The world is filled with talk. Much of the talk on the American conservative media discusses prep for a nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Nah, this is not just trivial fear-mongering. There’s some real and actual concern and issues involved.
Do you think that I am kidding? Well, then you listen yourself. Nuclear war. American leadership. SHTF advice. All good stuff. I have the radio mp3 listed here. It doesn’t mean that they are right or wrong. But that people are openly talking about these things. It reminds me of a Steven King movie.
They are actually saying things that I have long recognized as being true. Both Russia and China are terribly underestimated by the American civilian and military leadership.
But Jeeze Louise! The world has many other things going on. My various business activities are flourishing in trade with the United States and Europe. Why? There seems to be a massive disconnect between business, between politics, between the Western leadership, and the Western mainstream media.
Why is there this disconnect?
Can all these concerns and beliefs coexist? Or, are the various groups all living within their own individual echo chambers? Chambers that believe that their reality is the only reality that exists? Or, perhaps is everything all lies where nothing is true, and us “little guys” are all stuck in the middle between large, enormous, rich criminal gangs that wear the mantle of government?
Here, we will go over various subjects regarding the world. There’s a lot of stuff on Geo-Political stuff, China, and Ukraine. As well as stuff about humanity. I hope that you all enjoy it.
Situation in the Ukraine 31MAR22
It looks like this… From HERE.
Pepe Escobar: Say hello to Russian gold and Chinese petroyuan
Pepe Escobar
March 29, 2022
The Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union and China just agreed to design the mechanism for an independent financial and monetary system that would bypass dollar transactions.
Originally posted on The Cradle on March 15, 2022 here
It was a long time coming, but finally some key lineaments of the multipolar world’s new foundations are being revealed.
After a recent video conference meeting, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China agreed to design the mechanism for an independent international monetary and financial system. The EAEU consists of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia, is establishing free trade deals with other Eurasian nations, and is progressively interconnecting with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
For all practical purposes, the idea comes from Sergei Glazyev, Russia’s foremost independent economist, a former adviser to President Vladimir Putin and the Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasia Economic Commission, the regulatory body of the EAEU.
Glazyev’s central role in devising the new Russian and Eurasian economic/financial strategy has been examined here. He saw the western financial squeeze on Moscow coming light-years before others.
Quite diplomatically, Glazyev attributed the fruition of the idea to “the common challenges and risks associated with the global economic slowdown and restrictive measures against the EAEU states and China.”
Translation: as China is as much a Eurasian power as Russia, and they need to coordinate their strategies to bypass the US unipolar system.
The Eurasian system will be based on “a new international currency,” most probably with the yuan as reference, calculated as an index of the national currencies of the participating countries, as well as commodity prices. The first draft will be already discussed by the end of the month.
The Eurasian system is bound to become a serious alternative to the US dollar, as the EAEU may attract not only nations that have joined BRI (Kazakhstan, for instance, is a member of both) but also the leading players in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as well as ASEAN. West Asian actors – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon – will be inevitably interested.
In the medium to long term, the spread of the new system will translate into the weakening of the Bretton Woods system, which even serious US market players/strategists admit is rotten from the inside. The US dollar and imperial hegemony are facing stormy seas.
Show me that frozen gold
Meanwhile, Russia has a serious problem to tackle. This past weekend, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed that half of Russia’s gold and foreign reserves have been frozen by unilateral sanctions. It boggles the mind that Russian financial experts have placed a great deal of the nation’s wealth where it can be easily accessed – and even confiscated – by the ‘Empire of Lies’ (copyright Putin).
At first, it was not exactly clear what Siluanov had meant. How could the Central Bank’s Elvira Nabiulina and her team let half of foreign reserves and even gold be stored in Western banks and/or vaults? Or is this some sneaky diversionist tactic by Siluanov?
No one is better equipped to answer these questions than the inestimable Michael Hudson, author of the recent revised edition of Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of the American Empire.
Hudson was quite frank: “When I first heard the word ‘frozen,’ I thought that this meant that Russia was not going to expend its precious gold reserves on supporting the ruble, trying to fight against a Soros-style raid from the West. But now the word ‘frozen’ seems to have meant that Russia had sent it abroad, outside of its control.”
Interesting too? Lend Self-Destructive U.S. a Hand
“It looks like at least as of last June, all Russian gold was kept in Russia itself. At the same time, it would have been natural to have kept securities and bank deposits in the United States and Britain, because that is where most intervention in world foreign exchange markets occurs,” Hudson added.
Essentially, it’s all still up in the air: “My first reading assumed that Russia must be doing something smart. If it was smart to move gold abroad, perhaps it was doing what other central banks do: ‘lend” it to speculators, for an interest payment or fee. Until Russia tells the world where its gold was put, and why, we can’t fathom it. Was it in the Bank of England – even after England confiscated Venezuela’s gold? Was it in the New York Fed – even after the Fed confiscated Afghanistan’s reserves?”
So far, there has been no extra clarification either from Siluanov or Nabiulina. Scenarios swirl about a string of deportations to northern Siberia for national treason. Hudson adds important elements to the puzzle:
“If [the reserves] are frozen, why is Russia paying interest on its foreign debt falling due? It can direct the “freezer’ to pay, to shift the blame for default. It can talk about Chase Manhattan’s freezing of Iran’s bank account from which Iran sought to pay interest on its dollar-denominated debt. It can insist that any payments by NATO countries be settled in advance by physical gold. Or it can land paratroopers on the Bank of England, and recover gold – sort of like Goldfinger at Fort Knox. What is important is for Russia to explain what happened and how it was attacked, as a warning to other countries.”
As a clincher, Hudson could not but wink at Glazyev: “Maybe Russia should appoint a non-pro-westerner at the Central Bank.”
The petrodollar game-changer
It’s tempting to read into Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s words at the diplomatic summit in Antalya last Thursday as a veiled admission that Moscow may not have been totally prepared for the heavy financial artillery deployed by the Americans:
“We will solve the problem – and the solution will be to no longer depend on our western partners, be it governments or companies that are acting as tools of western political aggression against Russia instead of pursuing the interests of their businesses. We will make sure that we never again find ourselves in a similar situation and that neither some Uncle Sam nor anybody else can make decisions aimed at destroying our economy. We will find a way to eliminate this dependence. We should have done it long ago.”
So, ‘long ago’ starts now. And one of its planks will be the Eurasian financial system. Meanwhile, ‘the market’ (as in, the American speculative casino) has ‘judged’ (according to its self-made oracles) that Russian gold reserves – the ones that stayed in Russia – cannot support the ruble.
That’s not the issue – on several levels. The self-made oracles, brainwashed for decades, believe that the Hegemon dictates what ‘the market’ does. That’s mere propaganda. The crucial fact is that in the new, emerging paradigm, NATO nations amount to at best 15 percent of the world’s population. Russia won’t be forced to practice autarky because it does not need to: most of the world – as we’ve seen represented in the hefty non-sanctioning nation list – is ready to do business with Moscow.
Iran has shown how to do it. Persian Gulf traders confirmed to The Cradle that Iran is selling no less than 3 million barrels of oil a day even now, with no signed JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, currently under negotiation in Vienna). Oil is re-labeled, smuggled, and transferred from tankers in the dead of night.
Interesting too? The imperative for nuclear disarmament – Is Putin the puppet-master?
Another example: the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), a huge refiner, just bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for delivery in May. There are no sanctions on Russian oil – at least not yet.
Washington’s reductionist, Mackinderesque plan is to manipulate Ukraine as a disposable pawn to go scorched-earth on Russia, and then hit China. Essentially, divide-and-rule to smash not only one but two peer competitors in Eurasia who are advancing in lockstep as comprehensive strategic partners.
As Hudson sees it: “China is in the cross-hairs, and what happened to Russia is a dress rehearsal for what can happen to China. Best to break sooner than later under these conditions. Because the leverage is highest now.”
All the blather about “crashing Russian markets,” ending foreign investment, destroying the ruble, a “full trade embargo,” expelling Russia from “the community of nations,” and so forth – that’s for the zombified galleries. Iran has been dealing with the same thing for four decades, and survived.
Historical poetic justice, as Lavrov intimated, now happens to rule that Russia and Iran are about to sign a very important agreement, which may likely be an equivalent of the Iran-China strategic partnership. The three main nodes of Eurasia integration are perfecting their interaction on the go, and sooner rather than later, may be utilizing a new, independent monetary and financial system.
But there’s more poetic justice on the way, revolving around the ultimate game-changer. And it came much sooner than we all thought.
Saudi Arabia is considering accepting Chinese yuan – and not US dollars – for selling oil to China. Translation: Beijing told Riyadh this is the new groove. The end of the petrodollar is at hand – and that is the certified nail in the coffin of the indispensable Hegemon.
Meanwhile, there’s a mystery to be solved: where is that frozen Russian gold?
I love Malcolm Roberts’ closing statement in front of the Aussie Senate
“Enjoying the new lamp I bought for my dining room this evening”
Imagine you make a discovery of a nice lamp at a thrift store and don’t think much about it, but then when you take it home and plug it in…
MM talks about where he lives in China
This is one of my first videos that I uploaded on to you-tube. It should stream in nicely. Obviously, I’m not an expert. But, I have been squeezing in some video editing tutorials, and you should see an gradual improvment in the over all production quality of the videos as time goes by.
Right now, You-Tube is being funny. They refuse to allow me to say that I am in China, and they have set the video quality equal to “dog shit” setting.
Here, is the video on You-Tube. You be the judge…
Not to worry, here is the actual raw video 239MB as it should be; here. In all of it’s beautiful glory. Big difference, eh?
Austria, Hungary Say No Substitute to Russian Gas as Germany’s BASF Warns of Worst Crisis Since WWII
Officials in Austria and Hungary say there’s no alternative to Russian natural gas, with Budapest stressing that more costly American-sourced LNG is not a realistic substitute.
“Replacing cheap Russian gas with expensive American gas” is an “absurd” proposal, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Kossuth Radio on Friday.
“It’s not that we’ll put on an extra sweater in the evening and turn the heating down a little or paying a few extra forints for gas. The fact is that if energy supplies don’t come from Russia there won’t be any energy in Hungary,” Orban stressed.
The politician noted that 85 percent of Hungary’s gas supplies and 64 percent of the country’s oil comes from Russia, and that geography puts limits on Budapest’s ability to diversify its sources of energy. Austrian energy giant OMV CEO Alfred Stern echoed Orban’s concerns, saying that there was no LNG alternative for Austria.
“Giving up on Russian gas is impossible unless we are willing to live with the massive consequences of such a step. Some countries can do that. It cannot be implemented by Austria this year…As a landlocked country, we don’t have access to LNG. Any diversification would mean investing in more expensive infrastructure to get access to more expensive gas. (emphasis added)
‘Worst Crisis Since WWII’
Austria’s neighbour Germany, whose leaders have so far publicly refused to be “blackmailed” into paying for Russia’s gas in rubles, while privately inquiring about how such ruble payments could be made, is facing a similar dilemma, with Berlin activating an emergency plan to cope with supply disruptions and preparing to institute gas rationing. Russian deliveries made up 55 percent of the European industrial giant’s gas consumption in 2021, with Germany’s underground gas storage tanks down to 25 percent of capacity this week.
Martin Brudermuller, CEO of German chemicals giant BASF, has characterised Berlin’s plans to boycott ruble-priced gas as a “highly irresponsible experiment,” and stressed that Germans underestimate the true risks of such a step.[.]
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Full Article.
Mama Mia’s Meatball Bake
Looks delicious. It’s a home-made dish; a take on the Subway meatball sub.
Thanks to a few shortcuts, you can have Mama Mia’s Meatball Bake on the table in no time. This is an easy dinner recipe that the whole family will love!
What You’ll Need
- 1 (12- to 16-ounce) frozen garlic bread
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 (32-ounce) bag frozen meatballs, thawed, cut in half
- 1 cup spaghetti sauce
- 10 slices mozzarella cheese
What to Do
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place garlic bread open face on baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese and evenly spread on garlic bread. Place meatballs on top of cheese and evenly spoon spaghetti sauce over meatballs.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until meatballs are heated through. Top with mozzarella cheese and continue baking 3 to 5 more minutes, or until cheese melts.
Caitlin Johnstone: The Target is China
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The Pentagon has produced its latest National Defense Strategy (NDS), a report made every four years to provide the public and the government with a broad overview of the U.S. war machine’s planning, posturing, developments and areas of focus.
You might assume with all the aggressive brinkmanship between Moscow and the U.S. power alliance this year that Russia would feature as Enemy No. 1 in the 2022 NDS, but you would be assuming incorrectly. The U.S. “Defense” Department reserves that slot for the same nation that’s occupied it for many years now: China.
Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp writes the following:
“The full NDS is still classified, but the Pentagon released a fact sheet on the document that says it “will act urgently to sustain and strengthen deterrence, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as our most consequential strategic competitor and the pacing challenge for the Department.” The fact sheet outlines four priorities for the Pentagon: -Defending the homeland, paced to the growing multi-domain threat posed by the PRC -Deterring strategic attacks against the United States, Allies, and partners -Deterring aggression, while being prepared to prevail in conflict when necessary, prioritizing the PRC challenge in the Indo-Pacific, then the Russia challenge in Europe -Building a resilient Joint Force and defense ecosystem”
“The Pentagon says that while China is the focus, Russia poses ‘acute threats’ because of its invasion of Ukraine,” DeCamp writes, showing the empire’s view of Moscow as a second-tier enemy.
China Identified as Top ‘Threat’ in New National Defense Strategy
US military activity near China increased significantly in 2021
by Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #China https://t.co/L8gkis0WTF pic.twitter.com/22wbJFyEF6
— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) March 29, 2022
Ahead of a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made some comments which clearly illustrate the U.S.-centralized empire’s actual problem with Moscow.
“We, together with you, and with our sympathisers will move towards a multipolar, just, democratic world order,” Lavrov said to the Chinese government on Wednesday.
And that right there, ladies and gentlemen, is the real reason we’ve been hearing so much hysterical shrieking about Russia these last five or six years.
It’s never been about Russian hackers. Nor about a Kremlin pee tape. Nor about Trump Tower. Nor about GRU bounties in Afghanistan. Nor about Manafort, Flynn, Bannon, Papadopoulos or any other Russiagate Surname of the Week. It’s not even actually about Ukraine. Those have all been narrative-shaping constructs manipulated by the U.S. intelligence cartel to manufacture support for a final showdown against Russia and China to prevent the emergence of a multipolar world.
The U.S. government has had a policy in place since the fall of the Soviet Union to prevent the rise of any powers which could challenge its imperial agendas for the world.
During the (first) Cold War the strategy promoted by empire managers like Henry Kissinger was to court China out of necessity to pull it away from the U.S.S.R., which was when we saw business ties between China and the U.S. lead to immense profits for certain individuals in both nations and the influx of wealth which now has China on track to surpass the U.S. as an economic superpower.
Once the U.S.S.R. ended, so too did the need to remain on friendly terms with China, and subsequent decades saw a sharp pivot into a much more adversarial relationship with Beijing.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Hillary Clinton admits there was an expectation in Washington Russia would have no choice but to become the West's junior partner due to the fear China could take over the Russian Far East. /1https://t.co/pJQeF0eCxf
— Artyom Lukin (@ArtyomLukin) November 20, 2021
In what history may one day view as the U.S. empire’s greatest strategic blunder, empire managers forecasted [1] the acquisition of post-soviet Russia as an imperial lackey state which could be weaponized against [2] the new Enemy No. 1 in China.
Instead, the exact opposite happened.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum last year that she’d “heard for years that Russia would become more willing to move toward the west, more willing to engage in a positive way with Europe, the U.K., the U.S., because of problems on its border, because of the rise of China.” But that’s not what occurred.
“We haven’t seen that,” Clinton said. “Instead what we’ve seen is a concerted effort by Putin maybe to hug China more.”
The empire’s expectation that Moscow would come groveling to the imperial throne on its own meant that no real effort was expended trying to establish goodwill and win over its friendship.
NATO just kept on expanding and the empire got increasingly aggressive and belligerent in its games of global conquest.
This error has led to the strategist’s ultimate nightmare of having to fight for global domination against two separate powers at once.
Because empire architects incorrectly predicted that Moscow would end up fearing Beijing more than it fears Washington, the tandem between China’s economic power and Russia’s military power that experts have been pointing to for years has only gotten more and more intimate.
And now here we are with Russian and Chinese officials openly discussing their plans to create a multipolar world while Chinese pundits crack jokes about the U.S. empire’s transparent ploys to turn Beijing against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion:
Can you help me fight your friend so that I can concentrate on fighting you later?
— CGTN LIU Xin ?? (@LiuXininBeijing) March 19, 2022
On the empire’s grand chessboard, Russia is the queen piece, but China is the king.
Just as with chess it helps to take out your opponent’s strongest piece to more easily pursue checkmate, the U.S. empire would be well advised to try and topple China’s nuclear superpower friend and, as Consortium News Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria recently put it, “ultimately restore a Yeltsin-like puppet to Moscow.”
Basically, all we’re looking at in the major international news stories of our time is the rise of a multipolar world crashing headlong into an empire which has espoused the belief that unipolar domination must be retained at all cost, even if it means flirting with the possibility of a very fast and radioactive third world war.
This is the Hail Mary pass of the U.S. hegemon; its last-ditch effort to secure control before forever losing any chance at it.
Many anti-imperialist pundits I read regularly seem quite confident that this effort will fail, while I personally think those forecasts may be a bit premature.
The way the chess pieces are moving it definitely does look like there’s a plan in place, and I don’t think they’d be orchestrating that plan if they didn’t believe it had a chance to succeed.
One thing that does seem clear is that the only way the empire has any chance of stopping the rise of China is by maneuvers that will be both highly disruptive and existentially dangerous for the entire world.
If you think things are crazy now, just you wait until the imperial crosshairs move to Beijing.
MM comments on the article
China does not play.
Even with the best made, and laid plans, guns, bombs, money aside, you are dealing with a cohesive society. Not a “thing”. The people of one society will be in conflict with another society. Which means that the American “freedom” society will be in conflict with the Chinese “merit & hard work” society.
Seriously?
Well, then. Take note.
There will not be a United States left when the dust settles.
China, Solomon Islands ink security cooperation, deriving from need to ‘quell Honiara riots’ in past year
China and the Solomon Islands signed a bilateral security cooperation framework agreement on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed, which focuses on social security, safeguarding people’s lives and properties, human rights aid and other fields.
The cooperation does not target a third party, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at Thursday’s routine news conference.
"Pacific countries are a big stage of international cooperation, not some certain country's 'backyard' nor a venue for the competition of great powers."
The framework agreement on security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands will strengthen cooperation between the two countries in natural disaster response, humanitarian assistance, development assistance, maintenance of social order and other fields, read a statement sent by the Chinese Embassy in the Solomon Islands to the Global Times on Thursday.
The two countries will jointly address both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, and inject positive energy and stability into the Solomon Islands and the regional security environment, the Embassy said.
Wang said that the cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands is based on equality and mutual benefit.
"This is the legitimate right of two sovereign states, which is in line with international law and international practice and does not allow external interference."
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson pointed out that the parties concerned should look at China-Solomon Islands security cooperation objectively and rationally, and stop making irresponsible remarks.
"Attempts to provoke, obstruct and damage friendly relations between China and the island nations are unpopular and will not succeed,"
Such comments are believed by experts to be related to some recent unfriendly remarks made by Australia and its allies about China’s relations with Pacific island countries.
In order to seek a hegemonic position in the South Pacific region, Australia and its allies have been paying attention to and are worried about China’s normal security cooperation with the Solomon Islands and other island countries, Yang Honglian, a senior researcher at the Pacific Islands Research Center of Liaocheng University based in Fiji, told the Global Times.
"Australia believes that next, China must take the step to develop a military relationship with the island countries," Yang said. "So Australia is bound to strengthen its influence on the countries and increase the deployment and construction of military bases."
"Australia wants the Solomon Islands to just follow what it says. But after all, it's the US behind all this pushing,"
Frank Sade Bilaupaine, Policy Consultant at the Foreign Policy Advisory Secretariat at the Solomon Islands Government, told the Global Times.
He pointed out that the security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands
"came about because of the riots in Honiara for the past years and Chinese business is always the victim." "So Solomon Islands government view it as since now we have official diplomatic relations, maybe China can assist in building the capacity of the Solomon Islands police," he said.
Earlier, after the social unrest in the Solomon Islands in November, China provided a number of shipments of police material assistance to the Solomon Islands upon request and sent a temporary police advisory team to help strengthen the country’s police force, which has proved to be effective and welcomed by the government and people of the country, Wang pointed out.
A Chinese businessman surnamed Lin in Honiara told the Global Times on Thursday that the Chinese community supports the cooperation on security very much. He said that the police in the island country lack professional training and their equipment is outdated.
"We hope their police force could improve after cooperation with China."
The American elites need to reset themselves
- Our Elites Need to Recognize that America’s ‘Unipolar Moment’ is Over
As President Reagan’s U.N. Ambassador and trusted adviser, Jeane Kirkpatrick was one of the intellectual architects of our victory in the Cold War. But Kirkpatrick was not blinded by hubris when the Berlin Wall fell. In the fall of 1990, she wrote an article in The National Interest suggesting that the United States should become a “normal country” in the post-Cold War world. She warned U.S. post-Cold War policymakers against pursuing a “mystical mission” that reached beyond the Constitutional requirement to protect the nation’s vital national security interests. Specifically, she wrote that the United States should not devote itself to establishing democracy around the world. She derided the notion that the conduct of U.S. foreign policy should be “the special province” of elites who too often do not pay its costs or bear its consequences. Such elites, Kirkpatrick warned, often develop “disinterested globalist” attitudes couched in high-minded terms such as “internationalism” instead of focusing on concrete U.S. national security interests. The Obama administration pursued, and the Biden administration continues to pursue, a globalist agenda that prioritizes multilateral efforts against climate change; promotes nuclear disarmament; and seeks to transform our armed forces into a “woke” military concerned more with race, gender, and “white nationalism” than being prepared and equipped to win wars. The Biden administration is staffed (as Obama’s was) with elites who appear to be committed to a “disinterested globalist” or “internationalist” agenda. They seem to believe that they are as much “citizens of the world” as they are citizens of the United States.
The US succeeded when it offered a better option. Now it demands allegiance to a political agenda instead of achieving fundamental basic functions.
Food in Finland
To an American, such as myself, this is very funny.
Social Security postponement (United States)
- Romney suggests cutting retirement benefits for younger Americans
In comments to the Senate budget committee on Wednesday, the Republican senator from Utah said that the spiraling costs of retirement programs had to be tackled to bring national debt under control. Romney raised the politically controversial idea of cutting benefits, but only for younger generations before they reach retirement age.
Democracy spent itself broke. These programs all rob tomorrow to pay for today. The Baby Boomers, as the largest generation, created obligations that future generations cannot pay, so now the system will crash. The politicians are just trying to keep it afloat with duct tape, bubble gum wads, and sticking plaster long enough for the Boomers to die out, since those Boomers still donate the most money to candidates.
Now for some real dancing.
Soul train. It’s what I grew up with. Look at all the funk!
United States geography and demographics are changing
- Texas drivers license data reveals where new Houston residents are coming from
Specifically, 468,426 people from the other 49 states and the District of Columbia have registered a driver’s license in one of the 254 Texas counties, as of January 2022. About 20% of these people are from California.
The exodus from high-tax states has begun. Texas hides its taxes as property taxes which pay for Supreme Court mandated public schooling, most of which has nothing to do with education and is mostly free daycare and free school meals.
A system so corrupt that the avenues of change are all blocked
More than 1,000 Pennsylvania workers quit AFSCME union in 2021
Joe Mandrusiak, the Freedom Foundation’s Pennsylvania outreach director, attributed falling membership to union members not approving of how union leadership spends its funds. AFSCME 13 collected $26.4 million in dues, with $7.1 million going to the national organization. Mandrusiak highlighted some of the union’s political spending and other cost in the Freedom Foundation’s article:
- $3.2 million on travel.
- $373,720 on food/catering.
- $2.7 million on partisan organizations.
- $440,000 sent to 14 groups that call for defunding the police.
- $25,000 to DEMOS (Defund the Police and Prisons) group.
- $21,500 to Coalition of Human Need (to tear down the law enforcement apparatus).
- $465,100 to Planned Parenthood.
Collective reward and punishment systems are Leftist by nature; conservatives prefer to reward the good, punish the bad, and ignore the unexceptional and irrelevant, allowing nature to sort that one out.
Conservatism is inherently Social Darwinist in nature, but also regular Darwinist, and does not believe in saving people from themselves, in part because if you do that, you accumulate a large pool of waste humans who are parasitic and predatory by nature.
If you join a union, you have joined the American Left. People are slowly figuring this out a century late which is par for the course with humanity.
Taiwan island ‘sponsors premeditated riots’ in Solomon Islands: nation’s media
Local media in the Solomon Islands recently reported that Taiwan island allegedly sponsored the “premeditated” anti-government riots in Honiara with the purpose of trying to pull down the government of the Solomon Islands and sabotage relations between China and the Solomon Islands.
“The acts of violence directed against the democratically-elected government of the Solomon Islands, the ethnic Chinese business community in Honiara and the majority of peace-loving Solomon islanders was at its very core a premeditated, cold-blooded and cowardly Taiwan-sponsored attempt to pull down the national government and undermine Solomon Islands-People’s Republic of China relations,” Solomon Star, a local English media, reported on December 17, quoting a writer given the name of George Belau.
The newspaper said the riots resulted in the destruction of the livelihoods of innocent people and trashing of the Solomon Islands’ economy, “clearly show Taiwan and its friends, the perpetrators of the riots are enemies of the entire Solomon Islands, not just of China.”
The writer listed a few examples, such as the “provocative raising of the Taiwan-flag” by premier of Malaita Daniel Suidani in Malaita on multiple occasions and publication of the “Auki communiqué (a blatantly anti-China document).”
The writer also said Suidani’s “unauthorized” detour to the Taiwan island in May 2021 was a “move to hatch plans together with Taiwan for future riots/civilian coup.”
“China is the only global power that has never invaded another country, never imposed its values and systems on others, demonstrated the ability to cooperate with sworn enemies, not create new ones. China is the only power that represents development and not destruction. So Malaita and Solomon Islands, who do you desire as a friend?” the writer asked.
“Certainly not Taiwan – most certainly not its agents and perpetrators of the riots. It is China for me and my people,” the writer said.
During the anti-government riots taking place in the Solomon Islands in November 2021, the Global Times conducted an investigative story about the riots and found that the riots truly reflected the scope of influence the US and the island of Taiwan have had over the region considering the island nation’s history as a “geopolitical pawn.”
Some Chinese nationals in the island nation reached by the Global Times also said that they highly suspect that Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ influence is behind the riots.
During the days-long riots, Chinese nationals in the Solomon Islands suffered great losses with their shops smashed, burned and looted and their personal safety in jeopardy.
The Chinatown area suffered the heaviest damage with most shops looted and burned.The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, told the press in November that the crisis “is influenced and encouraged by other powers.”
He further indicated that these forces influencing Malaita ̶ the main island of the nation ̶ are those that “don’t want ties with the People’s Republic of China,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In answering a query that many demonstrators were from the pro-Taiwan Malaita province and that the establishment of diplomatic ties with China may be the reason behind the riots, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a routine press conference on November 26, 2021 that the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Solomon Islands serves the fundamental and long-term interests of the Solomon Islands, and all attempts to disrupt the normal development of relations between the two sides are nothing but futile.
Chicken & Meatball Parmesan “Stoup”
When you make something special for family, loved ones, or friends, they remember it. And that makes the moment a true treasure.
If you love the Italian flavors of a meatball Parmesan, we’ve got the perfect way to change it up! This Chicken & Meatball Parmesan “Stoup” falls somewhere between a thick soup and a saucy stew. Topped with a delicious dinner roll that absorbs all the bold flavors, this recipe is perfect for sharing memories or making new ones. It’s also great if you just want a little bit of comfort on a cold night. Trust us, if you bring this savory recipe to the next get-together, it’ll be gone before you can blink!
What You’ll Need
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 (24-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
- 16 appetizer-sized frozen meatballs, thawed and cut in half
- 2 cups frozen, diced cooked chicken
- 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 6 frozen par baked dinner yeast rolls
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
What to Do
- In a soup pot over medium-high heat, combine broth, spaghetti sauce, meatballs, chicken and vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bake rolls according to package directions. Remove from oven and sprinkle each evenly with mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Ladle “stoup” into bowls, top each with a cheese-topped roll and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve piping hot and get ready for lots of happy faces around the table.
How Empires Fall
How does an empire fall?
It rots and rusts in the core while the liars keep putting on fresh coats of paint every year. The collapse happens gradually over the years but no one notices. Then one day a dandelion wafts over and lands on the rotten heap, and the mighty empire collapses all at once.
It sometimes collapses with a whimper, not a bang. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, no one even noticed. No one cared.
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Chinese military training
MM readers are probably tired of these training videos. But I believe that there is so much value in teaching disipline, military skills, and fundamentals at an early age. From grade one, everyone in China gets military training. Here is a third grade mortar crew. video 6MB
Learning about China by looking at the Chinese girls here
This is a great and a fun way to get a snapshot of another nation. You take a look at the society, and in this case, you look at the women and girls there. Of course, if all you do is watch American “mainstream media” you might think that Chinese girls are flat-chested, thin waifs that tremble becuse they are overwhelmed by the great mass of horny menfolk (due to the one child policy). Of course, it’s a massive lie, but heck. If you want to be stupid, stay that way. I jsut don’t give a fuck. Here’s what Chinese girls really look like. Video.
Girl one – A nicely well proportioned lady 3MB
Girl two – A fine belly buttoned waist to a Chinese pop song mix 5MB
Girl three – Lady in a tan dress outside. Love that smile! 5MB
Girl four – Chinese garages are so nice and clean. I have never seen a dirty or gloomy Chinese underground car garage. 5MB
Girl Five – Nice face and hair. 2MB
Oh, meanwhile in Finland…
How to organize your cats.
ROY BUCHANAN – TURN TO STONE
When I was attending university, we used to listen to this blues album. This is the full song “Turn to stone” from the album. I hope it takes you back, like it does for me. The song is a John Walsh song, but does in a real shearing blues solo. Amazing stuff. Worth about three minutes of your time.
Show empathy
The leadership in the United States, and most of the collective West are psychopaths. They are unable to feel empathy.
But you can, can’t you?
See and experience how others feel. That’s the key to being a Rufus. You are able to put yourself into the shoes of others. video 51MB
The Supreme Court Uses Twisted Logic to Protect US Agents Committing Torture
The Supreme Court declared last week that Americans have no right to learn the grisly details of CIA torture because the CIA has never formally confessed its crimes. The verdict symbolizes how the rule of law has become little more than a form of legal mumbo-jumbo to shroud official crimes. Why should anyone expect justice from a Supreme Court that covers up torture?
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Here....
Be the Rufus that helps others in distress
When a person is in distress they are not thinking clearly. They need help. Be the help. Be that Rufus. You WILL be called upon. You will have this opportunity. Be the Rufus and make the world a better place! video 3.4MB
Remember to be the Rufus
It defines your sentience. When the going gets tough, the survivors are those that are members in a community. The idea that the lone-wolf can win and survive is just a Hollysood fantasy. History celarly tells us otherwise. Be that Rufus. video. 5MB
When profits are more important than society, environment, or people.
It’s the American way. Here’s the United States. This is Hawaii.
Be the Rufus
The alarm bells are ringing. Are you going to step up to the plate and participate in life, or are you going to still stand by and be a spectator? Here are some fine American Rufus. It makes me so proud! Be a Rufus. video 39MB
A fine example of good, solid Rufus behaviors.
You have to do kind, just and maningful things. Sure, it’s nice to watch heroes in action, but just smiling, buying a cup of coffee for a co-worker, inviditng a co-worker to your home for cards, or volunteering at an animal shelter are all fine Rufus actions. Make a difference. Now is that time. video Rufus Compilation 21MB
Everyone is unique.
And everyone has their own unique story. Like this woman who paid a man to have sex with her so that she would have a child. Don’t judge. Show understanding and compassion.
I had a baby with sperm donated from a man who advertised on craigslist. If my very religious family found out it wasn’t an “accident” I would be completely shunned and disowned. I am a female who is ugly. NO, that’s not the secret. But.. I AM ugly because I have a facial deformity that I was born with. I’ve never had a long term partner and only had sex a few times in my life. My biological clock was ticking LOUDLY and I desperately wanted a child – there wasn’t going to be time enough to meet someone and my odds were none existent as a middle-aged, ugly female. I own my home, have a career – but I didn’t want to lose all my savings to pay to have it done through a clinic and sperm donation, etc. It would have been at least $15K per try. My chances of adopting were also almost none existent as any women looking to adopt her baby out isn’t going to pick the ugly, middle aged lady to adopt their baby, plus is crazy freaking expensive. I wanted the money I had in savings, etc.. to toward raising the child. So I turned to Craigslist and got it for free. My child is a preschooler now and I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled! I pinch myself every day because my child is in my life and I feel so fucking lucky. Every day is a dream come true and I savor each and every moment. I try to be the best mom I can be in every way. Parenting really makes you take a long, hard look at yourself and how you show up in the world. I parent from my heart. I regularly send pictures and updates to the generous and selfless man who trusted me on a hand shake.
The World needs YOU!
You do not know what you can do. You just cannot prepare for it, but when the time comes, you will be called upon. You can either be a spectator (S-T-S) or an active participant (S-T-O) choose wisely.
Be the Rufus. It is your ticket out of this reality. video 3MB
Nuclear Monday [2018]
This is what we are all dealing with right now. It’s a well made very short (ten minute) film.
”]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 3.
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As importantly, PRC air and naval forces have long had existing plans to fight a U.S. force sent to aid Taiwan and have conducted countless 
