It’s a crazy time. We continue down the path to madness with all these contemporaneous articles for your interest and amusement.
We start with a daily dose of anti-China bullshit…
This is from Vice, found HERE.
You know why this is bullshit, don’t you?
Answer: There are NO phone booths inside of mainland China. None. While there are some in Hong Kong, Mainland China phased them out back around 2001. The few remaining were converted to Wifi hotspots in 2010.
If you do an image search for Chinese phone booths on the internet, you will find old photos, photos of booths in the USA, and Asian countries (not Chinese), and cute designer projects. But in actuality, there are no phone booths in China any longer.
Why use them when you can buy a cheap “burner phone” for under $1 USD?
Safety tested 1958
Russia can trust China as a back to back partner:
Over the past months, European officials have made clear to their Chinese counterparts that active support for Russia in its war of aggression in Ukraine would have serious consequences for the EU-China relationship. At their virtual summit in early April, this message was delivered straight to President Xi Jinping. Last week, all the mainstream parties in Germany signed on to a parliamentary motion threatening Beijing with sanctions if it provided Russia with military support or helped it circumvent Western sanctions. And yet, more than two months after the invasion began, European diplomats are still not convinced that China has fully understood the gravity of the conflict for Europe. “They are still treating Ukraine as a sideshow in the EU-China relationship,” one diplomat told me...
Back on track; 1957
John Lovick’s famous Cajun Deep Fried Turkey (6 min!)
I know that the readership in Europe and Asia will not understand, but Turkey is a staple of life back in the United States. Here is how to make a Cajun “ddep fried” turkey. Um. Um. Good-ya!
Russia Rehearses Nuclear Attack Launched from Kaliningrad Against European/NATO Targets
For perhaps the first time in its recent history, Russia has announced that it is simulating nuclear attacks against EU and NATO countries.
All indications are that Russia’s political and military leadership has decided to go further in Ukraine, risking the application of the “escalation for de-escalation” doctrine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the nuclear strike was simulated by Iskander-M ballistic systems deployed in Kaliningrad.
From there, Russia could hit Poland, Sweden, the Baltic states and Berlin.
According to the statement, Russia has conducted “electronic launches” of Iskander mobile ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads near the Russian border with EU members Lithuania and Poland.
"Russian forces have exercised single and multiple strikes against targets such as missile systems, airports, defense infrastructure, military equipment and command posts,"
…the statement said. The units involved also carried out …
"actions in conditions of radioactivity and chemical contamination".
More than 100 soldiers took part in the exercises.
Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian army would consider weapons shipments coming from NATO into Ukraine as…
"legitimate military targets for destruction."
The United States and NATO continue to send weapons to Ukraine.
"I want to point out that any transfer from NATO to the Ukrainian Army is a legitimate target and must be destroyed,"
…said the Russian Defense Minister.
WILL THIS “GO NUCLEAR?”
What is the possibility of escalating a Third World War that is already raging on Ukrainian soil, to nuclear?
- On April 25, 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the threat of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States has not disappeared, is real and should not be underestimated.
- The next day, on the air of Kremlin’s official propagandist Vladimir Soloviev’s television show, Margarita Simonyan said that in her opinion, President Putin would prefer to use nuclear weapons. in Ukraine rather than losing to it:
"In the end, all this will end with a nuclear strike,"
…he said.
- Two days later, it was also broadcast live on Russian television how the latest generation RS-24 Sarmat ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile could hit the capitals of leading European countries in 106 to 200 seconds. The representative of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, Alexei Zhuravlev, commented:
What is the problem; A “Sarmat” rocket and the British Isles will not exist.
-
On the same day, April 28, Margarita Simonyan, in her profile on a popular social network, threatened Kyiv with a nuclear strike in response to the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian territory:
"What choice do you give us, idiots?" Complete destruction of the rest of Ukraine? Nuclear strike? ”
…he said characteristically.
- On April 29, Sergei Mironov, leader of the Just Russia faction in parliament, spoke of the possibility of a nuclear attack in the United Kingdom:
"Someone tell Liz Truss that a Sarmat rocket is enough to destroy the island of Britain."
- On April 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern that Ukraine might want to acquire a nuclear arsenal, which could pose a deadly threat to Russia.
In 2000, Russia developed the idea of using nuclear weapons, including ” limited use ” in a large-scale non-nuclear attack. This happened in the context of the NATO bombing of Serbia and the instability in Chechnya.
In the new military doctrine of the Russian Federation, 4 types of armed conflict were identified:
- a similar intensity to the war in Chechnya,
- local, such as the 2008 campaign in Georgia,
- regional, which apparently includes the operation now taking place in Ukraine
- and global
The big difference is that Moscow has now included the limited use of nuclear weapons not only in the fourth but also in the third level of the conflict. Its aim is to force the adversary to stop hostilities that have already begun with the threat of further nuclear escalation.
This concept is called “escalation for de-escalation”.
The most shocking finding is that according to Russian dogma, the entire legal basis for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons exists in this conflict.
The question is, will he dare to use nuclear weapons and if so where will he strike.
If Russia does not formally declare war on Ukraine in order to have a legal basis for the use of nuclear weapons (you can not even regularly drop nuclear weapons on a country with which you are not at war), then there is only one option left:
To strike a NATO weapons convoy first, and in case of a counterattack to use nuclear weapons.
The No. 1 target seems to be a “European country” that helps Ukraine.
For example, it could be Poland or Romania.
Let us not forget that Russia claims that Ukrainian fighters are taking off from Romanian airports. Through its territory and neighboring Moldova, fuel and lubricants are supplied for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Romanian military may be directly involved in the sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship.
But again, in order for that to happen, Russia must formally declare war on Ukraine, only to later claim that “Romania is helping Ukraine and therefore actively engaged in the war against Moscow.”
Russia is oriented towards such a choice. This is probably why the Iskander-M simulation was chosen.
Miracle Kitchen: 1959
Americans Won’t Believe What China Built
A pretty decent video.
How To Make Homemade Cheese! Simple, Cheap & Delicious
This is AWESOME! You all should try it. It will save you a ton load of money!
Well Connected
RS-24 Sarmat ICBM
Intercontinental ballistic missile
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The Yars use the same 16×16 chassis as the Topol-M, but is fitted with a much improved missile |
The RS-24 Yars is a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. It is an improved version of the previous Topol-M. It is known in the West as SS-29. It uses the same 16×16 wheeled chassis as the Topol-M. Externally it looks similar. However it carries improved missile, that is heavier. The Yars was developed both as a road-mobile and silo-based system, that would use the same missile. It was first tested in 2007 and was adopted by Russian Strategic Missile Forces in 2010. Its production commenced during the same year. It replaced in production the previous Topol-M. As of 2016, Russian Strategic Missile Forces deployed 63 mobile and 10 silo-based Yars ICBMs. These were fielded alongside the Topol-M systems on a 50/50 basis. It is planned that the Yars will become the mainstay of the ground-based component of Russian nuclear triad. This solid-fuel missile is similar to that of the Topol-M. It has three stages. It has a range of 12 000 km. The main difference from the previous missile is that Yars is MIRV-equipped and can carry at least 6 independently targetable warheads with a yield of 100-300 kT. Other sources report that this missile can carry up to 10 re-entry vehicles. It is a huge improvement over the Topol-M, that carries a single 550 kT warhead. It has been reported that the Topol-M can be rapidly upgraded to carry multiple 150 kT independently-targetable warheads. In 2019 the Avangard re-entry vehicle was declared operational. It is launched on top of the missile, but unlike a regular warhead that follows a predictable path, the Avangard travels at hypersonic speed and can make sharp maneuvers. This makes it much harder to intercept. It was planned that in 2019 a total of 31 Yars missiles will be equipped with Avangard hypersonic gliding re-entry vehicles and will be deployed operationally. The Yars was designed to evade missile defense systems. This missile maneuvers during the flight and carries both active and passive decoys. It is estimated that it has at least 60-65% chance to penetrate defenses. The Yars is slightly more accurate than the Topol-M. It has a CEP of 150-200 m. A silo-based version of the Yars is compatible with silo of older Russian ICBMs, that were phased out of service. It uses complete infrastructure of the previous missiles. It only takes to load the new missile into the silo. A typical silo-based unit has 10 Yars missiles and command post. A road mobile Yars TEL is based on Belarusian MZKT-79221 16×16 heavy high mobility chassis. This chassis was specially designed for the Topol-M intercontinental missile. First three and last three axles are steered. So this vehicle is very maneuverable for its size. Also it has good cross-country mobility. The TEL vehicle is operated by a crew of three. The Yars mobile launcher has autonomy on roads of 500 km. It allows the vehicle to operate undetected in an area equivalent to a small European country. Road mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles are harder to detect and hit. The Yars has a high probability of surviving the first strike, once the country has been attacked. Once on high alert, the Yars missiles can leave their bases and operate in remote forest areas to increase their survivability. It takes 7 minutes to prepare the missile for launch. The Yars can launch its missile from prepared site, special garage with a sliding roof, or from unprepared position during field deployment. The TEL vehicle can leave its position once the missile is launched. During field deployment the Yars TEL is escorted by a number support vehicles, including support vehicle, mobile command posts, signals vehicle, fuel tanker, and a host of other military vehicles with troops to ensure security of the missile. In case of emergency the TEL vehicle can operate autonomously without its escort. A fuel tanker is based on a similar 16×16 chassis, but carries an enormous fuel tank in place of ballistic missile. The Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was designed for a service life of about 20 years.
Variants RS-26 Rubezh, also called the Yars-M, is a smaller and lighter version of the Yars. The missile is based on a Belarusian MZKT-79291 chassis with 12×12 configuration. It is believed that development of this ballistic missiles commenced in 2008. It was planned that the first RS-26 regiment will become operational in 2016. Although the RS-26 is legally an ICBM, it may be that the demonstrated range of 5 800 km is close to the maximum range of the missile. Essentially this missile falls into the class of Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs). Though Russia insisted that the RS-26 is an ICBM, as IRBMs with a range of up to 5 500 km were banned by a 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (or INF treaty). So the Russians found a way to field an intermediate-range ballistic missile and to fill the gap that was once covered by the RSD-10 Pioner (SS-20 Saber) IRBMs. |
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Princess Unplugged: 1950
How to make butter in 3 minutes
It’s an awesome thing to do and so simple and so quick!
Summary on the RS-24 Sarmat
Cutting through the bullshit.
- It carries 10 hypersonic warheads.
- Each warhead travels faster than a bullet, and cannot be shotdown.
- Each warhead is AI controlled and maneuverable.
- The West cannot defend against it at all.
- Each warhead can carry a 250MT nuclear device.
For comparision, the USA dropped a nuclar bomb upon Nagasaki on August 9 – a 21-kiloton plutonium device known as "Fat Man.” Since 1MT is equal to 1000KT, the destructive power of each nuclear device is 250 x ( 1000 - 25) = 243,750 times LARGER than the city destroyer that the United States detonated in Japan.
One SINGLE RS-24 Sarmat will erase all of the islands of England, and glass over all of Europe.
Creole Belle: 1938
“It’s not about saving Ukrainian lives, it’s about saving political face here at home” Scott Ritter
Seven minutes. Priceless. Watch the entire thing.
12 Things Gone FOREVER…1960s – Life in America
See how many things that you remember…
Watch for the “Third Action” – Then We Have Only Minutes Until the Bombs Fall
It is a foregone conclusion that the conflict in Ukraine will escalate until Putin hits NATO bases and military assets with nuclear weapons – that is the first action.
The second action will be Nato’s retaliation against Russian forces, which the west will think is a “proportionate response”. But the Russians won’t look at it in that way at all.
After the west’s response, the Russians will have a choice to hit back again to make it clear to the west they will not accept defeat or to stand down in any form.
Putin and his team of military planners have already decided on what that third action will be, and what the targets will be – they have said as much. They have repeatedly given everyone a clear indication what they will do. But few are listening or taking Putin seriously.
After the second action – which is the retaliation from Nato and the US – if Putin doesn’t hit back with a powerful enough force, his nation will be totally destroyed. But if he hits hard in the third action, he believes he can lessen the blowback and prevent Europe from over running Russia. Without the US nuclear and military power, Europe has no chance against Russia. This has been revealed by experts in the military strategy field.
That means Putin and the Russians will conclude that they MUST hit the US and Nato assets with a knock out blow IMMEDIATELY after the second action. They have no other options at that point.
However, regardless how hard Putin hits the US and Europe, Russia will still be targeted with a massive nuclear retaliation strike, with what missiles the west still has left in their arsenal. Putin and his war planners already know this, and have concluded that it is unavoidable. The third action they make against the west won’t prevent the retaliation, but they believe that a large strike against the west is still better than any other options.
Whether this is true or not will be debated for decades to come. But the bottom line is, when the Russians feel the offensive moves made at Russia are unacceptable and has crossed their red lines, they will then make the first action. That action will be of sufficient size, that the Russians feel might deter the west from further military actions.
That first action is very likely to be a tactical nuclear attack against the Nato forces that made a direct attack against Russia in Ukraine. In addition, it is also very likely that Russia will hit Nato bases and decision centers in various locations in Europe, at the same time. It won’t be attacks on urban areas, but military targets that Russia believes are a future threat against their military campaign and their homeland. In short, it will be a proportionate attack, that leaves Nato and the US a choice – to either stand down and call for a peace treaty, or escalate the war to a higher level.
At the beginning of the conflict, one offensive military move will take place by the west to instigate Russia to respond. In response, it is very likely that Russia will then hit back with tactical nukes on select targets to neutralize Nato forces as much as possible in Europe.
The second major action will then be a retaliation strike by the west. But, it is the third action that will magnify to such a level by Russia, that it will shock the west to their foundations.
Russia will feel they have no other option left, and they MUST hit the rest of Europe and the US, and all their military bases with a FULL nuclear strike. That includes an EMP attack to knock out all electrical power in Europe and the US.
It will include airports, and all Naval and Air force and Army bases. It may also conclude major bridges, rail lines and interstate highways at key areas. It may also knock out water systems in urban areas.
The historic attack would totally knock out all food distribution and fuel supplies. The nation would instantly be sent back to the 1880s, with no power, no communication and no food supplies. And it will stay that way for months if not years to come.
How long will that take? One hour after the second action by the west. One hour – or less. And there isn’t one thing the west can do to prevent it from happening.
With the nation instantly laying in smoldering ruins, the US nuclear retaliation will go into effect from bases, subs and aircraft that are left flying. Russia would then be destroyed as well and sent back to the 1880s. Millions on both sides would instantly die, and tens of millions more will die in the following months of starvation, disease and chaos. This outcome is expected by the Russians who are prepared for it, but the Europeans and the Americans have not come to terms with this reality.
The west has the false assumption that Russia “wouldn’t dare attack us, because they would be destroyed themselves”. That is dangerously naïve and lacks the understanding on how the Russians think about this conflict. Russia is already playing for keeps to defend their homeland. Thousands have died. They already believe a war is on their doorstep, and they either stop the enemy in Ukraine now or they will end up being destroyed later anyway.
Putin and the Russian leaders are looking at this conflict as a genuine aggressive action against their nation, whether it is done in increments or in one full sweep. And since they have concluded they can’t accept defeat in either case, they have concluded they must stop the attack as soon as possible. They believe there is no reason to wait and be taken over if the attack from the west is inevitable.
With the weapons they still possess, they believe that they have a chance to stop the coming attack. And that is why they would take the third action to stop the carnage as soon as possible and lessen the future destruction of their nation. The difference could be millions of Russian lives being saved.
We may not believe like the Russians; we may not accept their conclusions, and we may not believe they have no other options. But all of that doesn’t matter. If that is how they believe, and what they have concluded, they will take the third action to end the Third World War – within one hour of the attack by the west.
There is however one wild card no one has publicly considered. And that is the use of secret high-tech weapons that the US may possess that could neutralize Russia’s weapons.
Through the years I’ve heard faint rumors of special weapons that the US MAY have developed that could defend the US and Europe. Those weapons may include a space-based laser system that can knock out any incoming nuclear missiles. It may also include high tech electronic systems that could prevent missiles from being launched.
It is also possible that the US has reverse engineered alien space ships and have built their own advanced space ships that could also make a difference in a war. In fact, if this is true, it may be the reason the US politicians have been so confident when going to war with Russia, when the obvious outcome could be WW3 leading to nuclear war.
However, I have never heard of any solid evidence to feel confident in this possibility. It is possible – but has to be considered a wild card. That means we are required to look at the facts as logically and rationally as possible and make real plans to survive hard times. There are no short cuts and no silver bullet that will solve our problems or stop a war.
What we are facing right now is an escalation of a war that is coming at us like a fast-moving train. And the only way to beat a fast-moving train when you’re on the tracks, is to step off the tracks and avoid being killed. It isn’t rocket science and it isn’t complicated. The reality of the world situation is clear, we are facing a major war and a collapse of the entire system. In view of this, we are required as responsible citizens to prepare for hard times. We won’t have a second chance to gather enough food, supplies and be ready to hunker down for the coming storm. A person either prepares to survive or they’re preparing to fail and become a victim. The choice is yours.
George Eaton
Mod Cafe: 1943
Fishing Field | Catch Fish by Fishing Nest in River – Umbrella Fishing Net
There’s many EASY ways to catch firsh if you are relying on it for food, or to suppliment your meals. May I suggest a “fish trap”…
RECAP OF RUSSIA”S “SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION”
Phase 1:
All objectives of the Russia Armed Forces were met with Phase 1
Fact: Many people think that Russia failed at taking Kiev but what people do not understand is that they had no plan to attack or take kiev.
The fast operation of moving into place around Kiev was to give the perception to Ukraine and NATO that Russia wanted to take the city.
This was nothing more than a “head fake” by Russia to prevent Ukraine from sending thousands of troops from Kiev to the Donbass front (Russia’s stated objective) Russia was successful in this goal.
This is the reason you saw no long Russian supply lines and support, because they were only there to cause a diversion and therefore did not need a huge logistics support chain. Thus all the claims of the media that Russia would run out of fuel and ammo…fact is…they did not need it, as they were but a short term diversion.
Once Russia had their forces in place in the east and the south the forces in the Kiev area quickly withdrew according to plan, to support the actions in Mariupol where the AZOV regiment was 14,000 strong. (now only 1,000 remain surrounded and underground)
After the capture of Mariupol by Russia the Z forces moved to the Donbass front in preparation for phase 2.
Phase 2:
Phase 2 is going very well and is right on scheduled.
The Russian forces are destroying all supply lines for the estimated 45,000 Ukrainian troops on the Donbass line. As well as hitting ammo storage, fuel supply and command centers all over Ukraine.
The Russian forces are decimating the Ukrainians with artillery and rocket fire around the clock. The losses of the Ukrainians is listed to be near 50,000 troops killed so far during the operation.
Also there are 4,000+ Ukrainian POWs being held by the DPR, LPR and Russia at this time.
The Russians put out a troop loss total last month and the number was at 5,700 at that time but is estimated to be near 7,500 currently.
Also the reason the US and NATO are in a panic to get tanks, artillery and planes into Ukraine is because the Russians have destroyed most of their military hardware.
Those numbers of destroyed Ukrainian equipment are as follows:
146 aircraft
112 helicopters,
712 unmanned aerial vehicles,
287 anti-aircraft missile systems,
2,817 tanks and other armored combat vehicles,
323 multiple launch rocket systems,
1,292 field artillery and mortars,
2,624 units of special military vehicles
The bottom line is Russia is holding right to the plan and the plan is going well.
No…Russia did not fail in Kiev. In fact they did as intended.
No Russia is not “bogged down”
Fact is…Ukraine is getting a serious ass kicking.
All the PSYOPs of the media has been very, very effective on the minds of the casual observer and to the average person on the street they are under the false impression that Ukraine is doing great and Russia is ineffective and weak.
Very Sun Tzu.
In closing know that very soon…once Russia has things weakened and cut off to their liking ,they will make moves to surround and Cauldron those trapped 45,000 Ukraine troops and it will be a blood bath like the world has not seen since WWII.
After that…they will move to the west and take Odessa,
When will that be?
When Russia is ready…could be a few days from now…could be a few hours from now.
But don’t worry…I guarantee you won’t miss it when it happens.
BFF: 1938
US Intel Assisted In Sinking Russian Flagship Vessel: Officials Claim Bombshell Escalation
Less than 24 hours after The New York Times issued a provocative report citing unnamed US officials who are celebrating that American intelligence-sharing with Ukraine’s military has helped take out multiple Russian generals since the Feb.24 invasion, NBC News is out with yet another bombshell claim sourced to the deep state US intel officials.
Amid what seems escalation after escalation, and new revelations of Washington’s deepening and perhaps increasingly direct role in fighting Russia in Ukraine, NBC brings us this doozy… “Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin’s troubled invasion of Ukraine.”
As a reminder of just how hugely significant the claim is – and just how dangerous in terms of representing a massive escalation – the Moskva was considered the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, had 510 crewmen on board before Neptune anti-cruise ship missiles scored a direct hit in mid-April, and was the most embarrassing single blow to President Putin’s war effort of the whole conflict thus far.’
“The attack happened after Ukrainian forces asked the Americans about a ship sailing in the Black Sea south of Odesa, U.S. officials told NBC News,” the report continues. “The U.S. identified it as the Moskva, officials said, and helped confirm its location, after which the Ukrainians targeted the ship.” This comes after the NY Times revealed in a report the night prior that much of the intel-sharing is focused on Russian troop and equipment movements.
From HERE.
If you grew up in the 1970s…you remember this – Life in America
Maybe you will remember some of these memories…
The Rites of Spring: 1943
The horrifying Human Zoos: Shocking photos reveal how zoos around the world kept ‘primitive natives’ in enclosures as Westerners gawped and jeered at them just 60 years ago
- Horrifying images show how black and Asian people were ‘displayed’ in zoo enclosures around the world
- ‘Human zoos’ designed to emphasize cultural differences between Europeans and people deemed primitive
- Millions visited the shocking enclosures in the early 20th century both in America and across Europe
It shows how so-called ‘human zoos’ around the world kept ‘primitive natives’ in enclosures, so Westerners could gawp and jeer at them. The horrifying images, some of which were taken as recently as 1958, show how black and Asian people were cruelly treated as exhibits that attracted millions of tourists.
Inhumane shows held across the Western world were designed to emphasize the cultural difference between Europeans and people who were deemed primitive.
A series of photos:
Switzerland Setting-up “Crisis” Centers anticipating NO ELECTRICITY after Russian Natural Gas Embargo
The Swiss government is setting up a gas sector crisis intervention group and a monitoring system for early detection of an impending electricity shortage, it said on Wednesday, as it prepares for the possibility of “severe” power shortages.
(HT REMARK: These imbeciles are intentionally not paying for Russian natural gas in Rubles, and are working on a European-wide Embargo against Russian Gass and Oil, which runs their electric power plants, and are now creating teams to deal with the electrical outages THEY THEMSELVES ARE CREATING!
If employees of a corporation did things like this, they would be immediately fired. In government, stupidity just breeds more stupidity.
Developing, check back.
The Barge Office: 1900
Stock Market DOWN 1,000 Points and Still Dropping
Panic-like behavior was starting to set in on Wall Street on Thursday, at least from a technical perspective, as the Dow industrials shed all of the previous day’s gain, and then some.
Trading in New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks at midday Thursday exhibited panic-like-selling action as bullish investors suffered a powerful reversal of fortune that appeared to be gathering steam in the wake of the Fed’s early-May policy meeting, adding to a bruising stretch for buyers, sparked by concerns about rates.
The NYSE Arms Index, a volume-weighted breadth measure that tracks the ratio of advancing stock to declining stocks over the ratio of advancing volume over declining volume, was showing a reading of 2.588 for NYSE-listed shares. Many technicians say a rise to at least 2.000 suggests panic-like selling behavior.
The reading comes as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -3.03% was off 3.1%, or over 1,050 points, at 33,027, looking at its sharpest one-day fall since 2020; the S&P 500 index SPX, -3.44% was off 3.4% at around 4,150; and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -4.76% was trading 4.7% lower at 12,365.
The American People Must Relocate Power To The States
Authored by Richard M. Reinsch II via RealClear Books
When American citizens look to Washington, D.C., they find much to be disappointed in and even less to believe in. The fundamental problem is that the federal government has, through its regulatory and spending powers, usurped much of the governing authority for the republic.
However, for reasons both predictable and lamentable, it has failed to govern well for decades, with policy breakdowns occurring across the board. Peter Schuck observed in his book “Why Government Fails So Often” that most federal government policies cannot pass a transparent cost-benefits test. But this dysfunctional government results from size and scope – from the federal government vastly exceeding a competency scale that our Constitution attempted to establish.
There is no manifest line in the Constitution that guides the distribution of power between the federal government and the state governments. In the Federalist Papers, Publius argues that the question will be decided by citizens about where to place power, and their judgment will turn on competency in administration. This process inevitably will be a deliberative one, influenced by elections, arguments, and results.
If so, we should record that federal spending is now so large and so encompassing that it swallows the ability of the states to be self-governing and accountable to their citizens. This has occurred through ever-expanding federal grants-in-aid. These programs should be culled for the restoration of constitutional order and its commitment to a self-governing people.
As Philip Hamburger argues in his new book “Purchasing Submission,” the federal government can impose laws and rules on the states through the so-called Spending Power. The constitutional authority of the government to act in this capacity is suspect, and its consequences go beyond the mere size of the expenditures. And yet, on federal spending, we are also facing real limits on government power, with negative consequences in the form of inflation, chronic indebtedness, and lost economic growth.
Our country even faces potential catastrophic entitlement cuts, since, as a debtor nation, we continue to pay for present expenses with long-term debt instruments that we cannot afford to pay without drastic tax increases, spending cuts, or both.
Of course, most of our state governments eagerly seek federal grants and funding. Even though such money comes with strings attached to Washington, most states can’t leave well enough alone. What do they lose by taking the money – funds that enable them to claim success for services to constituents whose real costs are not actually paid for by the state’s taxpayers?
The loss is that we as citizens no longer govern ourselves in an open and competitive fashion versus other states. This crucial discipline over state governments is circumvented. However, the loss of self-government includes not only the states. Members of Congress no longer focus their undivided attention on what should be for them the more pressing objectives of national government. The federal government now gets wagged by the tail, turned on behalf of local concerns and interests that are served by grant programs.
The failure here is to assume that federal spending in the form of grants to states and localities will produce better policy results than if local priorities had been decided by the actual authorities elected by that state’s voters. Thus does the centralization of power and its enthronement of experts continue unabated as the prime mover in American government.
What must happen for the proper liberation of the states to govern themselves in full? That would entail ceasing federal grants through a constitutional amendment. This would save billions of dollars and, crucially, restore Congress to its proper function of deliberating national problems and issues.
The American people must be able to locate authority and accountability in their state governments, which should be led by officials who are fully transparent with their citizens about the costs of programs that must be borne by actual citizens in the state, not by federal taxpayers in an endless game of fiscal shapeshifting. In this way, the federal government would stick to its basic set of truly national issues. The states would become what they were meant to be: entities that govern close to the people, shaping the communities within their jurisdiction, in ways that a national government cannot.
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Gonzalo Lira’s merciless attack by the Daily Beast will be remembered for years and make many hacks think before taking a swipe at America’s finest institutions.
The disappearance of U.S. citizen journalist Gonzalo Lira looked like a new low point for the war in Ukraine. Sure, at least six western journalists so far have been killed in the conflict but the Chilean-born Lira’s case was quite special on so many levels – chiefly that in mid-April he seemed to have been taken by Ukrainian forces (or neo-Nazi brigades which they support) after being tipped off by a western media outlet. Or at least that’s what Lira claims in his last video clip he posted just hours before disappearing. Remarkably, he claims if he were to be killed, it would be down to a petulant reaction from journalists working for the Daily Beast, who he seems to have clashed with – and who took it upon themselves to tell the Ukrainian government his exact location.
Another point which made Lira’s disappearance so unique and sets him above the others who have died is the man himself. It is practically unheard of for journalists in Ukraine to “cross the line” and to report from the side of the conflict where their own sympathies do not jar. In other words, Lira, although among Ukrainian citizens in regions which were held by Ukrainian forces was, unlike the vast majority of western journalists, not at all sympathetic in any way to Zelensky and his government and was considered to be pro-Russian. This makes Lira incredibly special and perhaps a one off. He took a very critical if not cynical view of the Ukrainian elite and tried to report from a colder, more neutral position – questioning everything that he was shown by the Ukrainians – than his colleagues, and in doing so was branded a “Russian spy” which was all it took for the hysteria to be whipped up and for the dogs to be set upon him.
But his claims that it was the Daily Beast which could have been responsible for his kidnapping is worrying as it is unprecedented. At first glance, it seems far-fetched until you read the character assassination article which The Beast wrote about him, red it tooth and claw dripping with vitriol, as a childish response to Lira posting a video on social media running down the outlet. Lira claims in his last tearful video clip to his followers that if he is not heard of within 12 hours, then his certainly captured by Ukrainian security services and that it is the Daily Beast which is responsible for his capture, as, he claims, it tipped off the Ukrainians to his exact whereabouts.
If this were to be true, then the war in Ukraine has hit a new low with western media apparently playing a more intensified partisan role than ever before and taking that position to new depths never seen before in Syria, Iraq or the former Yugoslavia. It spells the end of bona fide journalism in conflict zones, where journalists themselves accept to be used as nothing more than stenographers of fictitious material produced to be a tool of war, along with soldiers themselves. Is this what is going on in Ukraine? Is the Ukrainian elite taking 100s of millions of dollars in U.S. blood money to keep the war going, while PR executives manufacture entirely faked news reports which the western journalists are dutifully replicating without even offering up the odd annoying question? Is this the real reason why Lira feared that he would be killed, because he rejected the format and the narrative and went against the grain of the popular beguiling narrative? Was his blogging, which was gaining huge amounts of traffic, becoming a problem for Washington and Zelensky and had to be stopped as it threatened to derail the bigger plan?
The hit job from the Daily Beast is beneath their journalists. It beggars belief that a respected international news publication would stoop so low to smear the reputation of a blogger. Was it merely an act of repugnant petulance between journalists, a spat which got out of hand, which resulted in the appalling slur article which painted a picture of him as being someone of low moral fibre? Or is there something darker lurching in the shadows? Is the Daily Beast really what it claims to be or are the somewhat sensational claims on social media about it being a CIA asset of some sort, true?
We are being tricked in the Ukraine and Lira is an amateur who threatened to burn the whole circus down to the ground. His merciless attack by the Daily Beast though will be remembered for years and make many hacks think before taking a swipe at America’s finest institutions. Just read what the Beast summarised.
“He also created a 22-minute-long video preemptively warning his followers not to trust anything The Daily Beast writes, concocting a fantastical narrative in which every journalist secretly knows he and his ilk are right about the things they say but chooses to print lies because “everybody who works at the mainstream media is by definition a piece of shit.” He added that he is better than the mainstream media because he can “say the truth,” and suggested this article was developed at least in part because The Daily Beast writers envy and resent his freedom”.
Ain’t that the truth?
Since writing this article, Gonzalo Lira has emerged safe and well.
Work From Home: 1912
Hate Springs Eternal
When it rains the worms come out and for the political class the steady rain is promising to become a deluge. The latest bit of bad news in the forecast is the leaked opinion from the Supreme Court regarding Roe. There have been a lot of hot takes on the implications of the ruling but lost in the media churn is the fact that this is another sign that things are getting ugly in Washington. A civilized political class run by sober-minded adults would never have allowed this to happen.
The fact is, Washington is in chaos. The Biden administration is a balkanized mess with Joe Biden as an embarrassing figurehead. His handlers are running out of patience or ability to keep him from having “senior moments” in public. In announcing some new justification for seizing Russian property, Biden slipped into confusion and struggled to say words that may or may not have been in the script. He looked like a man who should be at an assisted living facility, not the White House.
These events are becoming common, which underscores the fact that he is not actually in charge of his administration. It is a balkanized cabal that lacks coordination with the other parts and is disconnected from the party. The old neocons are running the war in Ukraine, while packs of deranged social justice warriors push through nutty ideas like the ministry of disinformation. There is no one sheepherding economic policy, which has been abandoned in the face of record inflation.
This is why Biden’s popularity is about as low as it can go. Amazingly, there is always about 30% of respondents who will say they support the president. Bush bottomed out around this number and now Biden is doing the same. It means his party is in desperate shape for the midterms. The first midterm is never good for the party of the president, as buyer’s remorse sets in at this stage. Trump was a mess, but he presided over peace and prosperity, two things lost under Biden.
Then there is the brewing disaster in Europe. The happy talk coming from the foreign policy camp is just a way to keep the politicians from asking too many questions, but everyone senses a looming disaster. The hope was this would be a great distraction from the economic mess, but that has not worked. Now the economic cost of the war is starting to bite. America is looking at a summer of record fuel and food prices and you cannot hide five dollar gas with a Ukraine lapel pin.
The recent elections tell the story. J. D. Vance staked out a non-interventionist position on Ukraine, basically telling voters he does not care about it. No one wants to admit it, but this may be what pushed him over the top. Both parties have attacked this position, but it is looking like the winning hand with voters. For Democrats, who now own the war in Ukraine, this could turn out to be Vietnam all over again. They are the party championing a very unpopular war.
This is probably why Bernie Sanders is telling people he plans to run in 2024, despite Biden people saying Biden 2024 is not a punchline. A disaster in November and more Joe Biden senior moments in public means the lid blows off the whole thing. Everyone will be talking about what comes after Joe Biden. In politics, it pays to be the first at the scene of the disaster, so Sanders is making sure his name is going to be in stories discussing the demise of Joe Biden.
This also reflects the growing anger of the fringe crazies at their party. In the Trump years, the Democrats weaponized these people against the country. The riots, murders and mayhem were part of the color revolution. The crazies and the more legitimate fringe players in mainstream politics took this to mean that they would get a seat at the table, but that was never happening. Not even the hardest thumping Trump haters want these lunatics in their political camp.
That is why Elizabeth Warren was doing the angry chicken dance outside the Supreme Court when the draft opinion was leaked. Her choreographers did not have enough time to train her for the show, so she was left to wing it and the result was a comical reminder that the 19th amendment was a mistake. Warren is a craven simpleton, but she does reflect the growing frustration of the fringe-left in Washington. They are getting nothing and they are incredibly angry about it.
They think abortion can be their vehicle back to the main stage, but in reality, abortion does not matter all that much to people. Abortion was always a middle-class white woman issue. “The woman’s right to choose” was the cover for promoting eugenic policies in the black community. Now that middle-class white women are past childbearing age, it no longer has emotional appeal. Nonwhites, of course, have been hip to the reality of abortion for a long time.
Taken together, with the looming elections, it reflects a political class that no longer has a reason to exist. It is a collection of geezers trying to relive their salad days, along with hand-picked acolytes selected for their lack of intelligence. The old baby boomer politics, like the old baby boomers in charge, is breaking down. That is the crisis we are seeing in Washington. The old framework is no longer salient and no one has a clue as to what should replace it or even if it can be replaced.
This is also why politics has descended into information war. In business, when you do not have a new product or a new version of the existing product, you roll out a new marketing campaign instead. This is what has happened with politics. They have nothing to offer, so they rollout one media campaign after another. We are bombarded with an endless series of alleged crises so that we do not notice that the people in charge have no reason to be in charge.
There are, of course, long term trends that promise to make these short term problems look like a golden age. People do not live in the long term, so the next six months will be what occupies the minds of people. Given the condition of the political leaders and the mood of the country, they may want to think about putting those razor wire barriers back up and declaring martial law in the city. Just about every constituency has a reason to storm the city and demand a redress of grievances.
Victorian Vines: 1910
Why the Solomon Islands Chose China (You Won’t Believe What Australia Did)
Good and discusses (in decent detail) what is actually going on.
The Latest Thing: 1924
Russia is winning and the mainstream media will make sure the public never knows this fact.
Russia is winning, despite billions of dollars in American and NATO military support to Ukraine, the Russians have already achieved their most important strategic objectives. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not simply wake up one day and decide to send troops into Ukrainian cities, he publicly warned the West about this plan of action years in advance, yet he was ignored by most western leaders. Russia did not come into Ukraine to lose, it is undoubtably obvious that after 66 days of warfare, Russia is defeating not only the Ukrainians but NATO and the United States as well, it is quite an achievement.
Failure was not an option
There is no way Russia is going to “lose” the battle in Ukraine, those who know the Russian military are quite aware that Putin has not used the full Russian might, in the eyes of the Russian President, they have not even begun to fight a real war. The Russians describe the conflict as a special military operation, the first phase of the Russian operation employed young officers undergoing new training methods, it was a bit of a test, despite heavy loses the Russian objective succeeded in the first month. Putin publicly addressed these young soldiers in a video a week into the conflict, he said “I know you are learning new complex methods of warfare”, despite the learning curve, the Russians have achieved their goals in much of the South and East of Ukraine.
The Russian federation has made it clear they are conducting a limited special military operation, a very specific plan to demilitarize and de-Nazi-fy Ukrainian cities. Russia still has not defined their operation as a “war” yet and if they do decide to declare war, we can expect an assault on Ukraine beyond our imagination. The Western mainstream media has sold us complete fabrications, nothing about this conflict has been based in journalistic truth, the narrative that Ukraine is “winning” is simply not accurate. We have been told Vladimir Putin is depressed, angry, frustrated, physically ill, demented, cruel, ordering the fatality of civilians, yet not one of these accusations have been based in any verifiable evidence. The Russian President has methodically taken control of the major trade routes, essentially choking the life out of Ukraine, he is winning. Putin took little port city Mariupol while the whole world had their eyes on the capital Kyiv, it was a brilliant move. Vladimir Putin has not revealed on single thing about his military operation in terms of strategy, the West still cannot figure him out.
Why Russia wins
Everything we learn about Russia comes from former generals on American TV, MSNBC, and CNN, they are almost always wrong. Russian Foreign minister Sergi Lavrov mocked the Americans trying to analyze the Russian military operation, he said “They don’t understand us, they don’t understand the Russian mindset, they don’t understand how we work”, in essence, Lavrov was making it clear everything the Western media prints about the war is a fabrication. The average Ukrainian citizen understands Putin better than any American, British, or German news analyst, in this aspect Russia is defeating the Americans, NATO and the Ukrainians.
Who is really fighting against Russia?
So far, the Russians have documented at least 40 different countries who are engaged in battle against them, even the Ukrainians bragged about how many hired contractors are battling the Russians. In the week since President of Ukraine Zelensky announced the creation of an ‘International Legion’ to defend Ukraine, 20,000 people from 52 countries have volunteered to fight in Ukraine, the country’s, Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba said on television. On the Russian side are simply young Russians boys and Chechen (Pro Russian nationals) soldiers, that’s it. A simple look at a map will show how Russia has taken the key areas of Ukraine. The red and light red shows how Ukraine has already lost the battle.
Russia is not only winning against the Ukrainians, but they are also defeating NATO and American money/weapons, the U.S loves funding foreign wars but they don’t know how to win them.
Britain, Germany. Italy and France want no part of war with Russia, Western Europe would never send a dollar (or any military equipment) to Ukraine without the United States coercing them to do so. Western Europeans are not in the least bit interested in engaging in war in Eastern Europe, most Westerners are worried about unemployment, food shortage and inflation, not Ukraine.
Our media is not allowed to tell you Russia is winning.
According to our biased media, cities like Mariupol and Kherson are not under Russian control, they tell the public there is “fierce resistance” to Russian attacks, this is of course a lie.
A month ago, a lifelong resident of Kherson reported that the city was in 100% Russian control, but public is not allowed to know this truth.
See video: This would never air on American television.
The guy on camera tells the truth “Kherson is under 100% Russian control”, the reporter did not expect that answer she tries to cover the truth, she says “there are conflicting reports on who controls the city”, then he dropped the full truth again. Russia is in 100% control; this was a rare truth that slipped by Pro-Ukraine media.
Finding honest news is almost impossible today, the fact of the matter is that Russia is not only winning, but they are also winning relatively easily despite suffering heavy losses.
Does anyone really believe that Russia could not take all of Ukraine if they want it? At the start of the conflict every American media pundit said Russia would take the capital city Kyiv in less than a week, yet Russia “chose” not to do so. No one can figure out Putin’s war strategy. The Ukrainian civilians are sadly being slaughtered, they are caught between the Russian military might and Zelensky’s ego. No matter how many thousands of civilians slaughtered, Washington has only one response…more weapons, more weapons, more weapons.
The United States Government does not care the least bit about Ukrainian civilians, Ukraine (which is actually a welfare state) has never stood on its own two feet; it is a beggar state. The President of Ukraine is not intelligent, but he is slick, he knows how to milk every dollar out of the United States.
It is a cruel game; Washington relies on the American mainstream media to keep showing bombed out Ukrainian children on the news to justify the billions of dollars we keep sending to Zelensky. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt states in the world, dumping billions of dollars worth of weapons into the land is lunacy, yet we will keep on doing it. The bottom line is that Russia is winning, and nothing will change this outcome, no amount of weapons dump into Ukraine is going to change the result of the war. No one in Washington cares about the Ukrainian civilians, the United States doesn’t care, Zelensky doesn’t care and certainly NATO does not care; if they did care they would have told Ukrainians to lay down arms 2 months ago and tried to reason (negotiate) with Putin.
We are defending Ukraine as if it is one of our 50 states, we are taunting a nuclear superpower, we are encouraging the hotheaded Zelensky, all while our corrupt American media leads the drumbeats to world war 3.
Scenic Saginaw: 1908
Scott Ritter and Gonzalo Lira 24/7 Live on Ukraine war
Very long. Three hours. Very, very VERY good. It discusses everything going on, starting at Ukraine. A must listen.
Watch it before it is banned.
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 4.
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