It is the 200 year cleansing of every empire that goes on in history. The bad actors outnumber the good, the debt mounts, the wars are continuous and un winnable. Orwell was Nostradamus in disguise.
That was a fascinating and thought-provoking essay.
Just this morning we learned that American (or Ukrainian) terrorists have bombed the bridge connecting the mainland of Russia with the Crimean Penninsula.
Brandon is doing everything imaginable to destroy the USA.
Unless Putin wants to show the world that his words mean nothing, Russia will retaliate in a massive and unprecedented manner.
While most of us question Biden's sanity and intelligence, it is hard to believe that Susan Rice really is so desperate to influence the elections that she would initiate the 3rd World War right now.
"Unless Putin wants to show the world that his words mean nothing, Russia will retaliate in a massive and unprecedented manner."
I think that is a very narrow strategic view for a game as long as WWIII (which, while the worst may only last a few hours, may take quite some time getting to that hopefully avoided circumstance).
Consider that Putin well knows that he CAN show the world a new level of "shock'n'we" if he so chooses. Consider how poorly shock'n'awe has worked out for the USA. Patience is a virtue in a big brawl. The guy who sits in the corner with several sabers and shotguns locked and loaded is smart to wait until the rest of the brawlers have mostly disabled each other before he begins slicing and splattering.
Can Russia win the war? Of course. Can it do so and avoid a nuclear nightmare? Not so of course but far more important than merely kicking ass to prove Russia can, especially since Russia already knows that it can.
There will be time enough to "bomb (Ukraine) back into the Stone Age" if that proves necessary. It's not like the Russian munitions factories have been blown up or dismantled. They're hurting a bit from supply chain woes but that's a minor glitch.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. I am sure that America's military is now on high alert and Putin would be wise to wait until after the American midterm elections to retaliate. But this is the 2nd atrocity in less than two months. Since Putin has been outspoken in stating that he will retaliate bigly if America attacks the motherland, his credibility is on the line.
I believe the strategists in Washington, DC (Obama/Rice/Klain/HRC) are so afraid of what will happen after the 118th congress is seated in January that they would prefer a nuclear war to investigations of Hunter Biden and the removal of Brandon because of the 25th Amendment.
Believing that Putin will not fall into the trap, I suspect his response will take the form of sabotage and strong attacks against those who are killing Russians. But, after November 7, it would not surprise me if Kiev was destroyed.
I would say we fell because we are a mixed multitude not WE THE PEOPLE. A rabble. A Great Beast in Hamilton's phrase. So only natural someone wants to be Fuhrer someday.
While the music doesn't do much for me, the name The Dead Kennedys is overwhelmingly perfect. Only p[unk band name that comes close to it is The Exploding Fifis.
Punk had it's moment. Though musically of course mainly sound noise in contrast to classical music. Nonetheless the moment of rage was captured. A pity the youth who followed were more conformist.
As a powerless nobody, I can clearly see the futility in thinking “something must be done.” Actually, NOTHING must be done. “Ozymandius, Ozymandius, wherefore art thou Ozymandius?”
Empires come. Empires go. So? Mutability, the poets knew, is all there can ever be. So lamentations for the passing of an empire are best put to the music of Aretha, with a slight misspelling. What we are seeing today has been seen for thousands of years: “Change, change, change, a change of fools.”
At times like these I am compelled to remember that prosperity and safety are ephemeral flukes, while perpetual unrest and danger are the norm. Far too many Americans “sit in darkness,” and have no understanding of the world whatsoever. But neither do the citizens of any other country.
On my worst days I recall the wisdom of Marshal Vasilevsky. As his army was obliterating Germany’s, he received reports of his soldiers raping and pillaging. Recalling just how brutal and sadistic the German soldiers had been as they marauded across eastern Europe, the weary, loyal commander replied, “I don’t give a fuck.”
This is not to say that joy and happiness cannot be had, nor is it wrong to pursue those things; but to even insinuate that we live in a beautiful world is a fool’s errand. As I have previously stated: The world is not beautiful, but there is Beauty in the world; and between the two there is a world of difference.
I liver in the Mayberry Triangle, my name for the interzone between Portland and Beaverton, Or, and Washington and Multnomah counties, adjoining fringe zones that allow for pockets of old-fashioned urban decay and a lingering bit of what passed for sanity in the previous century.
Moved here after a few decades in Spokane, WA. Going from red-state-ish eastern Washington to very blue state Portland was a major culture shock:" hadn't realized that urban neoliberal America had gone that crazy. Within a year, covid hit. Oy, mucho insanity.
But I've adjusted and am a flourishing local lunatic.
A year ago I subscribed to Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi. The comments on Taibbi's Substack immediately got nasty and I canceled with no penalty. I quit Greenwald (without a refund) and joined the Dr. Robert Malone Substack in June. His Sunday Funnies are entertaining; but the posts are repetitive and the comments tiresome.
Everyone seems to want to say the same thing and be NOTICED. I AM BORED.
I no longer care where COVID came from or what's in the "vaccines". the USA and NATO seem to be fighting to destroy Russia. But, while I admire Tchaikovsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitzyn, I am content to die happy and ignorant.
I am at the stage where I would be content to eat a handful of Psilocybin mushrooms and listen to Pink Floyd and Hemi-Sync CD's.
It is the 200 year cleansing of every empire that goes on in history. The bad actors outnumber the good, the debt mounts, the wars are continuous and un winnable. Orwell was Nostradamus in disguise.
One assumes you're already familiar with this delightfully concise view of the cycle of empire:
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
That was a fascinating and thought-provoking essay.
Just this morning we learned that American (or Ukrainian) terrorists have bombed the bridge connecting the mainland of Russia with the Crimean Penninsula.
Brandon is doing everything imaginable to destroy the USA.
Unless Putin wants to show the world that his words mean nothing, Russia will retaliate in a massive and unprecedented manner.
While most of us question Biden's sanity and intelligence, it is hard to believe that Susan Rice really is so desperate to influence the elections that she would initiate the 3rd World War right now.
"Unless Putin wants to show the world that his words mean nothing, Russia will retaliate in a massive and unprecedented manner."
I think that is a very narrow strategic view for a game as long as WWIII (which, while the worst may only last a few hours, may take quite some time getting to that hopefully avoided circumstance).
Consider that Putin well knows that he CAN show the world a new level of "shock'n'we" if he so chooses. Consider how poorly shock'n'awe has worked out for the USA. Patience is a virtue in a big brawl. The guy who sits in the corner with several sabers and shotguns locked and loaded is smart to wait until the rest of the brawlers have mostly disabled each other before he begins slicing and splattering.
Can Russia win the war? Of course. Can it do so and avoid a nuclear nightmare? Not so of course but far more important than merely kicking ass to prove Russia can, especially since Russia already knows that it can.
There will be time enough to "bomb (Ukraine) back into the Stone Age" if that proves necessary. It's not like the Russian munitions factories have been blown up or dismantled. They're hurting a bit from supply chain woes but that's a minor glitch.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. I am sure that America's military is now on high alert and Putin would be wise to wait until after the American midterm elections to retaliate. But this is the 2nd atrocity in less than two months. Since Putin has been outspoken in stating that he will retaliate bigly if America attacks the motherland, his credibility is on the line.
I believe the strategists in Washington, DC (Obama/Rice/Klain/HRC) are so afraid of what will happen after the 118th congress is seated in January that they would prefer a nuclear war to investigations of Hunter Biden and the removal of Brandon because of the 25th Amendment.
Believing that Putin will not fall into the trap, I suspect his response will take the form of sabotage and strong attacks against those who are killing Russians. But, after November 7, it would not surprise me if Kiev was destroyed.
The prospect of a major hammering does seem imminent, even direly so.
https://youtu.be/otCpCn0l4Wo
Flash Biden is living in a dream.
The Kinks - Flash's Dream and Confession - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_F3KcKs-bM
If it proves necessary to do a shock'n'awer devastation, Putin is wise to do it when the whole world can see that Russia was backed into a corner.
That was excellent and well written. Thank you for sharing. Strange how history repeats itself, if we are observant enough to notice.
Hedonism
When self-indulgence expresses itself in conflicting pain on oneself, it is sick and wrong.
I would say we fell because we are a mixed multitude not WE THE PEOPLE. A rabble. A Great Beast in Hamilton's phrase. So only natural someone wants to be Fuhrer someday.
https://youtu.be/QVcNfiRWS6U
While the music doesn't do much for me, the name The Dead Kennedys is overwhelmingly perfect. Only p[unk band name that comes close to it is The Exploding Fifis.
Punk had it's moment. Though musically of course mainly sound noise in contrast to classical music. Nonetheless the moment of rage was captured. A pity the youth who followed were more conformist.
Stream of consciousness?
Dammed muddy water.
I see what you did there.
As a powerless nobody, I can clearly see the futility in thinking “something must be done.” Actually, NOTHING must be done. “Ozymandius, Ozymandius, wherefore art thou Ozymandius?”
Empires come. Empires go. So? Mutability, the poets knew, is all there can ever be. So lamentations for the passing of an empire are best put to the music of Aretha, with a slight misspelling. What we are seeing today has been seen for thousands of years: “Change, change, change, a change of fools.”
At times like these I am compelled to remember that prosperity and safety are ephemeral flukes, while perpetual unrest and danger are the norm. Far too many Americans “sit in darkness,” and have no understanding of the world whatsoever. But neither do the citizens of any other country.
On my worst days I recall the wisdom of Marshal Vasilevsky. As his army was obliterating Germany’s, he received reports of his soldiers raping and pillaging. Recalling just how brutal and sadistic the German soldiers had been as they marauded across eastern Europe, the weary, loyal commander replied, “I don’t give a fuck.”
This is not to say that joy and happiness cannot be had, nor is it wrong to pursue those things; but to even insinuate that we live in a beautiful world is a fool’s errand. As I have previously stated: The world is not beautiful, but there is Beauty in the world; and between the two there is a world of difference.
Whyfo mus' I axe you? Is we livin' life oh is we just livin' wif it?
De Middle Way be de Bes' Way!
Hommmmmmme Hommmme on de ranch. Dat's where it be. Uhhuh.
assrite
I liver in the Mayberry Triangle, my name for the interzone between Portland and Beaverton, Or, and Washington and Multnomah counties, adjoining fringe zones that allow for pockets of old-fashioned urban decay and a lingering bit of what passed for sanity in the previous century.
Moved here after a few decades in Spokane, WA. Going from red-state-ish eastern Washington to very blue state Portland was a major culture shock:" hadn't realized that urban neoliberal America had gone that crazy. Within a year, covid hit. Oy, mucho insanity.
But I've adjusted and am a flourishing local lunatic.
I'm off to read about Carlton the Crime-Fighting Pig.
"Every essay seems to be an attempt to outdo all the others as it presents facts about our dying empire and our way of life."
Sen sationalism, whether fraudulent or truthful, rarely fails to sell.
A year ago I subscribed to Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi. The comments on Taibbi's Substack immediately got nasty and I canceled with no penalty. I quit Greenwald (without a refund) and joined the Dr. Robert Malone Substack in June. His Sunday Funnies are entertaining; but the posts are repetitive and the comments tiresome.
Everyone seems to want to say the same thing and be NOTICED. I AM BORED.
I no longer care where COVID came from or what's in the "vaccines". the USA and NATO seem to be fighting to destroy Russia. But, while I admire Tchaikovsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitzyn, I am content to die happy and ignorant.
I am at the stage where I would be content to eat a handful of Psilocybin mushrooms and listen to Pink Floyd and Hemi-Sync CD's.
It seems that the world is rife with tortured geniuses yearning to be discovered. They add a new twist to "never let a crisis go to waste".