Crazy times. LOL.
We’re back to what the world looked like in 1914 (world war 1), or before 1939 (world war 2), only in a limited sense. There’s a plethora of nations struggling to expand their influence, but all of them are betting on multipolarity, or “peaceful modernization”, as Xi Jinping coined it, and not Forever Wars: China, Russia, India, Iran, Indonesia and others. So bye bye 1991-2022. The hard work starts now.
Welcome to the New Great Game on crack.
The “news” is boring, but it’s about to get lively.
I’ve put together some interesting tidbits that help round out what is going on in the West (including the United States) right now.
What’s It Like To Go To Harvard
Harvard is a very extreme place. You go there and everyone is extremely smart, extremely driven, extremely focused on attaining their goals. It is so extreme that it can become scary sometimes. When you have a bunch of people with high intelligence, but who are not necessarily mature or moral, you can get some pretty nasty results (that’s how you get so many insecure, bright students going into Wallstreet to make a lot of money even though it’s screwing everyone else over).
Even the clubs are extreme. You don’t just write for the newspaper. You have to go through a semester long competitive process to be selected into the Crimson. And after that, if you want to do well in the Crimson, you have to work your ass off and neglect your studies to be considered a true trooper. Kids here consider their extracurriculars a job. All social interactions have some sort of shady networking pre-professional slime to them.
A lot of students are really full of themselves. They spend all their time climbing the ladders of success and trying to win everything. Everyone is super busy all the time. You have to arrange lunches with your friends about two weeks in advance.
Harvard is not the type of place where you backstab your friend, but if your friend fell in a race, you would keep on running and not bend down to help. Students, for the most part, are only interested in their own benefit and will do things that look good, rather than things that are good.
But then again, there is the other extreme too. There are people who come to Harvard, not because of legacy or money, but because they are genuinely interested in the truth. I’ve met people who are so gifted at their focus, whether it’s poetry, writing comic books, musical composition, or biomedical research, and they work on these things night and day. They thrive in the guidance of their professors, and I have faith that they will make a meaningful contribution someday. I try to stick to those people.
If you ask any student what they think about Harvard, most will say that they hate it, but that they found a great group of friends who keep them sane. Those who really really really love the place have some serious mental problems–either in that they are super disingenuous or are psychopaths, or are there really only to network and join the super elite circles of final clubs and whatnot.
Harvard is still a very elite place. You will feel out of place if you are anything but a white male. You will feel a bit uncomfortable if you come from a normal middle class family, because bit by bit you see just how much money your fellow peers have.
You will realize that Harvard doesn’t care about you. Professors have office hours, yes, and they say to come, but their heart is not into it. Everyone at Harvard is there for their own benefit, for their research and for advancing their careers. Occasionally you will find professors who genuinely care, but they are the exception.
I knew going into Harvard that it wouldn’t be easy, that Mother Harvard does not coddle. And I was right. It has been hard as hell. And it’s sad to learn the truth about Harvard. But truth does make you stronger, and I would not be as strong as I am today if I didn’t gain these hard lessons from my undergrad years.
– My-Ngoc To, Harvard undergrad
I Wonder Who….Rory Gallagher Live in Belfast
Fine blues.
GEOPOLITICAL FOOD FOR THOUGHTS BY LARRY ROMANOFF :
USA WAS THE HERO DURING WW2. TODAY IT IS THE MOST HATED NATION IN THE WORLD. WHAT HAPPENED IN BETWEEN?
Some years ago, David Ignatius wrote an article in the Washington Post titled, ‘Replant the American Dream’, in which he told of traveling the world as a foreign correspondent some 35 years ago, and how he believed that as an American he carried a kind of white flag, presumably of purity and moral superiority, signifying that he – being an American – was ‘different’, and that “the world knew it”.
He then noted dejectedly that the US was slowly “shredding the fabric that defines what it means to be an American”, that Americans are now seen as “hypocrites who boast of our democratic values but who behave lawlessly and with contempt for others”.
His basic premise was that the US, and Americans generally, had “used up all their seed corn” and needed now to reach out to the world and ‘share America’s values’ once again.
He then ended with a statement of hope about the celebration of American Thanksgiving Day. Reading from his mythological American history book, he recounted the Pilgrims’ desolate fears as they departed the Old World for America, and “the measureless bounty they found in the new land”, which they shared with the local natives.
You have already read an accurate account of the first Thanksgiving, which was a bit short on sharing measureless bounty. Ignatius ended with the words: “We need to put America’s riches back on the table and share them with the world, humbly and gratefully.”
I wrote a reply to Mr. Ignatius that said in part :
You said that when you traveled the world as a correspondent carrying your American flag, you believed and felt you were different from all the others, a perception all foreigners shared. But that isn’t exactly how it was.
What you really meant to say was “I was better than them, and they knew it”.
Your despair is not from having shredded your fabric, but a nostalgic regret that those people have finally realized you are not better than them, but are worse, and that they no longer respect you but despise you.
You don’t want to reach out and ‘share America’s riches’. What you want is to replant the false utopian values of American superiority in the minds of all those people so you can once again travel the world and tell yourself you are better than everyone else – and to once again see that delusion in their eyes.
You said you must stop behaving as if you were in a permanent state of war, but your America has always been in a permanent state of war. That’s what you do.
Wars of aggression are what define you as a nation.
You don’t want the world to think badly of you about your culture of torture, massacres and war, but you have no intention of ceasing them.
You continue to destroy nations, topple governments, foster regional wars and revolutions, reduce small countries to poverty and misery, but you want to be judged only by the utopian values you preach but never follow.
You say that Americans “traveling and sharing” will make everything okay again, that you would no longer be misunderstood.
But why do you think your US today is the world’s most hated nation? It isn’t because the world doesn’t understand you, but because it does understand YOU. You are reviled as a nation and as a people, for your values that produce only instability, terror, misery, poverty and death.
You say you want to “give something back to the world”. Well, maybe you could begin by giving back the country you live in, to those from whom you stole it. Maybe you could give Panama back to Columbia and Hawaii back to the Hawaiian people. And maybe Puerto Rico back to the Puerto Ricans. Maybe you could give Korea back to the Koreans and stop preventing the unification they have wanted for the past 60 years. Maybe you could get out of Taiwan and Hong Kong. Maybe you would like to give back the wealth you forcibly plundered from about 100 nations with the strength of your military.
Perhaps you would like to give back to Chile the hundreds of billions worth of copper you stole. Maybe you would like to return all the gold you plundered from all of Central and South America and the Caribbean, when you repeatedly invaded those countries, forced open – and then emptied – the vaults in their central banks. Maybe you would like to convince Citibank to give back the billions in gold it stole from the Chinese citizens who trusted it. Maybe you would like to give back to the Philippines and Nicaragua and Haiti the peace and happiness they had before you colonised and destroyed them.
Maybe you would like to give back to mothers in Iraq the 500,000 babies that Madeline Albright killed.
You said you wanted to share America’s riches with the world, but the time for that is long past. You no longer have any riches to share with anyone, and you never shared them even when you did have.
Instead, you shared your depleted uranium artillery with the people of Iraq and Libya, who today have fetuses born that are described as ‘unidentifiable lumps of flesh’. For a decade, you shared napalm and Agent Orange with the people of Vietnam who today, fifty years later, still have tens of thousands of hideously-deformed babies being born.
Your CIA shared its 1,000-page torture manual and its Death Squad training with dozens of your dictators in Latin America. You shared your brand of democracy with Yugoslavia, converting it from a peaceful federation to a broken and pathetic mess of despair, and you then shared that same template with a dozen other nations, priding yourself on your “color revolutions”, leaving nothing but death and misery in each of them.
If you don’t mind, we don’t want you to share anything more with us.
We have had enough exposure to American-style freedom, democracy and human rights, to last us for generations.
And, to tell you the truth, we in the world have lost our stomach for your worldwide carpet of atrocities, brutality, death and misery, as well as our tolerance for your hypocrisy.
All we want is for you to just go home, mind your own goddamned business, and get your dirty, bloody, dollar-soaked fingers out of most of the world’s nations you are exploiting.
The seed corn that you refer to, is gone, but it was not eaten. It just rotted.
Confessions of a Woman With a Photographic Memory
Is studying super easy for you?
Studying? What is that?
How easy is it for you to take tests?
Absurdly easy. It’s actually pretty great, I never have to study. People at my university get a little pissed off sometimes by that.
I have never had anything but an A or a perfect score on any test (excluding math and my current studies in Russian). I chose not to skip any grades because I didn’t want to be “abnormal,” and my talent isn’t something that I reveal to most people.
How long does it take you to remember something you’ve read a year ago?
Instantly.
Have you ever tried to memorize the dictionary?
No, I have not. I got bored.
Are you able to scan quickly through a book, then “read” it later in your head?
No, I can’t. I have to actually read it the first time. That would be pretty sweet though.
Can you recall by Title/Page Number?
Title, yes, without fail. Page number is more sporadic, because I have trouble with numbers.
So how far back do your memories of things you have read go?
My earliest memory is from reading the book “Goodnight Moon” when I was in kindergarden, the first book I ever read.
How fucking easy were english classes?
Haha English classes are a fucking joke. I had to make a tough decision when I got to college; be an English major and do NO work, EVER, or actually pick something I’d need to try in.
Has anyone ever thought you cheated on a test or something like that?
YES. Sometimes during tests, teachers ask questions that come directly from the book. When I was younger if I wasn’t paying careful attention, I would accidentally just regurgitate the direct answer from the book, word for word. I didn’t mean it to be plagiarizing, I was just trying to be as precise as possible. After a few visits to the principal’s office and having to explain and prove that I wasn’t cheating, I learned to be much more careful when I take tests like that. I much prefer multiple choice.
How’d you prove to the principal?
In middle school, the first test I was sent to the principal for was given to me again verbally. After that, my teachers gave me my tests verbally for a while until they were convinced. They then sent a note in to my high school when I got older, explaining the situation.
Does your understanding of the material have any effect? ie, quantum mechanics. Do you have complete recall of writings you don’t understand?
No, my understanding is completely normal. If I read a book about quantum mechanics, which I have never studied, I would understand it precisely as well as someone who had also never studied it. I’d still have complete recall, though, and I could read other, more basic descriptions of quantum mechanics and slowly understand what I read previously based on that.
Could you in theory read a complex book then go ponder on it later without the book in hand? Then go and refer to other passages in the book or other relative books and piece it together pretty easily this way?
Yes. That’s sometimes how I do it when I read a book out of my depth.
When you are deciding on a book to read, does the fact that the memory off the book will be permanent influence you decision? I guess i’m asking if memory of garbage writing (tabloids, twilight) is a burden.
Yes and no. I don’t read magazines, ever, but I don’t mind reading books on the bestseller list or anything. Generally books like Twilight have no value or interest for me whatsoever, and subsequently kind of go away after I’m done. It is a problem when people constantly bring them up though, because then the entirety of the text floods my brain and I want to jump off a bridge.
Does this ability extend to words you hear?
No, I have poor listening comprehension. If I was ever going to suffer in a class, it would definitely be a lecture class with no textbook. I remember things I’ve heard or watched exactly as well as anyone else with moderately poor listening comprehension.
Is there every anything you remember that you wish you could forget?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve gotten some pretty nasty text messages/facebook messages, and the like. I really, REALLY wish that I could forget those sometimes.
Are there ever times it becomes a burden to remember so much? Perhaps something that you remember that you wish you didn’t have to?
YES. Sometimes it’s really lonely/upsetting to have so much wandering around in my head. If I’m happy and in a good mood, it generally is okay, but if I’m upset it can be terrible.
Are you autistic?
No, I am not autistic at all, I lead a pretty normal social life. I probably drink more than the average college student. I do have a fairly extreme case of OCD, which I’ve theorized might have something to do with my memory. I’ve heard of people with OCD who have super autobiographical memories, who can remember with extraordinary accuracy and in extraordinary detail the events of their lives and the days on which they occurred.
Has this affected your social abilities any?
Um, to an extent, yes. When I was younger I was extremely combative. There is NOTHING teachers and adults hate more than a child who constantly corrects them, and who is right in that correction. I was very depressed for a long time, because I never had anyone to talk to who understood. It was in high school that I realized that my memory was not unique. Knowing you aren’t the only one makes all the difference in the world, and I’ve become pretty normal socially since then.
Has this affected your love life?
I’ve had two boyfriends for two years each. The first was fairly docile and didn’t pick arguments with me; we had a low-key, nonargumentative relationship that ended due to him leaving for college. My second boyfriend was the most religious person I have ever encountered, and judged me deeply for my beliefs and failed to acknowledge anything I said. We fought continuously and we broke up due to college and also because we just didn’t get along. Now, I try to just opt for friends-with-benefits situations or one night stands. I’m not the most emotional person, and unless something really extraordinary happens, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Do you encounter any mental problems?
YES. I am CONSTANTLY inundated with random information. I’ll be talking to someone, and a quote from a book will pop into my head, and then another related quote will pop in, and it becomes an endless stupid chain. My current roommate discovered my ability through this once; I was very drunk and just went off on a quote chain like that, and basically gave her a running monologue of my train of thought. It gets pretty annoying sometimes. Also, if I am sad/upset/in any kind of negative mood at all, I feel like my head is a very unpleasant place to be.
Have you ever used your ability for profit?
Not yet. I’ve used it for my personal gain, such as academics, but that’s it as of now.
Do you want to use your talent for the better or follow your passion, or a combination of both?
Sort of a combination of both. I plan to attend law school after my graduation from college, which I have wanted to do since I was a child. I want to be a public defender, and I hope that my extensive memory can be put to good use there.
What is the most interesting thing you can remember reading? Favorite books, authors?
My favorite thing, and probably the most useful thing, that I have ever read has been the Bible. I am an atheist, and though I am less combative than I used to be as a young teenager, there is nothing more disconcerting to someone trying to convince me to be Christian than being able to recite the entire book back to them. Aside from this, Nietzsche, Sartre, Nabokov, Updike, and Dostoevsky are my favorite authors. My favorite book is The Possessed (also titled Demons and Devils), by Dostoevsky.
What is your favourite line of text you’ve ever read?
The poem Annabel Lee by Poe, and 2) “It was a wonderful night, such a night as is only possible when we are young, dear reader. The sky was so starry, so bright that, looking at it, one could not help asking oneself whether ill-humoured and capricious people could live under such a sky.” -Dostoevsky, White Nights
Brand New VW Transporter Gets Witty Camouflage To Keep It From Being Stolen
There are plenty of different ways to protect your car from theft, but one owner of a Volkswagen Transporter van decided to protect it in a novel way – by covering the new vehicle in rust-like vinyl to make it look like a hunk of junk!
The artwork for the vinyl wrap, done by Clyde’s Wraps in Glasgow, involved taking exact measurements of the entire van. This allowed their artists to realistically model rust as if it had been formed by water running down from the vehicle’s handles, mirrors and frames.
“It only took 3 days for the police to pull him over to ask what was going on with all the rust,” Clyde’s Wraps write on their website. “Please note that there is nothing illegal about going to town with graphics on your vehicle but it may confuse others!” That’s true, but in this case, it seems like that was exactly the point – and it worked!
Baked Swedish Meatballs
“This recipe is from my Seaward Inn Cookbook. My husband loves it so much that I am putting it on-line to reference while travelling. I serve it with egg noodles. The Seaward Inn is a lovely place in Rockport, MA, that we visited each summer while the Campbell family owned it. Great food and ambience!”
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread
- 1⁄2 cup milk
- 1 1⁄2 lbs ground beef
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1⁄2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cardamom seed
- 5 tablespoons flour or 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can condensed beef consomme
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can water
- 1 cup light cream
- 1 teaspoon dill weed
Directions
- Soak bread in milk.
Add the following to soaked bread:
- – Eggs, slightly beaten.
- – Ground beef.
- – Onion.
- – Sugar.
- – Spices (except dill weed).
- Shape into 1″ balls. Brown on all sides in skillet (or bake in 400 degree oven for 20 min.).
- Remove meatballs to 2 quart casserole.
In skillet, or saucepan:
- Add 5 Tbsp flour (or cornstarch) to meat drippings, then add 1 can Consomme and 1 can water.
- Note: Shake with 1 soup can of water with flour (or cornstarch) if meatballs were baked. Then add to Consomme.
- Cook, stirring gravy until thick and smooth.
- Add 1 cup light cream and 1 tsp dillweed, and stir until blended.
- Add to meatballs.
- Bake, covered for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
Rory Gallagher – A million miles away 1977
I'm watching a genius that played straight from the heart ..This type of musicianship is rare..Forget tricks and speed and so-called power playing...What your looking at here can not be learned from a book or video ..this is true art ..R.I.P Rory
Confessions Of A Woman In A Male Dominated Engineering Class
Being in the computer engineering field, I’m used to a certain difference in the number of guys to girls in my classes. Even in my first basic programming course there was like 100 guys to maybe 15 girls before a few of them dropped and we ended up with like 10 finishing the course.
A couple months ago, when I walked into Intro to Software Engineering, I saw… well, I saw a room full of 49 guys. And then there was me. Some of the guys I had taken classes with before and I knew, many were new faces.
Now, my other classes this semester have been more fairly balanced, but for the past couple of months every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have to be in a room for three hours with some of the thirstiest, horniest guys on campus, all focusing their attention on me. And I’ve been loving teasing every single one of them. Sometimes I even make their dreams come true.
I admit, being a (relatively) attractive girl that’s into nerdy shit really inflated my ego from middle school on. If I didn’t have a whole childhood’s worth of family trouble and abusive, traumatic relationships I would probably be insufferable (maybe I am already, oh god). I thought I was used to the attention from the guys, from being the only girl on the math club in middle school and being group touched in the hotel room during a competition to being convinced to join the Gaming Club in high school with my boyfriend to be something he showed off as he made me suck him off in front of the club.
Nothing, though, nothing compares to the attention I get being the only girl in Intro to Software Engineering, Spring 2019.
And it all started innocently enough – I thought I was just going to enjoy being the center of attention, indulge in my little haven of being desired, tease my way through the guys and enjoy myself. It was empowering. But it’s developed into bit more than that. I’ve developed a bit of an unhealthy addiction to being the slut of the group. I am addicted to pleasing awkward, nerdy cock. My reputation has spread slightly, and I need to dial it back I think.
At my core, I’m a numbers girl. I love data, almost as much as I love sucking the cum out of a cock. And here’s what the numbers say:
41: The number of guys from this class who have added me on Instagram or Facebook and have sent me some thirsty, creepy, or honestly genuinely sweet message hitting on me. That’s 82% of the class.
12: The number of different guys I’ve had sex with that take this class
20: The number of different guys that I have made cum in some way with some kind of -job.
24: The number I want to get that 20 count up to (half of the class, that’s pretty good, right?) before this class ends.
3: The number of weeks I have until this course ends.
7: The number of distinct places on campus I’ve done something with a guy from this class (I count “their room” as just one place across all guys).
4: The number of guys that I genuinely liked well enough that I hung out with multiple times.
7: The most number of guys who have been in the same room as me topless.
4: The most number of guys I’ve made cum in one night through whatever means.
336: The approximate dollar value in terms of lingerie I’ve given away as a sexy little trophy for some guys.
0: The number of times I’ve worn a bra to class since February 18th.
What’s It Like To Lose Everything
I once had it all – literally what seemed to be the pinnacle of my life or so it seemed. We just purchased a beautiful new home in a great area of the city. Zero debt plus 6 figures in the bank. Cute new car. Great position at work. To the outside world, we seemed like the “it” couple. Then everything came crashing down.. fast and HARD!
Marriage dissolved almost overnight. I lasted ONE year in that brand new house. ONE. For reasons too long to list, my 14 yr relationship with what was supposed to be my “life” partner dissolved. And with it, I also lost my immediate family – goodbye brother and mother (dad croaked years ago).
SAME effin time, my work decided to let me go – AFTER dedicating 10 years of my life to them and being promoted 4–5xs. I didn’t see it coming at all. It was almost like I was blindsided. I was in the middle of a monster release, was working around the clock – so much so that my European counterparts were convinced I never slept. My developers, everyone was BLINDSIDED that THEY (VPs, CTO, etc) chose to cut me off. Me and my barely 6 figure salary. I believe I was paid about high $90k then.
And my SHITHOLE of a soon to be ex wanted EVERY FKN THING! He would NOT let me go. So I left him the house, car, everything in it. EVERYTHING was devalued at a fraction of a price just so that I can be free and OUT of harms way. What did this mean? It meant that I had to start over… and can kiss my upgraded Samsung appliances buh-bye. LOL it was back to laundry mats again. Which is fine but still.. I miss having my own washer dryer.
Same time my 16 yr old dog is dying… Literally. He was diagnosed with an incurable aggressive tumor at the same time my marriage fell apart. So to date- lost my house, husband, job, mother, brother and now dog?! Yea shit times dont even being to cover it.
PLUS I had to now pay my very expensive divorce attorney. Yes he kept me safe but at a price. $50k to be exact.
By some miracle, my old landlord heard of my plight and offered me my old home back. Upgraded appliances and all. Phew. So that solved where to live. But the economy was still in the tank. NO ONE WAS HIRING! And I mean NO one.
Despite my good background, I couldn’t find a job close by. Ended up commuting down the Peninsula 2 hours each way. Did I mention my ex got the car? Yep so I Zipcar and rode their shuttle and just made it work. My health took the brute of it. My body was attacking itself from all the stress. My gums became swollen. My digestive tract rejected something as simple as strawberries. And there was nothing my GP could do but wait for the stress to subside and for my body to go back to “normal”. I ballooned up 45 lbs in 6 months because of this and no, I wasn’t pregnant.
But I was working right? LOL wrong. That peninsula gig lasted approximately 2 months! The boss turned out to be an utter nightmare. All 8 people in her dept either quit or transferred out she was such a dragon lady. A few months later my old job (yes the one that let me go) asked me to come back and help them out of a bind. *sigh* Beggars cannot be choosers, right? It’s work, right?
So I returned.. 45 lbs bigger and clearly depressed because of everything else going on in my life. Everyone at work was flabbergasted. Few could barely recognize me. Some naively asked if I was happy to be back. I responded “This feels like attending your exbf’s wedding and he’s marrying a supermodel. Btw he’s the one who got away.. That’s what THIS feels like”
But I soldiered on cuz I needed the money. That didn’t last. My boss at the time turned out to be dealing with her own life problems and thus wasn’t in the best headspace – explaining the sudden bind. The person who I replaced couldn’t take the stress and jump ship midstream – which is highly unusual, especially knowing her caliber and strong work ethic. So this “return” only lasted 3 months! My exit was so callous that they turned off my admin rights AS I was teaching a class!
At this point, I sincerely hated life. I was trying to make the financial bleed stop. I even played around w/ water fasting thinking of various ways to stretch the dollar. The only person who didn’t suffer was my dying dog. I forgoed vitamins, healthy food, healthcare, etc. I sold EVERYTHING. All my electronic appliances – gone via Ebay. All my jewelry gone!
Diamond stud earrings went to a lovely lesbian via Ebay. I gave sent her the appraisal that I had made almost a decade ago for insurance purposes. My watch went to a second hand shop in Florida. My cocktail earrings went to a diamond merchant downtown. And my wedding rings went to an “estate” jeweler close by. The last stung the most. I never had ANYTHING EXPENSIVE my whole life. This was it. I cried SO much. I didn’t want to let them go but I had zero choice. None.
Unemployment was maxed out after 6 months. I sold everything else at home. LOL I even sold my stupid Burberry scarf, air filter and a flash drive. Basically if it served no utilitarian purpose, it was gone. Even if I only made $5. It was still $5 more than what I previously had.
I remember the jeweler almost didn’t take the rings. He said I needed to stop crying or else he wouldn’t take them and gave me this stupid lecture how they weren’t flawless. Flawless my azz. I know jewelry and they nearly ticked off “excellent” in all the 4Cs. He said I was young and pretty and will probably remarry. LOL I couldn’t think straight. I could not stop crying. How do I explain to him that I was married to a monster and those rings were the only piece of jewelry that I ever had the 14 yrs I was with him. My eyes even water now in remembrance.
But I had to pay the bills. I have to pay my rent and utilities. My utilities got turned off at least once. EACH of them.
I ended up at a startup through a recruiter who I met via an old application a few yrs ago. That was ok until she met me. Talk about catfight. Meow! She got on my case because I was always hungry and started to shrink. How do I explain to her that I barely had any food at home? That being at work and access to the snacks and free meals was my guaranteed sustenance of the day?! But I kept it professional.
And lo behold this Series A startup closed up shop. That gig lasted 4 1/2 months. FML!!! And worse yet, not only did they lose funding but we had to move.. from the best place of the city to the worst. So not only was I poor but now I’m worried about my safety because I’m now surrounded by drugged out vagrants. Lovely.
All throughout this time, I maxed out my CCs. Cashed in my 401k. Liquidated my savings. I was as poor as can be. And completely utterly miserable.
18 months floated by.. yes 18 months and zero bites. None, nada. I even tried my hand at odd jobs. No one would hire me. Even dumbed down my resume. No dice. Then miraculously I landed a gig. Something that I knew as it was applicable to my background. And shyt, well guess what happened.. Yep. Let go again. This time after 5 solid months.
It turned out to be a clusterfuck. They kept moving the deadlines. Politics up the wazoo. And the environment was weird. The men kept flirting with me. Constantly. Didn’t matter what age. 25 all the way up to 40. I was 42 back then. But I still did it. Cuz dmn it, I’m not a quitter and sorely needed the cash.
My loving friends stood buy and offered emotional support. One even loaned me cash as he is a self retired budding millionaire. First I thought he did it because of his religion and the fact that his mom loaned him cash when he was in a bind. Nope. Turns out he was hoping to fk me and professed having a long standing crush on me. Um, no ty.
As of today, I’m slowly getting my shit in order. Slowly rebuilding my life. So no, not back to where I was but I’m hopeful. But what you just read described my fall from grace.
– Anonymous
Baby Kitten By The roadside and Waiting For Someone To Save It
I have to say this is my favorite out of all the videos you uploaded.
I saw in your face the emotion, the kindness, gentleness and the satisfaction of being able to heal the sweet kitty that loves you now.
The smile on your face is priceless ! You must keep this kitty now. He (I think it is a ‘he’?) has claimed you are his own!
France Supplies Light Tanks to Ukraine — Escalation
In a potentially escalatory move, French President Emmanuel Macron became the first Western leader to supply Ukraine with tanks following talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Wednesday, the Elysée announced that French-made AMX-10 RC light tanks — which were designed in the 1980s and are currently being phased out of the French military — will be sent to Ukraine. The move is a significant change of position from the Macron government, which hitherto has shied away from sending armor to the war zone for fear of escalating tensions with Moscow.
France has already been supplying Kyiv (Kiev) with air defense systems, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, and armored vehicles, but President Macron has been one of the few voices in Europe to consistently call for continued peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin to bring the conflict to an end.
The decision to send French-made tanks to the battlefield appears, therefore, to be a first move in shifting perspectives from western capitals on the viability of peace talks with the Kremlin.
A French presidential aid said according to the AFP: “The president wanted to increase aid” to Ukraine “by accepting to deliver AMX-10 RC light tanks,” adding: “It is the first time that Western-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces.”
President Zelensky for his part wrote on Twitter: “Had a long and detailed conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron on the current situation. Thanked for the decision to transfer light tanks and Bastion APCs to Ukraine, as well as for intensifying work with partners in the same direction.”
Just days later, U.S. President Biden said he too would be sending armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine, selecting Bradley M2s to be donated. Germany is also getting involved, announcing at the same time it would be sending Marder IFVs to Ukraine, a potentially risky move given the German Army has just brought back its now-vintage Marder armor to front-line service, given the new replacements have so many problems they have proven totally unusable in actual service.
Situation report: Brazil at the start of 9 January.
1. A state of emergency is declared in the Brazilian capital until 30 January. Various citizens’ rights will be restricted in accordance with the law on emergencies.
2. Brazilian President Lula da Silva announces the start of an intervention of federal troops in the capital to suppress an insurgency.
3. Argentina and Chile formally offer Brazil an offer to send police special forces to the capital to help the Brazilian police suppress the riots.
4. Brazilian authorities promise to bring those responsible for the riots to the harshest possible accountability and Lula said that he will seek where their money and resources come from.
5. Venezuelan President Maduro calls the attempted coup in Brazil a neo-fascist insurgency.
6. Most leaders in Latin America send supportive messages to Lula and they all know it is an attempted right-wing coup, so they condemn it. Lula has incredible support in the region.
7. Lula has been out and about, assessing the damage as the presidential palace, congress buildings, and supreme court buildings in the area called Brazilia, have been vandalized.
8. I cannot confirm but seemingly the previous minister of Justice is in Orlando, Florida and that is where Bolsonaro is.
9. In the general language, the neo-fascist rioters are being called Fascist Trump-Nuts.
10. Reports are filtering in now that Brazilian authorities said the riots in the capital are over. Ricardo Cappelli, the spokesman for the Capital Federal District, said the situation in the region, including the country’s capital, Brasilia, was “under control.” Government offices will resume work in the coming hours. According to preliminary data, more than 400 supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro were detained during the protests.
11. I noticed the lack of Israeli flags among the rioters. During the election, the Bolsonaro factions carried Brazilian flags, Israeli flags and USA flags. I did not see one video where they are continuing to carry Israeli flags.
12. This attempted coup d’état will not remove Lula as president.
We keep watching as we see such an overt attempt at recreating a January 6th (US) situation. Russian channels are calling this a Maidan, and Escobar, crisp as always says:
HERE IS A MAIDAN REMIX GOING ON RIGHT NOW IN BRASILIA. CIA rat lines NEVER sleep.
The background in the region is that there are riots in Bolivia (regional) and in Peru the people are still in the streets after their recent coup where their president was arrested. The empire is striking back in this region that is working hard to take its own power back. AMLO in Mexico has meetings with Justin Trudeau and Biden at the moment, and he stated that he will approach Biden to remove the remnants of the hated Monroe Doctrine.
More to follow.
What is a Psychedelic Experience Like?
“Euphoria and insight,” as Roger Sterling said in Mad Men, but while the ‘visuals’ are what’s publicized, they really only make up a very small portion of the experience.
The #1 thing psychedelics do is make you unable to rationalize how important events and emotions are supposed to be, similar to the way a child thinks. In other words, it makes EVERYTHING seem incredibly significant, in a way it’s almost impossible to experience otherwise. You are INCREDIBLY attuned to small emotional / mood / vibe changes, and are in a heightened, much more “raw” state of being. This can be incredibly enlightening (or terrifying, depending on how your trip goes).
On psychedelics, you very quickly realize that scrolling on your phone, for example, makes you very uncomfortable, feels shallow and vapid, and drains your energy, like a room full of too-bright fluorescent lights. Horror movies are totally out, even if you normally love them, because the brutality will be far too much to bear. But something as simple as going outside, having a campfire, and listening to good music suddenly becomes absolutely incredible, and extremely poignant. Nature is the #1 thing to pair with psychedelics. It truly makes you see the beauty of the earth in a much more profound way.
It’s also a serotonin kick, and it makes your emotional relationship senses heightened as well. You often experience a profound sense of camaraderie and an outpouring of love — you will realize, for example, all the ways that your partner is beautiful, kind, and wonderful, and you’ll question how you could ever take anything for granted, especially the people that you’re surrounded by.
It can also grant you deep introspection, where your mask of ego and projection is thrown off, allowing you to see the truth at the core of your life (although sometimes this “truth” is not more accurate than the way you see yourself, just simply different.) This can be wonderful, or it can be extremely difficult, it just depends on your surroundings, dose, and mental state.
Long story short, while psychedelics don’t make you hallucinate, it’s like they strip away the callouses of your soul and heart, callouses that have been layered on by pain, age, boredom, and the grinding repetition of life. Once those callouses are broken down by the psychedelic experience, it allows you to see the world with a sense of childlike wonder again, and grasp the extraordinary nature of life and this earth for the miracle that it is.
Amazing Photos of the Third Generation of the Ford Thunderbird, 1961-1963
The third generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car produced by Ford for the 1961 to 1963 model years. It featured new and much sleeker styling (done by Bill Boyer) than the second generation models. Sales were strong, if not quite up to record-breaking 1960, at 73,051 including 10,516 convertibles.
A new, larger 390 cu in (6.4 L) FE-series V8 was the only engine available (in 1961). The Thunderbird was 1961’s Indianapolis 500 pace car, and featured prominently in US President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade, probably aided by the appointment of Ford executive Robert McNamara as Secretary of Defense. It shared some styling cues with the much smaller European Ford Corsair.
It was replaced by the 4th generation Thunderbird for model year 1964. Here is a set of amazing photos of the third generation of the Ford Thunderbird (1961-1963).
FOIA Documents prove COVID-19 “Vaccines” were treated as “Medical Counter-measures” to a Bio-Weapon attack. Entire COVID Operation Run by US National Security Council with NO MANUFACTURING SAFEGUARDS OR DISCLOSURES
New Docs Reveal Department of Defense Controlled COVID-19 Program from the start. The FDA Vaccine Approval Process was Theater. A combination of the PREP Act, Emergency Use Authorization, and Other Transactions Authority (OTA), shielded Big Pharma, Agencies, and Medical Participants that Delivered Unregulated Vaccines, from any liability.
According to congressionally passed statutes, research of active laws, and extra details obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the Department of Defense owns, implements, and oversees the COVID-19 vaccine program as a “Countermeasure” to foreign attack. While the public was bombarded with an orchestrated fear campaign, the U.S. Government managed the Covid response as a national security threat.
The research and documents (Click Here) were obtained by a former executive of a pharmaceutical Contract Research Organization (CRO), Sasha Latypova, and intensive legal researcher Katherine Watt (Click HERE).
The Three-Legged Stool
The undercover operation was orchestrated utilizing three critical legal maneuvers:
1. Emergency Use Authorization EUA.
2. Prep Act,
3. Other Transactions Authority
President Trump declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE) on March 13, 2020, under the Stafford Act, putting the National Security Council in charge of the Covid policy. Covid-19 vaccines are “medical countermeasures” – a grey area of products that are not regulated as vaccines or medicines.
“They put the National Security Council in charge and treated it as an act of war,” said Latypova.
According to Operation Warp Speed/ASPR reports, the DoD ordered, oversaw, and tightly managed the development, manufacture, and distribution of Covid countermeasures, mainly utilizing the DoD’s previously established network of military contractors and consortia.
Department of Defense (DoD), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ordered all Covid countermeasures, including “vaccines” as prototype demonstrations of large-scale manufacturing, avoiding regulations and transparency under Other Transaction Authority. As prototypes used under EUA during PHE, Covid countermeasures, including “vaccines,” need not comply with the U.S. laws for manufacturing quality, safety, and labeling.
“The implication is that the U.S. Government authorized and funded the deployment of noncompliant biological materials on Americans without clarifying their “prototype” legal status, making the materials not subject to normal regulatory oversight, all while maintaining a fraudulent pseudo- “regulatory” presentation to the public,” said Latypova.
“Most incredible is the fact that current Laws enacted by the United States Congress appear to make the coverup actions LEGAL!”
Under the PHE, medical countermeasures are not regulated or safeguarded as pharmaceutical products (21 USC 360bbb-3(k)).
The American people were led to believe that the FDA, CDC, and figureheads like Anthony Fauci, oversaw the COVID-19 vaccine program. Their involvement was an orchestrated information operation. All decisions concerning the COVID-19 vaccine research, materials acquisition, distribution, and information sharing were tightly controlled by the DoD.
Hundreds of Covid countermeasures contracts have been uncovered. Many disclosures are in redacted form. However, Latypova and Watt have found sources to fill in the details.
A review of these contracts indicates a high degree of control by the U.S. Government (DoD/BARDA). It specifies the scope of deliverables as “demonstrations” and “prototypes” only while excluding clinical trials and manufacturing quality control from the scope of work paid for by the contracts.
To ensure that the Pharma is free to conduct the fake clinical trials without financial risk, the contracts include the removal of all liability for the manufacturers and any contractors along the supply and distribution chain under the 2005 PREP Act and related federal legislation.
Why is no action by regulators or courts? According to Latypova and Watt, a combination of recently passed legislation and executive orders make it LEGAL to LIE! The HHS Secretary is accountable to no one if the Health National Emergency continues to be extended by Congress every three months.
A significant information operation was set in motion the minute COVID-19 hit. The U.S. government, the intelligence community, the media, and Big Tech colluded to orchestrate and implement an intense pressure campaign designed to get the vaccine legally designated under the Emergency Use Authorization Act while vilifying dissenting doctors, critics, and viable alternative treatments. This designation allowed for speedy manufacturing devoid of the standard safety and public health protocols.
For a vaccine to receive designation under the EUA, there can be no other known treatments or cures. Therefore, many proven treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were blacklisted in the media and dismissed as “horse de-wormers” when these cheap, readily available drugs were in the past heralded for their effectiveness.
Eminent COVID-treating doctors such as Peter M. McCullough and Pierre Kory have faced unprecedented attacks on their medical credentials.
HAL TURNER ANALYSIS AND PERSONAL OPINION
I am not a lawyer and am not qualified to render a competent legal opinion. That said, it seems to me, as a layman, that when these COVID-19 “vaccines” were declared to be prototype demonstrations of large-scale manufacturing, that was fraud.
This was not going to be a . . .demonstration of large-scale manufacturing” it was going to be wide-scale distribution to the general public. This was clear from the outset. There was no question about this. THAT makes it fraud.
The persons who declared the “vaccines” to be prototype demonstrations of large-scale manufacturing knew what they were saying was fraud and they did it anyway.
In American federal jurisprudence, “Fraud vitiates everything.” Nothing that stemmed from the fraud can be allowed to remain, and everything caused BY the fraud must be remediated by the courts to the extent possible. (See United States v. Throckmorton (98 U.S. 61 (1878)). In the Throckmorton case, the Supreme Court of the United States court held “fraud vitiates everything.”
As such, it seems to me, no one can have any immunity from liability because everyone involved knew, or should have known, the entire COVID-19 Vaccine operation was a fraud. Not only were the brand new mRNA gene therapy shots NOT “vaccines” they were being distributed as such when everyone in the process knew there was no foreign attack, this was not a “medical countermeasure,” and the representation that these were “prototype demonstrations of large-scale manufacturing” were all falsehoods.
I believe this situation qualifies as a “crime against humanity” for the scope of the deliberate fraud, and the horrific damages, injuries, and deaths, caused by these mRNA vaccines.
People are still, to this very moment, actually dying from consequences of having taken these fraudulent “vaccines.” People need to go to prison for this.
In the meantime, NO ONE SHOULD TAKE THESE VACCINES OR THEIR “BOOSTERS.” It is now clear that no safeguards were used in the manufacture of these materials, no one is being told what the actual ingredients of these shots are, it is now established scientific fact these shots do not prevent anyone from being infected with COVID, do not protect anyone from transmitting the virus to others, do not prevent severe illness from COVID, and do not prevent death from COVID. Worse, there are documented, widespread, injuries and deaths attributable to these shots.
Given these realities, it seems logical to me that no one should take these shots again.
Confessions Of An Ex-Mercenary
How does one become a mercenary ?
Typically you start somewhere. I was a US Army Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. Friends of friends found me, and got my first contract to go to Africa.
How’s the pay?
Pay can fluctuate. First of all, there’s a lot of deadbeats in this space. For example, Liberia asked me to create a littoral sea fighting force, but I couldn’t figure out how they would actually pay (regardless of promises) so I walked away. Never work for the UN. Total deadbeats.
The US pays you about double what you might make in uniform, which ain’t much given the risks. All the stories of guys making 2 grand a day are BS. Maybe a few guys at the beginning of the Iraq war. Also, the US might pay Blackwater $1500/day for you but Blackwater pays you only $400/day, pocketing the rest.
The best is extractive industry, especially those that are private owned. You can find these in Houston, with the right connections.
What was the best/worst compensation for the contracts you’ve been on?
Worst. Not getting paid what was owed me.
Best. Getting paid six-figure for a two-week walkabout among the armed groups of the Sahara. Oil company.
How do you acquire your equipment? Especially for situations where you’re raising a small army.
It depends on the client. When I worked US government (USG) contracts, they would pay for it and I would go get it. Hence I did shopping sprees in Eastern Europe.
Are there anybody that you refuse to work with? If so: why?
There are many whom I would refuse to work with. For example, China or Russia. Actually, any who is the enemy of the US, since I’m still an ex-soldier at heart and blue passport holder.
However, a lot of people don’t care and go where the money. Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, left the US and now works for China in Africa. He’s now in DC pimping an idea to hire a mercenary army to “fix” Afghanistan. It’s a dangerous idea.
What was the craziest thing you had to do as a mercenary?
Stop a genocide in Africa.
Could you elaborate?
Only a little.
The US had intel that an extremist Hutu group hiding in the Congo called the FNL were planning to assassinate the President of Burundi in 1994. If they did this, it would cause a chain of reprisal killings – Tutsi killing hutus and hutus then killing tutsi – that would rekindle the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The US sent us in to prevent all this from happening, with out the governments of Burundi, Rwanda, DRC etc knowing. Only about 5 people knew in Burundi our mission, including the President and General in charge of their military.
We succeeded. I am sorry that I can’t go into the operational details.
What is the rule on killing kids?
There are no rules.
Unless they are written into the contract.
BTW mercs make moral choices. They can say ‘no’ to a contract or ROE, unlike soldiers and marines. They can also go ‘off contract’ or rogue.
Is your work considered peacekeeping, or are you on a definite side of the wars you’ve been part of?
“Peacekeeping” is one of those weasel words that diplomats like to throw around to cover their operations. Putin said he was doing ‘peacekeeping’ in Chechnya. The UN does “peace enforcement,” which they did in the eastern Congo in 2013.
I’m straight faced about it. We do war.
During your time as a Merc, how many times have you had run-ins with SOFs (Special Operations Forces) from other countries, which ones, how many did you actually have to fight, and which ones scared you the most?
All the time. People cluster around skillset, so if you have a SOF or paratrooper or ranger etc background, you will gravitate to those with like skills and either form a team or join one.
The best are from US, richer European countries and many of the former Soviet republics. Latin american SOF is good too. The worst are African and Middle east countries. Scariest: ex-Soviet. They are…different than the rest of us.
How so? Psychologically they’re different? Their skill sets?
Yeah. Many of them are crazy and tough. They use to have this thing in Spetznatz training called the Rule of the Grandfathers. Recruits would have bones broken.
How large is the industry, and would you say that it is mostly larger bodies of armed men, or do mercenaries also do smaller, covert ops missions in tight, single digit groups?
It’s really hard to say how large and how much money is sloshing around the private military world. There’s no Department of Labor and Statistics for Mercenaries.
During the height of the US wars in Iraq and Afghan, contractors worked in large military corporations. Now that this market has dried up, mercenaries are atomizing into smaller units.
What is the mortality rate for mercenaries?
It depends. Let’s assume proper mercenaries here, meaning they are ex-military and in conflict zones. The mortality is higher than most 1st world militaries. Also, if you get hurt, you are likely screwed.
Merc ops gone wrong generally don’t make the news. Mercs are hired often to work in the shadows, and if something goes wrong, their employers cut them away like a kite. That’s why we call these ‘kite missions.’
High end mercs are hired because they offer good plausible deniability.
What is the biggest misconception on PMC’s (Private Military Contractor) or Mercenary firms that is currently being published in the political science literature?
Political Science and academics in general don’t know much because this industry is so opaque. You have to be on the inside to understand it, yet not succumb to it, or get blackmailed into silence.
The common misperceptions are:
- Mercenaries are ineffective. Wrong, very wrong.
- Mercs are illegitimate. “Legitimacy” is a big word people like to throw around with much thinking. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter that much.
- Mercs are all evil. Some are, some are not. Same with soldiers.
- We can use international law to curb mercenaries. Wrong again. Mercenaries will just shoot your law enforcement.
- Mercs are peripheral security problem. Wrong. The market for force is growing and cannot be stopped. At least not if we leave it on auto-pilot, which have.
- Lastly, mercs are not useful. This is wrong. They are like fire: power a steam engine or burn the building down. They can augment UN forces of be used as terrorists.
Did this kind of experience provide you with insights into a deeper understanding of the interactions between the western world and the middle eastern one? If yes, could you go into details?
You can’t understand the middle east if you think in terms of “states” or countries. You have to think in terms of blocs of ancient powers warring one another. You have the Sunni bloc, lead by Saudi Arabia and includes the GCC, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and N. Africa and others.
Then you have the Shia block, lead by Iran and includes N. Iraq, Syria regime, parts of Lebanon.
I call these blocks “deep states,” not like Steve Bannon’s conspiracy theory but rather networks of power, elites and interest.
These Sunni and Shia Deep States have been at war, in some fashion, since the death of Mohammed. People who don’t see the middle east as two warring deep states will be left scratching their heads, which is what many ‘experts’ here do. Every day.
Is it good to have an knowledge of geopolitics related to the war you are participating in as a mercenary?
No. Optional.
The only knowledge you need to master is how to operate in a fire team.
Can you drop some light on the level of discipline in the mercs (rape, plunder,etc) during interactions with non-armed civilians? Have you personally witnessed any such incidents?
Good mercs do good things, bad mercs do bad things. Just like national armies around the world. However, I ran across mercenaries in the Congo that were pure evil. Really evil. It was sad.
BTW this is a serious concern you raise. I don’t have an answer because what mercenaries do is introduce market dynamics into warfare. Supply and demand dictate warfare as much as traditional military strategy.
Example. When I was in West Africa, some warlords used rape as a tactic and strategy of war. You could hire mercs to terrorize and cow local populations this way. You could also hire mercs to kill those mercs. But you are left with a world awash in mercenaries, and that’s what I fear is coming.
So, just curious if there are female mercenaries, or is this just a male arena?
I never found any female mercs, although it doesn’t mean they are not out there. I ran across female warlords in Africa, who would cut off you undercarriage in a heartbeat. With a rusty machete.
Mercenaries seem to have a fixed role in small arms conflicts (like what you said about Africa and the middle east) but with the international security landscape focused nation states and their nuclear weapons, what role do you believe mercenaries will play, if any, in nuclear security?
I think the international community is by definition Westphalian and can only see the world like a state. That’s why they continue to struggle against non-sate (what they humorously call ‘sub-state’) actors. Hence the mayhem.
Mercs are rising and can take over states, become a praetorian guard, can bully states etc. Let’s not forget that most of the states in the world are fragile or failing. And nothing is stopping the rise of mercenary organizations around the world. 100 years from now, mercenaries will be a bigger problem than nukes.
How has the battlefield changed in your lifetime? I imagine tactics are changing every day with each new advancement in equipment, but did you foresee the role of drones playing such a large role in current conflicts? It seems like we are heading towards wars where soldiers will never be in line of sight or am I thinking far too down the road?
Well, there’s war and warfare. War never changes; it’s bloody, violent, political etc. Warfare changes all the time, including tactics, leadership, environment, technology.
Drones are cheap and easily rigged into kamikazes. Expect mercenary “air forces” of suicide drone squad. There are also cyber mercs called “Hack Back Companies.”
That said, technology is over rated in war. The US has loads of tech and yet can’t conquer Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS etc. Meanwhile the humble IED remains a big tactical problem.
Mercenaries also change war. They open up strategy to the laws of the market place. Future Generals may need to know more about the laws of the marketplace and Wall Street, so they understand how to increase or decrease the flow of mercenaries into a battle space.
In your opinion, what is the best approach to handling North Korea?
DPRK is the headache that keeps on giving. If we strike them, they shell Seoul with artillery. China uses them as leverage to extract favor from the US.
Ultimately, no one wants to see DPRK fall. China and South Korea don’t want to absorb 20 million deranged refugees and no one wants to tempt the DPRK leadership’s will to launch everything they have.
Ultimately the best course of action is the status quo, which is why nothing has changed in 70 years.
What is a moment you can still vividly recall today?
Digging up children’s teeth in the genocide killing fields outside Bujumbura, Burundi.
What sorts of non-millitary exclusive skills helped you the most or did the best to keep you alive?
Cultural skills. When you are operating in Africa or elsewhere, you need to be cultural attuned. First, I’m a white guy with straight teeth, which means I’m American. That can be very disadvantageous in some parts of the world. You have to have a good intuition about people.
How does the merc profession mesh with family life? I imagine it takes one away from family a lot.
Merc life is pretty incompatible with married life. You’re always “deployed.” You can maybe do something like 6 months on a defensive lucrative mission, like defending oil pipelines in the desert. Then 6 months at home.
What is the biggest misconception people label you guys with?
People think mercenaries are villains, etc. This is BS.
People often throw machiavelli in my face, who said mercenaries are “faithless whores” or something like that. He was the guy who wrote The Prince (which I love, as well as his Art of War and Discourses on Livy). But he was a total failure. During the the early 1500s, he was in charge of Florence’s defenses and got seriously burned by his lame mercs. So he Mr Sour Grapes. Most mercs – then and now – are not like that.
The prejudice against mercenaries is extremely unjustified. Would you rather be taken a prisoner by Blackwater of the Zimbabwe army ? I recommend the former.
Beautiful Portraits Of Gorgeous Japanese Women By Kato Yasuo
Easy Manicotti
“No cooking the manicotti, so that’s the easy part. Sometimes I will add some frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry. A real easy meal!”
Ingredients
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
- 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- nutmeg (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 (5 ounce) package manicotti, uncooked
- 1 (15 1/2 ounce) jar prepared meatless marinara sauce (or homemade, if desired)
Directions
- Combine Ricotta, Mozzarella, grated Parmesan, sugar, egg, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff uncooked manicotti generously with the cheese mixture, from both ends.
- Arrange manicotti in a single layer in a baking pan.
- Bring sauce to a boil and pour over manicotti, covering completely.
- Cover baking pan with aluminum foil, crimping the edges to seal tightly.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove foil; sprinkle generously with additional grated cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 5 minutes more.
RUSSIA RETALIATES: MORE THAN 600 UKRAINE TROOPS KILLED IN TWO MASSIVE MISSILE STRIKES
In the minutes after the New Year arrived, Ukraine struck a temporary Russian Barracks in Makiivka, killing at least 89 Russian soldiers.
Today, Russia retaliated.
More than 600 of Kiev’s troops have been eliminated in a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian-held city of Kramatorsk in the Donbass, Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed.
The bombardment on Sunday was a “retaliation operation” carried out in response to “a criminal attack” by Ukraine on a temporary housing area accommodating Russian servicemen in the city of Makeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on New Year’s night, the ministry said in a statement.
Over the past 24 hours, the Russian military has managed to uncover and confirm the location of Ukrainian troops in Kramatorsk in the DPR, the statement read. This data revealed that dormitory No.28 in the city was hosting more than 700 Kiev soldiers, with 600 more staying in dormitory No.47.
“As a result of a massive missile attack on these temporary housing areas of the Ukrainian military’s units, more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed,” the ministry said.
On January 1, at precisely 0:01am, Ukrainian forces targeted a temporary housing area containing Russian troops in the city of Makeyevka. Six missiles from a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher were fired at the building. Two of them were intercepted by Russian air defenses, but four made it through, causing massive damage to the facility. The death toll from the strike has reached 89, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Earlier this week, Moscow said several HIMARS systems operated by Ukraine had been destroyed in Donbass, including the launcher that was used in the strike on Makeyevka.
The strike on Kramatorsk took place following a 36-hour truce announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow Orthodox Christians, who make up the majority of the population in Russia and Ukraine, could go to church and celebrate Christmas safely. The ceasefire by Russian forces was unilateral, and the Ukrainian military continued to shell multiple areas in the newly incorporated Russian territories of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Moscow said.
This, from the Russian Ministry of Defense:
"In response to the criminal strike of the Kiev regime in the first minutes of January in Makeevka a retaliation operation was implemented During the day, Russian intelligence tools opened and reliably confirmed the temporary deployment points of the AFU military in Kramatorsk. During the day, the temporary deployment points of Ukrainian servicemen in Kramatorsk were opened. There were more than 700 military personnel in Dormitory No. 28 and more than 600 in dormitory No. 47. As a result of a massive missile strike on these points of temporary deployment of units of Ukrainian troops, more than 600 soldiers were demilitarised."
The hard work starts now. Welcome to the New Great Game on crack, Pepe Escobar writes.
2023 starts with collective NATO in Absolutely Freak Out Mode as Russian Defense Minister Shoigu announces that Russian Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov is now on tour – complete with a set of Mr. Zircon’s hypersonic business cards.
The business tour will encompass the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, and of course include the Mediterranean, the Roman Empire’s former Mare Nostrum. Mr. Zircon on the prowl has absolutely nothing to do with the war in Ukraine: it’s a sign of what happens next when it comes to frying much bigger fishes than a bunch of Kiev psychos.
The end of 2022 did seal the frying of the Big Ukraine Negotiation Fish. It has now been served on a hot plate – and fully digested. Moscow has made it painfully clear there’s no reason whatsoever to trust the “non-agreement capable” declining superpower.
So even taxi drivers in Dacca are now betting on when the much- vaunted “winter offensive” starts, and how far will it go. General Armageddon’s path ahead is clear: all-out demilitarization and de-electrification on steroids, complete with grinding up masses of Ukrainians at the lowest possible cost to the Russian Armed Forces in Donbass until Kiev psychos beg for mercy. Or not.
Another big fried fish on a hot plate at the end of 2022 was the 2014 Minsk Agreement. The cook was no other than former chancellor Merkel (“an attempt to buy time for Ukraine”). Implied is the not exactly smokin’ gun: the strategy of the Straussian/neo-con and neoliberal-con combo in charge of U.S. foreign policy, from the beginning, was to unleash a Forever War, by proxy, against Russia.
Merkel may have been up to something telling the Russians, in their face, that she lied like crypto-Soprano Mike Pompeo, then she lied again and again, for years. That’s not embarrassing for Moscow, but for Berlin: yet another graphic demonstration of total vassalage to the Empire.
The response by the contemporary embodiment of Mercury, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Maria Zakharova, was equally intriguing: Merkel’s confession could be used as a specific reason – and evidence – for a tribunal judging Western politicians responsible for provoking the Russia-Ukraine proxy war.
No one will obviously confirm it on the record. But all this could be part of an evolving, secret Russia-Germany deal in the making, leading to Germany restoring at least some of its sovereignty.
Time to fry NATO fish
Meanwhile, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, visibly relishing his totally unplugged incarnation, expanded on the Fried Negotiation Fish saga. “Last warning to all nations”, as he framed it: “there can be no business with the Anglo-Saxon world [because] it is a thief, a swindler, a card-sharp that could do anything… From now on we will do without them until a new generation of sensible politicians comes to power… There is nobody in the West we could deal with about anything for any reason.”
Medvedev, significantly, recited more or less the same script, in person, to Xi Jinping in Beijing, days before the zoom to end all zooms – between Xi and Putin – that worked as a sort of informal closure of 2022, with the Russia-China strategic partnership perfectly in synch.
On the war front, General Armageddon’s new – offensive – groove is bound to lead in the next few months to an undisputable fact on the ground: a partition between a dysfunctional black hole or rump Ukraine on the west, and Novorossiya in the east.
Even the IMF is now reluctant to throw extra funds into the black hole. Kiev’s 2023 budget has an – unrealistic – $36 billion deficit. Half of the budget is military-related. The real deficit in 2022 was running at about $5 billion a month – and will inevitably balloon.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, a professor at the Kiev School of Economics, came up with a howler: the IMF is worried about Ukraine’s “debt sustainability”. He added, “if even the IMF is worried, imagine what private investors are thinking”. There will be no “investment” in rump Ukraine. Multinational vultures will grab land for nothing and whatever puny productive assets may remain.
Arguably the biggest fish to be fried in 2023 is the myth of NATO. Every serious military analyst, few Americans included, knows that the Russian Army and military industrial complex represents a superior system than what existed at the end of the U.S.SR, and far superior to that of the U.S. and the rest of NATO today.
The Mackinder-style final blow to a possible alliance between Germany (EU), Russia and China – which is what is really behind the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine – is not proceeding according to the Straussian wet dream.
Saddam Hussein, former imperial vassal, was regime-changed because he wanted to bypass the petrodollar. Now we have the inevitable rise of the petroyuan – “in three to five years”, as Xi Jinping announced in Riyadh: you just can’t prevent it with Shock’n Awe on Beijing.
In 2008, Russia embarked on a massive rebuilding of missile forces and a 14-year plan to modernize land-based armed forces. Mr. Zircon presenting his hypersonic business card across the Mare Nostrum is just a small part of the Big Picture.
The myth of U.S. power
The CIA abandoned Afghanistan in a humiliating retreat – even ditching the heroin ratline – just to relocate to Ukraine and continue playing the same old broken records. The CIA is behind the ongoing sabotage of Russian infrastructure – in tandem with MI6 and others. Sooner or later there will be blowback.
Few people – including CIA operatives – may know that New York City, for instance, may be destroyed with a single move: blowing up the George Washington bridge. The city can’t be supplied with food and most of its requirements without the bridge. The New York City electrical grid can be destroyed by knocking out the central controls; putting it back together could take a year.
Even trespassed by infinite layers of fog of war, the current situation in Ukraine is still a skirmish.
The real war has not even started yet.
It might – soon.
Apart from Ukraine and Poland there is no NATO force worth mentioning. Germany has a risible two-day supply of ammunition. Turkey will not send a single soldier to fight Russians in Ukraine.
Out of 80,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe, only 10% are weaponized. Recently 20,000 were added, not a big deal. If the Americans activated their troops in Europe – something rather ridiculous in itself – they would not have any place to land supplies or reinforcements. All airports and seaports would be destroyed by Russian hypersonic missiles in a matter of minutes – in continental Europe as well as the UK.
In addition, all fuel centers such as Rotterdam for oil and natural gas would be destroyed, as well as all military installations, including top American bases in Europe: Grafenwoehr, Hohenfels, Ramstein, Baumholder, Vilseck, Spangdahlem, and Wiesbaden in Germany (for the Army and Air Force); Aviano Air Base in Italy; Lajes Air Base in Portugal’s Azores islands; Naval Station Rota in Spain; Incirlik Air Base in Turkey; and Royal Air Force stations Lakenheath and Mildenhall in the UK.
All fighter jets and bombers would be destroyed – after they land or while landed: there would be no place to land except on the autobahn, where they would be sitting ducks.
Patriot missiles are worthless – as the whole Global South saw in Saudi Arabia when they tried to knock out Houthi missiles coming from Yemen. Israel’s Iron Dome can’t even knock out all primitive missiles coming from Gaza.
U.S. military power is the supreme myth of the fish to be fried variety. Essentially, they hide behind proxies – as the Ukraine Armed Forces. U.S. forces are worthless except in turkey shoots as in Iraq in 1991 and 2003, against a disabled opponent in the middle of the desert with no air cover. And never forget how NATO was completely humiliated by the Taliban.
The final breaking point
2022 ended an era: the final breaking point of the “rules-based international order” established after the fall of the U.S.S.R.
The Empire entered Desperation Row, throwing everything and the kitchen sink – proxy war on Ukraine, AUKUS, Taiwan hysteria – to dismantle the set-up they created way back in 1991.
Globalization’s rollback is being implemented by the Empire itself. That ranges from stealing the EU energy market from Russia so the hapless vassals buy ultra-expensive U.S. energy to smashing the entire semiconductor supply chain, forcibly rebuilding it around itself to “isolate” China.
The NATO vs. Russia war in Ukraine is just a cog in the wheel of the New Great Game. For the Global South, what really matters is how Eurasia – and beyond – are coordinating their integration process, from BRI to the BRICS+ expansion, from the SCO to the INSTC, from Opec+ to the Greater Eurasia Partnership.
We’re back to what the world looked like in 1914 (world war 1), or before 1939 (world war 2), only in a limited sense.
There’s a plethora of nations struggling to expand their influence, but all of them are betting on multipolarity, or “peaceful modernization”, as Xi Jinping coined it, and not Forever Wars: China, Russia, India, Iran, Indonesia and others.
So bye bye 1991-2022.
The hard work starts now.
Welcome to the New Great Game on crack.
The Most Shocking Interrogation You’ve Ever Seen: Markeith Loyd
"The effort and time put in to making these videos is astounding. I’m 36 years old, I’ve seen a lot of different productions of film and/or documentaries and this is extremely impressive! Excellent work EWU! My wife and I enjoy watching your videos together. Please keep them coming!"
https://youtu.be/781YkcgBnC4