There's a whole lotta hand-wringing going on in polite circles these days about Trump's "thuggish" strong-arming of the recently elected Ukraine PM.
I don't get it. Near as I can tell, thuggish strong-arming has pretty much been Uncle Sam's modus operandi for the past 250 years, at least when he's trying to make nice. If thuggish strong-arming doesn't do the trick, there's plenty of other options on the table: economic warfare, nuclear weapons, the arming of genocidal terror groups, shock and awe...
Let's not kid ourselves. American thuggery had a rich and murderous history long before Mafia Don happened along. Let's not forget the "Ledeen Doctrine;" every ten years or so America has to throw some crappy little country against the wall just to show the rest of the world we mean business.
It doesn't get any more thuggish than that!
So take a pill, America. Your democratically elected leader is just carrying on a time-honoured tradition.
It's business as usual for The Exceptional Nation.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
From Russiagate to Ukiegate
If you thought Russiagate was thin gruel, brace yourself for the shit-show that's going to hog the headlines for the next two years - Ukiegate.
Ukraine is by any metric a failed state. It was a failed state before the US-sponsored Maidan uprising, and its downward spiral has only accelerated since. Not only is it a failed state, it was deliberately failed by its plutocrats in the interest of lining their own pockets.
It's hard to understand the thought process among the DNC brain trust. The first casualty of Ukrainegate will be the Biden election campaign. It will be impossible to investigate Trump's alleged malfeasance without getting lots of splatter on the top Dem contender, something already reflected in the latest polls.
That will leave Warren as the likely Democratic Party candidate for 2020, an unhappy prospect for big-money Dem donors. At that juncture even billionaire never-Trumpers will be holding their noses and voting for one of their own rather than for somebody whinging about income inequality and a wealth tax.
It's also hard to understand the reckless abandon with which the Democentric media has climbed aboard this issue. If they really hate Trump as much as they profess, why are they working so hard for his re-election?
Ukraine is by any metric a failed state. It was a failed state before the US-sponsored Maidan uprising, and its downward spiral has only accelerated since. Not only is it a failed state, it was deliberately failed by its plutocrats in the interest of lining their own pockets.
It's hard to understand the thought process among the DNC brain trust. The first casualty of Ukrainegate will be the Biden election campaign. It will be impossible to investigate Trump's alleged malfeasance without getting lots of splatter on the top Dem contender, something already reflected in the latest polls.
That will leave Warren as the likely Democratic Party candidate for 2020, an unhappy prospect for big-money Dem donors. At that juncture even billionaire never-Trumpers will be holding their noses and voting for one of their own rather than for somebody whinging about income inequality and a wealth tax.
It's also hard to understand the reckless abandon with which the Democentric media has climbed aboard this issue. If they really hate Trump as much as they profess, why are they working so hard for his re-election?
Greta's billionaire string-pullers
There's a serious case of cognitive dissonance on view at Global Research today. The top story under "latest news and top stories" is Millions march against Climate Change, Capitalism and War. And they did! It's a happy story!
Alas, right next to it we find this headline; Climate and the Money Trail. If you're at all curious about how a troubled teen from Sweden became a global icon literally overnight, this story explains much.
Here's the lowdown on the "climate emergency" from the think-tank here at Falling Downs. Yes, human activity is without a doubt responsible for contributing to a changing climate. Yes, we should treat our only home with respect and do all we can to mitigate the environmental impact of human activity.
However, imagining that we can stop climate from changing is more than a little hubristic. In fact, it's downright delusional. Twenty-thousand years ago the place I'm writing from today was under a couple of miles of ice. There was obviously a lot of serious climate change thousands of years before humankind went apeshit with the fossil fuels.
The latest scary headlines tell me that sea levels could rise by three feet before the end of the century. If that's the case, we'll have to do what humans and every other species that has survived has always done.
Adapt!
Yes, it'll be inconvenient and expensive, but eminently doable. Rebuilding on higher ground is a pretty straight-forward undertaking. There's more than enough higher ground available to accommodate everyone!
To the extent that there are sincere folks who believe that participating in Thunberg's "climate strikes" is a blow against capitalism, they're being duped. The corporate foundations and do-gooder billionaires behind Greta are far more interested in saving their skins than saving the planet.
And if they can further enrich themselves in the process, so much the better for them!
Alas, right next to it we find this headline; Climate and the Money Trail. If you're at all curious about how a troubled teen from Sweden became a global icon literally overnight, this story explains much.
Here's the lowdown on the "climate emergency" from the think-tank here at Falling Downs. Yes, human activity is without a doubt responsible for contributing to a changing climate. Yes, we should treat our only home with respect and do all we can to mitigate the environmental impact of human activity.
However, imagining that we can stop climate from changing is more than a little hubristic. In fact, it's downright delusional. Twenty-thousand years ago the place I'm writing from today was under a couple of miles of ice. There was obviously a lot of serious climate change thousands of years before humankind went apeshit with the fossil fuels.
The latest scary headlines tell me that sea levels could rise by three feet before the end of the century. If that's the case, we'll have to do what humans and every other species that has survived has always done.
Adapt!
Yes, it'll be inconvenient and expensive, but eminently doable. Rebuilding on higher ground is a pretty straight-forward undertaking. There's more than enough higher ground available to accommodate everyone!
To the extent that there are sincere folks who believe that participating in Thunberg's "climate strikes" is a blow against capitalism, they're being duped. The corporate foundations and do-gooder billionaires behind Greta are far more interested in saving their skins than saving the planet.
And if they can further enrich themselves in the process, so much the better for them!
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Why you'll never win an argument over "microaggression"
According to the internet, the word has been around since the 70's. It's only become a thing over the last decade or so, though. Ten years ago microaggressions were still more or less on the fringes of perception.
Microaggression has gone mainstream. Now it's something they talk about on the CBC, and it don't get more mainstream than that.
What's kind of mind-boggling about microaggressions is that they can be entirely inadvertent. You can micro-attack somebody in all kinds of ways without ever intending to or meaning to or wanting to.
I'm guessing I micro aggress dozens of folks every day without ever knowing it.
Sometimes I think we're just talking about imaginary aggression... but there you go! That probably micro-offended a couple of million people right there!
The reason you'll never win an argument over microaggression is because the very fact that you're arguing is yet another microaggression.
Microaggression has gone mainstream. Now it's something they talk about on the CBC, and it don't get more mainstream than that.
What's kind of mind-boggling about microaggressions is that they can be entirely inadvertent. You can micro-attack somebody in all kinds of ways without ever intending to or meaning to or wanting to.
I'm guessing I micro aggress dozens of folks every day without ever knowing it.
Sometimes I think we're just talking about imaginary aggression... but there you go! That probably micro-offended a couple of million people right there!
The reason you'll never win an argument over microaggression is because the very fact that you're arguing is yet another microaggression.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Uncle Sam's protection racket
Here in Canada we pretty much take it as an article of faith that we and "our allies" represent the high point of achievement in human rights and democracy and all that good stuff.
I've been following the election campaign a little. All the wannabes are going around offering billions in freebies here, there, and everywhere. Immediately, the pundsters jump all over every promise made by every politician, and assure us that these billions in promises will bankrupt the Dominion, and therefore we need to give our heads a shake, and so forth...
But the same crowd has no compunction foisting F-35 fighter jets and 60 billions in warships on us! How can we not afford a few billions to follow through on some humane political promises, but we can afford tens and even hundreds of billions in "defence" spending?
That's where Uncle Sam's protection racket kicks in. We need all that military hardware so we can stand with "our allies." And who are "our allies?"
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but "our allies" is a shrinking club of vassal nations who take direction from Washington. Being part of the club requires that one invest many billions in US military hardware, all for the sake of "interoperability."
Recent events in the Middle East suggest most of that expensive US military hardware is obsolete. Nobody spends more on American military junk than the Saudis, and look at what happened to them a couple of weeks ago. That's how much security you gain from being under Uncle Sam's security umbrella - none.
It's high time Canada develops an independent foreign policy. I'll vote for whatever candidate promises that. Whatever else they happen to promise can easily be paid for by the savings we'll realize when we opt out of Uncle Sam's protection racket.
I've been following the election campaign a little. All the wannabes are going around offering billions in freebies here, there, and everywhere. Immediately, the pundsters jump all over every promise made by every politician, and assure us that these billions in promises will bankrupt the Dominion, and therefore we need to give our heads a shake, and so forth...
But the same crowd has no compunction foisting F-35 fighter jets and 60 billions in warships on us! How can we not afford a few billions to follow through on some humane political promises, but we can afford tens and even hundreds of billions in "defence" spending?
That's where Uncle Sam's protection racket kicks in. We need all that military hardware so we can stand with "our allies." And who are "our allies?"
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but "our allies" is a shrinking club of vassal nations who take direction from Washington. Being part of the club requires that one invest many billions in US military hardware, all for the sake of "interoperability."
Recent events in the Middle East suggest most of that expensive US military hardware is obsolete. Nobody spends more on American military junk than the Saudis, and look at what happened to them a couple of weeks ago. That's how much security you gain from being under Uncle Sam's security umbrella - none.
It's high time Canada develops an independent foreign policy. I'll vote for whatever candidate promises that. Whatever else they happen to promise can easily be paid for by the savings we'll realize when we opt out of Uncle Sam's protection racket.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Making America grate again
Even people who never liked Obama have to admit the guy was smooth. He spoke softly while swinging the big stick.
People the world over found that calming, at least the ones who weren't on the receiving end of sanctions, or worse, in America's relentless crusade to impose its will on the rest of the planet.
Not only that, but he didn't get along with Netanyahu, which counts for something.
I think that's what makes people nostalgic for Obama. That eloquent gentleman swinging the stick has given way to a whole different thing. We're not speaking softly any more!
Hell no! Today the stick-swinger-in-chief spews non-stop foolishness at max volume. The performance at the UN today was a prime example. An awful lot of diplomatic types deserve full marks for their diplomacy simply for sitting through the idiocy!
At this point in history, most countries in the world just wish Uncle Sam would go home and mind his own business. After eight years of the smooth-talking Obama, Trump truly is making America grate again.
Bigly!
People the world over found that calming, at least the ones who weren't on the receiving end of sanctions, or worse, in America's relentless crusade to impose its will on the rest of the planet.
Not only that, but he didn't get along with Netanyahu, which counts for something.
I think that's what makes people nostalgic for Obama. That eloquent gentleman swinging the stick has given way to a whole different thing. We're not speaking softly any more!
Hell no! Today the stick-swinger-in-chief spews non-stop foolishness at max volume. The performance at the UN today was a prime example. An awful lot of diplomatic types deserve full marks for their diplomacy simply for sitting through the idiocy!
At this point in history, most countries in the world just wish Uncle Sam would go home and mind his own business. After eight years of the smooth-talking Obama, Trump truly is making America grate again.
Bigly!
Monday, September 23, 2019
Who is waving Greta Thunberg at us?
Greta Thunberg is a media confection.
Like most sixteen-year-olds, Greta knows not much about anything. But, also like most sixteen-year-olds, certainly myself at that age, she is supremely confident in the belief that she brings searing insights to whatever topic is at hand.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that Greta's insights are not her own, but rather, reflect the agenda of the grown-ups and the PR professionals around her.
If and when she unequivocally states that we cannot go forward under the current economic system, and we need a total society-wide rethink of capitalism, maybe I'll start paying attention.
Until that happens, she's just another side-show.
Like most sixteen-year-olds, Greta knows not much about anything. But, also like most sixteen-year-olds, certainly myself at that age, she is supremely confident in the belief that she brings searing insights to whatever topic is at hand.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that Greta's insights are not her own, but rather, reflect the agenda of the grown-ups and the PR professionals around her.
If and when she unequivocally states that we cannot go forward under the current economic system, and we need a total society-wide rethink of capitalism, maybe I'll start paying attention.
Until that happens, she's just another side-show.
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