Snow on Pine, no, nothing is sacred. People are being warned not to wear nice coats when visiting DC, because the coats might be stolen, including at gunpoint.
A PJ Media report, quoting a Memphis-area TV news station, says that one of the police charged in the Tyre Nichols beating and death did in fact take photos of the beaten man and send them to several people, including a “baby mama” Nichols was allegedly dating. This is looking more like a personal/gang assault and less like random police violence.
For info on the Turkish earthquake, checkout Cosmopolitan Globalist Claire Berlinski @substack.com.
She talks first about bird flu, then goes in to the corruption in the Turkish construction industry. It’s long, but you learn a lot.
Turkish construction: My husband used to go to Istanbul on business regularly. They’d be driven a route they normally took and find a building was suddenly blocking the street. Buildings went up incredibly quickly to avoid codes and inspections, and were occupied before inspectors ever got there, so they stayed.
‘The slow creep of ugliness into the language of public debate is impossible to ignore’
This Neil Oliver commentary from today is very good.
Kate–Quite a few years ago, when I was living in the Washington, D.C. metro area, there were news stories about how, in D.C., people were hunted down, robbed, even killed when some yout or youts spotted the new sneakers they might be wearing, or the victim’s fancy new jacket.*
All was not sweetness and light, even on the Mall.
Saturday night is movie night at Chez Huxley. Tonight’s show is “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” Or “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” for those of us learning French.
What an absolutely gorgeous film! Furthermore it was Catherine Deneuve’s breakthrough role and she looks OMG.
“Umbrellas” is sort of a musical — meaning it has a few real songs like “I Will Wait For You” (which I had mistakenly remembered as being from “Dr. Zhivago”) but all the dialog was sung in melody but not necessarily part of a song. Which makes it easier for me to hear the words, slower, clearer, than in normal-speed spoken French.
Even the title sequence is brilliantly beautiful and ought to be shown to art classes as a premier example of color, composition and movement in film.
Could this kind of [secret deal] work, if Biden + China’s government did it? :
Biden: [calling China]: Hello, China’s President. I have a plan for you + I, but you have to keep it secret!
China’s President: OK, what is it?
Biden: I’m REALLY unpopular right now, + I want to look like a [good] president!
So here’s what we do-
You take some controllable, flying drones. They can be balloons. I’ll call them spy balloons.
You fly these [mysterious balloons] over the US borders, + I’ll get my big, MACHO, fighter planes to shoot them down! …And you can tell the world, “Oh heck! The US doesn’t need to shoot down these aircraft, They’re just harmless things.”
“So….you take your harmless aircraft or balloons, + tie some broken, 1960s radio-station machines under them…to be shot down, and then I WILL look like a strong president, and then [I’ll pay you, or reward you,…in secret],…for your helping me out! Does that sound good?”
China’s President: “That sounds great! I’ll do that right now.”
Would that kind of plan work, to help Biden?
What do you think?
TR:
It’s amusing — like early Bob Newhart, which is a compliment.
However, as much as I’m sure Xi has directly or indirectly greased the palms of Biden and many Democrats and presumably some Republicans, I don’t think the real world is quite so simple.
I keep coming back to the semiconductor sanctions we just put on China. We have effectively cut their balls off, if I may put it crudely, when it comes to hi-tech.
If China weren’t facing so many other existential threats, this would be like the US oil embargo on Japan before WW II.
The semiconductor sanctions started during the Trump administration. But there is bipartisan support. The military sees China as the next big threat. Everyone in any kind of tech knows the Chinese have been robbing us blind on IP (Intellectual Property) for decades. There is agreement on both sides about China on this.
Hollywood has nothing on this heartbreaking, romantic scene.
Mon amour!
Hi huxley,
Thanks for the compliment on my writing/comment. 🙂
So, what do you think the US should do- to defeat China, in the high tech field, and in any other field?
Has anyone else noticed how shooting something down over U.S. or Canadian territory changed from this impossibly risky thing no one could reasonably expect the U.S. military to do into something not only safe and possible but almost routine? Was there some technological breakthrough in the last month I missed to explain the change?
Or do maybe some people just need to think about things a little harder?
Mike
@MBunge Yeah, agreed. This was definitely political rather than any kind of technological or doctrinal issue. Moreover, the USAF and Canadians have shot down flying objects before (indeed, a friend of mine talked about how the Canadians learned you need explosives to bring down a balloon at these altitudes because air pressure would just keep the helium or other lighter than air gas inside even if you ripped holes in it). And that was years ago.
Amazing how quickly the narrative shifts to serve The Party.
Let’s Go Brandon.
FWIW – there seems to be a plague of these things all of a sudden.
Apparently, the Montana air space was closed today for a reason after all.
“Our politics today are very similar to arguing with your wife about her feelings. Evidence does not matter and you cannot win.”
Single white liberal women (the cohort which admits to a majority having mental health issues and a large percentage dependent on anxiety and depression meds) are the dominant factor in America. Feelings rule. On issue after issue from Covid to climate and BLM to Trump/Russia, reality has been rejected for feelings.
Masks work if you want to believe they do. Trump is always guilty of everything and anything because he’s icky. Global warming is real because I get to be a superhero saving the planet. Cops killed Trayvon because it’s more fun to blame them than an immigrant defending his life. Women never lie because men are toxic. It’s more fun to go through life knowing all the answers without being required to think or worrying about reality.
I rarely take exception, with lee smith, but if they wanted to reach biden voters they would use the intercept or the daily beast, well no one reads the basilisk on purpose,
You have a point…but EVERYTHING that emanates from Hersh gets noticed.
(Kind of like napalm on water….)
the evidence is scant, circumstantial, except for shambling lurch and nuland (I don’t have a nic for her, demolition vicky) taste for shoe leather,
at the time of the damascus story, syria was the worst thing evarr, when in reality turkey and qatar are the more dangerous actor, malley who is the thought leader on policy leans that way, but is also sympathetic to the sepah (the revolutionary guard are more in charge than the mullah) how much influence does the former have, pompeo doesn’t mention them at all, (it’s a john fawlty omission)
as well as Iran,
Just to clarify:
I don’t believe in the conspiracy theory that I wrote above, just like I don’t believe- that the TV show, Gilligan’s Island, is secretly about The Seven Deadly Sins.
Cheers.
Yes, it is counter-intuitive in a sense.
But everything these guys do is done to plant doubt.
To muddy the waters.
To obfuscate.
All compounded by elaborate lies while indiscriminately and persistantly casting Trump and the GOP as THE anti-American, anti-Constitutional, anti-Human Devil Incarnates.
I’ll stick my neck out and say that this latest planted(?) revelation of Hersh’s, aside from the general DISTRACTION it is intended to cause, is meant to make it SEEM as though there’s antagonism/enmity/dissension between “Biden” and Putin, whereas—here goes my crackpot theory again(!)—there REALLY ISN’T (or more accurately, the two have common strategic interests, which they must take great pains to conceal)…
To be fair, there’s a whole lotta stuff that “Biden” MUST conceal…
has putins economy been damaged more than ours, (think on that) contributions from gazprom, helped shut the pipelines, from the canadian menace (embridge down) I don’t know what the real casualty count is, but you pump 100 billion dollars in anywhere the rubble with bounce, bodies will fall in great numbers,
Milley and Austin come out like perfumed princes, well more like pepe le piu, after Afghanistan, so we’re supposed to have confidence in them,
One of the great mysteries of the current regime in DC is how the military top brass is able to live with themselves.
It makes no sense…unless, perhaps, they’ve “bought into” the “Biden” strategy/policy/rationale that the GLOBE MUST BE saved (with echoes of Obama’s earnest declaration that America’s REAL ENEMY is “Climate Change”(TM) and that the military must be “transformed” to fight it—-remember that?)…
And/or they’re firmly persuaded for purely strategic reasons (or perhaps not so purely) that China must be assuaged at almost any price (keeping in mind the injunction to “embrace the power of AND”)…
And/or they’re firmly persuaded that TRUMP and his supporters are the REAL ENEMIES of the nation.
How they could be convinced of the latter, given the history and make-up of the military is mindboggling…but who knows what’s happening there?
Whatever it is, it just seems like more of the mega-sinister stuff we’ve been witnessing since 2009…
So, what do you think the US should do- to defeat China, in the high tech field, and in any other field?
TR:
At this point, with the semiconductor sanctions in place and China facing so many crises — demographic crunch, Xi / CCP rule, severe debt, flattening economic growth, international corporations fleeing China, widespread citizen dissatisfaction, real environmental problems. hardening global opinion against China — it’s a done deal.
China IMO is Dead Man Walking. America’s main problem WRT to China is to stay out of the way as it collapses.
I’ve looked more into Steve Kaufmann, the polyglot language teacher, and I’m sold.
Everything Kaufmann says is in line with my own experience and intuition. Except he has studied much longer and has found research to back up his approach.
He is not some language savant. His approach is distilled from decades of teaching himself 20 languages without classes.
His online language learning site provides the only app I would use, and I am. https://www.lingq.com/en/
Kaufman’s basic idea is that our brains are pattern-matching machines and languages are patterns, so if we stay motivated and engaged with a language, our brains will figure it out.
So the real challenge to learning a language is maintaining motivation. The basic way to do that is to enjoy the process. Find material which is interesting and meaningful, then make it fun.
His approach is focused on reading text and listening to native speakers, simultaneously if possible, and in large quantities.
It’s not a full-spectrum language solution. His app doesn’t teach grammar or how to construct your own sentences and engage in conversation. He claims those abilities will emerge on their own after several months of reading and listening.
I’ve been in language classes and studied on my own. I just get bored and stop learning. If it’s one of those No-English-Stand-and-Deliver classes, I freeze right up and come to dislike language learning.
If you are interested in learning a language, this is an amazing time to do so with today’s computerized dictionary and pronunciation facilities.
Because it is Sunday and the Open Thread is still open, Ukraine war:
Small Drones & Loitering Munitions in Ukraine – The terrifying rise of cheap precision – Perun
Balloons seem to do interesting things to people.
President Fentanyl seems to have been “for ’em before he was aginst ’em”!
And here’s Lisa Murkowski (of all people), balloon hawk!!
‘Murkowski on object downed over Alaska: ‘If there’s an incursion, there’s going to be consequences’;
‘ “We need to send the message and we need to be clear and unequivocal that we don’t tolerate this, period,” Murkowski said. ‘ https://justthenews.com/government/congress/murkowski-object-downed-over-alaska-if-theres-incursion-theres-going-be
Curious how THAT sounds just like Biden not only telling us about all those Balloons that Trump—somehow—missed on HIS watch; but also accusing Trump of being incredibly, inexplicably, indescribably IRRESPONSIBLE for taking (so-called) “Classified” documents home with him, heh…(not to mention all those acccusations of Trump going out and stealing elections!).
Seems like China and Biden (and, more importantly, “Biden”) are on the same page WRT going DEFCON 1 when it comes to accusing others of that which they have done themselves.
(But, hey, what’s a little collusion between best buds…? Or a bit of coordination, for that matter…)
It IS, though, fascinating on another level: who knew that international powers were so adept at behaving like kids caught with their hand in the cookie jar!?
All:
And to beat a dead horse; last week Brian E listed as his source for US aid to Ukraine a Council of Foreign Relations (cfr) data report. Earlier, on Sunday, 2/5/2023, Perun had done a post about military and economic aid to Ukraine and would it make a difference. I suspect Brian E is in the “good money is thrown down the corrupt rat hole” camp, but I could be wrong (again). Anyway here are the sources for Perun’s analysis and timestamps for subjects of his post:
Resupplying Ukraine: Arms, Aid & Escalation – What, Who, & What might be next?
Paper system counts for elements like Russian and US reserve artillery are per Military Balance 2021
Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:01:43 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:21 — From Korea to Afghanistan
00:04:47 — AID PRE-2022
00:05:00 — The Ukrainian Military of 2014
00:08:27 — Made in Ukraine (with some help)
00:09:41 — THE AID ESCALATION
00:10:05 — Phase 1: Stop the Tanks
00:11:08 — Phase 2: Light & Heavy
00:12:10 — Phase 3: Keeping the Lights On
00:12:45 — Phase 4: Enabling Manoeuvre
00:14:31 — Phase 5: Reach
00:15:18 — HOW MUCH AID HAS GONE?
00:20:25 — What is a Thing Worth?
00:21:54 — Personal View – Focus on Type & Qty.
00:22:55 — NATIONAL AID PROGRAMS
00:23:07 — The VANGUARDS
00:23:12 — Leading the Charge
00:23:35 — Leading on Heavy Weapons
00:25:02 — Accepting Risk
00:26:42 — Pushing the Boundaries
00:27:58 — THE CAUTIOUS GIANT: US AID
00:32:11 — The Source of Deterrence
00:33:13 — LET’S TALK ABOUT GERMANY
00:36:04 — German Military Aid
00:37:08 — Messaging & Authorisation
00:39:58 — IMPACT & SCALE
00:40:06 — Finances
00:41:06 — Humanitarian & Refugee Costs
00:42:02 — Military Aid by the Numbers
00:46:36 — OTHER AID TYPES
00:50:40 — CAN IT BE ENOUGH?
00:57:07 — The Numbers are the Numbers
01:00:28 — The Trend So Far
01:01:29 — WHAT IS NEEDED?
01:01:44 — The Ukrainian Requests
01:02:49 — Solution 1: New maneuver
01:04:18 — Solution 2: Fight Like Ukrainians
01:08:35 — THE WEST IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
01:10:25 — CONCLUSIONS
Well shes full of…hot air
where does staff come from, national pulse flags most lean toward china, take halper, (who missed an actual russian agent deep in the special forces, peter dobbins) downer, an australian working for a british contractor who was a huawei director, then burns, sullivan et al,
BTW, I like neo’s shot at the top. It looks like a diagonal flag composition. I take those myself sometimes.
Makes me think of the Estonian flag — a tricolor of blue, black and white. Here’s a lovely shot of an Estonian nature reserve recalling their flag:
According to Estonians the blue and black are sky and forest, but the white is supposed to be hope or purity. However, no one is entirely sure.
The Soviets banned that flag during the USSR era. I’m glad Estonia is free. I’m glad all those little countries which got trapped on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain are free.
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Neo, have you written about Naomi Wolf as a changer?
Crater Lake, OR?
I too think it’s a picture of Crater Lake.
“For there is also grace among writers, and it is eternal.”
Baltasar Gracian, S.J.
Yes, Crater Lake.
I wonder if Alpha Centauri is looking for the space craft back?
Definitely Crater Lake- recognized it instantly.
Is nothing sacred?
See https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/theft-of-catalytic-converter-temporarily-stalls-oscar-mayer-wienermobile-in-las-vegas/
Good thing you have friends who can console you, Neo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUaxVQPohlU&ab_channel=BethCartwright
Blunts the pain of your loss just a bit.
Hopefully, enough.
For now.
Snow on Pine, no, nothing is sacred. People are being warned not to wear nice coats when visiting DC, because the coats might be stolen, including at gunpoint.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/plan-visiting-dc-dont-wear-coat-target-thieves
A PJ Media report, quoting a Memphis-area TV news station, says that one of the police charged in the Tyre Nichols beating and death did in fact take photos of the beaten man and send them to several people, including a “baby mama” Nichols was allegedly dating. This is looking more like a personal/gang assault and less like random police violence.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2023/02/11/confirmed-memphis-cop-sent-pics-of-beaten-tyre-nichols-to-female-acquaintance-n1669791
For info on the Turkish earthquake, checkout Cosmopolitan Globalist Claire Berlinski @substack.com.
She talks first about bird flu, then goes in to the corruption in the Turkish construction industry. It’s long, but you learn a lot.
Turkish construction: My husband used to go to Istanbul on business regularly. They’d be driven a route they normally took and find a building was suddenly blocking the street. Buildings went up incredibly quickly to avoid codes and inspections, and were occupied before inspectors ever got there, so they stayed.
‘The slow creep of ugliness into the language of public debate is impossible to ignore’
This Neil Oliver commentary from today is very good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X4kyK7vgHM
Kate–Quite a few years ago, when I was living in the Washington, D.C. metro area, there were news stories about how, in D.C., people were hunted down, robbed, even killed when some yout or youts spotted the new sneakers they might be wearing, or the victim’s fancy new jacket.*
All was not sweetness and light, even on the Mall.
See, for instance, https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/police-investigate-3rd-murder-in-dc/1941800/
Saturday night is movie night at Chez Huxley. Tonight’s show is “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” Or “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” for those of us learning French.
What an absolutely gorgeous film! Furthermore it was Catherine Deneuve’s breakthrough role and she looks OMG.
“Umbrellas” is sort of a musical — meaning it has a few real songs like “I Will Wait For You” (which I had mistakenly remembered as being from “Dr. Zhivago”) but all the dialog was sung in melody but not necessarily part of a song. Which makes it easier for me to hear the words, slower, clearer, than in normal-speed spoken French.
Even the title sequence is brilliantly beautiful and ought to be shown to art classes as a premier example of color, composition and movement in film.
–“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) title sequence”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pihEkzQ3YCE
How is THIS for a conspiracy theory?
Could this kind of [secret deal] work, if Biden + China’s government did it? :
Biden: [calling China]: Hello, China’s President. I have a plan for you + I, but you have to keep it secret!
China’s President: OK, what is it?
Biden: I’m REALLY unpopular right now, + I want to look like a [good] president!
So here’s what we do-
You take some controllable, flying drones. They can be balloons. I’ll call them spy balloons.
You fly these [mysterious balloons] over the US borders, + I’ll get my big, MACHO, fighter planes to shoot them down! …And you can tell the world, “Oh heck! The US doesn’t need to shoot down these aircraft, They’re just harmless things.”
“So….you take your harmless aircraft or balloons, + tie some broken, 1960s radio-station machines under them…to be shot down, and then I WILL look like a strong president, and then [I’ll pay you, or reward you,…in secret],…for your helping me out! Does that sound good?”
China’s President: “That sounds great! I’ll do that right now.”
Would that kind of plan work, to help Biden?
What do you think?
TR:
It’s amusing — like early Bob Newhart, which is a compliment.
However, as much as I’m sure Xi has directly or indirectly greased the palms of Biden and many Democrats and presumably some Republicans, I don’t think the real world is quite so simple.
I keep coming back to the semiconductor sanctions we just put on China. We have effectively cut their balls off, if I may put it crudely, when it comes to hi-tech.
–“US sanctions on Chinese semiconductors ‘decapitate’ industry, experts say”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-sanctions-china-semiconductors-industry-b2202941.html
If China weren’t facing so many other existential threats, this would be like the US oil embargo on Japan before WW II.
The semiconductor sanctions started during the Trump administration. But there is bipartisan support. The military sees China as the next big threat. Everyone in any kind of tech knows the Chinese have been robbing us blind on IP (Intellectual Property) for decades. There is agreement on both sides about China on this.
Meanwhile back in Cherbourg…
–“I will wait for you (1964 Les parapluies de Cherbourg)” (w/ English)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaY6iWmQXS4
Hollywood has nothing on this heartbreaking, romantic scene.
Mon amour!
Hi huxley,
Thanks for the compliment on my writing/comment. 🙂
So, what do you think the US should do- to defeat China, in the high tech field, and in any other field?
Has anyone else noticed how shooting something down over U.S. or Canadian territory changed from this impossibly risky thing no one could reasonably expect the U.S. military to do into something not only safe and possible but almost routine? Was there some technological breakthrough in the last month I missed to explain the change?
Or do maybe some people just need to think about things a little harder?
Mike
@MBunge Yeah, agreed. This was definitely political rather than any kind of technological or doctrinal issue. Moreover, the USAF and Canadians have shot down flying objects before (indeed, a friend of mine talked about how the Canadians learned you need explosives to bring down a balloon at these altitudes because air pressure would just keep the helium or other lighter than air gas inside even if you ripped holes in it). And that was years ago.
Amazing how quickly the narrative shifts to serve The Party.
Let’s Go Brandon.
FWIW – there seems to be a plague of these things all of a sudden.
Apparently, the Montana air space was closed today for a reason after all.
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/02/11/gop-rep-says-a-3rd-object-near-northern-border-n702387
The military trumpeted the ones Trump missed (hah), but how long have unidentified flying balloons been traversing our airspace unmolested?
And what happened to the one in South America, that had also gotten “mislaid” somehow?
Just for a change of pace – h/t Not the Bee.
https://twitter.com/drewdyck/status/1623454423073824769
Modern Viking does a death dive – presumably he survived, but man….
That drewdyck twitter feed is lots of fun!
E.g.,
https://twitter.com/dog_rates/status/1624471368929796098
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1624355295462817795
Thanks!
– – – – – – – – – –
And for some more—good, clean, honest—fun….
“The Guardian’s Links To The Slave Trade”—-https://blazingcatfur.ca/2023/02/12/the-guardians-links-to-the-slave-trade/
Oops… should be:
https://unherd.com/2023/02/the-guardians-links-to-the-slave-trade/
H/T Blazingcatfur blog.
And some more excellent news…on several fronts:
“…New San Fran DA Drops Charges Against Police Officer, Calls Them ‘Politically Motivated’ “—
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/02/11/incredible-new-san-fran-da-drops-charges-against-police-officer-calls-them-politically-motivated-n1669857
Opening graf:
‘The San Francisco district attorney who replaced recalled Soros-backed prosecutor Chesa Boudin last year has dropped “historic” manslaughter charges against a San Francisco policeman who shot and killed a carjacking suspect in 2017….’
Essentially, it was the Soros “prosecutor” (Boudin) vs. the law, the PD, and the people.
IOW, “in-law out-laws”…
He, unfortunately was but one of MANY who are still “on the job”…
Hmmm…looks like Starbucks doesn’t burn JUST their beans….
https://nypost.com/2023/02/09/starbucks-charges-oklahoma-couple-nearly-4500-for-coffee/
Something I realized this morning.
“Our politics today are very similar to arguing with your wife about her feelings. Evidence does not matter and you cannot win.”
Single white liberal women (the cohort which admits to a majority having mental health issues and a large percentage dependent on anxiety and depression meds) are the dominant factor in America. Feelings rule. On issue after issue from Covid to climate and BLM to Trump/Russia, reality has been rejected for feelings.
Masks work if you want to believe they do. Trump is always guilty of everything and anything because he’s icky. Global warming is real because I get to be a superhero saving the planet. Cops killed Trayvon because it’s more fun to blame them than an immigrant defending his life. Women never lie because men are toxic. It’s more fun to go through life knowing all the answers without being required to think or worrying about reality.
I rarely take exception, with lee smith, but if they wanted to reach biden voters they would use the intercept or the daily beast, well no one reads the basilisk on purpose,
You have a point…but EVERYTHING that emanates from Hersh gets noticed.
(Kind of like napalm on water….)
the evidence is scant, circumstantial, except for shambling lurch and nuland (I don’t have a nic for her, demolition vicky) taste for shoe leather,
at the time of the damascus story, syria was the worst thing evarr, when in reality turkey and qatar are the more dangerous actor, malley who is the thought leader on policy leans that way, but is also sympathetic to the sepah (the revolutionary guard are more in charge than the mullah) how much influence does the former have, pompeo doesn’t mention them at all, (it’s a john fawlty omission)
as well as Iran,
Just to clarify:
I don’t believe in the conspiracy theory that I wrote above, just like I don’t believe- that the TV show, Gilligan’s Island, is secretly about The Seven Deadly Sins.
Cheers.
Yes, it is counter-intuitive in a sense.
But everything these guys do is done to plant doubt.
To muddy the waters.
To obfuscate.
All compounded by elaborate lies while indiscriminately and persistantly casting Trump and the GOP as THE anti-American, anti-Constitutional, anti-Human Devil Incarnates.
I’ll stick my neck out and say that this latest planted(?) revelation of Hersh’s, aside from the general DISTRACTION it is intended to cause, is meant to make it SEEM as though there’s antagonism/enmity/dissension between “Biden” and Putin, whereas—here goes my crackpot theory again(!)—there REALLY ISN’T (or more accurately, the two have common strategic interests, which they must take great pains to conceal)…
To be fair, there’s a whole lotta stuff that “Biden” MUST conceal…
has putins economy been damaged more than ours, (think on that) contributions from gazprom, helped shut the pipelines, from the canadian menace (embridge down) I don’t know what the real casualty count is, but you pump 100 billion dollars in anywhere the rubble with bounce, bodies will fall in great numbers,
Milley and Austin come out like perfumed princes, well more like pepe le piu, after Afghanistan, so we’re supposed to have confidence in them,
One of the great mysteries of the current regime in DC is how the military top brass is able to live with themselves.
It makes no sense…unless, perhaps, they’ve “bought into” the “Biden” strategy/policy/rationale that the GLOBE MUST BE saved (with echoes of Obama’s earnest declaration that America’s REAL ENEMY is “Climate Change”(TM) and that the military must be “transformed” to fight it—-remember that?)…
And/or they’re firmly persuaded for purely strategic reasons (or perhaps not so purely) that China must be assuaged at almost any price (keeping in mind the injunction to “embrace the power of AND”)…
And/or they’re firmly persuaded that TRUMP and his supporters are the REAL ENEMIES of the nation.
How they could be convinced of the latter, given the history and make-up of the military is mindboggling…but who knows what’s happening there?
Whatever it is, it just seems like more of the mega-sinister stuff we’ve been witnessing since 2009…
So, what do you think the US should do- to defeat China, in the high tech field, and in any other field?
TR:
At this point, with the semiconductor sanctions in place and China facing so many crises — demographic crunch, Xi / CCP rule, severe debt, flattening economic growth, international corporations fleeing China, widespread citizen dissatisfaction, real environmental problems. hardening global opinion against China — it’s a done deal.
China IMO is Dead Man Walking. America’s main problem WRT to China is to stay out of the way as it collapses.
I’ve looked more into Steve Kaufmann, the polyglot language teacher, and I’m sold.
Everything Kaufmann says is in line with my own experience and intuition. Except he has studied much longer and has found research to back up his approach.
He is not some language savant. His approach is distilled from decades of teaching himself 20 languages without classes.
His online language learning site provides the only app I would use, and I am.
https://www.lingq.com/en/
Kaufman’s basic idea is that our brains are pattern-matching machines and languages are patterns, so if we stay motivated and engaged with a language, our brains will figure it out.
So the real challenge to learning a language is maintaining motivation. The basic way to do that is to enjoy the process. Find material which is interesting and meaningful, then make it fun.
His approach is focused on reading text and listening to native speakers, simultaneously if possible, and in large quantities.
It’s not a full-spectrum language solution. His app doesn’t teach grammar or how to construct your own sentences and engage in conversation. He claims those abilities will emerge on their own after several months of reading and listening.
I’ve been in language classes and studied on my own. I just get bored and stop learning. If it’s one of those No-English-Stand-and-Deliver classes, I freeze right up and come to dislike language learning.
If you are interested in learning a language, this is an amazing time to do so with today’s computerized dictionary and pronunciation facilities.
Because it is Sunday and the Open Thread is still open, Ukraine war:
Small Drones & Loitering Munitions in Ukraine – The terrifying rise of cheap precision – Perun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpZf1hpQYM
Balloons seem to do interesting things to people.
President Fentanyl seems to have been “for ’em before he was aginst ’em”!
And here’s Lisa Murkowski (of all people), balloon hawk!!
‘Murkowski on object downed over Alaska: ‘If there’s an incursion, there’s going to be consequences’;
‘ “We need to send the message and we need to be clear and unequivocal that we don’t tolerate this, period,” Murkowski said. ‘
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/murkowski-object-downed-over-alaska-if-theres-incursion-theres-going-be
And—whodathunkit!—it seems that China has lost track of one of its babies and has threatened to shoot that critter down! (Anything Mr. Big Guy can do Xi can do better?)
“Now China Claims It’s Tracking Unidentified Object Over Port City”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/now-china-says-its-tracking-unidentified-object-over-port-city
Curious how THAT sounds just like Biden not only telling us about all those Balloons that Trump—somehow—missed on HIS watch; but also accusing Trump of being incredibly, inexplicably, indescribably IRRESPONSIBLE for taking (so-called) “Classified” documents home with him, heh…(not to mention all those acccusations of Trump going out and stealing elections!).
Seems like China and Biden (and, more importantly, “Biden”) are on the same page WRT going DEFCON 1 when it comes to accusing others of that which they have done themselves.
(But, hey, what’s a little collusion between best buds…? Or a bit of coordination, for that matter…)
It IS, though, fascinating on another level: who knew that international powers were so adept at behaving like kids caught with their hand in the cookie jar!?
All:
And to beat a dead horse; last week Brian E listed as his source for US aid to Ukraine a Council of Foreign Relations (cfr) data report. Earlier, on Sunday, 2/5/2023, Perun had done a post about military and economic aid to Ukraine and would it make a difference. I suspect Brian E is in the “good money is thrown down the corrupt rat hole” camp, but I could be wrong (again). Anyway here are the sources for Perun’s analysis and timestamps for subjects of his post:
Resupplying Ukraine: Arms, Aid & Escalation – What, Who, & What might be next?
547,172 views Feb 5, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj9HD8MdAFs
Perun’s notes:
Sources & Further Reading:
German military support for Ukraine
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-e…
CSIS – US Security Assistance to Ukraine
https://crsreports.congress.gov/produ…
Ukraine supplemental FY2023
https://appropriations.house.gov/site…
Kiel Institute for World Economy figures on Ukraine support:
https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-ag…
Oryx: Answering the call – heavy weapons to Ukraine
https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/04…
EU Training Mission Targets
https://www.euractiv.com/section/euro…
Ukraine FOREX reserves
https://www.reuters.com/markets/ukrai…
US plans combined arms training
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Sto…
Poland repairing Ukraine equipment
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/poland-laun….
Estonia handing over all its 155mm howitzers
https://kyivindependent.com/news-feed…
https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/gener…
Reznikov: Ukraine needs 300 tanks, 600-700 IFVs, 500 howitzers for specific operation
TASS on Escalation Risk
https://tass.com/politics/1570233
CSIS on Ukraine Aid:
https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-…
Olaf Scholz steers clear of commitment to supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202…
U.S. funds not misused in Ukraine, U.S. Treasury says amid corruption crackdown
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-t…
UK Tanks to Ukraine
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64274755
M113s to Iraq
https://www.army.mil/article/106646/e…
Paper system counts for elements like Russian and US reserve artillery are per Military Balance 2021
Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:01:43 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:21 — From Korea to Afghanistan
00:04:47 — AID PRE-2022
00:05:00 — The Ukrainian Military of 2014
00:08:27 — Made in Ukraine (with some help)
00:09:41 — THE AID ESCALATION
00:10:05 — Phase 1: Stop the Tanks
00:11:08 — Phase 2: Light & Heavy
00:12:10 — Phase 3: Keeping the Lights On
00:12:45 — Phase 4: Enabling Manoeuvre
00:14:31 — Phase 5: Reach
00:15:18 — HOW MUCH AID HAS GONE?
00:20:25 — What is a Thing Worth?
00:21:54 — Personal View – Focus on Type & Qty.
00:22:55 — NATIONAL AID PROGRAMS
00:23:07 — The VANGUARDS
00:23:12 — Leading the Charge
00:23:35 — Leading on Heavy Weapons
00:25:02 — Accepting Risk
00:26:42 — Pushing the Boundaries
00:27:58 — THE CAUTIOUS GIANT: US AID
00:32:11 — The Source of Deterrence
00:33:13 — LET’S TALK ABOUT GERMANY
00:36:04 — German Military Aid
00:37:08 — Messaging & Authorisation
00:39:58 — IMPACT & SCALE
00:40:06 — Finances
00:41:06 — Humanitarian & Refugee Costs
00:42:02 — Military Aid by the Numbers
00:46:36 — OTHER AID TYPES
00:50:40 — CAN IT BE ENOUGH?
00:57:07 — The Numbers are the Numbers
01:00:28 — The Trend So Far
01:01:29 — WHAT IS NEEDED?
01:01:44 — The Ukrainian Requests
01:02:49 — Solution 1: New maneuver
01:04:18 — Solution 2: Fight Like Ukrainians
01:08:35 — THE WEST IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
01:10:25 — CONCLUSIONS
Well shes full of…hot air
where does staff come from, national pulse flags most lean toward china, take halper, (who missed an actual russian agent deep in the special forces, peter dobbins) downer, an australian working for a british contractor who was a huawei director, then burns, sullivan et al,
BTW, I like neo’s shot at the top. It looks like a diagonal flag composition. I take those myself sometimes.
Makes me think of the Estonian flag — a tricolor of blue, black and white. Here’s a lovely shot of an Estonian nature reserve recalling their flag:
https://images.saymedia-content.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:eco%2Cw_700/MTgwOTM1MjM3MjU2MDk0ODA4/best-flag.webp
According to Estonians the blue and black are sky and forest, but the white is supposed to be hope or purity. However, no one is entirely sure.
The Soviets banned that flag during the USSR era. I’m glad Estonia is free. I’m glad all those little countries which got trapped on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain are free.