Blind Item #8 - Metal, Misery & War - Mr. Hedge
There is a certain type of metal which is critical to many modern conveniences. Your cell phone’s battery contains some of this metal.
This metal has recently become semi-precious. The price more than doubled in the last year alone.
The supply of this metal is quite limited. Over ½ of the entire world’s annual supply is mined in one single African country. This country, and a couple of its immediate neighbors, are simply the only places on Earth with large supplies of this metal. Engineers see no technological design around the widespread use of this metal, at least for a couple decades into the future.
This African country is ruled by a brutal dictator, who is the son of a now-deceased former dictator. Child labor is openly used to mine this metal. The people of this country live in some of the worst poverty in the entire world, and that’s saying a lot. Why? As is typically the case, most of the windfall from mining this metal simply lines the pockets of the dictator, and the vast network of cronies keeping him in power.
The dictator’s grip on power has recently loosened, if ever so slightly. While the massive theft and corruption represent ample justifications for his ouster, there are other forces at work.
Recently, well-armed rebel groups have popped up in multiple corners of the country. They are financially backed in a not-so-stealth manner by large corporations in the Far East concentrated in 1 very large country, which also need a great deal of this metal. They are hoping to install a new regime, which would favor their interests.
Ironically, this sort of arrangement is exactly how the dictator’s father got his start, and eventually took over the country, about 2 decades ago – albeit with different corporate backers.
The primary cause of this metal’s soaring cost last year - a certain type of automobile manufacturing requires a massive amount of this metal, relatively speaking. This is also yet another reason for which an A list CEO will not deliver on the many promises he has made to investors.
Metal -
African Country -
Dictator -
Dictator’s Father -
A list CEO / Company -
This metal has recently become semi-precious. The price more than doubled in the last year alone.
The supply of this metal is quite limited. Over ½ of the entire world’s annual supply is mined in one single African country. This country, and a couple of its immediate neighbors, are simply the only places on Earth with large supplies of this metal. Engineers see no technological design around the widespread use of this metal, at least for a couple decades into the future.
This African country is ruled by a brutal dictator, who is the son of a now-deceased former dictator. Child labor is openly used to mine this metal. The people of this country live in some of the worst poverty in the entire world, and that’s saying a lot. Why? As is typically the case, most of the windfall from mining this metal simply lines the pockets of the dictator, and the vast network of cronies keeping him in power.
The dictator’s grip on power has recently loosened, if ever so slightly. While the massive theft and corruption represent ample justifications for his ouster, there are other forces at work.
Recently, well-armed rebel groups have popped up in multiple corners of the country. They are financially backed in a not-so-stealth manner by large corporations in the Far East concentrated in 1 very large country, which also need a great deal of this metal. They are hoping to install a new regime, which would favor their interests.
Ironically, this sort of arrangement is exactly how the dictator’s father got his start, and eventually took over the country, about 2 decades ago – albeit with different corporate backers.
The primary cause of this metal’s soaring cost last year - a certain type of automobile manufacturing requires a massive amount of this metal, relatively speaking. This is also yet another reason for which an A list CEO will not deliver on the many promises he has made to investors.
Metal -
African Country -
Dictator -
Dictator’s Father -
A list CEO / Company -
Cobalt / Musk / Tesla
ReplyDeleteAnd Democratic* Republic of Congo
DeleteYou are correct, proof? I run the only support group for people allergic to Cobalt, and have members from all over the world. But biggest buyer of Cobalt currently..apple.
DeleteAnd previous company, likely CocaCola
DeleteCobalt, Congo, Tesla, Musk
DeleteCobalt
ReplyDeleteMetal-Vibranium
ReplyDeleteCountry-Wakanda
Dictator-T'Challa
Father-T'Chaka
CEO-Tony Stark
im dying hahahah
DeleteT'Challa is not a dictator.
DeleteIt's probably Kabila (DRC).
@Alli - thank you for my second laugh of the day!
Delete+1 to all the cobalt guesses.
That's exactly what I was thinking while reading it! It works too!
Delete+1
DeleteOMG! Best comment ever!
DeletePeace!!!!
A+ omg :D
DeleteAnyone notice Enty has been absent from Twitter for the last 5 days?
ReplyDeleteYes, I noticed. Was hoping he was okay.
DeleteYes, I noticed too. Last updated was when Himmmm #2 shared a bodily fluids story. I hope he's okay. 💛
Delete@drkdragon77 He did a retweet in the last couple of hours
Delete@drkdragon, relapse is a part of recovery
ReplyDeleteI think it’s Iridium or some kind of rare earth element. Or coltan.
ReplyDeleteGood pics here
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2018/02/28/the-cost-of-cobalt/?utm_term=.3ae63e781510
Cobalt Congo,they have 2/3 the world's supply.
ReplyDeleteNice article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-electric-car-cobalt-battery-20180222-story.html
Kabila is the dictator (DRC)
ReplyDeleteAlso, the first war criminal convicted at the ICC was from the DRC (Thomas Lubanga Dyilo) for conscription of child soldiers. They generally have a child labour problem.
DeleteI was there in The Hague at the ICC (with my class). War criminals seem shockingly normal in person.
@Scandi Wow, that’s one sobering class trip... 😧
Delete@jessorella: And that wasn't even my most sobering class trip, personally. I used to have ED-NOS and then my class went to the WFP (at UN Geneva). I came out of the presentation room feeling really guilty and tried hard to finish my good at the UN cafeteria that day. Even my friends told me to take it easy (because my stomach isn't accustomed to finishing that much food).
DeleteWho needs rehab, right?
Fuck me and my whiny First World Problems self-pitying.
@Alli - hahahaha. That was my first thought, too!
ReplyDeleteCobalt and Congo.
ReplyDeleteWhite Rose and the Washington Township Project?
Sorry, couldn't resist a little Mr. Robot line :)
Yup, electric vehicles (and hybrid batteries) are built on child labor, powered by electricity usually produced through burning coal. Why do they get to use the HOV again?
ReplyDeleteWell - I learned what a Conflict Resource is this morning. We are a f##ked up species.
ReplyDeleteMetal: Coltan
Country: Democratic Republic of Congo
Dictator: Joseph Kabila
Dictator's Father: Laurent-Désiré Kabila
A List CEO: Elon Musk / Tesla
https://electrek.co/2017/05/31/tesla-source-conflict-minerals-battery/
THIS
DeleteIt's also used in cellphones. Just saying...
DeleteNot just the battery, but the casing as well. Also iPad, iPod, laptop, etc.
DeleteWhat is Enty's handle on twitter?
ReplyDelete@EntyLawyer
DeleteThe same day as Kevin’s heart attack...and you’ve never seen them in the same place at the same time...hmmmmm
ReplyDeletePeople have been ignoring the Congo situation for ages, the Black Panther movie has done more for awareness in Africa than the media and politicians in a week. It may not be direct,but entertainment has more influence on the public than we want to believe. How often has this been mentioned in the news over the years,until you can't have a new iPhone?
ReplyDelete"Black Panther" also had a reference to Boko Haram (the Nakia's mission part where a girl children in headscarves were being trafficked), but I'm not sure people paid as much attention to that as guessing what Vibranium was an allegory for.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIsn't coltan a Mr. Robot subplot?
ReplyDelete"electric vehicles (and hybrid batteries) are built on child labor"
ReplyDeleteSo is the chocolate you eat, the diamonds you wear, the cheap underwear you buy, the recycled metals in all your stainless steel...
Not a Musk fan ( I think he's an ass and a fame whore who got lucky rather than inventive) but everything is created by child labor these days! Are you filtering all your purchases accordingly?
+1 @plot
DeleteIf we boycott companies on moral grounds we would not buy anything. I am not saying do not boycott, I am saying pick your battles.
@Sal Yes it is! Esmail is like some psychic writer who time-travels into the future to get his story lines :D He has had several of his Mr. Robot stories come true.
ReplyDelete@retailprophet Good point! Lol!
ReplyDeleteAll of these wonderful environmentally friendly cars etc use toxic metals mined in horrible conditions, and often made by child labor. People get high and mighty about buying non conflict diamonds,but pat themselves on the back when they buy an electric car.
ReplyDeleteSo you make your own shoes and clothing then? Wake up. Child labor is pervasive overseas, and has been for decades, independent of electric vehicles. Your political argument is invalid. Hooe you didn't pat yourself on the back.
DeleteI think guesser was trying to make a point.
Delete@Guesser
DeleteI read a fascinating yet horrific article on deep sea mining. Seems we will soon start destroying the deep ocean beds and species we haven't yet discovered to get at rare metals? Why are we doing this? The batteries for electric cars require these metals which are rare everywhere but the ocean floor.
The epitaph of humanity will be: "self-inflicted extinctial through unintended consequences"
Oh lord please let all the cobalt in the world end so that this fucking technological nightmare is over and all the assholes have to go back to do WITHOUT THEIR FUCKING PHONES please oh please oh please
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMetal - Lithium. LiIon batteries power many devices
African Country -DRC
Dictator - Kabila
Dictator’s Father - .His father
A list CEO / Company - um not just Tesla (Musk) - Apple, Samsung,LG, Moto etc etc
This shouldn't even be a blind. Conflict Mineral Resolution was part of Dodd- Frank. There is an electronics industry task force established to watch this. Let's extend beyond LiIon to include tungsten, tin and cold.
If Musk is behind it then look for a "company" called Frontier Services Group to provide the fire power and humans - NOT an Asian country. Note they are incorporated in an Asian location (HK) but Erik Prince is focused on Africa.
Enty - I love reading your site but this isn't a blind. If anything Prince's third wife and former spokesperson at Blackwater provided the tip to take heat off of Eric. Or - his sister Betsy Devos did.
This is down and dirty STEM. It's been this way since a bunch of little pups such as myself at Global Crossing got away with shit 20+ years ago - and now we are all in leadership.
It's not a blind because we are all getting rich off of the Conflict - don't just throw Musk under the bus. We all (specifically telecom and big Data) are getting bonuses.
It's all of us.
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DeleteLithium
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Robert Mugabe (wasn't his father but he was a mentor to Mnangagwa I think)
Musk/Tesla
duh Mugabe is still alive nevermind
ReplyDeleteYeah, first I thought Mugabe too, but then I noticed Mr. Hedge said the "dictator’s grip on power has recently loosened, if ever so SLIGHTLY" and Robert/Grace went down HARD.
Delete@plot,guilty on the chocolate, what diamonds? My pots and pans are old as dirt. Not sure about the underwear. I would if I could. The point being the makers of these things are cleaning the trash in one place and destroying another,pretending they are saving the world.
ReplyDeleteOdd, but no one has gotten the metal right yet. It's tantalum, used in capacitors. Coltan is sort of right, but it's not a metal, it's the nickname for ores containing columbite and tantalite. Cobalt is another important DR Congo supplied metal, but is widely distributed. (The US has a lot.) DR Congo is top supplier, because it's a byproduct of mining for copper, and the availability of ultracheap labor. China is after the DR Congo cobalt, too.
ReplyDeleteMetal- Cobalt
ReplyDeleteCountry- Congo
Dictator- Joseph Kabila
Father- Laurent-Desire Kabila
CEO/Company- Elon Musk/ Tesla
Never heard of tantalum before but seems to fit really well.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMr. Hedge makes it sound like this is a metal commonly used for components of consumer goods (civilian stuff).
DeleteTantalum is used for aircraft engines and ballistics/missiles.
Musk says we're going to have a million people on Mars in 50 years.
ReplyDeleteEating what? From where? Brought over with what energy?
Meanwhile US taxpayers foot the bill for his con.
@Guesser
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone who pats themselves on the back for driving electric (but they certainly will on the West Coast, because using everything for a personal affirmation is CA/OR/WA stock and trade.) Electric drivers are very generous with the details of how their cars work, though.
@SDaly
"It's hysterical that China is recolonizing Africa while the West is pilloried for colonialism. China is reaping the rewards of the West's penchant for self-flagellation, and the lives of the Africans will be worse than they have ever been."
Then maybe we shouldn't have a president in the USA who refers to all African countries as "shit holes"?
China is reaping the rewards of highly offensive behavior by US politicians. At this point, African countries are choosing between China, France and Germany for development potential. The USA has written itself out of the equation. MAGA!
@plot - no I'm not filtering my purchasing choices accordingly. But I give to United Way, so I'm good.
ReplyDelete.....
.....
.....
aaaaaaand GO!
That money was gone anyway, there are no lack of boondoggles. At least Musk might help push tunneling and other tech forward.
ReplyDeleteThat's odd, I don't think I've met anyone driving an electric car who doesn't claim they're doing something good for the environment.
ReplyDeleteEven though those same persons may be geometrically expanding their waste footprints by pumping out kid after kid...
Zero emissions <- lol
Ah the Congo, another country where the CIA brutally got rid of a popular leader and installed a puppet willing to do business. The continuing civil war is a direct result of imperial interference. just like united fruit and S.Aamerican dictators.
ReplyDeleteThis could be Zimbabwe and Lithium...
ReplyDeleteHoly shite. How did we all forget about Lithium? Yes. But the country isn't Zimbabwe, methinks. Mugabe didn't go down "slightly", he went down hard.
Deletelongtimereader, the US has no problem meddling in other governments.
ReplyDeletehttp://kunstler.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Yeltz.jpg
Which makes the current phony Russian-interference spaz quite embarrassing.
I currently marvel in the world media's total blackout, on the South African parliamentary vote to seize all land owned by white farmers. In reverse this would have been called shocking racism.
ReplyDeleteGoing the way of Zimbabwe, which ended up like this:
white farmers where either killed (together with their entire families and most black farmers who worked for them, and if their black families lived on that land, their families too), or driven out of the country overnight.
Farm production dropped immediately to almost nothing, because the 'rebels' don't understand how to manage land, or in most cases, are too lazy and too busy getting high, to do any farm work.
This is how Zimbabwe went form BREADBASKET OF AFRICA to FAMINE in less than 25 years.
South Africa is on a violent trajectory into the abyss. Has been for a couple of decades now with crime rape and murder and general unrests. Foreign investments have dropped and tourism stagnated at best.
But if in doubt, blame whitey, folks.
50-60% of the world's cobalt comes from the Congo:
ReplyDeletehttps://blog.ucsusa.org/josh-goldman/electric-vehicles-batteries-cobalt-and-rare-earth-metals
The rest of the blind fills itself in with various comments found above. Pay particular attention to the CIA comment from @longtimereader--it's yet another African nation they destroyed, although the "Black Panther" movie would like to make you think the CIA gave heroic, self-sacrifing support to independent African peoples. It'd be funny, if it wasn't so sick. But that's how the Deep State and its soulless minions roll.
Countdown to one of my impotent stalkers making "derp state" or some other pushback talking point in three, two, one....
Did you even WATCH "Black Panther" at all?
DeleteMy guess based on your previous blatantly racist comments about Beyoncé/Jay-Z and Amal Clooney is you probably didn't.
It wasn't about white saviour—that's why it was so empowering, the CIA guy was practically clueless. But IDK, I love Martin Freeman so I have nothing against what he does. Sheesh.
"Cobalt prices went ballistic in 2017 with the metal quoted on the LME ending the year at $75,500, a 129% annual surge sparked by intensifying supply fears and an expected demand spike from battery markets."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mining.com/cobalt-price-bulls-worst-fears-may-just-confirmed/
@J
ReplyDelete"the current phony Russian-interference"
well, except for the 5 indictments and the 3 members of the Donny Moscow administration who are now turning state's evidence and the unanimous agreement in all our 17 federal policing agencies that Russia interfered with our election and the new report out today that shows Russia entered the voter databases in seven states and corrupted data...
Except for the Dutch who followed and recorded every detail of Russian hackers breaching US databases and government infrastructure...
Yeah, except for all that...and more...wanna hear about it?
Yet again, Mr. Hedge (who is almost certainly Gabe Hoffman) is using CDaN for financial gain. Gabe Hoffman regularly tweets negative comments about Tesla because he has shorted the company. This is widely known. Moreover, this is what hedge fund managers do. A common tactic is to use rumor mills, which are beholden to absolutely no standard for truth, to disparage public companies. As I pointed out recently, my guess is that Hoffman has also shorted Netflix, which is why there have been a handful of negative BIs about the company.
ReplyDeleteI really question the morality and earnestness of Gabe Hoffman. As I pointed out in the previous Mr. Hedge BI, Hoffman follows, retweets, and regularly responds to Cernovich, Posobiec, and Fairbanks. These three are horrible people who have capitalized on lies and obfuscation in regards to race and gender. Sure, Hoffman produced "An Open Secret." That is a good thing. However, why is he so friendly with Cernovich? If you know anything about Cernovich, you'd know he has "joked" several times about raping women.
In short, CDaN is clearly being manipulated for financial and political purposes.
@DDonna
ReplyDelete"my impotent stalkers"
Oh aren't you adorable! Imagining yourself so important, so knowledgeable with all that Alex Jone baldashery, that anyone would stalk you except for their own amusement!
I could just chuck you under the chin and pinch your cheeks!
Oh, plot. Ddonna is just projecting. We know HE'S the one who came here to stalk.
Delete@Unknown: Cobalt is not widely distributed, and the U.S. have none.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.indexmundi.com/minerals/?product=cobalt
Colbalt fits the increase in price best,so the rest is fill in the blanks.
ReplyDelete@J
ReplyDelete@guesser
@nonya
+1
@retailprofit. Lol
ReplyDeleteYes, big investors are crawling cdan looking for clues on the market. Give the hedge fund conspiracy a rest. Anything related to netflix or tesla was known to people with money long before it showed up here.
ReplyDelete"Hoffman produced "An Open Secret." That is a good thing."
ReplyDeleteIs it? Based on sloppy innuendo and post dating facts isn't a good thing, is it?
It seemed like another Gabe Hoffman thinly veiled attack on her personal enemies for...financial gain? I don't know; I haven't connected it that far yet.
The price of Lithium has also gone up and tantalum is used in many electronic devices,even items like camera lenses.
ReplyDeleteplot, no, please no, I don't want to hear about it.
ReplyDelete@boredatwork
ReplyDelete"South Africa is on a violent trajectory into the abyss."
Not The Abyss!!!!
Oh NOES!!!!
Is that something out of Revelations or Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
@J
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to hear about the FACTS of Russian attempts to break our laws and election systems, then perhaps you should STFU about it?
Just a suggestion...
Oh, I've read plenty from all sides.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is I don't want you to boringly, inadequately, and incoherently aim to repeat a bunch of stale talking points.
If you need to get something out of your system, please tell me why Hillary Clinton didn't bother visiting Wisconsin during the election.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhy explain anything about HRC?
ReplyDeleteShe ain't president. She ain't in charge of anything no mo'.
"repeat a bunch of stale talking points"
Well if your ersatz factoids require zip and thrill, then InfoWars will not disappoint you.
Maybe you should check that need for THRILLS! CHILLS! for your understanding of important issues?
I showed a Time magazine cover bragging about US interference on behalf of Boris Yeltsin. I've never read Infowars, seems silly.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, please have a relaxing and peaceful day. I'm sure things will get better for you. People care.
Let's tie it all together and decide Mr. Hedge is a Russian oligarch spreading rumors about American companies.
ReplyDeleteI cannot help but chuckle at the irony of this blind, and the high handedness of some of the posters here. So I gather some of you would have us believe you chiseled your comments on stone prior to uploading them. Pardon me but your "Sent from my iPhone" boilerplate is showing.
ReplyDeleteCan you say hypocrite in French? (Hint - it's hypocrite.)
Plot like clockwork! I continue to be flattered by the attention from the usual suspects. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Soooo predictable in your vitriol. It continues to provide me succor, and shows that I am on the money. Bullseye!
ReplyDeleteI liked "Black Panther." Didn't say CIA guy was a "white savior," said he gave "heroic, self-sacrificing support," which is exactly what happened in the movie. In reality, however, the opposite is true, which is why there is need to twist my words, as usual.
Shills can try to turn this into a race argument to deflect away from the central hypocrisy of the film's presentation of CIA, but I feel pretty sure if I point it out to the smart lurkers who read here, they'll know what's going on.
Either way, thanks for your response, guys! I continue to be flattered and empowered by your attacks.
Jesus, you’re a drag.
DeleteBlah blah fucking blah.
A 2+ decades old Time cover, WOW!
ReplyDeleteIf you are outraged by US interference in elections, why not be outraged over any interference in any election, particularly in your own damn country?????
What precludes us from being as angry about interference in our government (notice how the NRA is refusing to open its books in response to claims of Russian funding there?) Oh, someone is shaming you to make you feel you (a US citizen I assume, don't really know) deserve it??? Horseshit! No one anywhere deserves it...unless they have been browbeaten in to accepting it for some reason.
"I continue to be flattered"
ReplyDeleteHappy to serve.
Watch that breakdown though, it's gonna be a doozy. I'll make popcorn.
This is strange: Enty is missing and, unless she is using other screen names, so is someone else. Hope everything is OK.
ReplyDeleteNo, Tricia was just hosting a luncheon, it turns out. I noticed her missing too.
DeleteWho said I was outraged? I certainly didn't say I was.
ReplyDeleteYou're new to reading?
@J
ReplyDeleteSorry about the assumption! My curiosity is definitely piqued by your insistence that objections to interference in our government and elections should be met with a phlegmatic or passive response. So what? Am I right? Get what we deserve? Is that right?
Why would you think so little of our country and our laws that protecting them should be met with an "oh well..."?
I'm far more concerned with the DNC's interference with the Sanders' campaign. As far as Russian trolls, Obama was in charge of running a fair election. If he couldn't secure our systems, then he was as incompetent as Hillary "somehow get secret emails onto a pedophile's porn-surfing computer" Clinton.
ReplyDeleteRegarding trolls posting on facebook, if we're inattentive enough and stupid enough and vulnerable enough to be led around by the nose -- which I'd say we probably are -- then we'll just get what we deserve.
On the question of law enforcement, I'm far far more concerned about why Obama didn't prosecute a single thieving bank or banker, but instead shoveled hundreds of billions their way. On the international front, Obama's effective pardon of the Bush-era war criminals makes me nauseous.
Now please don't bother me unless you've got something interesting, original, and -- ideally -- clever to say.
Congo has been a mess since the US overthrew the democratic government in the 1960s. The current corrupt regime has been working with Israeli companies, Israelis are garbage people and corrupt. China sees an opportunity and will overthrow the government. Guaranteed. The West is useless and Black Christians are just useful dhimmis anyways for Europeans. Good for China.
ReplyDeletePS: America also has many heavy metals/REMs. In California, the main source, environmental regulations and China's flloding of the market drove US mines out of business. We also have the largest source of Helium, which we are squandering.
To dip arguing about Zimbabwe. Even the whites knew a situation where 90% of arable land was owned by whites was unsustainable. However, after thirty years since defeating White Racists of Rhodesia, the land transfers still were not done. Again white Zimbabweans knew this situation was bad. The courts were just useless.
Also for the racists. You're crying about small numbers in SA and Zimb. Wait till Whites are removed from Australia and all non-white areas. That will leave only the free fire zone of the new world open. Even We Racists agree America has no ancient peoples left, and belongs to the strongest.
Enty is alive, i.e. retweeted something.
ReplyDeleteNot lithium.
ReplyDeleteLithium is found all over the world and has had multiple uses before it was used in batteries. It is used in glass, ceramics, medication, air purification, optics, pyrotechnics, etc.
Even the dust is toxic and it burns in water so I doubt children are mining this on a widescale operation. But then again, children dig *under* mud for diamonds...
"As far as Russian trolls, Obama was in charge of running a fair election"
ReplyDeleteWhat? Obama is not in charge of elections at all. States are in charge of their own elections. Oh, perhaps this will interest you, Paul Ryan just fired the Federal Election Official with no plans to replace him. Does that not ring alarms for you?
Obama tried to release a bipartisan report of Russian election interference in Fall 2016 and Mitch McConnell refused to sign off on it. Again, any alarms ringing?
"then we'll just get what we deserve."
Okay, how far are you willing to take that? If our food is poisoned would you say we are stupid and we get what we deserve because we don't test it first? How about clean air? What about substandard medical care? Are we stupid if we suffer from that? I personally think that bad information (paid for by millions of rubles to a gleefully participating Facebook) is much the same in this current climate. We have no standards by which to personally test the information because...OUR FUCKING GOP DESTROYED THE STANDARDS!
"why Obama didn't prosecute a single thieving bank or banker, but instead shoveled hundreds of billions their way"
I'm 100% with you there. There needed to be full prosecutions and long prison sentences there for the fraud committed on the US public. Privatizing profits and publicizing losses is the name of the game in the current US corporate template.
I hope you are a supporter of Elizabeth Warren then.
"Obama's effective pardon of the Bush-era war criminals makes me nauseous."
He pardoned no one. Yes, it makes me ill as well that the Bush Gang effectively got away with screwing the US public for war profiteers. That is not entirely Obama's fault though.
"please don't bother me"
Your compulsion to respond is all on you, sweetie. It's not my job to entertain you delightfully.
So I guess a Tesla isn’t my dream car any more...
ReplyDeletePleased to see so many reasonable, informed people offering comments and clear understanding of global realpolitik and American imperialism and CIA skullduggery.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Enty retweeted something, but that would be easy for some flunky or supplanter to do as well, if they had his password. I will not be assuaged until we get some kind of confirmation that he and that other woman are well.
On the "Help my career is going down in flames and I'm now going to backtrack on everything I've been saying for the past two years," the JLaw cover story in VF that dropped today is pretty hilarious.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/jennifer-lawrence-cover-story
She’s one of Hollywood’s most outspoken actresses, but Jennifer Lawrence says it’s “not wise” for entertainers to wade into politics.
THEN
"A potential Trump presidency would be the end of the world....If I met him in person, it would end with a martini to the face...."
NOW:
"I’ve always thought that it was a good idea to stay out of politics.....twenty-five percent of America identifies as liberal and I need more than 25 percent of America to go see my movies. It’s not wise, career-speaking, to talk about politics...Democrats made a huge mistake by chastising the Trump supporters, and that was disgusting to me. Of course they’re not going to vote for Hillary Clinton; they’re going to vote for Donald Trump. You laughed at them when their plight is very real.”
Because people like to twist words and motivations, I share this only as an example of Hollywood hypocrisy, not support for Trump, who is a flak-catching puppet and nothing more. But JLaw obviously sees her career on the ropes and this VF puff piece is a hail Mary to salvage her rep. it will likely fail.
Sure, take it all the way. I doubt the civilization we're currently part of will last another 50 years.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are horrible, far worse than Democrats. But if Democrats are going to, as I said, effectively pardon war criminals "look forward, not backward!" and give bankers subsidies as a reward for destroying our economy... if they're going to consciously and smilingly fuck over the people they claim to represent (hi Donna Brazile!), and then they're going to expect lots of active sympathy with a djinned-up bs story about some Russian facebook trolls denying Queen Hillary her election... well, they'll have to be satisfied with persuading the suckers who don't pay any attention.
George W. Bush killed half-a-million innocent people, give or take. he holds this century's record for slaughter. NO ONE COMES CLOSE. Yet Michelle Obama has nothing but hugs for him. Republicans are worse than Democrats... but Democrats are loathsome.
Glad I don't have kids and glad I'm more than halfway done with this bullshit place.
J,
ReplyDeleteI think the Neo-Lib, wishy washy, Wall Street loving, Democrats are what made Bernie so attractive to both of us. I didn't mind a bit the fantasy that I was kicking the DNC in the teeth by voting for him (as an aside, Obama through his actions in office showed very clearly he thought little of the DNC as well.)
What I can't do right now is allow the sins of the Dems to sink our whole country by accepting them as equal, in any form, to the GOP machine of hate and corruption. My feelings for HRC and the DNC aren't going to make me give up the fight, which I have to say Bernie is continuing, bravely and alone, in the same way.
I'm on the fence about my fantasy kids. I'd love for them to be around, but most likely they'd be stuck on devices all the time, barely able to communicate and bored by the real world in the ways of most Millennials with their vocal fry and super hero/peak experience needs.
I know it's a beautiful world, by my own estimation. I very much doubt I could share that beauty with anyone of my fantasy children's generation. They've "grown" beyond it. They want vivid social media more than anything else.
If what Bush did isn't a problem -- and I don't see anyone on the Democratic team (not even sure about Bernie) willing to call it one -- then I can't worry about them losing.
ReplyDeleteI used to explain to people how the national debt was Reagan's fault, how he believed that idiot Laffer and set us on the path to ruination. Well, now that Obama nearly doubled that debt I can't just say it's all Reagan. In fact, Obama had some nice praise for Reagan upon entering the White House.
I'm sitting here wearing clothes made by some poor slaves who knows where. Trump is horrible, and may blow up the world. If he does, that will be a mostly bad thing. But until he does so or kills half-a-million people like Bush did, I'm not going to panic that things are any worse now than they were two years ago.
You could mention the supreme court, of course, but since Obama nominated Garland in March '08 and wasn't on TV screaming every fucking day for that vote to take place, I'm just going to tell you he spotted Trump a justice. He's good at reaching out and giving the other side a boost.
@J - Serious question: why would Obama, a black man, praise President Regean? This perplexes me.
DeleteI don't think it's fair to insist Obama, or anyone else, hold whatever opinions one would like them to hold because of their race (or gender).
ReplyDeleteObama spent time at U Chicago law school. I got my MBA there and the faculties are close. I'm sure he's got a lot of conservative friends, people who approve of Reagan very much.
I won't venture to explain why he said what he said. But here's an example if you'd like to form your own conclusions:
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/politics/21seelye-text.html
Further, bear in mind that circa 2009 Obama was keen on his exciting new Republican friends. He set aside single-payer plans to push Mitt Romney's health program (despite having majorities in both houses). As I said, he protected Bush, Cheney, etc. As for Wall Street, he told them he'd stand between the investment banks "and the pitchforks."
ReplyDeleteTrump is a buffoon, and he's embarrassing in new ways each day. But we didn't just leave a golden age of leadership. Sanders could have perhaps done a couple of good things, but Hillary and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz knew better, didn't want the Democratic party rank-and-file to get their dirty hands on the selection of a candidate. So here we are. And nonstop we have the bozo cacaphony of claims that somehow Russia did us wrong. Truth is, Obama left a lot of progressive people with no particular reason to get excited about his anointed candidate who would continue more of the same. Blaming the Russians is pathetic, and just makes excuses which guarantee that, even now, the Democratic party won't get its shit together.
"He set aside single-payer plans"
ReplyDeleteNo, Joe Lieberman killed single-payer plans. He refused to vote for any healthcare program that included single payer.
"And nonstop we have the bozo cacaphony of claims that somehow Russia did us wrong"
It's not a bozo idea. The proof is right there for you to see that Russia was active in the furtherance of their own power against our best interests as a country. I don't know why you hang on to denial so furiously there.
"Blaming the Russians is pathetic"
Holding them accountable for their actions is pathetic? What's more, holding our elected reps accountable for contributing to Russia's attack on the USA is pathetic?
"even now, the Democratic party won't get its shit together"
Certainly not if you hold onto that delicious cynicism, like a high school emo.
Oh, right, and I remember that speech Obama gave denouncing Lieberman and imploring Americans to write their representatives demanding single-payer, like the rest of the sensible world has had for years. It was a really stunning piece of oratory, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteReminds me of how he pulled out all the stops and went on an LBJ/Sam Rayburn rampage to make sure Merrick Garland got a fucking vote!
Wait, what? Those speeches didn't happen, you say? What? Obama was busy chillaxing with Beyonce? REALLY?
How popular do you imagine single payer was in this country in 2009? Most people didn't even know what it means. Oh I definitely remember Obama trying to educate people on it, quite eloquently, too, but the GOP was out in force making people think that single payer was one step away from death camps in the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeleteSingle payer has only recently increased in value to the US population (due in no small part to Bernie who has flogged it tirelessly.)
Obama could have give a rousing speech that may have induced the reaction to more Dems jumping ship on healthcare. Remember, our reps are not the bravest of people. Even after Obamacare passed, few Dems took it as a win and almost all refused to talk about it with pride.
I don't know why Obama didn't fight harder for Garland . Maybe he thought the Dems in Congress should have done it, as they stood to vote on it after all. Comparing Obama to LBJ just isn't fair however.
Like I said, you seems to love criticising Dems while ignoring the GOP.
Hmmmm....
Whatever.
ReplyDeletePlease lose interest in me as an individual. I will delightedly reciprocate.
Hey what was Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold doing over there anyway?
ReplyDeleteHis nephew is a piece of xaar.
@J - thank you for answering my question. Seems like Obama panders to people. Then again he is a politician. Take cate J!
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/O9sABRosdNg
ReplyDeleteGeorge Bush I and George Bush II are both war criminals with much blood on their hands. But at least half a million Iraqi kids died under the Clinton regime and Madelaine Albright said it was "worth it."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnskeu-puE
There isn't a hairsbreadth of difference no matter who becomes president. No matter who wins, they are absorbed and ruled by the Deep State sociopaths.
@MrsF2U HAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAAAA! "Us". That is darling.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure She-Who-Cannot-be-Named is f Probably just taking a mini vacay in the Bahamas. Oh...... - wait! Nah! ... I'm sure she's fine. Continue with your ping pong game please. Pardon the interruption.
ReplyDeleteWould everyone please refrain from political bickering? It's repetitious and I come here to escape it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteUgh, this blind stresses me out.
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head,
ReplyDeleteMetal: Lithium
African Country: Zimbabwe
Dictator: Mugabe Jr.
Dictator's Father: Mugabe Sr.
A List CEO: Musk/Tesla
Mugabe was installed by the CIA (Shocking, I know)
Many Chinese I worked with in Shenzhen were being transferred to work in China back in 2010.
I worked with automobile and battery manufacturers as a representative from Indonesia.
Also, Having worked with different Fuel Cell technologies/automotive companies including companies like defunct FISKER, and military installations with the Pentagon,
nobody has really nailed the battery game yet as much as they claim they have. (MUSK)
CRIPPLED ZIMBABWE, The Leading African Lithium Producer
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/crippled-zimbabwe-the-leading-african-lithium-producer-2016-12-08/rep_id:3650
Here's an article from 2016 about the importance of lithium:
https://venturebeat.com/2014/03/20/lithium-afghanistan/
Democratic Republic of Congo
ReplyDeleteChinese companies trying to corner the market (China also source for rare earth minerals)
When I first read this blind, I was expecting just normal replies like this.
DeleteI shouldn’t have scrolled, I should NOT have scrolled.
ReplyDeleteThe metal is lithium.
As for unprotected workers, watch 'Tunnel Dwellers of Beijing'. That will break your heart.
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DeleteI've been all sorts of wary of all the "development aid" from China in Africa (they're building a railway for trade and all that—someone above even already used the c-word, they're words not mine). I just have a very bad feeling about this. I'm all for development in the developing world, but this is not going to end well...
DeleteAlso, can HRW Film Festival stop being friends with Bill Nye Sun Sign Guy already? That man goes out of his way to persecute/bully people for their spiritual/religious beliefs (I'm by no means a creationist, and I 100% believe evolution happened—but what he does is NOT RIGHT and there are other climate change activists who RESPECT other people's rights). That man has no concept of human rights.
HRW need to unfriend the fuck out of him, distance themselves, and engage with some other climate change activist who DOES respect human rights.
FFS, HRW: You had ONE job.
Please kill me. I can’t take any of this shit anymore.
ReplyDeleteLine forms to the right.
Imagination counts!
Note to self: avoid hedge blinds at all costs.
Delete@DDonna
ReplyDelete"There isn't a hairsbreadth of difference no matter who becomes president."
Especially when one is a lazy piece of shit who buys into Alex Jones cuz can't think very good.
Stalking any Sandy Hook parents lately, screaming at them for being false flag liars?
Ignore the troll(s). They don't really have anything to contribute to the conversation. I noticed they just wanted to insert themselves.
DeleteSo sad. So true. 👆
ReplyDeleteThis is a shitshow. A regular who's who of retards all fighting for the honor of last place.
ReplyDeleteNice.
Metal - Tantalum
ReplyDeleteCountry - DRC
Dictator - Joseph Kabilia
Father - Laurent-Desire Kabilia
CEO - Elon Musk
DRC should be a rich country with their natural resources but they are being plundered from within and without.
To everyone that mentioned the CIA:
ReplyDeleteI'm very close to this situation, for a variety of reasons, but I would like people to look into the murder of Patrice Lamumba closely, particularly the infamous European assassin code-named QJ-WIN.
This was the same asset that Bill Harvey (with Helms's permission) used for the assassination team assigned to______. Bill being station chief in Rome had obviously easy access to Europe's underworld. Also check Jean Souetre (who was arrested in ______ after the assasination and expelled to Mexico), who was also connected to the assasination attemps against de Gaulle. CIA was not happy with de Gaulle role in Argelia at the time.
All of this characters are connected to several high profile killings, which still happen to this day.
Fredy's talking about The Church, by the way.
ReplyDeleteSo Fredy, your CIA got to Chavez did they?
ReplyDeleteOr every leader who has died in the whole wide world but him?
You just engaged in two logical fallacies.
ReplyDeleteIf you can name them I’ll play nice with you.
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ReplyDeleteI did name someone.
ReplyDeleteLet me know when you have a better comeback.
ReplyDeleteThis is a rare earth metal(s) and it will start a war with the Chinese.
ReplyDeleteI did name someone. Your thinking it was a comeback of some sort is mistaken. So, dude, shit or get off the pot.
ReplyDelete