Nothing earth shattering or controversial today, at least nothing that should be controversial. Just relax, enjoy Roger’s fine story telling and his equally fine video editing. The first five or six minutes expresses a remarkably useful and beneficial philosophy.
TTG
“All the news that’s fit for twits.” – Should be the NY Times motto.
China’s Foreign Minister replaced:
Qin Gang, a sometime favorite of Xi Jinping, was replaced by Wang Yi, a seasoned diplomat, leaving many unanswered questions about Qin’s fall.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/world/asia/qin-gang-china-foreign-minister.html
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Absolutely not a whisper of Qin’s alleged affair with a beautiful Hong Kong newscaster, her delivery of a child 9 months after a liason or that she worked for UK intelligence by means of which he was compromised and then determined to be unreliable. I guess that means that the US government (NY Times) is really interested in better terms with the People’s Republic? Conjecture. Closest the article comes is mention of Qin having been a protocol officer in London. Full disclosure – my info comes from a Telegram channel that might be considered biased enough to muddy the information stream with salacious materials, but the rumours of the affair are ongoing for awhile now. Could be misdirection serving to lead away from a truth that no one wants known, meaning that even though seemingly superficially embarrassing to people in their government, they’d rather this be circulated, thus feeding to satiety the ravenous dogs of gossip-monger as in jld’s reference on the previous thread to Rene Girard’s works.
For Barbara Ann:
https://a.co/d/3apb52m
That’s a link to an offering of a very short and inexpensive book by a Japanese author, translated into English, titled ‘Chinese Eumuchs: The Structure of Intimate Politics,’ which I read in 2012, possibly because the gender identity issues were percolating, I can’t recollect. (Caution – a book by a Japanese author about a sensitive issue of Chinese origin is to be treated with care, even suspicion, due to their nation’s long and bitter rivalries). I mention it not because you may not have watched the Game of Thrones episodes which featured very testy, canny and extremely duplicitous eunuch advisors to the clan chieftains (in my opinion they did an excellent job there) but because rather than getting into an understandable tizzy of moral revulsion over the current gender identity clown circus shows which I theorized were possibly intentionally inserted during the Obama as toxic larvae for detonation in future political contests, they might rather or also be a sign of something else. Such as a civilization having reached a corresponding level of decadence as some of the old imperial eastern varieties. IOW – why exactly do people become eunuchs? I thought they were all forced to like the boy choir castrati victims of decadent European imperial not so long ago. If this book is reliable it turns out that isn’t always so, and neither is it fully accounted for by the “gender identity” snake oil peddled here and in the EU and UK lately, though indeed a real non-zero percentage of humans are in fact born as hermaphroditic to some degree or other. Anyway, just for future reference. Our media isn’t honest. So the explanations on offer aren’t. The book features ruminations and epigrams carved on the headstone or memorial of the awesome Hong Wu emperor who set out to when he began his rule to get the eunuchs eliminated from court life – he suceeded, up to a point, but the more he succeeded the worse things became until he capitulated. He conquered and restored a huge empire, but lost to the eunuchs. Another lesson like that of ‘Moby Dick?’ Biden might prove to be more sagacious than either Trump or DeSantis on these issues, I don’t know.
This link contains several links to other Telegram links whose formatting is lost in a copy paste, so if this interests, go to the link below the dashed line from which this pasted translated text came.
Requires more than my limited understanding of China. But it seems to say that the US and China (recent Kissinger & Kerry visit (?)) are now situational allies and therefore the Unified State of Russia + Belarus can soon expect an incursion into Western Ukraine and sometime after that an envelopment of Brest (far South South West of Belarus on border). Most of you know of the buildup in Poland and recent movements of troops & equipment closer to the Belarus border. For more, see the interesting but somewhat theatrical meeting with E subtitles between Lukashenko and Putin just the other day here (scroll down to image of room with man entering doorway on left hs) or better, take TTG’s hint and relax and remember it could all be speculative fantasy:
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/russia-raises-stakes-with-bold-strike
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https://t.me/both_worse/1286
All right. Komsomol members are South China. All of South China is Britain. What’s happened? And here’s what. The US is taking control of at least South China from the British. And South China is all the most important Chinese assets.
The old fox Kissinger did not go to China in vain – just a few days later, the most important rearrangements took place. At least the vector of China’s foreign policy for the near future has been determined. The hot phase of the China-Taiwan confrontation is being postponed, no matter what rhetoric is shown to the public.
The circle is narrowing. On which theater will the next round of the world war be? There are not many options. And since the United States is now situational allies with China, this option is the most likely. European TVD.
Main question. Whose hands? 🤔
@both_worth | @yes_money_first
From Cathay/ Laser gun for cutting trees. Scary. Video clip.
I can’t wait until our right wing imbeciles who use chewing gum for brains, propose that “our 2nd amendment rights” mean that these should be sold openly from every 7-11 and bus stop. The 6 O’Clock news will be even less appealing.
https://t.me/daokedao/29004
Leith – it’s the oddest thing. I don’t much like sitting around on land. Always want to be up and doing something. But in a sailing boat? Can’t beat it.
Not sure about the little stove. Not too stable in anything of a sea, perhaps.
Nice bloke. And knows a lot.
F&L – I want one. Takes all the risk out of it.
Not an original idea. Bringing a tree down by lighting a fire around it worked the same way in principle. Also safer and saves work. And if the tree’s on someone else’s land, a more unobtrusive way of getting timber than an axe. Fire makes little noise and is less likely to be noticed. Therefore strongly reprobated in the Laws of Ine:-
43. If anyone destroys a tree in a wood by fire, and it becomes known who did it, he shall pay a full fine. He shall pay 60 shillings, because fire is a thief
§ 1. If anyone fells a large number of trees in a wood, and
it afterwards becomes known, he shall pay 30 shillings
for each of three trees. He need not pay for more,
however many there may be, because the axe is an
informer and not a thief.
But better not tell one’s wife:-
7. If anyone steals’ without the cognisance of his wife and children, he shall pay a fine of 60 shillings.
§ 1. If, however, he steals with the cognisance of all his household, they shall all go into slavery.
That’s if you’ve got a wife. Sometimes the deal doesn’t come off:-
31. If anyone buys a wife and the marriage does not take place, he [the bride’s guardian] shall return the bridal price and pay [the bridegroom] as much again, and he shall compensate the trustee of the marriage according to the amount he is entitled to for infraction of his surety’.
Such a lot to think about before one gets the chainsaw out. Or now, I suppose, the laser cutter.
https://ia800205.us.archive.org/6/items/cu31924070153519/cu31924070153519.pdf
Be fun at the ball game. Burning up pop flys high over center field. Etching skid marks onto third place from your seat in the bleachers and giving the signal to your confederates on the front row of the third base line seats to hold up signs while chanting “safe.”
Thanksgiving day parade on 5th Avenue. Rose Bowl.
Les ribineurs are my kind of travelers. And four and a half knots is my kind of speed.
I liked part where Roger was pointing out the different shelters on the boats. He seemed to like the newer dome style but I doubt he upgrades. Too fancy.
babelthuap,
He made that boom tent last year from a good quality British ventile cotton. It’s an amazing fabric, extremely breathable. Once the fabric gets wet, the fibers swell and it becomes waterproof. I’ve owned a ventile cotton jacket since high school. It was billed as one that was worn on an Annapurna climb. That sold me and it was far cheaper than the Goretex types when that first came out.
S h Q t. Now I find out. It was probably affordable for me maybe, possibly 15 yrs ago. I love cotton. I’m not gonna search and ruin my afternoon here. ‘Annapurna’ was on the shelf next to the books on Everest and K2. Maybe this is your lucky coat. I used to have clothing from early adolescence that still fit long into adulthood. You could evoke really early sensations from before when your tasebuds and invisible feelers were ground off by life. Fortune and intuitive sensibility and precaution saved this for yourself’s well being. And you picked a alluring lady mountain named Anna (Purring) Yearn-Ah. I was stupid and picked K2: Killer Mountain. And believe me, it shows. Ventile. Elite NV. (Elite envy). And they do. But you got yours way back when.
Don’t mind me. I’m
Read this from the Moscow Times today and tell me if:
A) While you read it, did you wonder if any of the millions of citizens of Russia who read it were hoping and praying that maybe they were still asleep and would soon wake up to realize it was but a dream?
B) You figured TTG was lying about his interest in the boat trip above AND the transmission repair story because he was busy hacking into foreign media databases and planting stories which would terrify all the men in Russia and even possibly kill some 46, 47, 48 and 49 year olds with high blood pressure and other illnesses of late middle age?
C) You thought “if this is true then either there’s been a lot more casualties and maybe not necessarily so many, but wouldn’t the rumors of upcoming actions in W Ukraine and on the Belarus – Polish border possibly seem more rather than less realistic in light of this?
D) All of the above.
E) E all of the above and more but so what, who cares?
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https://t.me/moscowtimes_ru/14506
“Everyone must serve.” The State Duma urged to raise the draft age to 50 years
At the discussion of amendments for conscripts in the State Duma, they called for an even stronger increase in the conscription age. It needs to be raised to 50 years and obligated to serve everyone, Alexei Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, told Vedomosti. Judging by the biography, Zhuravlev himself never served.
Today, in the second reading, the State Duma approved fines for conscripts who fail to appear at the military registration and enlistment office and raised the age of conscription from 27 to 30 years.
The deputies of the State Duma also approved amendments to ban conscripts from leaving the Russian Federation from the day the summons was sent to work or study and from the moment it was placed in the register.
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F&L,
I shit you not. I love the boat. I love the sailor and I love the raid. I also finished my transmission repair. Replaced a solenoid in the valve body and it runs fine. A massive improvement at a fraction of the price. Not exactly like a brand new transmission, but damned close.
Putin does need more cannon fodder. A recent Russian report showed 80% casualties (KIA and WIA) among all the convict soldiers. Casualties among the DNR and LNR units is about the same. VDV units are up there, too.
TTG,
Putting Lee Myles out of business again? Sell My Electrical Engineer Bugs ass in Asia. Fuzzy and Faulty Anagrams for sale or lease. Low prices.
Times & Wapo say big time attack by Ukie in Southland. Russia’s Mum so far.
Wave Particle Duality Paradox resolved. Send money now for free explanation on back of envelope. Enclose return postage. Offer may expire.
TTG…..Good on You…Mr.Genius…On The VW…Repair..,,,Old Blue and I Raise Our Hoods in Prost…Well Done…Drive to the Dock…Launch Your Boat..and Enjoy the Pudding..Well Done Mate..
On the Other Side of thw World…I Read a Real World Casulty Figure of 300,000 Total…When You Look Long enough…There is a Nice Video,,,of The Ukrainian Marching Band …With Song…!
Well, assuming you’ve been following along – what do you think, retired Special Forces Lt Colonel? Is Anatoli Nesmiyan in the ball park here or is he just piling on again?
(For reference: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66309231)
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Shoigu’s trip to Pyongyang is unlikely to be only of a protocol nature; a less official person could have been sent for this.
Probably, we are talking about creating a supply channel between China and Russia, and the DPRK in this situation will act as a classic “military trade” where you can buy everything. More precisely, what the seller will put on the shelf.
For the DPRK, this is an opportunity to get some food on commission from the deal – now in North Korea it is once again difficult to deal with it.
A change in foreign minister could mean that China has decided to become more involved in the conflict, but will stick to a “we’re not there” strategy. From the Chinese point of view, this is a reasonable decision, since he is obliged to use any opportunity to stop his strategic adversary “on the distant approaches”, which is the conflict far to the west of China. China’s goal is transparent – to prevent the defeat of Russia, which, if the confrontation with the collective West continues, is inevitable simply for resource reasons.
Yesterday’s direct speech by Kartapolov in the Duma about the future “great war” can be interpreted precisely in this context – Russia and Ukraine become proxies of China and the West and kindly lend themselves to an indirect clash between the two superpowers. At the same time, neither Ukraine nor Russia can ask the question “What will I get for this” – they are in such a state that any outside help is desperately needed. The ideal situation is when both parties to the conflict are not able to formulate their own goals, but will obediently implement the decisions of external “partners”.
In this case, Shoigu will receive instructions and targets on how the supply of the warring Russia through the territory of the DPRK will be organized. And, of course, the conditions under which this assistance will be provided.
NK showing some leg to Minister Shoigu. Pics. Rascal Move or Maskirova?
https://t.me/infantmilitario/103791
Russian Defense Minister Kim Jong-un, among other things, showed a copy of the American UAV RQ-4 Global Hawk. The status of this program is unclear, but Russia does not yet have serial devices of this type.