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In the post-World War II era, the US has been known for its hegemony–in other words, its leadership role in the world economy. According to one definition, hegemony is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. I believe that the US is not far from losing its hegemony. The conflict over future hegemony could lead to a major war.
Hegemony is surprisingly closely tied to leadership in energy consumption. A country with a high share of the world’s energy consumption doesn’t have to depend on imported goods and services from around the world. It can manufacture weapons of war, if it chooses, in as large quantities as it chooses, without waiting for outside suppliers.
One part of today’s problem is the fact that the world’s fossil fuel supply, particularly oil, is becoming depleted. Extraction is not rising sufficiently to keep up with population growth. In fact, total fossil fuel extraction may begin to fall in the near future. In some sense, the fossil fuel supply is no longer adequate to go around. To relieve the stress of inadequate supply, some inefficient users of energy need to have their fossil fuel consumption greatly reduced.
My analysis suggests that the US and some of its “Affiliates” tend to be inefficient users of fossil fuels. These countries are at great risk of having their consumption cut back. The result could be war, even nuclear war, as the US loses its hegemony. After such a war, the US could mostly be cut off from trade with Asian nations. In this post, I will elaborate further on these ideas.
[1] Hegemony is closely related to energy consumption because energy is what allows an economy to manufacture goods of all kinds, including armaments needed for war. The energy consumption of the US as a percentage of the world’s has been falling since 1970.
Data on energy consumption by part of the world is readily available only back to 1965, rather than 1945. Based on this data, US energy consumption as a percentage of the world’s total energy consumption has been falling since 1965.
Figure 1 shows that the US’s share of world energy consumption amounted to 33.3% of world’s energy supply in 1965, but only 15.6% in 2021. In other words, in 2021, the US’s share of world energy consumption in 2021 was less than half of its 1965 level.
There are some economies that have much in common with the US. The countries in this category are advanced economies that have democratic governments. I expect these countries would tend to follow the US’s lead, regardless of whether its actions really make sense. The selected economies are the EU, Japan, Canada, the UK, and Australia. For convenience, I call these countries Affiliates.
[2] Affiliates consumed over 35% of the world’s energy supply in the 1965 -1973 period, but this has fallen in recent years.
Figure 2 shows that Affiliates consumed 35.5% of the world’s energy supply in 1965. By 2021, their consumption fell to 17.6% of the world’s supply. This, too, is less than half of the 1965 percentage.
[3] The energy consumption of US plus Affiliates as compared to the energy consumption of Rest of the World has shifted remarkably since 1965. The consumption of the Rest of the World has been soaring, while that of US plus Affiliates has shrunk.
In Figure 3, I add together the amounts in Figures 1 and 2 and compare them to the indicated energy consumption of what is left, which I call, “Rest of the World.” It is clear that there has been a huge shift in which grouping consumes the majority of the world’s energy supply.
We all know that if a political party has the support of almost 70% of voters, it is likely to be dominant. There is a similar issue with energy consumption. Energy consumption is used in every aspect of the economy. It is important for manufacturing goods and transporting them to their destinations. It is also important for creating jobs that pay well.
If world energy supply is growing, it encourages growth of the world economy. Growing energy supply indirectly allows debt to be paid back with interest. In general, the faster the world’s energy supply is growing, the higher the interest rate that can be supported.
Without growth in energy supply, an individual economy is forced to become a service economy. It is forced to import almost all of the manufactured goods that it needs, even armaments needed for war. Such an economy is forced to place an emphasis on growing debt and growing complexity. Unfortunately, both of these things are subject to diminishing returns. As growth in energy supply turns to shrinkage in energy supply, we should expect debt bubbles to pop.
A country is likely to stop making advances in the sciences as it shifts to a service economy. This linked chart by Visual Capitalist analyzes patents in 2021 by the country of the individuals listed on the patent applications. On this basis, China’s patent count was more than double that of the US. China is also the major producer of many clean energy technologies because it has both the resources and the technology.
As a service economy, the US has tended to specialize in healthcare, with spending in this sector accounting for 18.3% of GDP. Yet the US’s healthcare results are dismal. US life expectancies have fallen behind those of other advanced countries. The recent covid vaccines, which were strongly advocated by US health authorities, worked far less well than had been hoped. In February 2022, the New York Times published an article, US Has Far Higher Covid Death Rate Than Other Wealthy Countries.
[4] US data shows that its energy consumption was rising rapidly in the 1949 to 1973 period. Such rapid growth in energy consumption would make other countries envious. It would tend to expand America’s hegemony.
Figure 4 shows how quickly US energy consumption was growing, starting in 1949, using EIA data. Energy consumption growth averaged 3.5% per year in the 1949 to 1973 period. This rapid growth is what we would expect of a country that was an energy leader for the rest of the world. Standards of living could rise. Parents could often afford to raise several children.
An article in the Oxford University Press says that the US’s proliferation of major military bases overseas was developed in the 1950s and 1960s to contain communism and to provide global defense of US interests. Such a huge build-out of bases during this period would not have been possible without the rapid ramp-up in US energy consumption.
Between 1960 and 1969, the number of miles of high-voltage long distance electricity transmission lines tripled. This was evidence of the rapid growth in electricity production that the US was achieving; it was a pattern that other countries would want to emulate. It added to the hegemony of the US.
Statista shows that between 1951 and 1973, the number of US automobile sales per year more than doubled, from 5.16 million to 11.42 million. With this increase came a need for more paved roads and more pipelines to carry oil products. With its growing energy consumption, the US was able to accomplish all this growth. Growing energy consumption also allowed the US to manufacture nearly all the vehicles sold in the US in this period.
[5] US hegemony faced a major challenge in 1970 when US oil production hit a peak and started to fall.
US crude oil production rose rapidly until 1970, when it suddenly started falling. Work was quickly begun on oil extraction from the North Slope of Alaska. This oil offset most of the decline in oil production from the lower 48 states through the mid-1980s.
US hegemony depends upon the quantity of energy products US businesses and citizens consume. When oil prices become unaffordable, citizens and businesses buy less. Figure 6 shows that oil prices had been amazingly low prior to 1973, averaging only $16.31 per barrel, even after adjusting for inflation to 2021 price levels.
Comparing Figure 6 to Figure 4, we see that once oil jumped up to an average of $73.14 per barrel in the 1973 to 1983 period, US energy consumption flattened out. At this high price, efficiency became more important. Smaller imported cars, often from Japan, became popular. The US and several other parts of the world started building nuclear power plants to replace electricity created by burning oil. Within a few years, oil production was ramped up in other parts of the world, such as the North Sea and Mexico, relieving the tightness in oil supply.
Once oil prices began to rise again in the 2005 to 2008 period, US oil from shale became available in response to higher prices. The catch was that at these higher prices, oil tended to be unaffordable by the American public. Oil was still affordable in most of the Rest of the World, however.
These “Rest of the World” countries tended to use oil much more sparingly in their energy mix. They often had other advantages as well: warmer climate, lower wage levels, recently built factories, and an energy mix that emphasized coal (which tended to be inexpensive). These advantages helped bring down costs of both manufacturing and resource extraction for the Rest of the World. The shift in energy consumption shown on Figure 3 could occur.
This shift in manufacturing and resource extraction away from the US and Affiliates creates problems, however. If the US and Affiliates are increasingly at odds with countries outside this group, it becomes much harder for the US to exert hegemony over these countries. The problem is that the US depends upon the countries it is at odds with for necessities. Even in making munitions for the Ukrainian conflict, the US needs to depend on China and other Asian countries for parts of its supply lines.
[6] The world economy is now headed for a bottleneck. The world economy is similar to a Ponzi Scheme, with growth in the output of goods and services necessary to fund financial promises of many kinds. There are limits to the amounts of fossil fuels available at affordable prices, and the world is hitting those limits now.
Because the world economy follows the laws of physics, the growth in the output of goods and services depends upon the continued growth in the production of energy products.
We have known for a very long time that fossil fuel output is limited. Back in 1957, Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover of the US Navy gave a speech warning that world-wide fossil fuel energy supplies were expected to become unaffordable between 2000 and 2050. High oil prices seem to have been a major factor underlying the Great Recession of 2008-2009. This especially affected the US, with its large amount of subprime housing debt. The problems experienced since late 2021 with spiking prices of oil and high prices of imported coal and natural gas are also evidence of the limits the world is reaching.
Figure 8 shows my view of where future world energy supply is headed. While this chart was originally prepared in 2020, the forecast still seems to be reasonable, especially if regulators get their way in mandating the reduction of (unaffordable) fossil fuel use.
If energy consumption falls this rapidly, the world economy will have to adapt in many ways. Economies that cannot tolerate high oil and energy prices are likely to be squeezed out. Based on what already has been happening in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the United States and Europe are especially likely to be adversely affected. The countries that are likely to fare better are ones that don’t require as much energy per capita. These countries are likely to be in warm climates and have relatively poor populations, such as those in Southeast Asia.
As energy supplies fall, business failures and debt defaults can be expected to soar. Governments will be tempted to backstop every financial promise, including failed banks and pension plans. If they do this, other countries will be unwilling to trade using their debased currency. With too much money and few imports, the result is likely to be hyperinflation. If the governments simply allow bankruptcies to take place, the result is likely to be deflation as banks and businesses fail.
[7] The US has been having increasing difficulty in its hegemony role. Some countries have come to believe that the US is now acting unfairly.
Back when the US first attained hegemony, oil and other energy supplies were inexpensive and their supply was growing rapidly. The US was experiencing great economic growth, and other countries wanted the same sort of success. The US plus Affiliates were the ones using the majority of energy products, so the interests of almost all energy users were aligned.
Things have “gone downhill” since 1970 when the US oil supply first started to shrink (Figure 5). Suddenly, the US needed help from the financial system to work around the need to import more oil. One change (in August 1971) was making the dollar a fiat currency, rather than tied to a gold standard. This enabled greater use of debt in operating the economy.
Without the gold standard, the US dollar was able to become the world’s reserve currency. Instead of gold reserves, other countries began buying US Treasuries, which they considered to be a safe store of their money. The US dollar could also play a greater role in financing international transactions. A 2021 analysis by the Federal Reserve shows the dominance of the US dollar in many areas of trade.
This dominant role for the US dollar is now being questioned after the US froze the central bank assets of Russia, as part of the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Other countries are beginning to wonder if holding Treasuries is really a good idea, if the US can impose sanctions which make them unavailable. Countries are also figuring out that it is quite possible to arrange sales of commodities and other goods in currencies other than the US dollar.
Also, the US’s ability to win wars is not very clear. The US’s first big loss was the Vietnam War. After 20 years of fighting, that war ended in 1975, with communist forces seizing control of South Vietnam. The Afghanistan War did not go well either. After 20 years, the US abruptly pulled out. While the US claims the mission was accomplished, it is hard to see that the high cost was justified.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict does not appear to be going well for Ukraine and the allies supporting Ukraine. The US and NATO are having difficulty supplying as many armaments as quickly as President Zelensky would like. Ukraine seems to be using up its conventional weapons very rapidly. Neither the US nor other NATO countries can manufacture weapons very quickly, in part because supply lines from around the world are required. How helpful is the US’s hegemony, if the US can’t even easily win a “proxy war” in Ukraine?
There are sanctions, other than freezing assets, that are of concern to other countries. A recent list from a Chinese source lists the following types of hegemony that it considers to be problematic.
- Political hegemony – Throwing the US’s weight around
- Military hegemony – Wanton use of force
- Economic hegemony – Looting and exploitation
- Technological hegemony – Monopoly and suppression
- Cultural hegemony – Spreading false narratives
Quite a few countries in my Rest of the World grouping are clearly getting fed up with America’s hegemony. Increasingly, Middle Eastern countries that were previously at odds with each other are setting aside their differences. They are also becoming much more closely aligned with China. Countries in this group, as well as the BRICS group of countries, are already taking steps toward trading in currencies other than the US dollar.
[8] The path ahead looks very bumpy. The US is likely to be kicked out of its role as global hegemon. Rival countries may choose to attack the US with nuclear weapons, or the US may lash out with nuclear weapons as it sees its hegemony fail.
As I analyze the world economy’s future trajectory, I see the following situations falling into place:
(a) The world economy is being stressed by inadequate energy supplies. When prices rise, it tends to cause inflation. Some countries are experiencing a second kind of stress, as well. Their central banks have raised interest rates. This is a dangerous thing to do because it tends to cause falling asset prices in addition to slowing the economy.
I expect that countries that have recently raised interest rates will have many bank failures. Partly, this will come from the falling value of long-term bonds. In time, it will also come from failing real estate mortgages and other loans, since asset prices will tend to fall with higher interest rates. Governments will be tempted conduct massive bailouts. The countries that have recently raised interest rates include the US, the UK, Eurozone countries, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.
Countries that did not raise interest rates, which seem to include China, India, and Iran, will find their economies less affected by bank failures. Russia temporarily raised interest rates, and then lowered them again, so Russia would also seem to be less affected by bank failures.
Countries that raised rates will be tempted to do bailouts of banks and of “too big to fail businesses.” These bailouts will greatly increase the monetary supply, making countries that didn’t raise interest rates unwilling to trade with them. This dynamic will tend to increase the trend toward two separate trading areas–one including much of Eurasia and one including the US, Canada, Europe and perhaps South America.
(b) If we think about it, cutting back greatly on trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific shipping would save a great deal of oil if there is not enough oil to go around. This will be another impetus for “Rest of the World” countries, especially those in the Asia-Pacific area, to cut back on shipping across the major oceans.
(c) With failing banks and a cutback in trade between regions, the US dollar will cease to be used as a reserve currency for a large part of the world. The US dollar might still be the reserve currency for some trades, particularly with other countries in the Americas.
(d) I expect that a block of countries will eventually coalesce, centered in Asia, that will mostly trade among themselves. China will probably be the leader of this block.
(e) The US and Europe will mostly be pushed off to the side, to trade among themselves and some geographically close neighbors. These areas may need to set up new financial systems using much less debt. These countries will not be able to produce advanced goods, such as computers, by themselves. They will not be able to build new solar electricity generation or new wind turbines because too much of the supply chain will be out of reach. While these countries have been looking at digital currencies, it is not clear that there will be a stable enough electricity supply to make such currencies possible.
(f) There will probably be war at the time of the division into the two (or perhaps more) trading areas. Nuclear weapons may be involved since there are many countries with nuclear weapons. The supply of conventional weapons available for warfare is depleted, with the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to a study done at Harvard, involving 16 cases in which a major rising power challenged an existing major power over the past 500 years, 12 cases ended in war. This analysis would suggest a 75% likelihood of war.
(g) I don’t know what the timing of all these things will be. Bank failures are just beginning. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the world economy holds together a while longer.
norm … have a look at the horror:
https://www.openvaers.com/vaersapp/reports.php
Look mom! I’m blind hahaha
Link: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/my-life-is-on-hold-young-tradie-blinded-after-moderna-vaccine-denied-compensation/news-story/ecefe023035617123c78aa4321e8fc9e#lhjyelngrd24pldafws
With the world dividing into two spheres of influence lets have a sustainable society race. Who can build a demonstration city and farm land and metal extraction that is indefinitely (ok at least 10,000 years)sustainable? Say one million people and 200km by 200km, self supporting. Ready, set, start!
Yep, good luck getting that project off the ground!
I am afraid that societies are tied into the economies largely as they are, and there is no scope for large-scale ‘rational’ reorganization.
It is liable to be a case of ‘what you see is what you get’.
Even the attempt to partly refit these societies with renewables is liable to fail in the long-run, especially once other energy fails.
There is not going to be any attempt at any project of complete reorganization in the meantime.
Modern human societies are just not up to that sort of thing, and they will fair as they will with what they have.
The outlook does not look too bright for these societies, particularly in Europe, which is already badly depleted and highly reliant on imported energy and other materials.
It is not going to look good in Europe if/ when the global economy fractures into rival blocs, which seems to be what the USA is pushing for.
Europe is insanely going along with that.
Metal extraction is not so necessary. Firstly, there are a lot of possibilities to use wood, stone and pottery instead. Secondly, processed metals store the energy used to produce them and they will be available a long time after the end of BAU – with the exception of iron, which rusts away.
Optical glass is much more a problem. Some people need reading spectacles. In combination with low light conditions (no glass for windows, no electricity, no lamp fuel) reading, sewing or carving tools is getting difficult. The first Bibles were printed in large letters, so they could be read in low light churches. Wood glass can be made relatively easily. But that has no optical qualities.
How to produce optical glass under simple conditions would be amoung the first ideas I would suggest for research in preparation for life after BAU. Second would be how to brew penicillin.
If there shall be any electricity, and be it for experiments only or for the construction of simple Geiger counters, an isolator is needed for coils. I can only think of shellac. For that Kerria Lacca is needed on every continent.
A test area for self-sufficiency that does not underly real estate or farmland pricing is an overdue idea!
The only test of self sufficiency is The Fast Eddy Challenge
our civilisation depends on cutting things, with even harder things—we need sharp edges—try to think of anything critical that can be done without that sharp edge.
you can dig a ditch–just about–with an antler pick
but you cannot dig a coalmine or an oilwell.—just not hard enough
you can have a wooden axe handle–but you can’t have a wooden axe blade.—or knife blade,….
wooden spoons—and thats about it—so long as you keep it away from fire–we use fire to do almost everything
try to build a wooden steam engine
I hate to say it but since the Metal Ages all technology has basically depended on metals.
Without metals, you are basically back to the Stone Age, and the Neolithic at best.
And even then, we no longer have the old technologies.
Who fancies trying to make a spade, a fork or a rake from trees with just stone tools?
And the fork, spade and rake would have to be durable.
Forget it.
And who even knows how to make effective stone tools, anyway?
Take away metals and modern humans are completely knackered.
They certainly will not be making spectacles with Stone Age technology.
The genus Homo is synonymous with the use of fire. I long ago acknowledged that “fire monkeys” was the only truly all encompassing description of what we are.
Fire drives everything we do…and it was pivotal in us evolving meta consciousness and the ability to create a metal ore utilizing, city based, agriculturally dependent civilization.
This is not happenstance.
We are a biologically derived species from within this realm that has efficiently released all the carbon stored in deep time for use by the current biosphere.
Our utility is now over.
But because we are not aware en masse that this realm is NOT REALITY we keep trying to assert our “management” of it.
It is somewhat humorous if looked at correctly.
I suggest perhaps that the reality engine is trying to communicate such to us in the manifest “paranormal” events that are unfolding and have unfolded in human history (such as it is).
Some UFO/UAP phenomena are literally demonstrating to us that our “laws of physics” are not laws at all….just suggestions under certain circumstances?
Sasquatch/Sabe sightings are showing us perhaps what the future holds for bipedal hominins? Perhaps what we could have been or may still become.
Psychedelics allow our individuated consciousnesses to access the higher realm for brief instances….as do near death experiences.
Even our materialistic, deluded science is telling us that our world is subject to absolutely unstoppable catastrophes on a regular basis and that many obvious signs of a rapidly approaching reset event are present.
If demonstration/evangelism/advertising was going to be effective it would have happened already. 2000 years of various world religions preaching much the same doctrine has had zero effect. “Do unto others ” etc.
Change can/could only occur individual by individual and this has failed by and large….so the soul harvest must now commence.
Tell me how wrong I am…..everybody does lol.
Consider millions of species have lived on the planet — yet only one had done what humans have done.
We are an aberration
But given this is a self organizing system — humans must serve a purpose — and I very much doubt that purpose is gathering with trannies and clapping along as they twerk their packages in front of children — then uploading the videos to FB.
As you point out – fire is the focus of our existence… therefore fire must be the clue….
Fire = carbon and carbon = life for vegetation and vegetation feeds the other organisms…
Therefore it is likely we came about for the purpose of releasing carbon to keep the cycle going.
Perhaps a human-like species will emerge again in a few million years to repeat the cycle.
It really seems a glaringly obvious summation given the objective evidence from humanities shared dashboard/VR headset.
It is even likely that the simulacrum has been reset several times because we kept taking an alternate civilizational path (megalithic constructions and large populations in antiquity without turning to fossil fuel powered equipment).
Like ants in a maze that won’t find the correct path.
Why more folks don’t see it as fairly obvious I can’t fathom.
They cannot see because they are focused on the next episode of Dancing with Stars
FE: Consider millions of species have lived on the planet — yet only one had done what humans have done.
really? Surely, other life forms have completely remodelled the course of evolution on the planet. It’s considered that around 2.45 billion years ago cyanobacteria were able over some one billion years to convert sunshine, water and carbon dioxide and produce carbohydrates and oxygen – voila our atmosphere with 20% oxygen levels, high enough to enable the evolution of animals.
I was referring to how we have destroyed the planet
But one might say we needed to destroy it to release the carbon
agreed
but all that wasnt done over a few hundred years
that’s the difference
oh i dunno
fred flintstones car went pretty well on footpower alone
and Ken Ham’s dino museum shows dino rodeos
If someone can point the way to Bedrock I will happily move back into those urban suburbs.
I want a more obedient Smilodon though.
Let’s assume this is playing out similarly in the general population …
This translates into massive vax injuries and deaths…
Air Canada & Air Transat pilot Eddy Vorperian at 48 & 25 years experience, dies suddenly May 3; this is the 5th sudden pilot death & 10 known incapacitations
https://palexander.substack.com/p/air-canada-and-air-transat-pilot
But it’s not enough … the Vaxxers are able to ignore the trend… we need much more of this — so that the Vaxxers start to feel fear… fear that they have poisoned themselves… and that they are next …
Only then … will the Unvaxxers be able to feel smug.
The EU/US sends weapons to Ukraine. Russia sends weapons to Ukraine and uses they to destroy the enemies weapons. There is no reason for this to ever end. Or, not until one side runs out of metal or energy. It is no longer about destroying Ukraine that has already been done. There is no death or damage of the homeland on either side. Some “soldiers” die on each side but with eight billion humans soldiers are cheap to buy.
As long as profit taking by the MIC is kept at a reasonable level neither side has a motivation to stop.
As far as de-nazification all the humans in Ukraine will soon leave or be dead. Only bought soldiers left standing. The Nazis can relocate to US or Israel or UK.
‘Allowing us to ditch fossil fuels and their planet warming carbon emissions’
https://t.me/downtherabbitholewegofolks/77513
There you have it. Exquisite PR.
I almost always enjoy your stuff but much is now requiring telegram which I do not have. This makes me sad. 🙁
ISW (a USA ‘think tank’/ propaganda front based in Washington) surmises that Russia is successfully countering the much hyped UKR ‘offensive’, which will not be possible ‘in the foreseeable future’.
Russia has done many effective strikes in recent weeks on UKR military and storage facilities throughout, and especially in the rear of UKR, which undermines UKR capacity to launch an offensive.
We saw UKR stocks of depleted uranium shells, provided by the UK, go up in a massive mushroom cloud in the west of UKR over the weekend.
NATO sends in equipment, and Russia just blows it up before it even gets to the field. NATO has sent in more equipment in recent weeks, and Russia has destroyed it in recent weeks, which is what we would expect. NATO/ EU stocks are being exhausted.
Russia is able to effectively degrade UKR stocks with cheap drones and missiles, and does not even need to use its more serious kit, as UKR defenses are already so degraded. UKR is unable to get together serious defences, let alone equipment for an offensive.
Russia has tons of high precision long-range missiles, and they are not going to run out any time soon, regardless of what the ISW says. It has large stocks of them, and it has the industrial base to constantly produce more unlike NATO/ EU. But cheap drones and missiles are doing their job nicely.
Russia is able to undermine UKR capacity for an offensive with cheap drones and missiles. And NATO/ EU have sent UKR stocks for Russia to blow up with cheap drones and missiles.
Of course, Russia would be doing this sort of thing anyway regardless of any supposed UKR ‘offensive’. It is part and parcel of attrition.
All that we can really take from the ISW report is that UKR is unable to get an ‘offensive’ together, and ISW links that to the constant Russian attrition of UKR capacities.
UKR is unable to even prepare to launch a ‘big manoeuvre’ offensive, let alone succeed with one. Russia is able to thwart that with cheap drones and missiles.
UKR is bound to lose the attrition war in which it is completely outmatched on every metric and it does not stand a chance.
Talk of UKR’s ‘great spring offensive’, now re-billed as the ‘great summer offensive’, some supposed ‘big manoeuvre’, is intended to obscure the attrition character of the war and the hopelessness of UKR’s position in that war.
Putin’s new strategy to crush Ukraine’s counterstrike? Why Moscow has amplified strikes | Report
Ukraine is starting to sound like Hitler ordering counter-attacks by phantom armies during the battle of Berlin.
It’s all fake.
If Putin wanted to stop NATO from messing around .. he would simply throttle back on gas to the EU.
That would drive the price sky high — and set off riots in the streets.
As long as NATO is sending stored up war materials Russia should keep things as they are. If NATO starts making new then cut of gas and direct bomb armaments factories in UK, Italy, France, Germany.
Totally logical – thanks!
I think I’ll go to the chemist now and ask for the new bivalent after reading this logic
Weakening counteroffensive capabilities sounds like a good tactic for Russia!
The video talks about Russia’s limited remaining stock of weapons, and needing to use them as effectively as possible.
Being effective is a good idea. “limited” well you know people lie in wars.
ISW and NATO fronts generally play down Russian capacities. As the Russian defence spokesman Peskov says, NATO simply spins narratives out of thin air.
NATO openly and constantly admits that it cannot supply UKR with the shells and missiles that it needs, even low end ones, and it attempts to project that same predicament onto Russia.
As for overall Russian stocks, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’, and Russia daily and heavily outdoes UKR with the use of shells, which is daily reported all over the field even by the west.
Of course, the higher end missiles have to be used sensibly, and they are not used when others will do. That is just common sense.
ISW is making claims specifically about long-range high-precision missiles, but it does not substantiate those claims.
ISW itself reported this month that Russia is doubling its production of long-range high-precision missiles.
In fact Russian Defence Minister Shoigu gave the order two months back.
Shoigu reported that the increased production of long-range high-precision missiles, and of all sorts of equipment, is going well, and he ordered that the production of long-range high-precision missiles in particular be yet doubled immediately, which he assessed to be feasible.
The newly produced long-range high-precision missiles are the very latest technology, and they are unmatched elsewhere. No one doubts the sophistication of Russian defence tech.
So, Russia has the industrial capacity, unlike NATO, to constantly replenish its supplies of all sorts of weaponry, including long-range, high-precision missiles, and NATO cannot realistically project its own predicament onto Russia.
Russia outdoes UKR on every metric, and UKR does not stand a chance in the attrition war even with NATO support.
https://newsinfrance.com/shoigu-instructed-to-double-the-production-of-high-precision-weapons/
Shoigu instructed to double the production of high-precision weapons
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, during a visit to the Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation (KTRV) in the Moscow Region, instructed to double the production of precision-guided weapons. This was reported in the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry.
“Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted that the Tactical Missiles Corporation is adequately fulfilling the state defense order. However, even taking into account the increase in production this year, he ordered to double the production of high-precision weapons,” the statement said.
Shoigu noted that the task set for the enterprise is “tough but feasible”, since KTRV has all the necessary reserves for this.
During his visit to the corporation, Shoigu checked the progress of the implementation of the state defense order, showed him the latest weapons and production lines put into serial production, and also talked about options for modernizing high-precision weapons.
“These products are missing not only from today’s enemy, but also from the armed forces of other countries,” Shoigu commented on the developments that he saw in the KTRV.
Tactical Missiles Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Korolyov. The company’s website states that it is engaged in the production of multi-purpose guided missiles, ship-based missiles, missile systems and other types of weapons.
Snoopy wrote the opening line but it’s a good read.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/02/where-oil-rigs-go-to-die
My summary:
Years ago, there was a shortage of offshore drilling rigs. Now there is a surplus.
When offshore drilling rigs reach the end of their useful lifetime (which can now be a lot shorter time than the expected lifetime, when they were built), these drilling rigs need to be towed to a site where they can be taken apart and useful materials recycled. This can be as much as 1,000 miles away.
Alex and Alexander discuss the destruction of the depleted uranium shells in UKR.
I suspect that these are sentiments that we all sympathise with.
The western propaganda MSM is silent about this.
The UK supplied shells that had depleted uranium in them to Ukraine. Russia blew up on storage site for these shells, and then yesterday blew up a much larger storage site for these shells. The particles from the depleted uranium shell are a problem if ingested. Now the towns in Ukraine where these explosions hit are have problems with these particles, potentially hurting the health of those living nearby.
Also, the weapons planned for spring offensive are significantly gone. Any offensive will need to be a summer offensive.
It doesn’t sound like the war is going well for Ukraine. UK is likely to become a target for wrath, also.
This is the Russian plane strike on the huge UKR rocket, arms and fuel depot and military facility in Pavlohrad two weeks ago that Alexander refers to in his video with Alex.
It left a huge crater that was seen in satellite images.
This is the sort of attrition that Russia would be doing anyway, but the strike was massively strategically damaging to any UKR prospect of a ‘big offensive’.
As with the strike on UKR depleted uranium missiles this weekend, Russia is effectively degrading UKR capacity and that precludes any UKR ‘big manoeuvre offensive’.
UKR remains hopeless in the attrition war.
Putin’s deadly attack on Ukrainian Army on Cam; Missiles blow up Pavlohrad rocket storage facility
(Bloomberg)
The spike in exports of the Italian drug ‘UDCA’ to China, a drug that Italians have not used and do not intend to use against Covid-19.
Also ‘Bloomberg’, like ‘Corriere della Sera’ did last week, is talking about the spike in Italian exports to China.
The spike is due to sales of a generic drug (UDCA) that counteracts Covid-19 very well. A drug that of course Italians have preferred not to use in favor of the so-called ‘vaccines’. Yet Italians don’t even intend to use (no one talks about it).
But anyway, it is well known, the Chinese are stupid……….
https://gcaptain.com/italys-exports-to-china-are-booming-and-its-not-clear-why/
some SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES in favor of the successful use of UDCA against Covid-19:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37018129/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04149-7
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32575350/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41573-022-00214-y
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32505909/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1178590/full
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.02.23289410v1
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370631727_Mechanism_of_Ursodeoxycholic_Acid_UDCA_in_Prevention_of_COVID-19_Infection
I am sure that the Chinese understand how poorly Covid vaccines work. Purchasing UDCA in advance, if it might work, sounds like a good idea. China is not as overrun by Big Pharma as the US.
My wife says of the Italians refusing to use the effective drug “no wonder they refuse to have kids.”
😀
Ed it is a good joke, but it is not related to that, in my view.
Italians are not having children because of high unemployment rate, low paid jobs or also just temporary jobs.
There is also a long education system which gives difficulty to enter the job market.
Jobs are only with long hours to work, there is no possibility to give children to kindergarten because they cost too much.
High cost rents or high cost mortgages.
In general there is a very bad scenario for the future in this Country and people perceive that, also if they don’t understand all the connections we talk about here.
In addition people are understanding that with this massive immigration from Africa to Europe the èlite is trying to rapidly change the composition of the population, therefore people are scared of that.
Italy is the first Country of arrival and the other European Countries send back migrants to us when they go for instance to Germany, because of the ‘Dublin deal for immigrants’, so we have the highest number. Migrants whose asylum have been refused receive a document to leave the Country, but nobody leave and Police cannot cope with making the expulsions effective.
So these people are not officially here and not present in statistics, but they are here and they work in the black market.
It is enough to talk with any person on the street, everyone would reply to you probably like that:
”how can I be so crazy to bring a child into this rotten world?”
When I hear Elon Musk saying stupid things such as ‘Italians are disappearing” he should better stay in silence and pray or make meditation on the mistery of life, if he prefers.
So, lots of uncounted migrants in Italy.
Lots working in agriculture in the black market or construction in the same way and lots wandering by the Country living selling drugs or by their wits.
Statistics don’t report that, but every Italian knows.
(Considerations about Palestine)
just to report some news and consideration on facts, it has happened that today the Israeli army has made another military operation in Jenin.
Some could say they had the right to do it, some not.
In any case Jenin is outside Israeli borders and it is inside what it is called in Italian ‘Cisgiordania’ and in English is called ‘West Bank’, anyway inside what should be the Palestine borders.
Palestine is recognized as a State by some Countries and not by others (see map below).
Jenin is called ‘refugee camp’ because Palestinian people in 1948 has been moved from their villages to allow room for the Israeli State, that is a fact, some could say that it was correct to do it, some not.
Although this is a dispute that cannot be solved, it remains inexplicable that the world is living the unresolved situation about the existence of a State of Palestine.
Nobody can enter or exit from Palestine unless Israel allows it, because if one enters from Jordan, one needs anyway to be allowed from a Israeli checkpoint to enter.
If the situation will not be solved it could become another Ukraine war, with a conflict with the around Muslims Countries that for instance cannot accept anymore this situation (just to keep their internal population quiet) or can take it as an excuse to attack Israel (just with the purpose to attack Israel).
Opinion: I think that it would be in Israel interest to pacify the situation, unless they want to make war forever with their neighbors (?)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-troops-said-to-clash-with-palestinians-in-west-bank-as-tensions-remain-high/
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/confrontations-break-out-after-iof-storm-jenin-camp
https://www.welcometopalestine.com/getting-in/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine
I am afraid that Israel will be at war with Palestine forever. There are not enough resources for both.
Why don’t they just exterminate all the Pally’s and get it over with?
Because if they do it slowly like that most of the people of the world don’t pay attention to what is happening there and just hear sometime an echo of generic ‘problems in Palestine’, but if they do it quickly, they would receive a UN condmnation.
It is full on youtube of Al Jazeera docs showing Palestine farmers who are methodically ousted by their lands to make room to Israeli settlers.
They take the water for them and they oblige people to leave or die.
It is a slow process, western media don’t report and the game is closed.
FE, watch this when you have time:
Just for the news also Christians live in Palestine (West Bank + Gaza).
They are mainly under the Greek Orthodox Church (a Church with a longer history than the Vatican one and also the Syriac Orthodox Church even more ancient, it was founded by the first disciples of Jesus), but I think that their problems are not considered by the public opinion or not reported by media because they are not under the Vatican umbrella.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/16/despite-israeli-bans-holy-flame-celebrated-in-jerusalem-gaza
I can see it now … will watch …
Initial comment – why dont the joos simply exterminate all the Pallys and get it over with … this is what humans do… we label others as cockroaches and we exterminate them.
no link
Excellent – towards the end they can shove the few remaining ones onto reservations like was done with the Indians in Canada…. or maybe they could put them in a zoo and create a tourist attraction monetizing the genocide?
Each week they could hold an execution — one Pally is chosen to be hung. I bet that would be popular – charge $50 to watch.
I love the creativity of humans… they are so smart!
The elders plan Either a prolonged, agonizing depression that dooms the world to decades of stagnation, decline and poverty (or) an intense but shorter depression that paves the way for a new sustainable world order, with less sovereignty but more efficiency.”
Doubt much so called planning going on in it regards by the Eddies “Elders”.
Suppose it’s fun to imagine such, but Gail has pointed out “we are not in control, natural laws are…”
Much planning by tribes (nation states), as far as geopolitics and with it war posturing and encounters for trade or resource access.
Gail for sees events leading to war… We have such in the Ukkie and Taiwan straits buildup.
It’s unfolding before our very eyes…
As far as the little people are concerned…connon fodder and expendables.
Three Conflicts that Could Turn into World War 3
Why Kyiv, Tehran, and Taipei Could Be Powder Kegs
Feb 22, 2023 | By Will Hurd
https://www.willbhurd.com/three-conflicts-that-could-turn-into-world-war-3/#:~:text=World%20War%203%20could%20be,attack%20of%20a%20NATO%20country.
As far as the economy…inflate the debt away
“As far as the economy…inflate the debt away.”
Personally tending toward deflation. Time will tell.
Dennis L.
It is really, really difficult to offset the impact of a collapsing debt bubble, I expect.
How could we invest into alternative energy in times of a collapsing debt bubble?
People need to have a narrative that something will save them. As long as debt can be used to finance alternative energy, they will fall for the idea. This is particularly the case if they can personally benefit from the subsidies–for example, subsidies for solar panels, or for a farmer or other landowner, space to put wind turbines or solar panels.
The story has to end pretty soon, however.
You can’t “inflate” the debt away . Interest rates are tied to debt. Higher interest means more debt
Fast Eddy, the perfect jester foil for getting the message to the Little People. I appreciate all the input and characters here.
you can only inflate debt away if energy input underpins the inflation
if it doesn’t collapse becomes certain
Now we have the problem with the US debt limit and congress. Raising spending and the debt limits has been a way of keeping the system inflating. At some point, it just doesn’t work. Janet Yellen can see revenue from tax collections falling below hoped-for levels.
This is all related to not enough real energy to keep the system growing. If the US manages to get through this particular debt crisis, I am afraid that there will be another debt crisis, not too far from now.
they can only do what was done 10-20-50 years ago
if it doesn’t work there is no plan B
The photo of one of the recently governing political parties in Slovakia named Sme rodina (We are family).
https://m.smedata.sk/api-media/media/image/sme/4/84/8469724/8469724_1200x.jpg?rev=3
The inscriptions states:
WE ARE FAMILY
we are sane
Who believes that they are sane? It did not help: Slovakia has got a technocrat government as from Monday
That is a scary looking lot.
We can eat tree leaves
22 essbare Baumblätter – gratis Superfood! | Welche Blätter & Blüten kann man essen
https://youtu.be/7RBTym9Rwi8
The blurb under this video says (translated to English):
Can you (or someone else who understands spoken German) tell us more about what is edible. Are there links to written material that can be easily translated?
https://youtubetranscript.com/
Put the link of the video there and get the Google Translate or https://www.deepl.com/translator or some other online translator translation.
I talked to someone this morning who suggested Google Translate, also. I hadn’t realized that it could translate voices.
It looks like youtubetranscript.com is a good idea, too, even for videos in English. Written material is a whole lot easier to scan. Also, if there is something you want to make note of, this becomes easier, as well.
Gail, right now wild sorrel is everywhere along the trails in north-western Europe. They’re full of Vit C and other nutrients. Been sucking on them since I was a kid, spitting out the fibery stuff left over. Just making sure they’re a little high above to avoid fox/dog piss, and when they just crack with juice under your thumb, they are delicious.
Later on we have ground nuts that the rabbit feast on. Leaves in the forest look like small carrot leaves. One just digs a little and gets a succulent chestnut-like taste that just needs to be peeled-off with the nail. They are actually better than chestnuts and more nutritious.
And all of the summer berries coming, obviously.
There’s a lot to feast on on when one knows what is edible.
A person probably needs a local guide to figure out what is edible around here.
I can understand why hunter gatherers in the tropics had little difficulty finding enough food. Their nourishment seemed to have been a great deal better if they could cook part of the food, however. Humans do not do as well as chimpanzees on a raw food diet. Our teeth, jaws and guts are not designed to handle raw food all of the time. At the same time, our body is not designed to consume an unlimited supply of overly processed food.
Has Fast Eddy already posted this?
“The Economist ran a model controlling for various factors, and found that ‘a price rise of around €0.10 per kwh’ was associated with ‘an increase in a country’s weekly mortality of around 2.2%’. Which implies that if energy prices had not risen, there would have been 68,000 fewer deaths in Europe.”
It is the first article I come across to correlate energy prices and excess mortality. Perhaps it is a cover up for side-effects?
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/05/15/high-energy-prices-killed-68000-europeans-last-winter-claims-the-economist/
The product of our intelligence
https://t.me/downtherabbitholewegofolks/77467
Meanwhile…
https://youtu.be/i94QoqvmgrM
https://youtu.be/zgQ0cyNJZV4
Humans really are f789ing MOREONS
Packed like sardines. Ready to eat.
A major scientific journal has published research linking COVID vaccinations to retinal vascular occlusion, with vaccinated individuals at “significantly” greater risk of developing blood clots than unvaccinated individuals.
https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/covid-vaccines-linked-to-untreatable-eyeball-clots-reveals-massive-study.340499/
Clots everywhere seem to be an issue.
They don’t call it The Clot Shot … for nuthin
‘COVID’ deaths in Scotland by occupation, 2020 – 2022
Police
0 (zero) deaths from 17,000 staff.
Doctors and Nurses
0 (zero) deaths from 150,000 staff.
Teachers
0 (zero) deaths from 52,000 staff.
Retail
0 (zero) deaths 245,000
Care Workers
5 deaths from 120,000 staff.
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/scottish-foi-zero-covid-deaths-in-working-age-populations-most-in-contact-with-the-public
Concluding paragraph:
Hey norm
Hey keith
Hey mike
Hey anna?
And let’s not forget dunc – he is here but not using that handle anymore — remember what you said about the unvaxxed being removed from the gene pool dunc? hahaha
Surely you all must be more than a little pissed off with those who lied to you … and convinced you to shoot the Rat Juice and risk your lives?
Are doubts creeping in???
Or … is it… More Boosters??? More????
still obsessing eddy????—unhealthy to have a fixation on people outside your own intellectual range
btw eddy—today i found myself on the dementia ward of my local hospital—-i didnt set off any alarms—does this mean I’m OK?
Gail
don’t cut off eddys comment-oxygen supply
he’s been sustaining himself on that for over 2 years now.
without it, he’ll be like Buzz Aldrin taking his helmet off to breathe some fresh moon-air.
If you were extremely wealthy and powerful… would you allow democracy?
https://youtu.be/ubEOHLu-j9Y
to break the habit of a lifetime eddy
i agree with you
certainly not
OMG
ive called ICU to be on stanndby vern
It is said, that Democracy as a self-organizing system only works with Capitalism. Capitalism needs permanent growth, aside from conjunctural cycles. In the moment we enter a permanent recession, people will be dissatisfied and unable to agree. Scarce resources will have to be distributed in a reasonable way, while people are still dissatisfied with scarcity. The idea is an autoritarian but benevolent paternal system.
The problem is, that such a system lacks checks and balances and moral restrictions as the obedience to God demanded. The Habsburgian Imperor demonstratively founded his actions on Christian obligations. The Communist system also had its moral limitation. I heard from China, that the family clans provide restriction, powerless people can call their ‘uncle’ on a higher position and the ‘uncle’ intervenes on the next higher level. These restrictions seem not to exist today in the West. What is more, unrestricted authoritarian regimes become highly inefficient. While the Imperor needed acceptable solutions in his fights with the lower nobility, and thus employed people, that can find intelligent and acceptable solutions, nowadays administration careers are made by hot air and networks.
As people change from valuable workers and courted consumers to useless eaters, this development does not to seem to become better.
Excellent post and gave you a like. But the overwhelming majority of the commentariat was born deep inside capitalist countries and can not see themselves from outside. With dwindling resources capitalism as you correctly describe it is not just bad but the worst of possible systems.
Capitalism is not a system. It leaves the air, oceans, unclaimed lands out of the system. They are open for excessive use, and dumping of any and all poisons.
Regardless of “system” monarchy, capitalist, socialist, the fat dumb and happy folks at the top do not want to deal with hard topics like pollution, over population, resource depletion. All these systems are reactive not proactive. The WEF imagines itself as proactive but fails to see the magnitude of the problem.
I assure you that capitalism is an economic system.
economic system yes. system for running the planet long term no. Some one must take ownership of the “commons” and charge appropriately for there use and have the power and authority to enforce the charges and limits.
Yes, we all wishfully think about things. I do too sometimes.
capitalism must have infinite growth
on a finite planet.
And that’s it—there is no ‘alternative system’
With diminishing returns, it is necessary to always have growth. Otherwise, the system collapses.
Are you suggesting celebrating the rapid pillaging of the planet is stooopidity?
https://youtu.be/JotROuYhekc
I am not extremely wealthy and powerful but even I do not want democracy. There should be tests before one is allowed to vote IQ, basic geography, simple math, and a fee to vote say $100 for national elections, $50 for state, $25 for county, $10 for town.
Physics seems to determine the outcome, whether we like it or not.
With little energy, only a very modest government can be supported–say a King or dictator.
who of course takes all the surplus energy for himself
The voting form could have two or three simple math problems and if you can’t solve them, the vote is invalidated.
However, I have no faith in our government’s ability to properly implement something like that. They have a hard enough time simply counting, let alone making the count contingent on answers.
🙂 🙂
Like those question to prove one is not a robot. Prove you are not an idiot.
Nah … remember most of the people who injected the Rat Juice would qualify to vote – even with those conditions applied.
Do you really want norm dunc mike making decisions????
Circus animals are for one thing … entertaining the intelligent with tricks
Barnyard animals are for one thing … producing for the intelligent
They need to be kept in their place — because they are MOREONS and dangerous
Fortunately CNNBBC HUFF are doing that
(Corriere della Sera)
Super mainstream media and State propaganda ‘Corriere della Sera’ is publishing an article about an incredible peak of mortality on US young people lately.
The problem is: weapons, bad habits, the health system and so on…
everything but one thing that cannot be taken into consideration in the equation.
It is like playing math, but one variable cannot be used.
https://www.corriere.it/esteri/23_maggio_16/perche-muoiono-cosi-tanti-giovani-americani-f1e1bc1a-f38b-11ed-baaa-95d49dbbb753.shtml
Happily for them, 99% of the population is innumerate.
The BBC now reporting on the huge number of people in the UK who cannot work because they are too ill:
Record numbers not working due to ill health
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65596283
“The number of people not working in the UK due to long-term sickness has risen to a new record, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than two and half million people were not working because of health problems.
…The number of vacancies also fell for the 10th consecutive period, with the ONS saying that uncertainty about the economic outlook meant that firms were holding back on recruitment….”
In summary, the number of people too ill to work, large and increasing, number of jobs available falling. The UK work force is just over 30 M people. Total population more or less 70 M.
This is a generalized problem for the elites. They need (or feel they need) to fight a class war internally. That is usually fought with panem et circenses. While the effect of circenses are fairly well understood, panem plays a role also. The Romans (and before them various Mesopotamian empires) forced entire populations to switch to wheat, because that made them more pliable than animal based populations (this is due to peptides from gluten having opioid effects). Alcohol also of course. Since them they have also added sugar (a dependency creating substance), vegetable oils, and a feeling within the population that they depend on Big Pharma for life (Big Pharma is 100% controlled by Black Rock and Vanguard).
At the same time they need to fight external wars. The emphasis to firepower as opposed to personnel has mitigated somewhat the consequences of internal policies, but not enough. The resulting population is a bunch of unfit cowards, and also industrial production needed to support high firepower wars suffers. Add to this the extreme corruption of the MIC. The bottom line is that internal policies slightly accelerate a collapse dictated by resource depletion.
This is true and not widely recognized.
The MOREONS keep wondering why businesses are so short staffed….
They refuse to make the connection.
Vax Injuries Rock!
This happens with every recession. People drop out of the labor pool and apply for whatever benefits they can get, including disability.
Yes, there’s also the jab injury issue, but it’s hard to say how prevalent the issue it is or how much is one versus the other.
many thanks for updates Mirror
Mirror what about food and trade balance?
The food situation is awful in UK, with food inflation still shockingly high at over 17%, including basic food items, some of which have doubled in price over the past year.
The latest stats show that food poverty among kids has doubled, and many families have to go to food banks to eat at all.
The fear is that the health of future generations will be impacted in the long-run by the situation of the kids.
They are liable to end up stunted, sickly and with less developed IQs. That in turn will further economic and social problems.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-inflation-food-prices-cost-of-living-b2339500.html
Food prices double in the UK as inflation at ‘shockingly high levels’, data shows
Government urged to act urgently as food poverty among children doubles
Some meat, yoghurt and vegetables are among items that have doubled in price compared to a year ago, new figures show.
Which? urged prime minister Rishi Sunak to intervene on behalf of struggling consumers as its latest data shows food inflation remaining at “shockingly high levels”.
The figures come ahead of Tuesday’s Downing Street “Farm to Fork Summit”, bringing together farmers’ representatives and food and retail trade bodies along with supermarket chiefs to talk about the government’s goal of boosting cooperation across the supply chain, the sector’s resilience and rampant food inflation.
The Which? analysis of April prices on more than 26,000 food and drink products at Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose found inflation in categories that have previously seen the highest rises – including milk, butters and spreads and bakery items – has eased slightly.
Overall inflation has also started to ease slightly, from 17.2 per cent in March to 17.1 per cent to the end of April, according to the tracker.
However, other essential food groups like meat, fish and vegetables have continued to rise month on month.
With levels of food poverty among children having doubled in the year to January 2023, government and businesses must act urgently to ensure that everyone can afford and access healthy essentials like fruit and vegetables
“As the Prime Minister gathers supermarket bosses today to discuss the problem of inflation, we urge him to ask supermarkets to commit to do much more, including stocking budget lines in convenience stores to ensure easy access to basic, affordable food ranges that support a healthy diet, particularly in areas where people are most in need.
Rebecca Tobi, senior business and investor engagement manager at The Food Foundation, said: “We know that the current food price crisis is causing a great many households to cut back on essentials.
“With levels of food poverty among children having doubled in the year to January 2023, government and businesses must act urgently to ensure that everyone can afford and access healthy essentials like fruit and vegetables.
“If not, we will be seeing the long-term health and economic consequences of the cost of living crisis playing out for years to come.”
Wow – double — so it’s probably closer to triple.
What would herb stein have said about this situation?
Thanks Mirror. At the store I see food prices are up here in the US Northeast. I do not see news about folks having problems paying. I would guess they have problems but we have better news control.
i think people lose sight of the fact that food and petrol are effectively the same thing, both rising in price
This is a link to a nice image in the article.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/15A26/production/_129741688_microsoftteams-image-6.png.webp
Ed Dowd has been claiming that something similar is happening in the US, as well.
Apparently it’s never been easier to find work hahaha
100’s coming through the door with the same problems…
https://texaslindsay.substack.com/p/actor-speaks-out-about-parkinsons
lol eddy
dont tell me parkinsons is on the vax symptoms list now? (i never open an eddylink)
i think that only leaves leprosy and scrofula as diseases not caused by the covid vax
(so far)
Read Pfizer’s own list of side effects
Worldwide Safety Pfizer
The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential. Any disclosure, reproduction, distribution, or other dissemination of this information outside of Pfizer, its Affiliates, its Licensees, or Regulatory Agencies is strictly prohibited. Except as may be otherwise agreed to in writing, by accepting or reviewing these materials, you agree to hold such information in confidence and not to disclose it to others (except where required by applicable law), nor to use it for unauthorized purposes.
https://phmpt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/5.3.6-postmarketing-experience.pdf
Don’t expect to find this on Huff.
I would like to see whether there is a huge uptick or not in statistical data.
Post Covid.
We are no longer citizens anymore.
We are “Survivors.”
we survived 2022,
2023 is flying by, woo!
check this out,
how about:
7 More in The Core.
OFW rhyme time, maybe?
yes, bAU tonight, baby!
ha ha,
blah blah blah.
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” ― Aristotle
I like the music. No sugar in my coffee or tea.
The much hyped UKR ‘counteroffensive’ has still not materialised weeks after it was due.
It was billed as the ‘great spring offensive’, but even Zelensky realised that UKR is in no position to mount an offensive.
It is now being re-billed as the coming ‘great summer offensive’, but there are no signs that UKR is any better positioned than it was.
UKR tried it on, on Monday, with its limited supply of ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles that were supplied by the UK, but it got nowhere with that.
Russia has shot them down for the first time, which shows that they are not as ‘unstoppable’ as the UK made out.
That leaves UKR without any effective long-range missiles. Russia has tons of those, and everything else besides.
Most of Russia’s immense depots are anyway over the border, which Zelensky has vowed not to cross with missiles, so it impossible for UKR to at all degrade Russian stocks in any case.
Meanwhile Russia inflicts daily massive attrition on UKR all along the frontline, and UKR does not stand a chance in the attrition war.
The UK media continues with its propaganda, but the world will not be holding its breath for the ‘great summer offensive’ anytime soon.
Russia destroys UK’s ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles; Putin’s action after warning to Sunak over Ukraine
(sorry if this is a duplicate, in case Gail please erase)
I have somewhat different view of what is happening. First off the russian dead are real. One of my tractorists was in the army, he knows everyone, he says he knows directly or indirectly 12 people who have died. Second I hear reports of extreme unhappiness about orders not to fire back which were valid for a long time. I hypothesize than once the war is over Putin may not be for long. If what I hear is true, and I think it is, it is consistent with a war of attrition but some trust between the leadership, intermediate cadres and the population may have been eroded. It is in fact impossible that the war has not ended already without some holding back. I also hear hypotheses that Odessa will not be taken, which would be a terrible mistake.
My impression is that is Putin himself who has been asked to continue the job and that he could retire only when the major part will be done.
In this sense it is the opposite of what the silly European mainstream media is reporting.
I.e. that it is the current political ruling group which is supporting Putin in order for him to stay, instead of Putin fighting to stay.
I can imagine that there is discontent, but if Russia will be defeated it will become a US+EU élite’s lounge.
We would squeeze Russia till its resources will be used and then goodbye to a destiny of misery.
I am always suspicious, that actions we are seeing might be an arranged staging.
The challenge of today’s global leaders is to squeeze-out populace and keep the production of fossiles running. If we follow the idea, that NATO aims to make Aserbaijan with its drilling rights join EU, for what Crimea would undoubtedly be a precondition, I am not sure, that EU could provide technology and expertise for drilling at the same costs. The Russian Union might be needed. On the other hand, to buy fossiles from Russia may be inefficient as all social and military costs must be priced in.
I am convinced, that the war allows a narrative to hide energy scarcity and lower living standards. I tend to the idea, that soon EU and China will struggle about filling the gap the US withdrawal from the Middle East will create. For this EU needs to arm. Armaments though will need energetic and financial surplus EU does not have, investing massively into alternative energy to replace energy by technology. The US withdrawal will free financial and energetical surplus though. I havw no idea, how this could be transferred.
I think, all this could be an arranged step towards ‘lower complexity’. Though it seems a risky undertaking and there is not much time!
“squeeze-out populace and keep the production of fossiles running”
So far they are doing a poor job of squeezing the population.
Thanks for your view of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is good to read multiple views of the situation.
Safeguarding Your Mental Health from the Harmful Effects of Western War
Propaganda – Ten Top Tips
By
Geoffrey Roberts FRHistS, MRIA
Emeritus Professor of History
University College Cork
1. Beg, borrow, or buy a copy of Robert H. Thoules’s Straight and Crooked
Thinking. Pay particular attention to the sections on the manipulative use of
emotive language (’Russia’s unprovoked, criminal, aggressive and genocidal
war on Ukraine’), diversionary arguments (‘you can’t negotiate peace with an
indicted war criminal’) and drumbeat repetition (‘Ukraine has won, is winning
and will win the war’).
2. Beware bait and switch articles. Promising pieces with headlines like ‘in
reality, the Ukrainian are losing’ or ‘West exaggerates Russian losses’ often
turn out to be Neocon op-eds arguing for all-out western military support for
Ukraine whilst blandly asserting that Putin would be crazy to escalate the war.
3. Get into the habit of scanning articles about the war before reading them. If
you espy the words ‘Hitler’, ‘appeasement’, ‘Munich’ in the same piece – bin
it, unless it is written by a trustworthy historian with the initials GR.
4. Unsourced casualty claims from the Pentagon or the British MoD are a nobrainer: simply divide those for Russia by 10 and multiply those for Ukraine
by the same factor.
5. Keep to hand a stack of old Ritter and MacGregor interviews predicting that a
storm of Russian armoured steel will soon sweep all before it and bring the
war to a rapid conclusion.
6. When things are going badly for the Russkies, mute the sound on reports from
Weeb Union and the Military Summary Channel. Then close your eyes and reimagine the meaning of all those little arrows flickering across the screen.
7. When things are going really badly, restrict your YouTube viewing to
Alexander Mercouris’’s nightly vlog. Nothing is more reassuring than
Alexander’s dulcet tones reminding us for the umpteenth time that he is not a
military man before launching into a lengthy explanation as to why a 50-metre
advance by the remnants of the Azov Brigade may not be as strategically
significant as some panic-mongering Russian bloggers would have us believe.
8. Goebbels was wrong. The Big Lie is not the most effective propaganda: it is
the cumulative effect of little lies, evasions, distortions and misdirection. The
best antidote is a daily dose of Responsible Statecraft supplemented by a
generous dollop of Naked Capitalism, Moon of Alabama and Antiwar.com.
9. If you don’t read Russian, invest in a machine-translation programme that will
enable you to follow Strana.UA’s sane and sensible coverage of the war.
10. Subscribe to a curated list of links that – at no cost to you – filters out the most
mentally damaging western war p
One more … familiarize yourself with the latest CGI tech capabilities
Can you tell more about “orders not to fire back”? That puts this theater solidly in FE land, a show for the little people. No doubt Russians have died but small enough numbers that the Russian economy is safe.
yes, but the dead are there. it is not a show for the little people and they support Putin but processes are afoot in Moscow and the regions, in the FSB, military, and intermediate cadres. The Ukrainians were firing, if this is what you are asking, but the Russians were not. so I do not think it is a show, if it were a show no one would be firing. rather attrition.
I am beginning to understand attrition. The humans are their to defend the artillery should the other side decide to do a WWI run for them. Otherwise keep your head down and avoid dying. Let the artillery and rockets do the job.
NATO is the enemy … not the UKEYS… the EU is a big part of NATO..
Why not throttle back the gas to the EU?
DUH
I agree, “the world will not be holding its breath for the ‘great summer offensive’ anytime soon.”
More CGI
MORE CGI!
Ukraine strikes Russian forces in Luhansk before expected counteroffensive
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/15/ukraine-strikes-russian-forces-in-luhansk-ahead-of-counter-offensive
Ukraine has carried out further strikes on Russian forces on Monday, apparently targeting Russian command and control centres deep behind enemy lines ahead of its long-awaited counteroffensive, with explosions reported in the occupied city of Luhansk.
Moscow-installed local officials said Kyiv carried out the attack with two Storm Shadow long-range missiles, supplied by the British. An administrative building was damaged, they said. The strike follows a similar attack on Saturday in Luhansk that destroyed a multi-storey building and lightly wounded a Russian MP. Russian state media showed off fragments that it said came from Storm Shadow rockets.
Luhansk – effectively controlled by Russia since 2014 – had been relatively peaceful since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion last year. The provision of Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range in excess of 250km, means it is suddenly vulnerable, together with Russian bases and arms depots stationed well away from the fighting.
Ukraine’s long-range strike capability is a growing problem for Moscow’s military command. Writing on Telegram, Igor Girkin – a far-right nationalist and former Russian intelligence colonel – said the recent delivery of Storm Shadows “can seriously affect the situation at the front”. “They can effectively hit headquarters, ammunition depots and personal quarters in our deep rear,” he acknowledged, saying “electronic warfare” did not work against them.
sure R is going to take some hits.
it’s a war after all (provoked by US psychowoketards).
let’s check the latest score.
Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhya, Kherson, so far.
I score that as R 5 and U a big fat zero.
Z is for Zero.
Vlad the Great.
PWT alphabet agents gave him scopolamine and are using him to get close to Putin. Putin detoxed after the last Davos meeting and needs a booster. To prepare for this mission, the Adjustment Bureau revealed to him reante’s holographic portal to BAU showing him pictures of his best life in the core and told him “yep, just relax and spread the word bro.” They fitted him with a mini-sprayer so when he is backslapping Putin on his latest 5D chess move in UKR our dear brother will deploy the “Biden’s breath.” Putin and all the traitor populations will be ours forever and ever to deploy at BLM riots and color revolutions as needed. Long live the WEF!
If UK missiles are falling on Russian territory, maybe it is just a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on UK territory. A few hits around the M25 (6-8 lane motorway surrounding London) in the middle of the night would bring London and the UK to its knees, for example. Is this part of the bigger plan?
The guardian gives their game away in the first paragraph.
“Ukraine has carried out further strikes on Russian forces on Monday, APPARENTLY targeting Russian command and control centres deep behind enemy lines ahead of its long-awaited counteroffensive, with explosions reported in the occupied city of Luhansk.”
Apparently nothing. We know exactly what the British supplied Shadow Storm cruise missiles hit. One meat processing factory and one plastic packaging factory. They did manage to injury some civilians, including two children, so well done Britain and Ukrainian.
MoO, how about one of the Vanguard subs having a tragic accident? Sends a very strong message, takes out a potential threat and allows the authorities to cover it up.
I feel like I am in a video game… but I keep wondering … why they don’t play the trump card and deny the EU a bit of gas… so that the folks riot and demand the war be stopped…
If it was real that’s what Putin would do… but it’s a video game so silly me
Kinda like how norm and keith believe the Rat Juice is safe… they are also in a video game hahaha
I really am surrounded by a hell of a lot of you know what
eddy
everybody makes typos—(even me)
spelling imbecile wrong 8 times makes you one
I suppose it would be a stretch for you to work out that was intended to fool the AI censors… they are so brilliant you see… one has to be very sneaky
Rat Juiced Brain Syndrome
Tim continues to refer to the stimulus as a mistake https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/256-a-path-of-logic/
It was not a mistake — if they had failed to act — we would be long dead.
There was no alternative.
And now there is no alternative – they are injecting the circus and barnyard animals – trying to lessen the suffering by killing off as many as possible before BAU dies
I agree that the stimulus was really needed to keep the system going for a while longer.
It is hard to see exactly what the path forward will be. I would never have guessed covid + locking + stimulus. All kinds of ways to keep the economic system from crashing.
It is always mentioned on here of a deep state. And sometimes I agree but sometimes I wonder if we aren’t just dealing with complete idiocy. Right before Covid things were about to freeze up.
So are we hoping for a miracle by delaying the crash?
I suppose we are hoping for the miracle of having more time with our family and friends.
The debt bubble also disproportionately helped the countries that were already highly indebted. So it may have helped the US and Europe more than, say, Russia, the Middle East, or Africa.
No – we are preparing to exterminate 8 billion people — before the crash
Enjoy the calm… go on vacation?
https://www.headsupster.com/forumthread?shortId=220
Then … when all is lost… and ROF is imminent…
The Binary Poison Phase Two gets released from the cannisters. Just like they were about to do in the final scene of Utopia.
I cannot think of any other options — growth must continue — or BAU dies… the tonic of trillions of dollars of stimulus and 0 interest rates was their last gasp… one final blow out…
Now that has to stop – or HYPERinflation will strike…. how else can growth be restarted when the cheap energy is gone and the stimulus pushes on a string?
I know of no other way.
I’d suggest praying .. but as we know … nobody ever answers.
Fun with AI:
Determining the practical maximum amount of solar energy that can be produced in the USA involves various factors and considerations. The potential solar energy generation capacity depends on available land area, solar irradiation levels, technological advancements, economic factors, and regulatory policies. While it is difficult to provide an exact figure, estimates can be made based on current data.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the total technical potential for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the contiguous United States is estimated to be around 1,118,600 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year. This estimate assumes the deployment of solar PV systems on rooftops and ground-mounted installations across urban, suburban, and rural areas.
It is important to note that technical potential refers to the maximum achievable energy generation based on available resources, without considering other constraints like land use conflicts, grid infrastructure limitations, and economic viability.
To put this figure into perspective, the total electricity consumption in the United States was approximately 4,000,000 GWh in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Therefore, the technical potential for solar energy in the United States exceeds the country’s current electricity consumption by a significant margin.
It is worth mentioning that advancements in solar technologies, such as higher efficiency panels, improved energy storage systems, and better grid integration, may increase the practical maximum amount of solar energy that can be produced in the future. Additionally, the development of utility-scale solar projects and the continued growth of distributed solar installations contribute to expanding the solar energy capacity in the United States.
User
Wrong Because 4000000 gwh is more than 1,118,600 gigawatt
ChatGPT
Apologies for the confusion in my previous response. You are correct, 4,000,000 GWh is indeed greater than 1,118,600 gigawatt-hours (GWh). I apologize for the error in my statement.
To clarify, the technical potential for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the contiguous United States is estimated to be around 1,118,600 GWh per year. This estimate takes into account various factors like available land area, solar irradiation levels, and different types of installations.
On the other hand, the total electricity consumption in the United States was approximately 4,000,000 GWh in 2020. Therefore, the technical potential for solar energy in the United States represents a significant portion of the country’s electricity consumption but does not exceed it.
Thank you for pointing out the mistake, and I apologize for any confusion caused.
It really pushes the agenda. I would say 25% is a small part of the needed electric. And remember electric is only 33% of total energy usage.
If we go 100% electric consumption would be 12,000 TWh with PV at 1,118 TWh. PV at 10% only need to find 90% more.
My estimate of the cost to install this PV is 600 trillion dollars. That is real money.
It is necessary to verify those stats, because these programs hallucinate answers regularly. I would have expected that theoretically, solar can generate all the power needed.
(Rst – Twitter)
“The value of the ammunition stored and destroyed yesterday by the RussianArmy in the city of Khmelnitsky could reach 500$ million.”
Go on paying without discussion…
https://twitter.com/rst_like/status/1657675819123109888
As long as someone pays the bills of the companies making the replacement ammunition, there will be no complaints from those companies benefitting from the war effort.
https://mishtalk.com/economics/dollar-weaponization-expands-fdic-message-to-foreign-depositors-is-dont-trust-the-us
Dollar Weaponization Expands – FDIC Message to Foreign Depositors Is Don’t Trust the US
The weaponization of the US dollar by US agencies continues with a ruling by the FDIC.
It had earlier been reported by the WSJ that deposits in the Cayman Island branch would be left out:
The conclusion is
The world is being driven to opt out of the dollar in all sorts of ways now.
The dissipative structure works in many and strange ways?
Energy flows are shifting away from the west, and it seems that financial flows will reflect that – as will the flow of other resources?
Currency hegemony has ultimately depended on superior energy foundations in USA and the west, and the decline in the one will reflect the decline in the other?
In some sense, currency must be a token of energy and its ultimate products? Otherwise it is ultimately just paper (or digits)?
Likewise currency hegemony must ultimately indicate superior energy foundations?
Otherwise it is a paper tiger?
A currency hegemon without the adequate energy foundations is liable to be a house of cards?
Everything is liable to come down at some point, and the loss of currency hegemony is liable to frame that, while energy foundations ultimately explain it?
You have always expected that energy decline would manifest as financial problems, and it seems that de-dollarization is liable to be a big part of that?
De-dollarization can likely be reframed in energetic terms and the declining affordability, particularly in the west of energy?
The shift in energy flows will manifest in the shift in currencies flows, and thus energy decline manifests in financial flows?
The two, energy and currency, must ultimately be linked and the loss of currency hegemony will likely form an inflection point in the decline of the west?
The loss of currency hegemony could even be a point of catastrophic downward pivot?
If all so, then de-dollarization may have much deeper roots in the energy situation, and the various drives toward de-dollarization are ultimately expressions of the shifting fundamental energy foundations?
Ultimately it all comes down to the shifting energy flows in the global dissipative structure, and everything else is phenomenal to that, including financial flows, de-dollarization, the collapse of currency hegemony, and the geopolitical and economic decline/ collapse of the west?
De-dollarization will likely be a pivotal phenomenon in the fundamental relative energy decline?
* The shift in energy flows will manifest in the shift in currencies flows, and thus energy decline manifests in [declining currency hegemony]?
Good observation Mirror . Here is an excerpt from a Bloomberg article . The link is also given . This is from Harry Mcgibbs website .
I thought this interview offered an interesting perspective:
“A conversation with economist Keyu Jin, author of The New China Playbook, on why cultural misunderstandings are making it harder to manage China’s rise and avoid future conflict… there’s a recent survey that shows that the majority of Chinese prefer security over freedom. That’s exactly the opposite in the US. In the US, people look at China’s paternalistic state and find it intolerable.
“In China there was an implicit contract between the people and the emperor, that in exchange for stability and general well-being, we submit to the authorities. It’s also part of the Confucian philosophy, of deference to senior people in the hierarchy, that’s always been in our cultural traits…
“…the copying culture is part of the old playbook. It’s deeply rooted in a culture where Confucius once said that stealing books is not a crime. The new playbook is, in part, about taking good technologies that already exist and making them better and much cheaper…
“Q: Toward the end of the book you argue that Chinese capital will complement U.S. capital, not replace it. What did you mean by that?
“In the developing world, the demand for safe assets and dollar assets will outstrip the ability of the US to supply them. After the 2008 financial crisis, there was a big liquidity gap for developing countries. The US basically had swap lines with six of its friends — you know, the more advanced economies — leaving this gaping hole for emerging markets. And so China provided assistance to many of them. If we see another global financial crisis, you’ll need the two largest economies to work together to coordinate assistance and provide liquidity backstops. The US can’t do it alone.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-05-16/what-the-west-still-doesn-t-get-about-china
Isn’t this exactly what the Chinese govt did when Evergrande more or less went bankrupt? The Chinese stock / bond holders got some cash back, but the foreign ones ($17-18B invested) got nothing (last I read). That was a couple of years ago and things may have changed.
Excellent point. Don’t invest in foreign securities!
The facts of the matter, though, are that rates remain below any realistic measure of inflation, and a very small proportion of the liquidity created out of the ether since 2008 has yet been unwound. It isn’t possible for the Federal Reserve, let alone any other central bank, to go ‘full Volcker’, pushing returns on capital to levels above inflation. The economy has become so debt-burdened, and so credit-addicted, that any such drive towards financial normality would have catastrophic results.
Neither is it entirely clear what the real level of inflation actually is, since orthodox measurement excludes movements in asset prices, thereby implying that there is no necessary contradiction between moderate inflation, on the one hand and, on the other, the ludicrously over-inflated ‘everything bubble’ in asset prices.
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/256-a-path-of-logic/
How does it feel to know you are doomed?
FE
Depends if I am short or long.
Dennis L.
It seems like the amount of goods you can buy goes to zero whether you are short or long. The system implodes.
Oakland County Chief health officer dead in apparent murder-suicide, police say
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/oakland-county-health-officer-dead-apparent-murder-suicide-police-say
Rich suburb outside Detroit.
Intriguing case. The victim and her husband were found dead at home. The police suspect the husband killed her and them himself. “But it’s early.”
She was pushy on COVID! So Eddy will get som SCHAD out of this.
Just over a year ago, in April 2022, Coulter appointed Green as the first woman of color to fill the key role of health officer. She succeeded long-time health officer Leigh Ann Stafford, who was promoted to Director of Health and Human Services.
A long-time nurse, Green began at the health department as a public health nurse in August 2019, then moved to a quality and process improvement supervisor as COVID began to tear through southeast Michigan and had been “instrumental in the pandemic response,” according to a county media statement at the time of her appointment.
Over the last year, Green moved into the public spotlight as Oakland County’s face of public health, urging residents to vaccinate against the COVID-19 virus, doing so as recently as last week in the health division’s more recent newsletter.
As the pandemic waned, she urged residents to take seriously RSV and the flu. She oversaw efforts to fight Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. And in the midst of a statewide mental health crisis, she announced in October plans for a new youth and family-focused behavioral health program.
I feel much better after a bit of Schad
Enquiring minds want to know:
If the atoms in our body are not the same as we started with, where do the new ones come from?
If this idea is correct, in a vacuum of space(some of you are seeing where this thought came from), if an atom leaves a block of refined metal, does it leave a hole with no replacement. Or, is this a cat problem again. Ed should be helpful here.
Something funny is going on, reality does not seem to exist until we observe it and yet what we do not observe is part of our universe. Hawking theorized(Ed, need help here) that what leaves a black hole is information. So is the fabric of the universe information? If so, how do we absorb that information? Who has the thumb on the scale?
Cats, cats, it is not turtles all the way down, that is not a correct idea.
Sorry everyone, I got tired of Covid; didn’t get it, not a proximal problem for me.
Dennis L.
dennis
you start out at 8lb baby boy
and fish up as a 150/200 lb man
you eat and drink
i would have thought it obvious as to where your ‘atoms’ come from
I would like to get some feedback on my latest anthropological theory of humanity. Here it is:
Most of what we think we know about human nature is false. In fact we should have realized just by reading history but the delusion is strong and continuously reinforced in schools, books and media.
Basically, most people are slaves. I won’t delve into the reasons for that (genetic, lack of free will, who knows?). What that means is they will follow orders and peer pressure with no questions – even if that means mass murder, including of themselves.
There is a minority (<10%) of psychopaths that are mostly the ones that own and lead the slaves.
The remaining tiny minority is the "lost" people. They are the lonely mountain men, the misanthropes, the losers that cannot fit in society. Their role is to know the truth without being able to convince anybody. Some of them are later vindicated – but don't worry, the slaves don't learn anything from it.
The literature and history are filled with lies. The so called "heros" of the story are either completely imaginary or they are psychopaths presented as heros.
As a quick example, read about the famous "saintly" Mother Theresa – may she burn in hell forever.
There are a couple of exceptions that show the truth. Kafka talks mostly about the slaves and he sees them for what they are – horrible and soulless. That's why nobody reads him and he is misinterpreted constantly.
Another example is the Greek story of Cassandra – word that is used as an invective nowadays, people forgetting that she was right.
So what are the conclusions to draw from here? Slaves are unreachable by reason, and psychopaths are more than willing to learn so they can be even evil-ler.
I wish there was a way to warn future "lost" people so that they can at least know they are not alone.
Nom,
Cart before the horse. We discover the fabric of the universe, we interpret it based on our knowledge base and move forward. Some interpretations work better than others, some do not work. More “right” is what works, “wrong ” is what does not.
Your anthropomorphic idea comes from discovery, it is not the basis for the universe.
Dennis L.
This is a good summary of the situation and I agree with most of it, except for the conclusion. The “lost men” don’t need our warnings, they are able, by definition, to come to the same conclusion (unless they commit suicide first). They also have the ability to recognize each other, naturally. And if they were not what they are, they would undoubtedly decide to form secret societies to rule the world and shape it in their image. Have I missed something?
As for the heroes presented as such, it is enough to read their books or their biographies to recognize their perversion. Gandhi for example? And even if the centuries manage to adorn them with an aura of sanctity, I have come to the conclusion that the Christian martyrs, and Saint Maurice in particular, were nothing but vulgar traffickers and forgers who rightly earned the wrath of the powers that be, i.e. Rome.
I think I recall reading about rat experiments that demonstrated that when placed in a cage that became electrified after a warning light flashed and required them to depress the lever, otherwise a shock would be delivered had lower stress measurements than those who had no warning and simply had to endure randomly delivered shocks.
It might be inferred that it is not the uncertainty that is the most stressful but maybe the need to act to avoid a random stressful event that makes people more willing to rely on a leader or authority to act on their behalf instead of constant vigilance. People willingly yield their freedom to a controller.
” it is not the uncertainty that is the most stressful but maybe the need to act to avoid a random stressful event that makes people more willing to rely on a leader or authority to act on their behalf instead of constant vigilance.”
Interesting observation!
I concur with the observations regards cowardice for the majority and psychopaths for most of the rest.
I took great personal losses in that discovery.
There are higher realms however and mortal humans are not in large part privy to the game.
I am no mystic and am not blessed (or cursed) with much second sight so what I say is based upon observation, experience and a very few inexplicable encounters with “the others”.
I believe the planet earth is a vast game/school/ampitheater and the lives of conscious humans are a source of amusement/entertainment/energy/knowledge for entities unseen.
Most of those entities from the non physical realm are not friendly.
Hopefully a warrior spirit and resolute determination will result in enlightenment upon death,……cause I really am tired of dealing with the zombies and monsters in this realm. They teem in multitudes here.
The literature and history are filled with lies. The so called “heros” of the story are either completely imaginary or they are psychopaths presented as heros.
As a quick example, read about the famous “saintly” Mother Theresa – may she burn in hell forever.
Why would you want Mother Teresa to burn in hell forever?
I think this sentiment says a lot more about you than it does about Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
How many bowls of soup have you given to the homeless?
https://catholicherald.co.uk/critics-of-mother-teresa-dont-have-clue-about-poverty/
I knew she was too good to be true… I heard that she was pi.mping young uns to epstine.
Tim, see what delusional thinking does to you?
Read any independent Indian source about her and you will agree with me.
Did you know that she had warehouses full of medical donations that she refused to share, because she believed pain is good.
OTOH, when she got heart issues, they flew her to NY for expe sive medical treatments.
Of course, it’s possible she was just retarded and used as a prop by the pope, but I believe in free will.
The late, great Christopher Hitchens wrote an unflattering short book about her: “The Missionary Position”.
Among his many books, perhaps none have sparked more outrage than The Missionary Position, Christopher Hitchens’s meticulous study of the life and deeds of Mother Teresa.
A Nobel Peace Prize recipient beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was celebrated by heads of state and adored by millions for her work on behalf of the poor. In his measured critique, Hitchens asks only that Mother Teresa’s reputation be judged by her actions-not the other way around.
With characteristic elan and rhetorical dexterity, Hitchens eviscerates the fawning cult of Teresa, recasting the Albanian missionary as a spurious, despotic, and megalomaniacal operative of the wealthy who long opposed measures to end poverty, and fraternized, for financial gain, with tyrants and white-collar criminals throughout the world.
I knew she was a p.imp.
You want somebody to burn in hell forever, and I’m the delusional one? – I’ll bump this to the top.
I find myself hoping the Mother Tessa (apparently that was what they called her when she was a Club DJ in Ibiza) is a Super Freak (the kind you don’t bring home to mother) she’s super Freaky….
But probably not.
We must keep in mind the PR Team might have a new recruit who was given a very difficult project — convince the world that Mother Teresa was on par with Super Snatch SINdy… and you get a spot on the team.
I do not believe there is such a thing as a psychopath.
Hoolio is a loving dog… but when he sees a rabbit he runs it down and murders it.
Is he a psychopath? Certainly not.
Nor is a human who murders. It is what we do. Civilization is just a thin veneer.
The men who run the world understand this — they have simply discarded this bullshit veneer – which is why they run the world
Slow Teddy,
you call a lot of things fake, theatre etc – from now on you need to do that when you show us your truths as well.
Jarle,Now we are getting DEEP I to Philosophy are we now?. Please POINT it out for me! Door number 1, Door number 2, or Door number 3!
Thank you..
PS Me and Nuttie Eddie have been here long, long time now..Perhaps he can help you pick the correct one🙀👁️
> PS Me and Nuttie Eddie have been here long, long time now..Perhaps he can help you pick the correct one🙀👁️
I’ve been here a while myself & think you better ask Slow Teddy to pick the door back to Paul.
Nuttie Eddie tops us all.. He Knows it ALL..or at least thinks he does!
nope
i have it on unimpeachable authority that eddy knows it all
eddy himself told me, while he was putting on his new clothes
I think we can agree that because FE always changes his mind when HE is wrong …
That in the end …. FE is most definitely … always right.
yup eddy
when you showed off your new red robes to me—i was a bit embarrassed because i’m colorblind to red—so i though that me seeing you nekkid was because of my colourblindness—
it was only later that i found out you really were starkers.
not a pretty sight—if i may say so
Went to the show last night, Ana Popavic. Flew in with her five piece band from California to New York. Sold out show. BAU here.
The attrition war continues in UKR.
There are still no signs of UKR’s much hyped ‘counteroffensive’, and no UKR ‘big manoeuvre’ to cut through the attrition seems to be on the cards.
Russia has overwhelming advantages, and the attrition war is headed in only one direction.
UKR continues to lose 100s of troops and much weaponry daily.
The daily attrition of UKR forces continued, with an onslaught along the Donetsk front, with 120 UKR troops lost there.
Russia has overwhelming air and artillery cover.
Russia carried out artillery attacks on UKR positions in 114 areas. Smerch is accurate at 20 km.
SU-35 planes are free in the air, as UKR’s air defence is degraded, and they delivered 11 strikes on UKR forces and weaponry.
That is how attrition works, the daily attrition continues until UKR is exhausted of manpower and/ or equipment.
The UKR ‘big counteroffensive’ appears to be pie in the sky, and the clock is ticking away on their attrition.
Voices in the west for a negotiated settlement are to no avail, and the attrition war is running its course.
It is now admitted in the west that the sanctions war has completely failed, but there are no signs yet of any realism about the attrition war.
Any realisation is likely to come, again, after the fact of failure.
The west is able to talk itself into unrealistic narratives until the bitter end, and then simply ‘blames’ everyone else for its failure.
UKR is a complete debacle, and the geopolitical fallout will be profound.
Putin’s ‘Tornado’ MLRS & Akatsiya Artillery: Double Trouble for Ukraine troops at frontline | Watch
Hindustani Times has videos that seem to be taken by Russia of recent attacks.
2seem to be”
Being the operative words.
“Russia has overwhelming air and artillery cover.”
There is no evidence of this, despite Mirror’s teenagerish sadistic glee. The watchword is stalemate all round. The only winners are the arms supplliers.
your perceived appearance of “stalemate” is mainly due to the fact that the R side is dominating in its attrition of the U side.
R took four oblasts in mid 2022, and merged them into Russia.
that’s not a stalemate, that’s called Winning.
the early in the game score is R 4 and U 0.
though I was wrong that the war would be over shortly in early 2022, it’s now apparent why, since after sweeping through those 4 oblasts, the R side has stopped its offensives, since the attrition has been working SO GREAT FOR SO LONG.
why would R change its very great strategy?
well, probably when the muddy season ends, and R rationally decides when the time is right to take more oblasts.
Vlad the Great.
“that’s not a stalemate, that’s called Winning.”
Maybe in 2022 it was, but not in 2023. Time marches on, you know. Nothing lasts for ever!
Somebody ought to persuade the two to call halt. Russia gains some ethnic Russians, and Ukraine loses some of the pesky beasts, and it would probably be glad to be rid of them anyway.
Russia didn’t take four oblasts at the start of the war. It occupied some of the area of four oblasts and then set up a sham referendum in the parts of the oblasts it controlled where only those who didn’t flee the fighting could vote (without observers). It then claimed the whole of the oblasts as its territory. Ukraine later retook Kherson, in one of those oblasts.
Why do you describe it as a sham referendum? Using the same adjective as employed by every Western Mass Media Organ?
Are you a parrot who’s been stuck in front of a TV tuned in to the BBC, or what?
“Sham election! Sham election! Who’s a pretty boy?”
Where would you put these referendums on the free and fair index compared to, say, the 2020 US Presidential Election?
You say there were no observers, but a quick Google search contradicts that.
“No observers! No observers! Sham election! Who’s a pretty boy then?”
Note to Mike’s controllers: Must do better. Regurgitating Western propaganda talk points raw doesn’t cut it at OFW in 2023.
Tim, I described it as sham for the reasons given in my comment. It was only available to certain people who would normally call those regions home. It didn’t include everyone who lives in those regions, which Russia later declared as part of Russia.
If you believe that there were independent observers there and that there was a full and fair debate about the referendum, that is up to you, but the above alone shows it to be a sham referendum.
Do you accept the annexation by Russia of those four regions, based on those referendums?
Why are you asking me for my opinions, Mike? I don’t have a dog in that fight, and I don’t have enough detailed knowledge to be able to express opinions about it.
I accept that Russia has annexed those four oblasts, and I accept that Ukraine and many other countries don’t accept that annexation.
But why should I have to be put into the position of accepting or not accepting the validity of that particular annexation? I can live happily with either outcome. I’m not about to pick up a gun and put on a uniform to fight for one side or the other. What point would there be for me to express an opinion one way or the other?
I still ask why you described this particular referendum as a sham? What particular expertise do you have in judging whether it was free and fair or not? And do you make similar judgements about other votes? Was the election of Zelensky a sham election? The most recent election of Putin? The most recent election of Trudeau? This weeks Thai election? What’s your criteria for judging? Do you consult the MSM as your single source of truth, or do you have some inside information?
Tim,
I’ve explained why they were sham. If you’re happy that only a portion of those who call a region home were able to vote, even if the vote were free and fair, then it’s a sham. To annex a whole region on the basis of a referendum result in part of that region should not be accepted by anyone and I’m disappointed that you seem to be doing that.
I’m not saying you’re one of them but there are several commenters here who seem so determined to go against the mainstream narrative that they will just assume that it’s all wrong and that the opposite must be true.
(Can you leave off with the childish personal attacks? I am not going to be provoked into emotionally reactive responses.)
The western propaganda media are not going to give you a realistic assessment of the state of play in UKR, likely the only that you would accept, and the most that you can do is to construct a picture from the fragments of what is admitted here and there in that media.
For instance, the UK-based Reuters outlet recently admitted that “Ukraine is currently using shells faster than the West can make them. Promised battle tanks last month, Ukraine is also desperate for fighter jets and longer-range missiles soon to nip any significant new Russian offensive in the bud and help turn the tide against Moscow’s far superior firepower.” https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-offensive-underway-ukraine-says-nato-2023-02-13/
Reuters propaganda is not even clear about what kind of war UKR is in. Russia is fighting attrition war, not ‘big manoeuvres’, but the admission about “far superior firepower” is clear. The west cannot keep up with UKR demand for shells, and UKR is overwhelmed by superior firepower.
A top US general chucked a bucket of cold water into the face last month, saying that “Russia’s ground forces are bigger than they were at the start…. The air force has lost very little…. The Navy has lost one ship”…. “Much of the Russian military has not been affected negatively by this conflict…. despite all of the efforts they’ve undertaken inside Ukraine” https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-general-cautions-against-writing-123850526.html
In other words, Russia is not the least bit attritioned by the UKR war, while UKR suffers constant horrendous attrition.
Actually, I find that the UK Antiwar website has just put together the fragments from the western media into an overall picture, which will save me some work on that count.
My summary: Leaks reveal that many more UKR forces than Russian have been killed on the field; that UKR is out of anti-aircraft missiles; that UKR is short of manpower and ammunition; US intelligence assesses that UKR is incapable of taking back its territory, and US officials have called for realistic demands for a negotiated settlement; leaks reveal that UKR is suffering between 7:1 and 10:1 casualties in the attrition; UKR is losing 100s of troops daily; all of the highly trained and experienced UKR troops are dead or wounded; Russian losses have been overstated; the Russian ground forces are now in fact bigger than at the start; the Russian military is not negatively affected by the war.
The picture is what I have been telling you, UKR does not stand a chance in the attrition war against Russia, which has superior air and artillery cover, superior ammunition supplies, superior manpower, superior everything, despite NATO support, and UKR is suffering steady, horrendous attrition of 100s of troops daily and it is steadily losing its remaining equipment, which NATO is unable to resupply at anything like the rate of attrition. UKR lacks jets, it has run out of anti-aircraft missiles, freeing the sky for Russia. UKR is suffering constant massive attrition, while Russia is not the least bit attritioned.
US intelligence is entirely aware of the situation, that UKR is clearly bound to lose the attrition war, but the administration is not facing up to it, either in its media propaganda or in a push for a negotiated settlement.
Trump has said that he would end this debacle in two days, but the elected administration is taking the fiasco to the bitter end. The geopolitical damage to the USA will be immense.
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2023/05/02/how-bad-off-is-the-russian-military/
> …. But even though Russia is facing an enhanced Ukrainian military, recent leaks confirm what private assessments have long suggested: Ukraine’s losses have been understated while its prospects have been overstated, and Russia’s losses have been overstated while its achievements have been understated.
Long before the recent leaks revealed that many more Ukrainian soldiers than Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded on the battlefield, that Ukraine will be out of antiaircraft missiles by early May, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-may-run-out-of-air-defenses-by-may-leaked-pentagon-documents-warn-b96b0655 that they are short of troops and ammunition and that the counteroffensive will fall “well short” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/10/leaked-documents-ukraine-counteroffensive/ of its goals, attaining, at best, only “modest territorial gains,” US generals and government officials had been quietly saying the same thing.
In February, The Washington Post reported https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/13/us-ukraine-war-critical-moment/ that privately the US intelligence’s “sobering assessment” that retaking Crimea “is beyond the capability of Ukraine’s army” has been “reiterated to multiple committees on Capitol Hill over the last several weeks.” As early as November, 2022, US officials had shared that assessment with Ukraine, suggesting they “start thinking about [their] realistic demands and priorities for negotiations, including a reconsideration of its stated aim for Ukraine to regain Crimea.” That same month, western military analysts began to warn of an “inflection point” at which Ukraine battlefield gains were at an apex. And on January 21, 2023, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/jan/20/us-general-it-will-be-very-difficult-to-remove-putins-forces-from-ukraine-this-year-video publicly that Ukraine would not be able to retake all of its territory.
But it was not only that Ukraine’s ambitions had been inflated and their prospects overstated, their losses had also been understated. Despite public claims of parity in losses or worse for Russia, the leaked reports of a much higher ratio of Ukrainian deaths and casualties to Russian deaths and casualties had been forecasted by military analysts who had frequently put the ratio of soldiers killed at closer to 7:1 or 10:1 Ukrainian versus Russian losses. Der Spiegel has reported https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/russland-ukraine-news-am-freitag-britische-geheimdienste-bis-zu-50-000-wagner-soeldner-in-der-ukraine-a-be2408e1-6e72-4325-bc06-29d76e0c4d5e that German intelligence is “alarmed” by the “high losses suffered by the Ukrainian army” in the battle for Bakhmut. They told German politicians in a secret meeting that the loss of life for Ukrainian soldiers is in “three-digit number[s]” every day on that battleground alone. The Washington Post has reported https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/13/ukraine-casualties-pessimism-ammunition-shortage/ that the most highly trained and experienced Ukrainian soldiers are “all dead or wounded.”
And it is not only Ukrainian losses that may have been understated. Russian losses, ineptitude and material setbacks may have been just as overstated. After suffering high casualties at the beginning of the war, Alexander Hill, professor of military history at the University of Calgary, says Russia began to pursue a more methodical battlefield strategy and lowered their losses.
…. But a month later, General Cavoli told https://www.eucom.mil/2023-posture-statement-to-congress/video-gen-christopher-g-cavoli-delivers-testimony-to-the-house-armed-services-committee that same body only that “The Russian ground force has been degenerated somewhat by this conflict; although it is bigger today than it was at the beginning of the conflict.” And it is not only the ground force. Cavoli went on to report that “The air force has lost very little: they’ve lost eighty planes. They have another one thousand fighters and fighter bombers. The navy has lost one ship.”
And as for the larger Russian military, Cavoli said that “Much of the Russian military has not been affected negatively by this conflict…. despite all of the efforts they’ve undertaken inside Ukraine.”
Just for the news and just to report facts, without saying anything negative to anyone, I would like to inform Mirror, Gail and in general this blog that ‘Cavoli’ is an Italian word which means ‘Cabbages’:
https://www.cookist.it/migliori-ricette-con-i-cavoli/
in Italy we say ” cavoli ! ” when we want to avoid the bad word like ”f…k !” and we want to use an exclamation for something unexpected not goof.
https://it.quora.com/Come-mai-in-italiano-si-usa-la-parola-cavoli-come-espressione-di-sorpresa?share=1
I think that it must be for this reason that in Italy they are not talking about General Cavoli…
And as we are here to talk about Italian words, I take the opportunity to say that ‘Fauci’ means big mouth of a wild and predator animal:
”Il leone si svegliò, mise la sua grossa zampa sopra il topolino e aprì le fauci per inghiottirlo.”
https://bloggosuccursale.myblog.it/2013/01/23/morale-della-favola-il-leone-e-il-topo/
Ancient Romans used to say: ‘nomem omen’ which means this:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomen_omen
This was only to report facts and not to offend anyone. It is just reality.
Have a nice evening.
you could always cuss by numbers
Russia made a huge mistake to invade Ukraine. Yes I don’t like Biden either and want to see him fail again and again but realistically Russia cannot occupy a country that they can’t win a decisive war with. People will turn on Putin. I give him 3 years tops.
Attrition wars are decisively won.
Attrition war is a standard military strategy, and the list of decisive attrition wars is very long.
Russia defeated Napoleon in attrition war.
Russia has opted for an attrition war in UKR as a deliberate and effective strategy for decisive victory, and it is working very well.
UKR is bound to lose the attrition war.
Whether you understand what an attrition war is and how they work does not change that.
Russia will likely just keep the south and east of UKR, and maybe expand up to the Dnieper once UKR is sufficiently attritioned.
The west will be free to do whatever it wants with the west of UKR, so long as it is demilitarized and neutral.
Putin will be fine, Biden will almost certainly be gone within three years, and then USA can get its next star of the show.
NATO never should have baited Russia into UKR, and the geopolitical fallout to the USA will be profound, especially with the acceleration of de-dollarization.
The UKR debacle is a disaster for USA, while Russia has obtained a shopping list geopolitical gains.
Mirror, Russia fights great on its own soil! Not so good when they are invading. I am shocked that they didn’t wipe out Ukraine in 3 months! I’m fact I told a lot of people that at the beginning of the war , now they give me a hard time for that estimate! Russia is running out of steam… Putin knows that if lots of Russians die he will too! That’s why he is using the Wagner group.
In another three years, Putin will have been in power for 26 years (if we count in the Medvedev presidency, which I would. He still has a while to go to catch up with Joe Stalin, who was in the hot seat for 30 years and six months.
Russia was forced to intervene in Ukraine, just as earlier it was forced to intervene in Chechenya and Georgia. The Russians judged the consequences of not intervening as potentially much worse than the consequences of intervening.
If Russia were to quit defending its interests and acquiesce to Western aggression, Russia would be chopped up into easily digestible and controllable pieces, just like the Arab Middle East, Africa and the rest of Europe.
Peace will not come if Russia withdraws from Ukraine. It would be naive to think otherwise.
I was playing a game of Diplomacy with Henry Kissinger and Paul Wolfowitz a while back, and Henry mentioned that Ukraine on the map was the tiny rump that might remain if Russia achieves its real goals this time. Most of modern Ukraine is marked on that map as Sevastopol. And Finland an Poland and the Baltics (Livonia) were all Russian too.
While we were chatting, Wolfie (based in Britain) stitched us up and dominated most of Europe.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-03-07/diplomacy-the-map-that-ruined-a-thousand-friendships
(Can you leave off with the childish personal attacks? I am not going to be provoked into emotionally reactive responses.)
Mirror, I think you handled that very well.
Well, Cheese, my old mate, don’t mind me. I just react to what I read. I’m a reactionary old fart.
Without getting into whether he’s really an extremist—and I see Mirror as more of a partisan on a number of issues and an enthusiast on others—he could have reacted explosively to your unintended provocation, as he’s been known to do in the past. I think he did very well this time to let it run off him like water off a duck’s back.
I don’t see much point in getting upset about what other commenters say, although I’ve done this myself numerous times, but on the other hand I don’t see the point of trying to provoke other commenters into getting upset, so I’m glad you weren’t doing that. But I suppose it’s all part of the thrust and parry of anonymous online communication.
In any case, describing someone as expressing “teenagerish sadistic glee” is bound to be provocative, even if that wasn’t the intention. You have an excellent command of adjectives, by the way.
One last shot and have to go to work.
If things are manufactured in space and “dropped” onto earth. how do the powers that be collect taxes? Or, with plenty, are taxes needed? Or, with plenty eliminating scarcity, what happens to economics? Or, with plenty, what is the value of money? OR,
Inflation/deflation?
So there, something positive for the doomers, now they have a reason to worry about problems that on the surface insoluble. Cheer up, they will think of something.
Dennis L.
Don’t worry Dennis, they will burn upon reentry and get completely destroyed.
Why? We bring things back from space on a regular basis without this problem.
TINA.
Dennis L.
those reentry vehicles are quite expensive. occasionally they fail, with only a few astronauts aboard, say 2 tons of payload. They will fail much more often if there are 10 semi trucks on board (in fact it can not be done, anything well above a couple tons will burn).
And if Starship works?
Dennis L.
I think you have a valid point there. The logistics of re-entry become more and more problematic as the loads get more massive.
Perhaps what we need is an Arthur C. Clarke space elevator or several dozen, so we can winch things down to earth at a reasonable speed and generate electricity as we do it?
Perhaps Keith will weigh in on this? He’s our resident space tech expert.
a simple physical argument should show that what melts the tiles on reentry is the power per unit surface. the reentry velocity is same for all vehicles (about 8 km/sec). the frictional force will be proportional to the mass behind the thermal shield. I am fairly sure you can not even go to twice the payload they use now, since the tiles are orange hot on reentry. Twice as much mass and they will blue hot, and melting.
Yes but in DelusiSTAN (where keith lives) anything is possible
keith can’t wait for the next booster hahaha
that trumps mikes – you might as well take all the shots… so you can go to the donut shop — makes perfect sense!
Reentry heating is well understood and has been since the early days of ICBMs. One of the factors is section density, the other is how long a path the reentry vehicle takes. The shuttle was relatively dense and even with a long path it got really hot. The proposed Skylon rocket plane has a low sectional density because of the hydrogen fuel tanks. It is expected to go through peak and much milder heating at least 10 km higher than the Shuttle did. (Incidentally liquid hydrogen has a density of 70 kg/cubic meter, about the same as goose down,)
I don’t know if the Starship will have problems with reentry or not. If it does, SpaceX will fix and try again.
Space elevators are currently beyond what we can do, we don’t have strong enough cable. If we did have the cable, I have suggested clamping the loads to a moving cable rather than the various proposals to power a climber.
While space elevators do not make sense technically, they do provide background for an SF story.
https://htyp.org/UpLift
why not just build a tower into space? or how about a tractor beam like in star trek?
Keith, thanks. How about dangling a cable from the moon down to the point of geosynchronous earth orbit? That would slash the cost of earth-moon transportation and make Denis’s space manufacturing strategy more cost effective.
“How about dangling a cable ”
Think about the geometry. Something in GEO goes around once a day where the moon takes 28 days.
I have worked the math for a lunar elevator that goes out to 190,000 km from the lunar surface. If you take something out that far and just release it, it is in an orbit that intersects with GEO.
Thanks! Looks like that cable will end up being dragged ahead of the moon a ways by being in an orbit that makes it move faster relative to the moon. At least that would maintain tension in the cable.
Now, can we attach a space station with a logistics center, a hotel, casino and hot spring resort to the end of that cable?
YES .. of course. Anything is possible … (in DelusiSTAN) — right keith?
Someplace, there need to be electricity companies to distribute and sell the electricity to everyone. These folks pretty much need to collect the taxes.
I think of high EROEI as being “very cheap to produce, relative to what the energy product will sell for.” It is this characteristic that should make it possible to heavily tax the output.
There is the issue of financing all of the huge infrastructure that would seem to be needed for this endeavor. This is part of the complexity of the system. The bankers could end up collecting a huge amount of interest payments related to the system. Somehow, the system needs to be inexpensive enough to support this as well.
“Somehow, the system needs to be inexpensive enough to support this as well.”
It has a huge number of gains other than needing capital manufacturing in space; that will come, Western Civ was not built in a day. Space is a frictionless environment with loads of natural resources, primary in some cases, e.g. NI, AU, PT. Primary energy is a frictionless nudge away, pollution is a non starter.
If it is self supporting, there is no need for loans. Transaction costs can be dealt with. Microsoft never needed loans as I recall.
Not sure what domestic transmission has to do with this, if heavy industry is in space, don’t need the heavy lines.
Electricity in space can be provided locally with nuclear and damn the radiation problems, space is full of it. Cuts all sort of regulatory costs and issues.
The problem is getting there initially, not dissimilar to America at the start, a main export to Britain was ship masts – MIC as always. Starship is the key, it must work. Man stays here on earth, Elon has Optimus coming along, biology needs a very sophisticated space ship, it is called earth.
TINA, we have discussed it all, FE’s ideas are horrible deaths; there is nothing to lose.
Dennis L.
Gail is right on target with this analysis. Electricity needs to cost the power company about 3 cents a kWh, which indicated that they can’t pay more than $12 B for 5 GW for a power satellite including the rectenna. That, in turn, sets the cost to lift parts to GEO at $200/kg.
Can that be done? Maybe, it’s a design to cost problem.
Remote Work Comes With Daytime Drug and Drinking Habits
Cocaine, benzodiazepines and other drugs are no longer after-hours activities.
“On any given work day, Ray wakes up, brews coffee, smokes a cigarette, and then “takes a hit of pot” before sitting down to morning Zoom meetings.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-13/remote-work-comes-with-daytime-drug-and-drinking-habits#xj4y7vzkg
I suppose that this is possible. With the labor market quite tight, employers take what they can get.
I am reminded of a company where the government wanted to do business with them. As part of the paperwork, the government insisted they have a drug policy. So the policy they wrote said that if you bring drugs to work, bring enough for everyone. It was accepted, after all it *was* a policy.
LOL!
With habits like that, I’m surprised Ray wakes up at all.
I’ve worked from home for over 30 years and I haven’t smoked a joint or a line of coke or speed yet. Maybe I’m missing out, but can be done.
(Voxnews)
It seems that the Nato weapons deposit recently bombed by Russians was a depleted uranium deposit with inside the famous weapons sent by UK.
KHMELNITSKY population is now very worried.
https://voxnews.info/2023/05/14/missile-russo-ha-colpito-deposito-proiettili-ad-uranio-impoverito-della-nato-panico-a-khmelnitsky/
Thanks Student for that information.
The depleted uranium missiles went up in a massive mushroom cloud.
It is not being widely reported in the western MSM.
The west of UKR has been rendered toxic, and the fears are that the toxins will get into the soil at least in that and surrounding regions.
The depleted uranium did not even get to go around before it came around.
UKR must be well grateful now that the UK sent missiles containing that stuff?
If they do not want depleted uranium to get everywhere, then do not use it in the first place?
UK is completely irresponsible to send that stuff, and the Zelensky regime is even worse to do that to UKR.
UKR is the most fertile agricultural region around, and it is globally important for its grain exports.
I totally agree with the sentiments expressed above.
But looking on the bright side, eat Ukrainian oatmeal and you really will glow in the dark!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TcP6204p70
You know those depleted uranium tank shells the United Kingdom sent to Ukraine? Reports say that Russian missiles blew them up this weekend. Footage of huge explosions near the city of Khmelnytskyi show that Russia targeted ammunition stores in advance of the “planned counteroffensive.” The mayor of that city reported that the city itself was not targeted but that buildings were damaged by the blasts and at least 21 people were injured. The military administration in that region confirmed that “critical infrastructure” had been hit by at least four Russian drones. Blowing up uranium is a biological hazard. The UK was warned about this but chose to send these weapons anyway.
Fog of war, definitely.
Truth is the first casualty.
But it is a sad judgement on the state of the State in the West that so many Westerners are so tired of being fed insipid, insulting and idiotic Western propaganda that they prefer the Russian version on account of its comparative reasonableness and maturity.
Am almost as bad as FE this AM, but I am the optimist so that is a ray of sunshine(couldn’t resist that one.)
More from TM.
“We might wonder why there has been no improvement in the conversion ratio between energy and output over time, but this is capable of ready explanation – the process of resource depletion has worsened the economics of non-energy raw materials, and has done so at a rate which has cancelled out improvements in the efficiency with which energy is used to convert these raw materials into products.”
Sunshine is biological, it is such that biology flourishes; it was never designed for physical, industrial conversion. We have beaten that one to death.
But, move close to the sun and those planets are not biological, the energy is dense and the efficiency goes off the charts, rocks(asteroids) into refined raw materials, then into processed products and chuck all the waste into the sun as one goes by. This is recycling at its best and politically, wow, carbon free and a chicken in every pot.
Got the love the news every AM, only need to spin it well and it is a beautiful world. For you doomers, the sun is depleting so there is always something to worry about; ah politics, something for everyone, a sure vote getter.
Dennis L.
The time needed to redesign industrial processes to operate in space is too great for it to be helpful before depletion sets in. If we’re going to get to space resources, it’s going to happen after we develop a sustainable economy here on earth.
ivan,
Earth is biology, sustainable energy is here and designed for earth to run biological systems. We cannot harness it, is was engineered for a different purpose. Industrial heat would preclude life; we are supposed to be here.
OFW has it right, sustainable does not work, Gail discovered information in the fabric of the universe.
DennisL.
TM is up this AM.
“Pursuing our own investigation along logical lines isn’t going to change this. Whether we like it or not, the ‘everything bubble’ is going to burst, as all such bubbles do, and we cannot taper the Ponzi scheme into which the financial system has been turned by the reckless application of ‘extend and pretend’. The relentless tightening of affordability compression can’t be prevented, and its implications – both for discretionary consumption and for the streams of income upon which so much of the financial and corporate system depends – cannot be side-stepped.”
Elon somehow is getting discretionary income to blow up in a potentially useful investment, Starship. It is big enough to get useful(net energy positive) stuff into space and it is timely, well we hope it is both timely and soon enough.
This universe has a fabric which over the sentient history has been and is being revealed to us.
Looking further forward, why would man want to go into space when Neuralink can let us communicate with robots doing the hard, cold, dangerous work of exploring that universe?
We have our spaceship, it needs some fluffing, it is robust and of excellent design; were one imagining a history it could be seen as the result of trial and error, the fabric of the universe does not seem to be deterministic, it is what we want it to be but the problem is looking at the cat at just the right moment. Always that damn cat.
Dennis L.
Your quote seems to be from this link.
Elsewhere, he says,
Tim Morgan talks about the modified consensus in his next previous post. It says that world GDP growth will moderate somewhat.
Thought:
Money is a means of trx, a store of value, and a valuation.
Money due as debt does not have to be paid with today’s tools. Given a correct discount rate, it works quite well, the US was for a very long time an excellent investment; many think it still is, look no further than the southern border.
If space really costs as little as I posit, paying back debt with profit(revenue-expenses) is easy as expenses essentially go to zero. The sun is free and one does not want to concentrate too much of that energy on earth. the sun is essentially money.
Too much thought is given to looking how things were, not enough to how things change.
Elon is putting stuff into space cheaper than any government group and landing the used rockets to boot. His factories are huge and could not be run forty years ago due to data limitations and primitive AI. Neurolink is being worked on and there is now discussion the human brain is a quantum computer. Why not, it is made up of atoms which apparently are not the same atom from one year to the next. Now that is a real cat problem.
Even here, we can be too anthropomorphic; hypothesis: we are allowed to discover the universe as we advance, we invent nothing. Serous mathematicians now believe this and a very serious one works on quantum mechanic mathematics as a basis for physics, Edward Frenkel.
An original discover: Moses, someone put their thumb on the scale.
Dennis L.
The truth can be the enemy of BAU
Yes, FE, because what works is right and if BAU doesn’t work, then it is not the truth.
Dennis L.
Reading TM, thinking about embedded energy.
Refining asteroid ores near the sun accomplishes with energy what we want, embedded energy. In the end pure energy does not economically interest us, we want it embedded in stuff to make useless stuff useful.
Refining this way embeds energy without releasing waste heat into the atmosphere save air friction from dropping down a gravity well. It is carbonfree and politically correct in one solar, natural energy system. Wow, were I running for President that gets all the CA delegates!
Do it as all industrial processes have been done, bootstrap it. After copper, NI, then Co and why not PT? For the more common man, AU at a price the working man can afford.
It is all good, n’est-ce pas?
Dennis L.
Dennis
you still go on about ‘refining asteroid ores’
never an answer about what to actually do with them?
Make whatever is needed on earth, all manufacturing moves to space, close to basic materials, close to limitless energy resources. If Starship works, we won’t do it with yesterday’s tools and Werner was only about 80 or so years ago.
Earth is perfect for biology, we stop screwing up biology with pollution, earth is our spaceship and my guess is for the foreseeable future the only one we wil have and the only one which will ever work for biological beings.
Dennis L.
but that leaves a biological species—ie us—having to sustain an existence by consuming non-bioglogical substances, and promote itself on those substances
seem incompatible to me
and yesterdays tools are all we have.
tomorrows tools require tomorrows tecnology which we cannot produce with yesterdays energy base.—they are a yet uninvented, and in many cases unthought of.
seems like we are left with dreams and fantasies
Norman I fear oil will run out before the next step in the evolution of intelligence is complete, that is AGI. If so we will have a long wait until we develop biological based components for AGI, 200 years?
Dennis, you are right. Norman is just way to pessimistic. I can’t predict the future, but his objections are not sensible.
Perhaps you can also steal norm’s girl?
i think we can be pretty sure no one would want to steal yours eddy
Remember Doris norm… M Fast is a step up.
difficult to be a step down
btw id prefer—and I’m sure Gail would too, to keep relationships out of your skoolyard wall imaginings—they have no place on OFW
but it’s up to you eddy—it is the ultimate in discourtesy to ‘others’—but that would be beyond your comprehension
Are you saying no more chatter about Super Snatch?
I’m afraid that’s not possible cuz SSS is a crucial character in The World of norm (according to Fast Eddy)
As is the Dumpster
entirely up tp you eddy
your inane ramblings have nothing to do with realty—they get deleted anyway
all they do is reveal yourself—which is stuff i know already, but i dont mind having my opinions confirmed.
you have no respect for anyone–including yourself, i can’t chang that.—yet you demand it from others.
i tried to reply to a couple of your insanities yesterday
message flashup—
” you cannot reply to unapproved comments”
This should get through – how about a comment?
“Get Vaxxed and you won’t get Covid”
https://twitter.com/Lukewearechange/status/1463932846570192901
Former Vaccine Taskforce Chief Clive Dix has said the “vaccines were not designed to end transmission”. In a key confession that demolishes the Government’s strategy behind vaccine passports and vaccine coercion, the former Interim Chair of the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce writes that “the vaccines will not stop the spread of the virus in the short or medium term”.
https://dailysceptic.org/2021/12/14/vaccine-taskforce-ex-chief-the-vaccines-were-not-designed-to-end-transmission/
https://youtu.be/mnxlxzxoZx0
i point out a bit of reality
all you do eddy is start another vaxrant
says it all really
Keith and ed
We are the only species to have developed and used ”complex” levers—ie wheels, sails, bows and arrows.
They are the things that allowed us to have farms, towns, ships etc—there has been nothing else.
Our recent ‘progression has been to add colossal amounts of cheap energy to those levers
so now we have cars, planes skycrapers and such–but still the business of moving stuff from A to B
one is a progression from the other
but there is a direct link—just a matter of scale, nothing more.
what you are daydreaming about, is that AI and concepts as yet uninvented will somehow ”save us” and allow BAU.
Youve seen on that in science fiction, but thats all it is—science fiction.—we cannot move ”stuff” without powered levers —without cheap energy in abundance, we return to levers without power.
Our current energy resources are in rapid depletion. World conflict is kicking off everywhere because of it.
When creatures run short of energy, they fight for dimininishing supplies of it—this in turn depletes energy even faster.
Our ultimate resource is food—the planet cannot feed itselg.
you may dream of space mining—but with a starving world population, using $billions to put a few men onto Mars or wherever is going nowhere.
Pessimistic?—just point out where I’m wrong.—Nobody will be more pleased than me if I am.
oh–and just saying ”you’re wrong”—and ”they will think of something” just won’t cut it i’m afraid.
”they” have turned the planet into profit–and will go on doing so until there’s none left
its called human nature.
Norman, what can I say? Great response!
You are pessimistic, but no way are you way too pessimistic. Your pessimism is the realism of the Finite World we live in. At the Finite World Bar, you see clearly that our beer glasses are much less than half full. Keith thinks that’s not a problem; we can always order up another round. I think he’s way too optimistic about our chances of continuing to be served.
I read and enjoyed a lot of science fiction in my younger days, and I can see that Keith has too. Also, I’ve known some people who were sci-fi fans who attended conventions and hung out with authors and actors there (things I never did personally). Keith gives me the same kind of vibes I felt from these people, most of whom were of his generation.
They were enthusiasts, optimists, and fantasists, wading much father into the Ocean of the Imagination than most people care to do. They were very nice, very amiable people, but their sense of reality was tangled up with their dreams and fantasies about the infinite possibilities that await us once we develop the technologies to make those dreams and fantasies come true.
To an ingrained and unrestrained optimist, a realist is bound to seem lacking in oomph. I think that calling you “way too pessimistic” is Keith’s way of protecting himself from having to question his own unrestrained and unrealistic optimism.
like i said—my wanting to be wrong is genuine, not verbal theatrics
if i’m right, i know exactly what it means.
“unrestrained and unrealistic optimism.”
Tim, I don’t think you have been paying attention. I am not optimistic *or* pessimistic about the future. I simply don’t know and I make the case that nobody can know.
You are right that no one can know. We live in a self-organizing system. It very well may be directed by a Higher Power that has plans that we are not aware of.
My impression from other people I correspond with is that enthusiasm for space solar is a great deal more muted now than it was a few years ago. With economic difficulties seemingly close at hand, oil prices not very high, and government budgets stretched, it is hard to get much momentum going.
yup
as i always say—you can forecast anything except the future
four in five minutes eddy
are you after the title of miss whizzyfingers 2023?
“enthusiasm for space solar”
If you consider dollars being spent, it is still going up. China and the EU both have substantial projects, and the US has 4 or 5 at substantial scale. But I agree, the sum total isn’t significant when you consider what it will take to build even one of them.
A reasonable goal would be to replace 1/3 of current power over 20 years. That takes constructing 50 a year and done from the ground, that’s something close to 25,000 starship flights a year.
It’s not impossible. It would take a production rate of 250 a year if you could fly them 100 times.
BTW, it might be possible to fix global warming without pulling CO2 out of the air. About ten years ago a friend of mine, Robert Kennedy, proposed sunshades at the L1 location. The proposal was in the main stream media recently. It would take around 200 million tons, but an asteroid mining project can turn out that much in ten days.
keith
i have respect for your intellect, your academic background far outsrips my own
but with that same respect, i can only think you’ve ‘lost it’.
the fact that something can be worked out mathematically, does not mean that it is viable in any realistic sense
i think this is wnere your problem lies
nothing compared to the money invested in creating renewable energy hopium…
Consider how much is spent on golf courses around the world… enormous… also a total waste of resources …
Just cuz they allocate $$$ to something … does not mean it is viable… quite the opposite in many instances
All that matters is the economic activity … they could just as well build a million excavators and dig holes then fill them in
“i have respect for your intellect, your academic background far outsrips my own”
Can’t say, no idea what your background is.
” the fact that something can be worked out mathematically, does not mean that it is viable in any realistic sense”
That’s true. I can think of several examples. Philip Lubin’s DeStar project would take a substantial fraction of the GDP.
On the other hand, if some project does not make mathematical sense then regardless of how desirable it might be, it is not going to happen. Space elevators (from Earth) fit into that category.
“i think this is where your problem lies”
Not my problem. Not sure it is a problem for humans at this point.
As does space solar… as does farming mangos on Baffin Island
Most of them mocked the unvaxxed and all of them pushed the jabs. And in short order, they all died suddenly and unexpectedly. For those who can stand disco music, here is a short compilation presented to the tune of Staying Alive.
https://rumble.com/v2nm9c4–heres-a-short-compilation-of-people-who-died-suddenly-after-mocking-others.html
I am not sure you-know-who will be able to take the schadenfreude.
I’ve already enjoyed the buzz from this Schad… I need another hit
Multi booster schad is the best… cuz nobody has been mandated into taking those extra shots… therefore they deserve whatever they get…
This is wonderful Tim… a am taking a Schad…
Mark Crispy Miller said to FE
Mark Crispin Miller
5 hr ago
Author
Your vengefulness does no one any good—not even you, apparently, or you’d have gotten it out of your system quite a while ago.
In any case, the point here certainly is not to get you feeling bad for any of these glamorous departed. The point is to wake other people up.
I responded with an explanation of why I enjoy celebrity vax injuries and how Vaxxers (the unclean) will read his weekly death recitals… and a link to that wonderful video compilation
Mark is a goody goody, so he doesn’t understand just how good and healthy a few minutes of Schad in the morning can be. I expect he starts his day with a glass of apple cider vinegar.
SCHAD is good for health.
So … just back to the Goat Ranch and I get this email from https://www.managemyhealth.co.nz/ I am registered with my local clinic…
So I call the clinic and ask what’s this about — the have no knowledge of this message being sent out and indicate that they did not instruct the app folks to send anything like this.
I says ya but I am registered through you so why am I getting it if it’s not from you?
No idea — they asked me to forward it and the manager will ring me before the end of the day – which 40 mins away…
Stay Tuned! I am running the coffee machine in anticipation of a whole lot of fun to come hahaha
Dear Folks
This is a general email that we are sending to our patients:
Many of you have presented as vaccine injured or know people who are vaccine injured and might like to participate in this project.
It is discussed in the following link, MMH will not allow URL links, so please google Lynda Wharton with Aly Cook interview
At 15 mins in …details re Aly Cook’s Petition to Parliament
Aly Cook, who has a son who was vaccine injured, initiated a petition to NZ Parliament asking them to commence a Royal Inquiry into the safety and efficacy of vaccines. It was accepted with 24,000 signatures and she was subsequently given permission to submit additional written submissions from those affected. ( This is major as it does not usually happen with every petition).
Aly Cook and Lynda Wharton decided to join forces to make a call out for Vaccine injured New Zealanders to submit personal testimonies. The deadline for this to be submitted is 30th May, 2023. The intention is to bombard the parliamentarians with first hand accounts of any adverse injury however minor or temporary and the extent of serious adverse effects that are ongoing, including deaths of loved ones. These will go on record and all submissions will be published on the Government’s website where it will become a permanent record. This will be available for all MPs to view and the public who know where to look for it.
The intention is that with all the testimonies in one place, this petition cannot be ignored or denied and the petition will seek recognition and public health accountability for the injured and so in turn, compensation and a call for a halt to the vaccine campaign.
Here are the details to include in an email and where to send it. You do not need a health professional to do this. It can be brief.
Please put in Subject- Aly Cook’s petition to Parliament
Lynda Wharton<thehealthforumnz@protonmail.com
or
Aly Cook
Name
Age
Product(s) received ( Pfizer or Astra Zenica )
Circumstances of why took vaccine; mandated by employer or other, personal choice or felt coerced by employer, peers, family members?
What happened to you?
Whether helped, gas lit, denied, rejected or shamed when seeking help by Emergency Depts, Hospital, GP…
Whether applied for ACC and response – compensated or not?
Reported to CARM, other?
This will give a picture of the scale of the injuries for the public and MPs to understand.
Yours sincerely
The team at Health Helpline
Thanks for letting me know. I will raise this with MMH and come back to you.
Damn… and I was all revved up!!!
Such Schad as there never was; the commentary on the un-injected was vicious and visceral (Being or arising from impulse or sudden emotion rather than from thought or deliberation: synonym: instinctive).
I pray that the afterlife has their commentary tattooed on their faces.
These idiots, along with plenty on here, are the best reminder of how history has been full of fools. The Salem witch-hunts, the Tulip mania, the fools on the Titanic who probably said ‘it ain’t sunk yet’ when 3/4 of the boat was underwater, the lemmings who mocked Galileo, the believers in a rules-based-international-order, those that celebrated the new King Charles, and finally the ‘safe and effective’ brigade- they were/are all perfect ‘Subjects’. Serfs all.
Their unthinking compliance/faith in the narrative of the time explains so much of the history never repeats but always rhymes.
Some of them even mock the faith of religious believers while unthinkingly have faith in ‘The Science’.
These are the good times.
BAU for the Un-In-Jected.
Fast Eddie was RIGHT… There I wrote it….the movers and shakers do much “Hanky Panky” amongst there circles…..sometimes the wheels fall off..from the WSJ no less
Before His Killing, Tech Executive Bob Lee Led an Underground Life of Sex and Drugs
After the Cash App founder died in a stabbing, some were quick to blame San Francisco’s street violence. The truth was more shocking.
By Kirsten Grind, Katherine Bindley and Zusha Elinson
May 14, 2023 8:00 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO—In certain wealthy tech circles it is known as “The Lifestyle,” an underground party scene featuring recreational drug use and casual sex.
A successful tech executive named Bob Lee liked to hang out with that crowd, according to people who also participated. So, too, did Khazar Momeni, the wife of a prominent plastic surgeon, these people said.
On the afternoon of April 3, a Monday, the partying took a dark turn. According to San Francisco prosecutors, Ms. Momeni’s older brother confronted Mr. Lee about her. Was she taking drugs or doing anything inappropriate, he wanted to know. Hours later the brother, Nima Momeni, stabbed Mr. Lee with a kitchen knife and left him to bleed out in the street, prosecutors alleged. Mr. Momeni, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, is being held without bail. He plans to plead not guilty, his attorney said.
Mr. Lee’s death has transfixed San Francisco. At first viewed by critics including Elon Musk as a symbol of the city’s increasing street violence, the episode instead laid bare risk-taking behavior in the upper reaches of Bay Area society, fueled by cocaine and designer drugs.
….. Mr. Lee was comfortable with a lot of different crowds and that he was creative and adventurous, loyal to his friends, and “saw the best in everyone.”
“He was also hanging out with people who weren’t great people, and that was part of what happened in the end,” said Mr. Wagner, who says he didn’t know the Momenis. “There are a lot of swingers, cheaters and liars in that crowd,” he said.
…Mr. Lee was serious about his work in the tech industry, but he was also dedicated to having fun. He took ecstasy, ketamine, cocaine and attended all-night raves all around the world, including at Club Audio in San Francisco, according to his friends.
….Bob was the dumbest smart person I knew,” said Mr. Wagner.
Very long write up…
.https://www.wsj.com/articles/bob-lee-stabbing-sex-drugs-lifestyle-san-francisco-5a7da970
Wonder if the Elders venture for a little taste of this world?
Ted,
If one pushes really, really hard; one becomes a bit crazy.
“There are a lot of swingers, cheaters and liars in that crowd,” Creative, incredibly hard working people oftentimes have other sides of their personalities; may be biology, part of how things are, part of the fabric of the universe. No excuse, observation.
Dennis L.
I wouldn’t know about that myself, I prefer my own company with nature and only vote by mail, avoiding any people.
More fuel to the fire..
CNN) — A 78-year-old American citizen has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on spying charges.
John Shing-Wan Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, was convicted of espionage and given a life sentence Monday by the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Suzhou, according to a statement on the court’s social media account.
Leung was detained on April 15, 2021 by state security authorities in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, according to the brief statement, which did not provide details on his charges.
The court also confiscated personal property worth 500,000 yuan ($71,797), the statement added.
Chinese authorities and state media have not previously disclosed any information on Leung’s detention or the court process that led to his conviction. Cases involving state security are usually strictly handled behind closed doors, where the judicial system has a conviction rate of around 99%, according to legal observers.
The US Embassy in Beijing said Monday it was aware of reports of Leung’s sentencing.
“The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,” a spokesperson for the US Embassy said in a statement to CNN.
CNN has also reached out to the US State Department for comment.
Hong Kong was notified by Chinese authorities of the arrest of John Leung in 2021, the city’s Secretary of Security, Chris Tang, said in a press conference on Monday.
The sentencing of Leung comes at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in half a century amid intensifying rivalry over trade, technology, geopolitics and military supremacy.
It also comes as American and Chinese officials are resuming high-level engagements since a dispute over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shattered efforts to mend ties earlier this year.
Such silliness leads to greater encounters
good!
According to unvarnished and unmanipulated credit and debit card data, the state of the US consumer, labor market and household spending is far worse than that represented by the US government.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/there-goes-us-consumer-card-data-reveals-first-drop-household-spending-two-years-upper
US NatGas Drilling Collapses At Fastest Rate Since 2016
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-natgas-drilling-collapses-fastest-rate-2016
Let’s summarize what we now know of the negative efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, and why vaccinated people—not the unvaxxed—suffer frequent bouts of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 vaccines—and the new bivalents, of which they are a part—are alarmingly and irredeemably unsafe, as well as ineffective for the advertised purposes. It is increasingly recognized by laypeople, physicians, and scientists throughout the world that the COVID-19 vaccines are neither safe, nor effective, nor reversible.
In this article, I show irrefutable proof that the COVID-19 vaccines are irredeemably ineffective. (See many dozens of my other Substack articles, and my book, “Neither Safe Nor Effective,” on how dangerous these vaccines are.)
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/colossal-failure-around-world
We also know that government receipts are coming in a lot lower than expected. The headline on the Atlanta Journal Constitution was that Governor Kemp had used his line item veto to remove a whole lot of spending that the legislature had just approved. I am pretty certain that this was because tax revenues are coming in a lot lower than earlier forecast. I know I had read about Georgia’s tax revenues being lower. I didn’t look at the article closely enough to see whether the author had made the connection.
There is evidence everywhere that the economy is slowing down. People are depending on natural gas to save us, but it can’t if drilling is slowing down. I expect that the slower drilling has to do with the recent low natural gas prices besides the general slowing of the economy.
Deflation?
Dennis L.
I like that too!
another excellent piece by “B” on copper
https://thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/the-copper-conundrum-3b98704602c8
Excellent write up, Norm, I’ll need to wait for the Nuttie Eddie stamp of approval, because it may be fake news….just kidding….
Another straw on the green revolutions camel back …
Conclusion…
All this have very serious logical implications; some inconvenient conclusions, only a very few people on Earth dare to contemplate. Let’s list those:
We neither have the copper reserves, nor the mining capacity to replace our current fossil fuel infrastructure.
Even if we had, we wouldn’t have enough cheap and abundant fuel (diesel), sulfuric acid and water to process it.
As a result, we would be able to get to a maximum 20% replacement of our fossil fuel infrastructure, presuming that peak oil and geopolitics do not throw a monkey-wrench into the process.
I like the last piece myself about throwing a money wrench in the process
Ted,
Agreed, so look somewhere else, space.
Find a copper asteroid, refine it in space using direct solar radiation from the sun(get close enough, chose and appropriate temperature), drop pure, refined copper down the gravity well.
As things progress, more wire forming to space by making a wire forming plant in space. No gravity removes certain friction problems in space, inertia and momentum are the main used of energy for moving heavy things around.
The energy is embedded in the copper first as a refined metal and then as a processed product, wire. Embedded energy is the same as profit.
Don’t put man in space, robots; man is biological, space is very hostile to biology from what I can see.
All pollution is left in space, there is plenty of room and it is NIMBY. The externalities remain, but they remain in limitless space which is expanding anyhow.
After reading here and elsewhere, if there are other solutions it would be nice to hear them.
Dennis L.
Agreed, that’s why we are undertaking space missions to the Moon… Soon nations will be mining copper from the Moon to be transported back to the 🌍 Earth, along with rare minerals …
Just one obstacle…Eddie will tell you all about it!
https://hir.harvard.edu/economics-of-the-stars/
As the consequences of environmental degradation and natural resource depletion become increasingly severe, scientists are placing a greater emphasis on not only sustainably utilizing the resources that we already have, but also on identifying new methods of obtaining resources. For example, scientists are pursuing novel but contentious resource extraction techniques such as fracking. One particular suggested solution, asteroid mining, is literally out of this world.
Although proposed many times, the first tangible effort to enable the exploration and development of asteroid mining came in 2012 from Planetary Resources, a Seattle-based aerospace company. Planetary Resources were then closely followed by a similar company, Deep Space Industries. Both groups have made significant contributions to the field, designing satellites that have identified about 15,000 asteroids with significant potential for mining.
Shriya Yarlagadda
Shriya is Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard International Review. She enjoys reading and writing about human rights, international security, and environmental politics
Dennis, whatever you’re drinking, I want a glass or two!
dennis
embedded energy is dead until you sell the product
as i keep asking
when you have all this refined ore what are you going to do with it
Make life better with more options, stop polluting earth, earth is biology, very unique to that. Industrialization is not biology, it does not belong on earth, it was necessary for a time, now it leaves or earth fails. They will think of something, too much work in spaceship earth let it fail.
Why do we have to sell? Could that be old economics? Sell is a transaction, exchange of value, not sure about the future. But, the future is part of the fabric of the universe, they will think of something, or not my problem.
Whatever runs the universe my guess is they don’t have a central bank.
Dennis L.
dennis
our ultimate resource is food
everything–everything else rides on the back of that.
the farmer inputs energy to his land, and gets food-energy out.
this is an absolute law—no getting around it—the farmer cannot produce food and just give it away to anyone who asks for it—otherwise he’d go broke.
so we have to pay him for it, with money—we have nothing else.–we cannot offer to pull his plough.—we are not strong enough.
We pay the farmer for his food, with wages.
We get wages by changing one energy form into another—again, there is no other way of creating wages.
I get a pension because other people produce sufficient surplus in their wages to pay taxation… as I did during my working life.
That taxation also pays the wages of nurses, doctors, policemen, soldiers and so on.
it’s called ”an economic system”.
i’m afraid ”they” do not exist—only ”we” exist.
this earth is a biological whole, functioning as a living entity—we, i’m afraid have been recognised as a pestilence, and have been for the past million years or so, getting worse since the 1700s when we began to tear the earth apart for profit.
this is why there will be no ‘they’ to ”think of something”
sorry to disillusion you.
you could always try hunter gathering as an alternative.
Ores do not just appear by magic, They are the exclusive result of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics do not and have never occurred on the moon (or any other planet or moon in the solar system). Hence, metal ores occur only on Earth. Iron/nickel asteroids are formed by another method, but we don’t really have any shortage of iron. Geology 101!
Correct.
Takes a different kind of processing (Mond) to deal with a metal asteroid. And we may have to get used to a different collection of metals to run civilization.
now now keith …. time for your nap… this afternoon you get another booster…
happy happy keith?
happy happy Mr Fast Eddy.. keith very happy happy more boosters
Safe and Effective right keith?
safe effective… safe effective
repetitive strain injury eddy?
sorry
only one metal supports civilisation
iron and its derivatives
there are no ”other metals”
If there are–tell me about them.
look around you–where you are right now
mentally remove iron and everything literally falls apart.—everything
Gail,
when looking at maps I came upon a place called “Tverrberg”. You might have said it before but where in Norway are your roots?
My paternal Grandfather is from Voss. The farm was a very poor farm, up in the mountains outside of Voss.
There are several people with the surname Tverberg in the Voss area. Found Tverrbergsdalen (Tverrberg valley) and Tverrberg northeast of Voss – did your grandfather lose a “r” on the way to the US?
Could be. There seem to be a small number of other Tverbergs in the US, who are not close relatives of mine. I have never run across anyone with two r’s in their name, but I haven’t been looking.
For any who doubt the unspeakable evil that resides in sad collapsing new zealand a quick glance at today’s newspapers should remove all doubt.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300878636/children-aged-1-and-4-dead-police-have-person-of-interest-in-ruakk-homicide-investigation
Pre-school children murdered probably by a family member.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/man-killed-brother-stabbed-in-heart-after-mothers-tangi-jury-hears/6M5MPWCURRFF5KF3QCAFGIVSJQ/
Brother kills brother at mother’s funeral.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/300878829/former-blues-and-tasman-mako-halfback-billy-guyton-dies-aged-33
Prominent sportsman commits suicide.
All native (but not indigenous) folk.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/132022958/damien-grant-we-arent-in-a-cost-of-living-crisis-were-just-poor
An article from the weekend witnessing the ongoing economic collapse of the sad country.
they’re not eating each other yet, so it could get worse
Queenstown remains in a tiny bubble of prosperity as foreign money continues to buoy the property market and tourists flow in…. it won’t last
If anything should happen to Eddie, please keep us all informed,
Wet My Beak…sounds like NZ is unravelling
I learned a new phrase that I never knew in 2019… “excess mortality”.
I cannot imagine myself “un-learn” what I know. I could not understand how people like a few of us here can just “shutdown” and “not know”. It mean, it is normal for people to “shutdown and not know” or “learn new things”. Are we the disabled people or are the 99% disabled?
Don’t reproach yourself, CTG.
I learned a quite few new medical terms last year and this, including myocarditis, pericarditis, Guillain‐Barre syndrome (GBS), venous sinus thrombosis (VST), transverse myelitis, Bell’s palsy, stiff person syndrome, small fiber neuropathy, neuromyelitis optica, multiple sclerosis (MS), Tolosa‐Hunt syndrome. hypophysitis, hyperactive encephalopathy, and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
All of us are temporarily abled at best. Whether not shutting down and preferring to know or learn new things is an ability or a disability could be assessed from the standpoint of its contribution to survival.
Since 99% of people do shut down (or maybe 90 or 80%), then Darwin would say that this behavior has survival value and the genes of people who exhibit this behavior are more likely to reproduce and get handed down.
If there are genes for gullibility and for shrewdness, why is it that the former tend to reveal themselves in human behavior more than the latter do? Perhaps the shrewd are also discrete. Hence, they pretend to shut down and not know, acting when viewed from the outside as if they were gullible when they judge that this is in their best interests.
There has been excess mortality for a while now. 1988 was worse than 2020. 1918 was the worst of them all as far as excess mortality.
There are some feeble minded folks on OFW … see spike protein in the brain
didn’t know you were into confessions eddy
turned catholic have we?
those priests finally got to you then
All the variables of a human being + a lot of information = many world views.
Wrong!
There is a “reality” that is created by propaganda and shared by ~90% of the people in the world – even most of those that fight against it.
This is easy to confirm in any conversation with most people. They believe in vaccines, pension plans 40 years out and infinite oil.
All of those are easily proven as ridiculous based on basic assumptions about the world and trends from the last century of data.
For example, if childhood vaccinations continue to increase as today, ALL kids will be autistic in a couple of decades.
For another example, we know that even believing the official inflation rate, your pension will be worthless in 20 years.
As for the infinite oil idea, need I say anything?
To me, the most important question is: how come some people are immune to propaganda, mass formation and peer pressure? What is their secret?
I have some thoughts on that but I will never share them since those questions are very important to the psychopaths in charge – so they can remove us.
Childhood psychological trauma that is survived through via mental defiance seems to be helpful. Some pressure needs to be applied to a developing mind that is contrary to reality, this pressure must not be so great as to break the psyche of the child but must be harsh enough that the immunity to utter BS is lifelong……sort of a vaccination if you will (of the old school non mRNA kind)
Perhaps proper instruction of the nurturing kind can affect this also, but this has not been observable to my eyes.
IMO.
Cuz they are not circus or barnyard animals (classifications of MOREONS).
I dont think I’m Immune or have super powers, but I did stop exposing myself to mainstream advertising over a decade ago.
We stopped using television over 20 years ago. And the music I listen to in the car is without ads. So my exposure to mainstream advertising is low. I do see the ads along the side of some posts I look at.
There are next to no billboards here… and I listen to books in the car + have no TV so my exposure is almost 0.
Unfortunately I have mentioned Super Snatch numerous times on OFW and the Google monitoring network has registered that and I keep getting banners following me depicting a fat Old Hag in panties Out Back of a Dumpster inviting me to book an online session. Christ Almighty this is horrible. I must engage an ad blocker