Stop the Idiocracy: April 2022

Thursday, April 28, 2022

‘We’re all going to die someday.’ Russian media prepares their citizens for nuclear holocaust, as their military wages a holocaust on the ground in Ukraine

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Two of Russia’s leading propagandists - talk show host Vladimir Solovyov, and the head of state outlet RT, Margarita Simonyan, make a hard sell for nuclear warfare to the orcs - Yours truly will not lie or sugarcoat, I’m seriously concerned humanity’s days on this planet are exceedingly short. The two great powers of the 20th Century are coming undone in the 21st Century, and are going to take the rest of the world down with them. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe in three or four years, but the prognosis for the future is that there is no future. And there is no reasoning with this level of extreme venom and hatred. A chilling excerpt from Newsweek, April 27 -

On Tuesday night's show, The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, host Vladimir Solovyov, accompanied by Simonyan, said that in order to stop other countries from intervening in Russia's war with Ukraine, a nuclear war would have to be a possibility.
"Personally, I think that the most realistic way is the way of World War III, based on knowing us and our leader, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin," Simonyan said according to The Daily Beast, "knowing how everything works around here, it's impossible — there is no chance — that we will give up."
Simonyan continued, saying, "Everything will end with a nuclear strike is more probable than the other outcome. This is to my horror, on one hand, but on the other hand, with the understanding that it is what it is."
Vladimir Solovyov added, "But we will go to heaven, while they will simply croak."
"We're all going to die someday," Simonyan said to the audience. (Read more)

Russia launches missile strikes on Kyiv as the UN Secretary General visits the city; President Biden calls for $33 billion more in Ukrainian aid - Another strong indication that Putin considers himself and Russia to be at war with the entire Western world, and is going for broke. President Biden and his administration are doing what they can, but are doing so in the face of a hostile American public who wants nothing to do with Ukraine’s plight, and an opposition party more loyal to Putin than to the United States. The way things are going - and barring nuclear holocaust before then - #Murica is going to devolve into a complete Fascist dictatorship by 2025, and American forces wlll be helping Putin drop bombs on innocent Ukrainians instead of trying to help them; assuming this war is still raging then, and that is not outside the realm of possibility. (Reuters 4/28)

[VIDEO] Russian dissidents fleeing in considerable numbers to the country of Georgia - Georgia, the homeland of Stalin, and apparently now a beacon of liberty. At least for these (mostly young) folks. (France 24 4/28)

Russia about to experience its worst oil crash in three decades, while their soldiers are killing themselves; Shanghai about to implode over COVID lockdown, and a scary climate change projection

stock photo/The Statesman

Russia estimates its oil output could fall as much as 17% - Quote: ‘If the full-year 2022 estimates come true, that would mark the lowest volume of output since 2003, when Russia pumped 421 million tonnes. It would also mark the worst crash in more than 30 years.’ (Yahoo! Finance 4/27)

[VIDEO] Why do Russians kill themselves and blame Ukraine? Another in a long line of Russian fails - The Russian military and its leaders are inept and are self-destructing. Praise God for that. (UATV 4/27)

Jin Liwang/Xinhua/AP

Shanghai COVID lockdown may soon come to an end, pending testing, while Beijing braces for its own lockdown - All those in #Murica still screaming about how their civil liberties were violated during the first phases of the pandemic, should remember that we were still allowed to leave our homes for essential needs. In China, authorities are just locking everyone in, and not allowing them out for any reason. Nor providing them with basic needs. (AP 4/28)

Sky News

Thousands of new virus transmissions from bats projected due to climate change - Scary stuff. Quote: ‘Scientists expect 15,000 transmissions of viruses between different species by 2070, mostly driven by bats moving to new areas in a hotter world.’ (Sky News 4/28)

Wikipedia

German composer, electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze dies at 74 - His 1976 album Moondawn is highly recommended. May Klaus Schulze rest in peace. (The Guardian 4/27)

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

CDC: Nearly 60 percent of Americans have been infected with COVID-19. Plus, Rand Paul is an idiot and traitor

CNN

CDC: Nearly 60 percent of Americans have been infected with COVID-19 - Remember when people cared about trying to stop this thing? Really wasn’t that long ago. What I feel we are witnessing in the United States right now is that most people are just giving up. On most everything. (Boston Globe 4/26)

Al Drago/Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul, while questioning the Secretary of States, declares that Ukraine historically belongs to Russia; blames NATO for the actions of Putin - By this logic, the Southwestern U.S. should be returned to Mexico, but I don’t imagine the Senator would be in favor of that. Would he? And why would anyone elect or listen to this idiot and traitor? (Business Insider 4/26)

Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik/Kremlin/AP

Russia suspends natural gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria after they refuse to accede to Putin’s demands they pay in worthless rubles - Poland has also announced they will be selling weaponry to the Ukrainians, while Bulgaria was a Russian ally until recently when a new Western-friendly government was elected. Thankfully, both countries apparently have been anticipating this move and are prepared. Putin - never a ‘good man,’ but once a rational actor at least - continues his descent into pure madness and irrationality. Assuming Putin doesn’t plunge the world into nuclear armageddon, what is going to become of Russia? I don’t see them ever redeeming themselves the way the Germans and Japanese did after World War II. Generalizing, but the Russian people just do not possess the character traits those cultures needed to rebuild and restore. They just don’t. (AP 4/26)

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The most common variety of Russian war crimes, North Korea takes being a hermit kingdom to another level, and Elon Musk buys Twitter

Omar Marques/Getty Images

Rape: The war crime that goes mostly unpunished - Russian men are nearly all brutes, rarely to be trusted. Make no mistake, rape is a deliberate tactic and is sanctioned by the Kremlin itself. It is hardly the first time in history Russians have used rape as a weapon, nor are they the only nation that has done so to its enemies. Obviously, for the women of Ukraine. Quote: ‘What’s happening in Ukraine is one of the worst large-scale campaigns of sexual violence in war since Islamic State’s attacks on the Yezidi minority in Iraq in 2014.’ (Ruth Pollard, Bloomberg 4/19)

North Korea remains one of only two countries on earth not to have administered COVID-19 vaccines - The hermit kingdom was offered millions of doses by the UN and China, and turned them down. Information concerning current conditions there is spotty, but none of what is known or highly suspected is good. The small African nation of Eritrea is the only other country not to have administered vaccines to citizens. (Washington Post 4/24)

Getty Images/BBC

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion - As of right now, I’m not terribly concerned about this and am not leaving Twitter, but I’ll be among the many watching this guy like a hawk. ‘Free speech’ is fine, but he’d be well-advised not to give any more openings to liars, disinfo agents, and those engaging in hate speech. Yes, ‘hate speech,’ just as with ‘free speech,’ can be wrongly defined in a lot of ways; but blatant and open racism is really not at all hard to detect. Same goes for sedition. (BBC 4/26)

Andriy Khlyvnyuk/Pink Floyd

Hey Hey Rise Up - Dozed off sometime around 9 p.m. on Monday night, and woke up just before 11 p.m. out of a nightmare - that my neighborhood just outside of Boston was bombed. I do not have vivid, lifelike dreams too often, but they do happen and this one was a bit too much. I woke up sweating, and my head is still pounding as I write this (just after Midnight on Tuesday morning.) I have had visions of calamity come upon me in the past, and they are always physically and mentally exhausting. And, at those moments, I have to remind myself that it’s nothing next to the destruction we are seeing overseas. For the people of Ukraine, the nightmare is their daily reality. Please pray for the Ukrainian people. And continue to stream and download ‘Hey Hey Rise Up,’ as all proceeds go to relief efforts. Every click is meaningful, and may even save a life or two. Слава Україні

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Macron wins French presidential election in an apparent landslide

Christophe Ena/AP

Emmanuel Macron easily reelected in France, turning back far-right populist Marine Le Pen - Approximately 58%. That is a decisive win, far larger than anyone seemed to expect. If forced to choose between these two, #Murica would probably have elected the Fascist bitch. Vive le France, at least somewhere in the world sanity still prevails. (AP 4/24)

Former Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch dies at 88 - The man was a fairly visible figure during his many years on Capitol Hill. The longest-serving Republican ever in the upper chamber. He had quirks, but was not a total nutjob like the sorry bunch up there now. Remember, it was Orrin Hatch’s retirement that led to Mitt Romney winning the seat. Thus becoming a major thorn in Trump’s side. (AP 4/24)

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Rest in Peace, Guy Lafleur - Montreal Canadiens great dies at age 70. (TSN 4/22)

Miguel Cabrera makes history, becoming only the 33rd player in all of Major League Baseball history to reach 3,000 career hits, and only the seventh to reach that milestone with more than 500 home runs (ESPN 4/23)

Putin moves ever closer to unleashing nuclear armageddon, his mercenaries are framing the French for the killings of innocent Africans, a new Ebola outbreak, and more

Jim Sugar/Getty Images

Today, April 24, is the Orthodox faith's Easter Sunday - Just as they celebrate Christmas nearly two weeks after the rest of Christendom, so it is here. May this Easter be filled with Russian blood flowing through the landscapes of Ukraine. Слава Україні. (ABC Australia 4/15)

Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters

‘Russia said on Saturday it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn’ - Putin has warned Western nations that any outside attempts to stop his brutality ‘will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history.’ Does he actually *want* nuclear armageddon, and to bring down the rest of the world alongside his God-forsaken country? The safe bet would be to rule it a likelihood, and yours truly wishes he could be more optimistic. (Reuters 4/23)

(VIDEO) A very interesting piece on the founding of Kyiv, which took place long before the founding of Moscow. (UATV English 4/24)

Russian mercenaries, employed by a firm known as the Wagner Group, are burying dead bodies near an army base in the African nation of Mali as part of a PsyOp to smear France - A prime example of how the Russians continually fool conspiracy theorists, nationalist populists, hard leftists, and all predisposed to their anti-Western propaganda. Actual people are slaughtered, lives sacrificed, sometimes for no other purpose than information warfare. Pioneering and utilizing ever-evolving technological and psychological tactics - or committing old-fashioned, pure genocide - and always denying, deflecting, and accusing their enemies of that which they are guilty of. The scariest part is their gaslighting works all too well. It works because it exploits all of humanity’s inherent flaws, our tendency toward willful ignorance and confirmation bias. All the information to debunk all of Russia’s lies are easily accessible via this little thing we call the Internet, but millions (billions?) of marks who have bought in are not going to let go of their delusions and mistaken beliefs without tremendous struggle. Logic, reason, and facts have nothing to do with their collective mindset. The average German of Nazi times wasn’t broken of their brainwashing by persuasion, but only through epic, global bloodshed. Even if only secretly, many of those who lived continued to harbor Nazi sentiments long after the war ended and the Nazi state was dismantled. Very few people ever feel any contrition for anything they do or for anything they feel. Innocent victims in places like Mali, Syria, and Ukraine are dying from Russian aggression. Millions more will continue to die, and the millions around the world who justify their actions will continue to do so until they themselves become Putin’s prey. (France 24 4/22)

Jerome Delay/AP

New Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - America really dodged a bullet back in 2014, when infected citizens brought the plague into the country but were contained quickly. Had Ebola spread widely, it would have made the last two years of COVID-19 look like a common cold. (Sky News 4/24)

Friday, April 22, 2022

Reviewing Daniel Pipes’ piece in The Dispatch - ‘It’s past time for “conservatives” to reject conspiracy theories’ (emphasis on “conservatives’ mine)

Via Sutori.com

DANIEL PIPES - It's past time for conservatives to reject conspiracy theories (The Dispatch 4/22)

‘Trump won,’ the vaccines are unsafe, and Putin is a good guy saving the Ukrainian people from ‘Nazis’ and American bioweapon plants. A significant portion of #Murica now believes these things to be true, and good luck changing their minds. They believe these things because they are angry at all they see around them, they feel compelled to seek protection, and are already predisposed, by human nature, to be disdainful of diversity and the rights of those outside their given tribe. Daniel Pipes accurately defines what has gone wrong with the American right-wing, but his final paragraph would seem to imply, to me at least, that he remains devoted to restoring the ‘conservative’ movement and saving the GOP. Both are utterly lost causes, and the answer to our ills does not lie in any ideological movement. For zealous dedication to ideology is what got us here, and always leads to chaos, tyranny, and destruction. Every single time and in every single place, in all of human history. Mankind repeats the same mistakes over and over, and what the old-fashioned Reagan conservative lot (of which, perhaps, I could be said to be part of, or at least have some affinity for) is learning that America is an not exceptional, ‘shining city on a hill,’ no matter how badly Mr. Reagan and millions of others wanted to believe it so. Excerpt -

The U.S. bioweapons conspiracy theory is more unlikely and outlandish than those about the election and vaccines; those, at least, fit a yearning and a fear, respectively. How did so many conservatives come to believe Russian propaganda? Because Vladimir Putin’s “anti-woke” views on gender issues, his appeal to “Christian values,” and his aura of strength won him a Republican following that often overlooked his brutal, tyrannical, and bellicose 22-year rule. Pat Buchanan, for example, called him a “stalwart defender of traditional values.” While some of his admirers acknowledged their mistake after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, a significant minority made excuses for him by blaming Ukraine and the United States. Putin’s government and media, echoed by his Chinese counterparts, provided these conservatives with a favorite argument: that the U.S. government ran 26 secret (and illegal) bioweapon laboratories in Ukraine that threaten Russia’s security.
This conspiracy theory built on the careless wording in congressional testimony given by Victoria Nuland, a State Department representative, that Putinists then transformed into an American plot. In the words of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Nuland revealed “that the Russian disinformation [the Biden administration has] been telling us for days is a lie and a conspiracy theory and crazy and immoral to believe is, in fact, totally and completely true.” This argument then took off with the #USbiolabs hashtag; in a typical post, one tweeter said the Pentagon is filled with “the most evil and corrupt people.”
Some reflections: All three conspiracy theories share an alienation contrary to the “city on a hill” ethos of the modern American conservative movement. Reversing historic patterns, Democrats now call for obedience to authority, be it court rulings about election results or Anthony Fauci’s COVID-19 dicta, while mainstream Republicans itch to defy the government. In another reversal, liberals are more patriotic about America’s role in defending Ukraine.
In contrast to most conspiracy theories, the current ones do not focus (with some exceptions) on Jews or secret society members. Oddly, they blame election shenanigans not on prominent figures such as President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, but rather on obscure, mostly unnamed, election officials in far-flung locations. They attribute dangerous vaccines not to malign scientists, greedy corporations, or power-hungry politicians, but to a vague mentality of scientific hubris. They attribute bioweapons to an obscure entity within the Pentagon, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
The three conspiracy theories also differ from each other. A single individual, Donald Trump, conjured up the “stolen election” claim, but vaccine skepticism developed organically, while the bioweapons scheme derived from Russian media. Only Republicans believe the first; the latter two have adherents across the political spectrum. If election fraud is a narrowly American issue, vaccine skepticism has a global reach (think of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro), and bioweapons primarily concern Russia. (Read more)

Trump using his lackeys to jockey for 2024 positioning, while the House Minority Leader is caught on tape saying that he would ask Trump to resign and that Trump acknowledged ‘some responsibility’ for January 6

Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock

NEW YORK TIMES - McCarthy said Trump acknowledged ‘some responsibility’ for Jan. 6: New audio captures what Representative Kevin McCarthy said to Republicans shortly after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

I do not believe for a second that Trump, even privately, has ever taken responsibility for his obvious, central role in inciting these yahoos to sedition. Kevin McCarthy was likely speaking out of his ass on these tapes, making up a story on the fly that he figured would placate nervous Republicans in the immediate wake of the Capitol Hill riot. God help us if this inept, two-faced slimebag becomes Speaker of the House. McCarthy, in the heat of the moment, may or may not have asked Trump to resign, but there was little point to that as only days remained in Trump’s term. Since then, however, Kevin McCarthy and the majority of House GOP have done nothing but obstruct any efforts to hold Trump and his various cronies and sycophants accountable, while the party becomes more overtly Fascist in their policy and rhetoric. Excerpt -

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, told G.O.P. lawmakers in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that former President Donald J. Trump acknowledged that he bore “some responsibility” for what happened that day, new audio revealed.
The audio obtained by The New York Times that emerged on Friday is part of a series of new revelations about Republican leaders’ private condemnations of Mr. Trump in the days after his supporters stormed the Capitol as part of an effort to stop the certification of electoral votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“Let me be very clear to all of you, and I have been very clear to the president: he bears responsibilities for his words and actions,” Mr. McCarthy said on the call, which took place on Jan. 11. “No if, ands or buts.”
“I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened?” Mr. McCarthy said. “Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he’d need to acknowledge that.”
Mr. McCarthy’s assertion is at odds with the former president’s refusal, then and now, to accept responsibility for the deadly attack. It illustrates the vast gulf between the private, derisive tone Republican leaders use about the former president and their public flattery of the de facto leader of their party.
Mr. Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. McCarthy was asked in a news conference earlier this year about the call with House Republicans after the attack. He sidestepped the question: “I’m not sure what call you’re talking about.”
The New York Times on Thursday reported that Mr. McCarthy told Republicans he planned to urge Mr. Trump to resign. The reporting is based on the upcoming book “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future.”
Mr. McCarthy disputed that reporting, but in an audio clip obtained by The Times of a different phone call with Republican lawmakers, Mr. McCarthy said he would tell Mr. Trump of the impeachment resolution: “I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign.” (Read more)

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Jenna Ellis speaks out against DeSantis’ war on Mickey Mouse, offers to defend Disney in court - When even a shameless grifter, and certified cultist thinks you’ve gone too far and there is no benefit to be had, that says something. Likely, it says she is a Trump loyalist, and perhaps Trump is realizing this culture war nonsense may ultimately backfire badly on the GOP. More to the point, he is seeking to neuter any internal opposition prior to 2024, and DeSantis has been making a lot of noise of late. These Republicans are going so far off the deep end that Trump may appear as a relatively reasonable alternative to those on the fence in two years. Which may be how he is going to position himself between now and then, seeing as this is not a sane society and he is not going to prison as he would be if this were a sane place. (Newsweek 4/22)

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Assessing Germany and France’s role in the ‘historical failure’ of appeasing Vladimir Putin for two decades. Plus, two incidents that speak to how depraved American society is becoming

AP/Kremlin

Did Germany and France turn a ‘blind eye’ to the threat posed by Vladimir Putin? - In my estimation, all of us have been underestimating this tyrant for the past twenty-two years. Either out of naivety or cowardice, nobody in a position to do so has ever stood up to this bully, and that very much includes the United States and the administrations that preceded the current one. Nonetheless, Germany and France are being singled out by some as bearing a greater share of responsibility. Excerpt: ‘In hindsight, “it is hard to know whether a membership plan for Ukraine would have been enough to dissuade Putin”, said Laure Delcour, an expert in EU-Russia relations at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. “NATO membership is a very long process and it is quite possible that Ukraine would still not be a member as we speak,” she told FRANCE 24. “One can also imagine that Putin would have moved faster to thwart Ukraine’s admission.” “Move fast” is precisely what Putin did just four months after the Bucharest summit, sending his tanks into Georgia in support of pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He repeated the trick six years later in Ukraine’s Donbas region, going one step further with the annexation of Crimea. Each of Putin’s incursions met an ambivalent response from European leaders, alternating between heated rhetoric and sanctions, at first, and attempts at détente, soon after. With Ukraine now in the throes of a catastrophic war, those leaders stand accused of emboldening the Russian president and being blind to his imperialist ambitions. “Europe didn’t go wrong, Germany and France did,” said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, vice-president of the German Marshall Fund and head of its Berlin office, in an interview with FRANCE 24. “France and Germany tend to speak for the rest of Europe. But these miss-assessments were made in Paris and Berlin, not elsewhere. Eastern Europe didn’t go wrong, northern Europe didn’t go wrong,” he added. Kleine-Brockhoff said the war in Ukraine called for an urgent reappraisal of German and French policy vis-à-vis Russia. He added: “Not only is the post-Cold War order crumbling in front of our eyes, so are the strategies deployed by Germany and France.”’ (France 24 4/05)

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announces Germany will stop Russian oil imports by the end of the year (Sky News 4/20)

(VIDEO) Secret thoughts of Russian occupiers, via intercepted phone calls - Blanket statements about a group of people may be unfair and wrong, but something is seriously amiss with the psyche of the typical ethnic Russian.

Youth Football Online

Unruly, irrational, and violent parents leading to a nationwide shortage of referees for youth sports - So, in the past two years the American people have declared war on their health care professionals, teachers, youth sports officials, and who else are we missing here? (New York Times 4/21)

Texas: Beachgoers harass and try to ride stranded dolphin - A sick, violent, regressive, and incredibly stupid country. Unthinking, mindless cruelty is second-nature to the peasant. No creature of land, air, or sea is safe in a kakistocracy. (CBS News 4/15)

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Reviewing Jonathan Haidt’s vitally important article, ‘Why the past ten years of American life have been uniquely stupid.’ And speaking of ‘stupid,’ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis crosses another line of decency in the GOP moral crusade against Mickey Mouse

Jonathan Haidt - Why the past ten years of American life have been uniquely stupid (The Atlantic 4/11)

Pixabay

A long article that is worth the time and effort. Ideological conformity on the left and right is stupefying our institutions and overall society, while the voices of reason in the middle have been almost completely drowned out. Americans of all stripes better start arresting their totalitarian impulses, because we’re already far too down that rabbit hole. And when one is in a hole, the logical thing to do is to stop digging. Logic, however, doesn’t play much of a role in #Murica, and we may very well be f**ked. America’s collective stupidity is a matter of life and death. Everything from national security, to education, to health care, to infrastructure, and so forth is now in severe peril. And we are collapsing fast, as Jonathan Haidt makes clear in this excellent piece. A couple of excerpts -

The story of Babel is the best metaphor I have found for what happened to America in the 2010s, and for the fractured country we now inhabit. Something went terribly wrong, very suddenly. We are disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth. We are cut off from one another and from the past.
It’s been clear for quite a while now that red America and blue America are becoming like two different countries claiming the same territory, with two different versions of the Constitution, economics, and American history. But Babel is not a story about tribalism; it’s a story about the fragmentation of everything. It’s about the shattering of all that had seemed solid, the scattering of people who had been a community. It’s a metaphor for what is happening not only between red and blue, but within the left and within the right, as well as within universities, companies, professional associations, museums, and even families.
Babel is a metaphor for what some forms of social media have done to nearly all of the groups and institutions most important to the country’s future—and to us as a people. How did this happen? And what does it portend for American life?
***
American politics is getting ever more ridiculous and dysfunctional not because Americans are getting less intelligent. The problem is structural. Thanks to enhanced-virality social media, dissent is punished within many of our institutions, which means that bad ideas get elevated into official policy.
***
WE CAN NEVER return to the way things were in the pre-digital age. The norms, institutions, and forms of political participation that developed during the long era of mass communication are not going to work well now that technology has made everything so much faster and more multidirectional, and when bypassing professional gatekeepers is so easy. And yet American democracy is now operating outside the bounds of sustainability. If we do not make major changes soon, then our institutions, our political system, and our society may collapse during the next major war, pandemic, financial meltdown, or constitutional crisis. (Read more)

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes to strip Disney World of autonomy over its 27,000 acres - Exactly the actions of a textbook Fascist. DeSantis is out of control. Why are the GOP falling on their swords over this nonsense, anyway? The ‘don’t say gay’ bill is reasonable enough in of itself, as little kids do not need to be learning about sexual matters. What is not reasonable is the vitriol its proponents have displayed toward anybody - even one of their state’s biggest employers - who may have concerns. I’ve noticed a massive uptick in anti-gay rhetoric of late from the nationalist populists, and that is not accidental. If I were a gay man, or a lesbian, or otherwise on the LGBTQ spectrum, I’d be thinking about arming myself. Anybody opposed to these a**holes should be considering gun ownership. #JustSaying. (AP 4/19)

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Zelenskyy, CIA Director warn the world that Putin will use nukes, while Russia has plunged most of the world into recessionary conditions, and a COVID-inspired kidnapping plot is foiled in Germany

Desktop Nexus

Happy Easter to one and all. He is Risen!

CIA Director William Burns: U.S. cannot afford to take Russian nuclear threat lightly (Reuters 4/14)

President Zelenskyy warns Ukraine and the world must be prepared for Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons - Yes, nothing can be put past Putin. And if Putin does resort to such desperate and sickening tactics, then NATO is going to have to respond. At which time, Mother Russia becomes a war zone. Perhaps Putin’s ultimate goal is the destruction of all humanity, for he appears intent on achieving it. (CNN 4/15)

The IMF lowers its economic forecast for 143 countries as a direct result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - Putin is not only destroying Ukraine and has not only sealed his own country’s fate, he is wrecking the global economy. Obvious to anybody paying attention, except to the Russians, of course. And in #Murica, where anything that goes wrong is President Biden’s fault and, “golly gee, that Putin fella’ is a genius, just like Trump told us.” (The National 4/15)

Trump endorses nationalist populist J.D. Vance in Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary race (CBS News 4/15)

Jens Schlueter/AFP/Getty Images

German coronavirus protesters accused of plot to kidnap the health minister - The entire world really must be going crazy. Even in what is, today, the sanest country on earth, we still have echoes of their Nazi past and - albeit, to a lesser extent, for now - #Murica’s current reality. Only in Deutschland, I do not believe the courts will be foolish enough to acquit these individuals, as a Michigan court recently did in the case of two men charged with plotting to kidnap the governor. (Washington Post 4/14)

Friday, April 15, 2022

No ifs, ands, or buts: The GOP is the greater of ‘two evils’ and the biggest threat to America; and #Murica loves them for it

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/AP

For many reasons, America has always been more afraid of leftist nuttery than far-right wing nuttery. That may change in the not too distant future as demographics shift, but it remains true in 2022. ‘Conservative’ #Murica is more afraid and combative than it has been in generations. The far-right are larger in number than their counterparts. Hence, why I spend more time fighting the far-right than paying too much attention to the crazy left. Even as one who remains center-right and forever an independent, it is easy to see who is the bigger threat to my personal liberty and well-being. It is not hard to figure out who is trying to destroy Social Security. It is clear as day which side was stupid enough to put their faith in a failed real estate developer and sleazy tabloid fixture. It will be a very long time before the GOP faithful will live that down. Most telling, it is painfully obvious who is standing with the civilized world against Fascism and barbarism, and who is making excuses for Vladimir Putin, ginning up phony moral panics, and inciting sedition against a sitting president at the behest of a former president. I care nothing about the partisan make-up of Congress, I only wish for competent, serious, level-headed adults to be in office. ‘What a concept,’ right? Congress is a reflection of who ‘we the people’ are, and we will not have nearly enough grown-ups in charge again until ordinary individuals quit being such willfully and petulantly ignorant imbeciles. The side with the largest numbers, who are most loudly airing their grievances - but insist that a proven failure and corrupt orange a**hole is our only hope - are *really* not helping matters at this time. I have absolutely zero faith left in people or in this rotten nation.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Russia’s mightiest warship is sunk, while more of their atrocities in Ukraine are unearthed. Also, a rant on Elon Musk possibly buying Twitter, COVID on the rise again, baby formula becomes scarce in #Murica, and more

Reuters

Russia has been forced to admit the battleship Moskva was sunk in the Black Sea by Ukrainian missiles - A massive victory for Ukraine, another severe setback for the invaders. Moskva was not just another warship, it was the flagship of the Russian fleet. (The Guardian 4/14)

Genocidal fervor against Ukrainians has overtaken the Russian media, and increasingly the war of aggression is being portrayed as a war for Russia’s survival - Few in Russia appear to be rejecting Putin, as they must do. Instead, most have either chosen silence, or have embraced their leader’s bloodlust. (Washington Post 4/13)

‘The Russian soldiers forced more than 300 villagers into a school basement. Then, during weeks of stress and deprivation, some began to die.’ (AP 4/13)

Ukrainians arrive at the Mexico-U.S. border by the thousands, awaiting entry into the U.S. on humanitarian grounds - Thankfully, many volunteers are on hand to help. (NPR 4/13)

‘A Russian State Duma legislator and two aides have been charged in the United States with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions over an alleged international foreign influence and disinformation network to advance Russian interests.’ (Radio Free Europe 4/14)

FDA

‘The COVID-19 positivity rate in Massachusetts is now up to 3.42 percent as cases start to rise again’ - Two years ago, we were all alarmed with any increase in numbers. Now we’re ‘living with COVID,’ and living in a colder, darker world (and it wasn’t very nice beforehand.) These waves are going to continue to come and go, but I guess since #Murica is ‘done with COVID,’ it doesn’t matter how many die or become sick and, oftentimes, suffer long-term effects. (CBS Boston 4/13)

Reuters

Billionaire Elon Musk makes a bid to buy controlling interest in Twitter - No, I’m not likely to leave Twitter if this guy takes over, nor have I closely followed any of his exploits over the years. I will say that I am skeptical and suspicious of any and all ‘free speech’ absolutists. ‘Free speech’ to these people is always license to denigrate others and spread blatant disinformation and propaganda without consequence. In the wake of the Trump presidency, COVID, and now all the disinformation concerning the war in Ukraine, we cannot afford to tolerate that kind of ‘free speech’ any longer. It is also an absolute truism - across the board - that people do not want to hear others’ opinions, they only want to hear their opinions coming out of others’ mouths. Left or right, I’m having a hard time thinking of a single ‘free speech’ crusader who does not use ‘free speech’ as a means of controlling, intimidating, and silencing their opposition. In other words, all those who say ‘I’ll defend to the death your right to say it’ are full of s**t. (Independent.ie 4/14)

The clearest sign yet that Trump is running in 2024. The cowardly GOP withdraws from the ‘biased’ Commission on Presidential Debates - A cowardly move, but I’d gladly sacrifice presidential debates at this point. If we were a serious country with serious political parties, we’d be fixing our electoral process. Starting with greatly reducing the length of the campaign season. In every other first-world country, their presidential election cycles last for weeks, maybe a couple months at most; not the epic, drawn-out soap opera we have in #Murica. (Charles P. Pierce 4/14)

‘A red fox responsible for biting at least nine people on Capitol Hill tested positive for rabies.’ - Where was this creature on January 6, 2021? But what am I saying, of course the mob on hand that day were already rabid. (Web MD 4/07)

CBS News

U.S. baby formula shortage strains families, forces stores to ration - A recent massive formula recall (due to causing bacterial infections in some infants) exacerbates existing supply chain problems, and now mothers are having a more difficult time feeding their babies. Can we do anything competently or correctly in this country anymore? It feels like everything all around us is broken. (Washington Post 4/13)

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Putin and Lukashenko brazenly accuse British intelligence of the massacre in Bucha, and more thoughts on Putin apparently sticking with Trump to neuter the United States

Valeria Ferraro/ZUMA Press Wire/ТАСС

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, with Putin standing right beside him and fully approving, declares that British operatives were responsible for the massacre in Bucha - An obviously absurd allegation that is beyond the pale, but I suppose no less absurd than anything else their propagandists have already devised. Putin has a rabid audience of fans in the West who willingly spread every lie and distortion the troll farms in St. Petersburg and Moscow put out - and during this crisis are especially eager to engage in victim-blaming - why wouldn’t they lie about Bucha, and why wouldn’t they scapegoat the British? Tell any conspiracy theorist the British are responsible for any given crime or atrocity, and they immediately buy into it. A central, long-held tenet of most corners of the conspiracy industry is essentially that the British Empire never really went away, and British banks and interests control the planet. In league with the Jews, or something like that. Putin and Lukashenko are blatantly gaslighting everyone into believing an obvious lie, and they do it because it works. The most evil form of bullying there is, and Putin is getting away with it, just as he did with his lies about Syria, Georgia, Venezuela, the situation in his own country, Belarus, and everywhere else he has gotten his bloody hands on. (CNBC 4/12)

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor visits Bucha and declares ‘Ukraine is a crime scene’ (AFP 4/13)

Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images

Interesting that the Russians have certainly vetted any and all potential GOP candidates in 2024, and found them wanting as Putin appears to be adamant that Trump remains the only option (see my previous post - ‘Putin and the Moscow Establishment begins making move to restore Trump in 2024.’) Trump, or the Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard, the firm number two favorite of the Russians and the one they will line up behind if Trump does not or just cannot run again; understanding that her electability at the present time is almost zilch, but they will work hard to change that if need be. The Republicans may very well win control of Congress this year, but their long-term future is not bright if Trump remains the only viable choice to lead the party. That is, not without Mother Russia’s help, at least.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Putin and the Moscow Establishment begins making move to restore Trump in 2024, thoughts on Pink Floyd’s campaign for Ukraine, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ dumbassery, and more

Office of the Presidency of Ukraine

Putin’s top Ukrainian ally, oligarch/opposition party leader Viktor Medvedchuk, is captured by law enforcement - Disguised in an army uniform, Medvedchuk escaped house arrest just days after Russia began their war on aggression. Chalk this up as another big win for Ukraine. (CNBC 4/12)

Putin moving to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election, makes it clear he wants Trump returned to power - Excerpt: ‘American intelligence officials reportedly assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in U.S. elections. Though AP reported that “it is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use,” Russian state media seem to be in agreement that former U.S. President Donald Trump remains Moscow’s candidate of choice.’ They’re telling us exactly what they plan to do, yet just keep on screaming ‘fake news,’ by all means, #Cult45. We have a massive problem on our hands in #Murica, and that is millions no longer take Russia seriously as a threat and even sympathize with it and against our own leaders. While there are some possible signs out there that Trump is fading as a political figure, the fact is Putin and the Russians remain convinced he is their best option to unseat Biden and restore a Moscow-friendly regime in D.C. And I remain convinced that tens of millions of Americans would, and will, kill fellow Americans for the orange jackass, or at least in the larger cause of ‘owning the libs.’ Putin knows the United States is a ticking time bomb and its people want to rip each others’ throats out, and he will gleefully continue to exploit these divisions to his benefit as long as Americans allow him to. (Julia Davis 4/11)

Bob Vosseller/Jersey Shore Online

‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ is just an exceptionally lame and dumb way to announce to the world that one is proud to be dumb, don't try to enlighten them, and they will be belligerent little bitches for the rest of time because we took their orange hero away from the White House. As much as they claim to love this country, their brand of patriotism is cartoonish and completely insincere. Pure and simple, belligerence and hate is their way of life now, and nothing good is going to come of it. Not for us, but especially not for them.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan loses no confidence vote in legislature, must abdicate his office - Pakistan does what the United States - or its GOP senators - twice refused to do, and that is remove a corrupt and tyrannical leader from power. (Deutsche Welle 4/09)

Pink Floyd

#PinkFloyd #Ukraine Anybody who says David, Nick, and their friends - and most of all, Andriy Khlyvnyuk - are doing anything but the right thing are not acting in good faith. Millions of innocent Ukrainians are staring death in the face via the Russians. Some have even been abducted by Russian troops, possibly sent into the wilds of Siberia for no other crime than existing. Including children. Roger Waters gave an interview to Russia Today as recently as February, declaring that only idiots would believe that Putin would ever invade Ukraine. Then, on 2/24, Putin invaded Ukraine. Egg on Rogers Waters' face, and he is not needed at this time. 'Hey Hey, Rise Up' is perfect as is, and all give thanks to our leader in Floyd-dom, David Gilmour, for making it happen.

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, the first Western leader to do so since Putin began the war of aggression against Ukraine. Also, nationalism runs amok and Anglophones are an endangered species in Quebec, and a young NFL player dies a strange death

The ‘courage of a lion.’ Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, meets with President Zelenskyy and pledges ‘120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems’ to Ukraine - Tons of credit to British PM Johnson for stepping right into the middle of a war zone and sending a clear message to Putin. A great orator, and a friend to Ukraine. If only most of our ‘conservative’ party in the U.S. would show the same class and dignity, and not cast their lot with the enemy. (BBC News 4/09)

‘President Biden said on Friday that the United States would place a Patriot missile defense system in Slovakia after that country provided a Russian-made S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.’ (NPR 4/08)

Graham Hughes/Canadian Press

Nationalism runs amok in predominantly Francophone Quebec, Anglophone residents ‘angry like never before’ - Another reminder that, even in the most peaceful of lands, ethnically based populism and bigotry will always lead to oppression. Scapegoating unpopular minority groups and individuals is the exact point of nationalist populism, the quiet part (sometimes not so quiet) that its adherents inherently understand and are eager to carry out. Whether it is in Quebec, where Anglophones are being increasingly burdened with laws and regulations restricting their language and lifestyle; or among the majority of Russians who are propping up the world’s most evil tyrant as he slaughters their cousins in Ukraine; or with the vast hordes of nationalist populists in #Murica, particularly in the southern states that for centuries have been a bastion of hate, poverty, and despair (in spite of the best efforts of its best people to change this); or in any given tinpot dictatorship at any given time in history. Racial and ethnic populism will always lead to bloodshed, and it will come to that in Quebec if the Francophone political establishment continues to make life as hard as possible for the Anglophone minority. Indeed, these Francophones live in a mostly English-speaking country, and are bordered to the south by an English-speaking country. If anybody should have to ‘adapt,’ it is the Francophones, but the best solution for all parties, of course, has always been bilingualism. People, wherever they are in the world, should make efforts to learn a second or third language. (I am trying myself with German and, to a lesser extent, French, but I am also 44 and do not retain new information well. In my school days, I studied Spanish but simply did not take it seriously at that time.) No matter, Quebec’s Francophones appear determined to eliminate any trace of the English language in their little enclave, and Quebec will be poorer for it. (André Pratte, National Post 4/09)

I care nothing about any left-wing organizations calling themselves 'Antifa,' but I am 100% and more against Fascism. Fascism is death. Cease and desist in this march toward eternal darkness, Republican Party and every single one of your supporters.

Pittsburgh Steelers, former Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins is killed by a dump truck while attempting to walk alongside a Florida highway - Condolences to the man’s family, friends, and fans. But what the hell was he doing walking on a highway? (ESPN 4/09)