Home » Open thread 12/10/22

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Open thread 12/10/22 — 90 Comments

  1. This morning on the CNN website there’s a story on Deion Sanders taking over the head coach job at Univ. of Colorado. As an alum, I’m happy with the change. The interesting part of the CNN story is that, in a subtle way, it suggests Sanders is somewhat of an Uncle Tom. The actual quote is: “with some calling Sanders a “sell out” for leaving the historically Black JSU for the predominantly white CU.”

    Just interesting, but not surprising to me, to see some more examples in the last two days (Sinema and Sanders) of the reaction of the left to anyone straying from their prescribed roles. No wonder there is such tight discipline among the followers of the religion. They fully intend to make any apostate’s life hell.

  2. Kate, that doesn’t surprise me. From what I’ve read, there’s more and more evidence that the vaxes are not really effective at all especially for post-alpha variants, and are actually more lethal especially to the under 45 age group due to myocarditis etc. I wish I could add more, but I don’t delve into that level of detail in any of my data which is more top level cases, and deaths overall. Digging into vax status is tough to do.

    In hindsight, I wish I had never gotten the initial jab and the second booster. I will never get any other boosters. But of course, none of the effects of the vax were really known in early 2021. Just that this was not a traditional vax but “new technology” of mRNA. Should have been a red flag.

  3. Why would anyone believe any govt claims re: science? Or anything for that matter?

    Covid has been the worst. Pretty much every claim made by the establishment has turned out to be wrong. Most were outright lies.

  4. Physicsguy, we both got the original series in early 2021. We’re in our seventies and we thought it was a good decision, given the early variants and the lack of good treatment options. We still think it was a rational decision in the circumstances. We have declined any boosters, having followed reports on effectiveness and side effects, since we are in excellent health.

    What’s really sad about all this, besides suppression of data and discussion, is that I am sure all the vaccine scientists really thought that the mRNA route was going to be tremendously successful, the new and better way to make vaccines. The shots’ side effects, much higher than other vaccines, and their failure to provide immunity are very disappointing. I wish it had worked.

  5. 1. CU maybe “White”, but the Football team isn’t. And Physicsguy, I am an alumni of CSU.
    2. My Wife and I both in our mid 70’s (God that sounds so old!) got the shots early too, Moderna, and the Booster. We needed to get them to travel overseas. Still need to show the Cards when we travel. But, no more Boosters for us.
    3. Weather forecast is for a big Storm headed to the US. Will they be right or is it just another weatherman story.

  6. Weather warnings for the snowstorm are in the northern plains. Depending on where you are, Shirehome, you might be only on the fringe of it.

    The headlines on Deion Sanders should be about how an outstanding black football player turned into a successful football coach who just landed a big job at a major university. They should celebrate, not criticize.

  7. Freaky gettin’ freakier…
    (For anyone thinking this kind of behavior was merely “transitory”, or for that matter, hugely cute ‘n colorful, the most honest—and I’m dead serious about this—member of the “Biden” regime does it again….)
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sam-brinton-nonbinary-biden-official-stole-jewelry-worth-1700-second-luggage-theft-police
    “Sam Brinton, nonbinary Biden official, stole jewelry worth $1,700 in second luggage theft: police”—
    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/sam-brinton-a-fraud-our-media-helped-create/
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/12/09/gop-jump-on-biden-official-sam-brintons-2nd-theft-allegation-blames-wokeness/
    https://instapundit.com/558216/

  8. physicsguy; Kate:

    The risk of post-vaccine myocarditis is low even for the age group of young men that is the most vulnerable, but in that age group the risk of death from COVID is also very very low. However, the risk of myocarditis for those who do get COVID is higher than the risk of myocarditis from getting the vaccine. You can find one example of the research about this described here. And most bona fide research is consistent with those findings as well. That’s why there are warnings about that particular age group getting vaccinated.

    Of course, there are plenty of people who don’t believe research at this point. I am not one of those people, although I am skeptical of research that is poorly done. I have found that those who debunk research on blogs like Healthy Skeptic, a popular site, have little to no understanding of statistics and human research or distort the findings for their own agenda, and so are either ignorant or purposely misleading.

    It is very discouraging to see it. Anyone who has read this blog regularly knows that I have crunched numbers from the start and been calling out the CDC on its own misleading statements, but most of the counter-statements I’ve seen have also been misleading. And yet plenty of people on this blog and others are more likely to believe the latter; I really don’t know why.

  9. Kate; physicsguy; stan:

    And that Powerline article Kate linked, which links to Healthy Skeptic, is a good example of the kind of stuff I’m talking about. Hinderaker is a smart guy and good at law, but I don’t think he understands statistics about human subjects and disease. The data doesn’t mean what the Healthy Skeptic author seems to think it means. I could write a lot about it, but the summary version is the following.

    To actually know the effects of vaccines on COVID hospitalization and death rates you must match groups of vaccinated and un-vaccinated very very carefully. The groups are different in many many ways even before vaccination.

    A general category like “people over 65” for matching simply will not do at all, because the vaccinated and the un-vaccinated individuals over 65 are not the same in many other respects. For example, because the extremely elderly tend to be sicker already than the somewhat elderly, and therefore more vulnerable to begin with, they are far more likely to have been vaccinated than the elderly who are basically well. And even those who are closer to 65 and are not in that extremely elderly group are more likely to be vaccinated the more pre-existing co-morbidities they have. And the older a person is in that over-65 group, the more likely they are to be vaccinated. So the more elderly and the sicker pre-vaccine the person is, the more likely that person is to be vaccinated. And also the vaccination rates are probably very different in the 65-70 group compared to, say, the over-85 group. The un-vaccinated over-65 group is probably significantly younger and healthier to begin with, or they wouldn’t be un-vaccinated in the first place. It’s almost certain the un-vaccinated don’t reside in nursing homes, either, and are therefore generally much less susceptible to dying either of COVID or in particular with COVID than the vaccinated group. Don’t forget the importance of that with COVID statistic, especially prevalent in the very very old with pre-existing conditions, including the nursing home group which is virtually 100% vaccinated.

    So the chart at Healthy Skeptic about that age group doesn’t prove what they think it proves. The data there actually is quite impressive for the protectiveness of the vaccine for the most part in preventing serious illness and death in the elderly (the population under discussion), if you take into account the differences I’ve just listed.

  10. There were rumors locally that he was going to replace Flickell at Cincinnati. If so, I couldn’t see him staying any longer than Flickell did, assuming success.

  11. Sorry, Neo your response is full of unsubstantiated speculation. As an example,
    “ For example, because the extremely elderly tend to be sicker already than the somewhat elderly, and therefore more vulnerable to begin with, they are far more likely to have been vaccinated than the elderly who are basically well.”
    This is speculation unless you can cite a reference of a well done study that shows this statistical difference. Unless you can, you should not cast aspersions of other websites like the healthyskeptic.

    What we do know is that the Covid vaccines were the first example of an mRNA vaccine being used in medical practice. As a reference here’s this puff piece from Johns Hopkins that admits this

    https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/the-long-history-of-mrna-vaccines
    “ Messenger RNA, or mRNA, was discovered in the early 1960s; research into how mRNA could be delivered into cells was developed in the 1970s. So, why did it take until the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 for the first mRNA vaccine to be brought to market? ”

    We also know that the whole Covid issue is extremely politicized. I won’t give a reference to that but I can provide one if you wish.

    I think the issue deserves more skepticism than you have given it in your argument.

  12. SHIREHOME, I’m also a CSU alum. 🙂 BA CU, MS CSU.

    That incoming Pacific storm looks real. Just depends on the track of the low. As you know, if it’s more south then upslope snow for the front range, north not so much. No matter what it will end up in New England…..another reason I got out of there. 🙂

  13. Bob Wilson:

    From the start of the vaccination program, the elderly and the vulnerable with pre-existing conditions have had higher vaccination rates than the general population. And from the start, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions have been more vulnerable to dying of COVID and particularly to dying with COVID. This confounds the statistics, including the ones at Healthy Skeptic, but the author there doesn’t even discuss it, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

    I have been crunching numbers quite carefully from the start and am not naive about any of this, but I find that many people who write about it are naive.

    I’m not going to write a book about COVID every time I discuss it.

  14. We have very bad data and little incentive to get do better ones it appears

    Why was this strain isolated and ‘studied’ in a low security lab why does it have odd cleavages

  15. The data from netherlands uk israel is not encouraging of course sweden took thr best course all through out.

  16. The data from netherlands uk israel is not encouraging of course sweden took thr best course all through out.

    The Netherlands is doing better than any other occidental country at this point. There have been 3,000 deaths recorded in the last 12 months. An equivalent sum in the United States would be 56,000 deaths. Note that the mean annual death toll from seasonal flu in the U.S. during the period running from 2013 to 2019 was shy of 35,000 a year. The ailment in the Netherlands is approaching the status of low grade endemic problem. (NB, there were 15,800 deaths recorded in the Netherlands during the first 12 months of the pandemic).

  17. I actually met Debbie Reynolds around 1970 IIRC. I was flying a trip from LAX to ORD. In those days we left the cockpit door open, and passengers were free to look in or say hello. Debbie came in the cockpit and sat on the jump seat. She was very engaging and down to earth. (Her marriage to Eddie Fisher was over and she had remarried by then.) It’s a pleasant memory, and I hadn’t thought of it in some time. Thanks for jogging my memory.

    Her vignette about Fred Astaire reminds us all that those dance routines that looked so effortless were in fact the result of much hard work. Thanks for the reminder, Debbie. RIP.

  18. She was very engaging and down to earth. (Her marriage to Eddie Fisher was over and she had remarried by then.)

    Don’t doubt she was engaging. However, dame went through three sets of divorce proceedings. Her daughter was a mess for decades and died at age 60 with four different street drugs in her system. Maybe all just bad luck.

  19. Art Deco, I’m glad you have led an impeccable life.

    Yep, Debbie’s life was chaotic, and no doubt filled with a lot of angst, sorrow, and regrets. Yet, she was successful at entertaining us and putting smiles on our faces. And she worked very hard to do it. I thank her for that. I have empathy, not scorn, for anyone whose life was tragic in ways both big and small.

  20. Art Deco, I’m glad you have led an impeccable life.

    I neither stated nor implied that. Thanks for the red herring.

    I have empathy, not scorn, for anyone whose life was tragic in ways both big and small.

    The question is not whether empathy or scorn is appropriate. The question is whether or not you can call a person with that much mess in her life ‘down-to-Earth’. Well, in the oddest of circumstances, I suppose you can.

    I neither empathize with nor scorn Debbie Reynolds. I merely note that most women born in 1932 managed to get from one end of their life to the other without so many obtrusive problems. I can define the problems as random strikes or entertain the possibility she was an active agent in more than just putting smiles on people’s faces. As for her daughter, sorry, I seen that type up close and personal.

  21. Art Deco: “The question is whether or not you can call a person with that much mess in her life ‘down-to-Earth’.”

    By that, I hoped to convey that she didn’t come off as a celebrity doing the obligatory tip of the hat to the hired help. I’ve met other celebrities who seemed to feel they were doing a favor by chatting with the peons. Sorry I wasn’t able to convey that to you.

    I looked at Debbie’s list of movies. It’s quite a body of work. I was amazed to realize that I had seen almost all of them. And I’m not a big movie buff. She provided a lot of entertainment from the 1950s on through many years.

    I wonder how any child of a Hollywood celebrity manages to grow up somewhat normal. Some do, but it’s got to be a difficult experience to live that kind of life.

  22. Neo, I apologize for posting that item on your blog; I know it’s a subject on which you strongly disagree with me. I will avoid doing so in the future.

    (Late to reply; just back from a Tarheels basketball game, the first time in nearly three years we’ve been able to do this.)

  23. PhysicsGuy, I was at CSU from 1964 to 68, then Navy, back to CSU for MA in 1970. Both degrees in History. Don’t know if you are still in the area or if you have been back here in Boulder or Ft C in awhile. So much has changed. So many people. CSU campus has really changed.

  24. @ miguel > “So why did they want him out”

    Wayback would not let me read the full article without an account, but this part from the first page is very disturbing, given what we now know about our bureaucrats.

    November/December 2006

    Russian entrepreneur Viktor Bout has made millions as the world’s most efficient postman, able to deliver any kind of cargo—especially illicit weapons—anywhere in the world. How was he able to build his intricate underground network? By exploiting cracks in the anarchy of globalization.

    Bout’s customers are not exclusively corrupt Third-World leaders. He built his fortune by flying tons of legitimate cargo, too. These included countless trips for the United Nations into the same areas where he supplied the weapons that sparked the humanitarian crises in the first place. He’s done business with Western governments, including the United States. Over the past several years, the U.S. Treasury Department has tried to put Bout out of business by freezing his assets and imposing other sanctions on him, his business associates, and his companies.

    But the Pentagon and its contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan have simultaneously paid him millions of dollars to fly hundreds of missions in support of postwar reconstruction in both countries. In an age when the U.S. president has divided the world into those who are with the United States and those who are against it, Bout is both.

    It’s bad enough they are running their own shadow government, irrespective of the party leadership ostensibly in power; they could at least talk to each other, and run a coherent agenda.

  25. First for SHIREHOME: CU 1970-74, CSU 1974-76, then headed to UGA for PhD, and lived in CT for 45 years, now live in Florida. My brother still lives in Denver, so I’m there every year or so. Yes…big changes…Denver goes from a nice moderate sized city to Los Angeles along the Front Range. There used to be a nice stretch of farmland between Loveland and Ft Collins…now just one continuous city. Except for Moby Gym, I hardly recognize the CSU campus. I know things naturally change, but Colorado has a tendency to embrace the new and shiny at the expense of their history. I do have to give New England credit for preserving the old along with building new. I will never forgive Denver for tearing down wonderful architectural examples such as the Republic building and putting up some glass/metal monstrosity for example.

    For Neo: peer reviewed paper on myocarditis in vaxed people also just referenced from the FL Surgeon General:

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00392-022-02129-5

  26. Sunday morning open thread – Ukraine war, how predictable, for Banned and Brian E:

    Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure – does strategic bombing ever work? – Perun

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE6RINU8JLg

    Contrast Roosia attacks on infrastructure vs Ukrainian attack on Russian Army in Melitopol yesterday (est 200-300 Russian soldiers kia).

    Melitopol Headquarters Targetted — Possibly By TRLG-230 – Suchimus
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B76udl964es

  27. Where we’re at:
    ‘ Election integrity volunteers ‘afraid’ to attend recount after Michigan AG threatens prosecution;
    ‘Many of the volunteers, seeking to “scrutinize” Michigan’s election process in the aftermath of two controversial ballot proposals, melted away after Democratic AG warned of law enforcement response to possible “criminal acts.” ‘—
    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-integrity-volunteers-afraid-attend-recount-after-michigan-ag
    ‘ President’s…Son Plots Defamation Suits Against Fox News, Eric Trump And Rudy Giuliani ‘—
    https://blazingcatfur.ca/2022/12/11/presidents-drug-and-hooker-loving-son-plots-defamation-suits-against-fox-news-eric-trump-and-rudy-giuliani/

  28. Focus china killed 10 million people worldwide they own the President half the senate most of corporate america

  29. Off the going topics (which is frequent for me — can the helpful regular posters take a bow? [or is that a bow of SHAME with me?]) — but I missed this pre-mid term election news: audio that circulated in Dem circles showing that Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney apparently plotted to see to the removal of Trump, post J6 protests.

    Here’s the post up the an update via The National File. The Speakership quest by McCarthy is giving this incident a rehearing, it seems. https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4115527/posts

    Undoubtedly, this coheres with the Institutionalists in the Federal government, a case where the “opposition” party schemes with the permanent Deep State. We’re all together! As in it’s an important and big club, but if you aren’t tied to the Fed or married to its political interests, you’re Not In It.

    In other words, the GOP via the money bags of the US Chamber of Commerce. Cue up, for example, the libertarians Charles Koch and Koch Industries who opposed Trump’s border wall because cheap immigrant Labor secures their lowest costs — but what about the People? (A less well known libertarian Robert Mercer through his daughter Rebecca was very active with Trump’s first campaign, however — and apparently owns Breitbart.com).

    Nice to see the billionaires all well represented. As we saw in 2026, about 60 endorsed or gave money to criminal Hillary. But just three to Trump.

    But what about the People? (I have not seen similar stats showing what the case was in 2020.)

  30. physicsguy:

    I don’t know why you linked that particular study. It is well known that, in particular in the population of young men, there is a very small incidence of post-COVID-vaccine myocarditis that is usually but not always mild and self-limiting. It can in exceedingly rare instances led to death. One would imagine that an autopsy of all the people who died within a short time of receiving a COVID vaccine (a very small percentage to begin with of those receiving COVID vaccines, of course) would reveal that a certain percentage of them (in this case, apparently 16%) would have evidence of myocarditis.

    COVID itself causes myocarditis in a higher percentage of people who get it than the vaccine does, by the way.

    What I would like to see and haven’t yet seen is a study comparing the death rates of matched sets of people – and I mean MATCHED not just for age but for pre-existing conditions and other salient factors – who get COVID, who get the vaccine, and who get neither.

  31. Neo, the study you request is exactly what is needed..it may be years, if ever, before someone else can dig that data out. Such data would settle the question.

    By listing the study I did, I’m just trying to show that there seems to be a growing body of circumstantial evidence that these vaccines are not effective as advertised, and have a number of possible bad side effects.

    The one study I listed, of course, doesn’t settle anything by itself. I think there’s enough information coming out to greatly question the efficacy of the vaxes.

  32. Off the going topics (which is frequent for me — can the helpful regular posters take a bow? [or is that a bow of SHAME with me?]) — but I missed this pre-mid term election news: audio that circulated in Dem circles showing that Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney apparently plotted to see to the removal of Trump, post J6 protests.

    Here’s the post up the an update via The National File. The Speakership quest by McCarthy is giving this incident a retread, it seems.

    Undoubtedly, this coheres with the moneyed commitment R and D, L and R, to flush Trump from the threats to Globalist World fascist government, as revealed by Molly Ball in Time mag, late Feb 2021(?), as well as the Deep State (the Federal bureaucracy which is left and far left, and the IC which claims to speak for its interests as though it were like God’s and everyone’s.

    Apparently, this audio recording circulated among Dem circles in the run-up to mid term elections, EXCERPT::

    Flashback Audio: Kevin McCarthy Plotted with Liz Cheney to Get Rid of President Trump
    National File ^ | December 6, 2022 | FRANKIE STOCKES
    (Posted at FreeRepublic on 11/12/2022, 12:17:24 PM by SoConPubbie)

    Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney plotted with each other to compel the 45th President’s resignation.

    GOP establishment leader Kevin McCarthy plotted with Liz Cheney to force President Trump out of office by convincing him to resign. The conversation was captured in audio that was later leaked to reporters from The New York Times, and now resurfaces as McCarthy faces massive conservative resistance to his speakership campaign.

    “Are you hearing that he might resign? Is there any reason to think that might happen?” Liz Cheney asked Kevin McCarthy in the audio recording, which came as uni-party politicians scrambled to make anti-Trump political hay out of the January 6th, 2021 demonstrations against election fraud and the certification of contested election results.

    “I’ve had a few discussions,” McCarthy replied. “My gut tells me no. I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight. I haven’t talked to him in a couple [of] days.”

    “From what I know of him, I mean you guys all know him too, do you think he’d ever back away?” McCarthy asked, as he plotted with Liz Cheney and others to push President Trump out of the Oval Office, and put the finishing touches on the steal of 2020.

    “The only discussions I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation [Trump] should resign,” McCarthy went on to say, adding that he also had to speak with the Democrats, and get some guidance from his uni-party colleagues.

    “I mean, that would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know,” said McCarthy in the flashback audio.

    https://nationalfile.com/flashback-audio-kevin-mccarthy-plotted-with-liz-cheney-to-get-rid-of-president-trump/

    Of course, FreeRepublic makes this nefarious — Nat journal, too. But if you are an institutionalust and just want to get back to the Uniparty duopoly — unthreatened before Trump — and if you’re beholden to the propaganda media and it’s maintenance of manifold lies, what else would anyone do?

    I side against these useful idiots, soldiering on in behalf of our Ruling Class, because I clearly see them opposed to the Peoples’ interests and the need for genuine Rule By The People — and these idjits (HT, M. Twain) don’t.

  33. physicsguy:

    All vaccines have bad side effects. The data about increased myocarditis among young men after COVID shots came out quite some time ago and was even acknowledged by the CDC in a fairly timely manner. The question is whether the effect exists to any important degree in other age groups (it seems not to, at least as far as I can tell up to this point) and how serious it is even for that young male age group (usually mild, with serious cases very rare) versus their chances of dying from COVID.

    I don’t think we’ll ever see the kind of study I would like, because I don’t think they’ve kept that sort of data up to now, anyway.

    I have only seen anecdotal data about other side effects, or data based on the number of reports of post-COVID “events” to some sort of agency set up for that purpose (I forget the name of it). The trouble with the latter reports are that people call in to say something happened to them at any point after a COVID shot, but there’s absolutely no way to infer causation. Bad things happen to people all the time with or without COVID shots.

  34. Around the world (philosophically speaking) with Jordan Peterson.

    Article: Russia Vs. Ukraine Or Civil War In The West?

    This is Peterson reading an article he wrote for The Daily Wire, which is behind a paywall, so you can listen to him read it.

    Ostensibly it is his view on the Ukrainian war, but he links it to the decadence of the west and the peril the war may lead to a global disruption with untold consequences.

    This is a war for resources, but not in the way one would think. The globalist west needs to decapitate Putin (with the implied consequences of bringing Russia in alignment with the global environmentalist goals). The west is committed to throttling fossil fuel production and this must include Russia and other former Soviet satellite countries.

    The unintended (or intended?) consequences of a prolonged war will be potential global famine (Ukraine exports 20% of world grain supplies and Ukraine/Russia produce 30% of global fertilizer).

    But that is secondary to his central thesis, IMO. It is the decadence of the west that makes the west untrustworthy. Whether or not Putin believes Russia is the protector of Christianity as it collapses in the west, our inability to even define what makes a woman must be seen as insanity to the average Russian.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdHm2dmvKE

  35. once upon a time, I thought the lines were fast and loose with these characters like soghanalian, khashoggi, al kassar, the first supplied weapons to iraq, the second from beirut to bosnia, lent his french villa to a conference on chechnya that went pearshaped, the last served the plo, and himself, brokering weapons to the contras, but they were not notorious where they held court in the south of spain,

    now there should be a rule, when someone shows up representing them on behalf of the FARC, run because you are facing a trap,

  36. audio that circulated in Dem circles showing that Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney apparently plotted to see to the removal of Trump, post J6 protests.

    There was no plot delineated in that 101 second audiofile. Cheney asks a couple of questions. McCarthy has a meandering monologue in which he speculates about whether or not the House and the Senate will pass an impeachment motion and he tells her he’s leaning toward recommending the President resign (and expecting his recommendation will be rejected). There’s a vague reference to what the Democrats might do, quid pro quo, for Trump’s resignation.

    About the only thing the audiofile does is confirm something already established – that McCarthy and Cheney are congenial. It’s just that when Trump left office, McCarthy got off the train and Cheney stayed on and went plummeting into the ravine.

  37. they removed all doubt, because they couldn’t stop hyperventilating which doesn’t speak well of them, this served as a pretext for the ridiculous maginot incirclement of the Capital (yes the hunger games analogy is intended)

  38. Brain E:

    John Mearshimer? Otay. His views were roundly discussed here at least six months ago. But you persist.

    Occam’s Razor. Who initiated the Special Military Operation? Oh, the “West?”

    And pulling out an interview from 9 months ago? Otay again. That boat sailed in February 2022, as to who fired the first shot.

  39. Brain E:

    The old trope of a murdering ex KGB officer being at war with the wokeists and the decadent west. The decadent west is a staple in the stories of the Soviets and their successors the Roosians. Funny that the Roosians seek alliances and support from Iran, N. Korea, Xi to fight the decadent west. Gives you warm fuzzies?

    Are Poland, the Baltics, the Czecks, Slovaks, Finland, Sweden, nearly all of Europe except Hungary, and to some extent Turkey all the same “decadent west?”

    And as regards famine, who exactly tried, unsuccessfully, to shut down grain exports from Ukraine? IIRC it was Roosia. Was Roosia then working for the wokeists?

    Regarding oil, Roosia can export, but the EU has agreeed not to pay more than $60 per barrel. Good deal for China and India, they only have to pay $61 per barrel for Roosian oil. Not a good deal for Vlad.

  40. I would suggest you listen to Jordan Peterson. Or read his article at The Daily Wire (spend a buck and subscribe to The Daily Wire long enough to read it.)

    I don’t spend a lot of time listening to Peterson, but this is something that I’ve never heard from him before.

    This isn’t KGB propaganda. This is Peterson’s assessment of where the west is in its cultural decline, a rather stark condemnation.

    As to global famine, I must have misheard Peterson’s comment about the amount of graine Ukraine exports. It’s not 20%, but enough to seriously cause food shortages when coupled with potential rice shortages next year also.

    Fast forward to around 14:00 where he begins with Dostoevsky and proceeds to the insanity the west is embracing. We’re in that boiling pot of water and are unaware exactly how hot it is. Peterson sees the water at the boiling point.

    As to global famine, I must have misheard Peterson’s comment about the amount of graine Ukraine exports. It’s not 20%, but enough to seriously cause food shortages when coupled with potential rice shortages next year also.

    We need to keep this in mind, if we’re going to continue funding Ukraine’s war. I think the Europeans are signaling that it is time for a negotiated settlement.

    Here’s the article:
    https://www.dailywire.com/news/russia-vs-ukraine-or-civil-war-in-the-west

  41. Brain E:

    ” if we are going to continue funding Ukraine’s war”

    How revealing.

    After 9 months you still haven’t figured out who is the aggressor. Pathetic.

    At that rate I don’t take much stock in you assessments of anything in Europe.

  42. Nope, didn’t listen to Jordan or consider him an authority on foreign affairs, or military events, or Roosia. Clean up your room. Your dredging up an interview from 9 months ago says quite a bit.

    Kagan is credible about some things, do you consult him about Jungian foreign affairs?

    Anything else to say about Ukraine’s war?

    Others have correctly noted that Vlad considers this little spat his own “special military operation.” Did you miss that too?

    Pathetic.

  43. That’s a lovely story in the video neo put up.

    Debbie Reynolds is 17 and starring in “Singin’ In the Rain.” The dancing is so hard, she is hiding under the piano, throwing a bit of a tantrum, about how hard it is.

    Fred Astaire comes by and asks her what the problem is. Reynolds explains how hard the dancing is. Astaire invites her to one of his rehearsals, which are ordinarily closed to outsiders.
    _________________________

    so he let me sit there by the
    door and watch him die creating steps.
    he was just sweating turning red in the
    face and after about an hour he looked
    over he said that’s enough. you see how
    hard it is. it never gets easier. this
    is the way it is. you go learn it. yes sir.

    _________________________

    Words to live by.

    I was struck how much Shirley MacLaine looked like Debbie Reynolds, when MacLaine played Carrie Fisher’s mother in “Postcards from the Edge.” A wonderful little movie, which won me over to Meryl Streep (who, to be clear, played Carrie Fisher, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds).

  44. If it will make you feel better, the war resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    I’ve never defended Russia, just the right of citizens for self-determination. It’s their business if they choose to align with Russia.

    The DPR and LPR didn’t declare their independence until after the legitimately elected President of Ukraine was overthrown in 2014. In 2008 Yushchenko announced closer ties to the west, and yet in 2010 Yanukovych was elected. The country is very divided. You aren’t putting Humpty back together again.

    And don’t just blame Yanukovych.

    “…the Ukrainian government has sought to secure as many economic benefits as possible while preserving as much sovereignty as it can so as not to have to make significant changes to its domestic institutions. Impelled by the desire for greater access to the European market, Ukraine did take a number of steps to bring its institutions into closer conformity with EU standards, but the Rada (parliament) balked this week at passing the last set of bills that would be needed to bring Ukraine into compliance with the EU—including the one concerning Tymoshenko’s ability to go abroad for medical care.”

    “The second was the announced Russian response. Russia remains Ukraine’s largest foreign investor and Ukraine still remains highly dependent on the Russian market. Ukraine’s push to secure greater energy independence for itself by developing indigenous oil and natural gas projects will not bear fruit for a number of years, and the country remains dependent on Russia for low-cost supplies of energy. On Friday, Ukraine’s prime minister Mykola Azarov bluntly told lawmakers in the Rada that Ukraine could not, at this point, afford an economic rupture with Moscow. “What will be our compensation for the huge losses from losing the Customs Union market, what, I am asking you? Unfortunately, we did not receive a realistic answer to this question.””

    For that you can blame Hillary Clinton.

    https://nationalinterest.org/commentary/ukraine-why-yanukovych-said-no-europe-9453

  45. I’m still on a Ye-ye quest after neo’s Bardot video. Ye-ye is a treasure trove of great sixties music I didn’t learn back then because it was in French.

    I’ve looked more into April March, the stage name of a current American singer/songwriter, who was deeply influenced by the Ye-yes. March hasn’t cracked the top tier, but she’s had a decent career.

    I’m thoroughly charmed by a song from her latest album, “In Cinerama” (2021). It’s the first song I’ve liked from the 2020s!

    March has gone beyond her Ye-ye roots, but not too far. The song strikes me as the intersection of Ye-ye, Enya and Kate Bush. Immaculate production too.

    –April March, “Rolla Rolla”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drIKuLwexpM

    The lyrics describe a young woman ready to look for love again. There’s a reference to Michel Houellebecq, a noted French author. Don’t know what that’s about. Houellebecq has been in trouble for saying un-PC things, so maybe it’s a good sign.

  46. Brain E:

    My feeling better about your reflexive deference to Vlad and Roosian aggression? The canard about Yanukovitch doesn’t change no matter how many times others have corrected you.

    Vlad’s “liberation” of Ukraine has come a cropper, but it ain’t over yet, so you still hope for the de-Nazification it seems. Pathetic, but you persist.

    HRC, BHO, and Brandon; a trio of evil, criminality, and stupidity, have much to answer for, as does your man Vlad and his glorious Roosian regime.

  47. Except obama is in charge and he is running this country into the ground the ukraine war is just another tool in his arsenal

  48. Red queen zaphod and shambling are all for this confrontation this is why they needed all the tech companies in line this is where this country went insane around 2009-10 when we retreated from iraq and shattered nortj africa in part with qe which spiked food prices in that part of the world where they quietly purged the military and the security services capisce

  49. The DPR and LPR didn’t declare their independence until after the legitimately elected President of Ukraine was overthrown in 2014.

    Actually, he fled the country when he discovered the security services were not going to shed blood to defend him. His own party would not stick up for him in the legislature. He was replaced for an interim period by the lawfully designated public official. A new president was elected on 25 May 2014.

  50. Art:

    Brian E refuses to accept this; it is not useful to his truth.

    “La, la, la. La, la, la. I can’t hear you.”

  51. if we’re going to continue funding Ukraine’s war.

    “Ukraine’s war” consists of repelling a foreign invasion.

  52. Neo and physicsguy,

    What do we know?

    — We know that all the safety protocols for vaccines that have been used in the past were abandoned for the covid jabs and boosters. I would characterize many of the decisions to be worse than reckless.
    — We know that lots of government officials have outrageous financial conflicts of interest. Fauci’s net worth grew by 5 mil.
    — We know what other countries have done after seeing the impacts of the jabs.
    — We know that the CDC and the rest of the healthcare establishment have actively worked to hide data, censor dissent, and cancel dissenters. All doctors in the US have been threatened that dissent will result in loss of certifications, licenses to practice and hospital privileges.
    — We know that the lies have been legion on all manner of issues with Covid
    — We know that decisions to authorize and encourage the vax and boosters for small children made no sense at all on a cost/benefit basis. This matters because it reflects on the recklessness and/or competence of those involved. This alone should give all of us pause about believing anything we are told.

    The censorship and cancel culture is also sufficient, by itself, to set off maximum alarms for all of us. It’s unconscionable. Why would anyone trust anything these people say? They’ve abused trust. They’ve destroyed it. Only a fool would continue to trust them.

  53. I’ve never defended Russia, just the right of citizens for self-determination. It’s their business if they choose to align with Russia.

    For all the fatuous commentary I’ve seen on this matter, the notion that Russia’s seizure of fragments of the Donetsk and Lukhansk Oblasts in 2014 was an exercise in self-determination hits the depths.

  54. stan:

    If you actually go back and read my posts on COVID from the start, you’ll see that I don’t trust what “these people” say.

    Nor do I trust what many of their debunkers say, which often shows a complete lack of understanding of basic science and statistics.

    Once you get to the point where you are – where you express a complete distrust in basic research by doctors and epidemiologists around the world – then you are free to say and believe anything you want.

  55. I am infullible.

    –Holly the Computer, “Red Dwarf”
    _______________________________

    Turned out Holly was just playing a prank on the crew by feigning computer cognitive decline.

  56. “…the notion that Russia’s seizure of fragments of the Donetsk and Lukhansk Oblasts in 2014 was an exercise in self-determination hits the depths.” – Art Deco

    Donbass separatism began long before 2014. From a Wikipedia article:

    “The initiator of the local referendum (in 1994) in Donbass on the status of the Russian language and the federalization of Ukraine was the organization International Movement of Donbass, founded in 1989 by brothers Dmitry and Vladimir Kornilov. As Vladimir Kornilov recalled, “representatives of Donetsk political forces and organizations, and, most importantly, the strike committees of the Donetsk region, which at that time had great power, have long demanded the holding of this referendum. The idea of giving the Russian language a state status, along with the Ukrainian language, the idea of federalization of Ukraine was then on everyone’s lips and was raised not only in the Donbass, but also in Ukraine as a whole. Miners went on strike with these slogans.” In March 1994, the regional councils of Donetsk and Luhansk regions decided to hold a regional referendum.[2]”

    “For a long time, the issue of linguistic and socio-economic rights of Russians in Ukraine was postponed. However, experts call the survey the forerunner of the events of the protests of 2014, which led to the creation of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. In particular, the speaker of the DPR Council of Ministers, Andrei Purgin, called 1994 “… the year of the birth of Donetsk separatism”.”

    https://www.donbass-insider.com/2020/05/14/the-donbass-referendum-of-1994-on-which-the-whole-world-turned-a-blind-eye/

    The overthrow of Yanukovych, who was elected mostly by those in eastern Ukraine, and the almost immediate slight by the Rada voting to repeal minority language laws no doubt precipitated the separatists to act, with the DPR and LPR independence declared in April 7 and 27, 2014– shortly after Crimea declared its independence.

    Fighting began about April 12 between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian militias. According to Reuters correspondent, August 23 could be considered the day for Russian special forces and the “little green men” to enter the fight.

  57. And yet he persists. Not that Yanukovych is and was a Putin minion and toady? Nothing to see, but Brain E admits that Vlad’s little green men can’t be denied.

    Self determination indeed. Much like the self determination that Stalin (Vlad’s hero) formented in Eastern Europe immediately after the actual Nazis were defeated.

    Hasn’t worked in Ukraine yet, and may not work in the Donbas. The world is sad like that sometimes, Brain E.

  58. “Crimea declared its “independence. in 2014.” IIRC Vlad sent his airborn and other units into Crimea to cause that declaration.
    A minor detail, Brain E?
    Curious that hardly anybody but Roosia considers that little mischief legit. Short lived, the independent state of Crimea, but then Vlad has said it has always been Roosian.

    Roosia wants, eh, Brain E?

  59. Strictly hypothetical, but I wonder if Stalin would admire the woke Covid totalitarianism that has arisen in the West? Probably not, since its power base lies mostly on the voluntarily totalitarian/monopoly capitalist side of the private sector.

    Not that we need chose between totalitarian variants, as we have our populist Founders to admire. A little more background on Putin (somewhat dated from 7 years ago):

    Preview: Vladimir Putin reveals what he admires about America

    Extended version:
    Putin Interviewed on 60 Minutes – September 2015

    7 years later, what of America is left to admire? That, friends, is a tough question.

  60. Here is how Crimea responded to the overthrow of Yanukovych on Feb. 22, 2014:
    “Authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea planned using the experience gained by Scotland and Catalonia as they prepare a referendum on the political future of their region. Officials in Crimea are confident this will mean that the campaign, the goal of which is to revise the status of the region upwards to a full-fledged state from an autonomous entity, will be conducted in line with all the norms accepted in the current European regional policies.”

    “The Supreme Council of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea dismissed the regional government February 27, 2014, electing a pro-Russian party leader as its new chair. The decision to dismiss Crimea’s Council of Ministers was supported by 55 out of 64 Crimean MPs. The no-confidence motion came as a result of “unsatisfactory” work by the regional government.”

    “The MPs also voted in favor of holding a referendum to decide the future of Crimea on 25 May 2014. The referendum would coincide with the early Ukrainian presidential and city mayoral elections. The presidium of the Crimean parliament announced that they were confident “that only by holding an All-Crimean referendum on the issue of improving the status of the Autonomy and expanding its powers Crimeans will be able to determine the future of the Autonomy on their own and without any external pressure.” As a result of “the unconstitutional seizure of power in Ukraine by radical nationalists supported by armed gangs,” Crimea’s peace and order is “under threat,” said Oksana Korniychuk, the press secretary of the head of the parliament.”

    At least Crimeans used legislative means.

    https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/ukraine/arc.htm

  61. Brain E:

    He continues in his pining for Yanukovych.

    Let’s see how it works, Vlad invades Crimea and, shazam, they decide to become part of Roosia, all legal and Democratic?

    So come August 2023 if your boy Vladdy is kicked out of Crimea will you be pining for Sevastapol too?

    Pathetic, how much water you carry for an ex-KGB officer.

  62. “Vlad invades Crimea”– om

    Vlad didn’t need to invade Crimea. The lease Russia has with Ukraine allows
    The Russian navy to have:

    – 25,000 troops,

    – 24 artillery systems with a caliber smaller than 100 mm,

    – 132 armored vehicles, and

    – 22 military planes, in addition to all its naval vessels on Crimean territory until the lease expires in 2042 with an option for 5 additional years at an annual cost of $97.75 million.

    I’m sure you already knew that.

  63. Nice inventory Brian. Biggest difference between that firepower and what US taxpayers are sending Ukraine: None that we know of going to Boko Haram, and no 10% for the big guy.

  64. Brain E:

    Care to do just a little bit of research and post an inventory of all the militarty hardware your boy Vladdy has lost since he invaded Ukraine?

    No?

    Months ago I began posting links about military inventory, production, harware, and sustainment. Search “Perun.”

    Do your own homework and pay attention.

    You and Banned are truly pathetic.

  65. Would not have happened except they got rid of trump comprende chico it is all of a piece to smash this country to bits

  66. Obama and biden and hillary want this war to go one forever so ‘electricity prices necessarily skyrocket’ so social credit and every other horror

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