Twelfth Bough

Is it fair to question the PERSONAL JUDGMENT of people in office or running for office? We think so. We do not vote anymore. We consider the system completely broken. And we do not pay particularly too much attention to politics. We think politics is a big playpen to keep many millions of people busy and entertained and pouring their money and energy into activities that will never actually benefit them. We also consider that politics keeps a much smaller number of people EMPLOYED off of these many millions who don't actually benefit. No thanks. Image from The Guardian. Before people consider voting, we think they should make some effort to DISCERN the judgment of those seeking power. Are they weak? Are they corruptible? Are they narcissistic? Are they sociopathic? If so, why vote for them? If you can't find someone worth voting for, why vote? Voting affirms the system, and the system is totally broken. Do you patronize businesses that abuse you as a customer? D...

Life's Good "24th of August is the Independence Day of Ukraine. This year there was a special 3D light show projected on the building of the Kharkiv Regional Institute of Public Administration, Ukraine. This is how the "Oblsovet" building, Kharkov, Ukraine looks like during Christmas. Picture credits to Yurr B" Check out the light show they project onto this building. Pretty amazing. We have discussed distractions. This shows some of their capabilities. Add in hologram technology. Add in a cloud cover. Extrapolate. h/t to Socio-Economics History (blogroll) for the video, and many other excellent videos.

UPDATE:  Karzai ticked off that the joint US-Russia operation went off without his permission...? The head of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has demanded an explanation from NATO command in conjunction with the United States and Russia counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan. President's Office sent out a statement by Karzai in Kotormo shown an bewilderment at the fact that the operation went "without his permission." Operation narkopolitseyskih U.S., Russia and Afghanistan was held Thursday in the village Zerasari Achin district of Nangarhar province.   There have been eliminated four clandestine drug laboratories, confiscated 932 kilograms of heroin, 156 kilograms of opium, transmits ITAR-TASS. That's curious. ^^^^^^^ A brief follow-up to let us count the ways... First joint US-Russian drugs operation in Afghanistan yields good results Russian and U.S. drug control services have carried out their first joint anti-narcotics operation in Afghani...

We do think some very bad economic times are coming soon. Video from There are no sunglasses. Many people will be confused. A blame game is coming. We expect something else will probably be arranged to cause a big distraction from the huge economic problems and to also confuse the blame game. Did you hear about the fifty nuclear missiles that went accidentally offline this past Saturday at Warren AFB in Wyoming. You know, Dick Cheney's home state? Fifty nuclear missiles, evidently controlled by something similar to this trusty ancient analog panel, went offline by accident on Saturday.  Photo from Wired.com This is the best we can afford with the US defense budget? Or is this a joke? Actually, this entire incident seems like a joke. It comes to us from The Atlantic, and Wired, and The Weekly Standard. It appears political. They even highlighted the conspiracy angle for us. Gee thanks! What's left for us to do? How about we just call the whole thing a mind...

As has been noted, David Coleman Headley apparently works for the CIA. He is being kept from Indian officials and protected in FBI custody. David Headley is a CIA asset & they have invested a lot of their precious resources in training him & therefore they are going to atrocious levels to protect him. The CIA always does. Thus under the cover of the American Judicial system, Headley will disappear into the prisons, soon acquire a new identity, new papers & documents, passports & Visas, Credit Cards & Bank Accounts . . . a new identity & will resurface, doing what he is best at, a terrorist-drug dealer-mercenary. Undoubtedly, the CIA-FBI, which are the world’s leading mercenary agencies, whose forte is too engineer assassinations, terror & wars, has infiltrated sections of the Indian political leadership & our internal security, as it has the Pakistani ISI, Military & Political establishment. See: Aangirfan: David Headley, Israelis and ...

Ideas... Could the government protect water supplies to grow other crops? Could the government support markets for other crops? Another idea... How about cracking down on money laundering through the big banks? Another idea... Target the laboratories? June 6, 2009: BRUSSELS - NATO forces should target drug labs in Afghanistan, which would cut off a major source of funding for insurgents, said U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock, Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. "If we can destroy the processing facilities, then we can do a lot to stop the insurgency," Craddock said. "If we can take out the wherewithal to make bombs and bullets, isn't that a good thing?" He said his proposal was not about crop eradication and said that there was a "handful of NATO countries that have not listened to the argument."  Good idea. Must be time to retire then? June 30, 2009: STUTTGART, Germany — Adm. James G. Stavridis became the 15th U.S. European...

But is it true that all people have emotions? What about sociopaths? They have emotions about themselves. However, they do not experience empathy. They have [emotions], but in relation to themselves, not in relation to others. In fact, such individuals are unable to feel "social" emotions such as sympathy, empathy, gratitude, etc. This may explain why sociopaths are so willing to inflict suffering and pain onto other people without so much of a blink or remorse. For them, the emotions of other people have no meaning at all; they "are unable to construct and emotional facsimile of others." What kinds of emotions do sociopaths have ? They are quick to become angry, are aggressive, irritable, and are very sensitive to shame or humiliation. They are also get pleasure by means of dominance and are exhilarated by this.  This trait allows them to lie without remorse, to lie skillfully. However, in our experience dealing with various narcissists and sociopa...

They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ~ Matthew 23:4 The foreclosure fraud scandal continues to grow. People may not understand all the ins and outs of alphabet finance, but they understand that they need a roof over their head and a job to pay for it. Working people understand that their mortgage is a priority, and they write those mortgage checks to the bank, and they work hard to have the money to write the checks to the bank.   There is no third party between the person who pays the mortgage and the bank who cashes the check. It's very straight-forward. And considering that, for many Americans, after they pay a third of their income to the IRS (ie: the Fed, to mostly pay interest on the national debt), housing takes the next huge chunk of their (flat) income. And these are heavy burdens. 1) The American people, through the bailouts, already paid the banks enough money to pay of...

Today the FBI is not looking too good for ignoring the warnings about David Coleman Headley given to them by his wife at the time. "I told them, he's either a terrorist, or he's working for you," she recalled saying to American officials at the US Embassy in Islamabad. "Indirectly, they told me to get lost." However we are NOT seeing much about how Headley repeatedly introduced himself as a CIA agent. During his interactions in India, Headley frequently introduced himself as a CIA agent. A limited hangout? Make sure people remember that the FBI fucked up but neglect to remind them that it was probably a CIA operation? That's not very nice. Then again, we are not talking about very nice people. Aangirfan has written probably sixty posts about Mumbai. We have also written a bouquet of posts about Mumbai. See: unclaimed property, about how no one claimed the mutilated bodies of the Mumbai terrorists in the morgue.... Doctors who conducted...

Good news. 1. A new survey shows that most Americans would not support a US-led attack on Iran, even if Iran "tested an nuclear bomb or attacked Israel." 2. One hundred million Americans (one third of the population) doubt the official story of 911. 3. Nearly half of all Americans believe "the Federal Government poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens." soft construction with boiled beans (premonition of civil war), by Salvador Dali, 1936 Meet people where they're at. Use what you have. Seek the truth in all matters. Maintain personal integrity. Persevere to the end.

We have written about Paraguay several times. We are always amazed how popular the Paraguay posts seem to be. It defies reason how many people come here just to read about Paraguay. Sort of spooky if you know what I mean. We've written about Paraguay and the capital Asuncion, and the Tri-Border Area, and the strange things that happen there. Today we will look at Northern Paraguay. Here is a map of Northern Paraguay (click to enlarge) from a real estate website. Please note Filadelfia, just below the center. Filadelfia is reportedly where Nancy Pelosi and other celebrities go for R&R. See: east of Asuncion This is the beginning of that story as told by Crad Kilodney in July 2009: I was having lunch with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at Opera Plaza Sushi in San Francisco about six months ago, and she said to me, “Every so often, I need to get away from it all.  I want to go where nobody knows me, where I can relax and have a change of scenery.  So I go to...