Category: Other

Wow! Barely three weeks after The Queen’s passing and the nation’s economy is a mess, although through no fault (mostly) of the citizens. Ugh! Seriously, did The Queen have to do everything?!?! Apparently, Prime Minister Liz Truss seeks to reprise the same failed supply-side policies as Ronald Reagan. As The New York Times reports, “Four days after Ms. Truss’s tax cuts and deregulatory plans stunned financial markets and threw the British pound into a tailspin, the prime minister’s political future looks increasingly precarious as well. … Ms. Truss, he said, could have taken a more cautious approach: rolling out the supply-side measures first, like plans to untangle Britain’s cumbersome residential planning rules and build more housing, which are hurdles to economic growth. Then, when inflationary pressures had eased, the government could have cut taxes. But that was never in the cards, Professor Portes said, because Ms. Truss and Mr. Kwarteng are free-market evangelists who ardently believe that cutting taxes will reignite growth, and because they have little more than two years to turn around the economy before they face voters in a general election.”

Once again, supply-side economics does not work as well as the conservative academia and models (equations) suppose it. This is a splendid case where reality does not match the theory because we’ve actually lived through such policies. Again, I will say what I have always said about supply-side economics: It’s like pushing on a string. It does not work. What is the more effective way to utilize a string to move an object? You pull on it, f***tards! Also known as demand-side economics. You first create a demand, and the supply follows. You don’t “over” create supply hoping people will demand “things,” for they may not.

For some reason, there seems to be this tautological belief that if it exists, then people will want it — whatever “it” is, which includes disposable income engendered by misguided tax cuts for the rich. If the economy breeds pink ponies, then everyone will want one. Of course, supply-side economics is more complicated than that, but the notion is the same. Just because you make it doesn’t mean people want it or are in the mood to buy it. Conservatives do love to think that more money in the hands of the well-off will create jobs. No! They just hoard more of it. They don’t put it to productive use. That is to say, utilizing capital to create factories, businesses, etc. They put it into the stock market, so they make money off of money. This is not the hopes and dreams of stimulating the broad base of the economy. It just makes the rich richer while impoverishing the 99 percent and government. Tax cuts for the lower and middle classes are a different story since they use disposable income differently. And we wonder why inequality keeps widening between the haves and have-nots. Speaking of the lower and middle classes’ differing spending habits from the rich, I won’t even address the idea of juicing demand via tax cuts for the non-wealthy during already inflationary periods; that is a whole other matter of complexity that engenders issues of its own. Suffice it to say, Truss’s tax cuts will make inflation worse for those who can’t afford it. But I digress. I recommend reading a book by Tomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century for greater elucidation.

According to CNN, the referenda results are in! “Pro-Russian authorities have held so-called referendums in four regions of Ukraine over recent days and, while the votes are illegal and have been universally dismissed as ’a sham’ by Ukraine and Western nations, there are fears that they could create a pretext for a new, dangerous stage in the war. … The figures touted supposedly from 99.23% approval in the Donetsk People’s Republic (D.P.R.) to 87.05% in Russian-controlled Kherson. Officials in the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Russian-held Zaporizhzhia also claimed nearly a universal verdict.”

Look here, f***tards! There is only one reason for Putin to hold these sham referenda: To escalate the war. Full stop! No one will recognize these elections as legitimate except the axis of evil nations (North Korea, Belarus, Syria, etc.). Nonetheless, Putin needs the pretext to pull out all the stops. He needs to claim that Ukraine is attacking sovereign Russian territory to escalate the war. And given the state of the Russian military, there is only one way to escalate the war: tactical nukes. I agree with Zelenskyy. Putin is not bluffing, and I also agree with Putin. The West will not escalate if he nukes the frontlines of the battlefield. N.A.T.O. and the U.N. will be paralyzed with inaction after being confronted with a situation too dire to contemplate and unique to history. If there is one thing the United Nations loves to do is debate and shame and then effectively do nothing, especially with Russia being a permanent security council member. Indeed, Western nations will not respond in kind, so what’s left? Bombing Russian positions in Ukraine? Nope. Send more hardware to Ukraine — to be nuked? Probably. Completely isolate Russia from the world economy? That would probably be the most effective move, but no, they won’t do that either because the world economy needs Russia’s energy since all nations have failed to address the climate crisis. Wow! Talk about Russia having suckered the globe into an addiction of its oil and gas. I’m surprised they haven’t been offering free oxycontin to the masses with every barrel purchased.

I also think Putin has been emboldened by recent election results in Sweden and Italy, where far-right governments have come to power. These events do not happen in a vacuum. Moreover, what do you think Russians will do when Putin unleashes nukes? Nothing. If anything, more will flee the country instead of fixing their rogue nation and ousting Putin. After the first nuke, I predict the West will negotiate peace with Russia ala the Czechoslovakia model, whereby Allied countries negotiated away that country’s sovereignty to the Nazis behind Czechoslovakia’s back. Because why not! It’s appeasement all over again but 21st century-style. Appeasement of the 1930s was to avoid another World War I. Appeasement in this century will be to stop another nuke from falling out of the sky. I think Putin is betting one or two nukes can win him a stalemate and the newly annexed Ukrainian territories. (I’d take that bet.) Of course, we all know where appeasement ended eventually. But fear not! Humanity always makes the same mistakes — repeatedly. And, fortunately, no one really cares because right now everyone is worried about inflation and their plunging 401K value — all brought about by Putin. Checkmate!

According to The New York Times, “The Kremlin has dispatched still more forces to shore up its faltering war effort, but the units are headed not to Ukraine but to Russia’s borders with other countries, where on Tuesday they were confronting young Russian men trying to join an exodus out of the country. As the avenues for Russians to escape a draft order issued last week narrowed, the Federal Security Service sent armored vehicles to the frontiers, where some men waiting to flee were being served military call-up papers, the state news media reported.”

I had predicted that Putin would close the border, but I suppose this is the next best thing. He effectively closes the border to fleeing military-aged males by drafting them as they’re about to cross. How perfectly Russian! Will we see images of the von Trapp-like families crossing over snow-topped mountain trails instead of men (and boys) walking on highways and vehicles backed up for miles?

Look, f***tards. These Russian men should just stop f***ing walking right where they are and turn around. They may not like the war and the idea of conscription, but they made their collective bed; they need to lie in it. Since Putin came to power, Russia is the authoritarian police state they have condoned, allowed, or ignored (or all of the above) for years! Nonetheless, it is the state of government they either elected directly or acquiesced to indirectly. This is what happens when what could have been a thriving democracy 20 years ago is neglected and ignored by the citizenry — it devolves into a dictatorship. To be fair, Russia has never had a history of a free and fair democracy as an example to live by, so one may forgive the population for resorting to what the collective intergenerational memory has ever only known: authoritarianism. But democracy is hard and takes constant tending to and work.

All that being said, Russians — as I see it — have only two options. 1.) Stay, get conscripted, and die in Ukraine. 2.) Stay and revolt against Putin. But they should not be fleeing to avoid the consequences of the population’s failure to check their dictator at every turn over the last two decades. Oh, well. People get precisely the government they deserve and desire, including the consequences thereof. I would feel bad for the Russians’ plight, but I cannot, for they refuse to want to change. Get rid of Putin for the sake of the world! I get it: Easier said than done. But life is not easy. Never has been, never will be.

According to The Hill, “The U.S. embassy in Russia is urging Americans in the country to leave and warning U.S. citizens to not travel to Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a call-up of 300,000 reservists to aid depleted forces in Ukraine. The embassy said in a security alert on Wednesday that Russia may prevent U.S. citizens from leaving the country and conscript dual nationals into military service. Russia may also refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship or restrict their access to U.S. consular assistance, officials said.” Honestly, at this point, any American in Russia who is not there on U.S. government business is probably a Russian sympathizer, so they can just stay and get conscripted, for these people should have left the minute Putin waged a full-scale war on Ukraine. At any rate, we are edging closer to World War III.

According to AL.com, “His objection to voter ID, Joshua Wahl said, was that he believed all biometric identification, including photos that could be used for facial recognition programs, to be the mark of the beast foretold in Revelation. ‘In particular, I object to the biometric nature of IDs in Alabama which started pursuant to the REAL ID Act,’ Joshua Wahl testified. ‘And there’s a passage in Revelations 12 where it says that the forthcoming mark of the beast will be a number of a man. Biometrics by its nature is a number of a man. You know, that’s what makes me uncomfortable, and that goes against my convictions.’”

Of course, the Wahl family sued, claiming Alabama’s voter ID law discriminates against their religious beliefs. Thankfully, they lost in the 11 Circuit Court of Appeals, but it could still make its way to SCOTUS. The more significant point here is that morons in America believe such nonsense as the “mark of the beast.” I’ve been hearing this crap all my life. Everything is the mark of the beast: SSN, driver’s license, vaccines, paying taxes. America should not tolerate such idiocy. Welcome to stupid America! I thought 666 was the magic number.

Allow me to repeat myself — again. And allow me to speak slowly for the f***tards out there: The level of American stupid cannot be undone — ever. We are stuck with this abject stupidity unless and until they start dying off, but given the growing support and adherents to QAnon, there is little chance of that happening. QAnon will kill this country. But fear not! No one cares because people are morons and don’t see this mass delusional conspiracy as a threat. You should think twice about that!

Politico has a good interview on the subject: “Unlike many may have expected, or at least hoped, QAnon never faded away, even after Trump’s election loss in 2020 and its prophesies failed to come true. But conspiracy theories never really die, they only morph. … ‘I’ll just add, there’s a lot of people who believe in QAnon — more than we would think. From a poll earlier this year, I think in February, it’s 1 in 5 Americans are QAnon adherents, and 1 in 4 are Republicans. So those are big, big numbers.’… ‘People often say you shouldn’t point to the 1930s and the rise of the Nazis as similar to what the United States is facing. But there are actually similarities to that time period. You have the rise of a leader who is overtly authoritarian, who is challenging a democratic system, by saying our whole election system is bogus and corrupt. You also have things going on on the streets like Proud Boy rallies that are sort of reminiscent with the brown shirts. You have the rise of the far right in multiple countries. It’s not just here in the United States. You would have seen that in Sweden, the Swedish Democrats are going to form the government there after the elections about a week ago, and that’s a party that is literally rooted in neo-Nazism. There’s about to probably be another far-right winner in Italy, who has connections to a lot of extremist groups and who idolizes Mussolini. It’s hard not to think about the 1930s as somewhat reminiscent of what we’re experiencing right now. For me, this is quite frightening because we all know where that led, and it was horrific.’”

The end is coming, f***tards. People are becoming complacent as authoritarianism — wrapped in conspiracy theories and nationalism — starts to take over whole populations, political parties, governments, and countries. But no one cares as it happens in plain sight and before our very eyes. Wake up, morons! Whatever. Humanity is just not smart enough to withstand the hate and stupidity of the loud minority, who will bring destruction to America and the world. Oh, well. I warned you first and often! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do not think for a second that the stupidity and indifference of America stops at the Pacific and Atlantic shores. American stupidity has found kinship with the new populist movements in European countries like Italy, Poland, and Hungary. It looks like Putin’s gamble is starting to pay off — apply maximum economic pressure via restricting energy supply and causing other inflationary disruptions to Europe, and then watch the masses become uneasy and respond by voting in or supporting right-wing, Putin-friendly governments. Although, it could be that Putin’s timing is a bit off, for his military is flailing badly, and I’m not sure his mobilization efforts can hold off Ukrainian advancements long enough to prevent a Russian loss or the deterioration of the European alliance against Putin. Assuming he does not pull the nuclear card. Then all bets are off.

Nonetheless, The New York Times summed it up well, “‘These [right-wing] election [victories] are another sign that all is not well with mainstream parties,’ said Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, and spell a complicated period for the European Union.” These are warning signs for governments, and voters, in particular, who don’t seem to care; they apparently prefer authoritarianism because democracy is hard. It is better to be stupid and lazy and be told what to do and how to think than it is to be intelligent and engaged in protecting democracy. It’s easier to live on bread and circus rather than sacrifice for the greater good, especially when authoritarianism is on the march in Europe. Idiots of the world have completely forgotten their history — if they ever learned it to begin with. We’ve all seen this movie before with rising faux populism and nationalism that turns into the next world war. Fan-f***ing-fatstic. I live in stupid hell, but I expected nothing less! Stupid America or stupid Europe. It’s all the same to me.

From CNN, “A 12-year-old boy is in ‘critical condition’ after he was allegedly gang-raped and beaten in India’s capital New Delhi, according to a statement from the city’s police and a complaint lodged by the boy’s family to the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). … Protests in India against the high incidence of sexual assault, typically against women and girls, have become commonplace in recent years [emphasis added].” What the f***? Seriously! WTF is wrong with these people? (Interpret “these people” however you like.) But boys? And girls? I also assume animals. You take the West out of the country, and this is what it devolves into, not to mention the Indian government is an ally of Russia. This is a classic example of why some countries should still be under imperial rule.

Reporting from NPR, “A gunman killed 13 people, including seven children, and wounded 21 other people in a school in central Russia on Monday, authorities said. … According to the Investigative Committee, the gunman wore a black t-shirt with ‘Nazi symbols.’ No other details about the shooter or his motives have been released.” This was a Putin-ordered hit job to detract from his losing war on Ukraine. How convenient that a country with virtually no guns suddenly suffers one of its worst school shootings perpetrated by — wait for it, wait for it — a “suspect” wearing a Nazi symbol. How serendipitous for a leader who is supposedly fighting Nazis in Ukraine. Clearly, Putin demanded this tragedy to get people to focus on anything other than his disastrous war and fleeing citizens. So predictable.

I assume that Putin will close the borders to stop the exodus of men fleeing conscription. What else is he to do to control the humiliation? Then there are reports of Putin personally directing his generals on the battlefield. CNN reports, “Russian President Vladimir Putin is himself giving directions directly to generals in the field, two sources familiar with US and western intelligence said – a highly unusual management tactic in a modern military that these sources said hints at the dysfunctional command structure that has plagued Russia’s war from the beginning.” Wow! This sounds familiar. Where have I heard this before? Where, oh, where? A dictator personally instructs his generals what to do tactically while he is hundreds of miles away from the frontlines. If I could just place this scenario within some sort of historical context. It’s on the tip of my tongue. Oh, yes! Now I remember. It was Hitler. That’s right. He didn’t trust the generals to implement his grand losing strategy, so he gave direct orders to battlefield generals while he was tucked away at his Rastenburg headquarters. Clearly, Hitler’s micro-managing of generals worked well. I do not doubt that Putin will improve on history; he’s done splendidly so far.