gearhog

The cycle does repeat, and Strauss and Howe do a great job illustrating that what we're going through today isn't new, but the circumstances and concerns of a vastly different population with vastly different technologies are. Never before have this many people been lifted this far out of poverty. A reversion to the mean would be a disaster unlike any previous cycle. Never before have this many people believed that not only will we suffer at the hands of human governance in the crisis phase, but that we are also now approaching planetary constraints in terms of environment/resources. No one can say how true it is at this moment in time, but unlimited consumption in a finite system isn't sustainable. People are compelled to take extreme actions on that belief now, and I don't think that can be said of any previous saeculum. I know it's cliche, but the closet example in history to the American empire is the Roman empire. As it endured through many cycles, it ultimately fell completely, and for many of the same reasons we're experiencing today. During this saeculum, America has dominated the world in nearly every aspect of civilization: Technology, Innovation, Production, Society, Freedom, Humanitarianism, but those things did come at a cost. We may have begun self-reliant, but we currently draw upon human resources around the world to sustain our advancement, e.g. Iphone. It's subjective, but I think one could argue that we've been operating under the law of diminishing marginal returns for a while, and may be entering an era of negative returns. America no longer exists to provide you, me, our grandkids, friends, and neighbors with the highest levels of safety, security and standard of living in history. It is a means to provide the corporatists you mentioned earlier with those things. Now that we are reaching a sufficient level of advancement where they may not require the productive efforts of many Americans, or even other populations to ensure their security, they must address the issue of "useless eaters". America, Western nations, and their ideologies are being dismantled. Immigration, reduction of freedoms, destruction of culture, civil unrest, inflation, taxation, household and national debts, sustainability efforts, and engagement in conflict are the attempts and methods being used to level the playing field. Perhaps our grandkids would stand on a holodeck one day, but it won't be as Americans, it'll be as members of the United Citizen Federation. lol.

100%. But the thing that troubles me is, if I want to be consistent in my thinking, I have to consider the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed as a result of our response to a terrorist attack. How does one reconcile their opinion of those two operations without being hypocritical?

Just some thoughts on your post: If there was a corporatist takeover of the US government, then by definition, it would have been in the interests of financial gain. Have significant gains been realized by these stakeholders? I think we can say "Yes"... owning and controlling the US government to the extent that they do has vastly increased their position. So much so, that they now have even greater power and resources to replicate those gains if the processes and methods were applied on a larger scale. When you, as an individual, are worth billions and the institutions that you control are worth trillions, where do your loyalties lie and why would you have any? When you have effectively unlimited wealth, you might begin to look outside the US and have ideas about the state of the world as a whole (as we all do), but then begin thinking that you or your institution has the resources and power to manifest the direction you think it should take. Climate change, economics and disparities, sustainability, rogue governments, population, whatever, all become issues that you may find yourself within reach of affecting change in. However, if you're controlling the most powerful nation in the history of the planet, and you begin to see retards elected as a voice for the population, you may perceive a threat. If those retards begin to adversely affect your global ambitions, you may begin to see Democracy as a threat. What are you gonna do? NOT make an attempt to manipulate the process? Say Trump is poised to become elected in spite of your attempts to put your thumb on the scale and affect the outcome. Would you go so far as to intentionally and fundamentally weaken the USA, which you no longer have a loyalty to, economically and societally so they pose less of a threat even if the retards take over? How would you do it? Crisis? They occur naturally, so why not make hay each and every time one occurs? When a crisis occurs, exacerbate it. Chaos yields opportunity and we can see that in each and every crisis that has unfolded in recent memory, wealth and power has become more concentrated. War has always been a fantastic excuse and I'll agree, we're going to see bloodshed. A lot of it, because it solves lots of (their) problems. The US is being indebted, wealth is transferred to the profiteers, and the enemy is not being defeated. We do not defeat enemies because there is more money in the treatment than the cure. However, I will say there will never be a "reinvigoration" of American desire for competent leadership because there won't be an America as we have always thought of it. American ideals and values are diverging and there is no way it's going back to the way any of us here think of it. There is no putting this back together. Something new may emerge and it may be called America, but it won't bear any resemblance to the country that was established according to our founding documents.

Congrats, brother. Seriously. The Air Force itself is struggling to navigate a rapidly changing world and it doesn't appear to be doing a very good job. It thinks it doesn't want you because you haven't performed all the ridiculous requirements to make rank. We have a failing foreign policy, and at some point in the near future, you're going to be caught up in it. If you were to make Maj, you'd be eligible for more non-flying BS with more responsibility and zero ability to affect any change. Happiness is a trajectory, not a position. Is making Maj really going to put you on an upward vector where you'll continuously find increasing satisfaction with your life? You may think so, because I did, but it's only because you've normalized and become accustomed to military life. You can now identify a point in the future where you will have near unlimited possibilities. You'll be young, have received millions of dollars in training in education, an outstanding resume, and the freedom to choose your own path. No one but you will care if you got passed over. I left AD AF as a Captain under a VSP program. One of my best decisions. I did go back to the Guard, which I enjoyed for a while, but then felt trapped to stay in because I was close to the retirement bennies. But having the ability to determine your own future outside the AF is a gift with a bow on it. Now you can just fly and give the finger to all the other AF careerist pressures. If you do go to the Guard/Reserve, they'll pick you up once passed over no problem. Twice passed over requires a big waiver (or at least it once did).

Good point. DoS officials should be checking with the Twitter Feed Verification Department before making such wild claims.

Wait a sec. WTF? Kurt Campbell, US Deputy Secretary of State says Russia has completely reconstituted its military. We spend over a hundred billion dollars to weaken the Russian military, and this dude says it has had no effect. Starts at 29:50

Kansas and New Mexico added today. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/livestock

Well, it is an election year. Tell me if you've heard this story before. 1. Bird flu research by the US and China. https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=439621 "Research Project: US-UK-China Collab: Predictive phylogenetics for evolutionary and transmission dynamics of newly emerging avian influenza viruses" 2. Bird flu found in chicken farms: Largest US egg producer temporarily halts production due to avian flu at Texas facility https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/largest-us-egg-producer-temporarily-halts-production-due-108795657 3. Bird flu jumps from birds to dairy cattle. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bird-flu-hits-texas-dairy-cows-hens-human-ducks-migrate-2024-04-03/ 4. Bird flu jumps from dairy cattle to humans per CDC https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0401-avian-flu.html 5. Pharmaceutical industry consultants for vaccines predict pandemic 100 times worse than COVID. https://nypost.com/2024/04/04/us-news/bird-flu-pandemic-could-be-100-times-worse-than-covid-scientists-warn/ Roll up those sleves and bend over! Any predictions on what comes after step 5?

I'm going to "strongly suggest" Russian space-based acoustic lasers are what's really giving me Saturday morning headaches. I'm not fully committed to definitively saying that's the cause. I'm merely suggesting it.

Hyprocisy: Biden made no statements when an innocent family was bombed in Kabul during his botched withdrawal. Biden is now outraged and heartbroken by the bombing of aid workers in Gaza. Israel has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into why the aid workers’ vehicles were hit by airstrikes. That investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public. Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians. Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians. The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/02/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-death-of-world-central-kitchen-workers-in-gaza/

The Help America Vote Verification (HVAA) system by the Social Security Administration logs the number of requests for voter registration. The data is published on the SSA website. Download the .xls spreadsheet to see year to date totals. https://www.ssa.gov/open/havv/havv-weekly-2024-01-20.html I saw this making the rounds today and had to check for myself. I went through week by week to see if the numbers jived. They do. The number of attempts to register the information of dead people seems high. New voter registrations since the start of 2024: TX: 1,250,710 PA: 580,513 AZ: 220,731 At this rate, there will be several million new voters by Nov. The numbers for many states already exceed the margin by which either candidate won in 2020. I'm leaning toward not voting this year. It's gonna b a fn mess.

For some reason, I'm kinda doubting his enthusiasm for the cause.

If anyone knows a better way to extract information from a terrorist…

Reports are now that 4 gunman who did the shooting are in custody and 11 others were caught in Chacun, 370km from Moscow and 150km from Ukraine. Most if not all are said to be from Tajikistan. Russian media is reporting the terrorists admitted the attack was planned for March 9 at the Shaman concert, during the song "I Am Russian". This was to disrupt the Russian elections. However, the warning from the US caused security to be tightened to an extent that caused the terrorists to postpone the attack until the next major concert at the venue, which was this one. The terrorists said they were fleeing to the place where they either knew or expected to be allowed to exit Russia.

Good point. I've only seen pictures of stereotypical Islamic extremists and I think one in custody who is likely a crisis actor. Russia could have surreptitiously created an false flag terrorist group and outsmarted US intelligence agencies, making us believe ISIS was going to attack and publish a warning to US citizens stating exactly that. Now that US embassy warning is being used by Russia to play upon suspicions of the US government having a role, while artfully concealing that they attacked themselves. That's what they did with the pipeline. They attacked themselves because it makes war better or something. This is a compelling theory and I'm warming up to it. EDIT: New strategy: We stop funding the Ukraine war and continue to allow Russia to attack itself until it is finally defeated. Everyone is happy.

Very interesting. So you think it's possible Russia created a new threat to garner public support in expanding their war effort on a second front that is unrelated to the first? I'm not convinced. There is no precedent.

So you believe a country would orchestrate terrorist attack to justify war? That's the stuff crazy conspiracy theories are made of.

So exactly two weeks prior, the US warns US citizens about a terrorist attack, in Moscow, at a concert? Our intelligence is really really good. Also, smart move by ISIS to try and weaken Russia by drawing them into a wider conflict at the exact moment they're already engaged in another war.

We warned them?

Awesome view of Polish Air Force doing a patriotic flyover.

Be careful out there guys. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is warning there is about to be a flood of disinformation threatening our democracy. And Anthony Blinken knows disinformation when he sees it. https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/biden-campaign-blinken-orchestrated-intel-letter-discredit-hunter-biden-laptop

Who here said America isn't great? It's a feeble attempt at a strawman argument. We're criticizing those who are leading the country. Why can't you make that distinction? We were forced out of one of two strategic anti-terrorist bases on the African continent while our former host cozies up to Russia. It was errors from senior leadership that lead to an this undesirable outcome. They actually are to blame. Because non of us spent our careers trying to reach a high level position in the DoS, we're not allowed to criticize them? Weren't you an ROTC instructor or something? How were you personally conducting foreign policy? I don't personally hold office, but my mother is state level house representative and my next door neighbor and former employer is a state senator. I am involved in both of their campaigns continuously. Things go fairly smooth in our state, but I do occasionally interact with my US representatives at certain events. I've pleaded with them on certain issues and if I get an honest answer, it's always the same. If you don't compromise your principals and cut deals, you're sidelined. If you think you can show up to DC, be good person, and make the country a better place, you're the most naive person on the face of the planet. Look what happened to @congressman. By all accounts, a fairly decent dude when he was elected, had an emotional breakdown, remained broken, compromised, was used, and was tossed aside. Given that you have a tendency to adopt the official narrative as your personal heartfelt opinion, and gleefully cheerlead things like mask mandates and forced vaccinations, you would likely do very well in DC. Probably better than @congressman. So why haven't you? Because our leadership is doing so well they don't need your help? I expect lectures to us in the threads about migration, inflation, etc, and that we shouldn't complain because everything is awesome and someone somewhere else has it worse.

Looks like Putin just won a rigged election. What a ridiculous charade. Everyone knows real democracies cancel their elections so their leadership can remain in power.

We invested a shitload of money in a shithole, and "Surprise!"... we get kicked out. Again. How badly is this Admin gonna keep screwing up? It appears we operate(d) two bases there. The linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa, Air Base 201 consists of a 6,200-foot runway (composed of 1.1 million square feet of asphalt), aprons, taxiways, massive aircraft hangars, multistory living quarters, roads, utilities, munitions storage, and an aircraft rescue and firefighting station, all within a 25-kilometer “base security zone.” U.S. troops eat in a 13,000-square-foot dining facility, work out in a gym, play on basketball and volleyball courts, and spend leisure time at a recreation center with “bookcases full of movies and games, Wi-Fi, snacks,” according to the Air Force, all of it protected by fences, barriers, and upgraded air-conditioned guard towers with custom-made firing ports. Only the Pentagon could call Air Base 201, the largest “airman-built” project in Air Force history, a “low-cost” facility, since it cost $110 million to build and is maintained to the tune of $20 to $30 million U.S. taxpayer dollars each year. In addition to Air Base 201, the U.S. military operates another CSL — a second drone facility known as Air Base 101 — at the main commercial airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey. A Pentagon spokesperson told The Intercept that they were now “repositioning some U.S. personnel and equipment in Niger from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez” but did not respond to questions about how many personnel would be moved. The CIA also operates a drone base in the far north of the country near the town of Dirkou. What's this?