Unable To Sleep,
Jim Kunstler is in good form today.
("I'll beat you on my bike, as soon as you run out of gas", is one of my recurring thoughts. What will the next money be, after the dollar?)
The next economic bust is going to amount to the crack-up of the oil age, and the “global economy” that emerged in its late stage. It was all about moving fantastic quantities of things around the planet. The movements were exquisitely tuned, along with the money flows that circulated freely, like blood carrying oxygen to each organ. All of that is coming to an end. The nations of the world must be feeling desperate, despite the appearance of good manners at meetings like the G-7. What’s at stake for everybody in the dark background is the ability to maintain high standards of living only recently attained. And the fear behind that is not knowing just how far backward these high standards of living may have to slide. A lot of people still alive in China must remember a daily existence on par with the 12th century. In the USA, where democracy is mostly represented by low-order thinking skills, the memory of life before electricity and running water is long gone. We’ve been living in Futurama since the end of the last world war. That war, by the way, is not entirely forgotten in Europe, despite all the charm currently on display and the tourists swarming with their selfie sticks. The place was a charnel house for centuries and the Euro folk will do about anything to suppress conflict. Lately, it looks like they’re willing to give up on Western Civilization itself to keep the peace.
Lord knows what Mr. Trump’s strategy is with these so-called “trade talks.” He has explicitly enough pushed for the re-industrialization of America, and that implies — among other things — decoupling from the China’s torrential merchandise supply lines, cutting off its revenues. Closing off China’s access to US markets itself might be enough to finally blow up China’s deeply fraudulent banking system.
"Elites going rogue" looks at the power struggle going on within western elites, in the US and UK, particularly, where somewhat subtle mutiny is whispered aloud by prominent officials and ex-officials, and repeated, in the papers. This is a moment in history, well underway, which will require a dramatic shift in the power structure, to something which actually works for a lot of the people of the countries in question.
Usually, people have a hard time uniting decisively behind things like transgender bathrooms, when things get hard.
Really; it's about survival. The people who benefit from the status quo don't get that, and feel increasing fear and uncertainty about what they see brewing, the dark forces infecting the underclasses. Everybody feels things deeply wrong, but nobody has found a soultion which is widely agreeable, because the people now in control have to give up most of their stuff and prerogatives for everybody else to get healthier and survive a few generations.
This article says to "pick a side and place your bets". It's for investors. They assume the continuity of the western financial system, which I expect to be an early casualty, along with Chinese banking, and global trade.
Half of the dispossessed people in a country usually get behind a single, strong personality, with a plan to make their lives work for them, and stop their getting bled to death. FDR was one of those guys, as was Adolf Hitler, as were Mao and Stalin.
You've read about that reset, but the thrust of history is always that the losers were evil and the winners were good.
That's never how it really goes down.
Hitler got more desperate after a few years on meth, and massive German losses on all fronts of the war.
He started off really reasonable, if you read his early stuff.
Hitler was quite well thought of in the world before Churchill started bombing German cities, to force Germany to return suite.
My read of history is that you need to really be helping enough people before things break down, that everybody naturally considers you to be part of the solution, and you have to keep being part of the solution as the solution is derived from your hard work, along with all of the other problem-solvers.
Serve others. Look for human efficiencies more than technological solutions. Grow vegetables. Bike commute.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-29/elites-going-rogue-suggests-global-neoliberal-architecture-collapsing
There was a vote for Brexit just before there was a vote for Trump in 2016. It is going to be ugly. There is no pretty alternative.
Nobody wants a no-deal-Brexit, but nobody can agree on a deal, because nobody can share the pain.
All the pain has to be on the other side, and the other side won't agree, so no deal.
A lot of people in the UK still want to remain part of the EU. Some know how bad that will get. Others don't.
Since there is no agreement possible and something must be done about the vote, it comes down to an act of power.
Boris, his hidden backers, and the (not dead yet) Queen of England have seemingly arranged that.
Everyone else is off the hook and can be vehemently against it until Halloween, then say "I told you so", for years to come.
The British Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson wants to lead Britain to an exit from the European Union without a specific agreement that would regulate the various details. A majority in Parliament is against leaving the EU without a deal. Parliament will convene again in early September. The Brexit date is October 31. The opposition planned to seek legislation to stop Brexit and/or to hold a vote of no confidence in the Boris government. This would install a new government with the sole task of preventing Brexit without a deal.
The problem is that the process takes time and Parliament days are limited. The government has several means to prevent Parliament from having enough time to discuss the issue and to vote on it. Today it used a quite effective one.
The Johnson government, only inaugurated weeks ago, asked the Queen to announce its legislative program, a ceremonial event known as the Queen's Speech. Custom demands that Parliament is shut down for several weeks before the Queen's Speech is held. Parliament will thus have little chance to prevent a no-deal Brexit
Former UK ambassador and whistle-blower, Craig Murray, a good, clear voice, takes the opposition view. He omits the absence of any good alternative to this power-play. (*The UK has no "constitution", only precedent and tradition.) "The Queen staged a right wing coup".
Our obsequious media is actively perpetuating the myth that the monarch can do no wrong, and is apolitical. In fact the monarchy has been active and absolutely central to the seizure of power from the Westminster parliament in a right wing coup. Yesterday’s collaboration at Balmoral between the Queen and Jacob Rees Mogg is only the latest phase. The monarch appoints the UK Prime Minister. The convention is that this must be the person who can command the support of the majority in the House of Commons. That does not necessarily have to be from a single party, it can be via a coalition or pact with other parties, but the essential point, established since Hanoverian times, is that the individual must have a majority in the Commons.
The very appointment of Boris Johnson by Elizabeth Saxe Coburg Gotha was a *constitutional outrage. Johnson may have been selected by Conservative Party members, but that is not the qualification to be PM. Johnson very plainly did not command a majority in the House of Commons, proven by the fact that still at no stage has he demonstrated that he does.
Trump wanting buy Greenland makes sense in this light.
What a great place to put nuclear weapons and defensive interceptor missiles, so as to control China and Russia!
It's not just anticipating mining opportunities after the permafrost melts.
Russia is 2/3 permafrost. Russians really, deeply understand permafrost.
What happens when permafrost melts? What's it smell like?
Can swarms of micro-drones overwhelm Russian S-400 and S-500 missile defense systems? ("Not quite the right question", according to Russian General.)
The West gave Russia great learning experience in Syria.
The initial Pantsir systems did had some troubles with drones. The current upgraded ones don't have issues with it, in particular when the system is manned by well trained Russian soldiers.
Anyways, the Russian already proposed other approaches for countering drone and cruise missile “saturation” attacks.
The answer was extremely sophisticated electronic warfare.
One system was successfully tested in the second retaliation attack (for supposed chemical attacks).
French cruise missiles dropped into the Mediterranean Sea, tomahawks very essentially “switched off” skidded along the desert and are now taken apart by Russian specialists after the were presented intact.
In another incident 30 small drones heading for the air base coming from Idlib dropped literally out of the sky. Others got hijacked and re-directed.
The big benefit with those designated electronic warfare measures is that it does not matter if you Deal with 5 cruise missiles or 1000 mini or micro drones.
So against pretty much everybody except Russia and potentially China (which also has technical advisors in Syria) a swarm saturation attack might work.
The initial Pantsir systems did had some troubles with drones. The current upgraded ones don't have issues with it, in particular when the system is manned by well trained Russian soldiers.
Anyways, the Russian already proposed other approaches for countering drone and cruise missile “saturation” attacks.
The answer was extremely sophisticated electronic warfare.
One system was successfully tested in the second retaliation attack (for supposed chemical attacks).
French cruise missiles dropped into the Mediterranean Sea, tomahawks very essentially “switched off” skidded along the desert and are now taken apart by Russian specialists after the were presented intact.
In another incident 30 small drones heading for the air base coming from Idlib dropped literally out of the sky. Others got hijacked and re-directed.
The big benefit with those designated electronic warfare measures is that it does not matter if you Deal with 5 cruise missiles or 1000 mini or micro drones.
So against pretty much everybody except Russia and potentially China (which also has technical advisors in Syria) a swarm saturation attack might work.
Cheaper and cheaper and cheaper long range attack capabilities are disrupting the power structure, as poor Yemenis can now accurately hit prime Saudi military and oil assets far away. This story from Iran's Press TV.
Yemeni forces strike Saudi army positions in Najran with new missile
Specifically on Wednesday the Lebanese army is reported to have opened fire on up to three "Israeli reconnaissance drones" for violating the country's airspace, according to the official National News Agency.
Reuters also reports that troops initially opened fire on the unmanned vehicles with M16 assault rifles, forcing the drones to return to Israeli airspace.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) appear to have confirmed the incident, but didn't specify whether the drones violated Lebanese airspace.
Unprotected Anywhere
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