e-commentary

The Cuban Missile Crisis And The Monroe Doctrine Today (February 28, 2022)

Posted in China, CIPS, Currency, Gold, MIC, MICAC, Money, Neoconservatives, Petrodollar, Russia, Sanctions, SPFS, SWIFT, War, World's Reserve Currency on February 28, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “America failed.”

J “Russia failed.”

. . .

K “The American Foreign Policy Effete pushed with both hands to goad, badger, harass, disrespect and humiliate Russia and circumvent and undercut any reasonable and peaceful resolution. They have blood on those hands. They intentionally provoked Russia and cynically sacrificed Ukraine.”

J “Russia invaded. Putin is a thug, a bully, a criminal and a psychopath. Russia and Putin are responsible.”

. . .

K “Let the record reflect that the U.S. decided to deploy nuclear weapons first. The SWIFT system should be isolated from politics and serve as the neutral financial infrastructure for the world. The U.S. weaponized SWIFT and cut off Russia’s ‘financial e-mail’ from the world. Wait until the dimwits discover that Russian financial interests cannot be surgically excised from the world financial community without creating potentially cascading contagion.”

. . .

K “If China and Russia agree to use the CIPS or the SPFS or some amalgam of the two, they can expand their efforts to circumvent the SWIFT. The financial infrastructure is the ‘pipe’ and at this time PetroDollars are the ‘flow’ which could become superfluous if everyone is not forced to use the pipe. And then America becomes Bulgaria.”

. . .

K “What if Russia proclaimed that 1,000,000 Rubles can be exchanged for one ounce of gold. And one ounce of gold can be exchanged for 1,000,000 Rubles. Let the market respond.”

. . .

K “The U.S. decision to declare ‘World War E’ as they say could descend into World War Three. The U.S. refuses to abide by a rules-based international system and instead does whatever it wants to do. Russia may have declared war on Ukraine by default; the U.S. declared war on Russia and the world by design.”

. . .

K “Don’t forget that when you have someone trapped in a corner, you are also in the same corner.”

. . .

K “America no longer produces intellectuals. Except for [Stephen F.] Cohen and [John J.] Mearsheimer and a few others [Michael Brenner], the American Foreign Policy Effete advances its own private, personal and professional interests even when those are contrary to America’s best interests. They are treasonous.”

. . .

K “Life presents many insoluble situations. This was soluble. This is the Cuban Missile Crisis played out in Eurasia rather than North America three score years later. This is the Monroe Doctrine advanced in another region. The solution was simple and obvious. And remember that genius is simple and obvious.”

J “Putin invaded. Period.”

. . .

J “China? China owns the U.S. Lock, stock and sinker. Hook, line and barrel.”

K “Okay, so we really do agree quite often. What is the U.S. thinking when it antagonizes a country that should be neutralized and neutral and self-destructively drives that country closer to China. Everyone should agree to leave Ukraine as a neutral buffer with NATO returning to the original borders. Let’s focus on the real problem.”

J “I know I am. I am learning Mandarin so that I can interpret the conversations of the prison guards at the re-education camp.”

K “This undertaking in Ukraine is a beta test for China. They are taking notes. When you are done with them, send over a few of the language tapes.”

. . .

J “Putin’s War.”

K “Biden’s War.”

. . .

[See “Experts Warned For Years That NATO Expansion Would Lead To This” dated February 25, 2022 by Caitlin Johnstone, the recipient of the Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019), in www.caitlinjohnstone.com and also the articles in Consortium News.]

[See the e-commentary at Cuba – October, 1962 (October 22, 2012), Washington Wants War In The Worst Way: Dust Off The IOSAT Or Return To The Status Quo Ante Bellum? (January 24, 2022), Dragon < Eagle > Bruin; Dragon + Bruin > Eagle (April 19, 2021), Sanctions: Stupid, Absurd, Futile? Oh, And Happy Armistice Day / Remembrance Day / Veterans Day! (November 11, 2019) and The China-Russia Affair: Advancing The Petro-Yuan; Dictating The Future (March 26, 2018).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Putin’s War

Biden’s War

Stop War: Stop Putin

Stop War: Stop Biden

I like J

I like K

Dragon < Eagle > Bruin; Dragon + Bruin > Eagle

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N. Propaganda R. Transcribed: “Get Vaccinated. Attack Russia.” Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 21, 2022)

Posted in Newspapers, NPR, Press/Media, Russia, War on February 21, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “Three of the clearest headed individuals double-checked the transcript. This is the complete and unedited transcript compiled from every NPR program over the last month:

“Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia. Get vaccinated. Attack Russia.”

This list was carefully spell checked. I admit that the NPR people did a short and insightful segment on the biathlon in the past month. Bill Gates gave millions and millions and millions to NPR, Public Radio International, WETA, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Minnesota Public Radio, BBC and other organizations and controlled every aspect of the Virus message.”

J “Everyone should get vaccinated or be forced to get vaccinated. America and the allies should attack and destroy Russia. NPR is just doing its part. They are not being funded to present a variety of viewpoints and allow the listener to decide. That is not how it works or should work.”

K “NPR is not working. For someone who has contributed a lot of money to and sacrificed a lot of time for NPR over the decades, this former listener is redirecting money and time to challenge America’s propaganda machine. And then there are the NYT, WP and WSJ that want war uber alles. The assaults and the attacks on the minds of the American people are unrelenting.”

. . .

[See MintPress Study: NY Times, Washington Post Driving US to War with Russia Over Ukraine dated February 4, 2022 by Alan Macleod in the Mint Press, a credible and courageous newspaper guided by Whitney Webb, the recipient of the Fifth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2020 (May 4, 2020).]

[See the e-commentary at National People’s Radio?; National Public Radio?; National Petroleum Radio?; National Propaganda Radio? (June 11, 2018), [Don’t] Support Public Media? (June 10, 2019), Tulsi, MSM, NYT, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, Real News, Fake News, Neo-McCarthyism. Oh, And Happy Halloween! (October 28, 2019), “Regulatory Capture” and “Journalism Capture” (November 22, 2021) and Boycott (Advertisers On) AM (Anger Mongering) Radio (March 5, 2011).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Get vaccinated. Attack Russia (Sold at an NPR fundraiser)

Don’t get vaccinated. Don’t attack Russia (Sold at a fundraiser to defund NPR and fund honest and objective journalism)

“Keep in mind, the news media are not independent; they are a sort of bulletin board and public relations firm for the ruling class-the people who run things. Those who decide what news you will or will not hear are paid by, and tolerated purely at the whim of, those who hold economic power. If the parent corporation doesn’t want you to know something, it won’t be on the news. Period. Or, at the very least, it will be slanted to suit them, and then rarely followed up.” George Carlin

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Truckers; Convoys; Politics; Race; Class; Religion; The American Effete And The PMC. Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 14, 2022)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, Freedom / Liberty, Vaccine on February 14, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “MAGA red. Majority White. Blue Collar. And many waving the red, white and blue or flying them from their rigs. Some Trump flags and signs. Fewer “Let’s Go Brandon” banners. Two or three miscreants carrying America’s homegrown swastika flag – the stars and bars. Religious references and prayer. Peaceful. They stopped at stop lights and turned using turn signals. They have been told what to do by dishonest and hypocritical forces too many times. And in a world with so desperately few honest journalists, one must get out in the field and be one’s own journalist.”

J “You don’t really fit in.”

K “With Caucasian camo, a flannel shirt and dungarees, I was an almost invisible scrivener of people and events. I should be a platinum card-carrying member of the PMC, but the members of the PMC are furiously obedient and latently authoritarian. I really don’t fit in.”

. . .

K “No one seems to get it. What passes for the MSM is engaged in propaganda campaigns and concerted efforts to suppress any dissenting voices. You can listen to the clip and hear what the spectators are saying and at the same time a microphone holder, albeit a pedestrian sports journalist covering an auto race, lies about it. They say you should not believe your lyin’ eyes, but should you believe your lyin’ ears.”

J “It is such a petty, puerile, and annoying phrase. They are not fooling anyone. Political discourse has become coarse and crass.”

. . .

J “With the near total breakdown of manners and morals, the country is a jungle. Whatever internal restraints and governors once may have existed are gone. Even religion is not a reference. There will be consequences.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Occupy America (October 10, 2011), Occupy America: The “Bonus March/Chicago Police Riot/Kent State” Of 2011? (October 17, 2011), An “Occupy Primer” (November 14, 2011), Civil War II. Coming To A Country And City Near You (November 26, 2018) and From “Occupy” to “Occupation”: Nine Year Later (September 14, 2020).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Upper Class Intellectual on board for the Convoy

Upper Class Intellectual for the Convoy on board

Occupy Ottawa

Keep on truckin’

When everyone is a racist and a terrorist, no one is a racist or a terrorist

“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.” George Orwell

We must destroy democracy to save it. Justin Trudeau

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? … The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If … if … We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation … We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.” Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918 – 1956

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Bodily Sovereignty: Conjugating “My Body, My Choice” (February 7, 2022)

Posted in Authoritarianism, Covid / Coronavirus, Totalitarianism on February 7, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “My body, my choice. Your body, my choice. His body, my choice. Her body, my choice. Their body, my choice. I am the government; my choice.”

K “My body, my choice. Your body, your choice. His body, his choice. Her body, her choice. Their body, their choice. I am my, you are your, he is his, she is her and they are their. I should be the government allowing citizens to be citizens.”

. . .

K “My libertarian progressive friends are incapacitated by fear and retreated from reasonable libertarianism to frightened authoritarianism and totalitarianism.”

J “My libertarian progressive friends recognize that at times the common weal and the public good require collective interests to trump individual concerns.”

. . .

K “If the rallying cry for bodily sovereignty relates only to some parts or systems or situations, we are in a world of hurt.”

. . .

[See “The Secret of Propaganda: Teaching Obedience” in “The Seneca Effect” dated January 23, 2022 by Ugo Bardi.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.” Unknown

“The cost of sanity in this society is a certain level of alienation.” Terrence McKenna.

“This proposal from the three fringe epidemiologists [Dr. Martin Kulldorf of Harvard, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford] who met with the Secretary seems to be getting a lot of attention – and even a co-signature from Nobel Prize winner Mike Leavitt [a biophysicist and professor of structural biology at Stanford University and recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry] at Stanford. There needs to be a quick and devastating published takedown of its premises. I don’t see anything like that online yet – is it underway?” Francis Collins, retired hit man at the NIH (emphasis added).

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Cameo In Courage Award Nominee: Julian Assange (January 31, 2022)

Posted in Cameo In Courage Award, Courage, Hypocrisy, Journalism on January 31, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD® – SUBMIT A NOMINATION

Award nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis. Nominations received after February 15th of each year will be rolled over for consideration the following year. Ordinarily, the award will be made to living Americans who are or were elected officials. Individuals at all levels of government—federal, state and local—are eligible for the award. An emphasis will be placed on contemporary acts of political courage. Please consider the Award Criteria to determine whether the person you wish to nominate would be an appropriate recipient of the Profile in Courage Award®.

Tell Us About Your Nominee for the Profile in Courage Award

Nominee First Name: Julian

Nominee Last Name: Assange

Act(s) of political courage for which your nominee is to be considered: Courageously standing up for free speech and courageously challenging illegal and immoral government action.

Enter other…

Tell Us About Yourself

First Name: e-

Last Name: commentator

Email Address: e-ssay@gci.net

Zip / Postal Code:

All information submitted will be kept confidential by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and will be used only to communicate with you about your nomination and the Foundation’s activities. No information on this form will be disclosed to any other person or entity.

. . .

[See the Cameo In Courage Award for Julian Assange in 2019 at Fourth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2019 (April 8, 2019) and the most recent award at Sixth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2021 (April 5, 2021).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Make courage courageous again

___________________________________________________

A Petition to President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.: Pardon Julian Assange

Whereas Journalist Julian Paul Assange and his media organization, Wikileaks, has in the respected tradition of American journalism obtained and published information that is classified and newsworthy, a practice shared with the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others and

Whereas in the fifteen years of its existence the authenticity and accuracy of materials published by Wikileaks has never been questioned or disputed and

Whereas assertion by the American Intelligence Services that Julian Assange is the agent of a “Hostile Foreign State” or the Russian government are politically suspect and completely unproven and denied by Assange and

Whereas Julian Assange has consistently denied that material obtained from the Democratic National Committee and published by Wikileaks came from the Russian State and has provided unimpeachable proof to U.S. authorities and

Whereas Julian Assange, now in failing health, is being held in solitary confinement and is being extradited by British authorities to the United States for trial and

Whereas Julian Assange is an impeccably-honest, incredibly-brave, humanitarian journalist, who provides an invaluable platform for whistleblowers and concerned citizens exposing corruption and criminality infesting governments, nullifying democracy and obliterating human rights, around the world and

Whereas there are absolutely no legitimate legal grounds to prosecute Assange and, as the U.S. Department of Justice admitted in 2013, doing so would expose all U.S. journalistic and news outlets to similar criminal jeopardy.

Therefore I urge President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. to issue a full and unconditional pardon to the journalist Julian Paul Assange in the interests of justice, mercy, truth and unity. This humanitarian act could be the most consequential and far-reaching action in your first term.

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Washington Wants War In The Worst Way: Dust Off The IOSAT Or Return To The Status Quo Ante Bellum? (January 24, 2022)

Posted in Europe, NATO, Neoconservatives, Russia, War on January 24, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “If Trumpi says one word about the stuff [IOSAT], he will trigger the NYT, WP, NY, CNN and MSDNC. And the PMC. And they are desperately trying to trigger a war. They so want to go ballistic, but they want to go ballistic on Russia.”

J “We live in vexing times.”

. . .

K “The callow pencil neck chickenhawk members of the ruling class are so eager to condemn the kids of the working class to death and dismemberment for their own ends.”

J “I don’t trust Russia. Period. Something needs to be done.”

. . .

K “Even Germany – yes Germany – is even counseling caution and restraint and even-handedness.”

J “They had their tussle with them. They have gone mano-a-mano with the Russians. They know.”

. . .

J “In 1994, Ukraine signed an agreement with the U.S., U.K. and Russia known as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum of Security Assurances under which it gave up its nuclear arsenal in return for certain assurances including independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. And that there would be no use of force or threat of force against Ukraine.”

K “Everyone should honor that agreement. What about U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990? That was a part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials. And then the U.S. marched country by country up to Russia’s doorstep. The U.S. would not tolerate Russia putting proxy troops in Canada and Mexico.”

J “The agreement is not in writing.”

K “Now you are thinking like a typical scheming American-trained lawyer. You are actually thinking like a typical scheming American-trained American. The allegation is so American and reflects American gamesmanship and skullduggery. An agreement is an agreement. Enforce the 1990 and the 1994 agreements.”

. . .

K “An old experienced law professor who taught comparative law in American and European law schools for over two score years shared his settled observations about the fundamental difference in training and perspective between American-trained lawyers and European-trained lawyers. With some exceptions, an American-trained lawyer first asks: “Can we get away with it?” With some exceptions, an European-trained lawyer first asks: “Is it lawful?” Europe needs some European not American thinking.”

. . .

J “Sort of trust but definitely verify.”

K “Distrust but clarify.”

. . .

K “There is one clear and obvious solution. Go back to the status quo ante bellum. NATO membership is restricted to the original nations. Is it worth going nuclear for something that is a fundamental concern of Russia but not a fundamental concern of the U.S. or the West?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at NATO: Nations Aggressively Taking Over (March 31, 2014), NATOExit? NATOExeunt? (July 4, 2016), Guitar / Drum ; Dove / Hawk ; Pax / War. Oh, And Happy Memorial Day! (May 27, 2019), Dragon < Eagle > Bruin; Dragon + Bruin > Eagle (April 19, 2021), Russian Interference; Russian Collusion. Epilogue (March 25, 2019), Impeachment Imbroglio. Oh, And Happy Saint Nicholas Day! (December 2, 2019), Johnnie Bolton: The Triumph Of the Chickenhawks And Neo-Cons. Join Fellow Patriots For The “April 14 Rally” And The Memorial Day “March For America”. Oh, And Happy April Fool’s Day! (April 2, 2018) and Giuliani – Draft Dodger And Chickenhawk (March 2, 2015).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Give war a chance

Russia wants war: Look how close they put their country to our military bases.

There are few things more vexing than trying to encourage a human being to think independently.

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What’s In A Name? Medical School Monikers In 2032 (January 17, 2022)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, Vaccine on January 17, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “Mostly letters. Occasionally numbers. Sporadically symbols.”

K “Over the decades, those who claim to be folks of letters like to use a single letter or two letters or small letters to be clever and relevant. What about an admixture such as ‘T. s. Eliot’ or ‘e. E. Cummings’ to add gravitas? Or one letter cum serifs and one sans serifs?”

. . .

J “The University of Wisconsin-Madison Moderna School of Medicine and Public Health.”

K “The University of Wisconsin-Madison Pierre Kory School of Medicine and Public Health.”

. . .

J “Baylor University Pfizer College of Medicine.”

K “Baylor University Peter A. McCullough College of Medicine.”

. . .

J “Eastern Virginia Johnson & Johnson Medical School.”

K “Eastern Virginia Paul Marik Medical School.”

. . .

K “The winning side decides whose moniker is slapped on the dorm, the building, and the department.”

J “That is the way it is always decided. Almost everything never changes.”

. . .

J “To the victor go the spoils”

K “They are right. It really is a war. They also say that if you scratch a putative progressive, you will uncover an authoritarian.”

. . .

J “Pottersville.”

K “Bedford Falls.”

J “Bedford Falls.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Rerouting History (February 15, 2016)” and “Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague: Rioters / Protestors: Too Much Noise / Too Little Signal (June 8, 2020)”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Smedley Butler Pentagon

Omicron = Gaia’s vaccine?

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” George Orwell, 1984.

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“Monitoring The Masses: The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Seven Years Later (January 10, 2022)

Posted in Our Future?, Privacy, Society on January 10, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “Seven years ago, the threat seemed distant and curious and academic.”

J “And now it is close and disturbing and real.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Monitoring The Masses: The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

We moved a few books around. Travel is now in the Fantasy Section. Sci-Fi is in Current Events. Epidemiology is in Self-Help.

There are few things more challenging in this life than encouraging another person to think independently.

MLK Day

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Careening Toward A Global Totalitarian Authoritarian Behemoth? And Then There Is The Fed’s Self-Inflicted Great Checkmate (January 3, 2022)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, Federal Reserve, Vaccine on January 3, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “2021 was worse than 2020. 2022 will be worse than 2021. 2022 may be a year of consequence in the ‘Post-Consequence World’ that imposes no culpability on the culpable and no responsibility on the responsible.”

J “Not this year. The system will continue to trudge and trundle along. No one will be held to account. Everyone in power is making money fist over hand.”

. . .

K “With inflation inflating, the Fed’s self-inflicted Great Checkmate cannot be deferred. If the Fed were stalemated, they could sit tight, but they are in check at this time. If the fools at the Fed had any sense of etiquette, they would resign before being publicly checkmated or at least be honest with the public.”

J “The Fed is playing a simple-minded game of checkers in an economy that is not black and red. They have the one overriding move that can be taken at any time and taken over and over and over again. They are able to print unlimited dollars.”

. . .

K “The transition from the Pandemic to the Endemic is a political and an economic challenge, not an epidemiological problem. However, there is no money in the early treatment and prevention of the Big C-19, so it will not be treated and prevented. That reality cannot change without much more public awareness and action.”

J “One word – Le Vaccine. The Supremes will provide some guidance on Friday and in the coming week.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Twenty Sixteen (January 4, 2016)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

A pandemic of the vaccinated.

A pandemic of the unvaccinated.

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e-commentary: 18 Years Of Fun And Counting. Almost 850 Posts! (December 27, 2021)

Posted in Year In Review on December 27, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Peeking behind the curtain, lifting up the carpet, looking under the table. Honing skills, helping folks, having fun. Venturing answers to questions that have not yet been asked, seeking to elucidate as much Truth on as many issues in as few words as possible, striving to leave a “commentary of record” for Clio’s consideration. Chronicling the American experiment and the American experience, the theory and the practice, the promise and the performance, and the aspirations and the aftermath. Doing something was paramount.

“Polymath” was apropos but too nerdy; many folks are turned off by a lot of math. “essay.org” and “e-essay.org” were taken. “e-ssay.org” turns out to be the perfect abbreviation of “electronic essay” and the original title. In the first few years, taut, short, cogent, succinct and focused “e-ssays” told people what to think rather than suggesting things to think about during the following week. Reveal, don’t tell, they wisely decree. Conversation provides a rapid ping-ponging of ideas. After a few years, “e-commentary.org” emerged and provided “electronic commentary” developing dialogue to allow the reader to listen in on the discussion rather than being told what to think. “e-poem” was always there under wraps. The pieces are laced with many little lagniappes for the diligent reader to discover and deduce.

Again this year most of the posts addressed fears, phobias, hopes, claims, questions, concerns, comments, anxieties and observations on Covid-19 and the thing called the PanICdemic. 2020 was the year of the Virus; 2021 was the year of the Vaccine; 2022 is the year of the Awakening. Stay tuned.

The “On [Traits / Characteristics]” Series acknowledges the father of the essay, Michel de Montaigne, who explored individual traits and personal characteristics and shared personal ruminations and anecdotes about society in his celebrated collection Essais (e-ssais?). e-ssays ruminate on respect, fear, admiration, irreverence, success, self-esteem, regret, standards/quality, loyalty, hypocrisy, honesty, empathy, joy, mudita, etc.

The “Less Government Regulation” Series posits examples where government regulation may suffocate and free markets may suffice. An e-commentary in the series in 2009 advocates for regulation of Google/Alphabet in an economy that is now pockmarked by monopolization of every industry in America. Subsequent e-commentary challenges the overweening role of the Frightful Five – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google/Alphabet and Microsoft. A half dozen mega–banks and six media conglomerates control and manage our money and our minds. In an economy without any price discovery, the completion of the “General Theory of Economics” is forced into remission.

The “Boycott” Series suggests that readers treat dollars like votes in the marketplace and use them to support and reject policies and activities. An e-commentary in the series in 2008 proposed a boycott of Facebook because it and the other tech beasts and behemoths are not friendly. Boycotting the only supplier of an essential good or service is problematic and is addressed. An e-commentary in 2011 proposed boycotting big banks and depositing funds in and supporting local credit unions. An early e-commentary in 2006 implores the reader never to boycott and always to buy into the franchise, even if voting appears to and may be futile in a country with only one political party, the War and Wall Street Party.

The “First Monday In October” Series debuted in 2010 with a discussion of “strict constructionism/originalism” in the context of gun control that should resolve the debate over the proper paradigm for all and once. Subsequent e-commentary in the Fall series provide insight into the Supreme Court, courts and the state of the law, justice, crime and punishment in America. The emerging irrelevance and illegitimacy of the current Supreme Court is discussed for the first times in 2011 and then in 2012 and developed in subsequent e-commentary. Regular visits to the Court to observe the hired help further inform the analysis in the draft “Treatise on Law” now in nearly final form.

The “Graduation Advice” Series is inspired by the national treasure “Wear Sunscreen” crafted by Mary Schmich and proposes a pithy suggestion for graduates of school and participants in life. Advice was dispensed in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The greatest threat to the Planet is the threat to the Planet. Posed and poised and poisoned by Man. [Wo]Man versus [Mother] Nature? Pl–as–ti–cs and plu–tonium versus People? Is Man the mortal enemy who must be contained by whatever means? Is a carbon fee and dividend program the long-shot market-based solution capable of salvaging the vulnerable blue marble?

Over the years other e-commentary reviews everything from the human causes to the economic consequences of actions and inaction. e-commentary addresses everything from philosophy to foreign policy to domestic polity; from the intertwined 3Es (from energy to environment to economics); from war to war to war; from sports to technology to society; from race to class to gender; from guns to gold to the Great Wall of Canada; from war to war to a possible antidote to war; from newspapers to the press/media to journalism; from the First Amendment, to the Second Amendment, to the Third Amendment, to the Fourth Amendment, to the Eighth Amendment, to the Balanced Budget Amendment and to the Term Limits Amendment; and from A – (AIIB, CFETS, CIA, CIPS, FBI, FDIC, IMF, INE, LIBOR, MICAC, NATO, NPR, NSA, SDR, SWIFT, TARP, USA PATRIOT ACT, ZIRP) Z.

After considerable thought and development, the “Awards and Incentives Project” rolled out and now includes four annual awards with others under construction.

The “Cameo In Courage Award” challenges the award given by the establishment to other members of the establishment. Society needs an award that rewards those who are truly courageous. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The “Noble Prize In Eco-nomics” identifies those who develop and advance eco-nomic ideas to promote the public weal and the common good. The award serves as a challenge and counterpoise to the “Nobel Prize In E-con-omics” awarded by the Swedish Central Bank to those who advance ideas that promote the interests of the wealthy and well-connected. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The “Noble Prize In Jurisprudence” celebrates the work of someone who really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens. The award recognizes a person who or institution that lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The “Pushitzer Prize In Commentary” honors inspiring and inspirational writing that does not necessarily reflect the dominant viewpoints and worldviews. Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

First–hand on–the–ground dispatches from the March for Women, the March for Science, the March For Our Lives and the April 19 March are available including lists of the clever and inspiring signs sported by participants.

The requisite moving memoir is now available. The book tour is still not yet booked. However, although “Analog Knowledge Devices (“AKD”)” will soon be worth their weight in gold, this production saves paper and is only available e-lectronically.

WordPress was and in many ways still is a primitive and disappointing platform, but it was not Blogger. Time to develop a better platform first. WP did not allow one to change the font or even to tab over to create a simple paragraph. At some time during this journey, WP did provide for “Categories” and then allowed for hyperlinks; hyperlinks are righteous.

Over the years, a menagerie of speakers and characters such as “A” / “B” and “GO1 [Gun Owner1]” / “GO2 [Gun Owner2]” and “3” / “6” / “9” among others debuted and debated issues. In recent years, “J” and “K” emerged as the primary characters in the ongoing dialogue and debate.

The “Bumper sticker of the week” started out as a spoof on the shallow and callow “bumper sticker” nature of our public discourse and became the playful signature sign off concluding each piece every week.

Looking back, the undertaking is an extended serialized novel about the American experience presented in a series of weekly poems developed as dialogue that allows all of us in some small way possibly to . . . immanentize the eschaton.

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not possibly succeed under any circumstances?

“Do. Or do not do. There is no try.” Yoda

“Not being heard is no reason for silence.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“It doesn’t require many words to speak the truth.” Chief Joseph

Otter: “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” Bluto: “We’re just the guys to do it.” “Animal House” (1978)

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” Thomas Paine

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” Marcus Aurelius

“You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.” Jerry Garcia

Think big, think long.

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