tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post1148308813717316297..comments2024-03-28T23:39:08.616-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The likelihood of warDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79514905682810846702017-09-16T13:59:01.355-07:002017-09-16T13:59:01.355-07:00onward
onward
onward<br /><br />onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40230830432011281632017-09-16T13:57:48.557-07:002017-09-16T13:57:48.557-07:00donzelion in fact I mean it as stated. Given Russ...donzelion in fact I mean it as stated. Given Russia's demographic collapse, Moscow cannot conquer the world. It WILL be either English or Chinese spoken world wide by 2100 and I believe Bannon wants it to be English.<br /><br />But Putin Triumphant NOW serves every single Bannon purpose.<br /><br />- Putin leads the anti- enlightenment, traditionalist-feudalist alliance. It's current focus is anti-American, but that's shallow. If America goes confed-feudalist, then the Putinists will accept US leadership of the world to come... so long as Russian influence is hige and disproportionate.<br /><br />-2 - Such a triumph might save Russia's hold on Siberia... or at least some of it.<br /><br />- 3 - come on... Putin is funneling funds into Bannon's world.<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8488120033410692972017-09-16T13:52:34.703-07:002017-09-16T13:52:34.703-07:00onwardonwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29219225078485840632017-09-16T13:52:29.168-07:002017-09-16T13:52:29.168-07:00Dr. Brin: "(1) Bannon doesn't want a no-...Dr. Brin: <i>"(1) Bannon doesn't want a no-win Korean War. He wants a trade war with China and a theatrical set piece with Tehran that will end with <b>Russia stepping in and collecting all the marbles.</b>"</i><br /><br />The part in bold is problematic: Bannon probably doesn't want Russia to collect all the marbles, though it is a fair interpretation of sentence as worded. I take your meaning as, 'he wants X, and then Y will happen because X is stupid.' I suspect what he really wants is to make his name and brand meaningful, rather than serving as a hired voice for a few oligarchs; that may include some Russian help, but mostly, his financial backing comes from the U.S. (Been a while since I browsed his nasty channel, but who is advertising there now?) <br /><br />His backers probably prefer TALK of a trade war with China, another set of (extremely lucrative) theater.<br /><br />The goal is more along the lines of good ole 19th century profiteering, using 21st century mechanisms. The 'threat of war' is imminently tradeable information, as it was 200 years ago. A hotel complex, a casino, certain other investments can transmit nearly all the useful data that once required colonial possessions - at a tiny fraction of the cost.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27505458642326501392017-09-16T13:52:27.259-07:002017-09-16T13:52:27.259-07:00Hey man, who the hell cares about Bill Maher? He ...Hey man, who the hell cares about Bill Maher? He lies far less than Fox and has far less sway. There are lefty Limbaughs but they have minuscule followings. You mewl about leftists as if they control something. Only natural, since YOU crazies do control your movement. Only an idiot points to extreme exceptions and yatters "They prove ALL liberals are like that!"<br /><br />BTW... if you watch just FIVE of Rachel Maddow's shows (ideally her best-of) with an actual open mind, your confed-ism would not survive.<br /><br />I tested this on Hannity and could not manage because every single minute was a disprovable lie.<br /><br />You cannot do that with Maddow. Period. Hence... hate facts!<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16665324644039542362017-09-16T13:38:18.355-07:002017-09-16T13:38:18.355-07:00Locum shows his racist side with his last comment ...Locum shows his racist side with his last comment about "demographic replacement." Notice that he did not feel safe to spout white nationalist crap like that before this year. That's how America is changing - the misogynists and racists no longer feel embarrassed to reveal how they really feel. <br /><br />What he doesn't understand is that Blue America knows that it is fight or die against his tribe. There is no compromise with Nazis. No middle ground. Win or die.<br /> <br />Yet his tribe can just say that they promise not be assholes to 75% of humanity and they would be welcomed back into the American fold. It's easier for the Reds to surrender than the Blues. Thus, the Reds will not win. We will all bleed because of assholes like locum. But the Reds will bleed much, much more. <br /><br />America is waking up to the traitors in our midst. Slow to anger but famous for our overwhelming response to threats. How do you think this is going to end, locum? matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20472765305457132352017-09-16T11:36:08.024-07:002017-09-16T11:36:08.024-07:00Here's a better Bill Maher link for you:
htt...<br />Here's a better Bill Maher link for you: <br /><br />http://deadline.com/2017/09/real-time-bill-maher-states-rights-1202170831/locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35371260269516253902017-09-16T11:11:25.036-07:002017-09-16T11:11:25.036-07:00Alfred poses the 64 dollar question when he asks &...<br />Alfred poses the 64 dollar question when he asks "Why the hell would we NOT trade?", the answer being that trade is a bad idea when the trade is either one-sided (unfair) or more than one of the participants is compelled to trade by unpleasant socioeconomic realities, as in the case of an Imperial China that once tried (and failed) to shut down international & foreign trade because it was literally trading itself to death through the importation of British Opium, leading to its destruction.<br /><br />That's enough, for the time being, to draw some unpleasant parallels between fallen Imperial China & the failing US Imperium...<br /><br />As to the likelihood of US Civil War Part Deux -- one of David's faves -- I'd like to draw your attention to Bill Maher's latest episode so I can say I told you so as Maher brags about California's open repudiation of US federalism as it defies federal edict & openly negotiates with foreign powers.<br /><br />I predicted & wrote this particular 'comedy routine' almost 2 years ago on this very site, but I won't sue Bill for copyright infringement because it's so much funnier when he says it:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPvveyM0RHQ<br /><br />Unfortunately for General Bill & his Blue State Regiments, the final 'punchline' has yet to be delivered, soon to be supplied by conservative-led US Federal forces who will 'shock & awe' by ENDORSING Blue State Secession, also in the name of 'State's Rights', and thereby accomplish the goal of the Civil War Part 1 & the Old Confederacy without firing a shot, before the US heartland falls to the same type of demographic replacement that has already claimed most of California & Europe.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1043649115580296142017-09-16T05:24:44.072-07:002017-09-16T05:24:44.072-07:00Alfred Differ:
History shows they buyers are more...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />History shows they buyers are more likely to hang themselves. On that, Lenin was right.<br /></i><br /><br />But that's not what he said, is it?<br /><i><br />Really cogent piece in today's Gaund about why we should smash the DRNK with trade<br /></i><br /><br />It occurred to me yesterday that we should air-drop millions of I-Phones into Pyongyang with dedicated "pen pals" from South Korea ready to talk to them.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67018820682622791572017-09-15T21:33:22.349-07:002017-09-15T21:33:22.349-07:00Mark nderson's Newsletter contains the followi...Mark nderson's Newsletter contains the following food for thought:<br /><br />China's state-run media said: "China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so." (Global Times, August 10, 2017)<br /><br />An alternate view from former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon (The American Prospect, August 16, 2017):<br /><br />There's no military solution [to North Korea's nuclear threats], forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don't die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don't know what you're talking about, there's no military solution here, they got us….<br /><br />We're at economic war with China. It's in all their literature. They're not shy about saying what they're doing. One of us is going to be a hegemon in 25 or 30 years and it's gonna be them if we go down this path. On Korea, they're just tapping us along. It's just a sideshow.<br /><br />Mr. Bannon's first comment is probably accurate. His second comment is right regarding the relative seriousness of the two problems, but wrong about North Korea being a sideshow. The two problems are related, but they are different problems. North Korea is not part of, and not a tool of, and both a buffer state and a major headache for, China. The underlying issue is Korean independence - including independence from China, which has annexed historically Korean territory and interfered in North Korean politics.<br /><br />My comment: (1) Bannon doesn't want a no-win Korean War. He wants a trade war with China and a theatrical set piece with Tehran that will end with Russia stepping in and collecting all the marbles. (2) Korea is surrogate to its Big neighbor. We need to to make sure that neighbor knows that neutrality under those circumstances is not an option.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19199284780411124262017-09-15T21:28:02.117-07:002017-09-15T21:28:02.117-07:00Larry Hart: "Well, you might not want to sell...Larry Hart: "Well, you might not want to sell them the rope they hang you with."<br /><br />History shows they buyers are more likely to hang themselves. On that, Lenin was right.<br /><br />Really cogent piece in today's Gaund about why we should smash the DRNK with trade. Simon Jenkins, one of the brightest people over there.<br />https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/15/bombard-north-korea-capitalism-kim-jong-unZepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71978334629999113812017-09-15T20:50:33.940-07:002017-09-15T20:50:33.940-07:00locumranch:
"Those who compel will be compel...locumranch:<br /><i><br />"Those who compel will be compelled", I always say.<br /></i><br /><br />That you always say it is a comfort, since that virtually guarantees the assertion to be false.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83861167632598400522017-09-15T20:49:14.708-07:002017-09-15T20:49:14.708-07:00locumranch slanders:
LH & Donzelion continue ...locumranch slanders:<br /><i><br />LH & Donzelion continue to argue that THEIR use of force is justifiable in order to achieve & maintain consensus <br /></i><br /><br />On this one, I can't even tell what you <b>think</b> you heard me say. I don't think I've ever advocated the use of force by anyone, with an exception for the Allied Forces in WWII.<br /><br />To make a wild-ass guess at what you think I said (with a lower confidence level than I usually have about such guesses), I wonder if you interpret the assertion that human actions might make the planet uninhabitable to the human race as a justification for (say) rounding up climate-deniers into concentration camps. In fact, the opposite thing is true. <br /> I'm at the point now where I'm willing to accept the deniers' own horrific and miserable deaths by their own (in)actions as sufficient comeuppance. I have wet dreams about you and your ilk gasping "That showed those urban progressives!" as you gasp your terminal breath of nitric oxide.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12502058160068076512017-09-15T20:32:40.758-07:002017-09-15T20:32:40.758-07:00“Well, screw that! "Those who compel will be ...“Well, screw that! "Those who compel will be compelled", I always say.”<br /><br />Har! he tries to guilt trip us with our own enlightenment values. Under his preferred 6000 years of feudalism, he so desperately wants to return-to, no one would cast aspersions for someone else wanting to “compel. It was always a fight over who could kill or cheat more and get to do the compelling.<br /><br />It is ONLY under an enlightenment that you get positive sum values and serious attempts to limit cheating and compulsion! Though with many ironies, like having to compel bullies and cheaters to stop it! To Locum, that’s hypocrisy! Zero summers think that way.<br /><br />hat his “Chicago Way” banter makes clear is that the enlightenment’s defender - the Union, America - is going have to get ironic all over their confederate asses to stop them from spoiling it. <br /><br />Here’s the real difference. When we win, it’s all generosity, forgiveness, “charity for all,” and eager welcoming them back into a great and loosely individualistic forward momentum. If they win they will kill most of us, crush the rest and consign our children to serfdom.<br /><br />He had a cogent sentence about China. We do need to recognize that they - like our confeds - are zero-summers, who must be prevented from killing the goose that lays their golden eggs. Beyond that… more hallucinating drivel.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86418840085514499842017-09-15T20:24:37.516-07:002017-09-15T20:24:37.516-07:00Alfred Differ:
Why the hell would we NOT trade? W...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />Why the hell would we NOT trade? With anyone?<br /></i><br /><br />Well, you might not want to sell them the rope they hang you with.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61382223174260126942017-09-15T19:44:34.329-07:002017-09-15T19:44:34.329-07:00@locumranch | Assuming that global Free Trade is l...@locumranch | <i>Assuming that global Free Trade is literally 'free' (as in 'consensual' and 'not compelled'), than the USA could stop trading with China as Trump suggests without significant consequence...</i><br /><br />Get thee to an Econ 101 class.<br /><br />We would probably slip into a recession, people would pay more for stuff for a while, and then we'd recover. China would be slammed and would then recover over time. All of this would be the result of a monumentally stupid decision, though. Both traders benefit if they aren't compelled. <b>By definition.</b> Why the hell would we NOT trade? With anyone?Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60677810058938698392017-09-15T19:23:42.875-07:002017-09-15T19:23:42.875-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23382471195227535302017-09-15T19:14:25.339-07:002017-09-15T19:14:25.339-07:00@locumranch
Incentives are not euphemistic repres...@locumranch<br /><br />Incentives are not euphemistic representations of compulsions.<br /><br />Employees are not slaves either. (No matter how much Taleb thinks they are.)<br /><br />If I want something from you and lure you into doing it, I am not compelling you to do it.<br /><br />If you can't see this, we need to send you in for some deprogramming... except that WOULD be compulsion.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54830898172563150162017-09-15T18:12:07.129-07:002017-09-15T18:12:07.129-07:00Assuming that global Free Trade is literally '...<br />Assuming that global Free Trade is literally 'free' (as in 'consensual' and 'not compelled'), than the USA could stop trading with China as Trump suggests without significant consequence, even though a consensus of experts & Chinese ministers imply that this will lead to catastrophic conflict between the US & China (and world-wide economic collapse), a conclusion that belies our initial assumption about the 'free' (rather than mandatory) nature of global trade, much in the same way that the very same decision (as in 'the suspension of disadvantageous trade') was once made by Imperial China, leading to its destruction in the Opium Wars.<br /><br />As in the dissolution of civil marriage, each & every divorce is analogous to a declaration of war, so much so that even the most enlightened kepi-wearing Unionist would gleefully slaughter each & every Red Rural Confederate who tried to either suspend the so-called FREE transfer of red rural resources to their blue-bellied overlords or renegotiate (as in 'renege') on this rather one-sided & urban favourable economic relationship, leaving us a devil's choice between either a belligerent peace or polite warfare. A choice that is NOT a choice, as in the case of our recent election year choice between a turd sandwich & a giant douche. <br /><br />Said Gozer the Gozerian: "Choose. Choose the form of the Destructor", followed by "The choice is made" wherein the probability of WAR approaches certainty, excepting the possibility of unilateral surrender.<br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6358806541946995542017-09-15T18:04:34.489-07:002017-09-15T18:04:34.489-07:00Raito,
"What we really want is to remove the...Raito,<br /><br />"What we really want is to remove the stigma without either the pendulum swinging the other way into 'coolness' or ceasing to identify something as a problem merely because its effect can be contained. And that applies to a lot of culture, policy, and politics."<br />- That's what we usually get, a pendulum that swings, but over time, if the pendulum doesn't break, it eventually comes to rest somewhere in the middle. While cultural institutions change much faster than biology, the process can seem maddeningly slow to those who are paying attention to it, and to those whose lives are lessened because of it. <br /><br />Jumper,<br /><br />There are a few humans who grok the Martian motto. The fact that you are bringing it up is suggestive ...<br /><br />Zepp,<br />The Beckett Manœuvre has been around for a long, long time. There are plenty of people around who are aware of it, but as we saw between 9/11 and the Invasion, most people will plug their ears and start with the patriotism litmus tests. Michael Moore got booed off the stage when he pointed out the obvious about Bush's obsession with invading Iraq. If Grope picks a fight with North Korea, or Iran or even Liechtenstein, he will get the support of most of the people. Segmentary Opposition once again.Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79108168463921888462017-09-15T18:03:29.768-07:002017-09-15T18:03:29.768-07:00Donzelion is quite right in regards to depression ...<br />Donzelion is quite right in regards to depression -- or optimism, globalism, social progress & climate change for that matter -- insomuch as ANY preconceived set of assumptions can lead almost any intellect to the same 'inevitable' conclusion, just as the Global New Deal mindset leads to the recapitulation of Stalinism. <br /><br />Yet, even though 'incentivize' and 'disincentivize' are euphemisms for compulsion, LH & Donzelion continue to argue that THEIR use of force is justifiable in order to achieve & maintain consensus (as in the case of the majority rule that they desire), while they often condemn enforced majority rule (quite rightly, I might add) on the grounds that it may disguise unjust, immoral & undesired discrimination against minority opinion & action.<br /><br />It follows that LH & D do NOT object to compulsion <i>per se</i>, as they reserve THEIR right to compel others, they would merely deny the 'right to compel' to those others who would use it against their more (?) enlightened (?) personal (!!) interests & desires.<br /><br />Well, screw that! "Those who compel will be compelled", I always say.<br /><br />Let's call this Newton's Third Law of Social Interaction or, on second thought, 'The Chicago Way', courtesy of President Obama channeling Sean Connery:<br /><br />"Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way!"<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31617386686660558032017-09-15T17:59:59.337-07:002017-09-15T17:59:59.337-07:00@Zepp | People like to point to the Sixties as an ...@Zepp | <i>People like to point to the Sixties as an example of a polarised society, but I would say now is far worse.</i><br /><br />I'm not convinced. We aren't burning cities, most of the marches are relatively peaceful, and we aren't assassinating our politicians yet.<br /><br />I think it is easier to see the polarization now than it was then.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-21748716291917003072017-09-15T16:48:58.246-07:002017-09-15T16:48:58.246-07:00Locum weaves a marvelous incantation of resentment...Locum weaves a marvelous incantation of resentment toward a persecution by loony-angry intellectual elite liberals, and my what an incantation! I envision a whole movie floating above his head! Marvelous, oh the villainy! Except there’s one problem.<br /><br />Not a single thing that he says is even remotely true. Jeez, I looked a second time at each paragraph… and it’s all drooling nonsense! Jesu… not even a single one that even touches glancingly on fact! Wow.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60537098818523841752017-09-15T16:02:20.813-07:002017-09-15T16:02:20.813-07:00@donzelion: "The One" appears to have be...@donzelion: "The One" appears to have been a personal project of Rick Veitch (Swamp Thing). That's all I've found from a quick search. The comic aficionados could probably tell you more.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65396931418721218662017-09-15T15:43:55.758-07:002017-09-15T15:43:55.758-07:00Locum: "Humanity is, has always been & wi...Locum: <i>"Humanity is, has always been & will always be at war with itself IF WE ASSUME either freedom or diversity,"</i><br /><br />On some level, perhaps. But equally, we've always been & always will be at peace with ourselves, we've been in love with others, we've built much to be proud of - freedom and diversity are the basis for both good and ill. We might as well blame oxygen (but for the oxygen, there never would have been any war on earth!).<br /><br /><i>"War is INEVITABLE if you cannot."</i><br />One of the saddest aspects of depression is a fixed belief in 'inevitability,' a binding, blinding conviction that others in different mental states just don't get. Much of the time, what we construe as inevitable is actually a projection of our own inner state (but not always: I'm convinced humans will inevitably need oxygen, and probably freedom too).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.com