Society's Child

James Howard Kunstler: On the beach

James Howard Kunstler
Clusterfuck Nation
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 21:45 UTC

Comes August now, the month of vacancy, idleness, the slap and hiss of waves on sand, furtive romance on the dunes, perhaps, sweet corn, country roads, and county fairs, and more furtive romance, perhaps, on a blanket in the high meadow under a blood moon - and respite from the hellish host of foolish ideas, dark trends, and bad faith driving life in this demolition derby of a nation.

If one word defines the preoccupying affairs of the USA these days it's tiresome. The entire population seems to be enacting the old myth of Sisyphus, every, man, woman, child, swamp-creature, and non-binary child-of-God in the land, legal and undocumented, pushing that boulder uphill to the tippy top, only to have it roll back down to the bottom... repeat ad infinitum.

Fists fly, a megaphone is tossed, as refugee crisis inflames local politics in Toronto area

Joseph Brean
The National Post
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 19:26 UTC

From the moment a protester grabbed a counter-protester's megaphone and hurled it into the fountain of the Markham Civic Centre, Saturday's demonstration against illegal border crossings and their effect on suburban Toronto degenerated quickly into violence and anger.

Police arrived to separate men who had thrown a few punches, and others who seemed about to, including one man who was pushing another as he held up a sign reading "Not In My Back Yard," according to video captured by Ming Pao Daily News.

It was a small rally of a few dozen mainly Chinese-Canadian protesters in Markham, a city northeast of Toronto, and hundreds of kilometres from any land border with the United States. Nevertheless, as the demonstration was met by a smaller group of pro-refugee protesters, it became a flashpoint in the North American refugee crisis, with Markham's mayor, Frank Scarpitti, as the unlikely main target.

Comment: It seems people are riled up all over in regards to the immigration debate, no matter how far away from an actual border they are. See also:

Russian Defense Ministry: Jihadis in southwestern Syria surrender tanks and howitzers

Sputnik
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:39 UTC

Illegal armed groups from the southwestern de-escalation zone in Syria have surrendered three tanks, two howitzers and five anti-aircraft installations over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Reconciliation Center in Syria said in a statement.

"As a result of negotiations with the leaders of settlements and illegal armed groups in the southwestern de-escalation zone, with assistance of the Russian Reconciliation center, three tanks, two howitzers, five anti-aircraft installations, one heavy machine gun and three pickup trucks as well as large amount of ammunition... were surrendered over the past 24 hours," the statement read.

Comment: Further reading: Syria and the major turn of events in the south

Delusional NYT fantasizes about Trump losing 2020 election to Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren

RT
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:39 UTC

It is the year 2020 and Donald Trump has just lost his bid for reelection for president of the United States - at least in the mind of one New York Times scribe, who has envisioned a Trumpless future in his latest column.

Columnist David Leonhardt has penned an article billed as a "sneak peek" at analysis from November 4, 2020 - the day the he imagines that Trump will fail to be reelected as president for a second term. Headlined "How Trump Lost Re-election in 2020," it begins with Leonhardt taking a look back at the "historically unpopular president" who presided over a period of "deep national anxiety" and lost to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts).

The article comes in response to a similar piece written by Leonhart's colleague Bret Stephens last week, which imagines the morning after Trump defeats Warren and wins re-election - because apparently futuristic reporting is a thing now.

Comment: Further reading:

UN humanitarian chief in Yemen: Hodeidah "one airstrike away from unstoppable epidemic"

UN.org
Sun, 29 Jul 2018 12:00 UTC

© OCHA/Giles Clarke
A man and his sons travel to collect water underneath the Hajjah Road Bridge, in Hodeidah, Yemen, which was damaged in an airstrike in mid-2016. (file) 29 July 2018

The crucial Yemeni port city of Hudaydah, which has been living under fire from pro-Government forces for weeks now, could be just "one airstrike away from an unstoppable epidemic", said the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the country on Sunday.

Lise Grande said in a statement from the capital Sana'a, that "for weeks, we've been doing everything possible to help hundreds of thousands of people living in and near Hudaydah", however, "these airstrikes are putting innocent civilians at extreme risk."

The port is the primary gateway for food and humanitarian supplies into the war-stricken country, and together with the city overall, it has been in the hands of Houthi rebels since the end of 2014, who have been battling government forces aided by a Saudi-led coalition, which has been deploying war planes since fighting escalated in 2015.

Comment: Saudi Arabia's war crimes in Yemen are made possible with help from the US and UK:

Americans are about to experience higher prices everywhere

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 10:34 UTC

A few weeks ago, SocGen asked what is arguably the most important question relating to the global trade wars: are tariffs inflationary or deflationary? While there were various nuances, its conclusion was simple: "Inflationary short term, disinflationary medium term."

It appears that the "short-term" part has now arrived, because after several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs and retaliations between the US and China, American consumers are about to be hit with sharply higher prices as tariffs on industrial metals put pressure on U.S. manufacturers.

In May, President Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU, Canada, and Mexico to help preserve America's manufacturing base. The response: steel and aluminum prices have risen 33% and 11% respectively since the beginning of the year, as manufacturers began to price in the tariffs.

Moreover, tariffs on additional imported products from China have added even more costs for producers, which are now being aggressively passed through to the consumer.

Comment: The inevitable result of these tariffs is that they will all eventually be passed on to the consumer. See also: Trade War with China - Easy to Win?

Opinion: Sacha Baron Cohen isn't funny - especially when he's mocking the powerless

James Delingpole
The Spectator
Sat, 28 Jul 2018 09:00 UTC

His satire is often a perfect example of what impeccable progressives like Baron Cohen are forever accusing conservatives of doing: punching down

Sacha Baron Cohen's latest series Who Is America? isn't funny. But then, nor was his terrible 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby. Nor was his rubbish 2012 film The Dictator. Nor, let's be honest, were his classic original characters Borat, Brüno or even Ali G.

Obviously, they had their moments: the 'mankini' - that bizarre, electric green, giant-thong-like swim wear worn by Borat; the classic late-Nineties catchphrase 'Is it because I is black?' And sure it must have taken some nerve - even in character - to explain to a clearly impatient and unimpressed Donald Trump his business plan for some anti-drip ice-cream gloves.

Comment: It's actually a good point. Some of Cohen's victims are certainly ripe for mocking, such as the American right politicians so ideologically possessed on gun rights they'll actually accept and promote 2 year olds being armed, or others unquestioned allegiance to Israel having them willingly jumping through the most ridiculous hoops to show they're part of the team. Yet when he aims at the common man, Cohen's humor comes across as more vindictive than actually witty or insightful. Picturing the average liberal, educated elitist sipping craft beers and having a good laugh at the mocking of honest working class Americans with their lowly, proletariat opinions, takes the air out of much of Cohen's 'comedy' bits.

See also:

UK's Guardian still clueless about Russia

Paul Goncharoff
Y!2B
Fri, 27 Jul 2018 11:14 UTC

The other day I received a URL to an article from The Guardian in the UK. It was titled "Vladimir Putin's Russia is a creaking ship. Don't fall for the propaganda" (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/25/propaganda-putin-russia-elections).

I read it, and wondered if the writer ever has spent any time in Russia. I do not mean as a footie tourist, but actually lived and worked in the country. The recently held World Cup was certainly a well thought through showcase event as it would be anywhere in the world. To call it an "illusion" strikes me as simply spiteful and false. Life pre-World Cup and post-World Cup is the same here, only with less tourists. This I can say with great certainty as I have lived and worked here for the past 20+ years.

Years ago, before the birth of the Russian Federation, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) one could have said about the country as the writer did "now the sports pageantry is over, Russians are back to the grey reality of everyday life, and a dire lack of prospects". That statement caught my eye and made me wonder whether she was writing about Russia at all. It is not the Russia I work and live in daily, which certainly is not grey nor is it without constantly evolving opportunities and prospects from the Baltic to the Pacific.

Comment: Maybe not that odd. The West and its fake news media outlets are on a mission - to misrepresent and demonize Russia every chance they get.

3 daughters stab father to death after years of alleged abuse in Moscow horror drama

RT
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 19:49 UTC

The Khachaturyan sisters. Images from social media.

His body lacerated with dozens of stab wounds, Mikhail Khachaturyan stumbled from his Moscow flat and collapsed dead by the elevator. Disturbingly, for his teenage daughters, his death came as a relief after years of abuse.

Khachaturyan's daughters - Kristina, 19, Angelina, 18, and Maria, 17 - have been detained and charged with stabbing their father to death on Friday, Russian law enforcement has confirmed.

While Mikhail Khachaturyan strove to present himself as a decent, religious type, neighbors called him a controlling, "abusive""mafia boss" and his daughters readily admitted to the murder, claiming that they'd violently snapped after years of physical, mental and sexual abuse.

"We hated him and we wanted just one thing to happen - either that he disappeared or that we never knew him," Kristina told the police. "We wanted him just to go away and never come back."

Friends and neighbors claimed that Khachaturyan was a tyrannical father and husband, who had developed a heroin habit and reportedly had connections with the criminal underworld. Khachaturyan's abusive behavior drove away his wife, the girls' mother. Khachaturyan's son, in his 20s, also lives away from home.

Comment: While it may be hard for some of the neighbours to believe, the scenario is not that uncommon among psychopaths in families. They craft an image to the outside world that is quite opposite to their controlling, cunning and abhorrently abusive nature. And the evidence does appear to support the girls story: drugs and weapons were found and many other neighbours saw through the fathers mask of sanity. As is often the case, the victim learns to live with the abuse but as the abuser further deteriorates and becomes increasingly violent, it reaches a crescendo where the victim is left with little choice but to defend themselves:

Finer order of control: Federal whistleblowers reveal TSA's "Quiet Skies" secret surveillance program for ALL travelers

Nicholas West
Activist Post
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC

It appears that, once again, the government narrative that TSA surveillance and groping is needed to keep Americans safe from the terrorists "over there" is nothing but a justification to violate the rights of everyone.

Thanks to a group of federal air marshals displaying good conscience, we are now learning about a new program that shows the full web of physical and digital surveillance that is being employed by the government to track people far beyond even the dubious "terror watch list." Not only are these marshals ready to talk - they are equipped with documents.

According to the group of marshals who first contacted the Boston Globe, the Quiet Skies program has been active since March. The group stated that immediate concern was registered when it became clear that what they were being asked to observe and document was an expansion of the established protocol of putting attention on people connected to a documented terror watch list. Their duties clearly included domestic surveillance of people who were under no formal suspicion and had no reason to be targeted other than vague behavioral observations and/or made it to the radar due to connections made by artificial intelligence programs regarding their data.

Comment: Like the frog in the proverbial pot of boiling water Americans are slowly being acclimated to being totally surveilled, maneuvered and ultimately controlled - by those who seek an almost unprecedented level of power over others.

New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good...

parzival

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Society's Child

James Howard Kunstler: On the beach

Fists fly, a megaphone is tossed, as refugee crisis inflames local politics in Toronto area

Russian Defense Ministry: Jihadis in southwestern Syria surrender tanks and howitzers

Delusional NYT fantasizes about Trump losing 2020 election to Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren

UN humanitarian chief in Yemen: Hodeidah "one airstrike away from unstoppable epidemic"

Americans are about to experience higher prices everywhere

Opinion: Sacha Baron Cohen isn't funny - especially when he's mocking the powerless

UK's Guardian still clueless about Russia

3 daughters stab father to death after years of alleged abuse in Moscow horror drama

Finer order of control: Federal whistleblowers reveal TSA's "Quiet Skies" secret surveillance program for ALL travelers

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