Create Alliances for Better and Prepare for Worse.

They accidentally killed him because they were trying to choke him unconscious, rape him on camera and blackmail him with the footage, by the way

The most honest statement ever made about Cuba policy came from a State Department memo in 1960, written before the sanctions were fully implemented. The memo, written by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lester Mallory, stated that the U.S. should pursue a policy to bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrow of the Cuban government. Not: respond to "Cuban repression." Not: protect Cuban human rights. Not: promote democracy. Hunger. Desperation. Overthrow. This memo is declassified. It is in the historical record. It is not disputed. It means that every subsequent year of sanctions, every subsequent citation of Cuban poverty and dysfunction as evidence of socialist failure, every subsequent American official expressing concern for the welfare of the Cuban people: All of it happened downstream of a documented decision to deliberately produce hunger and desperation in that population. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a declassified government document. The conspiracy was the policy. The theory was written in plain English by an American official in 1960 and has been implemented faithfully for 66 years since. What they wanted to prove, they engineered the conditions to prove. And then they called it evidence.

The problem is that US military power in the region is greatly diminished from its February high-water mark -- and positioned MUCH further away. So their only option is another necessarily limited stand-off strike. After which Iran will counterstrike with unprecedented force.

“Do you understand who you are dealing with? This is America. Back up.” A United Nations meeting was dramatically suspended yesterday after US ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla both ignored the chair’s plea for order in the chamber. The problem started when Waltz blamed Cubans for the shocking US embargoes and blockades that are causing huge suffering to the people of the island. Cuban representatives, astonished at the way Waltz blamed the victims for the crisis, in their eyes, stood up and objected, citing Rule 71, which allows listeners to raise a point of order. Ambassador Waltz responded that the Cubans didn’t like the substance of his speech, so were not raising a point of order. But when complaints continued, this caused Ambassador Waltz to lose his temper and shout “Back up! Back away. Do you understand what you’re dealing with? This is America.” . INTERNATIONAL TERRITORY The rest of the United Nations was outraged by this attitude, as the UN building is legally international territory. When Waltz refused to stop his tirade, Khalilur Rahman, chair of the 81st session, ordered that the meeting be instantly suspended. Waltz ignored him. The meeting was then resumed, but footage of the argument created a huge storm on social media. Some people in the US defended Waltz’s narrative, blaming Cubans for the suffering caused by the US embargos. But much of the commentary from the rest of the world said that the United Nations, for the safety of the delegates and the organization itself, should no longer be situated in New York. When New York was originally chosen as the site, the US pledged not to politicize US visa access to meetings—but has regularly broken the pledge, such as refusing to allow visas for Palestinians. . .

Let me get this straight. Crypto has a name for this scheme. Insiders hype a worthless token, flood your phone with fake urgency, take your money, cash out, and leave you holding the bag. The regulators shrug, and the insiders run it again next quarter under a new name. In Washington they call it the two-party system, and they were running it long before anyone had heard of Bitcoin. Republicans and Democrats will tell you they are mortal enemies. Watch what they do with your phone number and you would never guess. They run the same tricks on the same victims, and they protect each other with the same exemptions they wrote for themselves. Two logos on one cash machine. Every pump starts with distribution. You average thirteen political calls and texts a week. Reply STOP, and 72% of you keep getting them anyway. The Do Not Call list does nothing, because the people who wrote that law exempted the only telemarketers you aren’t allowed to escape: themselves. Your number came from the voter file, enriched by data brokers, then rented, swapped and sold to the next committee in line. Then comes the token, something that sounds valuable and is worth nothing. On the right, Trump’s PAC emailed supporters, in his voice, “I want to try and get to heaven,” and asked for fifteen dollars. A billionaire president, crowdfunding his way past Saint Peter. Next came a “Citizens Only Survey” asking whether you’re an illegal alien and whether “ICE need[s] to come and track you down,” which you had to pay to submit. After that, a “National Security Briefing Membership” nobody has ever explained. Finally, a request to confirm the spelling of your name for your Tariff Check. The check is still in the mail. So is heaven. The left minted its own coins. The DSCC warned that your membership expires at midnight. The five-dollar membership does not exist. The real one costs $44,300, and you are not invited. The DCCC offered a 400% match. House Majority PAC smelled weakness and pumped it to 600%. Nobody has ever met the matching donor, because the matching donor is Helvetica Bold. Once you buy in, they lock you in. In 2020, Trump’s campaign pre-checked a tiny box that turned one donation into a weekly withdrawal, then pre-checked a second box to double it. When the banks drowned in fraud complaints, the campaign refunded $122 million. The FEC, a body that agrees on nothing, voted six to zero to ban the trick. Congress never touched it, because the trick works for everybody. Four years later CNN caught both the Trump and Harris campaigns using pre-checked boxes. Two parties, one checkbox, zero shame. Every pump and dump needs bagholders, and the best ones can’t read the fine print anymore. An 81-year-old man in Arizona with dementia gave more than $80,000 through WinRed, sometimes more than a hundred donations in a single day, because he believed Donald Trump was texting him personally. A woman in cognitive decline gave more than $200,000 through ActBlue. Some elderly donors opened new credit cards and took out mortgages to keep the deadlines from expiring. The FTC says it has no jurisdiction. Neither does Grandma, and that is the entire business model. When the heat came, Washington held a pair of hearings aimed carefully away from home. Republicans hauled ActBlue before Congress, where its CEO pleaded the Fifth twenty-two times. Democrats demanded the records of WinRed, which racked up 803 FTC complaints to ActBlue’s 120. Each party investigated fundraising fraud with tremendous courage and discovered, every single time, that it lives on the other side of the aisle. Neither has ever opened its own inbox. Then the dump. One Democratic consulting network raised $678 million from people trying to save democracy, and by one Stanford count about 1.6% reached actual candidates. The consultants dispute that, and their best defense is that the real number might reach single digits. End Citizens United, a PAC founded to get money out of politics, raised $21.18 million and spent $21.14 million. They did get the money out. Of you. On the right, scam PACs played Trump’s own voice in robocalls, told seniors to press 3 to show their support, and sent 3% of the haul to candidates. Another promised a 100X match and spent 73% of what it raised on raising more. Mankind finally built the perpetual motion machine. It runs on retirees, and both parties hold the patent. Your five dollars was never the point anyway. More than $15 billion has been raised for this midterm, and the biggest checks come from people who will never see a midnight deadline in their lives. What your five dollars buys them is your belief that you own a piece of the thing. You don’t. You own the bag. Here is what the product delivered. A Congress at 10% approval. A 43-day shutdown, then a 76-day shutdown, each a record when it happened. New members told by their own party to dial for dollars four hours a day and legislate for about two, and judging by the output, they’ve been rounding the second number down. On the single question of protecting you from them, the two parties have voted in perfect harmony every time. They passed no ban on pre-checked boxes, left you no Do Not Call protection, and gave no agency jurisdiction over a dementia patient drained a hundred times in one afternoon. Every loophole that hurts you is one they built, and one they both keep open. Even the con men get conned. The DNC, $18.5 million in debt, wired $28,860.92 to a scammer pretending to be its own chairman. Somebody finally sent a fake urgent email to a political party, and the party paid. It was the only fundraising email in history that worked exactly as written. So let me get this straight one last time. They pump you with fear, mint worthless memberships, lock your card into autopay, harvest your grandparents, cash out to their consultants, sell your number to the next crew, and deliver shutdowns. In any other market that would be securities fraud. In this one it’s called a midterm. Democracy dies at 11:59 p.m., one minute before a deadline that was never real, matched 600% by nobody. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Congress already did.

They tell you to be afraid of these countries. And I want to ask you, seriously, to sit with this: Name the last country Iran invaded. Name the last country Cuba destabilized through a coup. Name the last population North Korea bombed into the Stone Age. Name the last foreign president China abducted in a military raid. Now do the same exercise for the country that told you to be afraid. The fear is a product. It is manufactured, distributed, and renewed on a regular cycle because fear justifies the budget. And the budget justifies the bases. And the bases justify the fear. You are not afraid because these countries are "dangerous." You are afraid because someone, very powerful, very expensive, needs you to be. Follow the money. Follow the bases. Follow the bombs. And then ask yourself one more time: Who, in this picture, should actually be afraid of whom?

🚨Brilliant interview! 💸💰💸💰💸💰💸 🚨How do banks create money ? 💸💰💸💰💸💰💸 🚨Prof Werner is incomparable. In the 5000 yr history of banking no-one has ever done an imperical study of banking to show where the money comes from- until now. Step up the rock star economist Professor Richard Werner. His amazing qualifications and held positions makes the eye water. He is truly the authority on this subject. Banks are thought of as deposit taking entities who lend money - but that is just wrong. His assessment - Banks dont lend money but they misrepresent (lie) to their customers and say that they do.

The HVAC company with the brand new wrapped vans quoted $18,500 to replace the furnace and AC at one of my rental houses. My guy installed the same equipment for $4,100. He was licensed, pulled the permit and literally finished in one afternoon. That's $14,400 apart for the same job. Wall Street investment firms have bought hundreds of local HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies. Some keep the old local business name, but now have sales targets and technicians who earn commissions on replacements. So the guy diagnosing your broken AC might make more money selling you a new one than fixing the old one. I've renovated 80+ houses. Here's what I'd check before agreeing to an expensive repair. 1. The AC stops cooling A company says you need a $12,000 replacement. Ask which part failed and how they tested it. Sometimes it's a capacitor, a part that can cost $15 to $40. A technician may charge $150 to $400 for the visit and replacement. If they say the whole unit is dead, get a second diagnosis before you replace it. 2. The furnace & AC need replacing Make both companies quote the same equipment and work. Ask for exact model numbers, energy efficiency ratings, permits, warranties and any ductwork or electrical changes. If one company wants thousands more, I want to see what the extra money buys. 3. The hot water smells horrible Don't replace a water heater over a smell before finding out where it's coming from. If it happens only with hot water, bacteria or the anode rod inside the heater may be involved. The rod is a metal part that helps protect the tank from rust. Have a plumber check the cause. A repair or treatment might fix the smell without a new water heater. 4. The sewer backs up A plumber says the line collapsed and wants $14,000 to dig up the yard. Get a sewer camera inspection first, and ask to see the footage. Roots or another blockage might be cleared without excavation. A collapsed pipe may need replacement. I want proof before I let anybody dig. 5. The $20/month comfort club That's $240 a year. Find out what the plan includes and compare it with paying for maintenance as you need it. If all you're getting is one tune-up and a chance to hear another sales pitch, keep your money. How I find my contractors: I visit HVAC and plumbing supply houses where local pros buy their parts and ask for reputable independent companies. Then I check their licenses, insurance and references. Get three written quotes on jobs over $2,000 and make sure they're pricing the same work. Before you pay $18,500 for a replacement, make the person selling it show you what broke and why it can't be repaired.

When Ted Turner asked Carl Sagan whether he was a socialist, Sagan offered an answer that captures the true meaning of a civilized society.

This paper answers why you can't think straight even when you're not touching your phone. Researchers from UT Austin and UC San Diego published a paper that explains every unfinished task, every reread paragraph, and every afternoon that vanished. It's called "Brain Drain." they took 520 people and gave them tests of memory and problem solving. the only difference was where their phone was. on the desk, face down. in their pocket or bag. or in another room. every phone was on silent. no buzzing. no notifications. And the results are wild. the people whose phones were in another room did significantly better than the people whose phones sat face down on the desk. the closer the phone, the worse they scored. then they ran it again and made half of them turn their phones completely off. it didn't matter. off and face down on the desk still drained the brain. the paper revealed a brutal paradox: most people said they weren't thinking about their phone at all. 75.9% said its location didn't affect their performance "at all." they were wrong. your brain spends energy just to not pick it up. a quiet, constant effort to ignore the most interesting object in the room. that effort comes from the same tank you use to think. and the more dependent people were on their phones, the bigger the hit. you are not distracted because you're weak. you are distracted because the most powerful attention machine ever built is sitting three inches from your hand. the fix is almost insultingly simple. put it in another room.

"University researchers built a satellite that tracks people from low Earth orbit and dispatches a 5 kg payload to within .1 meter of their position, traveling at Mach 25 to anywhere on Earth in under 5 minutes. They suggest it could be used to deliver greeting cards."

Neoliberalism is Fabian socialism. Because we have governments to protect property and mop up capitalism's social mess just enough to prevent insurrection. Libertarians are possibly the most dangerously indoctrinated, miseducated and deluded cultists in modern history.