2024-12-20

Ukraine / Syria centre stage, and President Putin setting out his analysis.

There's much power-play going on behind closed doors, largely unknowable. The only thing obvious is that there is no going back to the status quo ante.

And what exactly is "Greater Turkey"?

First up: Pepe Escobar

Then Scott Ritter at 61 minutes.

(187 minutes)

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2024-12-20

Argentina has had a chequered financial and political history.

"By 1900, Argentina’s economy was bigger than the rest of Latin America put together, and about the size of all of Western Europe put together. There seemed to be nowhere to go but up"

But, then the politicians did what politicians do.

"For much of the 20th century, Argentina slipped into severe economic decline and remained so for decades"

But President Milei has put a stop to the decline:

"Milei has abolished entire government departments, fired ministers and drastically reduced the size and scope of government"

"This year, Milei announced that Argentina had just run a budget surplus – its FIRST surplus since the golden years of the early 1900s

Send in the Drones!

2024-12-18

Interest of Justice reports that Costa Rica is holding Huawei accountable in the Courts for "alleged corruption and misconduct" in relation to its 5G network.

"By addressing corruption and cybersecurity risks associated with 5G networks, Costa Rica is proving that even a small nation can take on powerful entities to safeguard its people and principles"

"... accusations include fraud, bribery, influence peddling, and actions against the public treasury related to contracts for 3G and 5G deployment"

"The Chinese Embassy in Costa Rica swiftly condemned these actions, labeling the allegations against Huawei as “irresponsible and unfounded”

Read the full story.

2024-12-18

Martin Geddes once more highlights a case of apparent injustice.

Michael Humble court complaint

2024-12-17

It's difficult to know what to make of this article, but it's sufficiently different to give it some space.

There's no doubt in my mind that the world is showing up as being much the worse for wear than hitherto, but whether that is simply because the fault-lines are becoming much more visible, or because things really are much worse than they used to be, may be debatable.

See what you think.

2024-12-17

We are discussing America here, but that is neither to accept nor deny that the UK's Office of National Statistical is beyond reproach.

The Biden administration is rather a special case, since America never does things by halves, so if they are good they can be very good, but equally if they are bad they can be very bad indeed. Churchill is said to have opined that America always does the right thing in the end, but only after they have exhausted all possible alternatives...

Still, outright gerrymandering of the figures to make the economy look rosy does seem to be a step too far.

"Estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia indicate that the employment changes from March through June 2024 were significantly different" - read lower - "in 27 states compared with preliminary state estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES)"

All

2024-12-17

French and now German governments gone, what better time for Starmer to rejoin the UK into the collapsing EU? Would you bet against it?

"German lawmakers voted to dissolve the existing government by a vote of 394 to 207, with 116 abstaining"

No small margin then.

"... the political uncertainty could last for months"

Is this what happens when green pie-in-the-sky meets putting bread on the table?

Oh dear. Russia is beginning to look like a bastion of stability, with China not far behind.

Still, with the EU Commission and the EU Parliament, what need for national governments?

ZeroHedge

2024-12-16

A block buster report this week from Ben, naming big names and sharing big goings-on, including (but by no means limited to) his view on the developments in Syria.

These are indeed momentous times. (Modest subscription required for full access)

Don't miss.

2024-12-16

Mark Rutte, the much loved Prime Minister of whom the Dutch have only recently rid themselves, has been appointed to head up NATO (well, there was a vacancy and Mark was available - one can't let senior figures like Mark fend for themselves on the open market).

True to form he is now making waves across NATO with his demand to put the organisation "on a war footing" to deal with the perceived threat from those dastardly Russians. Yes, he's at least five years (probably ten) too late to build the necessary European armaments industry to a size and capability capable of matching the Russians, but like Ed Milliband, he can commandeer as much money as it takes to deal with this existential threat.

"Ukrainians are fighting against Russian swarms of drones. That’s what we need to be prepared for"

But wait - isn't Climate Change also an imminent existential threat?

Doesn't Ed Milliband have priority as the

2024-12-16

Minutes of the Vaccine Benefit Risk Expert Working Group for Covid-19 are published on the government website.

"Safe and Effective" might be expected to figure prominently in their deliberations, because that was what we the public were told, in no uncertain terms.

"What’s even more troubling from these minutes, is the intention of the UK health authorities to assess the serious risks raised only after authorisation!"

As ever, expect the truth to be "nuanced".

It doesn't paint a good picture, but why publish these minutes at all if the turkeys are still in

2024-12-15

How else can light be used to affect us?

Turns out, it can affect our behaviour.

You'll never look at an LCD screen (TV, smartphone, computer. laptop, tablet) in the same light again...

(12 minutes)

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2024-12-15

This kind of video I usually put up on Telegram (and yes, you can find it there too), but this one brings out important, nay, potentially vital information about the effects of light on our health, and if you can follow it through, even a little bit, you may realise just how much damage our modern lifestyles can wreak on our health.

It's a complex topic, presented at breakneck speed for us non-medical students of life, but I suspect that real medical students will also find that all this is new material.

It comes in two versions - short and long - presented below in that order. You may need to make notes...

(24 minutes)

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2024-12-14

I feature this article by James Delingpole, not because he brings anything much new to the (un)popular Bovaer discourse, but because he speaks the truth as might the man on the Clapham omnibus, and handily nails quite a few contemporary idiocies in passing along the ride.

And so say all of us!

2024-12-14

By now, many of my readers may be wondering if I have flipped and inadvertentlyseverely disarranged my marbles, but help is to hand - I am not alone!

Whilst I have been at some pains to explain precisely why I feature some of the more out-of-ordinary stories, it is a natural and normal device of life to look askance at anything really unusual that we might find threatening or otherwise, and to discount the possibility on the basis that if it lies outside our experience of a lifetime, then it's unlikely to be true.

It's a rule of thumb that serves us reasonably well... until it doesn't.

So what are we really to make of talk of "Alien Invasion"?

"Since most elected politicians and heads of state have participated in

2024-12-14

Five years ago the world caught the Covid bug, and none more severely than the medical regulators and politicians. 

From whom they caught it isn't too difficult to guess, once we realise that money may be exceedingly good at transmitting such bugs from hand to hand, but I digress.

Regulators world-wide somehow got carried away by the Covid peril, discarding all previously well-considered science in favour of drama, censorship, and punishment of the disagreeable few who dared to speak truth to both power and the public.

The wheels of justice grind slow but in the right hands they grind well, and one such disagreeable doctor who had his licence withdrawn for daring to speak out has had his day in court, and emerged triumphant, with a scathing judgement against his medical board.

2024-12-14

Are our Magistrates Courts all they seem?

Martin Geddes is on the case... 

2024-12-13

The Postmaster General gives the UN short shrift for non-compliance.

(13 minutes)

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2024-12-13

Look back in... interest. 

What he knew then, we know now, in many ways thanks to him.

He has radically updated the peoples' understanding of the government-industrial-media complex, and not just in America.

Whatever we think of him, there are not many of whom that can be said.

(6 minutes)

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2024-12-13

Postmaster Russell-Jay: Gould explains the global basis of the law.

If you can't get your head around this, it may be best to stay out of Court... because they probably can't either...

(9 minutes)

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