my child financially, I don’t have to worry about a medical crisis ruining our family… There are so many burdens that I simply won’t know. I wouldn’t dare make a claim to the same sadness and difficulties that many people deal with.
What are your thoughts on whether money can (or can’t) buy happiness?
I once read that money can’t buy happiness but that it’s a good “unhappiness repellant”, and that seemed like a good way to describe it. There are a lot of things that can cause unhappiness that can be prevented with money: financial issues obviously, health-related crises, and lots of little things. Being able to skip the major airports and take a private jet instead bypasses a major headache!
But money can cause problems too. Especially extreme wealth.
Being given such an extreme amount of wealth creates the burden of managing that wealth properly. You don’t want to be the generation that loses what prior ones have worked so hard to provide. But you also want to do as much good as you can for the world while you have the opportunity.
Most importantly, I’m terrified about raising my kids well. I don’t want to raise spoiled brats, but I have no idea how to both acknowledge our extreme privilege and simultaneously impose a modest lifestyle. There are so many bad examples out there, and we only get one chance to raise them right.
What’s the best thing money can buy?
That’s a profound question to answer which can delve into the philosophical, so I’m just going to modify the question to “what’s your favorite thing your parents have bought?” to keep it simple and light. And to that, it’s almost impossible not to say the private jet. Not because of how comfortable it is, but because of the convenience and time-saving.
We don’t need to show up at the airport 90 minutes early, check our bags, wait in the security line, put our liquids in special containers within containers, then sprint to the gate desperately trying to reach it before the door closes. Instead, we literally drive the car onto the tarmac, let a crewmember carry in the luggage while we take a seat, and are in the air within 10 minutes. The crew is employed by us and is ready to go the moment we pull up. And our dog gets to sit in the leather seat next to us. Usually a meal is provided: shrimp caesar salads, a charcuterie board, a glass of wine, even a steak dinner if we request far enough in advance. And when we land, someone pulls our car around and meets us at on the runway, they put our luggage into the car, and we’re on the road – often much closer to the final destination than a larger airport is.
It is absolutely extravagant, but the reduction in stress and time is so significant that it’s one of their expenses that I absolutely think was worth it.
Schmarrn (Scrambled Pancakes)
It is generally agreed that Schmarrn was first prepared for the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830–1916).
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk or cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Cream butter until frothy, then add, one after another, sugar, egg yolks, salt, flour and milk.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and carefully fold in.
- Melt remaining butter in a cast iron skillet, and pour in batter. Fry on each side until golden brown.
- With 2 forks, chop the resulting pancake.
- Serve on a hot platter sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and garnished with pieces of apple, cherry, seedless raisins or other fruit, sautéed in butter.
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 6 min | Yield: 4 servings
All that shit about web searching and censorship was pretty good.
I spend at least an hour per day scanning the shit. I spend at least an hour per day reading the few pieces that seem worth my time.
What a shitty lying cesspool we live in.
That guy must have a pretty good life.
In my affirmation I say ” I can communicate easily and efficiently with the domain”.
Is this correct or should I add more?
Because the involuntary body movements….they are very confusing. I have tried to break them down in to very simple Yes or No actions but. still Idk and as I write this the signals, I can feel them.
Either way here in Africa we be suffering. Hot summer, very hot summer. Last week there was no water in my place. It only came on Sunday. I bet is gonna be back on Sunday or Saturday.
Prices be going up. Social unrest etc. You know how Africa be.
Sometimes as we access the Non-physical through our dreams I wish not to wake up. Uncertainty I guess. Sometimes so close but yet so far.
Yes, your affirmations are fine.
You are in Africa. It’s geographic location makes it much easier for those in that area to comm. Have PSI, and to do other tasks.
When I see these ufo attacked articles, I now imagine CARET drones or Dmagus flying saucers getting shot down high in the sky, only to be later on rebranded as Chinese or Russian spy craft.
Five firearms and a ton of ammo shared with the five persons mentioned above on a small plot of fertile ground and you have a chance. Only my two bobs worth.