Facing Reality,
From November 2022, the origin of the term, Brokenism, Alana Newhouse
The real debate today isn’t between the left and right. It’s between those invested in our current institutions, and those who want to build anew. Two years ago, I wrote an essay in which I tried to explore the growing sense, made more glaring during the first year of the pandemic, that whole parts of American society were breaking down before our eyes. The central idea was that we must accept what is broken beyond repair in order to build our communities and institutions anew.
Among the many people who wrote to me in the aftermath was a man around my age named Ryan, who introduced himself as a West Point graduate and combat veteran, biracial and from a multi-generational Black military family. “I’ve lived and traveled all over the world, but I cherish my family’s deep roots in a small town in rural Ohio,” he wrote. “It seems very dark some days, but your closing nails it: ‘It can almost feel easier to believe it can’t be done. But it can.’” As I did with many others who wrote me heartfelt notes, I reached out to Ryan and asked to meet over Zoom. It turned out we had more in common than either of us had guessed, and we began a correspondence that’s endured since then.
At one point last year, Ryan said something that struck a nerve. “I don’t know what I identify as these days, because everything has gotten so scrambled,” he noted. “I’m not a Democrat or a Republican, I don’t even think I could define myself narrowly as either a liberal or a conservative anymore. The one thing I know that I fundamentally do believe is the premise of your piece, that the dominant institutions of American life—in education, in the arts, in politics—are either totally broken or so weak or corrupt that they’re becoming irrelevant. In a way, the only thing I know that I believe in is … brokenness.” https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/brokenism-alana-newhouse
Among the many people who wrote to me in the aftermath was a man around my age named Ryan, who introduced himself as a West Point graduate and combat veteran, biracial and from a multi-generational Black military family. “I’ve lived and traveled all over the world, but I cherish my family’s deep roots in a small town in rural Ohio,” he wrote. “It seems very dark some days, but your closing nails it: ‘It can almost feel easier to believe it can’t be done. But it can.’” As I did with many others who wrote me heartfelt notes, I reached out to Ryan and asked to meet over Zoom. It turned out we had more in common than either of us had guessed, and we began a correspondence that’s endured since then.
At one point last year, Ryan said something that struck a nerve. “I don’t know what I identify as these days, because everything has gotten so scrambled,” he noted. “I’m not a Democrat or a Republican, I don’t even think I could define myself narrowly as either a liberal or a conservative anymore. The one thing I know that I fundamentally do believe is the premise of your piece, that the dominant institutions of American life—in education, in the arts, in politics—are either totally broken or so weak or corrupt that they’re becoming irrelevant. In a way, the only thing I know that I believe in is … brokenness.” https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/brokenism-alana-newhouse
A few days ago: The Brokenists Did Not Move Right Frank J. DiStefano
People haven't moved politically. It’s a different fight. It’s also transitional. This isn't the final form of the Republican or Democratic Parties. I’m thinking about crusading lefty journalists like Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. Former Democratic Congresswoman and DNC Vice Chair Tulsi Gabbard, who rose to fame supporting Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. Lefty academics like Bret Weinstein, who taught at the proudly activist Evergreen State College. Entertainment industry stalwarts like Russell Brand, Joe Rogan, and Theo Von. Former environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—an honest-to-goodness Kennedy from the Democratic Party’s royal family.
This odd coalition includes many of the people Oliver Wiseman in The Free Press recently called Brokenists (riffing on a concept first coined by Alana Newhouse). What’s important about these figures is they didn’t really “move right.” In fact, the thing we’re now calling “left” and “right” has nothing to do with liberalism or conservatism...
..The reality is these people didn’t “move” right because they haven’t moved anywhere. The labels left and right are up for grabs, and these people are the stubborn and independent-minded coal-mine canaries willing to play ball with the other coalition first. What this additionally means is these emerging coalitions are not permanent. This era of Brokenists and Denialists is a transitional phase in a larger transformation...
..It’s only during the middle of the twentieth century that our modern ideas of left and right consolidated, when Democrats coalesced around the New Deal and Great Society while Republicans coalesced around the ideas of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s Conservative Movement. We’ve all lived our entire lives inside this tiny bubble of human history, so our definitions of left and right feel permanent to us, but they were always just temporary labels in a permanently shifting politics.....We no longer have a left-right spectrum. We have a Brokenist-Denialist spectrum. Everyone who believes the system is broken—and there are a lot of them—is getting pulled into the Republican Party and the right. Everyone who thinks things are fine has become a Democrat on the left. If you were once on the left but started questioning whether the system is broken and needs significant reform, you’ll get pushed out into the coalition of the right. None of this has anything to do with what we classically called liberalism or conservatism, or the twentieth-century right and left.
This obviously isn’t sustainable, so it will not be sustained.
This won’t, and can’t, be the final form of either the Republican or Democratic Party. You can’t build a lasting politics around a Brokenist-Denialist spectrum. Eventually, Brokenists have to use their power to do something to actually fix the things they say are broken... This is beginning to happen in some ways, but it’s going to create an epic internal fight... This obviously isn’t sustainable, so it will not be sustained.
..The Democrats, on the other hand, have backed themselves into defending the indefensible. The current system is, in fact, broken, and everyone knows it. It’s archaic, designed for a mid-twentieth century that no longer exists. It doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. It’s increasingly corrupted. The identitarian experiment the establishment adopted, and which professional elites seemed to love, proved deeply unpopular. Most important, Americans no longer trust the system. https://www.renew-the-republic.com/p/the-brokenists-did-not-move-right
Jim Kunstler, Funny Money
As “Joe Biden” racked up Democratic presidential primary wins in 2024, the shadowy claque behind him allocated $27-billion to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the huge Inflation Reduction Act, ostensibly for “climate change action.” The money was stashed at Citibank, where it became a hidden slush-fund to keep payoffs flowing to party favorites no matter who won the 2024 election. An EPA “special advisor on climate action,” one Brent Efron, told a Project Veritas investigative reporter that “President Biden” was “throwing gold bars off the Titanic”.
The key to understanding how the Democratic Party works is how it uses federal grants to redistribute taxpayer money into jobs programs for its rank-and-file. As seen in the recent USAID scandal, the action revolves around the creation of countless NGOs (non-governmental orgs). They are easily created, poorly supervised, and assembled into large networks of self-serving, inter-dependent organisms whose main mission is paying staffers — and secondarily pretending to do good works, as suggested by a given group’s name is. These staffers make up the matrix of Democratic Party activists, well-paid foot-soldiers in do-nothing jobs who can be called upon to cheer-lead for the party, organize street protests and, most critically, harvest ballots when the time comes. https://www.kunstler.com/p/funny-money
The key to understanding how the Democratic Party works is how it uses federal grants to redistribute taxpayer money into jobs programs for its rank-and-file. As seen in the recent USAID scandal, the action revolves around the creation of countless NGOs (non-governmental orgs). They are easily created, poorly supervised, and assembled into large networks of self-serving, inter-dependent organisms whose main mission is paying staffers — and secondarily pretending to do good works, as suggested by a given group’s name is. These staffers make up the matrix of Democratic Party activists, well-paid foot-soldiers in do-nothing jobs who can be called upon to cheer-lead for the party, organize street protests and, most critically, harvest ballots when the time comes. https://www.kunstler.com/p/funny-money
Debts are also retirements. The Answer To 1913 Is 2025: 3 Charts That Show Why The Income Tax, The IRS And The Federal Reserve Should All Be Abolished
When President Woodrow Wilson entered the White House in 1913, the U.S. was less than 3 billion dollars in debt.
Now we are 36 trillion dollars in debt…
This is what a central bank is designed to do.
Most people simply do not understand this.
Celia Farber suspects there will be a discovery that vaccines cause autism: President Trump Again Stresses Catastrophic Autism Rate In American Children: My Interpretation Reading Between The Lines https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/president-trump-again-stresses-catastrophic
He wasted no time turning his bold rhetoric into action. Following his blistering speech on Friday, he ordered the transfer of 1,500 agents and staff from the bureau’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to field offices across the country.
Roughly 1,000 will be sent to high-crime cities that the Trump administration designated, where they can focus on fighting crime instead of political games. Another 500 will be reassigned to Huntsville, Ala., which is widely seen as D.C.’s version of exile. https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/02/21/boom-kash-patel-is-already-making-huge-changes-at-the-fbi-n4937220
Roughly 1,000 will be sent to high-crime cities that the Trump administration designated, where they can focus on fighting crime instead of political games. Another 500 will be reassigned to Huntsville, Ala., which is widely seen as D.C.’s version of exile. https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/02/21/boom-kash-patel-is-already-making-huge-changes-at-the-fbi-n4937220
There is disagreement about what specifically is happening: US has ‘frozen’ weapons sales to Ukraine – MPs
President Donald Trump earlier accused Kiev of misusing aid and demanded reimbursement https://swentr.site/russia/613103-us-froze-weapons-sales-ukraine/ Why It’s Crucial To Expose US Provocations in Ukraine
Thus spake Baerbock: Germany issues warning to US
Europe should make it clear to President Trump that failure to back “liberal democracies” will come at a price, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has insisted https://swentr.site/news/613126-germany-us-russia-ukraine/ Freidrich Merz is the man expected to win the most votes Sunday. Germany's likely next chancellor is a BlackRock man
Under his government, US capital will have free rein to cannibalise the German economy https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/germanys-likely-next-chancellor-is Moon of Alabama, Zelenski Has Yet To Eat The Shit Sandwich
"It's a sh*t sandwich," a Trump administration official acknowledged."But Ukraine is going to have to eat it because [Trump] has made clear this is no longer our problem."
Axios
The Trump administration is increasing its pressure on Ukraine's (former) president Zelenski to swallow the shit sandwich. It offered a 'new' version of it which turned out to be the same as the old one:
The United States is doubling down on a demand that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure, according the document, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
The document, which was dated Feb. 21, states that the revenues will be directed to a fund in which the United States holds 100 percent financial interest, and that Ukraine should contribute to the fund until it reaches $500 billion — the amount President Trump has demanded from the war-torn country in exchange for American aid. That is more than twice Ukraine’s gross domestic product before the war.
The document does not stipulate that the United States will provide security guarantees for Ukraine in return for access to Ukrainian resources. That key demand from President Volodymyr Zelensky was absent in the first draft agreement presented to him last week, prompting him to decline to sign the deal.
There was even a threat, twice, to withdraw Starlink access from Ukraine's army should Zelenski reject the steal. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/zelenski-has-yet-to-eat-the-shit-sandwich.html#more
Expendable in 2 months at current attrition rates: Report: European Military Chiefs Propose Sending 30,000 Troops to Ukraine
In response to the plan, Russia reiterated its opposition to the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine as part of a peace deal https://news.antiwar.com/2025/02/20/report-european-military-chiefs-propose-sending-30000-troops-to-ukraine/Any stationing of militaries from NATO countries would be unacceptable, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said https://www.rt.com/russia/613064-peskov-responds-report-uk-troops-ukraine/
The US and Russia sought to restore normal diplomatic relations during this week's talks in Saudi Arabia because global nuclear powers must communicate to resolve conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. https://swentr.site/news/613109-rubio-russia-talks-purpose/
And tortured... Gaza hospital director says he doesn't know why he is being detained
Abu Safiya gained prominence for his humanitarian role during the Israeli genocide in Gaza and was one of the leading doctors who continued working under bombardment to save the wounded and injured.
Israeli forces arrested him in late December after storming Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcing him out at gunpoint after the hospital was destroyed and rendered non-operational.
As the Israeli genocide escalated, Abu Safiya paid a heavy personal price when his son, Ibrahim, was killed during an Israeli army raid on the hospital on Oct. 26.
On Nov. 24, 2024, Abu Safiya was injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the hospital, but he refused to leave and continued treating patients and the wounded. https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/gaza-hospital-director-says-he-doesnt-know-why-he-is-being-detained-3698711
Israeli forces arrested him in late December after storming Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcing him out at gunpoint after the hospital was destroyed and rendered non-operational.
As the Israeli genocide escalated, Abu Safiya paid a heavy personal price when his son, Ibrahim, was killed during an Israeli army raid on the hospital on Oct. 26.
On Nov. 24, 2024, Abu Safiya was injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the hospital, but he refused to leave and continued treating patients and the wounded. https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/gaza-hospital-director-says-he-doesnt-know-why-he-is-being-detained-3698711
Are they sure? Anybody could make mistakes digging up bodies from collapsed tunnels. IDF accuses Hamas of returning wrong body
The militant group has released the remains of an infant and his brother, but Israel says a third body is not their mother’s https://www.rt.com/news/613098-israel-hamas-wrong-body/The Israeli Prime Minister stressed that "Hamas will pay the full price for this cruel and despicable violation of the agreement" https://tass.com/world/1916869
Caitlin Johnstone, Israel Pushes New Atrocity Narrative Just As Ceasefire Deadline Approaches https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-pushes-new-atrocity-narrative
On the other hand: Gaza official reports over 350 Israeli violations of ceasefire deal https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/gaza-official-reports-over-350-israeli-violations-of-ceasefire-deal-3698776
Eyewitnesses told the channel that the suspect shouted “Christian” at the victim before violently attacking her inside her home, leaving her with severe injuries.
The suspect then fled the scene.
The woman, who is around 70 years old and resides in the Old City, sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital for treatment, the reports added.
No statement has been issued by Israeli authorities regarding the incident. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250221-jerusalem-jewish-man-attacks-israeli-woman-with-axe-mistaking-her-for-a-christian/
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has committed nearly 1,000 violations, killing and injuring dozens in Lebanon, including women and children.
Late Thursday, the Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that the Israeli army also carried out airstrikes on the Syrian city of Homs.
Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024 in Syria, Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions.
It has also expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone and Mount Hermon, violating the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/israeli-army-strikes-syria-lebanon-border-citing-alleged-hezbollah-arms-transfers-3698767
Late Thursday, the Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that the Israeli army also carried out airstrikes on the Syrian city of Homs.
Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024 in Syria, Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions.
It has also expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone and Mount Hermon, violating the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/israeli-army-strikes-syria-lebanon-border-citing-alleged-hezbollah-arms-transfers-3698767
Apple has elected to remove its most advanced, end-to-end encrypted security feature for cloud data in the United Kingdom after the government ordered the company to build a backdoor for accessing customer data. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tim-cook-denies-backdoor-access-uk-government-nukes-apple-cloud-encryption-brits
If the dollar is transformed from a fiat currency into a receipt for gold—which it should be since that’s the only way to stabilize the system for the long term— a massively higher gold price is needed.
I spelled that out in my 1993 book, Crisis Investing for the Rest of the ’90s. I came up with numbers. Depending on which parts of the money supply you wanted to use, gold would have to be many thousands, perhaps $40,000 per ounce.
My podcast partner, Matt Smith, has done a great analysis, which has gone viral, discussing this. He found, whether in US dollar terms, Euros, Chinese Yuan, or other currencies, that the likely price for revalued gold is someplace between $20,000 and $30,000 per ounce. https://internationalman.com/articles/doug-casey-on-the-coming-monetary-reset-and-trumps-impact-on-gold-and-the-dollar/
I spelled that out in my 1993 book, Crisis Investing for the Rest of the ’90s. I came up with numbers. Depending on which parts of the money supply you wanted to use, gold would have to be many thousands, perhaps $40,000 per ounce.
My podcast partner, Matt Smith, has done a great analysis, which has gone viral, discussing this. He found, whether in US dollar terms, Euros, Chinese Yuan, or other currencies, that the likely price for revalued gold is someplace between $20,000 and $30,000 per ounce. https://internationalman.com/articles/doug-casey-on-the-coming-monetary-reset-and-trumps-impact-on-gold-and-the-dollar/
NIH has poured $1.6 billion into Long COVID research, but little or nothing to study vaccine harms, causing patient advocates to hide vaccine injury. https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/yale-researchers-find-covid-spike
Yale University researchers detected the spike protein from the COVID-19 vaccine in the blood of at least one person 709 days after vaccination — a significantly longer time than previously measured.
The research team also found that many people thought to be experiencing long COVID may instead be suffering from post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) caused by the spike protein from the COVID-19 vaccines.
PVS symptoms, similar to those of long COVID, commonly include brain fog, dizziness and tinnitus.
Study participants who were never infected with the virus but who had PVS had “significantly higher” levels of spike protein circulating in their blood — with the protein detected between 26-709 days after they received a COVID-19 vaccine. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/post-vaccine-brain-fog-spike-protein-persist-body-years/
HHS Tells CDC to Yank ‘Wild to Mild’ Flu Vaccine Ad Campaign, Shift Focus to ‘Informed Consent’
CDC officials announced the end of the campaign, designed to appeal to pregnant women and children, during a staff meeting, according to NPR. HHS called on the CDC to instead develop “advertisements that promote the idea of ‘informed consent’ in vaccine decision-making,” STAT News reported. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/hhs-tells-cdc-remove-wild-to-mild-flu-vaccine-ad-campaign-informed-consent-focus/
The research team also found that many people thought to be experiencing long COVID may instead be suffering from post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) caused by the spike protein from the COVID-19 vaccines.
PVS symptoms, similar to those of long COVID, commonly include brain fog, dizziness and tinnitus.
Study participants who were never infected with the virus but who had PVS had “significantly higher” levels of spike protein circulating in their blood — with the protein detected between 26-709 days after they received a COVID-19 vaccine. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/post-vaccine-brain-fog-spike-protein-persist-body-years/
Pierre Kory MD on that: New Study Provides Legal Support For The Vaccine Injured
Corporate lawyers beware: "Post Covid Vaccination Syndrome" is now a "real disease." A new Yale study will hopefully help me and my patients' lawyers win them compensation in disability hearings. https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/new-study-provides-legal-supportCDC officials announced the end of the campaign, designed to appeal to pregnant women and children, during a staff meeting, according to NPR. HHS called on the CDC to instead develop “advertisements that promote the idea of ‘informed consent’ in vaccine decision-making,” STAT News reported. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/hhs-tells-cdc-remove-wild-to-mild-flu-vaccine-ad-campaign-informed-consent-focus/
Keep your vitamin-D level in the upper normal range. Make it a habit. China Reports New Coronavirus 'With Pandemic Potential' Discovered https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stocks-puke-after-china-reports-new-coronavirus-pandemic-potential-discovered
73.3% of myocarditis cases had low vitamin D—linked to higher inflammation, heart damage, and ICU admissions—while sufficient levels were associated with reduced severity. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/new-study-vitamin-d-protects-against
Not Broken Yet (pictured with grandson in winter garden)
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