The fact that the MSM seem to have quietly dropped the subject shows that everyone knows who did it, even if they can't say so out loud.
The Europeans know too, but their leadership also dare not speak up. Europeans should think about this, and ask whom do their "leaders" really represent, 'cause it sure ain't them.
Yeah. I was there for the 1st energy crisis and response. It was lame but somehow populated with folks that were real. The current Green Revolution is unrecognizable as anything that’s going to matter.
I agree. Before the global Armageddon hypothesis, environmentalists were rightly concerned with actual instances of environmental degradation and pollution here and now. Every other real, preventable trashing of the environment now has to take a back seat to the climate change zealots.
Americans should do the same thing, my man. "Cuz I'd suggest that they are well along the road (if not already arrived) at the point where the whole world despises your country. And they have you outnumbered.
Outstanding journalism in this piece. I’ve spent years being extremely concerned about the media being in bed with government and what it would mean for any opposing voices speaking out. But with Matt Taibi’s reportage and the many others like investigative reporter Matt Orfalea doing a fine job to expose the lies and hypocrisy, I feel better about the world in general. I’ve said it before, thank you is not enough, but thank you.
You've got me there. I assumed, in error, that you were American, in that you were telling other nations what they need to do. So, do you live in the wild?
As with individuals, clearly the leaders are habituated to asking the US for help. They also know that when long time clients displease US leadership, (like Venezuela, Chile (1971), and Iraq, it's likely that millions may die. Their economies will be strangled slowly." Nuf said?
Obama took the “national security” apparatus installed after 9/11 under the auspices of the Patriot Act and re-trained it on domestic opposition, which is why the FBI, CIA, etc. now act as enforcement arms of the Democratic Party.
The two comments are not necessarily in opposition to one another. The "Intelligence community" didn't start with Trump and hasn't stopped with him, either.
Why slander hippies? The young, hip, green Euros are neo-Marxist social engineers willing to sacrifice future generations on the altar of anti-human environmental policy based on an unfalsifiable hypothesis derived from a computer model. The green religion drives European totalitarianism as much as neo-Marxist social justice. What worries me most is that hip, young, green SJWs on both continents have never experienced life under the Cold War and so imagine a limited nuclear exchange (ugh) is conceivable.
By the way, what separates "neo-Marxist social justice" from good old vanilla social justice? The neo-Marxists (whatever that means) raffle off copies of the 18th Brumaire and posters of Diego Rivera's Rockefeller deep-sixed portrait of Trotsky at the next Marxist-Leninist Meeting in Buffalo?
I use "neo-Marxist social justice" in the way New Discourses uses "critical social justice," and, rather than attempting to paraphrase it, I offer you a link to its definition: https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-social-justice/
Briefly and over-simply, neo-Marxism refers to the revision of the concepts of Marxism by a few seminal theorists in reaction to the Communists' failure to persuade the working class to seize the means of production, from overthrowing the Bourgeoisie. This revision substituted "oppressed" racial and ethnic identity groups for the Marxist Proletariat and straight white men as the Bourgeoisie. An excellent extended definition of neo-Marxism can also be found in the New Discourses Encyclopedia of Social Justice: https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-neo-marxism/
Karl Popper: "Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses that was introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)."
"Popper opposed falsifiability to the intuitively similar concept of verifiability. Verifying the claim "All swans are white" would logically require observing all swans, which is not technologically possible. In contrast, the observation of a single black swan is technologically reasonable and sufficient to logically falsify the claim. On the other hand, the Duhem–Quine thesis says that definitive experimental falsifications are impossible[1] and that no scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions."
Try on, for size, Duhem-Quine:
"...The Duhem–Quine thesis, also called the Duhem–Quine problem, after Pierre Duhem and Willard Van Orman Quine, is that in science it is impossible to experimentally test a scientific hypothesis in isolation, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions (also called auxiliary assumptions or auxiliary hypotheses): the thesis says that unambiguous scientific falsifications are impossible.[1] In recent decades the set of associated assumptions supporting a thesis sometimes is called a bundle of hypotheses."
Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses---not THE standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses. That is to say Karl Popper's falsifiability theory as a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses is itself an "unfalsifiable hypothesis." Derived from a computer model or not.
"No scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions."
So computer models alleged to demonstrate the long-term effects of greater CO2 emissions are as useless in predicting the future as observational hypotheses. I'm not surprised. This doesn't explain or justify why anyone should follow government-imposed measures intended to "slow global warming" or "climate change." Especially people like farmers in the Netherlands.
In reality, the MIC is just the trophy wife of the banks. The one thing the flunkies, grifters, psychopaths and prostitutes allowed in government can do, is run up the debt, because public debt is the foundation of the banking system. The secret sauce of capitalism is public debt banking private wealth. The wars are just a way to make it go away, so more can be borrowed.
As the executive and regulatory function, government is analogous to a central nervous system, while money and banking mirror blood and the circulation system. As such, government is inherently centripetal, while banking is inherently centrifugal. The tyrannies of judgement, versus the anarchies of desire.
With government as public utility and banking remaining private, it gives the moneyed interests the upper hand, so either we accept the medium enabling markets has to be a public utility, or we will have to go back to some more private form of government, as Russia has done, with Putin.
The one thing the flunkies allowed in office manage to do, no matter what, is run up the public debt, which the banks need to function. The secret sauce of capitalism is public debt backing private wealth.
The wars are just a way to make it go away, so more can be borrowed. That's why they are so monumentally inept and no one is taken out and shot.
Actually, Tsar Nicholas’ advisers told the gullible monarch that the Russian people would overthrow him if he failed to go to the rescue of fellow Slavs and Orthodox Christians in Serbia. Bear in mind, that Russian military failures eventually made the war very unpopular in Russia doesn’t mean it was unpopular to begin with!
Which does raise the question of why those advisers thought it worth going to war. There is always empathy driving us to act in others interests and against our own, but it also gets frequently leveraged by others. History is full of useful idiots.
It should be noted all those monarchs were cousins, so why did their states get pushed into war. I think that over time, a lot of history will continue bubbling to the surface and get argued over.
Brest-Litovsk was signed by the Bolsheviks, after the abdication of Nicholas II Aleksandrovich and the February Revolution, not to mention failure of Trotskii's "no war - no peace policy".
There is some truth to this, although the French also demanding that Russia honor its treaty obligations. The reason Russia owed so much money wasn't so much because of the 1905 War and its aftermath, but because Russia was expanding rapidly, and expansion requires capital.
Anyway, if you ever get bored, read Professor Adam Tooze's "Deluge", much of which is devoted to how WWI was financed.
Long story short, before 1914, it was commonly believed among many informed men that any general European war would necessarily be short, as all participants would start to run out of money within a couple of months of the outbreak of hostilities. Thing is - they would have been right, if governments had remained subject to pre-1914 constraints.
The British, in particular, did all sorts of things to prolong the war, stuff like forcing the Indian government to lend its entire treasury (in silver Rupiahs) to H.M. Exchequer and take back British government bonds as collateral, forcing private shareholders owning high-grade U.S. and Latin American securities to make forced loans to the government, suspending gold convertibility, etc..
Even then, the British came close to hard default on several occasions, including even after the US had entered the war.
In fact, the J.P. Morgan was the biggest lobbyist for US intervention in that pointless struggle, mainly because the House Of Morgan had lent vast sums to the British, and was concerned that they might not get their money back.
The problem though, is that if the Republicans win both House and Senate, Russiagate will play in reverse, from Hunter to Hillary. Which will be hard to reconcile with the Zelensky as Churchill meme.
Not to mention starving German industry of energy will make what England is sinking into look like a tea party. The history of European unity is not very deep and it wouldn't necessarily take much of a spark to turn it into the Hindenburg. Frankly, I would be surprised if the EU makes it to the spring.
In which case; Ukraine? Ukraine who?
When it's all foam and bubbles, the wave is cresting.
We have been pushing other countries around since basically the Monroe Doctrine and now Russia is evil because they don't like Ukraine joining Nato?
Frankly I don't have a dog in that fight. They are on the other side of the world.
I have come to understand most of my fellow citizens are historically clueless and have no understanding of the degree they are herded around like sheep. All they know is if the crowd is running, they run along with it.
Then they wonder why they get fleeced so regularly.
I'm just pointing out a much larger bubble is getting close to popping.
The mother of all reality checks is in the mail.
Debt doesn't matter, until it does.
We are going from the "gradually," to the "suddenly" phase.
I'm sure the various players in the various factions had a lot of plans.
Though as the famous philosopher, Mike Tyson said; Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the face.
It's safe to say that if/when the Republicans get the House and Senate, there will be too many juicy opportunities to worry about conflicting storylines.
From (at least) Iraq, and Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Russiagate, Jan 6, Covid etc the US political/media mainstream discourse has been pretty much nothing but spin, hypocrisy, propaganda and outright lies. But, goodness me, after Ukraine it’s gone further still and now the entire West is basically in Orwell territory: Goebbels and Stalin could only dream of such a relentless blatant monolithic reality/reason-defying propaganda machine. “Russian invasion was unprovoked; Ukraine is a democracy defending Western values; Russia is bombing the nuclear plant under its own control; Ukraine’s Nazi problem is just Russian propaganda; Russia has sabotaged its own pipelines…” Problem is, tens of millions of Western sheep still believe whatever their politicians/msm tell them…
I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic of late. Here’s a little thought experiment I’ve been running: imagine some country other than the US, say Brazil, or Uganda, it doesn’t really matter - who thinks their shit doesn’t stink - went gallivanting around the world telling other countries what to do because they have nukes and a flotilla of warships and other really cool military gadgetry and the global reserve currency…and noncompliance means that they will blow you to bits, or cut you off from the international financial clearing houses, neutering your domestic economy/currency. If those actions were taken against the US - how would we feel about it? We likely would have some serious heartburn, and more than likely would be seriously pissed off. I was reading a NYT article about Russian oligarch yachts evading US sanctions by porting in Turkey when I got an email about Matt’s article here, so I stopped what I was doing and read Matt’s piece - then finished the NYT piece. And I couldn’t help but think - what if Uganda or Brazil did this to us. Sanctions, freezing or nationalizing another country’s foreign reserve accounts, property etc. It just baffles me that we can get away with this stuff and the press, our reps/senators et al all act like this is totally cool and normal when we’re about 5% of the global population. Does no one realize that all of this is going to seriously come back and bite us in the ass? I have to think that people around the world are getting sick of our shit - and why wouldn’t they? As some old wise geezer once said “I love my country, but I fear my government”.
Couldn’t have been said better. Just anything to maintain US hegemony is OK. Remember Cuban missiles? But Putin was supposed to accept five minutes to a missile strike on Moscow? Who do the Pentagon think they are going to kid with that one?
Realpolitik and a big stick. Foreign policy is not driven by the concern, "how would we feel if they did this to us?" They may consider it of course. But at the end of the day rational policy is driven by self-interest.
Consider Kate Raworth's credible debunk of rational self-interest absent its critical mate, "Adam Smith . . . had a rather nuanced view of humans — that self-interest is essential for making markets work, but our interest in others is essential for making society work. However, economic theory evolved to focus only on that trait of self-interest, resulting in a dangerously narrow picture of who we are. . . . the more that students learn about the traits of rational economic man, the more they come to value self-interest and competitiveness and the more they turn away from altruism and collaboration. . . . Whilst we do have a propensity towards selfishness, we are also the most social mammal and we possess strong traits of cooperation and altruism." https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/kate-raworth-we-need-a-new-understanding-of-what-the-economy-is-and-what-its-for/
True. But I was referring to that pervasive self-interest of the “West” that “we” have to be No.1. Democracy hasn’t really failed yet. There are still elections, maybe fair. People could get mad enough to react. But maybe that’s my wishful thinking.
But self-interest is specifically the thing relied upon in creating checks and balances. Self-interest is what guides foreign policy (ideally anyway) to best serve the needs of the people. If any motive is ever reliable it is self-interest. It defines a rational actor.
“Ideally anyway”? “a rational actor”? Come on Demon Hunter. When do we ever have that? My own money management should certainly be in my self-interest. But I have a hell of a time keeping it rational. I can’t see any gov. policy anywhere, any time as rational.
Yes. For example, Taiwan. The primary difference is that China relies on economic rather than military leverage to make sure that countries fall in line.
I was speaking a bit metaphorically - but no - the US seem to be the biggest bully on the block right now. Maybe China will step up and let us off the hook. Am I writing in Latin or Greek here?
Let's work with that. The world has never had a global hegemon like it has since the fall of the Soviet Union. It has had lots of regional hegemons. In relative terms I'd argue the US has been the most benign. Do you think China or Russia would be more likely or less likely to play nice in the sandbox?
But Uganda or Brazil could not do this to the US. Financial bullying has been a fundamental tool of statecraft forever. Not defending any of it. Just recognizing the reality.
You're absolutely correct, IMO. OTOH, if it wasn't us, it would be one or more of "them". While most of us are looking for a decent life, there's always the subset looking for the non zero sum win.
This is why so many other countries like having us around as tourists and business folks - but they really do hate our government as much as we do. Sadly, their own leaders are just as corrupt.... it really is a "mad, mad" world.
I usually can't take the news on Sundays since I am worn out from listening to it all week. Consider our killing spree in the middle east that destroyed whole countries and millions of lives, some displaced, some injured many killed and we continue to do so in countries like Syria, and allow there suffering to continue. Of cause nothing stops the US in her narcissistic pursuits, and her unmitigated gall to continue to call Russia bad, and a country always up to no good, who dares to spread it's influence where it doesn't belong. Of course our 21st centuries killing sprees are the tip of the iceberg and were preceded by overturning whole countries, or just killing off their heads of state and before the 21st century came into being we killed some 6 million people in pursuit of our goals, so when anyone talks about Russia bad America good I'm not listening. .
Notice when articles reference the plight of Ukraine and it's many issues, like this one a list of political names pop up except the name Obama, or did Matt just mention him in passing and I missed it, since Obama did come out against Nord Stream 2 well he said that after the Russians took Crimea through a referendum. Of course it was Obama who implemented the coup during his presidency with the support of a core base of neo-Nazi's and whose purpose was to push America's influence into Russia's backyard which began this whole saga, and all this death, and all the lies. It was his neo-Nazi support team working side by side with Ukraine's military that killed thousands in the Donbass and triggered this war.
I wish you would take this out from behind the paywall. Some of your posts are so good they really are a public service. The average liberal ( I am a leftist, which isn’t the same thing and yes, lefties have their own blind spots ) has little or no conception of just how much our media functions as a propaganda outlet for the military- industrial -think tank complex. I expressed skepticism about the press to a liberal acquaintance a year ago and he immediately assumed I was echoing Trumpist propaganda.
I've grown up in a communist country. My father was in prison for celebrating Christmas. Then, a war came to further adorn the beauty of all that hell. Members of my family were slaughtered. Myself, as a journalist back home, have been persecuted, threatened, attacked, sent to hiding (thus a political asylum in the U.S.) and what not. Even my cat was killed when "they" did not find me at home, on a mission to put me away.
What I am saying is that I had been somewhat inoculated from the propaganda for I learned to read in between the lines / lies / since an early age. What's going on with the U.S. propaganda is beyond belief; it's rabid hatred toward the "other" surpassed anything I've witnessed, or experienced first hand but the "ability" of the "left" / "progressive" / to gobble up every single bit of BS - like the hookers pissing on the Orange Man and everything else since, including the admiration of the worst criminal corporation ever, Pfizer, and love for the FBI / CIA / The Pentagon -- is something I can't wrap my mind around. Twenty one fucking years of lies, if we count only those after 9/11 can boil even the most resilient frog, I get it, but where in the name of God is that American rugged individualism that made me fall in love with America and drove me here? How in the name of all that's human you guys, Americans, especially "intellectual left" managed to piss away your freedoms is insane and borderline criminal.
They seem to me, all of them "lefties" (for the record I call two branches of the War Party a Despicable and Repulsive ones, just to be clear that my disgust toward the "D" side is loud only because they have all the political power + Silicon Valley + most of the mass media) on the path not even communists were able to take. That of total annihilation of common sense, all that's human in their "normalize the insane" ongoing psyop and, ultimately, killing the society and the country with it.
I've been here, living in this magical land (I drove across the mythical American vastness several times) for only 26 years but the America I saw when I arrived and the America of today are two diametrically opposite countries. On Sunday, I fly back to the same country that tried to kill me. I'd rather face some PTSD-ed soldier still holding grudges (back home I was called the Public Enemy #1) and his bullet than keep living in the country I called home for all these years, the country whose myths I still love, but the country that hates its own people up to the point of destroying their lives in every imaginable way possible.
Thanks for this. Some of us are also wondering what happened to the old American spirit. Best of luck to you on your journey. Please come back, we need people like you.
Everything Joe Biden has done since becoming president has been bad for the American people - and for the free world in general. What on earth is his motivation for destroying the economy, destabilizing the security of the western world, making the country less safe and destroying the integrity of the justice dept? Where are the good people who work in these institutions who are watching this country crumble and don’t seem to care? Where are the journalists who see these wrongs being done to people and think that leaving this country better for the next generation is important? It is hard to believe that Joe Biden has any interest in doing anything to benefit his own people
Cathy Boudan (NYU), Bernadine Dohrn (NYU), Bill Ayers (U of I Chicago), Howard Machtiger (UNC), Ericka Huggins (CSU, Berkeley City College), Susan Rosenberg (John Jay College), Eleanor Raskin (Albany law School), Mark Rudd (Central New Mexico Community College), Angela Davis (UC Santa Cruz), the late bell hooks (Berea College), Ibrahim Kendi (Boston College et. al.), Robin DiAngelo (U of Washington) . . .
Just reading the names sends chills up and down my spine. Took an advanced botany class at my local community college a few years ago and my instructor dropped strong hints that she voted for Hillary in 2016. Someone to keep an eye on...
This is the question ---- incompetence vs. planned destruction of America. Altho' I like to imagine space aliens walk among us, I have not been a conspiracy theorist. I don't want to believe that there are powers that are actively working to destroy America. But I have to tell ya, virtually everything this administration of Pres. Hairsniffer has done has been to the detriment of the concept of America. So. Incompetence vs. planned destruction.?
Right now I am going with --- Anyone who spends their whole life getting ahead in the black hole of government corruption can be nothing else. Unfortunately for us, somehow this creep got elected President (thanks, Wuhan and Rep. Clyburn).
Whatever happened to the concept of public service? It is GONE! At every level! To paraphrase Carlin, it's their government, and we're not in it.
"Whoever is fortunate enough to be an American citizen came into the greatest inheritance man has ever enjoyed. He has had the benefit of every heroic and intellectual effort men have made for many thousands of years, realized at last. If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish."--Isabel Paterson (1943)
This is a great post-- a view from the outside looking in (and most definitely a view from one who voluntarily decided to live here) is especially enlightening and valuable. I, as an American, share your disbelief in regards to the direction in which America has been headed and continues to go. Civil liberties in the first amendment--a hill I would gladly die on. Live and let live and endeavor to let live. No idea why some would want to curtail those necessities for living with dignity for anyone anywhere. The CIA/FBI/Pentagon love fest with the press really gets to me because it undermines many of those rights--I was glad to see in America This Week the James Gordon Meek case and his lawyer calling out the Justice Dept leaking whatever to the press. And then predictably “someone familiar with the case” saying the info had nothing to do with classified material but came from a private tech platform. Private tech platform--my ass. In name only. Every other media platform please take note--this shit needs to stop. Have we already gone past the point of no return?
Loved your comment. Powerful. I took the liberty to copy it and post it elsewhere below Matt Orfalea's video mashup of the government-media consortium of lies around nord stream and so much else. I hope that I haven't violated your privacy. Best
WOW. That is a tragic and dispiriting, yet completely understandable commentary on the state of America these days. It is true in every sense, and it breaks my heart to read your poignant comment, because I have children that are going to have to live in this dystopian propaganda machine.
China has brought hundreds of millions out of poverty. Russia under President Putin, tens of millions. How many Americans know that home ownership in China is higher than the USA and getting higher while its shrinking dramatically in the US. Of course the millions of BIPOC families kicked out of their homes by the Obama regime didn't stop them from reelecting him. Same with the rednecks and Bush II. Breathtaking clulesness in the unwashed and the "professional" classes are easily bought off with a few pieces of silver.
Robert, I think you might need to check them facts on China a bit more closely. Beleiving anything coming out of a communist regime is pretty much what this article is about.
Don’t give up brother. America needs people like you. Go back and clear your head but come back to America after that. You are American. We are your countrymen
The simple answer is that American conservative intelligentsia were asleep at the switch, being lulled by their complacency and obsession with wealth while the right/conservative working class were too busy with survival, and when they did complain were dismissed as "Nazis," "far-right," and "conspiracy theorists," the same slanders used by the left today. Republicans were too busy pursuing foreign domination and "regime change" and basking in the reflected glory of that mummy Reagan, rolling in the dollars his "leadership" showered on them.
"It's only an intellectual game played by academics." Famous last words.
100%. I get that there are bills to pay, but some of Matt's pieces NEED to be circulated more. And while he'll usually tweet the key points in whatever he writes, not everyone's following him on Twitter.
It’s as if the State has completely given up on caring about their credibility, as viewed through the lens of MSM reporting, which the State has a stranglehold on through well placed intelligence assets over the decades and that now dominate most every major newsroom and print media in America.
It’s a level of propaganda that is so nauseating that reeks of desperation. As in…no one believes you.
When I see a pro-Ukraine report these days I almost immediately believe that Ukraine must be in the wrong.
100%. The Ukraine fiasco is a horrifying example of the power of state propaganda and the knee-jerk gullibility of our citizens who were eager to root for the side they were told to. Nothing we hear about the war should be believed, and if we survive it we will be years unraveling anything like the truth about it.
Corporate media has zero credibility and now functions as the Propaganda Wing of the Democratic Party or the current regime, whatever it can be called.
They've dug a deep hole, since I doubt they will automatically switch teams under a Republican majority, or even a Republican majority with the White House.
The Republicans are feckless cowards. We desperately need a new pro-America and Americans multi ethnic workers party. The security state is a clear and present danger to our country
Find and advance any candidate for public office who declares allegiance with the reformed Libertarian Party, or in the rare event that an actual LP party member of the Mises Caucus manages to get on a ballot, vote for him/her.
Nonsense. We had a rich, narcissistic, autocratic tax cheat who surrounded himself with advisors who had no solutions except those that would make them money, and who encouraged white Christian nationalists the likes of MTG to the Proud Boys. Hate the Dems if you like, but fascistic actors like Trump are no answer.
It seems blatant to people like us. I unfortunately know a lot of people who believe anything CNN and MSNBC tell them. I have recommended Substack and Taibbi specifically (also Greenwald), but they won't read it. It's frustrating to think anyone could swallow the obvious lies peddled by mainstream media and the ridiculous doublethink acrobatics required to draw such unbelievable conclusions, but they somehow keep doing it anyway. I think deep down they can't bring themselves to see that we are ruled by evil oligarchs who only care about themselves, and no amount of money or power will ever be enough for them, no matter how many ordinary people have to suffer for them to obtain it.
It's really ALL corporate-owned media outlets, including all the papers (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, the Tribunes and Heralds and Dailys, etc etc), here in the US and other countries (ie BBC, CBC, Guardian, Economist,...).
Those of sound mind who accept the opinions and selective reporting of CNN and MSNBC are either leftists or lazy/stupid.
The only person in my life who thinks corporate news is credible is my 90-year-old mother who stares at Fox News for hours on end but can't remember what she hears or sees two minutes after the fact. It occurs to me that Fox stands out as more principled among corporate news outlets merely because of the Trump/Russia lie and the fact that the DP is currently in power. It's easy to forget how servile they are under RP administrations.
Thank god for principled independents like Taibbi, Greenwald, Halper, Rufo, and whoever else escapes my memory at the moment.
Can’t disagree. Just anyone with a shred of integrity will suffice at this point. What in the serious hell has happened to the press here in the USA? They gave absolutely everything away for a bit of brainwashing and 1/10,000000th of a penny for each ad-click of a share of Pfizer ads.
That’s funny! In your mother’s defense - I’m less that half her age but suffer from the same short term memory issues…but in all seriousness, you’re spot on. I’d also add Aaron Mate’ to your list. Cheers.
When Obama "modernized" the Smith Mundt anti-domestic-propaganda Act, it essentially turned our MSM media into government (State Dept/ CIA) controlled State Media. This was LEGAL, Operation Mockingbird on steroids. The Official Narratives are all that is allowed, and troubling, exposing investigative stories are spiked.
No doubt the government will take total control of social media, and defund and deplatform any dissenting viewpoints next.
They have been trying, albeit through more covert means. Will we see the gloves come fully off? How many people will stick their heads even deeper in the sand if that happens?
From what Taibbi wrote, it just confirms that the Biden administration conflates political opponents' criticisms with attacks on National Security more than any Presidents' since Woodrow Wilson's administration.
Moreover Mussolini's definition of Fascism, control of nominally private corporations by Government, seems the major goal of Biden's domestic policies.
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
― Frank Zappa
“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.”
I don't trust much of anything that comes out of our CIA/FBI and certainly not the Executive Branch anymore. They have proven to use any means to and end and lie effortlessly about their roles. They've declared war on half of our country, and don't even hide it anymore.
The Ukraine was hopelessly corrupt, and a playground for the Biden syndicate, which gives me pause about who to even support in the current war. I absolutely believe our country was every bit as motivated, and willing to carry out the pipeline bombing.
I don’t understand our gubmint at times. First they blow up NS2, then reimplement rules for domestic LNG that had been paused for 18 YEARS. Now NS2 is crippled, and what could have helped the EU in backfilling that lost supply has been deemed too risky...after not being a significant threat in 18 YEARS!
The biggest disaster wasn’t the scuttling of NS-2. It was the collapse in faith of the US citizen to ever have faith in government and its media lackeys. The US government/media symbiosis is demonstrably incapable of ever uttering the truth.
And trust this: the next NS-2 “mystery” will be the synchronized “silencing” and “disappearing” of independent journalists.
Despite never having entered the Capitol building himself, the FBI has now come to Burgard’s ranch in Texas to interrogate him. As one might imagine, after filming extensive interviews with victims of the FBI witch hunt, this left Burgard and his family shaken. Chris and his wife Lisa described the process in an interview with PJ Media.
On August 4, an FBI agent drove up the quarter-mile driveway at Burgard’s Texas ranch and left his card on the door. Lisa said she found the process deeply unsettling. “There was no note attached, so I wasn’t sure, like, was it for Chris, was it for me, was it for the whole family? Were we supposed to call them back? I really didn’t know what to make of it, but it was a warning. I mean, I’ve never had anything like that happen before.”
Bari’s substack is smart and brave and she seems like an amazing person - but I have grown to view her articles as being a little one sided- which is ok as it gives me a different point of view.
I love Common Sense, though some of the guest writers are sort of meh. I don't agree with Bari as often as Matt or Glenn, but like you say, another POV.
Doomberg is awesome, but many people (present company on this thread excluded of course) will not be able to handle so much fact-based truth on topics like energy and food.
Bari Weiss does good reporting on some issues but IMO seems uncritical about others, yet she writes about them. For example, she called people who declined to take certain injections "foolish." She also spewed the Official Narrative on Ukraine. Her seemingly uncritical "progressive" views on these issues has been enough to make me unsubscribe from her substack. i'm not saying she has to share all my views, but I do believe she shouldn't write about topics about which she does not appear to have done careful, objective research. In contrast, I've heard Michael Schellenberger express opinions similar to Bari's about the injections and Ukraine, but he made those comments in passing, and he stays in his lane of expertise on his Substack. IMO there's a big difference.
I still remember her calling Tulsi Gabbard an "Assad toady" on Rogan's show. Another example of her repeating the official narrative, even though she then wasn't able to explain what a "toady" was and had to look it up.
Bari is in the process of waking up. I believe she will get there, anyway she’s trying. Do t be so harsh - many of us were slow wakers too. But a red pill is a red pill. 😬
I agree that we all are waking up to various issues at our own pace, and there is much about Bari's work that I admire. But my confidence in anyone's judgment is undermined when they use labels like "foolish" or "toady." Reeks of smugness IMO.
You have a point, and I remember that at some point after she did the Rogan appearance and also after she walked away from the New York Times, I saw a clip of her on CNN saying something that made me pleasantly surprised. I forget exactly what, but it was critical of the mainstream media in a way that you usually don't see on a network like CNN.
The ONLY truly honest journalist in the western world is Julian Assange and he's in a British super max. It's a warning on how far you can go and Matt isn't even close. Even Jimmy Dore got shut down for too much truth, another lesson on how far you can go in the Land of the first amendment which is nothing but paper.. sucker.
The fact that Brennan said (and is allowed to say) this ON AIR “All the signs point to some sort of sabotage,” said former CIA director John Brennan. “Russia is certainly the most likely suspect.” And Winken while Blinken publicly says “ it’s an opportunity to stop European dependency on Russia’s natural gas”..... seriously, folks, can we be this stupid ? Oh right, the media says it was Russia. This make zero sense and again, succeeds because of course it’s always Russia and “we” are always comforted by Media’s go to bogeyman.
Great topic. We are being led to War by compliant sheep in government and the press. The War Party. “government and media have merged. There’s no discernible difference now between the Sangers and Chuck Todds of the world and the craggy-faced retired CIA flacks”
The rationalization is that "Russia is the aggressor" which can't be qualified in her mind by anything, not even the history of Ukraine/Russian relations.
The fact that the US is backing Ukraine and has refused to broker peace negotiations suggests to me that the Russians have a just cause, given our recent martial track record in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and the penchant of our security state for "regime change" and "democracy building." But that's as far as I'm willing to speculate.
I am trying to reserve judgment about the Ukraine/Russian war until the war ends or civilization is destroyed, whichever comes first.
Quite honestly, I never got the whole idea that Krystal was the new Walter Cronkite. I have no idea what her credentials are and have always wondered if people didn't go to the BP site because they want to be with the "in" crowd who wanted to belive that Krystal and Saagar were telling the "truth" when all others are lying. Isn't that the PR message we hear at the end of every episode ? Isn't the entire show about how terrible the MSM is ? I don't need BP to tell me that.
Sometimes I think people just watch to see what totally unprofessional outfits Krystal will be wearing. I can't count the number of times I read something like - Oh Krystal - you look so HOT -. I don't remember Walter Cronkite ever being called HOT - but then, the time's they are a-changing.
I remember either a comment or a tweet I saw which compared her outfits to the stuff you saw the really rich people wearing in the Hunger Games movies. As in a combination of opulent and bizarre.
Maybe that was part of why she (and her bf) reacted so poorly to Ana Kasparian's outfit being called inappropriate for a news room, IDK.
Anyway, yeah, the "help us beat corporate media" message sounds more hollow than ever.
We dont have "governments". (which are nothing more than legal fictions, straw man, like "corporations")
we have rival mafia gangs.
none of them actually run, by the Scarecrow like puppets, smoky back rooms install as "leaders", or that people imagine they "vote" for.
despite chicken in every pot bs stump promises (fReEdUmB!!!1! lIbErTy!!!!)
not a damn one, globally, gives a flying f*&K about the people.
this is galt's gulch, libertarian utopia. machiavellian madness. every cuck for their self.
#HostLife - The people have been turned into "hosts" (a food source - rent payers) for the 1% parasites (leeches - rent collectors) by the re-establishment of the "West Virginia Coal Mine Experience"™ (circa 1900). See Earned Vs. Unearned income
By incrementally monopolizing necessities (food, water, shelter, utilities, even information), by debt expansion, and by wage suppression: we now work in their company "mines" (cube farms, whatever), live in their company housing (mortgage), shop in their company store (credit card debt), pay MONOPOLY prices for basic necessities.
Literally, cradle to grave slavery to a small collection of "Nanny" Transnational Corporations (all owned at the top by a handful of investors)
yeah i never understood why people tolerate the government doing things that theyd put you in prison for: murder, theft, counterfeiting, lying, enslavement, etc. somehow, when you get a few million people to vote for, it somehow becomes ok.
«The people have been turned into "hosts" (a food source - rent payers) for the 1% parasites (leeches - rent collectors)»
That's the usual delusional impression of "leftoids": it is actually the 20-40%, not just the 1%, the 20-40% who own real estate in good areas or have significant 401K portfolios of stocks who are redistributing fantastic amounts from the lower classes.
The political problem is not elite rentierism, it is mass rentierism.
Just about everything published by the MSM concerning Russia, Ukraine, and energy policies and even possible nuclear war has been dangerously dishonest to the point where you recently had Neil deGrasse Tyson (the guy who gleefully announced Pluto's planetary demotion) arguing with a straight face that nukes aren't as scary as they used to be. Huh?
What's next Matt? What other shibboleth of truth, justice & the American Way will you cast aspersions on?
Biden is really senile?
Trump really isn't the bastard love child of an Adolph Hitler/Beelzebub drunken hook up?
Russiagate was a fairy tale?
The Covid vaccine doesn't stop transmission?
Mashing together Covid strains to make 80% lethal variants is actually a bad idea?
There really were no WMDs in Iraq?
Men can't have babies?
Ukraine Nazism really isn't just a social club for Ukrainian patriots?
I suppose that I should expect, given the season of the year and all, some long essay explaining how Santa Claus isn't real & reindeers really can't fly?
You've become just another naysaying nabob of negativity Mr. Taibbi.
Why would RussIa blow up billions of dollars worth of equipment, interfereing with critical hard currency flow, when the could simply shut off the spigot?
Agree. There is no need for Russia to blow up Nord Stream to prevent gas deliveries. Does it mean they didn't do it? Of course not. But the question has to be asked.
You get some bizarre convoluted theory where Putin is sort of a really incompetent version of The Joker who also can blow up pipelines literally under the nose of the Sixth Fleet.
The fact that the MSM seem to have quietly dropped the subject shows that everyone knows who did it, even if they can't say so out loud.
The Europeans know too, but their leadership also dare not speak up. Europeans should think about this, and ask whom do their "leaders" really represent, 'cause it sure ain't them.
Great point. You can learn a lot by paying attention to what the media chooses not to cover versus what it does cover.
"...'cause it sure ain't them".....or us. Shareholder value is what's represented.
Yeah. I was there for the 1st energy crisis and response. It was lame but somehow populated with folks that were real. The current Green Revolution is unrecognizable as anything that’s going to matter.
I agree. Before the global Armageddon hypothesis, environmentalists were rightly concerned with actual instances of environmental degradation and pollution here and now. Every other real, preventable trashing of the environment now has to take a back seat to the climate change zealots.
Interesting. Erroneous, but nevertheless interesting.
Americans should do the same thing, my man. "Cuz I'd suggest that they are well along the road (if not already arrived) at the point where the whole world despises your country. And they have you outnumbered.
What, pray tell, is "my country"?
I am a feral cat. I have no home.
Outstanding journalism in this piece. I’ve spent years being extremely concerned about the media being in bed with government and what it would mean for any opposing voices speaking out. But with Matt Taibi’s reportage and the many others like investigative reporter Matt Orfalea doing a fine job to expose the lies and hypocrisy, I feel better about the world in general. I’ve said it before, thank you is not enough, but thank you.
You've got me there. I assumed, in error, that you were American, in that you were telling other nations what they need to do. So, do you live in the wild?
I fend for myself, and I try to avoid American bossiness.
He’s a good kitty. Yes he is!
I am not a dog....
All the while using a Chinese manufactured computer, laptop or smartphone to post here. Very independent of you.
Europeans despise the war, their leaders are doing the asskissing. That will change as winter arrives...
You are so correct. People in Austria are already making trips to the forests to gather wood.
Yeah, this. The sycophancy has been disgusting. There is more than enough responsibility to go around for this shit-show.
As with individuals, clearly the leaders are habituated to asking the US for help. They also know that when long time clients displease US leadership, (like Venezuela, Chile (1971), and Iraq, it's likely that millions may die. Their economies will be strangled slowly." Nuf said?
Sure, the leaders are terrified of the possible chaos coming their way when the very cold winter and scarce supplies of fuel coincide.
Duck and cover, 8G, duck and cover....
Obama was more effective at neutering opposition to the Empire than anything Bush-Cheney could have done.
Obama took the “national security” apparatus installed after 9/11 under the auspices of the Patriot Act and re-trained it on domestic opposition, which is why the FBI, CIA, etc. now act as enforcement arms of the Democratic Party.
The two comments are not necessarily in opposition to one another. The "Intelligence community" didn't start with Trump and hasn't stopped with him, either.
And as he intended.
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
"...Europe is run by young hip green warmongers..." Groovy.
Commanded by Lt. General Maynard G. Krebs?
Why slander hippies? The young, hip, green Euros are neo-Marxist social engineers willing to sacrifice future generations on the altar of anti-human environmental policy based on an unfalsifiable hypothesis derived from a computer model. The green religion drives European totalitarianism as much as neo-Marxist social justice. What worries me most is that hip, young, green SJWs on both continents have never experienced life under the Cold War and so imagine a limited nuclear exchange (ugh) is conceivable.
By the way, what separates "neo-Marxist social justice" from good old vanilla social justice? The neo-Marxists (whatever that means) raffle off copies of the 18th Brumaire and posters of Diego Rivera's Rockefeller deep-sixed portrait of Trotsky at the next Marxist-Leninist Meeting in Buffalo?
I use "neo-Marxist social justice" in the way New Discourses uses "critical social justice," and, rather than attempting to paraphrase it, I offer you a link to its definition: https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-social-justice/
Briefly and over-simply, neo-Marxism refers to the revision of the concepts of Marxism by a few seminal theorists in reaction to the Communists' failure to persuade the working class to seize the means of production, from overthrowing the Bourgeoisie. This revision substituted "oppressed" racial and ethnic identity groups for the Marxist Proletariat and straight white men as the Bourgeoisie. An excellent extended definition of neo-Marxism can also be found in the New Discourses Encyclopedia of Social Justice: https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-neo-marxism/
Karl Popper: "Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses that was introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)."
"Popper opposed falsifiability to the intuitively similar concept of verifiability. Verifying the claim "All swans are white" would logically require observing all swans, which is not technologically possible. In contrast, the observation of a single black swan is technologically reasonable and sufficient to logically falsify the claim. On the other hand, the Duhem–Quine thesis says that definitive experimental falsifications are impossible[1] and that no scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions."
Try on, for size, Duhem-Quine:
"...The Duhem–Quine thesis, also called the Duhem–Quine problem, after Pierre Duhem and Willard Van Orman Quine, is that in science it is impossible to experimentally test a scientific hypothesis in isolation, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions (also called auxiliary assumptions or auxiliary hypotheses): the thesis says that unambiguous scientific falsifications are impossible.[1] In recent decades the set of associated assumptions supporting a thesis sometimes is called a bundle of hypotheses."
Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses---not THE standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses. That is to say Karl Popper's falsifiability theory as a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses is itself an "unfalsifiable hypothesis." Derived from a computer model or not.
"No scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions."
So computer models alleged to demonstrate the long-term effects of greater CO2 emissions are as useless in predicting the future as observational hypotheses. I'm not surprised. This doesn't explain or justify why anyone should follow government-imposed measures intended to "slow global warming" or "climate change." Especially people like farmers in the Netherlands.
All of a sudden Uncle Vad is in everybody's head. There will be no nuclear war. As long as no one starts one, in which case there will be nuclear war.
In reality, the MIC is just the trophy wife of the banks. The one thing the flunkies, grifters, psychopaths and prostitutes allowed in government can do, is run up the debt, because public debt is the foundation of the banking system. The secret sauce of capitalism is public debt banking private wealth. The wars are just a way to make it go away, so more can be borrowed.
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
As the executive and regulatory function, government is analogous to a central nervous system, while money and banking mirror blood and the circulation system. As such, government is inherently centripetal, while banking is inherently centrifugal. The tyrannies of judgement, versus the anarchies of desire.
With government as public utility and banking remaining private, it gives the moneyed interests the upper hand, so either we accept the medium enabling markets has to be a public utility, or we will have to go back to some more private form of government, as Russia has done, with Putin.
The one thing the flunkies allowed in office manage to do, no matter what, is run up the public debt, which the banks need to function. The secret sauce of capitalism is public debt backing private wealth.
The wars are just a way to make it go away, so more can be borrowed. That's why they are so monumentally inept and no one is taken out and shot.
The MIC is just the trophy wife of the banks.
"Foaming the runway."
Actually, Tsar Nicholas’ advisers told the gullible monarch that the Russian people would overthrow him if he failed to go to the rescue of fellow Slavs and Orthodox Christians in Serbia. Bear in mind, that Russian military failures eventually made the war very unpopular in Russia doesn’t mean it was unpopular to begin with!
Which does raise the question of why those advisers thought it worth going to war. There is always empathy driving us to act in others interests and against our own, but it also gets frequently leveraged by others. History is full of useful idiots.
It should be noted all those monarchs were cousins, so why did their states get pushed into war. I think that over time, a lot of history will continue bubbling to the surface and get argued over.
Got a lot more unpopular the longer they were in it. Got humiliating when they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Brest-Litovsk was signed by the Bolsheviks, after the abdication of Nicholas II Aleksandrovich and the February Revolution, not to mention failure of Trotskii's "no war - no peace policy".
There is some truth to this, although the French also demanding that Russia honor its treaty obligations. The reason Russia owed so much money wasn't so much because of the 1905 War and its aftermath, but because Russia was expanding rapidly, and expansion requires capital.
Anyway, if you ever get bored, read Professor Adam Tooze's "Deluge", much of which is devoted to how WWI was financed.
Long story short, before 1914, it was commonly believed among many informed men that any general European war would necessarily be short, as all participants would start to run out of money within a couple of months of the outbreak of hostilities. Thing is - they would have been right, if governments had remained subject to pre-1914 constraints.
The British, in particular, did all sorts of things to prolong the war, stuff like forcing the Indian government to lend its entire treasury (in silver Rupiahs) to H.M. Exchequer and take back British government bonds as collateral, forcing private shareholders owning high-grade U.S. and Latin American securities to make forced loans to the government, suspending gold convertibility, etc..
Even then, the British came close to hard default on several occasions, including even after the US had entered the war.
In fact, the J.P. Morgan was the biggest lobbyist for US intervention in that pointless struggle, mainly because the House Of Morgan had lent vast sums to the British, and was concerned that they might not get their money back.
One of the ancient Greek historians commented that without money, you cannot make war.
Countries go to war or refrain from going, often, based on economic/resource motives.
Japan attacked the US after increasing sanctions culminated in us cutti g off their oil supply.
Eisenhower threatened to sell off UK bonds and flood the market to devalue the pound in England did not abandon the Suez canal in 1956.
etc etc
The problem though, is that if the Republicans win both House and Senate, Russiagate will play in reverse, from Hunter to Hillary. Which will be hard to reconcile with the Zelensky as Churchill meme.
Not to mention starving German industry of energy will make what England is sinking into look like a tea party. The history of European unity is not very deep and it wouldn't necessarily take much of a spark to turn it into the Hindenburg. Frankly, I would be surprised if the EU makes it to the spring.
In which case; Ukraine? Ukraine who?
When it's all foam and bubbles, the wave is cresting.
Why do you want Putin to win?
How much do you actually bother reading history?
We have been pushing other countries around since basically the Monroe Doctrine and now Russia is evil because they don't like Ukraine joining Nato?
Frankly I don't have a dog in that fight. They are on the other side of the world.
I have come to understand most of my fellow citizens are historically clueless and have no understanding of the degree they are herded around like sheep. All they know is if the crowd is running, they run along with it.
Then they wonder why they get fleeced so regularly.
I'm just pointing out a much larger bubble is getting close to popping.
The mother of all reality checks is in the mail.
Debt doesn't matter, until it does.
We are going from the "gradually," to the "suddenly" phase.
This is a verbal upvote since the button doesn't work.
Karen here is a troll who prefers to comment enigmatically.
Why do you want EVERYONE to lose?
I'm sure the various players in the various factions had a lot of plans.
Though as the famous philosopher, Mike Tyson said; Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the face.
It's safe to say that if/when the Republicans get the House and Senate, there will be too many juicy opportunities to worry about conflicting storylines.
It will be a different world, come next spring.
Gene, You really have a thing about Bush. The fact that he still takes so much of your thinking is not healthy.
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
I thought you said you were a Republican voter?
From (at least) Iraq, and Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Russiagate, Jan 6, Covid etc the US political/media mainstream discourse has been pretty much nothing but spin, hypocrisy, propaganda and outright lies. But, goodness me, after Ukraine it’s gone further still and now the entire West is basically in Orwell territory: Goebbels and Stalin could only dream of such a relentless blatant monolithic reality/reason-defying propaganda machine. “Russian invasion was unprovoked; Ukraine is a democracy defending Western values; Russia is bombing the nuclear plant under its own control; Ukraine’s Nazi problem is just Russian propaganda; Russia has sabotaged its own pipelines…” Problem is, tens of millions of Western sheep still believe whatever their politicians/msm tell them…
I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic of late. Here’s a little thought experiment I’ve been running: imagine some country other than the US, say Brazil, or Uganda, it doesn’t really matter - who thinks their shit doesn’t stink - went gallivanting around the world telling other countries what to do because they have nukes and a flotilla of warships and other really cool military gadgetry and the global reserve currency…and noncompliance means that they will blow you to bits, or cut you off from the international financial clearing houses, neutering your domestic economy/currency. If those actions were taken against the US - how would we feel about it? We likely would have some serious heartburn, and more than likely would be seriously pissed off. I was reading a NYT article about Russian oligarch yachts evading US sanctions by porting in Turkey when I got an email about Matt’s article here, so I stopped what I was doing and read Matt’s piece - then finished the NYT piece. And I couldn’t help but think - what if Uganda or Brazil did this to us. Sanctions, freezing or nationalizing another country’s foreign reserve accounts, property etc. It just baffles me that we can get away with this stuff and the press, our reps/senators et al all act like this is totally cool and normal when we’re about 5% of the global population. Does no one realize that all of this is going to seriously come back and bite us in the ass? I have to think that people around the world are getting sick of our shit - and why wouldn’t they? As some old wise geezer once said “I love my country, but I fear my government”.
Couldn’t have been said better. Just anything to maintain US hegemony is OK. Remember Cuban missiles? But Putin was supposed to accept five minutes to a missile strike on Moscow? Who do the Pentagon think they are going to kid with that one?
Realpolitik and a big stick. Foreign policy is not driven by the concern, "how would we feel if they did this to us?" They may consider it of course. But at the end of the day rational policy is driven by self-interest.
Consider Kate Raworth's credible debunk of rational self-interest absent its critical mate, "Adam Smith . . . had a rather nuanced view of humans — that self-interest is essential for making markets work, but our interest in others is essential for making society work. However, economic theory evolved to focus only on that trait of self-interest, resulting in a dangerously narrow picture of who we are. . . . the more that students learn about the traits of rational economic man, the more they come to value self-interest and competitiveness and the more they turn away from altruism and collaboration. . . . Whilst we do have a propensity towards selfishness, we are also the most social mammal and we possess strong traits of cooperation and altruism." https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/kate-raworth-we-need-a-new-understanding-of-what-the-economy-is-and-what-its-for/
Do not confuse self interest with selfishness.
Altruism means nothing if one impoverishes one’s self in the pursuit.
Both are reasonable goods. Both have limits.
What are your definitions?
See conditional cooperation and altruistic punishment. There are even examples in our country.
True. But I was referring to that pervasive self-interest of the “West” that “we” have to be No.1. Democracy hasn’t really failed yet. There are still elections, maybe fair. People could get mad enough to react. But maybe that’s my wishful thinking.
But self-interest is specifically the thing relied upon in creating checks and balances. Self-interest is what guides foreign policy (ideally anyway) to best serve the needs of the people. If any motive is ever reliable it is self-interest. It defines a rational actor.
“Ideally anyway”? “a rational actor”? Come on Demon Hunter. When do we ever have that? My own money management should certainly be in my self-interest. But I have a hell of a time keeping it rational. I can’t see any gov. policy anywhere, any time as rational.
That is entirely intentional.
Fallout pills. They're much stronger today than in the 1950s-60s. Fortified, too, with 8 essential vitamins.
A post-armageddon world is where we separate the men from the boys...
Yep. I have the same take. This is going to bite us in the ass big time.
Isn’t that China?
Are you serious?
Yes. For example, Taiwan. The primary difference is that China relies on economic rather than military leverage to make sure that countries fall in line.
I was speaking a bit metaphorically - but no - the US seem to be the biggest bully on the block right now. Maybe China will step up and let us off the hook. Am I writing in Latin or Greek here?
Let's work with that. The world has never had a global hegemon like it has since the fall of the Soviet Union. It has had lots of regional hegemons. In relative terms I'd argue the US has been the most benign. Do you think China or Russia would be more likely or less likely to play nice in the sandbox?
China has been flexing a great deal of military muscle in the region.
They have been taking notes.
Karma is a bitch.
But Uganda or Brazil could not do this to the US. Financial bullying has been a fundamental tool of statecraft forever. Not defending any of it. Just recognizing the reality.
Absolutely, through all time.
You're absolutely correct, IMO. OTOH, if it wasn't us, it would be one or more of "them". While most of us are looking for a decent life, there's always the subset looking for the non zero sum win.
This is why so many other countries like having us around as tourists and business folks - but they really do hate our government as much as we do. Sadly, their own leaders are just as corrupt.... it really is a "mad, mad" world.
So you've never seen The Godfather?
Everything you need to know about life can be gleaned from that movie.
I usually can't take the news on Sundays since I am worn out from listening to it all week. Consider our killing spree in the middle east that destroyed whole countries and millions of lives, some displaced, some injured many killed and we continue to do so in countries like Syria, and allow there suffering to continue. Of cause nothing stops the US in her narcissistic pursuits, and her unmitigated gall to continue to call Russia bad, and a country always up to no good, who dares to spread it's influence where it doesn't belong. Of course our 21st centuries killing sprees are the tip of the iceberg and were preceded by overturning whole countries, or just killing off their heads of state and before the 21st century came into being we killed some 6 million people in pursuit of our goals, so when anyone talks about Russia bad America good I'm not listening. .
Notice when articles reference the plight of Ukraine and it's many issues, like this one a list of political names pop up except the name Obama, or did Matt just mention him in passing and I missed it, since Obama did come out against Nord Stream 2 well he said that after the Russians took Crimea through a referendum. Of course it was Obama who implemented the coup during his presidency with the support of a core base of neo-Nazi's and whose purpose was to push America's influence into Russia's backyard which began this whole saga, and all this death, and all the lies. It was his neo-Nazi support team working side by side with Ukraine's military that killed thousands in the Donbass and triggered this war.
❗️
Nenade -- ovo je nevjerojatno:
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
Svašta.
I'm so happy to be fighting the memory hole with Matt Taibbi
I wish you would take this out from behind the paywall. Some of your posts are so good they really are a public service. The average liberal ( I am a leftist, which isn’t the same thing and yes, lefties have their own blind spots ) has little or no conception of just how much our media functions as a propaganda outlet for the military- industrial -think tank complex. I expressed skepticism about the press to a liberal acquaintance a year ago and he immediately assumed I was echoing Trumpist propaganda.
I've grown up in a communist country. My father was in prison for celebrating Christmas. Then, a war came to further adorn the beauty of all that hell. Members of my family were slaughtered. Myself, as a journalist back home, have been persecuted, threatened, attacked, sent to hiding (thus a political asylum in the U.S.) and what not. Even my cat was killed when "they" did not find me at home, on a mission to put me away.
What I am saying is that I had been somewhat inoculated from the propaganda for I learned to read in between the lines / lies / since an early age. What's going on with the U.S. propaganda is beyond belief; it's rabid hatred toward the "other" surpassed anything I've witnessed, or experienced first hand but the "ability" of the "left" / "progressive" / to gobble up every single bit of BS - like the hookers pissing on the Orange Man and everything else since, including the admiration of the worst criminal corporation ever, Pfizer, and love for the FBI / CIA / The Pentagon -- is something I can't wrap my mind around. Twenty one fucking years of lies, if we count only those after 9/11 can boil even the most resilient frog, I get it, but where in the name of God is that American rugged individualism that made me fall in love with America and drove me here? How in the name of all that's human you guys, Americans, especially "intellectual left" managed to piss away your freedoms is insane and borderline criminal.
They seem to me, all of them "lefties" (for the record I call two branches of the War Party a Despicable and Repulsive ones, just to be clear that my disgust toward the "D" side is loud only because they have all the political power + Silicon Valley + most of the mass media) on the path not even communists were able to take. That of total annihilation of common sense, all that's human in their "normalize the insane" ongoing psyop and, ultimately, killing the society and the country with it.
I've been here, living in this magical land (I drove across the mythical American vastness several times) for only 26 years but the America I saw when I arrived and the America of today are two diametrically opposite countries. On Sunday, I fly back to the same country that tried to kill me. I'd rather face some PTSD-ed soldier still holding grudges (back home I was called the Public Enemy #1) and his bullet than keep living in the country I called home for all these years, the country whose myths I still love, but the country that hates its own people up to the point of destroying their lives in every imaginable way possible.
Thanks for this. Some of us are also wondering what happened to the old American spirit. Best of luck to you on your journey. Please come back, we need people like you.
Everything Joe Biden has done since becoming president has been bad for the American people - and for the free world in general. What on earth is his motivation for destroying the economy, destabilizing the security of the western world, making the country less safe and destroying the integrity of the justice dept? Where are the good people who work in these institutions who are watching this country crumble and don’t seem to care? Where are the journalists who see these wrongs being done to people and think that leaving this country better for the next generation is important? It is hard to believe that Joe Biden has any interest in doing anything to benefit his own people
This is a Communist takeover in realtime..
You always know it's a communist takeover when you can't see or identify the communists. Dead giveaway.
Here are some of the "long marchers":
Cathy Boudan (NYU), Bernadine Dohrn (NYU), Bill Ayers (U of I Chicago), Howard Machtiger (UNC), Ericka Huggins (CSU, Berkeley City College), Susan Rosenberg (John Jay College), Eleanor Raskin (Albany law School), Mark Rudd (Central New Mexico Community College), Angela Davis (UC Santa Cruz), the late bell hooks (Berea College), Ibrahim Kendi (Boston College et. al.), Robin DiAngelo (U of Washington) . . .
Just reading the names sends chills up and down my spine. Took an advanced botany class at my local community college a few years ago and my instructor dropped strong hints that she voted for Hillary in 2016. Someone to keep an eye on...
This is the question ---- incompetence vs. planned destruction of America. Altho' I like to imagine space aliens walk among us, I have not been a conspiracy theorist. I don't want to believe that there are powers that are actively working to destroy America. But I have to tell ya, virtually everything this administration of Pres. Hairsniffer has done has been to the detriment of the concept of America. So. Incompetence vs. planned destruction.?
Right now I am going with --- Anyone who spends their whole life getting ahead in the black hole of government corruption can be nothing else. Unfortunately for us, somehow this creep got elected President (thanks, Wuhan and Rep. Clyburn).
Whatever happened to the concept of public service? It is GONE! At every level! To paraphrase Carlin, it's their government, and we're not in it.
"Whoever is fortunate enough to be an American citizen came into the greatest inheritance man has ever enjoyed. He has had the benefit of every heroic and intellectual effort men have made for many thousands of years, realized at last. If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish."--Isabel Paterson (1943)
This is a great post-- a view from the outside looking in (and most definitely a view from one who voluntarily decided to live here) is especially enlightening and valuable. I, as an American, share your disbelief in regards to the direction in which America has been headed and continues to go. Civil liberties in the first amendment--a hill I would gladly die on. Live and let live and endeavor to let live. No idea why some would want to curtail those necessities for living with dignity for anyone anywhere. The CIA/FBI/Pentagon love fest with the press really gets to me because it undermines many of those rights--I was glad to see in America This Week the James Gordon Meek case and his lawyer calling out the Justice Dept leaking whatever to the press. And then predictably “someone familiar with the case” saying the info had nothing to do with classified material but came from a private tech platform. Private tech platform--my ass. In name only. Every other media platform please take note--this shit needs to stop. Have we already gone past the point of no return?
YES!
Loved your comment. Powerful. I took the liberty to copy it and post it elsewhere below Matt Orfalea's video mashup of the government-media consortium of lies around nord stream and so much else. I hope that I haven't violated your privacy. Best
Well said.
WOW. That is a tragic and dispiriting, yet completely understandable commentary on the state of America these days. It is true in every sense, and it breaks my heart to read your poignant comment, because I have children that are going to have to live in this dystopian propaganda machine.
Please be safe. The fly over states, we might be the last bastions of civility, common sense, and love. But then again….
China has brought hundreds of millions out of poverty. Russia under President Putin, tens of millions. How many Americans know that home ownership in China is higher than the USA and getting higher while its shrinking dramatically in the US. Of course the millions of BIPOC families kicked out of their homes by the Obama regime didn't stop them from reelecting him. Same with the rednecks and Bush II. Breathtaking clulesness in the unwashed and the "professional" classes are easily bought off with a few pieces of silver.
Robert, I think you might need to check them facts on China a bit more closely. Beleiving anything coming out of a communist regime is pretty much what this article is about.
Don’t give up brother. America needs people like you. Go back and clear your head but come back to America after that. You are American. We are your countrymen
The simple answer is that American conservative intelligentsia were asleep at the switch, being lulled by their complacency and obsession with wealth while the right/conservative working class were too busy with survival, and when they did complain were dismissed as "Nazis," "far-right," and "conspiracy theorists," the same slanders used by the left today. Republicans were too busy pursuing foreign domination and "regime change" and basking in the reflected glory of that mummy Reagan, rolling in the dollars his "leadership" showered on them.
"It's only an intellectual game played by academics." Famous last words.
God bless America! Stick around long enough and you'll get tossed in the slammer for NOT celebrating Christmas.
Matt’s writing is well worth $5 bucks a month.
Agreed. My earlier post today was supposed to also reply to yours. Tryvge’s letter was painful to read, but I’m afraid he’s right. I wish him well.
TDS is real
And do not forget the pharma industrial complex currently slowly killing people around the world with mRNA shots.
100%. I get that there are bills to pay, but some of Matt's pieces NEED to be circulated more. And while he'll usually tweet the key points in whatever he writes, not everyone's following him on Twitter.
An Op Ed in a legacy newspaper might be a start, but they would never allow it.
Or even just let us share it once for free.
It’s as if the State has completely given up on caring about their credibility, as viewed through the lens of MSM reporting, which the State has a stranglehold on through well placed intelligence assets over the decades and that now dominate most every major newsroom and print media in America.
It’s a level of propaganda that is so nauseating that reeks of desperation. As in…no one believes you.
When I see a pro-Ukraine report these days I almost immediately believe that Ukraine must be in the wrong.
100%. The Ukraine fiasco is a horrifying example of the power of state propaganda and the knee-jerk gullibility of our citizens who were eager to root for the side they were told to. Nothing we hear about the war should be believed, and if we survive it we will be years unraveling anything like the truth about it.
Corporate media has zero credibility and now functions as the Propaganda Wing of the Democratic Party or the current regime, whatever it can be called.
They've dug a deep hole, since I doubt they will automatically switch teams under a Republican majority, or even a Republican majority with the White House.
The Republicans are feckless cowards. We desperately need a new pro-America and Americans multi ethnic workers party. The security state is a clear and present danger to our country
Yep. Both parties need to burn to the ground and be rebuilt from scratch.
Find and advance any candidate for public office who declares allegiance with the reformed Libertarian Party, or in the rare event that an actual LP party member of the Mises Caucus manages to get on a ballot, vote for him/her.
When my people seize power our decorative pyres will feature the libertarians as kindling for the democrats and republicans.
Which people are those?
We had such a party from 2016 to 2020, headed by PDJT.
Nonsense. We had a rich, narcissistic, autocratic tax cheat who surrounded himself with advisors who had no solutions except those that would make them money, and who encouraged white Christian nationalists the likes of MTG to the Proud Boys. Hate the Dems if you like, but fascistic actors like Trump are no answer.
Sometimes there are no answers. Just bad choices.
As they say, all perception is projection.
Sorta. His ego's too big and his style is abrasive, but his policies (at least those he advanced on his own initiative) were good.
"...I doubt they will automatically switch teams under a Republican majority..."
Ha!
It seems blatant to people like us. I unfortunately know a lot of people who believe anything CNN and MSNBC tell them. I have recommended Substack and Taibbi specifically (also Greenwald), but they won't read it. It's frustrating to think anyone could swallow the obvious lies peddled by mainstream media and the ridiculous doublethink acrobatics required to draw such unbelievable conclusions, but they somehow keep doing it anyway. I think deep down they can't bring themselves to see that we are ruled by evil oligarchs who only care about themselves, and no amount of money or power will ever be enough for them, no matter how many ordinary people have to suffer for them to obtain it.
Add NPR to CNN and MSNBC, and you pretty much have it covered.
It's really ALL corporate-owned media outlets, including all the papers (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, the Tribunes and Heralds and Dailys, etc etc), here in the US and other countries (ie BBC, CBC, Guardian, Economist,...).
Don't forget Fox.
Cognitive dissonance is a real bitch!
Those of sound mind who accept the opinions and selective reporting of CNN and MSNBC are either leftists or lazy/stupid.
The only person in my life who thinks corporate news is credible is my 90-year-old mother who stares at Fox News for hours on end but can't remember what she hears or sees two minutes after the fact. It occurs to me that Fox stands out as more principled among corporate news outlets merely because of the Trump/Russia lie and the fact that the DP is currently in power. It's easy to forget how servile they are under RP administrations.
Thank god for principled independents like Taibbi, Greenwald, Halper, Rufo, and whoever else escapes my memory at the moment.
Matthew Ehret, Caitlin Johnstone, Whitney Webb, Michael Tracey, Celia Farber, Vanessa Beeley (off the top of my head).
Can’t disagree. Just anyone with a shred of integrity will suffice at this point. What in the serious hell has happened to the press here in the USA? They gave absolutely everything away for a bit of brainwashing and 1/10,000000th of a penny for each ad-click of a share of Pfizer ads.
That’s funny! In your mother’s defense - I’m less that half her age but suffer from the same short term memory issues…but in all seriousness, you’re spot on. I’d also add Aaron Mate’ to your list. Cheers.
When Obama "modernized" the Smith Mundt anti-domestic-propaganda Act, it essentially turned our MSM media into government (State Dept/ CIA) controlled State Media. This was LEGAL, Operation Mockingbird on steroids. The Official Narratives are all that is allowed, and troubling, exposing investigative stories are spiked.
No doubt the government will take total control of social media, and defund and deplatform any dissenting viewpoints next.
They have been trying, albeit through more covert means. Will we see the gloves come fully off? How many people will stick their heads even deeper in the sand if that happens?
Musk had better watch his ass. That $43 billy he’s dropping on Twitter can evaporate into the exosphere quicker than one of his rockets can catch up.
Did you read Matt's "America This Week" article that included the latest developments on Musk? https://taibbi.substack.com/p/america-this-week-october-16-22-2022?publication_id=1042&post_id=79781605&isFreemail=false
Here's the article he cited: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-21/us-weighs-security-reviews-for-musk-deals-including-twitter-buy?sref=h6YXDblT&leadSource=uverify%20wall
Bloomberg is behind a paywall for me.
From what Taibbi wrote, it just confirms that the Biden administration conflates political opponents' criticisms with attacks on National Security more than any Presidents' since Woodrow Wilson's administration.
Moreover Mussolini's definition of Fascism, control of nominally private corporations by Government, seems the major goal of Biden's domestic policies.
100% agree.
In a world of propaganda, the truth is always a conspiracy.
In the land of the blind - the one eyed man is king.
or tortured at a black site indefinitely
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
― Frank Zappa
“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.”
― George Orwell
I don't trust much of anything that comes out of our CIA/FBI and certainly not the Executive Branch anymore. They have proven to use any means to and end and lie effortlessly about their roles. They've declared war on half of our country, and don't even hide it anymore.
The Ukraine was hopelessly corrupt, and a playground for the Biden syndicate, which gives me pause about who to even support in the current war. I absolutely believe our country was every bit as motivated, and willing to carry out the pipeline bombing.
I don’t understand our gubmint at times. First they blow up NS2, then reimplement rules for domestic LNG that had been paused for 18 YEARS. Now NS2 is crippled, and what could have helped the EU in backfilling that lost supply has been deemed too risky...after not being a significant threat in 18 YEARS!
The biggest disaster wasn’t the scuttling of NS-2. It was the collapse in faith of the US citizen to ever have faith in government and its media lackeys. The US government/media symbiosis is demonstrably incapable of ever uttering the truth.
And trust this: the next NS-2 “mystery” will be the synchronized “silencing” and “disappearing” of independent journalists.
It's already happening (and somehow not an attack on the press!):
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/big-brother-behaving-badly-bonus
And since I wrote that article, I've also read about another guy getting harassed!
https://pjmedia.com/uncategorized/jeff-reynolds/2022/10/20/former-pjtv-filmmaker-investigated-by-fbi-as-domestic-terrorist-for-j6-documentary-n1636605
Despite never having entered the Capitol building himself, the FBI has now come to Burgard’s ranch in Texas to interrogate him. As one might imagine, after filming extensive interviews with victims of the FBI witch hunt, this left Burgard and his family shaken. Chris and his wife Lisa described the process in an interview with PJ Media.
On August 4, an FBI agent drove up the quarter-mile driveway at Burgard’s Texas ranch and left his card on the door. Lisa said she found the process deeply unsettling. “There was no note attached, so I wasn’t sure, like, was it for Chris, was it for me, was it for the whole family? Were we supposed to call them back? I really didn’t know what to make of it, but it was a warning. I mean, I’ve never had anything like that happen before.”
Are you saying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been repaired? o.O
They said that before it was blown up. Gazprom CEO says repairs may take a year.
https://www.pipeline-journal.net/news/gazprom-says-big-section-nord-stream-pipelines-need-be-replaced
No, he did not.
It was repaired ... duhhh ... 🙄
Neither are currently operable. If you believe the Russian energy minister, well, would you like to buy a bridge?
Once security assurances and measures are implemented, the pipeline will operate once again.
Got a link on that info? I can’t find it.
Matt - I think you and Glen are the last two honest voices in the media - where would we all be without you
Bari Weiss deserves a spot on your list. Also Michael Shellenberger breaks down climate religion and progressivism very very well.
Michael Shellenbwrger has had some really interesting stories - I totally agree
Bari’s substack is smart and brave and she seems like an amazing person - but I have grown to view her articles as being a little one sided- which is ok as it gives me a different point of view.
I love Common Sense, though some of the guest writers are sort of meh. I don't agree with Bari as often as Matt or Glenn, but like you say, another POV.
Same.
He’s also getting bullied by Congress on both sides for his views, which can be considered a badge of honor.
And Doomberg.
Doomberg is awesome, but many people (present company on this thread excluded of course) will not be able to handle so much fact-based truth on topics like energy and food.
Whenever I read one of their columns I feel like my brain has just been scoured. I consider that a positive,
Bari Weiss does good reporting on some issues but IMO seems uncritical about others, yet she writes about them. For example, she called people who declined to take certain injections "foolish." She also spewed the Official Narrative on Ukraine. Her seemingly uncritical "progressive" views on these issues has been enough to make me unsubscribe from her substack. i'm not saying she has to share all my views, but I do believe she shouldn't write about topics about which she does not appear to have done careful, objective research. In contrast, I've heard Michael Schellenberger express opinions similar to Bari's about the injections and Ukraine, but he made those comments in passing, and he stays in his lane of expertise on his Substack. IMO there's a big difference.
I still remember her calling Tulsi Gabbard an "Assad toady" on Rogan's show. Another example of her repeating the official narrative, even though she then wasn't able to explain what a "toady" was and had to look it up.
Gene, the master of projection as always.
Bari is in the process of waking up. I believe she will get there, anyway she’s trying. Do t be so harsh - many of us were slow wakers too. But a red pill is a red pill. 😬
I agree that we all are waking up to various issues at our own pace, and there is much about Bari's work that I admire. But my confidence in anyone's judgment is undermined when they use labels like "foolish" or "toady." Reeks of smugness IMO.
You have a point, and I remember that at some point after she did the Rogan appearance and also after she walked away from the New York Times, I saw a clip of her on CNN saying something that made me pleasantly surprised. I forget exactly what, but it was critical of the mainstream media in a way that you usually don't see on a network like CNN.
Y'all need to check out Sasha Stone. She voted Biden in 2020 and is writing some of the best Anti-Woke, pro Free Speech stuff out there now.
The ONLY truly honest journalist in the western world is Julian Assange and he's in a British super max. It's a warning on how far you can go and Matt isn't even close. Even Jimmy Dore got shut down for too much truth, another lesson on how far you can go in the Land of the first amendment which is nothing but paper.. sucker.
Right, Assamese is very honest about hating capitalism and especially the US.
Hating the US government blob is NOT hating the USA.
The fact that Brennan said (and is allowed to say) this ON AIR “All the signs point to some sort of sabotage,” said former CIA director John Brennan. “Russia is certainly the most likely suspect.” And Winken while Blinken publicly says “ it’s an opportunity to stop European dependency on Russia’s natural gas”..... seriously, folks, can we be this stupid ? Oh right, the media says it was Russia. This make zero sense and again, succeeds because of course it’s always Russia and “we” are always comforted by Media’s go to bogeyman.
2+2=5.
Or you’re racist
Or a transphobe
You bet we can be this stupid.
Great topic. We are being led to War by compliant sheep in government and the press. The War Party. “government and media have merged. There’s no discernible difference now between the Sangers and Chuck Todds of the world and the craggy-faced retired CIA flacks”
If Krystal agrees that Russia did it then I don't regret my decision to unsub from Breaking Points at ALL.
Yeah, that’s a weird one from them. I know they tend to be superficial, but to get on the Russia Did It! bandwagon takes actual effort.
Breaking Points has been co-opted by State Media. They are horrible on Covid and Foreign Policy and the Economy. Their forte is DC rumors and polls.
Yeah. It's kind of sad considering how much BS they used to cut through. Including RussiaGate! But I guess that was then...
The rationalization is that "Russia is the aggressor" which can't be qualified in her mind by anything, not even the history of Ukraine/Russian relations.
The fact that the US is backing Ukraine and has refused to broker peace negotiations suggests to me that the Russians have a just cause, given our recent martial track record in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and the penchant of our security state for "regime change" and "democracy building." But that's as far as I'm willing to speculate.
I am trying to reserve judgment about the Ukraine/Russian war until the war ends or civilization is destroyed, whichever comes first.
Quite honestly, I never got the whole idea that Krystal was the new Walter Cronkite. I have no idea what her credentials are and have always wondered if people didn't go to the BP site because they want to be with the "in" crowd who wanted to belive that Krystal and Saagar were telling the "truth" when all others are lying. Isn't that the PR message we hear at the end of every episode ? Isn't the entire show about how terrible the MSM is ? I don't need BP to tell me that.
Sometimes I think people just watch to see what totally unprofessional outfits Krystal will be wearing. I can't count the number of times I read something like - Oh Krystal - you look so HOT -. I don't remember Walter Cronkite ever being called HOT - but then, the time's they are a-changing.
I remember either a comment or a tweet I saw which compared her outfits to the stuff you saw the really rich people wearing in the Hunger Games movies. As in a combination of opulent and bizarre.
Maybe that was part of why she (and her bf) reacted so poorly to Ana Kasparian's outfit being called inappropriate for a news room, IDK.
Anyway, yeah, the "help us beat corporate media" message sounds more hollow than ever.
I like the way Krystal covers US labour issues. Sometimes the unions lose, but often they win... which is good news to me.
Good news is rare these days.
They're both rather young, but I think they'll age well.
All of the Substacks I subscribe to (except Lowry) used to be far more liberal, and have taken Relatively) more conservative positions.
And then there's Sasha Stone, who's born again.
Don't make excuses for people when they betray you.
when you get in your 80's with all of the attendent health issues, the thought of being "born again" doesn't sound too bad.
No thanks, once around is very much enough for me.
Fantastic cogent argument Gene!
thank you Matt!
it's clear to me.
We dont have "governments". (which are nothing more than legal fictions, straw man, like "corporations")
we have rival mafia gangs.
none of them actually run, by the Scarecrow like puppets, smoky back rooms install as "leaders", or that people imagine they "vote" for.
despite chicken in every pot bs stump promises (fReEdUmB!!!1! lIbErTy!!!!)
not a damn one, globally, gives a flying f*&K about the people.
this is galt's gulch, libertarian utopia. machiavellian madness. every cuck for their self.
#HostLife - The people have been turned into "hosts" (a food source - rent payers) for the 1% parasites (leeches - rent collectors) by the re-establishment of the "West Virginia Coal Mine Experience"™ (circa 1900). See Earned Vs. Unearned income
By incrementally monopolizing necessities (food, water, shelter, utilities, even information), by debt expansion, and by wage suppression: we now work in their company "mines" (cube farms, whatever), live in their company housing (mortgage), shop in their company store (credit card debt), pay MONOPOLY prices for basic necessities.
Literally, cradle to grave slavery to a small collection of "Nanny" Transnational Corporations (all owned at the top by a handful of investors)
"We don’t have governments, we have rival mafia gangs". Truer words were never spoken.
yeah i never understood why people tolerate the government doing things that theyd put you in prison for: murder, theft, counterfeiting, lying, enslavement, etc. somehow, when you get a few million people to vote for, it somehow becomes ok.
«The people have been turned into "hosts" (a food source - rent payers) for the 1% parasites (leeches - rent collectors)»
That's the usual delusional impression of "leftoids": it is actually the 20-40%, not just the 1%, the 20-40% who own real estate in good areas or have significant 401K portfolios of stocks who are redistributing fantastic amounts from the lower classes.
The political problem is not elite rentierism, it is mass rentierism.
Just about everything published by the MSM concerning Russia, Ukraine, and energy policies and even possible nuclear war has been dangerously dishonest to the point where you recently had Neil deGrasse Tyson (the guy who gleefully announced Pluto's planetary demotion) arguing with a straight face that nukes aren't as scary as they used to be. Huh?
https://lastnighton.com/2022/10/21/neil-degrasse-tyson-tells-maher-nuclear-weapons-not-think/
I saw that interview. Maher choked on what Tyson said.
"The media performance on this one was and is as bad as it gets."
What, seriously, this one is the worst?
Russiagate, the Insurrection, everything Ukraine, oh, you name it. And this one is as bad as it gets?
Yeah, I'd say the scamdemic was much worse.
What's next Matt? What other shibboleth of truth, justice & the American Way will you cast aspersions on?
Biden is really senile?
Trump really isn't the bastard love child of an Adolph Hitler/Beelzebub drunken hook up?
Russiagate was a fairy tale?
The Covid vaccine doesn't stop transmission?
Mashing together Covid strains to make 80% lethal variants is actually a bad idea?
There really were no WMDs in Iraq?
Men can't have babies?
Ukraine Nazism really isn't just a social club for Ukrainian patriots?
I suppose that I should expect, given the season of the year and all, some long essay explaining how Santa Claus isn't real & reindeers really can't fly?
You've become just another naysaying nabob of negativity Mr. Taibbi.
Sad.
Very sad.
Why would RussIa blow up billions of dollars worth of equipment, interfereing with critical hard currency flow, when the could simply shut off the spigot?
Agree. There is no need for Russia to blow up Nord Stream to prevent gas deliveries. Does it mean they didn't do it? Of course not. But the question has to be asked.
You get some bizarre convoluted theory where Putin is sort of a really incompetent version of The Joker who also can blow up pipelines literally under the nose of the Sixth Fleet.
If you ask people that you get a blank stare