Nobody Cares: PRS

[Soen Eber]

Andúril / Narsil is also the name of Aragorn's sword in "The Lord of the Rings".

The losers will probably get roped into other aspects of the project, typically some small production runs, support roles of some kind, testing, doing software upgrades, integrating new systems, overhauls, etc. The U.S. needs to keep it's military contractors solvent in case there's a big war and production needs to exponentially ramp up. There's always competition for the best contracts but consolidation has taken it's toll.

You just can't say "You're fired", shrug your shoulders, and figure the free market will look after its own. The nation's security is put at risk when you routinely lose 20 year men who make engine cowlings or radar components: there are already existing weapon systems that can't have new parts made or are hard to upgrade because of all the knowledge that is lost..

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

He's obviously a man of charm and intelligence..

Any bets he's single?

 

[Isabeau]

Any bets he's single?

/Isabeau laughs and laughs…

Hey, wait. I’M single.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Lengthy and thoughtful piece in which the journalist and environmental campaigner George Monbiot asks how it is he and a notorious conspiracy theorist share many of the same concerns.

 

[Tirellia]

Thanks for that, Innula. I tend to feel the same way about George Monbiot as he feels about Jason Liosatos. A genuinely well meaning person who holds some odd views among some rational ones. I do very much like his use of the terms conspiracy fictions and conspiracy fantasists.

 

[Free]

May the 4th, etc.

 

[Isabeau]

Lengthy and thoughtful piece in which the journalist and environmental campaigner George Monbiot asks how it is he and a notorious conspiracy theorist share many of the same concerns.

In her excellent book Doppelganger, Naomi Klein explains how today’s conspiracy fictions are a distorted response to the impunities of power. We know we’re being lied to, we know justice is not done, we see the beneficiaries flaunting their immense wealth and undemocratic power. Conspiracy fantasists may get the facts wrong, “but often get the feelings right”.

Exactly. People KNOW the system we live in is off track, but it’s all very complicated so they latch on to simple (wild) theories.

Really enjoyed reading this.

I deal with a few tenants here like that. Amiable, generous, seemingly kind, but then suddenly go off on a tangent about how trump is courageous (never mind that we’re not even in the US), or about government lies on COVID, or about Jews or “coloured“ people. Just, you know, out of the blue! The thing is, before knowing this about them, at the beginning, I could relate to much of what they were saying and would be nodding along. It’s just when they veered into who they believed were behind all these problems, it’s then that I felt almost dirty for having nodded along at first.

 

[Govi]

/Isabeau laughs and laughs…

Hey, wait. I’M single.

English translation of the lyrics:

Unhappy he who has a wife,
Unhappy he who has none!
He who has none wants one,
He who has one wants none!

Happy is the woman
Who has the man she needs!
But she is still more happy,
The one who hasn't any!

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Chainsaw president Javier Milei had an interview with BBC about the Falkland Islands. In it he states that he accepts them currently being British, and that there is no instant solution in getting them back. This is very different to his predecessors, who always said the islands are Argentine.

Furthermore Milei added, that Argentina does not seek conflict, and promised a roadmap to make them part of Argentine by diplomatic means again. Mileis predecessor, Alberto Fernandez, called the islands "stolen land" and the UK's claim on them "disgusting." He even broke a cooperation deal with the UK, and pushed to reopen talks on the islands.

Milei also was asked if he still admires Margaret Thatcher: “Criticising someone because of their nationality or race is very intellectually precarious. I have heard lots of speeches by Margaret Thatcher. She was brilliant. So what's the problem?”

Falklands dispute may last decades - Argentina president

There is no "instant solution" to the claim over the islands, President Javier Milei tells the BBC.

www.bbc.com

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The New Propaganda

How authoritarians work together to change our conversation

anneapplebaum.substack.com

Summary of a lengthy, very informative and very worrying article on how authoritarians worldwide are controlling public discourse with misinformation as part of a coordinated strategy -- especially in the US during the run-up to the elections.

Atlantic article

The New Propaganda War

Autocrats in China, Russia, and elsewhere are now making common cause with MAGA Republicans to discredit liberalism and freedom around the world.

www.theatlantic.com

Evernote link

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I’m sure this won’t piss off Newsmax and OAN.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Have you ever heared about the Atlas Network? It's a libertarian, free-market, climate-change denying assholery American think tank founded in 1981, which works with over 600 partners around the globe and acts more in the shadows. It's often called as think tank that creates think tank.

Not enough to spark your interest? The Koch brothers are big backers of Atlas, also oil, tobacco and coal companies. How it gets money is really shady, as well how they act globally to shape public opinions. Heritage Foundation and many others are part of Atlas. Javier Milei in Argentina had big help by Atlas to become president. Rishi Sunak has links to Atlas, and - most importantly for all Americans - Donald Trump!

And with "Project 2025" they've wrote the handbook how Trump should remodel the USA in his 2nd term. For Atlas it's not just about the USA, they want to create a conservative decade all around the world at least.

Great introduction about Atlas Network and its doings:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/06/rishi-sunak-javier-milei-donald-trump-atlas-network

"Project 2025 paper", so basically what they think Trump should do on over 900 pages:

Project 2025's "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise"

www.documentcloud.org

Atlas Network official home page: Unleashing Individual Ingenuity To Enrich Humanity

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Florida deputies who fatally shot US airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says

A civil rights attorney says deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S.

apnews.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

Are Americans losing their taste for Starbucks? "The whole concept got old," one customer said. - CBS News

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I never would have imagined Americans losing their taste for burned beans.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Me right now with a Starbucks and a poké bowl.

 

[Khamon]

Starbucks was convenient for traveling because they were everywhere and having their prepaid card meant being able to grab a coffee sans cash. But there is coffee everywhere now anyway and the monies are on the phone for everything now and, yeah, it's old hat and not the best coffee in the world.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Are Americans losing their taste for Starbucks? "The whole concept got old," one customer said. - CBS News

They've become a lot less inviting and more sterile and corporate since they got rid of their comfortable chairs and started locking their bathrooms, probably an effort to keep the homeless from wanting to settle in.

I miss the old coffee houses that were cozy, filled with couches and armchairs, and occasionally had local live music.

 

[Isabeau]

When I used to work downtown, there were so many different places, somehow, I was never a regular customer. I simply preferred to go to more local places. I’ve never been against or for them, they’re a company just like any other, trying to make as much profit as possible. Might as well encourage the little guys…

I do like their ground coffee “Verona” at the grocery store, though. It’s not like I can grow my own beans.