Open Thread - 2 March 2016

pl

Comments

[cynic]

Another nice owl, although this one seems a little sad. He's still king of the local birds.

[Thomas]

Sir,

In regards to Committee member Confused Ponderer, is he well?

[turcopolier]

Thomas

Dunno. pl

[walter]

Never got a chance to put in my 2 cents worth on the Borg. I am a psychotherapist so I see things thru a lens of individual thoughts, feelings, beliefs, motivations.

I see the Borg as a collection of individuals who prioritize succeeding professionally and financially over serving the larger community of humans. There is a theory of moral development called the Kholberg Stage of Moral Development that all psychology students learn to understand morality of humans. There are 6 stages that humans are supposed to go thru over their life...the first stage when we are infants/toddlers is called Obedience/Punishment orientation all the way to when we are old we are supposed to have matured to the stage of Universal Ethical Principles.

The Borg are individuals stuck in the early stages of moral development focused more on self (seeking rewards/avoiding punishments) than the larger community...making decisions based on how they can enrich themselves, aggrandize themselves, avoid criticism, set themselves up financially.

The simple analogy is selling one's soul to the Devil. Being a NeoCon is easier and more financially/professionally rewarding than having a more independent view. You will get promoted, quoted, hired, praised. That is my simple take on it.....The Borg, for me, is about self interest.

The pharisees, Cesar, etc were Borg-like; Jesus was punished for not going along with the Borg of his times, preferring to espouse more universal ethical principles which threatened the stability of The Establishment of his time.
Walter

[asx]

Day after Super Tuesday some questions and thoughts on historical parallels.

Did Reagan get the same scorn and condescending attitude from the pundits as Trump? Clearly one could see Trump moderating his act after the primaries and show a more pragmatic side. Yesterdays presser was a turn in that direction. If he can upend and shame the Borg arsonists and can add a touch of Rand Paul's (and his dad's) non-interventionist foreign policy, Trump has nothing but upside from here. The question is has he done too much damage in getting here to recover in November.

As for Hillary, Super Tuesday only cements the fact that the progressives and millenials have already deserted her. She clings to the block voting minorities more tighter. Winning southern primaries can help secure the nomination, but is a non-event as far as the general election is concerned. As Bernie fades away, a third party run( Bloomberg? Ventura?) is more likely.

Her presidency is more likely to be a second coming of LBJ's term. Bitterness at being eclipsed by a shallow and charismatic predecessor will seep through high sounding policy initiatives. And I shudder to think of how many Libyas or Vietnams she will spawn.

[mbrenner]

"The Borg are individuals stuck in the early stages of moral development focused more on self (seeking rewards/avoiding punishments) than the larger community"

Aggravated by the fact that punishments have pretty much dropped from the calculus.

[Serge]

Dozens of Iraqi soldiers including a Brigadier General and Lieutenant Colonel(the former being the chief-of-staff of the Jazeera and Badiya Operations Command) killed in a suicide attack yesterday after their base is infiltrated by 4 ISIS dressed in ISF uniforms.
This comes hours after the massive high casualty attacks of Sunday/Monday.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35695683

Battle for Mosul imminent, as the crowing MSM articles that I have noticed popping up in great proliferation over the past week would have us think ? Unlikely. At this rate Mosul will be underwater by the time ISF gets there
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35690616

[doug]

As for HRC and the classified emails I had previously believed that would be her end after the instruction to a subordinate to strip a, presumably classified' document of markings. If, in fact, that was done and the document transmitted as is w/o the classification markings I believed she would be indicted.

However, leaked reports from the Senate committee investigating this, indicate that no emails were direct copies of classified documents but contained substantial transcriptions of portions of classified documents. To me this suggests the DoJ is going to pursue some of her staff. The only way to get her would be to have one of them flip and say she instructed them to do this. Might happen, but I think it is not likely. More likely would be one of them falling on their sword and clearing HRC. Pardon to follow.

[Seamus]

I was wondering what people thought about the arms shipment, intercepted by the Greeks, that was on its way to Lebanon via Turkey. There is much speculation that this may be a Saudi/Turkish/US Plan B re the Syria war - create chaos in Lebanon to distract Hezbollah and create a space in north Lebanon from which to attack western Syria.

[Kooshy]

Unfortunately I think emperor Hillarious will get the nominatin,. IMO,unfortunately once again the Democratic Party' young supporters are marginalized
by DLC machination. But IMO many of life long democrats once agin will stay home next November. Without them HC can't win, unless Trump is demonized down And dirty sending RNC voters to Hillary. I think that has been Clintons plan all along. I can guess Trump has so many weak points ( business deals, marriage,personal, behavior etc.) that have not been pulled out and used yet, till he becomes nominated. Unfortunately I think he has more personal negatives then Hillary.

[Barish]

Bluff or someone throwing their deck on the table in frustration?

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/boat-loaded-with-weapons-seized-off-western-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=95858&NewsCatID=351

"Boat loaded with weapons seized off western Turkey

A Togo-flagged boat reportedly full of weapons and explosives was seized by the Greek authorities off Turkey’s western coast on Feb. 28.

Weapons and explosives were seized in the search of the 76-meter-long dry cargo vessel named “Kuki Boy” that was stopped off the Greek island of Rhodes, some 102 kilometers (63 miles) southeast of the Turkish resort town of Bodrum, Doğan News Agency reported.

The vessel, with a width of 11 meters, was taken to the Souda Port of the Greek island of Crete and the search is reported to be ongoing.

The operation was conducted by Greek coast guards after the boat did not observe a “stop” warning early on Feb. 28.

The vessel reportedly sailed from an international port in the Aegean province of İzmir and was heading to Lebanon. The vessel drew the attention of the Greek military after floating on the Mediterranean Sea for a long time, Doğan News Agency reported, citing Greek sources.

Greek security forces are reported to have taken comprehensive security measures around the vessel, which was taken to Crete in the evening hours of Feb. 28."

b may hop in on this, as he speculates on his blog this may be part of the ephemerous "Plan B" Kerry harped on about.

Then again, that Lebanon, more specifically its factions aligned with al-Saud's interests, is one avenue of the "rat lines" to the Syrian war isn't exactly news, given reports as early as 2011 of weapons and personnel for the insurgency coming from that direction. Hence my assuming this to be the tell-tale end to that failing strategy, with lots of al-Saud's schizophrenic yammering in the background.

[Rd.]

Voltairenet reports Donald Trump advised by General Flynn!

Anyone can share info on Gen Flynn and where he stands with the borgs?

thanks

[Rd.]

sorry, the libk

http://www.voltairenet.org/article190498.html

[jsn]

mbrenner:
Julius Caesar on punishment:
“For no society of men whatever can persevere its unity and continue to exist, if the criminal element is not punished, since, if the diseased member does not receive proper treatment, it causes all the rest, even as our own physical bodies, to share in its affliction…because when the wrong-doers have power they become more daring, and corrupt the excellent also by causing them to grow dejected and to believe that they will obtain no benefit from right behavior. For wherever the insolent element has the advantage there inevitably the decent element has the worst of it; and wherever wrong-doing is unpunished, there self-restraing also goes unrewarded… For it is not by any characteristic of birth that what is friendly is distinguished from what is hostile, but it is determined by men’s habits and actions, which, if they are good can make that which is alien like unto itself, but if bad can alienate everything, even that which is alien” Julius Caesar. Dio’s Roman History trans. E. Cary (1916)

Speaks volumes about our imperial present.

[JerseyJeffersonian]

asx,

Well, it ain't over 'til it's over so far as the primary results for Clinton and Sanders. Yes, Hillary picked up more delegates on Super Tuesday, but these were states in which there were more conservative Democrats, and large AA communities which, to my mind, are irrationally wedded to Clinton. Not states in which Bernie had real good chances in the primary, but he still won in 4 states, and by mid-March, some of his most likely hunting grounds for sizable delegate wins begin to come into play. He is pursuing a 50-state strategy, the long game required to pick up momentum against the backdrop of Borgist media neglect or disdain. Here are the thoughts of one blogger, Gaius Publius, and his take on where things are now, and where they might go, informed by scenarios gamed out by a statistician whose thoughts are linked in his post:

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2016/03/clinton-will-build-her-biggest-lead-on.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

And also, presuming that Clinton is indeed the nominee, there is no guarantee that she would prevail in the general election. Various polls are showing her to be quite weak against Trump in a head to head contest, while Sanders looks to be the stronger candidate in that circumstance.

Another concern is the likely catastrophic consequences on the down ticket Democratic candidates should Clinton win the nomination, and then the progressive left that the Democratic party nomenklatura love to hate get terminally weary of this, and all stay home. (Indeed, since the only House and Senate candidates that receive approval and support from the Party Apparatus are corporatists and neocons - I'm lookin' at you Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Steve Israel, Charles Schumer - why should the progressive left vote for them in the first place?) To them, the Democrat insiders can take their "lesser of two evils" claptrap and shove it. As we have learned, although the evil may ostensibly be "lesser", it is still evil, and the inexorable working of the NeoLiberal/NeoConservative (Borgist, if you will) ratchet only advances in the direction of evil; then the pawl drops into place, and the citizenry, and their Republic right along with it, are further disregarded and dismissed. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Red Grandpa's version of social democratic populism may have more appeal than the red meat populism of Mr. Trump if he gets a chance to campaign on it, but maybe we won't get to hear it, eh?

Of course, the Democrat elites, or for that matter, the Republican elites, don't really care to listen to the muppets in their respective parties. And here we come to the Iron Law of Institutions:

http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/001705.html

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Speaks volumes about that nest of criminals known as Wall Street.

[William R. Cumming]

Several more primary/caucuses this coming weekend [3/5/2016]!

[r whitman]

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is on for the next two weeks. Come on down in your Stetson, cowboy suit and Lucchesses and see some cattle, pigs, country music stars and some real, genuine bullsh*t.

[mbrenner]

Of course, in Caesar's day there was no Fourth Estate intermediating between the leader and the people. That was supposed to be a strength of a democratic republic - no more.

Hillary is acclaimed the great victor of Super Tuesday, guaranteed the Democratic nomination and riding a wave of popularity. In truth, she hasn't won a single state outright that wasn't part of the Confederacy - against a handicapped opponent. Unfortunately, our American habits of mind and behavior have become ones of mendacity at all levels.

[Lord Curzon]

Dr David Kilcullen admits that COIN is a steaming pile of poo:

https://rusi.org/event/blood-year-islamic-state-and-failures-war-terror

[turcopolier]

Lord Curzon

That's odd. He said the opposite to me when we shared a cubicle in the "experts" review of Petraeus' campaign plan. pl

[walter]

Agreed; no accountability/punishment for being wrong...they all seem to be able to keep their jobs and influence despite terrible results.

BTW, same seems to have occurred for all the Wall Street executives that lost huge bets but still got huge bonuses, 0% interest rates to continue borrowing and speculating, inside information from The Fed to direct their speculative bets so profitably, lots of other sneaky ways of The Fed "recapitalized" the banks, bailed them out, kept them afloat despite the gross incompetance and illegal behavior

[William Fitzgerald]

Pat Lang,

"Consistency is the humbuggery of small minds". WSC. I think that's properly quoted.

WPFIII

[rjj]

they had tribunes till Caesar got rid of the office a few years before that Ides of March business.

Did any european newspapers have tribune in its name? Was Greeley the first in the US?

[steve]

Hillary is such a target rich opponent for Trump. He will troll her without quarter during debates. She will scream misogny. He will respond with her trashing of Bubba's paramours. She will accuse him of racism. He will respond with "superpredators", the 90s crime bill, and how many brown-skinned women did she help kill in Libya. She will say he's an out of touch tycoon. He will respond . . . . . . . well, that's an easy one.

In a debate, Hillary will take the bait every time.

Sanders is a transparent candidate. Trump will try to smear him as a socialist. Sanders will say, ok, I'm for universal healthcare and free public college tuition, and I set out a way to pay for it. Next.

http://static.currentaffairs.org/2016/02/unless-the-democrats-nominate-sanders-a-trump-nomination-means-a-trump-presidency

Not sure about Trump, but I will never vote for Hillary.