Kirk Gallaway

There was something in this debate for everybody. For the dystopian Trump supporters from across the pond: I'm sure Karl perked up when Trump gave a shout out to Karl's end of the world, when he mentioned Karl's good neighbor. Victor Orban! I know curbing migration is probably a greater political issue in Austria than it is in any other country in the world. Unfortunately Karl recently has found his dog missing, and he's sure it was probably eaten by some South Asian immigrants in a neighboring town. My condolences and Good Luck with that Karl! And Rigby, being religious and pro life, must have been greatly relieved when Trump refused to say he won't vote for an abortion ban! And Cotter must have cheered Trump's rhetoric about Globalism and high tariffs from high atop his nation's ultra globalist nation pedestal. I see where Dole Foods, whose Central American canned fruit was a staple of the U.S. in the 50's and 60's is now under the Ireland Corporate umbrella. Perhaps I would suggest maybe Ireland could actually shoot for the stars and produce their own products. It's not impossible for Europe. The Netherlands has great success in semi conductors with ASML and Denmark has hit the ball out of the park with Novo Nordisk and Ozempic and their GLP-1 drugs. Instead of pirating other nations corporations with your lax tax laws. Maybe you could produce a real successful product of your own other than Irish Spring Soap! heh heh heh Seriously, I know there's a lot of anxiety about this marking nothing less than the downfall and demise of men. But stop being such drama queens!

Yeah, W. It's Gil I worry about! You notice his tendency to off the wall posts lately? I just hope he hasn't sunk his life savings into Truth Social! About Kinaski , Rigby and Cotter, you might check out my newest post on the Political discussions thread!. heh heh

This coming from Jeff, who once warned if Hilary Clinton was to get elected President, she would order a Nuclear first strike on both Russia and China while such a window was still open! Though he never specified what the window was. For Jeff, there will be no change in lifestyle because he's probably been living in a bunker ever since. He also claimed to have an inside track on Putin and proclaimed confidently after Putin's buildup on the Ukraine border that Putin will positively not invade! So stock up on supplies!

Kicked ass! Congrats! A little MSM commentary, part of it I also posted on the Political Discussions forum. As the result of the debate became obvious. I was thinking who should I check out for their commentary? I knew MSNBC would be Maddow leading a bunch of women yelling Yay! And I knew CNN would be a more subdued yay. Because they are supposed to be the "objective news journalism" station. With a panel of 7 pundits with 2 Republicans and the Democrats each get about 3 volleys apiece before they get to the Republicans. So I went where my curiosity led me, to Fox, and there was Bret Baier and Martha Mac Collum? acting completely unimpressed and then they asked Britt Hume who said "Trump clearly lost." Then they have that one very mild mannered milquetoast Democrat guy, who gave himself permission to say that he agreed with Hume and Harris won in a rather understated way. Even though both MSNBC and CNN are 2 hours of post debate commentary.I realized Fox's post debate show was only 20 minutes, then they give it to Sean Hannity, figuring no one will be able to spin it better for the next hour than him on his own show! The difference between the CNN debate and the ABC debate was that ABC actually fact checked Trump a handful of times so naturally Trump is blaming his performance on them. CNN, despite all their segments over the years asking themselves how the media is to handle the phenomena of Donald Trump, did what they always did, despite probably anticipating the lies, rather than fact checking them they ended up for the hundredth time rolling over and saying nothing. I guess we can credit Biden for picking ABC. The dreaded Disney network! I don't know the name of the woman debate moderator. She is the weekend anchor on ABC, and I have thought in the past, that she looks like Kamala Harris! and dresses like her to boot! ***** This morning the Dow was down 2%, about 750 points, and Nasdaq down 1%, for the first hour after opening. Now the Dow is down 180 points and the Nasdaq is pushing up near 1%! However, Trump's stock DJT is still down near it's lows, down 15%!

I'm going to gloat a little here, this is what I posted yesterday afternoon a few hours before the debate in the cooler. I think Harris has done a better campaign leading up to these debates than I could have predicted. But the current results are a little disappointing as I was hoping she'd be up by 3-4%. I think a lot of people are waiting for this debate to see her in action. I see considerably more potential upside for Harris. I don't think the critical group watching will care that much about her previous policy issues if if she continues to look poised and confident and tacks to the center. Trump on the other hand, could fly off the handle and do considerable damage to himself while scarcely knowing it, and even ultimately exhaust himself. . If I were Harris I wouldn't go down in the mud with Trump, but under the current debate rules. If Trump lies in his precious question, (which he inevitably will in every answer,) Harris when given the next question should quickly expose the lie and go on to answering the question. The more Trump insists in counteracting the fact checking of his previous lies, the more exhausted he could get. **** The difference between the CNN debate and the ABC debate was that ABC actually fact checked Trump a handful of times so naturally Trump is blaming his performance on them. CNN, despite all their segments over the years asking themselves how the media is to handle the phenomena of Donald Trump, did what they always did, despite probably anticipating the lies, rather than fact checking them they ended up for the hundredth time rolling over and saying nothing! I guess we can credit Biden for picking ABC. The dreaded Disney network! I don't know the woman moderator's name. But she is the weekend anchor on ABC, and I have thought in the past, that she looks like Kamala Harris! and dresses like her to boot! If Trump doesn't run away like a coward. Harris can continue to bludgeon him in the next debate. . She should say it again. YOU LOST!, YOU LOST BY 7 MILLION VOTES! And you've put the nation through a nightmare! Make it sound like it's in the past because-------he's finished! And he has a lot of legal accounting to do! Trump being the moron man child he is. Will probably just knee jerk defend himself again and every second in doing so, he will go again further and further down the toilet! We'll see how things settle out. It's hard to imagine his voters who have such an image of Trump being so macho in debates will stomach him running away from another debate. I guess we can credit Toby Gabbard's coaching for Trump's performance. Maybe in the next debate they can also bring in a much publicized RK Jr. to coach, he's certainly politically dumb enough! Just thinking about how much more independent in thinking the forum has become since 2019 when Jim Di's thread "I told you, Tulsi's the one" actually got 126 replies! heh heh heh Talk about using the forum for outright editorializing! This was common for Di Eugenio back then! * I think after sitting out 2016 voting for Jill Stein. It was there, I was probably the first person to tell "one issue foreign policy" Jim that there was another anti war candidate named Bernie Sanders who was also on target in a number of other issues, these are issues that a number of our current forum members from across the pond don't understand as well. So history repeats itself! If there was any hope of Trump winning another debate, it would seem his debate team would have to have a real earnest moment with Trump and actually be the first to tell tell Trump. "No....you lost! You keep saying you didn't , and you will lose again!" If Trump loses again , maybe the Kennedy family can still salvage it's political brand for the next generation! * people who insist on resurrecting threads from Jim's K&K should be conscious of Jim's foisting his political views and review with that in mind, just as they are with the forum's worst transgressor in that regard, Ben Cole.

I think Harris has done a better campaign leading up to these debates than I could have predicted. But the current results are a little disappointing as I was hoping she'd be up by 3-4%. I think a lot of people are waiting for this debate to see her in action. I see considerably more potential upside for Harris. I don't think the critical group watching will care that much about her previous policy issues if she continues to look poised and confident and tacks to the center. Trump on the other hand, could fly off the handle and do considerable damage to himself while scarcely knowing it, and even ultimately exhaust himself. If I were Harris I wouldn't go down in the mud with Trump, but under the current debate rules. If Trump lies in his previous question, (which he inevitably will in every answer,) Harris when given the next question should quickly expose the lie and go on to answering the question. The more Trump insists in counteracting the fact checking of his previous lies, the more exhausted he could get. Crunch time!

Yes I've never heard the assertion that the talks broke up over nukes. I've heard what you heard W. that there were about 7 or 8 major issues, with a couple of concessions made on both sides, and the conditions changed depending on the success of either side in the war. Roger said this about the Nuland phone call. "They work out who she wants to replace Yanukovych, once they remove him in the coup." I wasn't familiar with all the names that were tossed around, but nobody I've heard has said that Nuland was talking directly about a replacement for Yanukovych in that phone call. .

Many are calling incomprehensible? Listen to this fumbling answer by rambling moron Trump, when asked at this economic forum about what he intends to do about Child care. And the investment community there actually applauds.

I was first kind of interested in Karl's post until I saw it was from JD Vance. What do you think he'd say Karl? If you're really serious. Get somebody impartial like the OMB. I've been audited twice.They didn't get $500 bucks total. Let me give you one example of how a guy like you can be snookered with analysis like this. Because people earning $400,00 a year are really the top 1%. If then 10% of the total audits are with people earning over $400,000 a year, that means their rate of auditing is 10 times the rate of people earning under $400,000! Do you get it? A lot of deception is done by the ultra wealthy with statistics. And I would never trust any politician to give you the straight dope. Particularly from an opposition party. But even more a tech millionaire, like JD Vance!

Briefly, The premiere Neo fascist state is Russia. It certainly isn't communist or even Socialist. It's a kleptocracy. Roger ;The war has been an unmitigated disaster for the US and is likely to end in the short term. You've been saying that for 2 and half years Roger! It's a disaster for the people of Ukraine and a disaster for Russia. If you're at all politically oriented you know the Israel -Hamas and Russia -Ukraine wars are both popular wars in the U.S. Not that I find that desirable. But it could change. Roger: But right from the beginning the war didn't go well for the US and NATO. Completely wrong there Roger, everyone was expecting a quick Russian march into Kiev. Biden offered Zelensky asylum, which he refused. Roger: Russian troops had already made it to the outskirts of Kiev. Putin began withdrawing them in anticipation of the agreement being implemented. Where did you hear that? You're certainly assuming a lot of mobility there? So remember that aerial shot of the 20 mile tank convoy into Kiev, Roger? They weren't at all a coordinated fighting force, filled with undisciplined conscripts, poorly supplied, with such a penchant for the secrecy that the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing. The Ukrainians bombed critical bridges of entry. Their old tanks got stuck in the mud. They didn't have sufficient fuel or spare parts, and were forced to loot Ukrainian towns by foot. The biggest secret learned is that Nato or the U.S. could completely overwhelm Russia in a ground war. Not that I think that's necessarily a good thing. Aren't you aware that Putin went to N. Korea and Russia has been forced to buy arms from Kim Jong Un and Iraq? Does that sound like a superior position to you? Roger: The sanctions imposed by the US as part of the war have speeded the growth and development of Brics in response to US hegemony. The end of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency is in sight. Yes Roger, "when the Brics come marching in", you'll finally get your comeuppance and relieve your guilt! You obviously don't have kids, but ok. I don't think there's an urgent need for a bi polar order with despots and there will be even less of a need in the future. But most all the Bric growth has been based on China's emergence which is demographically in decline. The Bric countries represent fossil fuels and coal, does that sound good to you? Gauging their progress is always cyclical as their economies are tied to commodity market conditions that always greatly fluctuate. Many think Putin was saved in the early 2000's by a spike in oil. If you want a bipolar world with a bunch of despots, because we have our own corporate despotism, so what's the difference? You're entitled to think that. But we do have the capability of actually curbing corporate power. Russia and China can't curb their power, without completely falling apart. Here's the present reality, China's realizing that they need the U.S. much more than they need a stooge state like Russia, and unless things go completely haywire, they're not going to invade Taiwan. Here's a revolution for you Roger. The United States is energy independent and after this blow up in Israel, (after all who needs this!) over the longer term, the U.S. is going to disengage, they are going to be withdrawing their Navy used to protect the shipping lanes that they started after WW2 to make the "world safe for capitalism", and we're going to have more and more international piracy. The Cold war is long over and the U.S. isn't as gung ho about "hegemony" and imperialism as you think! This is already going under way. Do you know who the current U.S. largest trading partner is? Check it out! Then check out #2! *Brazil is one of the few countries the U.S. has a trade surplus with. I don't think they're going anywhere!

Robert , you might like this. Certainly to this day RK Jr. doesn't wade into the LBK did it! If all the elders thought one thing, their kids were kept completely out of it. So what else is new? And a good job they did! RK Jr. doesn't believe either his uncle or his Dad's death was a conspiracy until he's 50 years old! He has some interesting anecdotes, in an earlier segment he accounts how LBJ was very nice to him, as a youngster and use to give him gifts. He actually credits LBJ with sending RFK on trips to Indonesia and Asia to get him out of his funk after his brother's death. He talks about the resentful relationship between his Father and Hoover. But in the end. Most of his accounts of the JFK-LBJ, RFK-LBJ , are just more hearsay we could have picked up ourselves. But still interesting!

I think things are safe right now. But in the final weeks in Jan 21. Nancy Pelosi phoned General Milley and said we have a crazy person as President whose liable to go rogue and start a coup. Milley had already taken steps to protect the nuclear arsenal from Trump. So Milley instructed all of his underlings to not take a call from Trump. Steve Banon said he once Trump wins back the Presidency he wants to try Pelosi and Milley for treason. This is from the Woodward Costa book. Hey I liked that game theory Bill. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/politics/woodward-book-trump-nuclear/index.html

That is the essential question,I was asking John. No answer. I guess John being Irish would go with the top dog, the colonizers,the oppressors, right? heh heh John, I'm sure you were wide eyed, and swallowed my escapade in Budapest all the way to my final disclaimer. Kirk "Only on this forum, would I expect to be asked such a stupid question" Congratulations John!, I know what you're thinking now. "If Kirk (or whatever his name really is!)was CIA. That's exactly what he'd say!" hah hah

Ok, John, you're justified to mention. Lots of European and Ukrainian migrants or refugees in the mix as well as native West writers. . But do you honestly think this doesn't represent the sentiments of the overwhelming number of Ukrainians John? Or does that matter to you? John:The authors of that thing talk a lot about events in Eastern Europe during World War II but manage to avoid mentioning Hitler’s overall plan for the Third Reich to annex and enslave Russia, They they do manage to chronicle: In 1939, it was the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany that invaded Poland. In 1940, it was the Soviet Union that invaded the Baltic countries. In 1940, it was the Soviet Union that annexed parts of Romania. In 1956, it was the Soviet Union that invaded Hungary. In 1968, it was the Soviet Union that invaded Czechoslovakia. Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Hungary or Czechoslovakia did not invade Russia or the Soviet Union. No threat emanated from these countries. John, Maybe relatively, you just got here. But U.S. intervention in foreign countries since WW2 has not been given short shrift on this forum at all. You're essentially preaching to the choir. Oh really John? , So this is a foray into questioning anther forum members allegiances to the CIA?, just as your desperate "spycomix" drive in the "Political forum" to link the U.S, "Deep State" to the Trump assassination attempt that dried up? You can't get one Republican, Trump or even conspiracy fave Tulsi Gabbard to buy that! But Okay Okay John! I was in Budapest and met some people, who instantly knew I was an a American and befriended me. I swear I didn't know them before!! It turned out they were CIA agents, and we partied for a few days. They told me they were laying the ground work for a plan to disrupt Hungary and overthrow Viktor Orban and "get closer to Putin". They called the plan "Kiev2" after their successful coup in Ukraine! They said they expect the operation to be a "slam dunk" and even easier than the overthrow of Guatemala in 1953! They were great guys! Very capable and intelligent! I don't know how else to say it but, they made me so comfortable around them, I felt like one of Karl's "Secret Team" that he says were part of Trump's assassination attempt, but for the record. I don't condone that! They told me it was about 2 years in the making, so my guess is that it should happen any day now! Please don't breathe a word of this outside of the forum or I fear I could lose my life! Only on this forum, would I expect to be asked such a stupid question!

No one person can get everything they want, so it's wrong to blame the 15 year Russian economic chaos 1990 -2005 solely on Jeffrey Sachs. But now i see a tendency more recently for Sachs to blame everybody but himself. I think he's a basically good guy with good intentions. Maybe he's trying to reassure the Russians that he's misunderstood and he wasn't part of a group whose policies were out to screw them all along? But I've seen a few inaccuracies in some of his statements and there is a very relevant group of people that no one mentions who very much take Sach's statements to task in this Open letter to Jefferey Sachs. This is from the group of Authors Society of Ukraine. (link below) First off they don't see their revolution in 2014 as at all being the work of the U.S. and the CIA (as Jim Di and Oliver Stone contend, whose probably never been there but believes what he believes probably solely from his 10 hour interview with Putin) but they do expect their right as a sovereign nation to make their own choices in direction. Let us set the record straight on the historical events from 2013-2014, at which you hint in the aforementioned misinformative statements: The Euromaidan had nothing to do with NATO, nor the US. Initial protest was sparked by Viktor Yanukovych’s decision not to sign the European Union-Ukraine Association Agreement, despite said agreement passing the Ukrainian Parliament with an overwhelming majority and enjoying broad support among the Ukrainian population. Yanukovich’s regime’s choice to respond by brutally beating peaceful protesters (mostly students) on the night of November 30, 2013, only further alienated the population and intensified the protests. After the adoption of a set of laws forbidding the freedom of press and assembly (commonly termed the “dictatorship laws”) by Yanukovych in January 2014, the Euromaidan turned into a broader movement against government abuse of power and corruption, police brutality, and human rights violation – which we now refer to as the Revolution of Dignity. Ukraine’s accession to NATO was never a goal of this movement. Hence, your attempts to trace the beginning of the war to “NATO” are historically inaccurate. Furthermore, treating Ukraine as a pawn on the US geo-political chessboard is a slap in the face to millions of Ukrainians who risked their lives during the Revolution of Dignity. 2. "Nato provoked Russia" A cornerstone of Sach's assertions. Being long time historical neighbors to Russia, they do not accept Sach's assertion that Russia is a victim at all but has history of not respecting the sovereignty of it's much smaller neighbors and brutally invading them. You repeatedly emphasize that the expansion of NATO provoked Russia (e.g., “NATO should not enlarge, because that threatens the security of Russia,” from your interview to Isaac Chotiner at the New Yorker from February 27, 2023). We want to alert you to a few facts. In 1939, it was the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany that invaded Poland. In 1940, it was the Soviet Union that invaded the Baltic countries. In 1940, it was the Soviet Union that annexed parts of Romania. In 1956, it was the Soviet Union that invaded Hungary. In 1968, it was the Soviet Union that invaded Czechoslovakia. Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Hungary or Czechoslovakia did not invade Russia or the Soviet Union. No threat emanated from these countries. But these countries were attacked by the USSR/Russia. This is why these countries wanted to join NATO. Since joining NATO, none of these countries have been attacked by Russia again. Just like these countries, Ukraine (whose military budget was a mere $2.9 bn in 2013, prior to Russia’s military aggression against it) wants to have security and peace. It does not want to be attacked again by Russia (whose military budget in 2013 stood at $68 bn). Given that Ukraine’s agreement to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for security “assurances” from the US, UK and Russia (!) did nothing to prevent Russian aggression, currently the only credible guarantee is NATO membership. We also want to draw your attention to the fact that Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in response to Russian aggression, and yet Russia did not complain about these two countries joining NATO. You do not seem to be particularly concerned about these two countries joining NATO either. This differential treatment of Ukraine vs. Finland/Sweden legitimizes “spheres of influence,” a notion that seems appropriate for the age of empires and not for the modern era. They go on to address Russia's invasion of Crimea, and the Russian myth that they are a divided nation with a huge Neo Nazi contingent, which should be obvious by now when in 2018 in a free and fair election the Bandera, Azov candidate got only 2% of the vote. They don't seem unrealistic in their expectations but don't believe if they were to concede Crimea and Donbass to Putin, that that would be the end of it. Actually a very good read for anyone here whose weighed in on these topics. Or people who view the political game as so hierarchical that Ukraine's individual plight is not at all significant. https://voxukraine.org/en/open-letter-to-jeffrey-sachs/

Paul, so we have Williamson acknowledging that the right has been indulging in wacko conspiracy theories and then remarking that 30% of the Democrats (I don't where he got that figure) now are doing the same thing saying that the assassination attempt was a "Trump staged event." So that begs the question, what Williamson and Gabbard must think of these knuckleheads believing the opposite, that the incident was a failed "deep state" assassination attempt by Karl's "Secret Team?" And have spent hours of research only to come up dry? I'm not sure why you posted this. They scoff in your face. Neither Williamson or Gabbard fuel the flames of your Trump "deep state" assassination attempt! **** Ok so about this buffed Brit in shorts, Williamson. Are you religious Paul? or a seeker? I notice he's done another podcast with Gabbard entitled "Has the left abandoned God?" He seems to emphasize fitness. Have you made a resolution to get in shape after years of cross country smoking? We'll eventually seduce you one way or the other. If it's not our Politics, it's Hollywood or tobacco! I notice he recommends listening to Jordan Peterson, he's Canadian. His sort of overly dignified pompous manner has always struck sort of a vestigial root to the British for me. We don't really have anybody like him here. Please don't take offense, as I don't find you near as dignified. heh heh P.S. I don't think Gabbard has any idea who runs the U.S. government. And Gabbard says "Trump is not beholden to these interests?" Trump's only real act of consequence during his Presidency was to cut taxes to the corporations and the extremely wealthy. With your current level of U.S. sophistication, that's all you need to know.

We're carrying on like 20 years ago, we all expected this to happen! The country's burning up! In a first, Phoenix hits 100 straight days of 100-degree heat https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/09/03/phoenix-100-degree-temperatures-record/?wpisrc=nl_the7&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3eeb446%2F66d83c30211e9f0820d68c42%2F646f594f44d19211b692299e%2F52%2F90%2F66d83c30211e9f0820d68c42

Trump now admits, he lost by a whisker. After he put our nation to sh-t. And still wants to make trouble! https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-acknowledges-lost-2020-election-whisker-rcna169526

Wow! Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Tim Pool! I've heard plenty of all those guys! They are all jerks! In response to the indictment of the two Russians, Pool wrote on social media, "Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims. I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-tenet-media-right-wing-influencers-justice-department/

Wow, how about this? Trump now has 151 million shares of his social media stock, that he can't sell until it's lockup expiration which happens on Sept 20! At the current price Trump could cash in over 2.5 billion dollars! What a complete scam for a stock that's losing money and has even devastated the saving of a number of it's holders who are die hard Trump fans. Being a stock where the general trend has been down 75% from its $79 high, but will uptrend in periods where it acts as a proxy for Trump's Presidential hopes. The next big date is Sept 10, next Tuesday when Trump debates Harris! So a make or break event is coming up prior to the lockup expiration. If Trump is perceived as losing the debate it could mean 1 billion dollars in stock value. But even if the stock should go from 17 to 4, for example , with Trump owning 151 million shares. That's till 600 million dollars! Again where is the SEC?, what a scam! https://www.axios.com/2024/08/29/donald-trump-truth-social-stock DJT 6 month stock performance. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=+trump+media+stock+pricen

Yes, We "apparently missed it". Of course whatever Roger posts is the definitive link about any subject! (as Cotter nods in agreement, hopefully he's actually read it.) The questions are difficult, but to approach it in any other manner than to say both sides wanted Russia to succeed as a capitalist nation is kind immature just as it is to blame it on the west or western banks, but typical here. It was a failure that all now regret. But as we see later, that's not what Sachs says at the time. Some suggested at the time nothing short of a Marshall plan........ Oh, but that was George Soros!, Come to think of it, isn't that just typical of that evil Liberal? I'm sure that's what he planned all along! Better millions of innocent Russians starve! But let's acknowledge some blame by Sachs. Turning around Russia was a lot more massive a problem then turning around Poland, where there also wouldn't be so much popular resistance. Let's go back to 1993 (link below) , in a NYT article about the young wunderkind , touted as the single biggest western influence in turning around the new Russian economy. I like these famous last words from Sachs. "Poland, with its reforms in place, is the fastest-growing economy in Eastern Europe," says Sachs. "If Poland can do it, so can Russia." The article: Getting a handle on the magnitude of the problem is obviously difficult in a country that cannot even explain why life expectancy has fallen sharply in the last two decades. But some number is better than none. And by pressing officials to address this and other pivotal issues, Sachs hopes to accelerate the pace of reform.""Sachs's message of urgency is not universally accepted. Plenty of Western as well as Russian economists contend that a more gradual approach is not only possible but necessary." Economic reform is a political process," says Padma Desai at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. "First, you must build consensus."And even his sympathizers acknowledge that Sachs's high profile and world-class impatience could generate a backlash in a nation still adjusting to the reality that it is no longer a superpower." Not to be put off, more brazen quotes from Sachs. "In fact, he is confident that revolution is the natural means of economic change. Sachs "If you look at how reform has occurred, it has been through the rapid adaptation of foreign models," he concludes, "not a slow evolution of modern institutions." Instead of solely blaming the IMF, and the international banks, as Roger's article says Sachs does. For a more nuanced conversation, can we say Sachs blamed the Russian government and bureaucracy at the time? General Pinochet was a tyrant, Sachs says, but he did represent the interests of the Chilean middle class and was thus a strong supporter of market reforms. In Russia, by contrast, an authoritarian government would undoubtedly serve as a front for the military-industrial complex, which Sachs believes is the primary obstacle to a capitalist rebirth. Now we get a more insight into Sachs philosophy motivation, and background.Don't let that long, liberal face fool you. This guy's a killer for Capitalism! The first goal for reformers, says Sachs, is to get across the message that democracy and capitalism are inextricable. Sachs, as a matter of principle, refuses to advise unelected governments: When approached by Poland's Communist junta to help renegotiate the country's foreign debts, he turned them down flat. Sachs's unbending stand, one must assume, has more than a little to do with the experience of his wife, Sonia Ehrlich, a pediatrician in Cambridge, Mass., who fled Communist Czechoslovakia with her family at age 12. And as noted in 1993, the oligarchs are circling above. The decisive political battle on privatization (and perhaps the entire economic reform effort) will not be over the fate of small businesses, however. It will turn on the privatization of the larger enterprises, particularly the ones that equipped the Red Army with the latest weaponry. Many have been formally converted to joint-stock companies, and Russians have all been given vouchers that they can use to bid for shares. A recent showcase sale of ZIL, the conglomerate that made the stretch limos used by Kremlin big shots, was widely acknowledged a big success. And more misguided optimism that there would be massive foreign investment rather than being swept up by their own oligarchs. Sachs is also more optimistic than his critics about the capacity of some Russian enterprises to swim with the foreign sharks. In fact, he sees an industrial comeback worthy of postwar Japan. Russian industrial exports now total about $5 billion. "I'll bet they reach $50 billion by the turn of the century." ****** Gil's thread here is actually at least the 3rd piece here about Jeffrey Sachs in the last 2 months because of Sach's statement that he is now open to the idea of a JFKA government conspiracy. I think 2 of these pieces were written by Jim who 4 years earlier, when mistakenly taking up Oliver's Stone's mantle of unwittingly giving Putin excuse for what was to be his invasion of Ukraine" wrote about Sachs. Jim :These rightwing nuts have made an absolute mess out of Ukraine, similar to what Yeltsin and Jeff Sachs did to Russia during their shock doctrine days. Obviously now, quite a turnaround! Obviously in Jim's eyes, Sachs has now completely been reformed from his halcyon days revolutionizing the post Soviet economy. Here we have an example of the MSM that is the NYT, actually cautioning Sachs that he might be going too fast! And they actually got it right! Oh Lord!, how could that be? Someone call the mods! heh heh But to Sachs, "Democracy and capitalism are inextricable!" and "If you look at how reform has occurred, it has been through the rapid adaptation of foreign models," he concludes, "not a slow evolution of modern institutions." https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/27/magazine/dr-jeffrey-sachs-shock-therapist.html

I see my student John, eagerly raising his hand high above his head, desperately trying to get my attention. But to nip it in the bud, John. There are at least a dozen present day Eastern Europe countries and I never told you I was going to Romania. John I think the upcoming few months could be a very disruptive period for you and Gil. But particularly for you. Coming from such a monoethnic, monotheistic (which I know well!) and monoculture as you do with a 1% black population (and you're up in arms about immigration to boot!) Thank God for London!, I'm sure the first black person you saw in real life was probably st Heathrow? Though maybe the first image of a black person was from American TV? Maybe Bill Cosby in I Spy? Or Dianne Carrol in Julia? I personally hated that show, though I think it might have been a good first step for you. I can only how imagine how unsettling the idea of a black, Indian woman taking the most powerful office on earth would be for you! Like the colonies raising their ugly head again! In the states we call that a triple whammy! But we're not monocultural white bread here and I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for you. I would say, for your own sanity, turn your head away from these images of multi cultural displays of joy, hope and freedom. At your current rate of integration you may get a better grasp and find peace maybe when you reach 100, which seems like along way off, but will be there before you know it!

Gil: And yes, the public is brainwashed! uh huh! Well, as if we didn't know we were going to this point. I can only shudder to think how crazy Gil's commentary will become if Harris continues to build on her lead. I think this should be relegated to "political discussions" alongside Gil's thread Trump pays tribute to service members killed in Afghanistan pullout – while Biden vacations in Delaware Actually despite that, there's some decent discussion going on there. ****** Paul: that's quite a clown car you've assembled there. Washed up L.A. comedian turned pod caster Jimmy Dore with washed up actor turned pod caster Russell Brand and then a once credible journalist refugee trying to get back at his brethren because they didn't support some of his kooky claims. Sort of like Glenn Greenwald without the animus.

Yes, this concern for health comes from Rigby who enjoys "cross country smoking." I think RK and Marianne Williamson, but particularly RK is right about processed foods. We in the U.S. have addicted a big swath of the middle class of the world on these foods. But you have to ask what he could reasonably expect to do, and how? It's got to start somewhere and be made an issue. But it's not easy, There's also a lot of longtime consumer/addicts that simply won't put up with your taking away their corn chips or twinkies or any one of a million things.

Now after hundreds of hours of research. The search for government complicity in the assassination attempt is obviously over. That was a noble attempt lads! But the challenge is only half finished. I'm going to assign Paul and Karl to now investigate that the Orange Asset was complicit with the SS to stage this obviously phony choreographed assassination attempt psyop photo op. I think the obvious lead to look into is the agent with the big sun glasses. John, I expect you to continue and just sit back and lend your emotional support! Good luck, and report back to me.