WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
STRANGE DAZE: “And the wind began to howl.”
byVanderleunonSeptember 28, 2022
Hurricane Ian has completed its eyewall replacement cycle & has strengthened overnight. Ian is now a Category 4 hurricane with max sustained winds of 155 mph & a central pressure of 937 mb/27.67″ At 8 am Wed…Ian was located 55 mi W of Naples FL, moving to the NNE at 10 mph. pic.twitter.com/ZrCKAcoOpH
“Outside in the cold distance, a wildcat did growl, two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl!”
— Dylan
Last week, someone planted bombs near the Baltic Sea gas pipelines that bring natural gas from Russia to Europe. This caper required a great deal of coordination and technical skill, so it was not a group of kids. Everyone knows it was ordered by Washington and probably carried about by the American military. If you head to the big America media platforms, this act of international terrorism that threatens the wellbeing of Europe is barely noticed. The New York Times is obsessing over some old video of Roger Stone and the hurricane. Presumably, they hope the storm wrecks Florida because they hate Florida. The Post has a below the fold story but they are gearing up to claim the terrorism is part of Putin’s dastardly plan to spread disinformation in the West.
Typically, the regime has a narrative ready to go when they pull a caper, but this time they have just been doing the self-satisfied grin. Radek Sikorski is a high ranking Polish politician who is married to Anne Applebaum. She is a member of the Trotsky cult run by Robert Kagan, the husband of Victoria Nuland, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. She is running Ukraine policy. Sikorski tweeted this out moments after the attack.
GREG GUTFELD: But they try to erase our message by demonizing the messenger.Trump’s Hitler. DeSantis is a Nazi. Shannon Bream is evil. We know that’s true. We do do this, but our hearts aren’t really into it. And we don’t control the bullhorn. They do. So when a Democrat asks for more funding for stupid crap, sure, we’ll call them socialists. And when they shake invisible hands with somebody, we’ll call them senile. And when they want more than just sex ed in schools, we call them groomers. To be fair, some of them turned out to be true.
JOE BIDEN: We go back a long way. She was 12. I was 30. But anyway.
The full Strange Daze is now available for paid members only at The New American Digest: American Studies Past Present and Future where full subscriptions cost as little as a Quarter a Day, which translates to 25 cents, which translates to “What else is this good for a quarter a day when the Dollar is the new Dime?”
Our son and his fambly are in Cape Coral and he texted us at 1:20pm that his power went out. Looks like Ian is taking the same path Charley did back in 2004.
I have been in a typhoon, several earthquakes, floods and tornadoes. Never enjoyed any of them. I am the sort that stays put and hopes for the best. No bug out bag for me. If some disaster takes my home, it takes me with it. Deus vult.
azlibertarianSeptember 28, 2022, 12:47 PM
“…Everyone knows it was ordered by Washington and probably carried about by the American military….”
OK. “Everyone knows”. Talk me through this.
Using your military to attack another country’s energy infrastructure is an act of war, amirite? Where is the “Cui bono” questioning of this assumption that “everyone knows that this was done by Washington and the US military”? Would this be the same US military that stiff-armed Trump over and over again? Wouldn’t cutting off Russia’s Nordstream pipelines give Russia EGGSACTLY THE ACT…WAR WITH AMERICA AND THE WEST…THAT THE RUSSIANS CLAIM THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING AGAINST (apologies for the yelling)? Wouldn’t someone looking to cut those pipelines look far enough into the future to ask: “How might Russia respond to someone blowing up their stuff?”
Do we have the capability to do this? Yes. Of course we do. Have Brandon and that harridan Nuland made oblique references to doing something along these lines? Yes they have. Last week when we axed if Putin was bluffing or not when he said that he wasn’t bluffing, do we ax whether our own leaders (sic) were serious when they (stupidly) said what they said?
When “everyone” says they know something, that is the time when questions ought to be raised.
Perhaps. Perhaps not. For example, everyone knows that Mexico lost her war with the US (1846 – 1848). Mexico especially knows this. But that does not mean that questions should be raised about whether or not Mexico really lost.
The bulk of the evidence—so far—about the destruction of Nord Stream 2 points directly at the regime in Washington. It is acting as all empires in collapse act: They lash out in all directions at friend and foe alike in an attempt to reacquire their vanishing power and influence.
It is of great importance that we understand that the US is governed by Godless madmen. It is also of great importance that we remember that those who voted for Biden in 2020 acted exactly like the Germans who voted for Hitler. The consequences will be the same, with the same antagonists and in the same place.
Some things never change. Why should they?
azlibertarianSeptember 28, 2022, 2:05 PM
“
…The bulk of the evidence—so far—about the destruction of Nord Stream 2 points directly at the regime in Washington….
“What evidence are you seeing?
Contra Tucker, who is the only part of Fox News who I can remotely stand, I still fail to see how America benefits from blowing these pipelines. An act this explicit gives Vlad the excuse that America and the West are attacking Russia, it hurts our allies, and it breaks up whatever coalition we might have. Even Brandon isn’t this stupid.
Gordon ScottSeptember 28, 2022, 2:56 PM
Agreed. Oh, it’s not that the idiots making policy in this administration aren’t capable of stupidity. They are.
But, beyond “global population reduction” theories, which don’t make sense, this act, at this time, makes no sense I can find.
John FisherSeptember 29, 2022, 9:03 AM
It does take off the table the possibility of Germany cutting a deal with Russia – no more aid for Ukraine in exchange for getting their gas turned back on. The biggest beneficiaries; Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic Republics. Beneficiary with the likely capability to execute this – Poland.
And that is exactly why the US destroyed Nord Stream 2: No divergence from US policy will be allowed. The starvation and freezing to death of millions of Germans matter not at all. As I have written before: Collapsing empires always act this way, attacking everyone in their power to attack. See Athens and Melos (406 BC). The US regime is in its death throws. God help those stupid nations who depended upon her and trusted her.
In the main, I rely upon the Duran and Gonzalo Lira. Tucker as well, but only as a confirmation. Many of my conclusions rely upon my understanding 6000 years of History and how collapsing empires have acted over time. Please remember that both Biden and Nuland months ago threatened to destroy Nord Stream 2.
“Even Brandon isn’t this stupid.” The fate of empires was decided throughout time by stupidity, arrogance and hubris. Biden has never been compared to Einstein.
azlibertarianSeptember 28, 2022, 9:31 PM
In the main, I rely upon the Duran and Gonzalo Lira….”
Sigh. The Duran and Gonzalo.
I started listening to Gonzalo years ago (like maybe 12-15?) back when he wrote to an old blogspot blog (my bookmark for Gonzalo now goes to an “invited readers only” list, so I guess I should remove him). It was mostly economic and monetary stuff back then, which I agreed with, but I just sorta moved on. I was also a daily reader of Zero Hedge and Karl Denninger back then too. Again, I just moved on…..theirs weren’t the only views I wanted to see.
And the Duran came to me via my youtube attachment to Robert Barnes and his sidekick Viva Frei. About 80% of Barnes is great. His views on Trump, Trump’s cabinet and court picks, the problems with the elections, the Rittenhouse trial were all quite prescient, IMO. But the remainder of Barnes….his Anti-War-at-Any-Cost just soured on me. Every time he goes off on Ukraine, I am reminded of the old Leon Trotsky quote: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” He fails to understand that second clause.
And I’m sorry, but I just can’t watch the Duran on any topic. The one Alex’s tremoring vocalizations just remind me of listening to Diane Rehm on NPR (whose has a medical condition causing her tremor). It is just awful, no matter what they’re saying. And I especially just don’t agree with their views on the Ukraine War. They just seem to be Russian apologists more than fair observers of what is going on. YMMV.
I’m not pro-war here at all. I am the son of a Vietnam veteran, a veteran myself and the very worried father-in-law whose son-in-law just last week deployed to a close-enough-to-the-potential-action assignment to put him in great harm. I’m afraid that war may be coming to many of us, and it won’t be good. There won’t be a winner and a loser. There will only be a lesser loser and a bigger loser.
Nor am I apologizing for Ukraine. They’re not just corrupt…..they’re corrupt as HELL. They’re Joe-Biden-corrupt. I have no love for Ukraine…none at all.
But the difference here is that corrupt-though-they-may-be, Ukraine didn’t roll their tanks over their borders. Oh, “borders” you say? Which borders would those be? Do the people of Luhansk and Donetsk (not to mention Crimea and one other…I forget the name) have the right to declare themselves to be Russian and fold themselves into the Russian Federation? I see that as the central question here.
And I think they don’t. Much like our Civil War was as much about preventing the succession of the Rebel states as it was about slavery, I think that Ukraine is right to prevent the LPR and DPR from joining Russia. That land is Ukraine’s. If the people of Russian descent in those areas want to move to Russia, that’s fine….let’em go. But Russia can’t offer their benevolence to those people by moving into Ukraine. JMO, and again, YMMV.
And the Duran and Barnes just can’t understand that another view of the matter exists. They just refuse. I admit to my own biases, as we all must….there are only so many hours in a day, and I just can’t look at each opposing view to test my own. But I do look at enough, and still find that Russia brought an unjust war to Ukraine. It is right that they’re getting their asses handed to them. And I’m just guessing here, based on no evidence whatsoever, but I’d put $10 of my soon-to-be-worthless greenbacks that says that Russia blew up their own pipelines as a way of telling Europe “That cold winter that you’re about to experience? Get used to it.”
FWIW, the recent places I find informative related to the war in Ukraine are twofold:
* Trent Trelenko’s Twitter thread. I don’t tweet, but I do read the threadreader versions when they show up. Trent was the first (to my eye) guy who spoke of the horribly inefficient logistics which are dooming everything the Russians are trying to do.
*And the Youtube videos put out by an Australian guy who goes by Perun. He is very non-partisan here, and if our senior military aren’t listening to him, they’re missing it.
I’ve gotten used to Alexander Mercouris’ strange speech patterns. It took a while though. Denninger is a bit of a madman, but I do read him.
To call someone “a Russia apologist” or “a Ukraine apologist” is to fall into the logical fallacy of “ad hominem”. Either what a man says is true or it is not and has nothing to do with his thoughts on Putin or Zelenskyy.
Any nation can claim any land it wants. The problem is enforcing that claim. The Native Americans claimed the entirety of North America. That did not work out very well for them. It worked superbly for the White Man, as he had the power to enforce his claim. Likewise with Ukraine. She can claim the Donbass, Crimea and so on, but to enforce that claim is beyond her power. Those who state that all national borders are somehow sacred and inviolable are innocent of History. Ukraine’s borders are as inviolable as she can make them. So are those of the US.
After Biden and Nuland made public threats to shut down Nord Stream 2—and made these threats months ago—it would be odd to somehow blame Putin for that pipeline’s destruction. Putin has become the “go to” for all blame for anything, anywhere, all the time—our own Emmanuel Goldstein. He performs in the international arena the same thing that “climate change” does domestically. The US now blames Putin for inflation and the energy crisis. He is quite the guy!
Both of the World Wars began in Eastern Europe. This new world war is beginning there as well. Even the antagonists are the same: France, Germany, England, Italy, Russia and the US. This is an odd thing, but History is full of odd things.
John A. FlemingSeptember 29, 2022, 3:13 PM
I think that countries do not have a right to exist. If you can’t or won’t defend your country, somebody will come along and take it from you. As you said, it’s been that way since the dawn. So small countries collect allies to protect themselves from the big countries.
I think it has been a fundamental policy of the USA since the end of WWII, after bailing out those war-crazy Euros twice, that there should be stable borders in Europe. Perhaps the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties? As in please, let’s not have any more Eurowars. It worked more or less until the USSR collapsed. First the Yugos decided to settle old scores, and now Russia wants back Crimea and some of the Ukraine. The USA foreign policy says “No, the borders stay as they are, only the alliances can change. And there ain’t nobody that wants a piece of Russia. Been there, tried that, doesn’t work.” The feckless USA no longer has any credibility with Russia.
It seems like the people that run the big powers have forgotten the horrors of the past, don’t care anyway, aren’t that smart, can’t see the future, are too Dunning-Kreuger grasping, and have decided in their folly it’s time to play the Great Game again. This will not end well.
Snakepit KansasSeptember 29, 2022, 10:49 AM
Forces Euroweenies to go to green energy. Take their natural gas, then what do they do? Gubmit subsidies for wind farms. California will do that internally by banning gasoline cars. Damn the consequences, the end result is what they are after. Biden is trying the same thing by limiting new supplies of fossil fuels to raise the price and make electric only seem inevitable. Fuck you peasant. Eat your gruel and enjoy it. Let’s see how many Euroweenies die from exposure this winter. Difficult to revolt when you do not have a gun.
ghostsniperSeptember 29, 2022, 2:00 PM
In spite of gov’t sanctions Cuba has kept US cars running for 75 years now.
Same will happen here.
Was gonna sell my 32 yo S10 but I think I’ll keep it and convert it to a wood gassifier.
Casey KlahnSeptember 28, 2022, 5:35 PM
It’s indeed hard to see the upside of a secret attack on the pipeline. The whole act would be fraught with repercussions. I am thinking that either it was not blown up (as in: that was fake news), or it was a third party actor.
If the US Military does it to punish Putin, then Biden, inc., wants that act in the open, because it’s leverage.
anonymousSeptember 29, 2022, 1:20 PM
I am not sure how much military “capability” we actually have anymore.
The US still possesses the military capacity to destroy the people and infrastructure of Libya, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. She has no ability to defeat a nation like Russia. The US will learn that lesson quite soon.
azlibertarianSeptember 29, 2022, 10:16 PM
“…[The US] has no ability to defeat a nation like Russia….”
I suspect that you’ll disagree, but methinks that Russia is doing a good job of defeating itself (for that matter, China is too).
America will lose too, but we’ll lose least and last.
China has no great strategic reach. She cannot even figure out a way to get to Taiwan a mere 90 miles away. For 60 years Cubans have been floating 90 miles from their dreary island to Florida on inner tubes. But this feat remains a mystery to the Chinese Politburo. China is a paper tiger—all hat, no cattle.
Russia has great strategic reach but only in Europe and parts of Asia. But she only desires to operate in those area. A true blue water navy that could challenge the US navy if far out of her reach, but Russia desires no such thing. She needs to control the Black Sea, and parts of the Baltic Sea and the far northwest of the Pacific, and she does. Her dozens of ballistic missile submarines would provide all the strategic threat to NATO and the US that Russia needs.
As for “Russia doing a good job of defeating herself”: Well, Russia has been around for more than 1000 years. I suspect that she will be around for 1000 more, no matter what the US does. In fact, it is not Russia that is self-destructing but Europe and the US regime. It is so very strange to me that people actually believe that Russia will lose this Ukraine War. The US regime certainly thinks so—or at least pretends that it does.
CallmelennieSeptember 28, 2022, 2:05 PM
The one true scientific meaurement for a hurricane is the atmospheric pressure reading. When Ian came ashore the reading was 940 millibars, which is borderline Cat 3. OTOH, winds of 155 MPH are consisten with a low CAT 5 reading.
So someone is bullshitt*ng here. Who might that be .. the sensationalist, attenting whoring media who also want to turn everything into more proof of global warming .. OR .. “The Science.” I says TRUST THE SCIENCE!!
What … whats everyone looking at me like that for?
John A. FlemingSeptember 28, 2022, 6:47 PM
I’ve noticed that, everybody is now playing the Category inflation game. There is no honest reporting of what the data actually is. Nobody wants to be caught pooh-pooh’ing the danger and get caught out.
It’s really sad. All it does is pile another log on the blazing bonfire of widespread distrust of all public organization announcements. “They are lying. We know they are lying. They know that we know they are lying. … ” Sarasota was just outside the eyewall, the local airport reported today peak winds of 79 knots.
ghostsniperSeptember 28, 2022, 7:33 PM
I’m getting some direct “boots on the ground” info from Cape Coral and it ain’t lookin good. Possibly the worst thing to happen there in a long time. The power is out everywhere around there.
John A. FlemingSeptember 28, 2022, 7:49 PM
Yeah, it looked like Cape Coral/Ft. Myers/Gasparilla Sound got the worst of it. I saw videos of remote cameras on poles six feet above ground being inundated. I reckon by the time it looped all the way around to Sarasota, land friction calmed those winds a bit, but the power is out up there also. I guess you’ll call around to your clients and find out how well your houses held up.
ghostsniperSeptember 29, 2022, 7:34 AM
I will probably be doing some repair work after all of the dust settles. Our son emailed us last night and said they lost some shingles and fascia and a few fence panels, no interior flooding, yard is a mess. They are in north central Cape Coral.
Was viewing videos of the islands this morning, where most of my work is. There is only one road out to Pine Island and it was washed out completely so the only way across now is by boat but the waterways are littered with debris, sunk boats, submerged roofs, etc.
A hurricane does to civilization what a forest fire does to the forest. Eliminates the weak and poorly maintained places. The hurricane damage to buildings is noted by designers and new ideas are created on how to resist such forces. With each hurricane the building industry as a whole becomes better. Consider it a never ending learning curve.
My long range guess is that in say, 50-100 years, all buildings constructed in areas where hurricanes are known to frequent will look more *futuristic*, more streamlined so as to not resist the forces but rather to render them invalid. An example of this trend currently is in the design of roof systems. Most homes in high wind velocity places are of the “hip” type rather than the “gable” type. Gables must resist the wind forces but brute strength but Hips simply prevent the wind forces to get a grip in the first place. I find all of this sort of thing extremely fascinating and inspirational, and always have.
** Can you say “Concrete Geodesic Domes”?
John A. FlemingSeptember 29, 2022, 3:21 PM
There’s one thing I’m unclear about. Do the barrier islands experience the same surge as what Cape Coral/Ft. Myers experienced? It’s hard to imagine that any practical and stylish residence can be built on a sandy barrier island with sufficient strength to withstand 125mph driving a 6-foot swell battering it for hours. They would have to all look like the reinforced concrete boxes they call buildings on Guam.
ghostsniperSeptember 30, 2022, 7:03 AM
The requirements on the islands are much more stringent than on the mainland. The buildings I design exceed the requirements. Appearance wise they seem pretty normal and most of the structural elements are inside the building element. I designed the home at the link in 2003 and it has survived numerous hurricanes since. To design on the islands requires another way of thinking and it’s what I have done since the late 1980 when designed the first of the 3 largest residential projects on Pine Island. The first was St James Place in St James City, Pine Island. The 2nd was SeaGull Bay in Bokeelia, Pine Island, and the 3rd is Eagle Lake Estates, also in St James City. In Bokeelia I have designed and restored 3 of the oldest homes in Lee County, and I’ve designed numerous homes throughout Pine Island, Useppa Island, Cayo Costa, Boca Grande, Sanibel, Captiva and North Captiva. In spite of my long term relationships with the islands I wouldn’t want to live on any of them save maybe Cayo Costa because they are too crowded. Here is a home I designed on Useppa:
This is probably the coolest home I ever designed. It is on the island of Cayo Costa and it’s a completely self contained off grid installation. I designed this place back in 2004 for the owner of Cummings engine company and one of the nicest people I ever met. It too has sustained numerous hurricanes.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Our son and his fambly are in Cape Coral and he texted us at 1:20pm that his power went out. Looks like Ian is taking the same path Charley did back in 2004.
I have been in a typhoon, several earthquakes, floods and tornadoes. Never enjoyed any of them. I am the sort that stays put and hopes for the best. No bug out bag for me. If some disaster takes my home, it takes me with it. Deus vult.
OK. “Everyone knows”. Talk me through this.
Using your military to attack another country’s energy infrastructure is an act of war, amirite? Where is the “Cui bono” questioning of this assumption that “everyone knows that this was done by Washington and the US military”? Would this be the same US military that stiff-armed Trump over and over again? Wouldn’t cutting off Russia’s Nordstream pipelines give Russia EGGSACTLY THE ACT…WAR WITH AMERICA AND THE WEST…THAT THE RUSSIANS CLAIM THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING AGAINST (apologies for the yelling)? Wouldn’t someone looking to cut those pipelines look far enough into the future to ask: “How might Russia respond to someone blowing up their stuff?”
Do we have the capability to do this? Yes. Of course we do. Have Brandon and that harridan Nuland made oblique references to doing something along these lines? Yes they have. Last week when we axed if Putin was bluffing or not when he said that he wasn’t bluffing, do we ax whether our own leaders (sic) were serious when they (stupidly) said what they said?
When “everyone” says they know something, that is the time when questions ought to be raised.
Perhaps. Perhaps not. For example, everyone knows that Mexico lost her war with the US (1846 – 1848). Mexico especially knows this. But that does not mean that questions should be raised about whether or not Mexico really lost.
The bulk of the evidence—so far—about the destruction of Nord Stream 2 points directly at the regime in Washington. It is acting as all empires in collapse act: They lash out in all directions at friend and foe alike in an attempt to reacquire their vanishing power and influence.
It is of great importance that we understand that the US is governed by Godless madmen. It is also of great importance that we remember that those who voted for Biden in 2020 acted exactly like the Germans who voted for Hitler. The consequences will be the same, with the same antagonists and in the same place.
Some things never change. Why should they?
“
“What evidence are you seeing?
Contra Tucker, who is the only part of Fox News who I can remotely stand, I still fail to see how America benefits from blowing these pipelines. An act this explicit gives Vlad the excuse that America and the West are attacking Russia, it hurts our allies, and it breaks up whatever coalition we might have. Even Brandon isn’t this stupid.
Agreed. Oh, it’s not that the idiots making policy in this administration aren’t capable of stupidity. They are.
But, beyond “global population reduction” theories, which don’t make sense, this act, at this time, makes no sense I can find.
It does take off the table the possibility of Germany cutting a deal with Russia – no more aid for Ukraine in exchange for getting their gas turned back on. The biggest beneficiaries; Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic Republics. Beneficiary with the likely capability to execute this – Poland.
And that is exactly why the US destroyed Nord Stream 2: No divergence from US policy will be allowed. The starvation and freezing to death of millions of Germans matter not at all. As I have written before: Collapsing empires always act this way, attacking everyone in their power to attack. See Athens and Melos (406 BC). The US regime is in its death throws. God help those stupid nations who depended upon her and trusted her.
In the main, I rely upon the Duran and Gonzalo Lira. Tucker as well, but only as a confirmation. Many of my conclusions rely upon my understanding 6000 years of History and how collapsing empires have acted over time. Please remember that both Biden and Nuland months ago threatened to destroy Nord Stream 2.
“Even Brandon isn’t this stupid.” The fate of empires was decided throughout time by stupidity, arrogance and hubris. Biden has never been compared to Einstein.
Sigh. The Duran and Gonzalo.
I started listening to Gonzalo years ago (like maybe 12-15?) back when he wrote to an old blogspot blog (my bookmark for Gonzalo now goes to an “invited readers only” list, so I guess I should remove him). It was mostly economic and monetary stuff back then, which I agreed with, but I just sorta moved on. I was also a daily reader of Zero Hedge and Karl Denninger back then too. Again, I just moved on…..theirs weren’t the only views I wanted to see.
And the Duran came to me via my youtube attachment to Robert Barnes and his sidekick Viva Frei. About 80% of Barnes is great. His views on Trump, Trump’s cabinet and court picks, the problems with the elections, the Rittenhouse trial were all quite prescient, IMO. But the remainder of Barnes….his Anti-War-at-Any-Cost just soured on me. Every time he goes off on Ukraine, I am reminded of the old Leon Trotsky quote: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” He fails to understand that second clause.
And I’m sorry, but I just can’t watch the Duran on any topic. The one Alex’s tremoring vocalizations just remind me of listening to Diane Rehm on NPR (whose has a medical condition causing her tremor). It is just awful, no matter what they’re saying. And I especially just don’t agree with their views on the Ukraine War. They just seem to be Russian apologists more than fair observers of what is going on. YMMV.
I’m not pro-war here at all. I am the son of a Vietnam veteran, a veteran myself and the very worried father-in-law whose son-in-law just last week deployed to a close-enough-to-the-potential-action assignment to put him in great harm. I’m afraid that war may be coming to many of us, and it won’t be good. There won’t be a winner and a loser. There will only be a lesser loser and a bigger loser.
Nor am I apologizing for Ukraine. They’re not just corrupt…..they’re corrupt as HELL. They’re Joe-Biden-corrupt. I have no love for Ukraine…none at all.
But the difference here is that corrupt-though-they-may-be, Ukraine didn’t roll their tanks over their borders. Oh, “borders” you say? Which borders would those be? Do the people of Luhansk and Donetsk (not to mention Crimea and one other…I forget the name) have the right to declare themselves to be Russian and fold themselves into the Russian Federation? I see that as the central question here.
And I think they don’t. Much like our Civil War was as much about preventing the succession of the Rebel states as it was about slavery, I think that Ukraine is right to prevent the LPR and DPR from joining Russia. That land is Ukraine’s. If the people of Russian descent in those areas want to move to Russia, that’s fine….let’em go. But Russia can’t offer their benevolence to those people by moving into Ukraine. JMO, and again, YMMV.
And the Duran and Barnes just can’t understand that another view of the matter exists. They just refuse. I admit to my own biases, as we all must….there are only so many hours in a day, and I just can’t look at each opposing view to test my own. But I do look at enough, and still find that Russia brought an unjust war to Ukraine. It is right that they’re getting their asses handed to them. And I’m just guessing here, based on no evidence whatsoever, but I’d put $10 of my soon-to-be-worthless greenbacks that says that Russia blew up their own pipelines as a way of telling Europe “That cold winter that you’re about to experience? Get used to it.”
FWIW, the recent places I find informative related to the war in Ukraine are twofold:
* Trent Trelenko’s Twitter thread. I don’t tweet, but I do read the threadreader versions when they show up. Trent was the first (to my eye) guy who spoke of the horribly inefficient logistics which are dooming everything the Russians are trying to do.
*And the Youtube videos put out by an Australian guy who goes by Perun. He is very non-partisan here, and if our senior military aren’t listening to him, they’re missing it.
I’ve gotten used to Alexander Mercouris’ strange speech patterns. It took a while though. Denninger is a bit of a madman, but I do read him.
To call someone “a Russia apologist” or “a Ukraine apologist” is to fall into the logical fallacy of “ad hominem”. Either what a man says is true or it is not and has nothing to do with his thoughts on Putin or Zelenskyy.
Any nation can claim any land it wants. The problem is enforcing that claim. The Native Americans claimed the entirety of North America. That did not work out very well for them. It worked superbly for the White Man, as he had the power to enforce his claim. Likewise with Ukraine. She can claim the Donbass, Crimea and so on, but to enforce that claim is beyond her power. Those who state that all national borders are somehow sacred and inviolable are innocent of History. Ukraine’s borders are as inviolable as she can make them. So are those of the US.
After Biden and Nuland made public threats to shut down Nord Stream 2—and made these threats months ago—it would be odd to somehow blame Putin for that pipeline’s destruction. Putin has become the “go to” for all blame for anything, anywhere, all the time—our own Emmanuel Goldstein. He performs in the international arena the same thing that “climate change” does domestically. The US now blames Putin for inflation and the energy crisis. He is quite the guy!
Both of the World Wars began in Eastern Europe. This new world war is beginning there as well. Even the antagonists are the same: France, Germany, England, Italy, Russia and the US. This is an odd thing, but History is full of odd things.
I think that countries do not have a right to exist. If you can’t or won’t defend your country, somebody will come along and take it from you. As you said, it’s been that way since the dawn. So small countries collect allies to protect themselves from the big countries.
I think it has been a fundamental policy of the USA since the end of WWII, after bailing out those war-crazy Euros twice, that there should be stable borders in Europe. Perhaps the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties? As in please, let’s not have any more Eurowars. It worked more or less until the USSR collapsed. First the Yugos decided to settle old scores, and now Russia wants back Crimea and some of the Ukraine. The USA foreign policy says “No, the borders stay as they are, only the alliances can change. And there ain’t nobody that wants a piece of Russia. Been there, tried that, doesn’t work.” The feckless USA no longer has any credibility with Russia.
It seems like the people that run the big powers have forgotten the horrors of the past, don’t care anyway, aren’t that smart, can’t see the future, are too Dunning-Kreuger grasping, and have decided in their folly it’s time to play the Great Game again. This will not end well.
Forces Euroweenies to go to green energy. Take their natural gas, then what do they do? Gubmit subsidies for wind farms. California will do that internally by banning gasoline cars. Damn the consequences, the end result is what they are after. Biden is trying the same thing by limiting new supplies of fossil fuels to raise the price and make electric only seem inevitable. Fuck you peasant. Eat your gruel and enjoy it. Let’s see how many Euroweenies die from exposure this winter. Difficult to revolt when you do not have a gun.
In spite of gov’t sanctions Cuba has kept US cars running for 75 years now.
Same will happen here.
Was gonna sell my 32 yo S10 but I think I’ll keep it and convert it to a wood gassifier.
It’s indeed hard to see the upside of a secret attack on the pipeline. The whole act would be fraught with repercussions. I am thinking that either it was not blown up (as in: that was fake news), or it was a third party actor.
If the US Military does it to punish Putin, then Biden, inc., wants that act in the open, because it’s leverage.
I am not sure how much military “capability” we actually have anymore.
The US still possesses the military capacity to destroy the people and infrastructure of Libya, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. She has no ability to defeat a nation like Russia. The US will learn that lesson quite soon.
I suspect that you’ll disagree, but methinks that Russia is doing a good job of defeating itself (for that matter, China is too).
America will lose too, but we’ll lose least and last.
China has no great strategic reach. She cannot even figure out a way to get to Taiwan a mere 90 miles away. For 60 years Cubans have been floating 90 miles from their dreary island to Florida on inner tubes. But this feat remains a mystery to the Chinese Politburo. China is a paper tiger—all hat, no cattle.
Russia has great strategic reach but only in Europe and parts of Asia. But she only desires to operate in those area. A true blue water navy that could challenge the US navy if far out of her reach, but Russia desires no such thing. She needs to control the Black Sea, and parts of the Baltic Sea and the far northwest of the Pacific, and she does. Her dozens of ballistic missile submarines would provide all the strategic threat to NATO and the US that Russia needs.
As for “Russia doing a good job of defeating herself”: Well, Russia has been around for more than 1000 years. I suspect that she will be around for 1000 more, no matter what the US does. In fact, it is not Russia that is self-destructing but Europe and the US regime. It is so very strange to me that people actually believe that Russia will lose this Ukraine War. The US regime certainly thinks so—or at least pretends that it does.
The one true scientific meaurement for a hurricane is the atmospheric pressure reading. When Ian came ashore the reading was 940 millibars, which is borderline Cat 3. OTOH, winds of 155 MPH are consisten with a low CAT 5 reading.
So someone is bullshitt*ng here. Who might that be .. the sensationalist, attenting whoring media who also want to turn everything into more proof of global warming .. OR .. “The Science.” I says TRUST THE SCIENCE!!
What … whats everyone looking at me like that for?
I’ve noticed that, everybody is now playing the Category inflation game. There is no honest reporting of what the data actually is. Nobody wants to be caught pooh-pooh’ing the danger and get caught out.
It’s really sad. All it does is pile another log on the blazing bonfire of widespread distrust of all public organization announcements. “They are lying. We know they are lying. They know that we know they are lying. … ” Sarasota was just outside the eyewall, the local airport reported today peak winds of 79 knots.
I’m getting some direct “boots on the ground” info from Cape Coral and it ain’t lookin good. Possibly the worst thing to happen there in a long time. The power is out everywhere around there.
Yeah, it looked like Cape Coral/Ft. Myers/Gasparilla Sound got the worst of it. I saw videos of remote cameras on poles six feet above ground being inundated. I reckon by the time it looped all the way around to Sarasota, land friction calmed those winds a bit, but the power is out up there also. I guess you’ll call around to your clients and find out how well your houses held up.
I will probably be doing some repair work after all of the dust settles. Our son emailed us last night and said they lost some shingles and fascia and a few fence panels, no interior flooding, yard is a mess. They are in north central Cape Coral.
Was viewing videos of the islands this morning, where most of my work is. There is only one road out to Pine Island and it was washed out completely so the only way across now is by boat but the waterways are littered with debris, sunk boats, submerged roofs, etc.
A hurricane does to civilization what a forest fire does to the forest. Eliminates the weak and poorly maintained places. The hurricane damage to buildings is noted by designers and new ideas are created on how to resist such forces. With each hurricane the building industry as a whole becomes better. Consider it a never ending learning curve.
My long range guess is that in say, 50-100 years, all buildings constructed in areas where hurricanes are known to frequent will look more *futuristic*, more streamlined so as to not resist the forces but rather to render them invalid. An example of this trend currently is in the design of roof systems. Most homes in high wind velocity places are of the “hip” type rather than the “gable” type. Gables must resist the wind forces but brute strength but Hips simply prevent the wind forces to get a grip in the first place. I find all of this sort of thing extremely fascinating and inspirational, and always have.
** Can you say “Concrete Geodesic Domes”?
There’s one thing I’m unclear about. Do the barrier islands experience the same surge as what Cape Coral/Ft. Myers experienced? It’s hard to imagine that any practical and stylish residence can be built on a sandy barrier island with sufficient strength to withstand 125mph driving a 6-foot swell battering it for hours. They would have to all look like the reinforced concrete boxes they call buildings on Guam.
The requirements on the islands are much more stringent than on the mainland. The buildings I design exceed the requirements. Appearance wise they seem pretty normal and most of the structural elements are inside the building element. I designed the home at the link in 2003 and it has survived numerous hurricanes since. To design on the islands requires another way of thinking and it’s what I have done since the late 1980 when designed the first of the 3 largest residential projects on Pine Island. The first was St James Place in St James City, Pine Island. The 2nd was SeaGull Bay in Bokeelia, Pine Island, and the 3rd is Eagle Lake Estates, also in St James City. In Bokeelia I have designed and restored 3 of the oldest homes in Lee County, and I’ve designed numerous homes throughout Pine Island, Useppa Island, Cayo Costa, Boca Grande, Sanibel, Captiva and North Captiva. In spite of my long term relationships with the islands I wouldn’t want to live on any of them save maybe Cayo Costa because they are too crowded. Here is a home I designed on Useppa:
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/florida/141-useppa/pid_37159908/
This is probably the coolest home I ever designed. It is on the island of Cayo Costa and it’s a completely self contained off grid installation. I designed this place back in 2004 for the owner of Cummings engine company and one of the nicest people I ever met. It too has sustained numerous hurricanes.
http://www.northcaptiva.net/cayocostahomes4rent_TheSandySeagull.html
The Saffir-Simpson scale is based solely on wind speed, and has no criteria for the barometreic pressure. Category Four is 130 to 156 mph.
Are you sure you carried the 4 when you converted from millibars to miles per hour?
And talk about inflation! The price of a box of millibars has just gone crazy.
And it’s not even real milli any more, it’s pea flour milli, and tastes like you know what.
I like the cocoanutty ones.