The BRICS group is a myth that will have minimal effect in the long term. South America, China and Brazil and possibly Russia have greater financial pressures than the bumbling US economy. We created the smoke and mirrors financial system and will continue to control it for the foreseeable future. As to Egypt, they are in an impossible situation. There are literal vipers everywhere there. They have been playing every side of the political octagon for years. Israel in a no win situation. Expect the solution will sadly be nuclear.
Why does anyone pay attention to this guy? There seems to be a cohort of people like Lindsey Graham and Yuval Noah Harari that just will not go the fuck away. I am now officially placing Zizek in that category.
The only thing I really want from Pelosi at this point is investment advice. I cheered when she got the speaker job, but by the time she left, her only real expertise lay in predicting stock movements. She kept the world safe for inside traders.
“What happens when Nancy Pelosi pits herself in a battle of wits against a banjo player?”
It is difficult to find words to adequately express the extent of my utter disinterest in Ms. Pelosi's pits. And, having made that clear, I would propose that, based on years of evidence, that in any battle of wits, Ms, Pelosi is lightly armed indeed.
I watched, and enjoyed, Mr. Marshall's presentation. But I was unable to bring myself to tolerate any discourse from his opponent. Beside which – I've heard it. Quotes from Mao's 'Little Red Book'. Over and over. For decades.
“ How many of these women are going back to work because they want to and how many are going back because they have to? “
The world in which my father and grandfather worked to support stay-at-home Mum and Grams; the world in which, when I was first married, (almost 60 years ago), my wife stayed home, raised the kids, and provided a domestic refuge for me after my 12 – 14 hour days. That world is gone.
How many bureaucrats, civil servants, or NGO staffers is every working person supporting today? Recent stats indicate that these parasites now comprise over fifty percent of the workforce. Dad and Gramps, and myself, (when I wore a much younger man's clothes), supported less than thirty percent. The difference is why all those mothers HAVE to go to work.
“Who’s the worst Republican senator?”
An impossible question, Lass. First, i depends on your definition of “worst”. Most avaricious? Least dedicated? Stupidest? Worst record – for attendance, voting, not voting, fraud, murder? Its difficult, very difficult, to look at 100 pigs, swilling at a trough, and select one particular porker to nominate as the “worst” hog. Or as this winter's bacon.
So I'll go with – the one that most recently pissed me off. Which seems to change from day to day, or, sometimes, from hour to hour.
RL calls, so I'll view the John Mearsheimer vid and comment this evening. But I do have a thought re the never ending drama that is the Middle East. What are the implications for the Ukrainian and Middle East conflicts, the US dollar, and the BRIC economies of the love fest between Presidents Xi Putin?
Pelosi has an attitude that’s been prevalent in the part of society she inhabits. Nothing really has changed there. I know she’s pretty easy to mock but in the end her freezer is stocked with high dollar ice cream and mine isn’t so what’s the point.
I don’t know about Egypt. They’re in such bad economic shape they keep fluctuating between masters. I think the thing is many are seeing the West is becoming unable to provide that which they are seeking and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and take a different path. We’ll see. I think BRICS is going to be a huge difference maker. It will take time. Russia has proved the sanctions can be beaten. They were hit hard in 2014 but have clawed their way out. Putin may be a “dictator “ but he’s brought Russia back. Look at his cabinet. A lot of economic brainpower there in all areas.
It may be easier to pick a best R senator than a worst. That would be a thought process for you. Jesse is right though. The people are the problem. As long as primaries are decided by Boomers who watch Fox all day nothing will change.
Ok, so I had seen Marshall's vid earlier this week sometime and was, like, *pumps fist in air* "F#@& yeah!". So I was going to just skip it til Lil suggested watching them both.
So I watched Marshall again. My take: Some guy who's famous for basically being one of the only 11 people in the UK who can play banjo and make it sound bluegrass folk country-fried pretty much totally nails what Democracy is, and why Populism = Democracy. Wow. A+
And I watched Pelosi and came away a mix of WTactualF? and Holy Crap People Like This Are In Charge!
So I read on.
"It was bearable because it was so transparently ridiculous especially adjacent to his closing."
I think, had I not already seen WM's argument and understood that Pelosi 's was The Other Side... So San Fran Nan has been in the politics game from birth**
and has supposedly sworn to uphold The Constitution a hundred times, give or take, _defends_ the Proposition and I'm just thinking "Dude - Word Salad."
So, yeah. WTF and *shivers*
** How she _really_ became famous: her father was a well-connected Mayor of Baltimore in the 1960s (17 year old Nacy Pelosi at JFK's inauguration https://tinyurl.com/yuh9rvkc)
"I don’t know how you solve this other than to be aware it happens and to always be skeptical. But what do you think?"
Warning: You may be sorry you asked.
Well, from where I sit, it seems that this is someone who has, within the virtual confines of X, abused his/her rights and privileges of his/her account on the platform. Under Musk's ownership of X (formerly Twitter), account holders have a tremendous amount of latitude, but not license to engage in such behavaviour as that described. After all, is that not a violation of the forum's rules and of the community standards, such as they are?
To my way of thinking, rights and privileges also imply responsibility and accountability. Hence, when one abuses a privilege or a right, the appropriate consequence is a loss of such right or privilege – and depending on the degree, and/or veracity of the offense, that loss can be temporary, or even permanent.
Now, before anyone wishes to accuse me of rank hypocrisy, let me remind whoever that may be, X is a private company, and it can do as it sees fit (that sounds familiar – I wonder where I've encountered such a defense, before), and that if the user were to permanently lose said privilege(s), it is the result of the user's violating the rules, not because the federal government doesn't like the content and is prevailing on X to censor the user.
***
Can we conclude that the vast majority of these mothers under the age of 18 gave birth to these children out of wedlock, and they remain unmarried? If so, I submit that THAT is the real problem. Yes, my Judeo-Christian ethics are showing and there will be no apology for it – not that anyone is asking.
I realize it goes against what I'm going to call a neo-Liberal ethic, which I can't really define, at the moment, but is characterized by a refusal to recognize that the consequences of some actions are much more serious and grave, than others. For example, pre-marital sex that results in unplanned/unwanted pregnancy, but nonetheless carries with it adult responsibilities. Further, despite the urge to smear abstinence as the province of the uptight, rigid, Christian scolds, it serves a valuable purpose. Yes, adolescence is a difficult time for everyone – hormones are raging, and it is difficult to be disciplined enough to resist the urge to engage in sexual intercourse. Yet, most manage it, one way or another. I saw a young man five years ahead of me in school, throw away an academic scholarship to a prestigious engineering university because his girlfriend allowed him to get her pregnant, and as he was resolved to do that which was honourable, he graduated high school and got a job to provide for his soon-to-be family – that scared the living sh*t out of me, and so I was not about to even allow myself to be in a position to even run the risk.
Lest it be seen as blaming the victim, every unwed mother could have prevented the pregnancy – not to let the fathers off the hook, but ultimately, the choice to let him in was hers – that's not the pro-choice that's very popular, but it's the truth.
***
I tried to listen to Nashee Pullohshee'zh summation, but that was nearly fifteen minutes I didn't feel like wasting.
***
Because we simply agree to disagree re: Israel, I'll simply note that Egypt has always opposed Israel's existence, its latest move is merely returning to its original position. Despite the historic agreement in the late 70s, Sadat paid for that temporary rapprochement with his life. Egypt taking a stand against Israel - so what else is new?
***
Who's the worst Republican? That's like asking which is worse: Ebola, Yellow Fever, or Malaria? Because he allegedly represents my home state, I'm going to go with Cornyn – as corrupt as the day is long.
***
"...except for maybe the writing, which gets a little shortchanged."
I beg to differ – I see no drop-off in quality – as compelling as ever!
That's a rose bush. In fact, on the To Do List for today, if not for the rain (and I might still do the inside stuff) is to replace the iron lattice with a bigger one to let the rose go wide. It wants to get up that rain spout just a foot to the left off camera but it can't grab anything, I think.
This was a cool story. Mrs. Pi bought some late summer/fall c.2019. She set the pot on the grass in the location next to The Poop Deck where I was to build a stone raised bed garden.
Then we had some bad weather, a couple of weekend events (ah, life before The VID) and suddenly it just sat there all winter. The plant itself went all dry and in the spring it didn't leaf up so we sure it was dead. So she went to throw it away and she couldn't pick it up: it had rooted through the plastic pot, literally cracked it near a drain hold, and burrowed in.
I cut the pot off and built the garden around it and it's thrived ever since.
We have a yellow rose bush about 10 more feet down the house, and it's blooming too, but it's raining pretty hard right now.
There are 3 man-made lakes in Baltimore County (Useless Trivia: Maryland is the only state in the union with no natural lakes) that provide fresh water for Baltimore City and some surrounding areas.
Pretty Boy Reservoir, which is city property, in North Balto Co is a brisk 20-30 minute walk from Casa de Pi. Much of the surrounding area is private property, pretty large tracts with horses and cattle and donkeys and sheep and a couple llamas, all butting up against wooded walking and hiking trails (some of it is steep and rough terrain; of course The Husky Dawg likes _those_ parts...).
One of the neighbors - a Quaker couple, Alan and Amy, host '4th Fridays' (pot luck/brick oven pizzas/bibulousity events) got it zoned it in Agricultural Preserve or whatever prevents it from being developed. This is me sitting in what I call The King's Seat, next to The Queen's Seat, with Dante lording it over his territory. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pHu26o65qXxp9yeCA
The bold 'Who Is The WORST Republican Senator?' _is_ the title of that Rumble segment but, before that clip played, I got this ad. https://photos.app.goo.gl/EYthdkfmxm56JBVz9
So I skipped it when I could. Then the same ad loaded again.
I thought Lillia was doing the Byron Donalds equivalent of Rickrolling us.
Then the actual Jesse Kelly video played. I literally LOLed out loud.
The BRICS group is a myth that will have minimal effect in the long term. South America, China and Brazil and possibly Russia have greater financial pressures than the bumbling US economy. We created the smoke and mirrors financial system and will continue to control it for the foreseeable future. As to Egypt, they are in an impossible situation. There are literal vipers everywhere there. They have been playing every side of the political octagon for years. Israel in a no win situation. Expect the solution will sadly be nuclear.
$
"What happens when Nancy Pelosi pits herself in a battle of wits against a banjo player?"
She's braver than I thought, going into a battle of wits unarmed.
That was my first thought.
"As I watched her, my only conclusion was the “western” world is rapidly approaching a Marie Antoinette moment."
Wholly Schamokes - we're going to need more Popcorn! 🍿
I have to run into the Home Depot in Westminstervilleburgton this afternoon so I'll make an extra stop.
You watched her?
You have a stronger stomach that I, Sir.
I'm sharing this here because I don't know where else to share it:
I ran across a mention of this book this morning:
Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist
by Slavoj Zizek
https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Atheism-How-Real-Materialist/dp/1350409316
Why does anyone pay attention to this guy? There seems to be a cohort of people like Lindsey Graham and Yuval Noah Harari that just will not go the fuck away. I am now officially placing Zizek in that category.
I have never heard of Zizek. Apparently you're not alone. The book only has a 3.6 rating.
AFAICT you're not missing out.
"Christian Atheism"
🤔
The only thing I really want from Pelosi at this point is investment advice. I cheered when she got the speaker job, but by the time she left, her only real expertise lay in predicting stock movements. She kept the world safe for inside traders.
"investment advice"
She really does know how to read the market - doesn't she?
“What happens when Nancy Pelosi pits herself in a battle of wits against a banjo player?”
It is difficult to find words to adequately express the extent of my utter disinterest in Ms. Pelosi's pits. And, having made that clear, I would propose that, based on years of evidence, that in any battle of wits, Ms, Pelosi is lightly armed indeed.
I watched, and enjoyed, Mr. Marshall's presentation. But I was unable to bring myself to tolerate any discourse from his opponent. Beside which – I've heard it. Quotes from Mao's 'Little Red Book'. Over and over. For decades.
“ How many of these women are going back to work because they want to and how many are going back because they have to? “
The world in which my father and grandfather worked to support stay-at-home Mum and Grams; the world in which, when I was first married, (almost 60 years ago), my wife stayed home, raised the kids, and provided a domestic refuge for me after my 12 – 14 hour days. That world is gone.
How many bureaucrats, civil servants, or NGO staffers is every working person supporting today? Recent stats indicate that these parasites now comprise over fifty percent of the workforce. Dad and Gramps, and myself, (when I wore a much younger man's clothes), supported less than thirty percent. The difference is why all those mothers HAVE to go to work.
“Who’s the worst Republican senator?”
An impossible question, Lass. First, i depends on your definition of “worst”. Most avaricious? Least dedicated? Stupidest? Worst record – for attendance, voting, not voting, fraud, murder? Its difficult, very difficult, to look at 100 pigs, swilling at a trough, and select one particular porker to nominate as the “worst” hog. Or as this winter's bacon.
So I'll go with – the one that most recently pissed me off. Which seems to change from day to day, or, sometimes, from hour to hour.
RL calls, so I'll view the John Mearsheimer vid and comment this evening. But I do have a thought re the never ending drama that is the Middle East. What are the implications for the Ukrainian and Middle East conflicts, the US dollar, and the BRIC economies of the love fest between Presidents Xi Putin?
"Ms. Pelosi's pits."
Duuuude...
"Ms, Pelosi is lightly armed indeed."
Its even worse than you'd think it could be.
"Most avaricious?"
Wow. Talk about a crowded field. #TeamSnoutsInTrough
I calls 'em like I sees 'em.
Pelosi has an attitude that’s been prevalent in the part of society she inhabits. Nothing really has changed there. I know she’s pretty easy to mock but in the end her freezer is stocked with high dollar ice cream and mine isn’t so what’s the point.
I don’t know about Egypt. They’re in such bad economic shape they keep fluctuating between masters. I think the thing is many are seeing the West is becoming unable to provide that which they are seeking and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and take a different path. We’ll see. I think BRICS is going to be a huge difference maker. It will take time. Russia has proved the sanctions can be beaten. They were hit hard in 2014 but have clawed their way out. Putin may be a “dictator “ but he’s brought Russia back. Look at his cabinet. A lot of economic brainpower there in all areas.
It may be easier to pick a best R senator than a worst. That would be a thought process for you. Jesse is right though. The people are the problem. As long as primaries are decided by Boomers who watch Fox all day nothing will change.
"They’re in such bad economic shape they keep fluctuating between masters."
Well, I blame Pharoah – he's the one who let 'em go, after all...
Ouch. Too soo...
Nah.
Winston Marshall is one of my heroes.
Ok, so I had seen Marshall's vid earlier this week sometime and was, like, *pumps fist in air* "F#@& yeah!". So I was going to just skip it til Lil suggested watching them both.
So I watched Marshall again. My take: Some guy who's famous for basically being one of the only 11 people in the UK who can play banjo and make it sound bluegrass folk country-fried pretty much totally nails what Democracy is, and why Populism = Democracy. Wow. A+
And I watched Pelosi and came away a mix of WTactualF? and Holy Crap People Like This Are In Charge!
So I read on.
"It was bearable because it was so transparently ridiculous especially adjacent to his closing."
I think, had I not already seen WM's argument and understood that Pelosi 's was The Other Side... So San Fran Nan has been in the politics game from birth**
and has supposedly sworn to uphold The Constitution a hundred times, give or take, _defends_ the Proposition and I'm just thinking "Dude - Word Salad."
So, yeah. WTF and *shivers*
** How she _really_ became famous: her father was a well-connected Mayor of Baltimore in the 1960s (17 year old Nacy Pelosi at JFK's inauguration https://tinyurl.com/yuh9rvkc)
Time (and plastic surgery) have not been kind to her.
Neither has the vodka...
Yeah, ew.
A Thinking Man's Banjorino.
I like me some Banjo. And Thinking People.
I'd like to see Winston Marshall, and Steve Martin square off in a banjo challenge!
Love it!
"Reality check: Progress has been uneven. Mothers who do not have a bachelor's degree..."
*Harrison Butker has entered the chat*
Actually, this quote better captures the sentiment of The Butkering:
"How many of these women are going back to work because they want to and how many are going back because they have to?"
I have not read about Harrison Butker, though I keep seeing the name.
The Pi Guy TL;DR (probably not how you'll see it on most venues):
"Really Catholic Guy tells Really Catholic Audience at Really Catholic University a bunch of Really Catholic Stuff. Women and Minorities hit hardest."
He got a Standing O with Opera Applause.
And his jersey just became the hottest item in the warehouse. A freaking kicker not named Justin Tucker. Tay Tay's BF hit hardest.
It's been a hard couple days in BigEgoland.
"The greatest trick the government and corporations ever played was making you think their ideas are your own."
This is how you train a dog.
Think about it.
"I don’t know how you solve this other than to be aware it happens and to always be skeptical. But what do you think?"
Warning: You may be sorry you asked.
Well, from where I sit, it seems that this is someone who has, within the virtual confines of X, abused his/her rights and privileges of his/her account on the platform. Under Musk's ownership of X (formerly Twitter), account holders have a tremendous amount of latitude, but not license to engage in such behavaviour as that described. After all, is that not a violation of the forum's rules and of the community standards, such as they are?
To my way of thinking, rights and privileges also imply responsibility and accountability. Hence, when one abuses a privilege or a right, the appropriate consequence is a loss of such right or privilege – and depending on the degree, and/or veracity of the offense, that loss can be temporary, or even permanent.
Now, before anyone wishes to accuse me of rank hypocrisy, let me remind whoever that may be, X is a private company, and it can do as it sees fit (that sounds familiar – I wonder where I've encountered such a defense, before), and that if the user were to permanently lose said privilege(s), it is the result of the user's violating the rules, not because the federal government doesn't like the content and is prevailing on X to censor the user.
***
Can we conclude that the vast majority of these mothers under the age of 18 gave birth to these children out of wedlock, and they remain unmarried? If so, I submit that THAT is the real problem. Yes, my Judeo-Christian ethics are showing and there will be no apology for it – not that anyone is asking.
I realize it goes against what I'm going to call a neo-Liberal ethic, which I can't really define, at the moment, but is characterized by a refusal to recognize that the consequences of some actions are much more serious and grave, than others. For example, pre-marital sex that results in unplanned/unwanted pregnancy, but nonetheless carries with it adult responsibilities. Further, despite the urge to smear abstinence as the province of the uptight, rigid, Christian scolds, it serves a valuable purpose. Yes, adolescence is a difficult time for everyone – hormones are raging, and it is difficult to be disciplined enough to resist the urge to engage in sexual intercourse. Yet, most manage it, one way or another. I saw a young man five years ahead of me in school, throw away an academic scholarship to a prestigious engineering university because his girlfriend allowed him to get her pregnant, and as he was resolved to do that which was honourable, he graduated high school and got a job to provide for his soon-to-be family – that scared the living sh*t out of me, and so I was not about to even allow myself to be in a position to even run the risk.
Lest it be seen as blaming the victim, every unwed mother could have prevented the pregnancy – not to let the fathers off the hook, but ultimately, the choice to let him in was hers – that's not the pro-choice that's very popular, but it's the truth.
***
I tried to listen to Nashee Pullohshee'zh summation, but that was nearly fifteen minutes I didn't feel like wasting.
***
Because we simply agree to disagree re: Israel, I'll simply note that Egypt has always opposed Israel's existence, its latest move is merely returning to its original position. Despite the historic agreement in the late 70s, Sadat paid for that temporary rapprochement with his life. Egypt taking a stand against Israel - so what else is new?
***
Who's the worst Republican? That's like asking which is worse: Ebola, Yellow Fever, or Malaria? Because he allegedly represents my home state, I'm going to go with Cornyn – as corrupt as the day is long.
***
"...except for maybe the writing, which gets a little shortchanged."
I beg to differ – I see no drop-off in quality – as compelling as ever!
I'm not sorry I asked. It's good to see you out and about.
Thank you!
Of course, where I grew up, it's "oot and aboot."
I forgot how close to Canuckistan you grew up.
Sorta Frances McDormand as Marge from 'Fargo: The Woodchipper Version'
"Ah, hon, ya got Arby's all over me."
Oh, yaaaaaah?
Yaaaaaah!
🤣
"Warning: You may be sorry you asked."
🤣
"To my way of thinking, rights and privileges also imply responsibility and accountability."
That's a Big 10-4, Good Buddy.
"X is a private company"
Yerp.
...
I was on a Home Depot/Miller's Grocery run for a couple hours and looks like I'll need to catch up.
*checks in with covfefe*
Raining here in the Pretty Boy suburbs.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KheuXYk4rBY1gDmf6
This guy's hiding out on the mud room porch to stay dry.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1VU5ykRBer9q9SRi8
What is blooming in the background? Being in the frigid north, I live vicarously.
I love the squirrel. We have a momma and three babies in the tree next door. (I thought he was just fat. Turns out she was pregnant. Oops.)
"I thought he was just fat. Turns out she was pregnant. Oops."
FOR SHAME, LILLIA! </sarc> Are you ever lucky it was just a squirrel and not some Trigglypuff-like woman...
This guy looked a little skinny being wet.
That's a rose bush. In fact, on the To Do List for today, if not for the rain (and I might still do the inside stuff) is to replace the iron lattice with a bigger one to let the rose go wide. It wants to get up that rain spout just a foot to the left off camera but it can't grab anything, I think.
This was a cool story. Mrs. Pi bought some late summer/fall c.2019. She set the pot on the grass in the location next to The Poop Deck where I was to build a stone raised bed garden.
Then we had some bad weather, a couple of weekend events (ah, life before The VID) and suddenly it just sat there all winter. The plant itself went all dry and in the spring it didn't leaf up so we sure it was dead. So she went to throw it away and she couldn't pick it up: it had rooted through the plastic pot, literally cracked it near a drain hold, and burrowed in.
I cut the pot off and built the garden around it and it's thrived ever since.
We have a yellow rose bush about 10 more feet down the house, and it's blooming too, but it's raining pretty hard right now.
That is a cool story.
"...the Pretty Boy suburbs..."
I have to ask - what IS that? Is it representative of a more proper name?
There are 3 man-made lakes in Baltimore County (Useless Trivia: Maryland is the only state in the union with no natural lakes) that provide fresh water for Baltimore City and some surrounding areas.
Pretty Boy Reservoir, which is city property, in North Balto Co is a brisk 20-30 minute walk from Casa de Pi. Much of the surrounding area is private property, pretty large tracts with horses and cattle and donkeys and sheep and a couple llamas, all butting up against wooded walking and hiking trails (some of it is steep and rough terrain; of course The Husky Dawg likes _those_ parts...).
This is one of our favorite entry points,
Kything Croft. https://g.co/kgs/Zo9vf4f
One of the neighbors - a Quaker couple, Alan and Amy, host '4th Fridays' (pot luck/brick oven pizzas/bibulousity events) got it zoned it in Agricultural Preserve or whatever prevents it from being developed. This is me sitting in what I call The King's Seat, next to The Queen's Seat, with Dante lording it over his territory. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pHu26o65qXxp9yeCA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YMtsaM9HLMg9gyri7
"Kything Croft"
Based on the spelling, I guessing no relation to Sid and/or Marty Kroft...
Nor Seals and Croft.
Here's Dante and his BFF Sophia playing chase in The Meadow at Kything Croft from back in on December.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeBkA24GEVJ6xHme8
"Shark Heart"
*Jaws theme*
Re Jesse Kelly video:
The bold 'Who Is The WORST Republican Senator?' _is_ the title of that Rumble segment but, before that clip played, I got this ad. https://photos.app.goo.gl/EYthdkfmxm56JBVz9
So I skipped it when I could. Then the same ad loaded again.
I thought Lillia was doing the Byron Donalds equivalent of Rickrolling us.
Then the actual Jesse Kelly video played. I literally LOLed out loud.
"It's not a whole lot of money for us." I had the same look on my face as Jesse Kelly as I watched it. I wanted to know who this "us" was.
"Doing my part!" is an evil thing to try to make others think.