PEACE: Hubris was our failing

Sunday, July 11, 2021

https://www.unz.com/pbuchanan/is-afghanistan-a-failed-mission/

Is Afghanistan a Failed Mission?, by Pat Buchanan – The Unz Review

*** begin quote ***

As in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973, the year our prisoners of war came home, America did not lose a major battle in Afghanistan.

Yet we did not win the war. South Vietnam was lost.

And contrary to the message awaiting President George W. Bush when he landed on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which was flaunting the banner “Mission Accomplished,” America did not accomplish its mission.

President Joe Biden said as much Thursday, when he responded to a reporter’s question, “The mission has not failed — yet.”

As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 impends, and with it our final exit from the Afghan war, the Taliban are overrunning districts at will, and Afghan troops are avoiding battle in what many see as a lost cause.

Monday, 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled into Tajikistan rather than face advancing Taliban forces.

Why did we not succeed? And what does our failure there portend?

We failed, first, because our initial mission, once accomplished, was altered and enlarged to where it became unattainable.

*** and ***

There never was a vital U.S. interest in Afghanistan worth a war of the cost in blood, treasure and time that we have just fought.

*** and ***

Many who cast their lot with us are going to pay with their lives, as will their families. And the enemies of the United States are likely to be energized by what they perceive, not wrongly, as a strategic defeat of the USA.

We did it to ourselves. Hubris was our failing, as it often is of great powers, the mindset exhibited by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when she declared: “If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.”

*** end quote ***

Unfortunately the “peace movement” of the 60’s and 70’s was astroturf against the R’s.

We, little L libertarians, are in that movement regardless of which side of the two-sided political spectrum.

Other than the Quakers, I don’t know who else we can count on to end the Hubris.  Certainly NOT the MIC (Military Industrial Complex).

Let’s cut the “defense” budget 20% and rethink the Dead Old White Guys desire to avoid a standing army.  Shut down the FBI and CIA while disarming the Department of Agriculture.  As a matter of fact, spin the Agriculture budget back to the sovereign States and shut it down completely.

What are the proper functions of the “central” Gooferment? At most “defense” and foreign relations.  Like the Swiss, no one messes with a neutral.

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of senators) and return the State’s power and get the money out of that layer of Gooferment.

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: Can’t Sue the Corporation that Wrongly Marked You a Terrorist?

Saturday, July 10, 2021

https://www.eff.org/effector/33/4

Supreme Court Says You Can’t Sue the Corporation that Wrongly Marked You a Terrorist

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court barred the courthouse door to thousands of people who were wrongly marked as “potential terrorists” by credit giant TransUnion. The Court’s analysis of their “standing” —whether they were sufficiently injured to file a lawsuit—reflects a naïve view of the increasingly powerful role that personal data, and the private corporations that harvest and monetize it, play in everyday life. It also threatens congressional efforts to protect our privacy and other intangible rights from predation by Facebook, Google and other tech giants.

# – # – # – # – #

Seems like they made big mistake on this one.

Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats are immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

Argh!

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: “peak” cell phone?

Friday, July 9, 2021

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/does-the-two-year-phone-upgrade-still-make-sense/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Wait a second, does the 2-year phone upgrade still make sense? I think not
Commentary: Flagship phones are giving us only incremental improvements, and our upgrade culture makes less sense than ever.
Sareena Dayaram  
July 7, 2021 5:00 a.m. PT

*** begin quote ***

Smartphone innovation has stagnated, and this is not a knock against the consumer electronics companies or the tech giants that design them. Maybe we’ve reached peak smartphone, and this is as far as it needs to go. It could well be part of the reason why the race to upgrade your phones is slowing.

*** end quote ***

I have a “broken” iPhone 10 (some broken glass on the back?) and pristine iPhone 7 (I brought to one of the cable companies cheap plans)..

Ever since I’ve found that there was no real reason to upgrade the 10 to the 12.

While I like technology, a $1,000 is an expensive “want”; not “need”.

Then I read about that NBA star from a third world country who uses a broken screen phone explaining that he can use the money for helping his people.  I guess that really shamed me.  If he can do it, so can I.

So I guess we have reached “peak phone” for me UNLESS there is some striking each-shaking feature “I just can’t live without”.

Sigh!  But upgrading was fun!

—30—


TINFOILHAT: UFO activity at nuclear weapons sites

Thursday, July 8, 2021

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/i-literally-wrote-the-book-on-the-ufo-nuclear-connection-why-is-the-government-hiding-what-it-knows

OPINION
I literally wrote the book on the UFO-nuclear connection. Why is the government hiding what it knows?
by Robert Hastings | July 02, 2021 06:00 AM
 
*** begin quote *** 
 
The U.S. government’s recent unidentified flying objects report is unprecedented. It acknowledges, for the first time, that some UFOs (or what the U.S. government refers to as “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”) appear to be real, ultra-advanced craft of unknown origin.

Going back 70 years, virtually every statement by the U.S. military had dismissed the phenomenon as misidentified known objects, such as weather balloons, or optical illusions, or hoaxes. Put simply, the new report is a major departure from the past policy of denial and obfuscation. But that candor goes only so far. The report completely ignores the elephant in the room: Hundreds of reports from military veterans, most of whom I have interviewed myself, involve UFO activity at nuclear weapons sites, including the mysterious disabling of our intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The UFO-nukes connection is clearly an important, if not the most important, aspect of UFO interaction with the U.S. military.

*** and ***

Indeed, how credible? While we in the public domain are not privy to the information contained in the classified version of the report, it appears that nuclear-related cases such as those I have documented were completely sidestepped. Where does this leave us?

Well, while the UAP report is extraordinary due to its fundamental admission that some UFOs appear to be real, unknown craft that demonstrate an interest in U.S. military operations and facilities, it is incomplete. Omitting reference to an undeniably important aspect of UFO activity that, evidence suggests, continues to the present day (note that the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers, which seem to be a focal point for UFOs, are powered by nuclear reactors).

Researchers, the media, and the general public must push hard for more honesty from our government.

Robert Hastings is a UFO researcher. His book, UFOs and Nukes, documents and assesses decades of extraordinary encounters between U.S. military nuclear forces and UFOs.

*** end quote ***

“Honesty” from the Gooferment.  Jumbo shrimp.  It appears that politicians and bureaucrats are structurally unable to tell the truth.

So why should we believe ANYTHING that they tell us?

—30—


HEALTH: Blatant suppression — doctors with impeccable credentials are being deplatformed

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/07/04/covid-vaccine-risks.aspx?ui=f9839516412491bb1e06c9e47058c6fb81b9b9b6acedf03e65e93dfdb263c1b9&sd=20210317&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20210704&mid=DM926909&rid=1200052769

Might COVID Injections Reduce Lifespan?
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola
July 04, 2021

*** begin quote ***

My problem is not with the vaccine. My problem is with the government, governing bodies and certain people that are obstructing the flow of life saving information and suppressing the truth from people, and then using coercion to force people to take this vaccine. That’s the nefarious part.

The suppression is so blatant and so overt that doctors with impeccable credentials are being deplatformed for just voicing an opinion. And then you couple that together with proven prehospital treatment approaches and protocols that have been proven to reduce hospitalization and death by 85%, and that information is being suppressed.

So here you have a dual censorship where the positive, hopeful, life-saving information is being suppressed and the dangerous outcomes of the vaccination approach is being suppressed. It’s a perfect setup for genocide.”

*** end quote ***

I wonder if anyone is ever going to be held accountable for their support of the COVID Injections.

Remember EPA Christie Whitman: “Ground Zero Air Is Safe” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/10/epa-head-wrong-911-air-safe-new-york-christine-todd-whitman

Yet, “everyone” knows that Big Pharma is in for the big payday.

It seems like everyone has suspend their good judgment.

Argh!

—30—


GUNS: RKBA doesn’t apply in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerk

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2021/07/01/scotus-gun-case-n47251

Why New York Gun Case Before SCOTUS Really Matters
By Tom Knighton | Jul 01, 2021 10:30 AM ET

*** begin quote ***

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a few actually do. The thing is, it shouldn’t matter. Our right to keep and bear arms isn’t to be infringed. Requiring someone to show a need or else they can’t bear arms sure as hell sounds like infringement to me.

Luckily, this case is before the Supreme Court. Many think we’ll see constitutional carry handed down by the Court. I’m more skeptical. I think we’ll definitely see the end of requirements like this. We might even see the Courts rule that shall issue is the most states can do.

Regardless, the case matters because I can’t imagine how many others got death threats but were told by the state of New York that their lives just aren’t a good enough reason to be permitted to carry a gun.

More importantly, how many of them died because they couldn’t?

*** end quote ***

… or in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee either.

—30—


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: PCLOB “Book Report” Fails to Investigate or Tell the Public the Truth About Domestic Mass Surveillance

Monday, July 5, 2021

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) has concluded its six-year investigation into Executive Order 12333, one of the most sprawling and influential authorities that enables the U.S. government’s mass surveillance programs.

Source: PCLOB “Book Report” Fails to Investigate or Tell the Public the Truth About Domestic Mass Surveillance

# – # – # – # – #

Another Gooferment “failure”!

Expecting the politicians and bureaucrats IN the Deep State to limit its intrusions is just DUMB!

Happy “Independence” Day!

—30—


LIBERTARIAN: National Popular Vote Compact is a step in the anti-freedom journey towards mob rule

Sunday, July 4, 2021

https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/06/22/national-popular-vote-compact-would-disenfranchise-smaller-rural-states/

National Popular Vote Compact Would Disenfranchise Smaller and Rural States
Ann Bollin / June 22, 2021′

*** begin quote ***

With the 2020 presidential election in the rearview mirror, a brazen effort is underway in several states to circumvent the Constitution and fundamentally alter the role of the Electoral College in future presidential elections.

If adopted by enough states and not challenged in court, this unconstitutional effort would potentially disenfranchise the voters of several states by ignoring those states’ choice for president and instead defer to the votes of nonresidents to decide how electoral votes would be cast.

That would have a devastating effect on how Americans select their president.

The ploy is known as the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The compact’s enabling legislation bypasses America’s most fundamental body of law—the U.S. Constitution, specifically Article II, Section I—and nullifies the Electoral College, which guarantees each state a minimum number of electoral votes to ensure that small and rural states are represented.

*** end quote ***

(1) Unconstitutional?

(2) Dumb for little states not to litigate NOW?

(3) Federalizes all issues and makes the US of A a unitary state like France!

(4) Ensures the 51% can tyrannize the 49?

Celebrate Independence Day before this takes away our freedom forever and introduces “democracy” AKA mob rule.

—30—


MONEY: Injury from a “vaccine” might be devastating financially

Saturday, July 3, 2021

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/07/01/covid-vaccine-deaths-and-injuries.aspx?ui=f9839516412491bb1e06c9e47058c6fb81b9b9b6acedf03e65e93dfdb263c1b9&sd=20210317&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20210701_HL2&mid=DM924431&rid=1197507551

COVID Vaccine Deaths and Injuries Are Secretly Buried
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola 
July 01, 2021

*** begin quote ***

  • Reports of deaths and serious injuries from the COVID-19 jabs mount by the day. As of June 11, 2021, the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) had posted 358,379 adverse events, including 5,993 deaths and 29,871 serious injuries
  • In the European Union’s database of adverse drug reactions from COVID shots, called EudraVigilance, there were 1,509,266 reported injuries, including 15,472 deaths as of June 19, 2021. EudraVigilance only accepts reports from EU members, so it covers only 27 countries. Remarkably, about HALF of all reported injuries — 753,657 — are listed as “serious”
  • The British Yellow Card system had, as of June 9, 2021, received 276,867 adverse event reports following COVID “vaccination,” including 1,332 deaths
  • Before you make the decision to participate in this unprecedented health experiment, it may be wise to assess your personal insurance and financial ability to handle a serious injury, as pandemic vaccine manufacturers are indemnified against lawsuits
  • If you are injured by a COVID shot and live in the U.S., your only recourse is to apply for compensation from the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Act (CICP). Payouts are rare, cover only lost wages and unpaid medical bills, cannot be appealed, are capped around $370,000 for death, and require you to exhaust your private insurance before kicking in

*** end quote ***

That last point is devastating financially.

So Big Pharma gets all the profits and some random poor shlub “wins” a negative lottery!

That doesn’t seem very fair.

Time to release this “payoff” to Big Pharma for their campaign contributions.

Argh!

—30—


POLITICAL: Giuliani’s suspension is just political backstabbing

Friday, July 2, 2021

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/turley-why-giulianis-suspension-should-worry-all-lawyers?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29

Turley: Why Giuliani’s Suspension Should Worry All Lawyers
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, JUN 28, 2021 – 12:00 PM
Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  • Below is my column in The Hill on the suspension of Rudy Giuliani by the New York Bar. The widespread hatred for Giuliani may be blinding many to the more troubling aspects of the opinion by the New York Supreme Court.

*** begin quote ***

This week, New York’s Supreme Court took the extraordinary step of suspending Rudy Giuliani, former federal prosecutor and counsel to former President Trump, from practicing law. As a long-standing critic of Giuliani for his baffling, self-defeating and at times bizarre statements, I found the action was, on some level, reaffirming.

However, the fluid standard applied in Giuliani’s case raises serious concerns over how and when such suspensions will be imposed against lawyers in public controversies. Indeed, the Giuliani standard would seem to implicate a wide array of attorneys who straddle the line of legal and political advocacy.

*** and ***

The concern in this case is that we are seeing a weaponization of bar investigations after a wide (and well-funded) campaign to harass Republican lawyers, their firms and their clients after the 2020 election. And it has worked: Many law firms are unwilling to take on Republican or conservative causes for fear of being targeted.

The Giuliani opinion fuels those concerns. Despite a damning account of exaggerations and falsehoods, it often reads more like a venting — rather than a vetting — of grievances against Giuliani. Instead of issuing a well-deserved reprimand, the court declared Giuliani to be a public menace if allowed to continue practicing law, even for the period of his own adjudication. The premature suspension made little sense. The bar was focused on Giuliani’s public statements, which will continue unabated by any suspension.

Nevertheless, the suspension thrilled many in today’s bloodsport politics. Yet while the court seemed to apply a special “Giuliani rule,” it is unlikely to stay that way if — to paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz — the bar becomes “nothing but a continuation of politics by other means.”

*** end quote ***

Seems like EVERYTHING has become political.

With different standards if you’re of the “wrong” political party.

Sounds like the NY Bar needs to get a slap down by SCOTUS!

—30—