Saturday

9.9 out of 10 based on 17 ratings

117 comments to Saturday

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    Annie

    Happy 1st of ‘Flaming’ June, as it is known in the UK.

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    TedM

    Good morning to you too Annie. Another insomniac I see.

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      Annie

      I fell asleep during the evening and was wide awake at midnight; a common pattern for me, into which I always fall whatever side of the globe once the jetlag is gone. Sigh.

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    David Maddison

    And the Left’s assault on real history continues….

    Now they’ve declared the Roman defensive structure in Once Great Britain, Hadrian’s Wall, a “queer” icon.

    It was nothing of a sort. It marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and Caledonia (not under Roman rule).

    It was irrelevant to what personal relationships Hadrian may or may not have had.

    Among his “relationships” was one with a boy, Antinous. Hadrian’s relationship with Antinous was a typical one of older Greek or Roman males with a younger Antinous who likely was well below 18 when it started, a “relationship” which would rightly have put Hadrian in jail today if he was put in front of a non-Leftist judge. (The exact date of Antinous’ birth is not known but such boys were typically 12-18 years old. In any case he died at 20 and he was with Antinous long before that.) And that’s celebrated by the Left?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13150173/Hadrians-Wall-dubbed-gay-icon-linked-Englands-queer-history-English-Heritage-claiming-Emperor-enjoyed-gay-relationships-despite-married.html

    Hadrian’s Wall dubbed a gay icon ‘linked to England’s queer history’ with English Heritage claiming Emperor enjoyed several gay relationships despite being married

    Romans built Hadrian’s Wall to protect Britannia from ‘barbarians’ in the north

    English Heritage claims Emperor Hadrian enjoyed several gay relationships

    Professor Frank Furedi accused English Heritage of trying to be ‘hyper trendy’

    English Heritage has been mocked by academics for saying Hadrian’s Wall is a symbol of England’s queer history.

    Professor Frank Furedi, author of up-coming book The War Against The Past, accused English Heritage of trying to appear ‘hyper trendy’.

    He said: ‘English Heritage appears to be in the business of reading history backwards and discovering LGBTQ culture in the most unlikely places.’

    Jeremy Black, an emeritus professor of history at Exeter University, added: ‘The idea that Hadrian’s Wall is an exposition of what can be seen as queer history is totally misguided.’

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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  • #

    Two fine articles by a new voice — Byron Soepyan

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/evs-wind-and-solar-are-neither-reliable-nor-environmentally-friendly-heres-why/: This op-ed discusses the high cost of solar, wind, and EVs during the mining, construction, operation, and decommissioning, including the environmental destructions, the material cost, the land requirement, and their unreliability. First time I have seen wind, solar and EVs put together.

    https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/carbon-capture-coal/2024/05/06/id/1163654/: This op-ed provides the estimated cost of retrofitting all of America’s coal power plants (that plan to continue operating after 2040) to satisfy EPA’s 90% CO2 capture requirement. The big gun in the war on coal.

    Lots of useful numbers.

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    • #
      Raving

      EVs are not going to blow out Canada’s electric grid. That is because our power supply is already 80% renewable from hydro and nuclear.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        As they should with the Great Lakes and Niagara Falls. Interesting that, even with all that hydro, Canada still sees nuclear as economically viable.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Comments about President Trump’s persecution and prosecution. (Copied from elsewhere.)

    On one of the most historic days in American history, President Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, went on prime time television while most of the country was tuned in and masterfully explained to the American people what President Trump is like behind the scenes.

    “President Trump is an amazing man. He’s President. He’s running for President. And he has a public persona. He is also a husband, a father, a grandfather and a friend to a lot of people…

    I’ve spent almost every day with him for 6 weeks. He is so impressive… He was resolute. Strong. We were all more upset than he was. We’re all sitting there and he said, ‘Alright let’s go. What do I need to tell the American people right now?’ and we said whatever is on your heart, whatever you wanna say – he said ‘I got it. I got it.’ So we were all huddling in to give him counsel and the man needed no counsel!”

    President Trump will be written into the history books as one of the greatest historical figures to walk the planet.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      President Trump will be written into the history books as one of the greatest historical figures to walk the planet.

      Trump is giving Jesus H Christ a run for his money.

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      • #
        el+gordo

        Now that he has been crucified he will rise again.

        The man is a convicted felon and the judicial institutions that guarantee the rule of law might come under political attack. Its a wonder they don’t have a law which forbids anyone becoming president who is essentially a criminal.

        The judge will no doubt hand down a modest sentence, like a hefty fine and let the people decide at the ballot box.

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      • #
        John Connor II

        Trump is giving Jesus H Christ a run for his money.

        At least Trump is real. 😎
        But one of the greatest historical figures ever? Puh-lease.

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      David Maddison

      Regardless of false readings from automated weather stations, it is indeed always hot in most of India most of the time…And it has been even before “climate change” became a trendy social movement.

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      • #
        another ian

        Rudyard Kipling – IIRC

        “The friendship of friends, the love of your wife or a new piano’s tune

        In which of those would you put your trust at the end of an Indian June?”

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      • #
        MrGrimNasty

        Yep, heat peaks just before the monsoon.
        All on schedule!

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    • #
      TdeF

      The failure of the monsoon on which India depends for water is a disaster, but not Climate Change or unique. Of course it is hotter. Why is every weather event Climate Change? It is the incredible heat which produces the monsoon. Water evaporation and rain moderates almost all the weather in the tropics. In some places it rains every afternoon. Once again the weather is painted as the Climate.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        None of the learned ever ask us old pharts about climate change.

        I live 10k from the low lying suburb, creeks, river and beaches that I roamed as a boy 75 yrs ago. If asked about the changes I’ve seen in that time I’d have to say “very little”. There is far more sand on the beaches [>50 years since Cyclone Althea] and there is almost no plastic washed up on them. The sand bar at the mouth of the river has been dredged which is a -ve for the ecosystem IMHO but that isn’t from CO2.And the barra are harder to find, but that’s just from fishing.

        Don’t worry, be happy.

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    • #
      el+gordo

      Relief is on the way.

      ‘Monsoon is expected to make onset over Kerala and some parts of northeast India during the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its Wednesday bulletin. The development is also expected to bring relief to the prevailing heat wave conditions over northwest and central India from Wednesday.’ (Hindustan Times)

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  • #

    Released RKI Files Provide further Evidence of a Giant RICO-esque Charade

    This is a follow-up to current events in Germany as the gov’t and the judiciary struggle to keep their shenanigans under wraps. Yesterday, the so-called ‘RKI Files’, internal minutes of the Robert Koch Institute’s early ‘Pandemic™’ deliberations, were made available. For the earlier instalment, see here:

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  • #
    Vladimir

    Please, please, please !
    Does anyone know what was the crime committed by D. Trump 34 times?

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    • #
      David Maddison

      His crime was for being Donald Trump, a protector of traditional American values and the US Constitution and a past and potential future saviour of America from certain destruction by the Left.

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      I think it is this …
      porn actress alleges dalliance with Trump (which Trump denies).
      Said performer contacts Trump and arranges to not create media bruhaha if paid.
      Trump has his lawyer (Cohen, who went to jail for perjury and admitted in Trump’s trial that he had stolen $30,000 from Trump) … pay and get NDA.

      Said transaction was legal.
      Trump reported it as a business expense, also legal …
      except for he was a POTUS candidate at the time.

      So his crime is supposedly having hid the NDA payoff from campaign records by recording it as business expense, thus corruptly ‘influencing’ the 2016 election, even though it was the Russians whut did it.

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      • #
        Vladimir

        Thanks.
        I assume Australian law is similar – donations to a party (political, civil, charity…) are not legitimate business expense.
        So, are millions & millions donated by Australian business annually taken out of correct account, ie – after all taxes and charges paid?

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      • #
        Ken

        Don’t forget that the said porn actress did not stick to her obligation to uphold the NDA.
        Why isn’t she on Trial?

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      NY penal law 175.05 makes it a “class A misdemeanor” to falsify business records with “intent to defraud.” Falsifying business records to commit a fraud becomes a Class E felony “when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” NY Penal Law § 175.10.

      District Attorney Bragg’s indictment charges Trump with 34 felony counts, each of which relates to a business record disguising a payment made to Cohen as attorney fees. The indictment alleges that Trump disguised the payments with intent to cover up another crime. But the indictment does not say what that other crime is.

      https://news.syr.edu/blog/2024/04/16/pitch-legal-analysis-of-hush-money-trial-facing-former-president-donald-trump/

      People pay money to their attorney to resolve a legal “matter” either in or out of court.

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    • #
      A happy little debunker

      trump was convicted of 34 expired misdemeanor crimes of falsifying business records.
      However these misdemeanors were elevated to felony status for crimes un-alleged, unproven and unstated.

      The only witness the prosecution offered that could point to any active involvement by Trump was Cohen – a serial perjurer and liar, a convicted tax evader and campaign finance fraudster and a self admitted thief that not only stole money from the Trump Org and never charged (by DA Bragg) he was allowed to keep the money he had fraudulently stolen.

      Cohen sent the Trump Org invoices for legal service (that were paid and recorded as legal expenses) only after Trump had placed the Trump Org into a blind trust (that he did not directly control). there was no evidence presented that Trump told anyone in the Trump Org how to pay for these invoices marked as for legal services.

      This case should never have seen the inside of a court-room…

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      • #
        Leo G

        There is clearly something amiss in the logic of these charges against Trump.

        It is reasonable to suggest that there was an intent to gain an advantage, or reduce a disadvantage, for Trump through the “hush money” payments.

        That should not imply that any related business record is false AND made with intent to defraud (ie made with clear intent to deprive of a right by deceit so as to gain a dishonest advantage).

        Yet that seems to be the argument used in the prosecution and accepted by the judge and jurymen.

        The 34 business records have been previously examined and determined not meet the prosecution standard for even a misdemeanour offence. The records were found not to be false and not made with intent to defraud.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Short explanation:
      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-charges-conviction-guilty-verdict/

      How about Bill Clinton’s $850k cheque to Paula Jones to settle her assault claim?

      Or the $17 MILLION of taxpayer funds used by Congress to settle a myriad of sexual assault claims?

      If only Trump had abandoned a laptop full of videos of himself smoking meth, banging hookers, waving illegal firearms around, and emails detailing his scheme to sell his dad’s influence to China… all of this could have been
      avoided.

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    • #
      Leo G

      … what was the crime committed by D. Trump 34 times?

      34 counts of falsifying business accounts (normally 2nd degree crimes ie misdemeanour offences) each with the intent to conceal the commission of another crime.

      The falsified business records were documents that had some relation to “hush money” payments to Stormy Daniels.

      They included:
      11 invoices submitted by Michael Cohen
      9 ledger entries
      9 checks paid on behalf of Trump
      3 general ledger entries
      2 checks from a Trump Organisation Trust

      Each of these documents was some kind of misdemeanour offence and each entailed an intent to conceal a separate underlying crime.

      It’s unclear what constitutes the underlying crime. The concealment is not the crime in that case.

      The payment to Daniels does not appear to be an offence. Perhaps Trump was intending to conceal Daniels’ extortion attempt.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Just as well he didn’t settle with cash ie 13,000 $10 bills. That would have been 52,000 years possible.

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    • #
      Mike Jonas

      As I understand it, he was charged with not declaring the payment to Stormy Daniels as election expenses.

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      • #
        Leo G

        The US Federal Election Commission regulations prohibit the declaration of any expense as an election expense if it could exist where the person was not an officeholder or candidate for office.

        Even if Trump was never a political candidate, he could have personal or business reasons to pay “hush money” to someone like Stormy Daniels.

        Trump is not permitted to describe the “hush money” payment as an election expense.

        The FEC rule is called the “irrespective test”.

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  • #
    YYY Guy

    I hope no one saw the Milan vs Roma exhibition match last night. Welcome to country, white man all ochred up saying the usual unintelligible gibberish. Followed by operatic tenor. Embarrassment to the world. What you have to go through to be a multi millionaire footballer.

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  • #
    Custer Van Cleef

    The Mises Institute revokes the status of a Senior Fellow.

    Covid vaccination and Gaza were the sticking points.

    We Have Standards | Mises.org

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Very disappointing that the Mises Institute would find support for Israel to be so objectionable.

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    • #
      KP

      But what would you say to Mises barring this opinion?

      “”Would I compel [the unvaccinated] to get the vaccination on libertarian grounds? You’re darn tootin’ I would. Not so much to save them. That would be paternalism. But, rather, in order to save the lives of [those] who are vulnerable. If any [unvaccinated person] refused this vaccination, I would execute him…”

      Which is the other part that got him booted.

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “Cricket in uncharted territory as T20 World Cup starts in Texas”

    https://www.breitbart.com/news/cricket-in-uncharted-territory-as-t20-world-cup-starts-in-texas-2/

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    • #
      KP

      pfffttt…! The organisation deserves to go broke! Just like Formula One and Supercars running races in the Middle East where no-one goes to watch, any sport that goes professional is no longer a sport, its a rigged entertainment trying to be a spectacle, which always leads down the path to Youtube videos with “I’M SHOCKED” on the front.

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      • #
        Philip

        Like the Rugby League trip to Las Vegas. The stands were semi filled, all of them travelling Australian league fans. A huge waste of money.

        The aim is to get Americans watching league on tv, to sell tv rights. Can you seriously imagine Americans watching rugby league on tv? Not even Victorians do that.

        These people in these highly paid positions and their infantile ideas! Reminds me of Chris Bowen.

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    another ian

    “Research Suggests Unusual Form Of Cell Death Causes Severe COVID-19 Lung Damage”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/research-suggests-unusual-form-cell-death-causes-severe-covid-19-lung-damage

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      another ian

      And

      “Elevated Risk Of Epilepsy, Appendicitis In Children After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study”

      https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/elevated-risk-epilepsy-appendicitis-children-after-covid-19-vaccination-study

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      • #
        Broadie

        Comment from the zerohedge article linked to post.
        I have copied it as though it may be seen as a satirical meme. I know this person /people and in fact was talking to one such individual yesterday as she wheezed and coughed after having a second vaccination for shingles. No she hasn’t had shingles yet, however the nice Doctor who had nursed her through the clot shots that had nearly killed her attended her prior to this injection having noticed she had a temperature. The doctor happily OKed the injection despite from the look of the patient she may not live long enough to get shingles.

        Has anyone else noticed how our once ambulatory friends and relatives have lower legs that look like they have been taken over by an alien life form. You will notice they have walking aids or have to shuffle the short distances between the toilet and the couch.

        Comment as quoted.

        I know some of you don’t want to do
        another round of boosters, I get it. I had a mild reaction
        to my first shot. Nothing much just really bad heart
        palpitations. I’m glad I got it, because two days later I got
        covid. It was really bad, can’t imagine how bad it would
        have been if I weren’t vaxed.

        My second shot was a little worse. Half my face went
        numb, and I had terrible tremors. I couldn’t walk for a
        month. I was very lucky though, because I got the new
        variant a week after my second shot. It really was the
        worst covid yet. I had clots all in my legs, and my heart
        was going crazy. I went to the ER. Turns out I have long
        covid, and myocarditis from the covid spike proteins. I
        would be dead now if I weren’t vaxed.

        I knew I needed the third shot, and I was a little hesitant,
        but I sucked it up and got it. I knew it’d probably make me
        feel bad for a few days, but that’s nothing compared to
        covid. Sure enough four days after my third shot, my long
        covid came back worse than ever. I couldn’t walk, my hair
        was failing out, bleeding from my ears, my heart just
        stops and starts. I have no control of my bowels or motor
        functions. I just constantly flail and piss myself.
        Covid, especially long covid is no joke. I will definitely be
        getting the new boosters.

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  • #
    another ian

    Just what you wanted to read (/S)

    “Gain-of-Function May Explain Bird Flu Jump To Cows And Humans”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/gain-function-may-explain-bird-flu-jump-cows-and-humans

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Well, wiping out the meat supply of non-Elites perfectly fulfills the agenda of the Left to have us all eating insects or vegan diets.

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      • #
        John Connor II

        Just to make DM’s day, a new pronoun to go with the bugs on toast.
        The memes write themselves.
        https://x.com/Alphafox78/status/1796518992841986507

        Don’t know if others can see it but their body language says it all to me. Lonely, isolated, shallow, naive, artificial people, living a lie, detached from reality.
        I am reminded of the Hikikomori in Japan, those who are modern day hermits never leaving their homes, estimated to be around 800,000. And it’s a growing problem worldwide, especially in Asia. Perfect mental and social traits for the NWO’s vision.

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      KP

      Makes sense to me, following on from Covid19 having bits of AIDs inserted to make it work better. This bit-

      “Influenza A viruses are classified into dozens of subtypes according to two types of glycoproteins on the surface of the virus.”

      reminded me of someone pointing out decades ago that the difference in glycoproteins on the human cell surface was distinct between Westerners and Asians, so its a great place to start your genetic biowarfare from.

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      another ian

      ““The hour is much later than you think…on multiple fronts: Financial, political, medical and geopolitical.” — Edward Dowd”

      And more there

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          el+gordo

          Good catch, very informative.

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        • #
          Steve of Cornubia

          I keep reading on conservative sites that Trump could simply appeal, do this or that, and thus law will eventually prevail.

          Seriously? Who still believes that ANY level of American justice is still fair, unbiased and uncorrupted? I certainly don’t. Illegal aliens can assault, rob or even rape a woman and walk free. Hilary Clinton is found mishandling confidential government documents and is still free. Biden is clearly involved in international bribes and the justice system looks the other way, but Trump ends up in court over a poorly-specified and weakly-argued, hazy and vague misdemeanor, yet gets convicted.

          On this evidence, Trump WILL eventually end up in jail. It may be brief, just enough to screw his election campaign and let the Republicans know they shouldn’t back him, but nevertheless he will be ruined and America deprived of an opportunity to elect an alternative to a Swamp Creature.

          And every single Republican who failed to support him will be tainted.

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          • #
            el+gordo

            Trump is unlikely to serve a prison sentence, but he’ll have to stop giving the finger to the judge, otherwise he could spend time in the big house.

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      David Maddison

      The cartoon on that page just about spot on.

      It was just last Thursday I heard on Australia’s Leftist Government propaganda radio station, Their ABC, a woman espousing the benefits of “open marriage” and how she explained it to her six year old son.

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      another ian

      Reminds me of the kids story of the bloke who looked through the enchantress’s kitchen window as she started the magic syrup jug and got the command to start it.

      He then stole the jug and started it. But because he hadn’t waited to get the command to stop it he caused a syrup flood.

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      another ian

      One way of putting it –

      “And Mr. Shafer makes a simple, eloquent and funny argument explain why Trump’s trial actually proves that Trump is the only major party candidate you can vote for, and he does it in only two sentences:”

      “My name is David. This fall I will be voting for the candidate found mentally competent to stand trial.”

      https://x.com/DavidShafer/status/1796610532285333529

      Via https://twitchy.com/aaronwalker/2024/05/31/david-shafer-hilariously-explains-why-verdict-proves-you-should-vote-for-trump-n2396852

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    another ian

    A thought of just now –

    The Democrats arse tanning to come will just need the invoking of the US Constitution and existing laws that have been broken and thus a “righteous cause”

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Short video about the Daniel Andrews car crash involving a young cyclist.

    For overseas readers, Andrews is the psychopathic former Premier of Victoria, Australia.

    https://youtu.be/vlrFifazoMw

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      Vladimir

      As any grandfather worried sick about my grandsons I watched that video with understandable sympathy.
      However, only the Kel Glare interview by A. Bolt has really opened my eyes.

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    John Connor II

    ‘Deliberate’ Cyber Attack Destroyed Hundreds of Thousands of US Internet Routers: Analysts

    New research by a top telecommunications company has revealed that more than 600,000 internet routers were rendered useless by an enormous cyber attack.

    Knewz.com has learned that the hacker group responsible for the damages to these devices remains unidentified.

    According to the telecommunications company’s blog post, the attack happened in November 2023 and took more than 600,000 routers offline.

    Lumen’s research team discovered the attackers installed malicious software that interrupted internet access between October 25 and 27–the effects of which were experienced mostly in the Midwest.

    The malware was disguised as device updates and when installed removed pertinent sections of the router’s “operational code,” rendering them useless.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technology/deliberate-cyber-attack-destroyed-hundreds-of-thousands-of-us-internet-routers-analysts/ar-BB1nlVHg?

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    CO2 Lover

    Oh, what a Lovely War!

    Given the last days of momentum and growing pressure coming from some NATO countries, this was perhaps inevitable: the United States has now greenlighted Ukraine’s use of American-supplied weapons against Russian territory in a huge escalation which takes the world a big step closer to WW3 and nuclear-armed >confrontation.</blockquote

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/dangerous-shift-escalation-biden-allows-ukraine-use-us-weapons-attack-inside-russia

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      el+gordo

      Its important that these weapons are only used against military targets, while Russia’s missiles are indiscriminate.

      Using conventional sophisticated weaponry, gifted from the West, they should be able to capture Crimea and bring an end to the war.

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        KP

        lol- Late at night for you EG? You missed the ‘/sarc’ at the end.

        There’s no chance NATO itself could beat Russia, and things won’t be ‘conventional’. Ukraine is lost, and the more the West escalates, the worse off the whole world will be. Did you see Medvedev saying that any country launching weapons against Russia will be a target, including their soldiers if used in Ukraine.

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          el+gordo

          ATACMS are being tested in Crimea, so the Ukrainians will slowly gain the upper hand.

          Only a few countries recognise the annexation of Crimea, which means its not technically Russian.

          ‘Ukraine is lost,’

          Putin won’t start a nuclear war, neither will anyone else.

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    Chad

    Much crowing on the RE news sites about California’s “exciting” wind and Solar performance..

    …. : Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson continues to track California’s renewables performance – and it’s still exciting. In an update today on Twitter (X), Jacobson reports that California has now exceeded 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 45 days straight, and 69 out of 75:

    https://electrek.co/2024/05/21/renewables-met-100-percent-california-energy-demand-30-days/

    But what they omit to say is..
    * that period ,March- May is likely the lowest demand period of the year..max peak of 26 GW.
    California regularly seas peaks ove 40 GW and even 50GW !
    * they avoid the obvious lack of Wind or solar power during the rest of the morning and overnight.
    * ignor the basic fact that Fossil generators still supply 34% of Ca’s electricity compared to the 19% proviided by wind and solar !
    ..and that Ca continues to IMPORT 29% of its electricity from adjoining States !

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    David Maddison

    Word of the day:

    ashlar

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    Raving

    Vermont becomes first state to mandate that fossil fuel companies pay for climate damages

    Looks as if Vermont wants to go “cold turkey” on petroleum products … Okaaaay

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      Ronin

      Shut down their gas stations and see what happens.

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        Mike Jonas

        If I have read correctly, Vermont was smart enough to make the law retrospective, so even if the oil companies pull out, the fines they pay will buy the oil the state needs. Or maybe the state hasn’t actually thought it through. I suspect the latter is correct.

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      KP

      Govt shakedown as per Sheriff of Nottingham…

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    David Maddison

    Study of offshore floating wind subsidy plantations

    https://web.ub.edu/en/web/actualitat/w/a-scientific-study-recommends-excluding-and-moving-offshore-wind-farms-away-from-the-protected-areas-in-the-mediterranean

    The structures of the wind turbines are complex. Under the water, the floating wind farms —those that would be set up in the Mediterranean— require huge mooring and anchorage systems that can affect the integrity of the seafloors. Marine mammals can collide or can get tangled up in the wires. Also, the noise caused by the wind farms accumulates with other sounds from human activities —such as sailing— and it has a negative impact on the behaviour of marine mammals. Moreover, these floating platforms are also attracting for invasive species or opportunist species that can alter the fragile balance of the biodiversity. Researchers are specially worried about this phenomenon because the Mediterranean is the most affected European sea by the arrival of exotic species.

    In addition, the floating wind turbines —which are more than 250 meters high— can alter the dynamics of the local atmospheric and oceanic currents. This situation can affect the production of plankton in a sea which is usually low in nutrients.

    The study also defends the need for maintaining the marine biodiversity to fight against climate change and mitigate its effects. According to the authors of the article, marine habitats have a great carbon storage potential and are a solution to this problem which is based on nature itself. For the scientists, the ecosystems with a higher biodiversity are the most resistant to the impacts of climate change.

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      DM
      “‘Researchers are specially worried about this phenomenon because the Mediterranean is the most affected European sea by the arrival of exotic species.'”
      Well, yes.
      Opened at the Gibraltar end only a few million years ago [IIRC about 8 million, but don’t quote me!]; and at the Suez end only in the 19th Century, the Med. is getting slowly invaded by organisms that are not native.
      Plus those brought in by ships – either clinging to the side [reduced since anti-fouling paint] or in ballast waters, also greatly reduced since ‘ballast change’ was mandated [at expense in time, pump hours and bunker use].

      Plus the offshore wind turbines are not needed – CO2 is a trace gas, as we know.
      It is not pollution, but plant food.
      But try telling the Just Stop Civilisation [Western only] folk!

      Auto

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    OldOzzie

    Karma – Has Spain Opened Itself Up to 2 Million Palestinian Refugees?

    Well this could be interesting.

    Spain’s politicians, in accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, may have opened itself up to accepting millions of Palestinians as legitimate refugees.

    Oops. Pretty sure they don’t want a flood of actual genocidal maniacs flowing into their country, but it would be justice served.

    As horrible as this would be for the Spanish citizens, I suggest that the refugee settlements should be limited to regions where liberal politicians who are so certain of the goodwill of these innocents live.

    I suspect that a lot of ordinary Spanish citizens might think twice about opening their borders to the good citizens of Gaza.

    Oh, and how about a camp in the center of Madrid? I hear that The Moncloa Complex where the Prime Minister lives is nice.em>

    (The following quote comes from a machine translation of the article linked above).

    The Foreign Ministry has asked the ministers, internally, to stop using this term “genocide”: it opens the door for Palestinians living in Gaza, and there are around two million in the entire Strip, to present themselves at a Spanish embassy or consulate to request asylum.

    And a ruling by the Supreme Court obliges the Foreign Ministry, in these cases, to put the applicant for protection on a plane bound for Spain.

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    OldOzzie

    Azat Alsalem
    @AzzatAlsaalem

    “The disappearance of women”

    This photo is traveling the world. It’s called “The Disappearance of the Woman”, the work of Yemeni photographer Boushra Almutawakel.

    All Eyes On Free Women

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    John Connor II

    Saturday sarcasm

    In breaking news, Trump’s election strategy is to just let Joe Biden talk for 30 minutes.😆😆

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    OldOzzie

    Lucky

    June 1, 2024 at 1:14 am · Reply

    Grandson could be given the idea that it be students to be replaced by robots.

    Heh Lucky,

    from today

    Strange Discovery Suggests Children Trust Robots Over Humans

    From The Iron Giant to Big Hero 6, many of us will be familiar with tales of kids befriending robots, which suggest generations of young children are more trusting of advice from machines than their own flesh and blood.

    An international research team has now found it’s not just in fiction. In a study involving 111 kids aged between 3 and 6 years old, the youngsters showed a preference for believing robots more and being more accepting when robots made mistakes.

    As kids we need to take in a huge amount of new information as we learn about the world, and filter out fact from fiction, and the researchers behind this new study wanted to see how information from different sources was received.

    “The question then becomes, how do children choose who to learn from when faced with conflicting testimonies?” write the researchers in their published paper.

    The kids were split up into different groups and shown videos of robots and humans labeling objects – some objects the children would already recognize, as well as new objects they wouldn’t know the names of.

    Human and robot reliability was demonstrated by giving familiar objects incorrect name, calling a plate a spoon for example. In this way the researchers could manipulate the children’s sense of who to trust.

    Where both humans and robots were shown to be equally reliable, the youngsters were more likely to want to ask robots the names of new objects and accept their labels as accurate.

    What’s more, the children were more likely to favor robots when asked about who they would share secrets with, who they would want to be friends with, and who they would want to have as teachers.

    “Children’s conceptualizations of the agents making a mistake also differed, such that an unreliable human was selected as doing things on purpose, but not an unreliable robot,” write the researchers.

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      CO2 Lover

      Who would not trust Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet?

      “Would 60 gallons be sufficient?”

      After he has been asked to duplicate a sample of bourbon.

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    another ian

    Around the Trump cases –

    Remember that the ALP send trainees to USA to update on Democrat party methodologies

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    David of Cooyal in Oz

    Sounds like a significant win for transparency in Vic:

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-01/victoria-melbourne-lockdown-documents-opposition-foi-vcat/103923118

    May any appeal get squashed, quickly.

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    CO2 Lover

    How Trump’s popularity has improved every time the Democrats have attempted to stop him running for President.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POkPq1XLr4I

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    OldOzzie

    Dmitry Suslov: It’s time for Russia to think about a ‘demonstrative’ nuclear test

    The US-led bloc has lost its fear of the mushroom cloud, but seeing one would perhaps focus some minds

    By Dmitry Suslov, member of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, deputy director of World Economy and International Politics at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, and Valdai Club expert.

    There’s every indication that the US and several of its allies may soon allow Ukraine to use Western weapons, including long-range missiles, to attack targets located within – how do we put this? – Russia’s internationally recognized borders. Or those that existed before the 2014 Maidan in Kiev.

    In America, as the New York Times recently reported, backers of the idea include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, most Republicans in Congress (including the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson), and many members of the foreign policy establishment, including Victoria Nuland, who recently resigned as deputy secretary of state.

    In Europe, Poland, the Baltic states, Germany’s main opposition party, the CDU/CSU, and some Western European figures, including the head of the UK Foreign Office, David Cameron, are agitating for the measure.

    Recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar appeal, but he would not have made such statements if the issue had not already been considered on a practical level and had not received substantial support from Washington. It has already come to the point where the topic has been discussed at the level of the heads of defense ministries of EU member states.

    Such a decision would take the conflict to a fundamentally different level, would mean the erasure of one of the brightest “red lines” that has existed since February 24, 2022, and signal the direct entry of the US and its NATO bloc into the war against Russia.

    Indeed, the strikes would be carried out on the basis of coordinates provided by Western intelligence systems; the decisions on these strikes would be taken by Western military officers (the media has repeatedly relayed confessions from Ukrainian military officers that every case of Western missile use is coordinated in advance by Western military advisers); and even the button would probably be pressed directly by Western military officers. It is no coincidence that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz justifies his reluctance to transfer Taurus missiles on the grounds that they would have to be operated by German, not Ukrainian, military personnel.

    Instead, we should first tell the US and NATO roughly what Moscow already told London after David Cameron’s words about Ukraine’s right to strike anywhere with British Storm Shadow missiles. Namely, that in the event of an attack on ‘old’ Russian territory, Moscow reserves the right to strike any facilities of the countries concerned, including the US, anywhere in the world. There are many American military bases dotted around the globe.

    Secondly, it is important to officially declare that if the US/NATO launches a non-nuclear strike on Russian territory in response to such a Russian strike, Moscow may in turn use nuclear weapons – in full accordance with the ‘Fundamentals of Russian State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence’

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      OldOzzie

      Finally, to confirm the seriousness of Russia’s intentions and to convince our adversaries of Moscow’s willingness to escalate, it is worth considering a demonstration (i.e. non-aggressive) nuclear explosion.

      The political and psychological effect of an atomic mushroom cloud, broadcast live on all the world’s television channels, will hopefully bring back to Western politicians the one thing that prevented wars between the great powers after 1945, and which they have now largely lost – the fear of nuclear war.

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      OldOzzie

      Russia May See Ukrainian Long-Range Attacks as ‘Precursor to Nuclear Strike’, Ex-DoD Analyst Fears

      The Biden administration has greenlit the use of American long-range strike systems by Ukraine to launch attacks deep into Russia. This puts the entire planet in a “shockingly” dangerous situation, says former DoD analyst and US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski.

      President Biden has knowingly or unwittingly brought the risk of a world-ending nuclear conflict much, much closer after listening to “neoconservative advisors who really don’t have a lot of perspective on the nuclear dangers that they’re walking into” instead of military specialists and okaying Ukraine’s use of NATO weapons to strike the Russian hinterland, Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

      Biden likely feels trapped, looking to get out of the Ukraine quagmire and push the conflict “out of the public view,” Kwiatkowski believes, but will only make the situation “much worse” by expanding the conflict’s geography.

      “He is responding and going by a neoconservative playbook, which is a playbook that wants war,” she warned.

      Kwiatkowski reiterated that if Russia perceives the long-range attacks inside its territory as a precursor to a nuclear first strike, “all bets are off the table” as far as trying to ‘retaining control’ over the situation in Ukraine is concerned. “That’s nuclear war,” she emphasized.

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      OldOzzie

      From Express UK

      Russia warns of nuclear war with NATO after Ukraine’s ATACMS strikes: ‘We’re not bluffing’

      Vladimir Putin and his close allies have levelled nuclear threats against the West since the beginning of the unlawful invasion of Ukraine but the use of Western weapons seems to have particularly enraged Moscow.

      By ALICE SCARSI, World News Reporter

      Vladimir Putin’s close ally Dmitry Medvedev issued his latest nuclear threat against the West following reports multiple NATO countries have given Ukraine the go-ahead to use their weapons to strike inside of Russia.

      Russia’s former president and current deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council warned his country being hit by Western-supplied weapons could be seen by the Kremlin as a casus belli with the capacity to spark a war with NATO.

      Ukraine using Western-supplied weapons to strike inside of Russia, he warned, would be seen by the Kremlin as a direct participation of NATO in the conflict.

      Medvedev said: “This is no military assistance, this is participation in a war against us. And such actions could well become a casus belli [an act that provokes a war].”

      He said: “Ukraine and its NATO allies will receive a response of such destructive force that the Alliance itself simply will not be able to resist being drawn into the conflict.”

      The prominent Russian official went on to warn the West not to underestimate Moscow’s readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons.

      Medvedev suggested Russia could strike hostile countries with strategic weapons, saying: “This is, alas, neither intimidation nor bluffing.

      “The current military conflict with the West is developing according to the worst possible scenario. There is a constant escalation when it comes to the firepower of NATO weapons being used. Therefore, nobody today can rule out the conflict’s transition to its final stage.”

      The former Russian president then referred to the chilling remark made by Putin earlier this week, when he warned of the “serious consequences” if Western weapons are allowed in attacks on Russian soil.

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        KP

        It wold be interesting to see the results of Russian hypersonic missiles wiping out the factories that make these missiles in UK, France and Germany. How keen to escalate would they be when its one of their own cities catching fire?

        Nothing would stop America from escalating, its a way of life with them.

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    OldOzzie

    Like WWI, Ukraine Conflict Is Reshaping War For the 21st Century

    On July 1, 1916, 110,000 British infantry left their trenches at the Battle of Somme. Within hours, 60,000 of them were killed or injured and the army had achieved none of its goals.

    Regardless, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, chief of staff of the British Expeditionary Force and the architect of the battle decided to soldier on, losing an additional 400,000 troops in four months until winter came and mercifully halted the fighting.

    The Battle of Somme ended inconclusively and is considered one of the greatest tragedies of the First World War for the British army.

    Haig appeared to be a qualified general when he took the post, but as the saying goes, generals are always fighting the last war and few personified that more than Haig.

    Trained in outdated military doctrine that had already been discredited in the Civil War and again in the Russo-Japanese War. Haig ordered frontal assaults, and not even the kind that were typical (though largely unsuccessful) during the early stages of the Great War.

    Haig preferred the kind that came out of the Napoleonic era. The general ordered his men to assault the brunt of the German defense using slow-moving, orderly lines, which he saw as easier to command. He planned to send in the cavalry– which often played major roles in Haig’s plans despite their ineffectiveness in modern war– after his infantry broke the German lines.

    Time and time again, Haig ordered his cavalry to suit up in anticipation of the coming breakthrough, only to order them to stand down when it failed to come and his infantry divisions were bleeding out in no man’s land between the defensive lines.

    Haig was not the only general to look silly during WWI, but his refusal to learn was among the worst. What Somme and many other battles in WWI proved was that the old way of fighting had come and gone. The weapons had changed the battlefield and armies had to adjust their tactics or face ruin.

    The weapons that shaped warfare in the 20th century: barbed wire, machine guns, tanks, long-range artillery, and battleships, still play significant roles on the battlefield in the 21st, but they are dwarfed in importance by one invention, from which multiple theaters have been affected: the drone.

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      OldOzzie

      “When this war started, people were working off of Cold War-era doctrinal thinking.

      That is: you have tank columns, you have artillery that operates in battery or battalion sized formations flooding a zone, you have big arrow movements and things of that nature,” Ritter recalled.

      “[Then] drones started coming in, not just for targeting purposes, not just for deep strike purposes, but tactical drones on the battlefront. These FPV drones are a nightmare for soldiers.”

      But the innovations on the battlefield aren’t exclusive to high technology, often they come from the soldiers on the ground.

      As tanks were increasingly taken out by drones, soldiers started adding cope cages in an attempt to protect them. This eventually led to the deployment of what is affectionately called the “turtle tank.”

      Typically beginning with a T-72 tank, so-called turtle tanks are outfitted with a metal shell that covers almost the entirety of the tank, leaving only the very front and its cannon exposed to drone attack.

      While limiting the driver in visibility and maneuverability, those drawbacks have proven worth it. The Ukrainians who initially laughed at the turtle tank’s awkward appearance and low-tech solution quickly stopped laughing as they retreated from turtle tank assaults across the Western front.

      The innovations on the battlefield in the Ukraine war are undoubtedly going to shape the next war and the war after that. China has made clear that it is paying attention and it wants the US to know that as well. In January they released a video showing how their drone swarms would work in concept against naval fleets.

      China is preparing a “holiday” surprise for the United States in the near future in the Asia-Pacific region

      Expensive American aircraft carriers and other vessels must accept the reality and accept that sooner or later they will sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean or the… pic.twitter.com/Eu5r3Qg9VZ

      — Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) January 1, 2024

      China also claims to have a new “anti-drone” tank, which includes electronic warfare equipment and anti-air measures designed to counteract drones and slow-moving guided missiles. They have also shown off very advanced maritime and underwater drones.

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “Numbers Behind The Narrative: What Climate Science Actually Says”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/numbers-behind-narrative-what-climate-science-actually-says

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      Honk R Smith

      What’s interesting to me is that the Pandemic narrative is collapsing the Climate Change narrative.
      Actually narratives are collapsing all around.
      Reformation 2.0.
      “Believe in THE Science”.
      When Henry VIII shut down the Catholic Church, he the stripped the populace of their narrative.
      The peasants started constructing their own.
      Bringing my ancestors to America.
      The constructors of the Pandemic narrative have no idea what they’ve done.

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    CO2 Lover

    Battleships were made obsolete in WW2 by manned aircraft.

    Aircraft Carriers replaced Battleships and they will be made obsolute by massive drone attacks.

    The same will happen to manned submarines that will be attacked by submersible drones.

    And Australia has committed $240 Billion to obsolete manned submarines.

    China is so happy.

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    CO2 Lover

    VCAT rules Victorian government must release documents behind lockdown decisions

    The Victorian government will be forced to publicly release thousands of pages of secret briefings behind the state’s COVID-19 lockdowns, following an almost four-year Freedom of Information (FOI) battle.

    This week, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled there was a high degree of public interest in the documents, which could run to up to about 115 briefs or 6,900 pages.

    The briefings were critical in numerous lockdown decisions, including a decision to close children’s playgrounds on August 16, 2021.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-01/victoria-melbourne-lockdown-documents-opposition-foi-vcat/103923118

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    KP

    Ah, the good old days.. anyone remember the red hot phones that were going to stop an atomic war when the Russian President could phone the American President..?? Well, these days its not Kennedy answering! “Ah, hello? Hello? Its me Joe, you know, the President. I think? Hang on, I have to sit down..”

    “I truly wonder what is the benefit of having a 15 minute advance warning of an incoming missile attack if, as is 100% certain, an automatic ‘Dead Hand’ launch has already been scripted. Moreover, what would be the sense of lifting the handset of a Red Phone to Washington to speak to….whom? Biden, Sullivan or any other of the liars and card cheats who populate the top echelons of the federal government? Not a trustworthy person among them with whom you would risk the fate of your nation.”

    https://gilbertdoctorow.com/

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